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Unit 6: Jurassic mystery: unpacking the past
Modals of deduction and speculation - present and past

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  1. 1 Pop-ups
  2. 2 Hidden talents
  3. 3 Can't buy me love
  4. 4 Travellers' tales
  5. 5 The colleague from hell
  6. 6 Jurassic mystery: unpacking the past
  7. 7 Career changes
  8. 8 Art
  9. 9 Project management
  10. 10 The dog ate my homework!
  11. 11 The diary of a double agent
  12. 12 Fashion forward
  13. 13 Flat pack skyscrapers
  14. 14 Extreme sports
  15. 15 Food fads
  16. 16 Me, my selfie and I
  17. 17 Endangered animals
  18. 18 A nip and a tuck: cosmetic surgery
  19. 19 I'm really sorry...
  20. 20 Telling stories
  21. 21 Fakes and phrasals
  22. 22 Looking to the future
  23. 23 Becoming familiar with things
  24. 24 From rags to riches
  25. 25 Against the odds
  26. 26 Our future on Mars?
  27. 27 Where is it illegal to get a fish drunk?
  28. 28 Dodgy dating
  29. 29 Annoying advice
  30. 30 I'll have been studying English for thirty weeks

Session 1

We're looking at the prefixes de-, dys-, and dis- in this unit. Join us for 6 Minute Vocabulary, and then do two activities to test your knowledge of prefixes!

Sessions in this unit

1234

Session 1 score

0 / 13

  • 0 / 0
    Activity 1
  • 0 / 6
    Activity 2
  • 0 / 7
    Activity 3
  1. Activity 1
  2. Activity 2
  3. Activity 3

Activity 3

Prefix revision

Re-, pre-, pro-, in-, un-, mis-

There are lots of prefixes to learn in English. In our pre-intermediate course we looked at six more: re-, pre-, and pro- in Unit 24, and un-, in- and mis- back in Unit 3.

First, let's revise the meanings of these prefixes! Later, we'll do a test.

1) re = again

  • reheat (heat again), reuse (use again), replay (play again), revise (look at again)

2) pre = before, already

  • precooked (cooked already), prepacked (packed already), prewar (before a war)

3) pro = in support of, in favour of (often followed by a hyphen)

  • proactive (in favour of being active), pro-British (in favour of Britain), pro-capitalist (in favour of capitalism)

4) un = not

  • unclean (not clean), unhygienic (not hygienic), unhappy (not happy)

5) in = not

  • incomplete (not complete), intolerant (not tolerant), inaccurate (not accurate)

6) mis = wrong, or not

  • mishear (to hear incorrectly), misunderstanding (a situation when people understand each other wrongly), mislead (to make someone believe the wrong thing)

Read the text and complete the activity

To do

It's time to see if you can build some more vocabulary. Revision is important before an exam, as we know. Let's read about a young man called Richard as he revises for his exams. Can you fill in the gaps in the story with the correct words, even if you haven't seen them before?

Choose the prefix

7 Questions

You might not know all these words, but it doesn't matter! Use your knowledge of prefixes to fill the gaps.

Congratulations you completed the Quiz
Excellent! Great job! Bad luck! You scored:
x / y

End of Session 1

Well done. We hope that next time you see a word starting with one of these prefixes you'll feel a bit more confident, not unconfident! In Session 2 we're looking at modals of speculation and deduction, things like might, may and could...

Session Vocabulary

  • What do these prefixes mean?

    re
    again

    pre
    before, already

    pro
    in support of, in favour of (often followed by a hyphen)

    un
    not

    in
    not

    mis
    wrong, or not

View full vocabulary reference

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