What does crisis mean?
Word: Crisis
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Crisis means a time of great difficulty, when problems must be solved and important decisions made quickly.
How do you spell crisis?
Syllables: cri - sis
Tricky part: The first beat sounds like cry, but it is written with an i, not a y. Crysis is a common slip.
Watch out for: crysis, chrisis
Memory tip: Cry is spelt with a y, but crisis is not: picture the y being crossed out and an i put in its place.
Crisis in a sentence
Example 1: The village faced a water crisis when the well dried up in May.
Example 2: The school fete had a small crisis when the sound system stopped working.
Example 3: Good leaders stay calm in a crisis and listen to everyone.
Fun Fact
The plural of crisis is crises, said cry-seez. The word came into English from a Greek word meaning decision.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word:
crisis
a) routine
b) solution
c) celebration
d) emergency
Show answer
d) emergency. Both name a sudden serious problem; a celebration is happy, a solution ends a problem, and a routine is ordinary.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
crisiss
a) i
b) r
c) c
d) s
Show answer
d) s. The word ends with a single s, like basis.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) shortage
b) dilemma
c) crisus
d) struggle
Show answer
c) crisus. Both vowels in this short word are the same letter.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
sircis
a) cirrus
b) crisis
c) critic
d) circus
Show answer
b) crisis. Critic needs a t, circus a u, and cirrus a u and a second r, so the letters only make crisis.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A town facing a fuel crisis would most likely see ____.
a) free fuel for everyone
b) more cars on the road
c) long queues at petrol pumps
d) cheaper bus tickets
Show answer
c) long queues at petrol pumps
2. Which of these shows someone handling a crisis well?
a) a player sleeping during the match
b) a coach leaving the ground early
c) a fan shouting at the umpire
d) a captain calmly making a new plan
Show answer
d) a captain calmly making a new plan
