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Word Work
1
Fever Pitch excercises
Word Work
Language in Use
Before the past?
The writer, Nick Hornby, is remembering a sequence of events that happened many
years ago. As he is writing from the viewpoint of the present, he naturally
writes in
the PAST TENSE. (…..Dad quickly took me to Spurs…..)
Events being described Remembering
(Past) (Present)
However, although everything happened in the past, not everything happened at
the
same time in the past and some events occurred before other events. Let’s have a
quick look at what has happened here: we already know that his dad took the
author, then aged 11, to see his first football match. He became hooked,
immediately. So what is the ‘inevitable’ that his dad is trying to stop? Answer:
his son
becoming a fanatical fan of Arsenal. Was he able? He tried his best (…..to Spurs
to
see Jimmy Greaves….in a 5.1 win…) but it was too late (…the damage had been done
…..
I’d already fallen for the team that beat Stoke….). So the sequence of events is
clear and
obvious:
All in the past
The grammatical device, of course, is the past perfect, a tense which lets us
talk
about events that happened BEFORE the normal time of the story or narrative.
Here are some more examples of remembering an earlier past from the text:
‘had blown all chance’- idiomatic, meaning had destroyed any chances
Question: when did Arsenal blow their chances: before, during or after November?
In a desperate and percipient attempt to stop the inevitable, Dad quickly took
me to Spurs
to see Jimmy Greaves score four against Sunderland in a 5-1 win, but the damage
had
been done, and the six goals and all the great players left me cold: I'd already
fallen for the
team that beat Stoke 1-0 from a penalty rebound.
Arsenal v Stoke match Becoming a devoted fan Spurs v Sunderland match
That season Arsenal had blown all chance of the Championship by about November,
a
little later than usual
Word Work
2
Question: Was he allowed to see a midweek game at some later date?
After witnessing, for the first time, his team’s defeat at the FA Cup Final at
Wembley,
he looks at a photograph taken one week later at a match with QPR. He can’t
understand what he saw.
Question: There are two references to previous events: one relates to what
happened a week before the photograph was taken and the other when the
photograph was taken. Which is which?
EXERCISE
Complete this short description of a football game from later in Nick Hornby’s
book
‘Fever Pitch’, by completing the gaps with the verbs that follow in brackets in
either
the past or past perfect tenses. But be careful – the time of the narrative
changes
from the time and date that is mentioned at the beginning to the time of the
Spurs
match.
The League Cup I'd never really heard of, mainly because it was a midweek
competition and I hadn't yet been allowed to attend a midweek game
Why would any fan who had suffered at Wembley the way I had suffered stand up
to cheer a nothing goal in a nothing match? I used to stare at this photo for
minutes
at a time, trying to detect somewhere within it any evidence of the trauma of
the
previous week, some hint of grief or of mourning, but there was none: apparently
everyone had forgotten except me
NB: Note that in the last extract the two previous events that are mentioned
(the defeat
and the photo at the later match) didn’t happen at the same time – week
separated them.
However, we don’t differentiate when choosing a tense: any previous event to the
time of
the narrative is told in the past perfect. We use other clues to work out the
time
relationship between them.
TOTTENHAM v ARSENAL 4.3.87
If this book has a centre, then it is here, on the Wednesday night in March 1987
that I travelled from
a psychiatrist's office in Hampstead to White Hart Lane in Tottenham to see a
Littlewoods Cup semifinal
replay. I didn't plan it that way, of course: the trip to Hampstead _____
(be/arrange) well before a
replay became necessary. But now, when I am attempting to explain why football
has managed to
slow me down and speed me up, and how Arsenal and I got all mixed up together in
my head, this
particular conjunction looks implausibly neat.
It is easier to explain why Arsenal and Spurs ____ (need) a replay than it is to
explain why I needed a
psychiatrist, so I shall begin there. The two legs of the semi-final ____
(produce) an aggregate score of
2-2, and even extra time on the Sunday at White Hart Lane ____(fail) to push one
of the teams over
the edge and out of the competition, although four goals in three and a half
hours of football is an
inadequate indicator of the exhausting drama of the two games. In the first one,
at Highbury, Clive
Allen celebrated his typically predatory piece of finishing in the first half by
jumping into the air and
landing flat on his back from a height of about five feet, one of the most
eccentric expressions of joy
I have ever seen; and Paul Davis ____(miss) an open goal from less than six
inches, and Hoddle hit
the bar with a brilliant curling free kick, and poor Gus Caesar, ____(torment)
beyond all dignity by
Waddle, had to be replaced by the only other player we ___(have) available, a
young man called
Michael Thomas, who ____(never/play) in the first team before.
Word Work
3
Fever Pitch
Word Work
Language in Use
Finished or Unfinished Time?
The writer here is clearly talking about something that started when he was
young,
aged about 11, but which continues to the present day. The events that belonged
specifically to the time when he was 11 (“smiled politely” “made a noise”) are
written
in the past tense. This trait, or characteristic, remains with him today, so the
past
tense would not be appropriate. He uses the present perfect tense, linking the
past
with the present.
The present perfect is a maddening tense in English. It is all to do with the
perception of the present and what effects it, and sometimes this isn’t always
clear.
Let’s have a look at other examples from the text.
The use of the present perfect has repeated tells us that this pattern, which
started
when he was eleven (dressed as a six-year-old!) but which continued through when
he was a student at college until the present. We know this because if this
pattern
stopped before the present, then he would have used the past tense. (This
pattern
repeated itself several times after then). The other clue, of course, is since.
I’ve come to expect – what the writer is saying is that life has taught him a
lesson that
he hasn’t forgotten; it remains with him in the present.
I have felt the pain….twenty-two times - the implication here is that the writer
expects to feel the pain again. In other words, this pain is not something that
only
belongs to the past, but also to the present. Of course, a strong clue is the
use of the
words At the time of writing, a reference to the present time.
Over to you.
1. Other references to time can be quite specific, others not so obvious. Put
the
following expressions into two lists: finished or unfinished time.
I just smiled politely and made a noise intended to express interest but no
commitment, a
maddening trait I think I invented especially for that time in my life but which
has somehow
remained with me ever since.
As long as you knew the name of the Burnley manager, nobody much cared that you
were an eleven-year-old dressed as a six-year-old.
This pattern has repeated itself several times since then. The first and easiest
friends I
These disappointments were still entirely new to me, of course, but like all
fans, I've come
to expect them now. At the time of writing, I have felt the pain of FA Cup
defeat twenty-two
times, but never as keenly as that first one.)
this week last year at the time of writing lately in my life
when he was 11 a long time ago today this afternoon in 2001
before I was born
Word Work
4
2. Choose the correct tense
1. I (haven’t played/didn’t play) football recently.
2. ‘Who is he? I (‘ve never seen/never saw) that referee before.’
3. I (‘ve scored/scored) lots of goals in my life.
4. Eusébio (has scored/scored) lots of goals before he retired.
5. He (‘s left/ left) the team last year.
6. Where (have you learned/did you learn) to play so well?
7. Just wait! The match (hasn’t finished/ didn’t finish) yet.
8. She (has played/played) goalkeeper when she was at school.
9. (Have you seen/ Did you see) any good matches recently?
10. Nick Hornby (has been/was) an Arsenal supporter since he was 11.
3. Sometimes we don’t need to use a time expression. We can think about a
finished or unfinished time without saying so:
Put in the most suitable tense (simple past or present perfect only)
1. Have you heard? Manchester United (be/relegate)!
2. I (not/hear) the latest results.
3. Bobby Moore (captain) the English team last time England won the World
Cup.
4. Queen Victoria (never/see) a football match.
5. Although the English (invent) football, they (not/always/be) the best
players.
6. How many times (you/ see) Porto play?
7. Who (choose) the world’s first referee?
8. ‘(you/hear) the result?’ ‘No, I was too busy at work.’
9. I (never/enjoy) a match as much as this one.
10. You (never/be) any good as a forward.
4. Complete the three questions below in your own words, and then ask three
different people each of the questions. Report back the answers.
1. Have you ever ………………………?
2. How often have you ………………..?
3. When did you last …………………..?
Did you see Spurs? (=They played recently)
Have you seen Spurs? (=Have you ever seen Spurs play?)
You have never
lived/never lived until
you have seen/ saw City
play away
Word Work
5
Fever Pitch
Word Work
Language in Use:
‘Of which we speak’
The word ‘which’ occurs just seven times in the extract from ‘Fever Pitch’. In
each case ‘which’ is presented it refers back in the sentence to either a
single word or a phrase. Some people would refer to them as being relative
pronouns or relative adjectives. In these exercises we will just refer to them
as
‘relatives’, because in each case the word ‘which’ is acting as a reminder or a
summary. ‘Which’ is an important word because it can help us make more complex
sentences and save us from repeating ourselves.
Look at the first example from the text. The writer is explaining how he reacted
to his
father who was trying to think of things that they could do together. Which
occurs
twice; in one case it refers back to a verb, and in the other a noun. The
question is:
which verb and which noun?
1. The first which refers to _______________________________.
2. The second which refers to ____________________________.
The first sentence might have been made into two if which hadn’t been used,
thus:
“……a maddening trait I think I invented especially for that time in my life.
However,
that trait has somehow remained with me ever since.”
3. Write the second sentence (from the semi-colon only) so that it appears in
two sentences.
______________________________________________________________
Here are three more examples from the text, except that they have been
cut up (A). Obviously you’ve got to join them up again! Then you have to
match them up with an event that happened just before the event
described in each sentence (B).
A
It might not be too fanciful to suggest that it
was an idea
in which to glue stickers of the players
Each page of the album was devoted to one
First Division team, and contained fourteen or
fifteen spaces
in which to humiliate their peers,
opportunities like this were too good to miss.
For twelve-year-old boys permanently on the
lookout for ways
which shaped my life.
I just smiled politely and made a noise intended to express interest but no
commitment, a
maddening trait I think I invented especially for that time in my life but which
has somehow
remained with me ever since. For two or three years he had been trying to take
me to the
theatre; every time he asked I simply shrugged and grinned idiotically, with the
result that
eventually Dad would get angry and tell me to forget it, which was what I wanted
him to
say.
1
2
Word Work
6
BT
he author had just received a promotional gift from the football club.
The author had just returned to school after his team were beaten in the Cup.
The author had just discovered that pain as a form of entertainment was
possible.
According to one of the quotes above, the author could claim a defining
moment in his life; in other words, a moment that changed the way he was
or the way he lived. Most of us have some very important moments in our
lives that we can look back on and say ‘That was an important moment’. Take a
few
moments now to make a note of two or three important moments in your life (they
don’t ALL have to be about football!)
1. _____________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________
Now choose ONE of the moments above, and write it into as many complete
sentences as you can using the word which.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Here the author is describing some of the first impression he got from his first
football match. How much part of the crowd did he feel?
This is another example of which being used together with a preposition. Look
back
at the previous quotes from the text above and see what other prepositions have
been used.
All I really saw on the day was a bewildering chain of incomprehensible
incidents, at the
end of which everyone around me stood and shouted.
…..Arsenal versus Stoke City......
“It was that Stoke match which first got me excited about football”
“I went to the Highbury stadium in which I found my dream”.
“It was going to the game to please my Dad which turned out to
be the best decision I ever made.”
3
4
Word Work
7
Of course, that was a trick question – there is only one! Notice that the
preposition
used is the same as would be used by the word that it is the relative of:
…..contained fourteen or fifteen spaces in which to glue stickers……..
…..the stickers are glued in the spaces provided…….
…..boys permanently on the look out for ways in which to humiliate their
peers...
….to humiliate their peers in (different) ways……
…..incomprehensible incidents, at the end of which everyone around me stood….
….at the end of some incomprehensible incidents everyone around me stood ….
Here’s another example from the text containing preposition + which. Can you
rewrite it omitting which but retaining the preposition?
1. __________________________________________________________________
Here are some incomplete sentences. The prepositions that are missing are in the
box. Some may fit more than one space, but you must use all the prepositions.
2. The team had just received bad news ___ which their fans knew nothing.
3. Injury time added 15 minutes to the game ___ which the rain fell heavily.
4. He looked at the bus ___ which the team would be travelling.
5. The referee blew his whistle ___ which the fans erupted into cheering.
6. The first half, ___ which 40 minutes had been played, was yet to produce a
goal.
Football may have provided us with a new medium through which we could
communicate,
but that was not to say that we used it
at during of in
Word Work
8
Fever Pitch
Word Work
Glossary
English – English
The following words appear in the extract from Nick Hornby’s book ‘Fever Pitch’
featured in this kit. The definitions are accurate for the context of this
story, but may
vary in different contexts.
‘Beware the Ides of March’ warning given to Caesar in Shakespeare’s ‘Julius
Caesar’
abject miserable
aloft in the air, above the head
awed impressed
banal commonplace
barred prohibited
barren unfertile
betrayal disloyalty
bewildering confusing
blithe unworried
Booker Prize major literary prize in Britain
boorish uneducated
Bridlington seaside town on east coast of England
bullied intimidated
bunged thrown; put
busts statue, head and shoulders of
churning feeling of discomfort in stomach
commuter-belt distance from London to/from where daily travel is easy
cope deal successfully with
Coronation crowning of Elisabeth II in 1953
courtship preliminary period to win affection (as if a love affair)
curdle turn bitter, unpleasant
enthralled captured; greatly pleased
FA Football Association
fallen for become devoted to
fidgety moving about due to boredom
final whistle end of game
foul bad, offensive
fractious argumentative
giggling laughing in childish way
glee absolute happiness
good hiding totally defeated
grief extreme sadness
groan noise made to express unhappiness
had blown had destroyed
header movement of ball from players head
Highbury Stadium of Arsenal FC
Home Counties district surrounding London
inept useless
Jacob Epstein 20th century sculptor
jaundice icterícia
jeering making fun of
keenly sharply, strongly
kick-off beginning of game
lawn carefully kept area of grass
loathed hated
Word Work
9
loathing hatred
Longleat safari park
lukewarm not very enthusiastic
lumbering moving heavily, without grace
Minehead seaside town in south west England
mob undisciplined group
mournfully sadly
mourning expression of loss (as in death of loved one)
nudged attracted attention in humorous way
over the odds more than the real value
overwhelming irresistible
peer (verb) look carefully
peers (noun) equals
percipient understanding, far-sighted
prefab temporary building
prurience feelings of indulgence in forbidden thoughts
QPR Queens Park Rangers FC
quid pound sterling
quirk eccentricity
rebound ricochet
rendered made
rubbing salt into making things worse
run-of-the-mill ordinary, nothing exceptional
saturated filled
scar permanent damage
scrappy unplanned; not well thought out
Silverstone motor racing ground
smirked smiled with self-satisfaction
sour bad-tasting, bitter
sportsmanship fair and generous behaviour
stickers autocolante
sullen passively bad-tempered
swapped exchanged
swots students who study hard
tackle challenging opponent in game
tetchy and strained bad tempered and nervous
tout illegal seller of tickets
trade-off exchange
traipsing walking endlessly
trait characteristic
trampling walking all over
trickle move slowly
underdogs those seen as inferior
wanker derogatory name (alluding to masturbation)
weeds unathletic, unsporty people
weep cry
were a breeze were easy
West Stand covered area at Highbury (q.v.)
wont inclined; likely
Word Work
10
Fever Pitch
Word Work
Glossary
English – Portuguese
The following words appear in the extract from Nick Hornby’s book ‘Fever Pitch’
featured in this kit. The definitions are accurate for the context of this
story, but may
vary in different contexts.
‘Beware the Ides of March’ cuidado com os Idos de Março
abject miserável
aloft no ar
awed impressionado
banal banal
barred banidos
barren sem sucesso
betrayal traição
bewildering confusa
blithe despreocupado, alegre
Booker Prize o maior prémio literário na Grã-Bretanha
boorish grosseiro
Bridlington cidade na costa leste de Ingleterra
bullied maltratados
bunged atirado
busts bustos
churning volta ao estômago
commuter-belt periferia
cope aguentar
Coronation coroação da rainha Isabel II em 1953
courtship namoro
curdle azedar-se
enthralled encantado
FA Associação de Futebol
fallen for apaixonado
fidgety irrequieta
final whistle apito final
foul obscena
fractious rabugentas
giggling a dar risadas
glee alegria
good hiding derrota, “tareia”
grief sofrimento, dor
groan gemido
had blown tinha perdido
header cabeçada
Highbury Estádio do Clube de Futebol do Arsenal
Home Counties condados à volta de Londres
inept despropositado
Jacob Epstein escultor do século 20
jaundice icterícia
jeering a troçar
keenly atrozmente
kick-off pontapé de saída
lawn relvado
loathed odiei
Word Work
11
loathing ódio
Longleat parque de safaris
lukewarm pouco entusiasmado
lumbering arrastava-se pesadamente
Minehead cidade na costa sudoeste de Inglaterra
mob multidão
mournfully tristemente
mourning pesar
nudged fizeram-me um sinal
over the odds mais do que devia
overwhelming irresistível
peer (verb) espreitar
peers (noun) colegas
percipient consciente
prefab edifício pré-fabricado
prurience com curiosidade mórbida
QPR Clube de Futebol de Queens Park Rangers
quid libra esterlina
quirk mania
rebound ricochete
rendered tornou-se
rubbing salt into piorar as coisas
run-of-the-mill vulgar
saturated cheio
scar marcar
scrappy à sorte
Silverstone autódromo
smirked sorriram todos contentes
sour amargo
sportsmanship desportivismo
stickers autocolante
sullen sombrio, carregado
swapped trocávamos
swots marrões
tackle desarme
tetchy and strained mal-humorada e tensa
tout candongueiro
trade-off troca
traipsing caminhando
trait característica
trampling a espezinhar
trickle rolar devagar
underdogs seres inferiores
wanker (insulto)
weeds lingrinhas
weep chorar
were a breeze eram “canja”
West Stand área coberta em Highbury
wont tendência, costume
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