Grammar Practice in Context - David Bolton, Noel Goodey 1997
77 Adjectives ending in -ed and -ing: I’m bored. My life is so boring
Quick reference
• Adjectives ending in -ing describe what something, or someone, is like. This book's interesting. The teacher was boring.
• Adjectives ending in -ed describe how we feel.
I was frightened and excited at the same time.
• The most common adjectives with -ing and -ed endings are:
1 Read the text below. Use the word(s) given in capitals at the end of each line to form a word that fits in the space in the same line.
This is a rather (1) ... story about a man called Woodrow W. Creekmore of Chickasha, Oklahoma. Mr Creekmore had a (2) ... office job and he was never (3) ... at work.
He’d been feeling very (4) ... for a long time. His wife found his depression very (5) ... She had asked him several times to go to the doctor’s, but each time his answer had been (6) ... and he got (7) ... ’Listen, honey. I’m all right. I wish you’d stop worrying.’ Mr Creekmore never slept very well, and after a lew weeks he was (8) ...
One morning in March 1995, on the way to work, he was so (9) ... he fell asleep at the wheel of his car and drove into a telegraph pole. The police arrived and were (10) ... to find Mr Creekmore standing by the wreck of his car. It wasn’t (11) ... that he was (12) ... and slightly (13) ... but fortunately he wasn’t seriously hurt. They examined the badly (14) ... car and concluded that it was (15) ... that Mr Creekmore had got out of it alive. They weren’t particularly (16) ... in how the accident happened but they asked him a few routine questions.
As they were doing this, something (17) ... happened. The (18) ... telegraph pole fell and hit Mr Creekmore on the head. The police were (19) ... to find it had killed him.
HORROR
BORE
SATISFY
DEPRESS
WORRY
DISAPPOINT
ANNOY
EXHAUST
TIRE
SURPRISE
SURPRISE
SHOCK/CONFUSE
DAMAGE
AMAZE INTEREST
SHOCK
DAMAGE
HORROR
2 Choose adjectives from the box to complete this description of a photographic model’s job. Use each adjective once.
embarrassed
amazed
surprised
tired
exciting
excited
interesting
interested
disgusting
annoying
boring
’People think it must be very (1) ... being a model, but it’s sometimes quite (2) ... For example, I go to bed before 10.00 most nights because I mustn’t look (3) ... the next day. But I must admit I still get (4) ... when I wear clothes which feel and look just right on me and I go to some (5) ... places. Last week I went to Marrakech in Morocco. The problem was I had to eat sheeps’ eyes - that was really (6) .....................................................
I used to be a bit (7) ... when I told people I was a model. They all thought I must be stupid and that was really (8) ... People are quite (9) ... when they find out that I’m intelligent. A journalist I spoke to recently was (10) ... when I told him I was (11) ... in Baroque music and that I had studied computer technology at university. He just couldn’t believe it!’
3 Rick Grant recently went on holiday. Look at the pictures and complete the sentences, using adjectives from the Quick reference box.
1 The flight was long and ...
2 The food on the plane was ...
3 Rick felt very ... . The weather was awful.
4 He was ... when he saw his hotel room.
5 He was very ... and went to speak to the hotel proprietor.
4 Write a short description of an event in your life, using as many as possible of the adjectives ending in -ing and -ed in the Quick reference box.
Example: I had a frightening experience when I was 15. I had to spend the night alone in a 16th century castle. I’ve never been so frightened, etc.
Check your answers with a teacher.