USING CONTEXT CLUES
Directions: Help! I have just arrived in England, and I thought that the British spoke the same languages I
do. Now I find that there are a lot of common, everyday words for which the British have different
meanings. Use the context clues to decipher the following story. On your own paper, number from 1-20
and write the meanings of the highlighted words.
Arriving in England: What Language Are They Speaking?
I was really in England! As the DC-10 landed at Gatwick Airport, this realization was still coming to me.
The coach1 that was to take my traveling companions and me to the hotel reminded me of all the times I
had boarded a bus as a child traveling to my grandmother’s house. This particular coach had a unique
boot2 in the very back. The driver actually got into it as each of us handed him our luggage. I wistfully
looked at the size of it and all that it held, while I thought about the very small trunk of my
Toyota Celica. After checking the tyres, the oil, and the petrol3, our driver followed the “Way Out”4 sign
and we were on our way to the Norfolk Hotel in London. Speeding down the motorway5, a lot of delivery
lorries6 passed our coach, and I was reminded what a busy centre of commerce London really is. I did not
recognize the names of most of the businesses advertised on the sides of most of the lorries. Finally, I
actually saw one that was from the Coca-Cola Company! From my ventilator7, I had an excellent view of
the passing countryside. Soon we were in the outskirts of London, and I noticed some interesting little
carriage ways8 that branched off from the main road on which we were traveling. My companions and I
passed a chemist9 that could have passed for my neighborhood Walgreens. On several corners, I saw
uniformed bobbies10 walking their beats. Small children peered from the ventilators of their flats11, which
seemed to be lining all the streets on either side for miles and miles. Signs that read “To Let12” were on
several of the flats. Mile after mile of these small, rented flats appeared along our way. A crudely made
sign announced a jumble sale13, and I thought about the one I hoped to have in my own garage later this
summer.
Bringing my mind back to the present, one of my fellow teachers passed around a tin of English
biscuits14. I should have resisted, but when I saw they were chocolate chip I had to try them. The package
was quickly emptied, and my generous friend threw the wrapper in the dust bin15 at the front of the coach.
I recognized my hotel as we came upon the round-about16 near it. This was because I had done
my prep17 like a good student and knew from the pictures and map we had been given which streets were
at the intersection near the hotel. We weren’t even out of the coach two minutes when I saw a tube
station18 right across the street. What luck! I was really looking forward to exploring London by this
underground transportation system. Our driver, who had been so kind in helping us load our luggage, was
equally kind in helping us unload. We thanked him, bid him goodbye, and entered the Norfolk for the first
time.
Inside the hotel, we all queued19 up at the main desk to check in. We tried to wait our
turn. When I learned that my room was on the fifth floor, I was certainly glad there was a lift20 to carry
my bags. Getting to the right floor was confusing, though, because the British start numbering the floors
on what we would call the second floor!
Yes, it was true. I was in London, England! But, what I want to know is, “Why do y’all think they
talk so funny there?”
1. coach = _____________
2. boot = _____________
3. petrol = _____________
4. way out = _____________
5. motorway = _____________
6. lorries = _____________
7. ventilator = _____________
8. carriage ways = _____________
9. chemist = _____________
10. bobbies = _____________
11. flats = _____________
12. “to let” = _____________
13. jumble sale = _____________
14. biscuits = _____________
15. dust bin = _____________
16. round-about = _____________
17 prep = _____________
18. tube station = _____________
19. queued up = _____________
20 lift = _____________