This is the fifth sample article candidates of the ECPE examination (Examination for the Certificate of Proficiency in English of the University of Michigan) My first post to deal with articles , explains what needs to be present in this type of piece of writing. As stated, examiners are looking for articles that elaborate on ideas and have solid arguments; are well organized; make use of a wide lexical and grammatical range; have an original ring to them (in other words, readers are able to distinguish the author's unique "voice"). Before reading, take a look at the following post if you haven't already done so. It will help you focus on the vital aspects you need to be aware of while reading the article and what you should make sure to use when you write your own. The question appeared in Practice Tests for the ECPE Book 1 (revised 2021 version) and is accompanied by the following three writing prompts:
The latest word is one found in the bottom half of the list of popular words used in English. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary places its first appearance in 1513, Dictionary.com in the 1590's, Oxford dictionary in the late 16th century, while Collins' (Collins Cobuild) online dictionary shows the popularity of this rarely used word peaking in 1860 at a frequency of 0.3.
Meaning
a) if used with a capital letter "h", it refers to Hercules (see the Greek origin section below)
b) "herculean" with a lower-case letter is an adjective used to describe something or someone of tremendous
- power
- strength
- courage
- determination
- intensity
- effort
- difficulty
Examples
1) a herculean task / problem
2) a man of herculean proportions
3) put herculean effort into something
Greek origin
The Romans slightly altered the Greek Heracles (Ηρακλής) to create Hercules, their hero and god with slight adaptations from the original stories they borrowed from Greek mythology. Heracles was born of Alcmene and Zeus who, being his usual self as always, took on Alcmene's husband's form and seduced Alcmene. Cavorting for the umpteenth time, Zeus managed to make his wife, Hera, livid but instead of becoming the recipient of her wrath, it was poor Heracles who was driven insane by her one fine day and killed his own wife and children. To compensate for this fit of madness, he was counseled by the oracle at Delphi to atone for his sin by serving King Eurystheus. The latter gave him ten formidable feats to accomplish, which were completed in 10 years, then manipulated him into performing two more. The sum of these twelve feats are known as the Labors of Heracles / Labors of Hercules and it is generally because of their difficulty that the adjective herculean has taken on its meaning.
Synonyms
a) arduous, challenging, demanding, rigorous, exacting, laborious, burdensome
b) enormous, gigantic, heroic, monumental
c) bulky, formidable, handsome, imposing
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