CAMBRIDGE
ENGLISH VOCABULARY IN USE ADVANCED
UNIT 65
All the colours of the rainbow
A
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Words
and expressions for specific colours
pitch
black: intensely black, used about
darkness, night, etc. (pitch is an
old word for tar)
jet
black: intensely black, used about hair,
eyes, etc. (jet is a black
semi-precious gemstone)
scarlet: very bright red
crimson: strong deep red
shocking
pink: an extremely bright pink
ginger: orangey red, used about hair and animal fur
navy: dark blue, used about clothes, not eyes
turquoise: greenish blue, used about fabrics, paint, sea, etc. but
not usually eyes
lime: a bright yellowish green
beige: a light creamy brown
mousy: a light, not very interesting brown, used only about
hair
chestnut: a deep reddish brown, used about hair and horses
auburn: a red-brown colour, usually used about hair
A number of words for gemstones are
also used as colour adjectives, e.g. ruby
[deep red], emerald [bright
green], amber [yellowy orange], coral [orangey pink], sapphire [deep blue], jade [dark green].
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B
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Words for talking about colour
Red,
blue and yellow are primary colours; by mixing them together you can
make other colours. Pastel colours are pale shades of colour – pink, mauve
[pale purple] and pale yellow, for example. Strong colours are the
opposite of pastels. Harsh colours are colours that are unpleasantly
strong. Vivid colours are strong, bright colours like scarlet or
turquoise. Fluorescent colours are very bright colours which seem to
glow in the dark. Electric blues or greens are extremely bright blues
or greens. If white has a tinge of green, there is a very slight shade
of green in it. If something is monochrome, it uses only one (or
shades of one) colour, e.g. black, white and grey. The suffixes -y and
-ish show that a colour is partly present, e.g. bluey green, reddish
brown.
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C
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Colour
metaphors
blue = depression (to feel blue); physical or unskilled
(blue-collar workers)
red = anger (to see red = to be very angry); danger (red
alert, a red flag); special importance (All the competitors were
given the red-carpet treatment. The day we met will always be a
redletter day for me.); communist or very left-wing in politics (People’s
views sometimes become less red as they get older.)
green = nausea (to look green) (People who are seasick
often turn/go green and sometimes vomit.); envy (She turned green
with envy when she saw her friend’s new car.); care for the environment (green
tourism; the Green Party)
black = depressing or without hope (a black future);
anger (to look as black as thunder); illegality or incorrectness (black
market, black sheep of the family, black mark) (During the
war people bought many goods illegally on the black market. If I don’t
finish this report in time, that’ll be another black mark against my
name. My brother was the black sheep of the family, leaving school and
home at the earliest opportunity.)
grey = lack of clarity (a grey area); brains (grey
matter, grey cells)
white = purity (white as snow, whiter than white); being
pale (She was so shocked that she went
white as a sheet.); a white-knuckle [terrifying] ride at an amusement
park such as Disneyland; office workers (white-collar workers)
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EXERCISES
65.1
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Match
the colour to the picture it is most likely to be used about.
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65.2
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Put
the words in the box under the best heading.
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65.3
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Answer
these questions about the words in B.
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65.4
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Look
at C opposite. Match the situations on the left with the responses on the
right.
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65.5
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Over
to you
Look
up the colours below in a dictionary. Write down any new and useful
expressions in example sentences of your own, e.g. That sharp corner is a
terrible black spot for road accidents.
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ANSWER KEY
65.1
1 ginger
2 pitch black
3 chestnut
4 scarlet
5 navy
6 turquoise
65.2
red: ruby, coral, scarlet, crimson
blue: sapphire, navy, turquoise
green: emerald, lime, jade
65.3
1 C 2 A 3 C 4 B 5 B
65.4
1 d 2 g 3 f 4 b 5 h 6 a 7 c 8 e
65.5
Possible answers:
There are some great black and white films on TV on Sunday afternoons (NOT white and black). He gave me such a black look that I stopped talking immediately. At last I have received the cheque I was waiting for and our account is in the black again. It was only a white lie when I told her I loved her new hairdo. I’d love to go white-water rafting, though I know it’s quite dangerous. That shop sells mainly white goods – fridges, cookers and the like. I wouldn’t pay any attention to what they’re suggesting – it’s only a red herring. I hate it when my bank account is in the red – they charge so much interest. Don’t talk to him about the present government – it’s like a red rag to a bull. Come and sit next to the fire – you look quite blue with cold. We were driving along when, out of the blue, another car turned out of a side street and stopped just in front of us. I’m not very keen on blue cheese. He likes to imply that he’s blue-blooded, but really most of his ancestors were farm labourers. You can’t park there – there are double yellow lines. If you want to find a plumber, look in the Yellow Pages. Her garden is wonderful – she has green fingers. It’s almost impossible to get permission to build houses in the green belt. The government has recently published a green paper on the Health Service. |
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