Eighteen words in three families — the exact ones that tripped up a real 2019 Paper B. Tap the speaker to hear each one, then three games and twelve questions.
Three families of six words. Words are easier to remember when they arrive with their friends.
How sure you are of yourself can look very different from the outside — smug, confident, modest and humble all sit on the same line, but only some of them are nice to be around.
Smug means you are SO pleased with yourself that it leaks out of your face. A smug person is sure they will win — and wants everyone to know. In stories, smug characters usually trip over right afterwards. Pride comes before a fall!
Your turn — read it out loud!
Confident means you believe in yourself because you are ready. It is quiet and strong. Smug is confident's show-off cousin — same feeling inside, but smug rubs it in everyone's face.
Your turn — read it out loud!
Boastful people say it with words: 'I'm the fastest! I'm the best!' A smug person might not say a word — the little smile says it for them. Boastful is loud; smug is quiet but just as annoying.
Your turn — read it out loud!
Modest is the opposite of boastful — you did something great but you don't make a parade about it. Watch out: modest has a second job. A 'modest house' or a 'modest score' means a smallish one. One word, two jobs!
Your turn — read it out loud!
Humble means keeping your feet on the ground even when you win. A humble winner says 'my team helped me' instead of 'I'm amazing'. It is the deepest kind of modest — it comes from truly believing others matter.
Your turn — read it out loud!
Ashamed is the heavy feeling when you know you did the wrong thing. It is the far opposite of smug: smug thinks 'I'm wonderful', ashamed thinks 'I wish I hadn't done that'. Feeling ashamed and fixing it is how characters grow.
Your turn — read it out loud!
Words for treating your taste buds well — from what goes into the bowl to how hungry you are for it.
A delicacy is a food people treasure — rare, special, saved for treats. Here is the trap: delicacy LOOKS like 'delicate', so it feels like it should mean fragile. In a food text it never does. If a text calls snails a delicacy, it means people prize them — not that snails break easily!
Your turn — read it out loud!
A feast is a celebration meal — more food than usual, more people than usual, more noise than usual. Birthdays, weddings, harvest festivals: when a story wants to show joy and plenty, it sets a feast.
Your turn — read it out loud!
Ingredients are the building blocks of a dish — everything that goes IN. Flour, eggs and milk are ingredients of pancakes. The word even sounds like 'in': ingredients go in the bowl.
Your turn — read it out loud!
Flavour is what your tongue reports: sweet, salty, sour, spicy. Two foods can look the same but have completely different flavours. Cooks talk about flavour the way painters talk about colour.
Your turn — read it out loud!
Appetite is your body saying 'food, please!' After sport your appetite is big; after a giant lunch it disappears. If a character 'loses their appetite', a story is often telling you they are worried or sad — feelings live in the stomach too.
Your turn — read it out loud!
Edible just means eating it won't hurt you — it says nothing about taste. Grass is edible for cows; some berries are not edible for anyone. A text about eating insects will call them edible first, and only sometimes a delicacy.
Your turn — read it out loud!
Big and small are lazy words. These six say exactly how much room something takes up — or does not.
Spacious means full of space — a home, a room or a tent where you can stretch your arms and never touch the walls. When an ad says spacious, it is bragging about room to move.
Your turn — read it out loud!
Generous usually describes a person who gives a lot. But watch the second job: a generous helping, a generous space, a generous amount all mean BIG — more than you expected. When a text says a shell has a 'generous living area', that is a synonym for spacious. This exact trick cost us a mark once!
Your turn — read it out loud!
Roomy and spacious are near-twins. Roomy is the everyday one — a roomy bag, roomy shoes. Spacious is the polished one that estate agents love. Same meaning, different outfit.
Your turn — read it out loud!
Cramped is when the walls feel too close — knees against the seat, elbows touching. It is the exact opposite of spacious. If a hermit crab's shell gets cramped, it is time to move house!
Your turn — read it out loud!
Vast is size on a giant scale — oceans, deserts, space. A bedroom can be spacious but never vast. When a writer picks vast, they want you to feel small standing inside something enormous.
Your turn — read it out loud!
Compact means small in a smart way — everything packed neatly with no wasted space. Cramped is small that feels bad; compact is small that feels clever. A tiny house can be proudly compact or sadly cramped — the word tells you how to feel about it.
Your turn — read it out loud!
Same eighteen words, three different jobs: match the picture, fill the gap, and pick what you heard.
Tap a picture, then its word. Clear all four pairs.
One word is missing. Only one of the four fits.
Tap the speaker, then choose the picture you heard.
Twelve questions. Tap an answer and find out straight away — and why the wrong ones looked right.
In a story, Anna was in front of the race and felt 'smug'. This means Anna
C. Smug = too pleased with yourself. Anna in front thought the race was already hers — which is why the story knocks her down a moment later.How you see yourself
A travel book says: 'In this village, roasted chestnuts are a delicacy.' This means the chestnuts are
A. A delicacy is a treasured, special food. 'Fragile' is the look-alike trap — delicacy resembles 'delicate' but has its own meaning. This exact swap cost a mark on the last paper.Words for special food
A house ad says: 'This home has a generous living area.' Here 'generous' means the living area is
B. When generous describes a space or amount, it means big: a generous room, a generous slice. Rooms can't be kind — so in ads, generous is a synonym for spacious. This exact swap appeared on the last paper.Words for size and space
Which word could replace 'spacious' in this sentence? 'The tree hut was surprisingly spacious inside.'
B. Roomy and spacious are near-twins — both mean plenty of space. Cramped is the opposite; unique and charming are nice words about DIFFERENT things (one-of-a-kind, lovely) — the classic synonym trap.Words for size and space
'Even after breaking the school record, Ari stayed modest.' This means Ari
A. Modest means not showing off. Ari can still be happy and people can still know — he just doesn't make a parade of it. Secret-keeping, shame and smugness are all different feelings.How you see yourself
A nature guide says some berries in the bush are 'edible'. This means those berries
D. Edible = safe to eat, nothing more. An edible berry might taste boring; a delicious-looking one might be poisonous. Safety and taste are different questions.Words for special food
Which sentence uses 'smug' correctly?
C. Smug fits a show-off winner: 'Told you I'd win.' Cosy blankets are 'snug', and losing makes nobody smug.How you see yourself
Which sentence uses 'delicacy' in the food sense correctly?
D. 'Considered a delicacy' is the classic food use — a prized treat. The vase sentence uses the OTHER meaning (gentleness), and everyday cereal can't be a delicacy.Words for special food
In which sentence does 'generous' mean BIG rather than KIND?
D. A 'generous helping' is a big serving — generous describing an amount means big. In the other three, generous describes people being kind.Words for size and space
An ad for a school bag says: 'Neat outside, ____ inside — fits books, lunch AND a raincoat.' Which word fits the gap best?
A. Spacious means plenty of room — perfect for a bag that swallows books, lunch and a raincoat. Vast is desert-sized (too big a word for a bag), cramped is the opposite, and a modest bag would be smallish.Words for size and space
A news report says: 'The bake sale raised a modest amount of money.' Here 'modest' means the amount was
C. A modest amount = a smallish amount. Like generous, modest has two jobs: a modest person doesn't brag; a modest amount, house or score is on the small side.How you see yourself
A food article calls fried crickets 'edible' in one paragraph and 'a delicacy' in another. What is the difference?
B. Edible = safe to eat (a fact). Delicacy = treasured special food (an opinion of a culture). The article uses both because they answer different questions.Words for special food
Try the whole set first. There is no time limit — getting it right matters more than getting it fast.
Stuck on a word or a question? Say it out loud instead — your helper knows every word and every question here, and will not tell you the answer.
Say a word, or a question number. Or try: “teach me question 7” — the helper will pretend to be wrong. Convince them! Uses the microphone. Nothing is recorded.
