In the Yard

(Yard Pictures)

Yards, the grassy areas (usually) of land around  houses in the United States,  are used for a variety of activities.  Some people take pride in having the neatest, cleanest, most weed-free yard in the block, making their yards a place for work and effort.  Other people use their yards as a place for fun and entertainment by putting swing sets, sliding boards, sand boxes, patios and maybe swimming pools in them.  For still other people, a yard is mainly an area around their house for storing things they don't know where else to put: boats, old cars, bicycles, wagons, broken appliances, and so on.  Most people, however, are somewhere between these examples.  They mow their grass and do some trimming, but do not get upset if the yard is not always perfectly neat.  Their children play in the yard sometimes and may have some play equipment, but are just as likely to go to a friend's house or to the park to play.   There may be an  bicycle with a flat tire leaning against the garage along with an old car tire and a couple of rusty  buckets, but they are out of the way so it doesn't look too bad.

Expressions used in the yard:

VYou may print out this lesson from the web page or order it free via e-mail.

Exercise A, verbs used in the yard: Write a meaning that has something to do with a yard for each verb below, and then use that verb in a sentence that you make up.

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Exercise B, Nouns used in the yard:  In the space after each noun below, write a meaning that has something to do with  yards.

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Exercise C: Fill the blanks in the following sentences with the correct nouns from the list above.

1. Mother always wore ____________ when she worked in the _____________.

2. Every fall, Mr. Thompson used his  __________ to gather all the _____________ into a large pile.

3. Modern ______________ put all the  ______________ that they cut into a large bag that attaches to the handles.

4. On summer evenings, my mother likes to sit on her ___________ with her nextdoor_____________ and talk about all the other people on the block.

5. There is a narrow _______________ beside the _______________ that leads to the front door.

6. Many people like to grow fresh vegetables in their _________________ in spite of all the ____________ they have to pull.

7. The whole family was sitting at the ______________ on the ______________ waiting for the steaks to come off the ______________.

8. City houses usually have a ______________ on the ____________ or next to the front door, but country houses put their _______________ on a post near the road.

9. Anne went to ask the ______________ across the street if she could cool off in their _______________.

10. The babysitter sat on a ______________ watching the children play on the _______________.

Answers:  Some of your answers may be different from ours.  That is OK as long as the answers make sense.  Be able to explain your choices.

1. gloves, garden (yard)

2. rake, leaves

3. lawnmowers, clippings

4. porch (patio), neighbor

5. flower bed, sidewalk

6. garden, weeds

7. picnic table, patio (deck), grill

8. mailbox, porch, mailbox

9. neighbor, pool (swimming pool)

10. lawn chair, swing set

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