I. Complete the given sentence with the following synonyms.

acquit, absolve, excuse, overlook, reconcile, forgive

1. I hope you will_____ and forget.

2. Akshay was able to _______ the two friends who had quarrelled.

3. The teacher decided to _____ Rana’s fault for the last time.

4. The jury _______ him of the murder.

5. The priest ________ Jack from his sins.

6. The pupil asked the teacher to _______ him for not doing the homework since the doctor had advised him not to write with an injured hand.

II. Look up the meaning of the following words in the dictionary. Then replace the italicised words in the given sentences with them.

brittle, medieval, ambiguous, maritime, hostage, fallible posthumously, legendary, monopoly, ostentatious

1. The chairman’s remark was capable of more than one interpretation.

2. An inland country can have little interest in affairs relating to the sea.

3. The officer was held by the enemy as a pledge for the fulfilment of an agreement.

4. All human beings are apt to make mistakes.

5. Some think it wrong for one firm to have the exclusive right to trade in any one commodity.

6. She betrayed by her flashy clothes how fond of show she was.

7. He said the metal was liable to break very easily.

8. The book was published after the death of the author.

9. Many ceremonies and traditions are from the Middle Ages.

10. The deeds of Charlemagne are in the nature of an unauthentic story handed down by tradition and popularly regarded as historical.

III. Odd man out

In each of the following sets of words there are three synonyms and one word of an opposite meaning. Underline the antonym.

1. adversary, antagonist, ally, opponent

2. ardent, apathetic, enthusiastic, fervent

3. babel, tranquillity, pandemonium, clamour

4. gallant, chivalrous, courteous, churlish

IV. Pair off each word in List 1 with its synonym in List II.

List I

1 amaze, 2 valid, 3 rebuke, 4 unerring, 5 dreary, 6 puerile, 7 amazement, 8 illegal, 9 reconnoitre, 10 reconnaissance

List II

a) dingy, b) astonish, c) infantile, d) exploration, e) illicit, f) astonishment, g) legal, h) reprimand, i) explore, j) infallible

I. 1 forgive, 2 reconcile, 3 overlook, 4 acquitted, 5 absolved, 6 excuse

II. 1 ambiguous, 2 maritime, 3 hostage, 4 fallible, 5 monoply, 6 ostentatious, 7 brittle, 8 postthumously, 9 medieval, 10 legendary

III. 1 ally, 2 apathetic, 3 tranquillity, 4 churlish

IV. 1 b), 2 g), 3 h), 4 j), 5 a), 6 c), 7 f), 8 e), 9 i), 10 d).........