Fun with synonyms

By OH TEIK THEAM

EACH sentence below contains a synonym of the italicised word(s), spelt out in consecutive letters. Can you spot it?

Example: The couple continued their walk along the path in silence after he commented that she was not as slim as she used to be.

1. The gangsters who have been terrorising the area always record in their notebooks the amount of money they extort from each shopkeeper.

2. The football club has decided to offer a reward to anyone who discovers a young player of remarkable skill.

3. The teacher decided to tell an interesting story to the class, and a pupil interrupted her a minute later by asking, “Why was the hare late for the race?”

4. “By the time you get to the end of this book of potions,” the wizard said to the young man, “you will have learned how to cure aches and pains of all kinds.”

5. She watched her little boy walk with long steps towards his father to say, “Dad, give me a fast ride on your back!”

6. “This bar ain’t good enough for me,” said the loud-mouthed cowboy just before he was thrown out of the saloon, so that he found himself drenched in the downpour.

7. “Was she at home when her ancient sword with its case was stolen from her house?”

8. The headmaster had a weird dream in which a teacher said to him, “I can’t teach in a classroom where the pupils throw porcelain cups at me!”

9. “Why did the writer throw a stapler at the group of linguists on the podium?”

10. The new girl at the office, painfully retiring and reticent, wrote on a card that she sent to her supervisor: “I’m unable to attend your party, but I wish you a happy birthday.”

11. There wasn’t a particle of truth in the words uttered by the farmer who stood in his field in the slanting rain: “They give the Nobel Prize to people who are outstanding in their field.”

12. When his mother made an unplanned visit to the dentist’s, the mischievous boy thought, “I should seize this opportunity to help myself to the appetizing raspberries in the fridge.”

13. The man behind the counter, who was small in height, asked me, “Would you prefer cash or traveller’s cheques?”

14. At the insects’ convention, a lively wasp aired her views about pollination, and a brace of cicadas applauded her.

15. Directing his anger at his assistant, the scientist bellowed, “Another new rat has escaped from the lab!”

Answers

1.enter 2.rare 3.relate 4.reach 5.stride 6.rain 7.sheath 8.china 9.fling 10.shy 11.grain 12.grasp 13.short 14.pair 15.wrath