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AO6 Secure Therapy Set 2 

 

Vocabulary 

Look at the lists below of adjectives with similar meanings. Number each list from one to 

five, showing how high level you think they are. One is the highest level and five is the lowest 

level. 

 

1      2      3      4 

Large      Attractive    Difficult    Evil 

Substantial    Alluring    Burdensome    Abhorrent 

Immense    Enticing    Onerous    Heinous 

Huge      Tempting    Laborious    Abominable 

Sizable     Charming    Demanding    Terrible 

 

 

 

Pick the adjective in each column that you considered the most high‐level. Write a sentence 

that uses that adjective.  

 

 

1.   .................................................................................................. 

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2.   .................................................................................................. 

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3.    .................................................................................................. 

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Highlight the adjectives in the text below. Replace each one with a higher level word. 

 

 

The big tree stood in the middle of the field. From one of its old branches, a scruffy old rope 

hung with a short branch tied to the bottom of it. It was a swing. Years ago, young children 

had played on the swing, enjoying happy and sunny weekends and holidays from school. 

Now, the rope looked worn and thin and as though it might break if someone tugged on it 

too hard. The sight was almost sad – just a small shadow of what it used to be. 

 

 

Adverbs 

 

Look at the words below. Circle the ones that are adverbs or could be used as adverbs. 

 

suddenly  happily   chair    running  laughing  slowly 

soon    smile    laptop    really    sadly    blanket

       

 

Remember, you can move the adverb to the start of your clause to help vary your sentence 

structures and place emphasis on the adverb. If you do this, you need to use a comma 

directly after the adverb. Rewrite each of the following sentences, placing the adverb at the 

start and adding a comma. 

 

 

  She quietly opened the door and crept up the stairs. 

 

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The team finally managed to break through the defense. 

 

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  The beautifully woven thread shone in the sunlight. 

 

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              She carelessly drove over my glasses – twice – crushing them to pieces. 

 

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  They excitedly arrived at the Hay‐on‐Wye Literary Festival. 

 

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Starting a sentence with two adverbs can be very effective. If you use two similar adverbs 

with one that is slightly more extreme, you can then create a sense of building up. 

 

For each adverb below, write another one beside it that is similar in meaning but more 

intense. You can use a thesaurus to help you. The first one has been done for you. 

 

   

Sadly:     Tragically 

 

Painfully:  

 

Worriedly: 

 

Sadly: 

 

Aggressively: 

 

 

Using each of the double adverbs you have written above, write a sentence that begins with 

a double adverb. The first one has been done as an example. Don’t forget, you will need a 

comma after each adverb. 

 

Sadly, tragically, 15 people lost their lives in the incident.  

 

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Conjunctive Adverbials 

 

Conjunctive adverbials are used to join ideas, usually in more formal writing and often in 

writing to argue or persuade. 

 

Here are some examples of some conjunctive adverbials:    

 

Therefore,    Also,     Consequently,     However, 

 

Write a list of as many conjunctive adverbials as you can. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conjunctive adverbials are usually positioned at the start of a main clause. When they start 

a main clause, they always have a comma directly after them.  

 

Add a conjunctive adverbial to each of the sentences below. 

 

................ Some people argue that homework disadvantages the most poor and the  

least able students. 

................ The data suggests that the policy is not working. 

 

................ 70% of people stated that they had been bullied at some point in their school 

life. 

 

................ Those who read books regularly are far more likely to gain 5A*‐C GCSEs. 

 

................  Animal testing cannot be justified for products like lipstick and hairspray. 

 

 

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Nouns can sometimes be overlooked when students think about improving their 

vocabulary. However, it is important to consider using a variety of nouns. 

 

For each of the nouns below, make a spider diagram with all the synonyms you can think of 

around the original word. You may use a thesaurus. 

 

 

 

 

 

Chair          Vehicle 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meal 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plant            Building 

 

 

 For each of the synonyms you have added in your spider diagrams, add an annotation that 

states what that word choice implies. How is it different from the original word? 

 

e.g. Sofa – it implies that it is comfy and homely. It feels cosier than a chair. 

 

 

 

 

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Using interesting and high‐level vocabulary is not just about including adjectives and 

adverbs in your writing; you also need to try to include interesting verbs. Having a range of 

alternative verbs for the ones that are used most commonly can really help. 

 

 

Complete the table below with alternative verbs. You can use a thesaurus to help you. 

 

 

Original Verb  Alternative 1  Alternative 2  Alternative 3  Alternative 4 

Say         

Laugh         

Run         

Walk         

Sit         

Eat         

Work         

 

 

Read the following text and underline all of the prepositional phrases.  

 

 

In her office, Jane sat, waiting for the documents to be sent through. She had been 

promised that they would arrive by midnight. At 12.30am, she finally gave up waiting 

and closed her laptop, leaving it on the desk.  

 

She had an early start tomorrow; at 7am, she had to drop her son off at her mum’s 

house so that she could get to work on time. It was an earlier start than usual 

because there were now road works next to the school she worked in and the traffic 

was really slow, but she couldn’t get in after 8am because lessons started at 8.15am.  

 

Later, In bed, Jane tried to forget all about work and just sleep. 

 

 

Look at the prepositional phrases you have underlined. Now, circle the prepositions. 

 

 

 

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Label the prepositional phrases as either ‘time’ or ‘place’.  

 

 

When prepositional phrases come before a main clause, you need a comma. You do not 

need a comma when they come after it. Look at the following sentences. Underline the 

prepositional phrase and then rewrite the sentence with the prepositional phrase at the 

before the main clause. Don’t forget to add a comma. 

 

 

We had an amazing time at the disco. 

 

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There were some horribly noisy children on the train. 

 

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The prisoners were on hunger strike for three days. 

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Imagery  

 

Imagery is when a writer creates an image with their words, allowing the reader to imagine 

and engage emotionally with what is described. You can create imagery by adding a range of 

sentence ingredients as these help you build up an image and add emotions to it. 

 

Read the example below and tick the line that begins to allow you to imagine the scene and 

engages your emotions: 

 

Road 

Busy road 

Dangerously busy road 

Dangerously busy road beside a children’s play park  

 

 

 

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Fill in the chart below to remind you what the key ingredients of sentences are. You can take 

one example for each ingredient from the example above. 

 

 

Ingredient  Definition  Examples 

Adjective A word that describes a noun (a 

person, place or thing)  

Adverb A word that describes a verb, telling 

the reader how the verb is done  

Prepositional 

Phrase 

A phrase that tells the reader the 

position or time of something  

 

 

 

Participle Phrases  

 

Remember, ING present participles are verbs ending in ING and ED past participles are verbs 

ending in ED. 

 

In the table below, there are five examples of each participle, present and past. Add another 

five to each type.  

 

Present Participles (ING)  Past Participles (ED) 

Thinking  Shocked 

Walking  Scared 

Laughing  Intimidated 

Smiling  Embarrassed 

Remembering  Annoyed 

   

   

   

 

 

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You can add an ING or ED participle to any main clause, either before or after it. The 

participle then relates to the subject of the sentence, meaning that it is doing or being that 

participle.  

 

When you add a participle to a sentence, you must add a comma, regardless of whether it 

comes before or after the main clause. 

 

Below, there is an example of a sentence with an ED and ING participle, both at the start 

and end of the sentence.  

 

ING Participle 

 

  Thinking, the student started to chew the end of his pen. 

  The student started to chew the end of his pen, thinking. 

ED Participle 

 

Confused, the student started to chew the end of his pen. 

  The student started to chew the end of his pen, confused. 

 

 

Verbs 

 

Imagine that you are the writer of the text below and you want it to be more full of 

suspense. One way to do this is to write it in present tense so that it feels as though it is 

happening now.  

 

Change the verbs as required below to rewrite it in the present tense. Don’t forget that you 

change the tense by changing the (finite) verbs.  

 

e.g.   was (past)   is (present)  

  gazed (past)   gaze (present)  

 

 

The crowd gazed nervously as the brave man continued to walk forward on the unsteady 

two‐inch wire. Nik Wallenda was happy to make the ultimate sacrifice to be the first man to 

walk across the Grand Canyon without a safety harness or net. As the howling wind 

 

 

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whipped, he took a tentative first step on the slippery wire. Edging his way, inch by inch, 

across the terrifying 1,500ft drop below, he had to focus all of his energy on keeping his 

balance. Dew‐like beads of perspiration covered his brow and slowly trickled down his face, 

staining his cheeks. 

Take each of the sections of text below and rewrite them in your own words. You should aim 

to change the words in the original but also to reorder the words. Remember, not all words 

can be changed but that is okay as long as you change most of them. 

a)  Tawny owls never actually call the famous owl ‘twit twoo’. In actual fact, the female bird 

calls ‘twit’ as a mating call and the ‘twoo’ is a response from her male counterpart. 

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b)  Motocross is an off‐road motorcycle sport where participants ride their bikes across 

areas of mud, often competing to win a race.  

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c)  The scorpion slowly turned around until it was facing us, its tail curling up as if it was 

ready to attack, readying its poison. 

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d)  Outside of the concert, hundreds of teenage girls waited for the band to emerge, each 

one screaming and waving their arms in the air excitedly. 

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e)  Hummus, which is made by blending together chickpeas and tahini together, is served in 

bowls which people dip their food into, often bread or raw vegetables. 

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Commissioned by The PiXL Club Ltd. 

 

 

 

11 

 

 

This resource is strictly for the use of member schools for as long as they remain members of The PiXL Club. It may not be copied, sold, nor 

transferred  to a  third party or used by  the  school  after membership  ceases. Until  such  time  it may be  freely used within  the member 

school. All opinions and contributions are those of the authors. The contents of this resource are not connected with, nor endorsed by, 

any  other  company,  organisation  or  institution.  PiXL  Club  Ltd  endeavour  to  trace  and  contact  copyright  owners.  If  there  are  any 

inadvertent omissions or errors in the acknowledgements or usage, this is unintended and PiXL will remedy these on written notification. 

  

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AO6 Secure Testing Set 2

Look at the lists below of adverbs with similar meanings. Number each list from one to five,

showing how high level you think they are. One is the highest level and five is the lowest

level.

Quickly Worriedly Happily Unfortunately

Hastily Anxiously Gladly Sadly

Hurriedly Apprehensively Contentedly Disappointingly

Expeditiously Nervously Joyfully Regrettably

Rapidly Fretfully Cheerfully Lamentably

Task One:

Read the text below which is giving advice to someone who is trying to complete a very

challenging obstacle course. Next, rewrite the parts that are underlined, adding an adverb to

each instruction so that they know how to attempt each section. Try to use some higher-

level words and one double adverb.

First, run down the hill and head towards the cargo net. Climb to the very top of the net and

flip your right leg over the top bar before pulling your whole body over it. Once you are over

the top, climb down to the ground and make your way to the balance pods.

On the balance pods, you will need to jump between the raised pods, making your way to

the fi al pod that is te etres i the air. Do ’t try to iss a y pods out. You must jump

from one pod to the next, in order. When you land on a pod, regain your balance before you

attempt to make your next jump.

Next you will be met with the sheep dip. A member of staff will be there. They will take hold

of you by your collar and shove you down into the water and through the tunnel. You will

need to use your hands to guide you through the tunnel so that you get though and do not

get stuck or hit your head. Do ’t forget to hold your breath.

At the end of the obstacle course, you will need to complete a 500 metre downhill sprint.

Take big strides and let the momentum carry you so that you can complete the course in the

quickest time possible.

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Task Two:

Add a conjunctive adverbial and the sentence that could follow it to each of the sentences.

Do ’t forget that you ill eed a o a after your o ju ti e ad er ial.

................ some people argue that Facebook has more disadvantages than advantages.

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................ the statistics highlight how many hours are being spent online.

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................ 85% of parents worry that their child is spending too long on social media

each day .................................................................................................

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................ boredom is a real issue. ..............................................................

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................ it is all too easy to find yourself the victim of cyberbullying. …………..….

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Task Three:

Write a brief story, set in a supermarket, where two people get into an argument. Include as

many alternative, high-level verbs as you a . Do ’t forget to also i lude other i pressi e words too.

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Task Four:

Write a short description of a boy arriving late for school and what happens when he gets

there. Try to use a ra ge of ti e a d pla e prepositio al phrases. Do ’t forget, if your prepositional phrase comes before the main clause, you need a comma.

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Task Five:

Look at the three examples below. Add an adjective, adverb and prepositional phrase to the

examples to try to create imagery. You can also add any other ingredients that you think will

help to create imagery.

Motorway

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Bedroom

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Hospital

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Task Six:

Pick three of each participle (ED and ING) and write a sentence for each that either begins or

ends with the participle phrase. Remember to punctuate using commas appropriately.

ING Participle

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ED Participle

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Task Six:

Change the verbs as required below to rewrite the text in the present tense. The text follows

on from the paragraph in the verb section of the Secure Therapy.

In the shimmering blue sky above, the bright golden sun shone down on the jam-packed

crowd. Occasionally, brown buzzards cautiously and swiftly circled above, peeking down at

Nik and the crowd as though they were watching the stunt unfold. 1500ft below, a shining

river flowed its way around the rocks and into the distance.

Taking a confident step forward, he suddenly lost his balance and slipped down to his knees.

Exhausted, he took a moment to regain his composure and persevered with his almighty

challenge. Finally, he arrived safely on land and the atmosphere erupted as the crowd

cheered enthusiastically.

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Commissioned by The PiXL Club Ltd.

This resource is strictly for the use of member schools for as long as they remain members of The PiXL Club. It may not be copied, sold, nor

transferred to a third party or used by the school after membership ceases. Until such time it may be freely used within the member

school. All opinions and contributions are those of the authors. The contents of this resource are not connected with, nor endorsed by,

any other company, organisation or institution. PiXL Club Ltd endeavour to trace and contact copyright owners. If there are any

inadvertent omissions or errors in the acknowledgements or usage, this is unintended and PiXL will remedy these on written notification.