5. Rattle

84 Small stones rattled on the underside of the car.

85 A window rattled in the wind.

86 They rattled the furniture around the big old house.

87 A convoy of trucks rattled by.

88 He was clearly rattled by the question.

89 Her questions about my private life embarrassed me.

90 She embarrassed the pupil for his unwillingness to answer.

91 Who’s rattled his cage?

92 She rattled through her speech in five minutes.

93 She spent the last few years alone, rattling around the old family home.

94 She can rattle off the names of all the presidents of the US.

95 At every meeting she rattled on for hours.

98 the rattle of gunfire.

97 From the kitchen came a rattling of cups and saucers.

98 She cannot bear a place without some cheerfulness and rattle.

99 I paid so little attention to the talk of this rattle.

6. Reduce

100 Reduce speed now ( = on a sign).

101 Costs have been reduced by 20% over the past year.

102 The skirt was reduced to £10 in the sale.

103 The world’s resources are rapidly diminishing.

104 The noise began to lessen.

105 The number of new students decreased from 210 to 160 this year.

106 Hunger had reduced the poor dog to skin and bone.

107 A reducing plan.

108 People say ‘living in reduced circumstances’ to avoid saying ‘poor’.

109 a beautiful building reduced to rubble.

110 They were reduced to begging in the streets.

111 The whole town was reduced to ashes in the bombing.

112 We can reduce the problem to two main issues.

113 The goods are sold at a great reduction in price.

114 His influence has diminished with time.

5.3. Complete the following sentences with an appropriate word.

1. Annoy

1 He swatted a fly that was _______________________ him.

2 It really ___________________ me when people forget to say thank you.

3 The way she puts on that accent really _____________________ me.

4 Changing schools might _________________________ the kids.

5 The memory of their conversation still _________________________ him.

6 She never told me what _______________________________ her that Sunday morning.

7 He found the constant noise of the traffic an ______________________.

8 The most __________________ thing is he is usually right.

9 It _________________________ me to think of her alone in that big house.

10 She was ______________________at his behaviour.

2. Chatter

1 You two were __________________ so much that you did not even see me.

2 Her teeth chattered as she dressed.

3 Constitutional reform is popular among the _________________classes.

4 He cowered in the corner, ________________ with terror.

5 We sat in a cafe for hours _________________ about our experiences.

6 You could hear the ____________________ of the birds everywhere.

7 They ______________________ away happily for a while.

8 They were all _________________ away in a foreign language.

9 By this time I was a _______________________ wreck.

10 a mere political ______________________.