Longman General Dictionary Worksheets

www.longman.com/dictionaries

Skill set: Communication by telephone & computer

Level: Intermediate
Dictionary Recommended: Longman Active Study Dictionary

Exercise 1: Find a word fast!

1 Work with a partner. See who can write these words in alphabetical order first.
dial receiver busy call answer

1…………. 2…………. 3……………. 4………… 5

2 Now look the words up in your dictionary and write down the part(s) of speech (eg noun/verb)
and meaning number of each word when it can be used to talk about telephoning.

Exercise 2: Find more words

1 Write the words and phrases below in alphabetical order.
download extension delete log on hang up
1…………. 2………..…. 3……………. 4…………… 5……………..
2 Use your Longman Active Study Dictionary to find out which of these words are used (a) for
talking about phones and (b) for talking about computers.

Exercise 3: Words and different meanings

1 Write these words in alphabetical order:

keyboard mouse printer floppy disk monitor (n)

1…………. 2…………. 3……………. 4…………… 5……………..

2 Now look up the words in your dictionary and find out which words are only used to talk about
computers.

Exercise 4: Unknown words

1 Look at the e-mail below and answer the questions below.
Decide if these statements are true (T) or false (F):

a Sam had an accident carrying his computer in a car.

b Sam had problems with his computer when he was using the Internet.
c Sam had to have his computer repaired.

Hi Marie
Hope you’re well. I was thinking about that problem you mentioned in your last
message. A friend of mine, Sam, had the same thing happen to him - his computer
kept crashing and he didn’t know why, but it always happened when he was online.
He eventually found out that he needed to upgrade his computer - he got some new

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software, and it’s fine now. If you want, I could come round sometime and have a
look at it for you. Let me know.
Laura

2 Look at the dictionary entries below and decide if your answers are correct.
crash n [C] 3 when a computer upgrade v [T] to improve
suddenly stops working something, or exchange something
for something better: We need to
upgrade our computer.
online, on-line adj, adv 1
connected to other computers,
especially computers that are on the software n [U] the PROGRAMS
INTERNET: online banking facilities
(=sets of instructions) that you can
(=available using the INTERNET) go
put into a computer so that you can
online (=start to be online): All of our
use it to do different jobs: word
local schools will go online by the end
processing software compare
of the year.
HARDWARE

Exercise 5: Spelling
Below are some words which are not complete. Write the full word in each example, using the
context to help you decide what the word is. Use your dictionary to check the correct spelling.

a I use my computer to ana______e data for reports.

b On the Internet I can even learn how to speak a fo_______n language.
c I’ll def________y call you tomorrow, because I’ll have more time.
d New technologies are dev_______ing all the time. It’s very exciting.
e Thanks to the Net, my kno________e of the world has improved.
f It was gr_____ to hear from you again!

Exercise 6: Using words together

Look up the words in dark print in the sentences. Then choose one of these 4 words to complete
each sentence, using the correct form.
give leave take make

a ‘Mr Swain is out of the office right now.’ ‘Could I ________ a message for him,
please?’
b I’ll ________ you a call tomorrow afternoon.
c Excuse me, I just need to _________ a quick call.
d I’m afraid he’s not here, but I can _________ a message for you.

call n 1 [C] a conversation on message n [C] 1 a

the telephone, or an attempt to spoken or written piece of
talk to someone by telephone: information that you send
She’s expecting a call from the to another person: “Janet
office soon. get a call I got a just called.” “Did she leave
call from Teresa yesterday; a message?” Sorry,
she’s fine. give sb a call Just Tony’s not home yet. Can I
give me a call from the airport take a message?
when you arrive. make a call
Sorry, I have to make a
telephone call. return sb’s
call (= telephone someone
back): Ask him to return my
call when he comes home.

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Teacher’s Notes/Key

This worksheet is aimed at helping students to develop their general dictionary skills
with the help of the Longman Active Study Dictionary and focuses on language that
learners need for communicating by phone or computer and for talking about these
means of communication.

Exercise 1
1 answer(verb # 2) 2 busy (adjective #3) 3 call (verb #4/noun #1) 4 dial (verb -
only sense/noun #2) 5 receiver (noun #1)
You might use this as an opportunity to draw to students’ attention that more
common meanings of words appear earlier in the entry, eg compare dial as a noun
and verb - common as a verb, less common as a noun.

Exercise 2
It may be a good idea to check with students which letter they should look under in
the case of phrasal verbs, i.e. the first letter of the verb rather than of the particle.
1 delete 2 download 3 extension 4 hang up 5 log on
a 3, 4 b 1, 2, 5

Exercise 3
Again students may need to be made aware of where they are most likely to find a
compound noun in the dictionary (floppy disk) - i.e. under the first letter of the first
word.
1 floppy disk 2 keyboard 3 monitor 4 mouse 5 printer
Floppy disk is only used to talk about computers. The others all have other meanings.
Option: You could ask students to find out which of the meanings are most common
for each word by looking at the sense numbers.

Exercise 4
a F (crashing - sense 3)
b T (online)
c F (upgrade …. software)

Exercise 5
a analyze (AmE), analyse (BrE)
b foreign
c definitely
d developing
e knowledge
f great

Exercise 6
Encourage students to look at example sentences and bold phrases in each entry.
a leave
b give
c make
d take

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