Word Pairs

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  • Type the correct word in the boxes from the pairs of words [in brackets].
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Words
Mathematicians are using their analytical [skillful / skills] to understand what makes the perfect cup of coffee. It might seem [oddly / odd] that a team of mathematicians is trying to establish what is [behind / beneath] the perfect cup of coffee until you realize that coffee [contrasts / consists] of over 1,800 chemical components. If you combine these [to / with] the different ways of brewing coffee, it makes [sense / sensible] because there are a lot of numbers [involved / involving] . Mathematicians from universities in Ireland and England used [some / them] complex calculations to determine how to make an [idea / ideal] cuppa. Researchers Dr William Lee and Dr Kevin Moroney focused on what happens to coffee as it passes through a [variety / various] of filter coffee machines.

The scientists hope their research will [exchange / change] the way coffee machines are made. Dr Lee told the BBC News: "Our [overall / overalls] idea is to have a complete mathematical [model / replica] of coffee brewing that you could use to design coffee machines, [rather / prefer] like we use a theory of fluid and solid mechanics to design racing cars." In the [nearly / near] future, coffee lovers might be able to [adjustment / adjust] many of the variables that [affect / effect] the taste of the coffee as it is filtered and brewed. These include [how / what] hot the water is, how fast the water flows, the size coffee beans are [ground / earthed] into, the length of time it is brewed, and more. The research is published in the [journal / journey] of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.

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