Look at the words on the right. They are synonyms, but there is adifference between them: they collocate differently. For example, we can say aged man, elderly man or old man, or even ancient man but we can not say antique man.Now read the following dictionary entries of these words.

aged ancient antique elderly old

aged /eɪdʒd/ adj

1 of the age of

2 very old

ancient /’eɪnʃ(ə)nt/ adj

1 belonging to times

that are long past

2 very old or looking

very old

antique /’æn’ti’k/ adj 1 old and valuable 2 belonging to the past, old-fashioned; that has existed for a long time; very old

elderly /’eldə(r)li/ adj 1 rather old, past middle age

old /əʊld/ adj (-er, -est) 1 of a particular age 2 having lived a long time; advanced in age, no longer young 3 having been in existence or use for a long time; belonging to past times; not recent or modern 4 known for a long time, familiar 5 former, previous, but not necessarily old in years

• We can use OLD to talk about people, animals or objects. It usually describes somebody or something that has lived or existed for a long time.

• An OLD friend is somebody we have known for a long time but who is not necessarily old in age. OLD can also mean former or previous.

• AGED is more formal than OLD and is used to describe very old people who have possibly become physically weak.

• ELDERLY is a polite word to describe old people and is often used in official language. ANCIENT and ANTIQUE are usually only applied to things.

• Something ANCIENT existed thousands of years ago. ANTIQUE describes an object which has survived from the past and so is valuable now.

Fill in with a suitable word in the context, based on the above definitions:1.Her grandmother is very ___.2.He has a small collection of ___ objects.3.He reads everything he finds about the __________ Egyptian civilization.4.Would you like a glass of wine?5.He always helps the __ people.6.He likes wearing his pair of blue jeans.7.You are quite fit for an ____ man!8.He sells __ furniture.9.Their boy is __ 5.10.He studies __ history at university.11.How are you?12.It’s an story. I don’t want to talk about it anymore!13.Don’t talk to me like that! I am ___ enough to be your mother.14.Sometimes the people behave just like children.15.I prefer drinking _____ whisky.

Choose the most appropriate word to fill in the sentences:•She has a very nice ___ piece of jewelry that she inherited from her grandmother.a) aged b) antique c) elderly •This __ brandy was kept in oak barrels.a) aged b) ancient c) antique•We are __ friends. We’ve known each other for twenty years.a) ancient b) elderly c) old•Did you know that democracy was established by the Romans?a) ancient b) elderly c) old•The ___ people asked for bigger pensions.a) aged b) elderly c) old•Back in the ___ days men used to court women differently.a) aged b) antique c) old•They bought an house by the lake.a) aged b) antique c) elderly

Fill in with a suitable word in the context, based on the above definitions:

1old2antique3ancient4aged5elderly6old7elderly/old8antique9aged1ancient1old1ancient1old1elderly1aged

Choose the most appropriate word to fill in the sentences:

1antique2aged3old4ancient5aged/elderly/old6old7antique