Unit 1
Check Y our Understanding
State whether each of the following statements is TRUE or FALSE.
a. F
b. F
c. F
d. F
e. T
In-Class Activities
1. The word ―wor d‖is diverse in terms of its meaning. Consider its usages in the following contexts:
a. May I say a word about that?
b. Actions speak louder than words.
c. She has kept her wor
d.
d. Finally the general gave the word to retreat.
e. Let me know if you get word of my wife.
f. Word has it they‘re divorcin
g.
ASK:
(1) What does ―word‖ mean in each of the contexts?
a. Something he would talk about
b. things that are said, contrasted with things that are done
c. the promise one has made
d. spoken command or signal
e. information
f. piece of news; message
(2) Do you know of any other usages the word ―word‖ has?
2.
ASK:
(1) Can you summarize the five criteria introduced by David Crystal here?
Potential pause :The pause , which happens when you say a sentence, will tend to fall
between words, and not within words.
Indivisibility: The extra items will be added between the words and not within them.
Minimal free forms: the smallest units of speech that can meaningfully stand on their own. Phonetic boundaries: It is sometimes possible to tell from the sound of a word where it begins or ends.
Semantic units: each word in a sentence has a clear meaning.
(2) Do you think these criteria are questionable in any way? Can they be applied to the
identification of zi, the rough Chinese equivalent of the English ―word‖?
No, as the above analysis explained. No , they cannot. For example, 流连and 蹒跚，they are danchuci(单纯词) which cannot be analyzed independently.
3.
ASK:
(1) Suppose we want to know what are the ten most frequently used English words. What are they, as far as you can tell? How about Chinese?
The, of ,to, and, a, in, is, it, you, that
的、一、是、在、了、不、和、有、大、着
(2) Are there any similarities and differences between the ten most frequently used words in
English and those in Chinese?
They are basically functional words. Both have possessive word,(of, 的) number words(a,一), copula words(is, 是), conjunctions(and, 和) and localizers(in, 在).; English has the definite article the and several pronouns, you , that and it which are absent in Chinese.
4. According to Ferdinand de Saussure, there is no intrinsic relation between the form of a word and what it stands for. In other words, words are arbitrary (i.e. not motivated) in terms of meaning designation. However, there seem to be abundant cases in natural languages that defy this generalization. For example, onomatopoeic words seem to exist in all the languages known to us. To a lesser degree, the meaning of some words can be partly deduced from their components. For example, ―sl-― is highly suggestive of the meaning of the words that contain it, such as ―slide‖, ―slip‖, and ―slush‖.
ASK:
(1)
Babble, bang, grunt, splash; 噼啪、嗡嗡、滴滴哒、吱嘎吱
No, these words are only a small part of English or Chinese vocabulary
(2)
Football and handball concern the body part which take the ball from one place to another, and basketball is named after a basket into which the ball is put in the begging stage of the game. (3)
People have bodily embedded knowledge to infer these motivations of such usage. The first example concerns the metaphor and second metonymy
(4) Do you know other types of words or usages that are motivated in one way or another?
Some figurative usages are also highly motivated. For example: Necessity is the mother of invention.
5. British English (BE for short) and American English (AE for short) are two major varieties of the English language.Though they have fundamental similarities in terms of grammar and vocabulary, they also differ substantially in many ways. On the vocabulary level, several distinct distinctions are found. First, there are differences in the pronunciation of some words, mostly in the vowel sounds, as illustrated in the following table:
Some consonants are also pronounced differently. Particularly, in BE，the letter r before a consonant is not pronounced, but that at the end of a word is pronounced if the next word begins
with a vowel, e.g., cart /k: t/, door /d :/, but a member of /? memb??f /; in AE, the letter r is pronounced in all positions.
Secondly, BE and AE differ in the spelling of some words. Usually, the AE variants are simpler than their British counterparts, as manifested below.
A further noticeable difference relates to the lexical meaning of some words. For instance, ―bill‖ means ―bank note‖ in AE but ―a demand for payment of a debt‖ in BE.
ASK:
(1) Can you supply more words that are pronounced differently in British English and American
English
half, advance, advantage, after, answer, ask, glance, glass, grasp
(2) Do you know of any grammatical differences between British English and American English? In American English we say ―graduate from school‖; while in British English, we say ―leave school‖. In American English, it has ―put up price‖, while in British English, it is ―raise price‖(3) Are there special words for which AE and BE have very distinctive spellings?
For Chinese characters―博览会‖, British English has ―fair‖ while American English usees trade show. ― Life and elevator‖ , and ―autumn and fall‖ are more examples.
(4) Can you find more examples of the same words with different meanings in AE and BE?
one billion/ first floor/ pants
one billion
(Brit) the number 1000000000000 万亿之数
(US) the number 1000000000十亿之数
first floor
In British English the floor of a building at street level is the ground floor and the floor above that is the first floor.
In US English the street-level floor is the first floor and the one above is the second floor
Pants
(Brit) men's underpants; women's or children's knickers
(US) trousers
6. The following excerpt comes from Barack Obama‘s speech on Father‘s Day, June 15, 2008. Read it carefully, and pay special attention to his choice of words.
The first is setting an example of excellence for our children — because if we want to set high expectations for them, we‘ve got to set high expectations for ourselves. It‘s great if you have a job; it‘s even better if you have a college degree. It‘s a wonderful thing if you are married and living in a home with your children, but don‘t just sit in the house and watch ―Sports Center‖ all weekend long. That‘s why so many children are growing up in front of the television. As fathers and parents, we‘ve got to spend more time with them, and help them with their homework, and replace the video game or the remote control with a book once in a while. That‘s how we build that foundation…..
The second thing we need to do as fathers is pass along the value of empathy to our children. Not sympathy, but empathy —the ability to stand in somebody else‘s shoes;
to look at the world through their eyes. Sometimes it‘s so easy to get caught up in ―us,‖ that we forget about our obligations to one another. There‘s a culture in our society that says remembering these obligations is somehow soft —that we can‘t show weakness, and so therefore we can‘t show kindness……
And the final lesson we must learn as fathers is also the greatest gift we can pass on to our children —and that is the gift of hope.…I‘m not talking about an idle hope that‘s little more than blind optimism or willful ignorance of the problems we face. I‘m talking about hope as that spirit inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better is waiting for us if we‘re willing to work for it and fight for it. If we are willing to believe.
ASK:
(1) How does Obama distinguish ―empathy‖ from ―sympathy‖?
Empathy means Identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings.
The ability to stand in somebody else‘s shoes
Sympathy is defined as feeling of pity and sorrow (for sb.)
(2) Why does Obama bother to define ―hope‖– a familiar word to all?
Hope, according to Obama, is som ething better is waiting for us if we‘re willing to work for it and fight for it. If we are willing to believe. He differentiates hope from what is blind optimism or willful ignorance of the problems we face
(3) What other lexical choices impress you deeply as well?
―As fathers and parents‖, why not as fathers and mothers,
Open to discussion
Post-Class Tasks
1. What characteristics do functional words have？Read the following excerpt from George W. Bush‘s Farewell Address in 2009 and underline the functional words used in it.
Like all who have held this office before me, I have experienced setbacks. There are things I would do differently if given the chance. Yet I have always acted with the best interests of our country in mind. I have followed my conscience and done what I thought was right. You may not agree with some tough decisions I have made. But I hope you can agree that I was willing to make the tough decisions.
2. How do you understand receptive and productive lexical knowledge? Use your own examples
to illustrate their differences. Which type of vocabulary is probably the largest for a language user, reading vocabulary, writing vocabulary, listening vocabulary, or speaking vocabulary? Give one reason that convinces you most.
For example, we learn that ―word‖can be used to refer to ―rumor‖, and we know it means ―rumor‖ in the sentence ―The word is that he's left the country.(据说他已经离开这个国家了).‖But actually, we will not write the sentence, esp., say the sentence in daily conversations. By this example, we show that receptive lexical knowledge concerns what you learned and productive lexical knowledge concerns what you would put into practice. Reading vocabulary may be the largest type of vocabulary, because you may recognize the meaning of a word without using it in daily exchanges or in academic writing.
3. Is lexical competence the same thing as productive lexical knowledge? How do you understand the two concepts on the basis of the discussion in Pre-Class Reading?
No, lexical competence covers a larger scope that that of productive lexical knowledge.
4. Can we say lexicology is the scientific study of the words in a language? How important is the notion of word equivalent? Read the following excerpt from Barrack Obama‘s V ictory Speech in 2008 and underline the word equivalents. What types of word equivalents are contained in this passage?
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each
other.
Let us remember that, if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers.
In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that
has poisoned our politics for so long.
Let's remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of
self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity.
Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won
a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to
heal the divides that have held back our progress.
Language is composed of not just individual words, but also word equivalents, such as word groups (or compound words), chunks such as idioms, formulaic sequences, and so. The latter is attracting more and more scholarly attention these days. Thus, lexicology is more precisely defined as the scientific study of the words and word equivalents in a language.
5. Identical systems of stress and rhythm are used by BE and AE. There are, however, a few words that have their stress on a different syllable. Write out the specific pronunciations of the following words:
Omitted
Unit 2
Check Y our Understanding
State whether each of the following statements is TRUE or FALSE.
a. F
b. F
c. F
d. F
e. F
In-Class Activities
1.
(1) How are the three allomorphs conditioned by their adjoining sounds?
S is pronounced as [s] [z and [iz]] when it is respectively attached to a voiceless consonant, a voiced consonant or a vowel, and any words ending with s, z or pronouncing as [s] or [z].
(2) Does the plurality morpheme have other allomorphs apart from those mentioned above?
Y es, for example,the plural form of sheep remains unchanged, and man has its plural form realized as ―men‖.
(3) What about the allomorphs of the morpheme for the past tense in English?
The usual allomorphs of the morpheme of the past tense may be realized as [t], [d] and [id]
2. In English, there are quite a few prefixes that connote negation. They include a-, un-, in- (ir-, il-), dis-, mis-, non-, de-, and the like.
symmetry→asymmetry
typical→atypical
forgettable →unforgettable
tie→untie
articulate →inarticulate,
discreet →indiscreet
mature →immature,
partial →impartial
legal →illegal
legible →illegible
relevant →irrelevant
reverent →irreverent
like→dislike
able→disable
use →misuse
lead →mislead
sense →nonsense
commercial→noncommercial
form→deform
construction→deconstruction
(2) How would you distinguish between un- and non- in terms of their meaning and use? Can we
prefix un- to adjectives like ―tall‖, ―ill‖, and ―black‖? Why or why not?
Un- is usually prefixed before transitive verbs, such as tie →untie, nouns, such as and adjectives, such as employment→unemployment. Non- is often put before adjectives, such as essential→non-essential, and nouns, such as existence→non-existence. Both of the usage are possible because the word followed the above two prefixes has no ready-made acronyms in English lexical system.
3.
ASK:
(1) Could we cut ―unwomanly‖ into ―unwoman‖ and ―-ly‖?
No. unwoman is not a word in English. Un- is usually put before an abstract uncountable noun. (2) Can you analyze the morphological structure of the word ―inaccessibility‖?
inaccessibility
inaccessible -ity
in- accessible
access -ible
(3) According to some feminists, words like ―history‖ and ―human‖ encode sex inequality. Do you
agree?
These words may connate sex inequality at first sight. But, In fact, we go too far if we hold this notion in mind. Both words have been part of our culture.
4.
ASK:
(1) What are the words in the pictures that stem from conversion?
Stop, bin, wear, suit
(2) Are they instances of partial conversion or complete conversion?
complete conversions
5.
ASK:
(1) What words undergo shortening here? What is the full form of PM (or sometimes p.m.)?
Tue Tuesday, Sun Sunday, post meridiem.
(2) Do you know how the month names are shortened in English?
1月January Jan 2月February Feb 3月March Mar. 4月April Apr. 5月May May 6月June Jun. 7月July Jul. 8月August Aug. 9月September Sept. 10月October Oct. 11月November Nov. 12月December Dec.
6.
ASK:
(1) Can you provide more examples instantiating analogy?
Marathon--telethon/talkathon, hamburger--shrimpburger-
(2) Is this process of word formation also found in Chinese? Support your answer with evidence.
无微不至－无胃不治；其乐无穷－棋乐无穷
7.
(1) What semantic relation holds the two lexemes together in each case?
a. flu virus: A caused B
b. safety line :B ensures A
c. night bird: A is the usual time when B is active
d. spoon-feeding: A is one of the ways to realize B.
e. potato pancake: A is the ingredient of B
f. man-made: B is realize by A
g toilet seat: B is part A.
(2) Does ―safety line‖ mean the same as ―safe line‖? Can you come up with similar compounds? NO, the former means that line can keep one safe, whereas the latter means the line is safe.
(Y ou can touch it)
Security guard and secure guard
Post-Class T asks
1. Supply the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C, and D.
a.D;
b.B;
c. D;
d. C;
e. A;
f. D
2. Learners need to be able to recognize word parts in words. Read the example and break up the following words into meaningful parts. (e.g. unhappiness -- un/happi/ness)
a. intangibility
b. unevenly
in/tangible/ity un/even/ly
c. friendliness
d. notwithstanding
friend/ly/ness not/with/stand/ing
e. overseas
f. minimalist
over/sea/s minim/al/ist
g. immigration h. Psychologist
immi/grate/ion psych/ology/ist
i. occurrences j. assumption
oc/cur/rence as/sumpt/ion
3. Study the following Security Tips collected from an American Holliday Inn and exemplify the various processes of word formation with words from the passage.
Safe: conversion
Check-out: Composition
Dead: conversion
V aluable: conversion
4. What kinds of adjectives undergo partial conversion? What kinds of verbs often undergo complete conversion?
Adjectives like ―poor‖, ―rich‖, ―fat‖, ―sick‖, ―wounded‖, ―deaf‖, ―mute‖, ―Chinese‖, ―Danish‖, ―best‖, ―most‖, ―least‖, ―latest‖, ―accused‖, ―condemned‖, (for) ―good‖, ―thick‖ (and) ―thin‖, etc. undergo partial conversion; stop, pause, halt, look, rest, check, try, taste, smell, etc, often undergo complete conversion.
5. Some affixes have not only lexical meanings but affective meanings as well. Some personal nouns formed by the suffix –ling, for example, have derogatory meanings,as in hireling, weakling; some personal nouns taking the suffix –ish are also derogatory, as in mannish, womanish and bookish. Can you provide more examples suffixed with –ling and –ish that are negative in attitude?
Prince/princeling
Under/underling
World/worlding
Child/childish
Self/selfish
Fool/foolish
6. Read the following piece of news. What are the acronyms or initialisms used in this passage? What are their full forms?
Obama brings hope for warmer relations to Turkey
ANKARA, Turkey – U.S. President Barack Obama is reaching out to Turkey to help him wind down the Iraq war and bring stability to the Middle East. He is also counting on the only Muslim member of NATO to remain a steadfast ally in the Afghanistan conflict.
Obama's visit is being closely watched by an Islamic world that harbored deep distrust of his predecessor, George W. Bush.
Obama was spending two days in Turkey as he wrapped up an event-packed, eight-day international trip that also saw stops in Britain, France, Germany and the Czech Republic.
In his inaugural address in January, Obama pledged to reach out to the Muslim world.
At a luncheon Sunday for leaders of the European Union's 27 nations in Prague, he said the West should seek greater cooperation and closer ties with Islamic nations. He suggested one way was by allowing Turkey to join the European Union — a contentious subject for some European countries. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said after Obama's remarks that the decision was the EU's to make, not Washington's.
Americans remain unsure of what to make of Islam even as most people in the U.S.
think Obama should seek better relations with the Muslim world, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. About 55 percent of Americans say they lack a good, basic understanding of the religion, the poll found, and 48 percent have an unfavorable
view of it.
Obama's trip to Turkey, his final scheduled country visit, ties together themes of earlier stops. He attended the Group of 20 economic summit in London, celebrated NATO's 60th anniversary in Strasbourg, France, and on Saturday visited the Czech Republic, which included a summit of European Union leaders in Prague.
Turkey is a member of both the G-20 and NATO and is trying to get into the EU with the help of the U.S.
Acronyms: NATO
Initialisms: EU, ABC, U.S.
Unit 3
Keys to the exercises in Check Your Understanding
a. False;
b. False;
c. True;
d. False;
e. False
Keys to the exercises in In-class Activities
1.
(1) Y es. There is some difference between the words ―clean‖and ―cleanly‖in the sentences in Group A. In Sentence A-a, ―clean‖ means ―completely‖, while in Sentence A-b, ―cleanly‖ means ―easily‖.
(2) Y es. There is some difference between the words ―clean‖and ―cleanly‖in the sentences in Group A. In Sentence A-a, ―clean‖ means ―completely‖, while in Sentence A-b, ―cleanly‖ means ―easily‖.
(3) The words ―high‖ and ―highly‖ cannot be used interchangeably in the two sentences in Group
C. In Sentence C-a, ―high‖ is an adjective and fuctions as the complement, while in Sentence C-b, ―highly‖ is an adverb and functions as the modifier.
(4) a1. I felt pretty nervous going into the exam, but after I got started I loosened up some.
a2. The woman chairing the meeting speaks prettily.
b1. When he saw her, he stopped dead in his tracks.
b2. I'm deadly serious. This isn't a game!
c1. Someone left the back door wide open.
c2. These laws were widely regarded as too strict.
2.
(1) a. The old man smiled his refusal to the young man request.
b. He lived a long life and died a natural death.
(2) a. 每听完一个笑话，那个老人都咯咯地笑出他的喜悦之情。
b. 在经历了一番犹豫之后，我父亲点头表示他的同意。
c. 听完之后，主任笑着表示同意。
(3) Eat, drink, and laugh yourself flat.
Hearing such a ridiculous suggestion, we laughed ourselves silly.
Laugh a bitter laugh
3. (1) a. They are often used in the negative sentences or with intensifying adverbs. Their subjects
are not the agents, but the patients of their verb actions. Halliday proposes to regard such non-active, non-passive sentences as written in the middle voice.
b. They are used in the simple present or past tense.
c. They denote some property or performance. The subjects of the sentences in which they are
used need to possess the following two semantic features: [-human, +concrete]. They are either instrumental (工具格) subjects or objective(对象格) subjects.
(2) Of course, different voices express different meanings. iii means that the broke without an
identifiable external force. It just broke. But iv suggests an identifiable external force that causes the window to break.
(3) Alternating.
4.
(1) Dynamic adjectives denote attributes which are to some extent under the control of the person or the thing that possesses them. For example, ―kind‖ deontes an attribute which may not always be available, but may be available when it is required. Dynamic adjectives can be used in the imperative sentence and the progressive sentence.
Stative adjectives denote a state or condition, which is often permanent. For example, ―red‖describes the color of a person or a thing. It is stable and does not change readily. Stative adjectives cannot be used in the imperative sentence or the progressive sentence.
(2) ―Difficult‖is not a dynamic adjective, but a stative adjective. It cannot be used in the progressive sentence.
5. (1) a. Jack‘s failure in the exam disappointed his parents.
b. Mary‘s rude behavior irritated all of us.
c. The emission of waste gas from the factory has degraded the environment.
(2) Y es. Chinese learners of English tend to use the analytical ways of speaking, which are less abstract and more concrete and therefore are easier to understand and produce.
(3) outweigh, outnumber, enlarge, shorten, frighten.
6. (1) Y es. The author is justified in saying so, because ―l isten‖is volitive, while ―hear‖is non-volitive. If the author wrote ―There‘s listening. Then there‘s hearing‖, he would cause some misunderstandings and would not be able to make people become volunteers willingly.
(2) Other pairs of volitive and non-volitive verbs include ―look‖ and ―see‖.
(3) We use adverbs showing volition to modify volitive verbs, but not non-volitive verbs. That is why ―look‖ and ―listen‖ can be used together with adverbs showing volition, whereas ―see‖and ―hear‖ cannot. Thus, Sentence-a below is correct, but Sentence-b is wrong.
a. They are listening attentively to the teacher.
b. *They are hearing attentively to the teacher.
Keys to the exercises in Post-class Activities
1-3 Omit
4. a. industrial; b. lengthen; c. ashamed; d. description; e. strengthening; f. understanding; g. generosity; h. unemployed; i. proof
5. a. completely; b. shameful; c. highly; d. easy; e. height; f. costly; g. later; h. medical; i. wisely
6. a.√; b. kept; c.√; d. that happened; e.√; f. √; g. be made; h. √; i. be eaten; j. be listed; k. √; l. was; m. be washed; n. be cooked; o.√; p. √; q. were; r. was
Unit 4
Idiomatic Aspect of English Word Combinations
Check Y our Understanding
State whether each of the following statements is True or false.
a. Lexical chunks can be either individual words or a group of high frequent words [ F ]
b. Collocation is a sequence of words which co-occur more often than would be expected by chance.. [ T ]
c. The most important accesses to English collocations are dictionaries and corpus-based programs. [ T ]
d. Idioms are the sentences the meaning of which can always be inferred to from the meaning of its components. [ F ]
e. Each language has its specific proverbs with regards to their origins [F ]
In-Class Activities
1．Collocation is one of the wide range of relationship that relate to the appropriate interpretation and productive use of vocabulary. By having collocations of language in long-term memory, language reception and language production are made more effective. Read the following passage and find collocations in it.
Ads and Seasons
Advertising follows the season. In winter, advertisers try to warm up their audience. In December and January, advertisers often place their products near a crackling fire. This appeals to all of us, especially when we are trying to keep warm in sub-zero weather. Other advertisers may place their product in a tropical setting. Because many people would like to be in a warm climate in winter, they are attentive to such advertising. Apparently, a setting can often influence consumers to buy a product.
Summer advertising is designed to make us feel cool. A tall glass filled with ice can increase the appeal of a simple glass of water. When it is ninety degrees outside, cool white cream applied to a sunburn promises relief for red-hot skin. Advertisements offering escape from the blistering heat of summer appeal to all of us.
4. Some idioms have a noun as the key word in each and functions as a noun in the sentence, e.g.
a white elephant [Adj +N] (something useless and unwanted but big and costly),
some functions as adjectives or adverbs, but the constituents are not necessarily adjectives or adverbs, e.g.
cut and dried [Adj+Adj] (already settled and unlikely to be changed)
tooth and nail[N+Conj +N] (with great violence and determination)
Read the following idioms and analyze their constituents and paraphrase their meanings.
(1)brain trust[N+N] (a group of people with special knowledge who answer
questions or give advice)
(2)in noting flat [Prep +N+Adj] (in a very little time; soon)
(3)flesh and blood [N+Conj+N] ( relatives or family)
(4)an apple of discord[N+Prep+N] (cause of disagreement or argument, etc.)
(5)the apple of one‘s eye [Det+N+Prep+Det+N] (they are very important to a person
and he extremely is fond of them)
(6)Jack of all trades [N+Prep+Det+N] (a person who can do many different kinds of
work but may not be good at any of them)
(7)Through thick and thin[Prep+Adj+Conj+Adj] (through all difficulties and
troubles)
(8)Safe and sound [Adj+Conj+Adj] (be still alive or unharmed after being in danger)
(9)as right as rain [Conj+Adj+Conj+N] (be completely well and healthy again)
(10)once in a blue moon [Adv+Prep+Det+Adj+N] (emphasizing that it does not
happen very often at all)
(11)double-edged sword[Adj+N] ( something that has both negative effects and
positive effects)
(12)green fingers [Adj+N] ( someone is very good at gardening and their plants grow
well.)
5. Quite often idioms are complete sentences. They are mainly proverbs and saying, including
colloquialisms and catchphrases. As far as sentential types are concerned, they embrace declarative, interrogative, imperative and exclamative sentences. In terms of syntactic complexity, they can be further divided into simple, compound and complex sentences. Read the following idioms and analyze their structures.
a. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. (Declarative, simple)
b.Never do things by halves (Imperative, simple)
c.Art is long, life is short. (Compound)
d.All is not gold that glitters. (Complex)
e.Kill the goose that laid the golden egg. (Complex)
f. A friend in need is a friend indeed. (Complex)
Post-Class Tasks
1.Match the idioms on the left with the definition on the right.
a. hold one‘s tongue (5)
b. behind closed doors (13)
c. a slap in the face ( 14)
d. a bitter pill to swallow (6)
e. foot the bill for something (7)
f. rule of thumb (8)
g. throw cold water on (12)
h. put all one‘s eggs in one basket (3)
i. in deep water (1)
j. dip your toe into something (10)
k. on cloud nine (11)
l. see red (4)
m. full of beans (9)
n. keep one‘s nose clean (2)
2. Complete each of the idioms with only one word.
1)bite the bullet
2)polish the apple
3)red carpet
4)tit for tat
5)nip in the bud
6)flea in one‘s ear
7)burn the midnight oil
8)bell the cat
9)pie in the sky
10)smoking gun
11)six of one and half a dozen of the other
12)rhyme or reason
13)draw a red herring
14)let the cat out of the bag
15)blow one‘s own horn
16)man for all seasons
3. Fill in the blanks with proper idioms
(1)Here‘s a snapshot of me at six months old, wearing my birthday suit.
(2)The knowledge that his lie had been found out made the boy bite the dust
with shame.
(3)On the way to political union we are now crossing the Rubicon. There is no
going back.
(4)He took her out to dinner that night, but she insisted on going Dutch.
(5)There was much proof against Bill, but he swore he had clean hands.
(6)With a bit of give and take from both partners, this business can still operate
successfully.
(7)I went to a restaurant last night. I was the 10,000th customer, so my dinner
was on the house.
(8)The judge sent him up the river for ten years.
(9)John got promoted and engaged to be married yesterday; it was truly a
red-letter day for him.
(10)―Is she still worrying about my diet?‖―Y ou know her——once she gets a
bee in her bonnet she won‘t let the matter rest‖
4. Translate the following English proverbs into Chinese.
1)An idle youth, a needy age.少壮不努力，老大徒伤悲。
2)Everybody‘s business is nobody‘s business. 三个和尚没水吃
3)He who laughs last, laughs best. 谁笑到最后谁笑得最好。
4)It is good to learn at another man‘s cost.前车可鉴。
5)Look before you leap.三思而后行。
6)Love me, love my dog. 爱屋及乌。
7)Nothing in the world is difficult if you set your mind to it. 世上无难事，只怕
有心人。
8)Teaching others teaches yourself.教学相长。
9)The early bird catches the worm.笨鸟先飞。
10)Time and tide wait for no man. 岁月不待人。
11)A burnt child dreads the fire. 一朝被蛇咬，十年怕井绳。
12)A close mouth catches no flies. 病从口入，祸从口出。
13)Every dog has his day, and every man his hour. 人人都有得意的
14)Every cloud has a silver lining. 山穷水尽疑无路，柳暗花明又一村。
15)By reading we enrich the mind; by conversation we polish it. 读书可以使我
门的思想充实，谈话使其更臻完美。
16)Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed. 人无所
求最享福，因他不为失望苦。
Unit 5
The Semantic Types of English Words
Pre-Class Reading
Check Your Understanding
a. F
b. T
c. T
d. F
e. F
In-Class Activities
1. a. rush, hurry, stumble, dance, sail, move
b. bumpy, winding, stony, muddy, slippery
c. whimper, sweep, moan, groan, yell
d. glimpse, watch, examine, glance, stare,
2. concrete words:
(1) Sunlight, trees, birds, corn, people, harvest; night, wind, rain, singer; deeds, work
(2) Beauty is an abstract concept, yet by using the above concrete words, the author creates vivid images about ―what beauty consists of‖, i.e. beauty exists in the nature and in our daily life.
3. (1) Proper nouns: Government of Victoria, Professor Liu Kang, Parliament House, Melbourne, Monday, International Community Education Conference Common nouns: reception, delegates
(2) ―International Community Education Conference‖can be converted into
common nouns if they are used in small letters, and refer to general international community education conferences. In much the same way, ―Delegates‖ here refers to THOSE delegates who are going to attend the particular conference, thus can be regarded as a proper noun.
4. (1) Proper nouns have a certain degree of specificity, i.e. they are used in a context
shared by the speaker and the hearer. Phonological information helps clarify the context. These words do not apply to other general cases. Sentences (e –h) either violates the specificity, or the background information can not be recovered.
a. Mary is a person both of them know.
b. There is a person called Mary who called you. (And the implied meaning also
includes ―I don not know this girl.)
c. Both of us know Which Plymouth I mean.
d. There are many places called Plymouth.
(2) Different languages have different working mechanisms of reference. There may be similar cases in Chinese, but we rely on other modifiers (or specifiers) to clarify the information.
a. 玛丽喜欢语言学。
b 早上有个叫玛丽的人给你打电话了。
c. 普利茅茨是个小镇。
d. 有所著名的大学就位于英国的普利茅茨.
5. (1) From words ―rap, reedy, strange, fierce, thin, frail, tough, sinew, hawk‖ we may form a mental picture about an old but still energetic, somewhat unfriendly woman.
(2) These words are mostly used as evaluative words, as they are to a large degree the subjective judgment by the author.
(3) As this is an unexpected visitor, nothing can be said exactly. The author‘s impression is largely based on his/her guess and personal evaluation.
6. (1) Exact words: 1909, 59th, May 25, 1975
Fuzzy words: significantly, unchallenged, oldest, continuously, largest
(2) Evaluative words: significantly, unchallenged, oldest, continuously, largest Post-Class Tasks
1.Hedges create a friendly and more realistic atmosphere and offer a range of
flexibility in communication.
2. a. Words: sneaked quietly, moved carefully, checked, trembled, digging swiftly,
made a small hole, a wrinkled ten-dollar bill, slipped, breathed deeply, no one would find, etc.
b. V erbs: watch around, steal, hide, bury, shake, shiver, be scared, feel relieved,
etc.;
Adverbs: alone, cautiously, alertly, cunningly, etc.
3. a. Descriptive words: lofty, enjoy international reputation, a natural laboratory
Evaluative words: best, scenic, unparalleled, diversity and stimulation, etc.
b. Factual words: San Francisco Peaks, the natural and cultural history of the Colorado Plateau, northern Arizona and the Four Corners area, the Grand Canyon, Monument V alley and Bryce and Zion national parks,
Subjective opinion: best, scenic, unparalleled, diversity and stimulation.
4.Specific figures give the reader a very clear and exact picture about this
nurse-training program: the job perspectives and potential wages. As hedges only describe an attractive picture about the program, it provides the training institution great range of flexibility and relieves itself the burden of risks and responsibilities.
5. a. byzantine: of things difficult to understand
b. Hamlet question: lack of proper solution
c. siren: a warning sign
d. nylon: chemical fibers
e. pasteurize: to kill bacteria by boiling the milk
f. ampere, Kelvin, tesla: units for electricity, temperature and magnetic field
respectively
6. a. Proper nouns: George Hotel, Queens Moat House Hotel, the Hotel, the Duty
Cashier, The Management
Common nouns: V aluables, Jewelry, Money and Articles of V alue, Room Rate, Details of room Charges
b. Common nouns are capitalized to raise the guests‘attention and serve a
function of precaution.
Unit 6 Semantic Networks of English Words
Check Y our Understanding
State whether each of the following statements is TRUE or FALSE.
a. Words from different classes can form a semantic field.
b. Most lexical items form semantic field with other lexemes with certain semantic relation.
c. The meaning of a hyponym is included in the meaning of its superordinate.
d. There is always a superordinate term for its hyponyms.
e. Lexical gaps across English and Chinese exist in all semantic fields.
Key: F T F F T
In-Class Activities
1. Some semantic fields are quite small. For example, each pair of antonyms, such as long and
short forms a lexical field of two members. The meanings of the two antonyms have in common that both relate to an end section of the same scale, and the group is complete since there are no other adjectives that share this part of the meaning.
ASK:
(1) Can you find more semantic fields of this small type?
(2) Do polysemous word old and its antonyms new and young belong to the same semantic field?
Key:(1) alive and dead, male and female, big and small
(2) No. old & new and old & young belong to different semantic fields.
2. In public notices, we often find the use of general words for persons, objects, places, etc. Look at the following three pictures.
ASK:
(1) What are the general words used in these pictures? Can you provide some hyponyms for each
of them? Does any of the general words have a certain hyponym that finds no equivalent in Chinese?
(2) Do you think it is reasonable to use superordinate terms on these occasions?
Key: (1) vehicle, pets, food, drinks, shirt, shoes, customer
(2) Omit
3. Hyponymy is a transitive relation, i.e, if x→y and y→z then x→z. For example, since ―dog‖ is a
hyponym of ―mammal‖ and ―mammal‖ is a hyponym of ―animal‖, ―dog is a hyponym of animal‖.
ASK:
(1) Can you find other examples to prove the relation of transitivity?
(2) Is meronymy a transitive relation like hyponymy? Use examples for illustration.
Key:(1) Tulip is a hyponym of flower which is a hyponym of plant.
Scarlet, vermilion, carmine and crimson are hyponyms of red which is a hyponym of color.
(2) Meronymy is not exactly the transitive relation like hyponymy. For example, ―pupil‖
is a part of ―eye‖, and ―eye‖ is a part of ―face‖, while ―pupil‖ is not a part of ―face‖.
4. Often a concept lexicalized in one language may not have a corresponding lexical item in another language and thus presents a translation difficulty.
ASK:
(1) What methods can you employ to translate the missing word, if the concept is important or
must be cited often?
(2) Is it an easy job to translate the Chinese sentence ―他铅笔盒里有五支笔‖ into English? Why
or why not? Name some of the hyponyms of ―笔‖ in both Chinese and English.
Key: 1) a compound word, a descriptive phrase, borrowing from one language, etc.
2) No. Because there is no English equivalence for Chinese word笔.
铅笔pencil 钢笔pen / fountain pan圆珠笔ball-point pen 毛笔writing brush画笔
painting brush 鸭嘴笔drawing pen / ruling pen蜡笔(wax) crayon 粉笔chalk
5. A term which is a hyponym of itself is an autohyponym in that the same lexical item can operate at both superordinate an d subordinate levels; for example, ―man‖ contrasts with ―animal‖ at one level, but at a lower level it contrasts with ―woman‖ (in effect, ―a man is a kind of man‖).
ASK:
(1) Can you find other autohyponyms?
(2) Can you account for the existence of autohyponyms in any possible way?
Key: Omit
6. Hyponymy and meronymy are often found in language use. It is quite common for a general term and a specific term, or a part word and a whole word to substitute for each other in both speaking and writing. The former rhetorical device is called metonymy and the latter one synecdoche. For example, in the sentence ―An apple a day keeps the doctor away‖, the specific term ―apple‖ refers to the general term ―fruit‖; in the sentence ―How many mouths does he have to feed‖, the part word ―mouth‖ is used to replace the whole word ―person‖. Read the following sentences.
a. He could hardly earn his everyday bread.
b. I‘ve got wheels.
c. Last year nearly 6 million vehicles rolled off the assembly lines.
d. Put down the steel.
ASK:
(1) Can you point out the words substituted by the bold-faced words?
(2) Can you supply more examples of your own?
Key: (1) 1. food 2. car 3. automobiles 4. knife
(2) Omit
Post-Class T ask
1.How is meronymy different from hyponymy? Use examples to illustrate their differences. Key: Meronymy is different from hyponymy in that the former is a ―part of‖ or ―member of‖ relation while the latter a ―kind of‖ relation. For example, a leaf is a part of a tree; an oak is a kind of tree.
Hyponymy is a transitive relation, i.e, if x→y and y→z then x→z. For example, since ―dog‖ is
a hyponym of ―mammal‖ and ―mammal‖ is a hyponym of ―animal‖, ―dog is a hyponym of
animal‖. Meronymy is not necessaril y a transitive relation. For example, although
.
2.Read the following tree diagram on the relationship of hyponymy among lexical items in the
semantic field of fruit and illustrate the lexical gap existing in the field.
fruit
?? etc. berry
apple pear
blackberry raspberry etc.
Key: The term berry acts as the general term for more specific fruits blackberry and raspberry, but there seems to be no term for the category including such fruit as apple and pear.
3. Meronymy is classified into the following seven types. Find more examples for eac h type.
1. component — object (branch — tree,)
2. member — collection (fish — shoal)
3. portion — mass (strand — hair)
4. stuff — object (gold — ring)
5. feature — activity (paying — shopping )
6. place — area (Cambridge — Massachusetts)
7. phase — process (adolescence — growing up)
Key: Omit
4. Identify the meaning relationship between the following pairs.
a. window house
b. football game
c. Chinese Language
d. New Y ork USA
e. CPU computer
f. scarlet red
Key: 1)meronymy 2) hyponymy 3) hyponymy 4) meronymy 5)mernymy 6) hyponymy
5. The Chinese word ―吃‖ can be used flexibly to form various expressions. Translate the
following Chinese slangs into English.
吃闲饭吃香吃不消吃力吃苦吃不开
Key:吃闲饭‖（lead an idle life），―吃香‖（be very popular），―吃不消‖（more than one can stand, too much）吃力(word hard, be tired)，吃苦（have a tough time）吃不开（be unpopular）
6. The following passage is an introduction to ―pop‖. Please draw a lexical network of ―pop‖ constructed by words with semantic relations of hyponymy, meronymy, etc.
Pop
Even if the word ―pop‖ disappears from the English vocabulary, the influence of pop will remain. Pop has become part of British- and American-history.
There has always been a close cultural link, or tie, between Britain and English-speaking America, not only in literature but also in the popular arts, especially music. Before the Second World War the Americans exported jazz and the blues. During the 1950s they exported rock ‘n‘ roll.
Then in the early 1960s a new sound was heard, very different from anything, which has so far come from the American side of the Atlantic. This was the Liverpool, or Merseyside, ―beat‖. Situated on the River Mersey in the northeastern corner of the industrial Black Country, Liverpool was not a place which anyone visited for fun. Until the 1960s it was known only as one of the Britain‘s largest ports. Then, almost overnight, it became world famous as the birthplace of the new pop culture which, in a few years, swept across Britain and America, and across most of the countries of the western world.
The people responsible for the pop revolution were four Liverpool boys who joined together in a group and called themselves The Beatles. They played in small clubs in the back streets of the city. Unlike the famous solo stars who had their songs written for them, the Beatles wrote their own words and music. The Beatles won the affection and admiration of people of all ages and social backgrounds. As they developed, their songs became more serious. They wrote not only of love, but of death and old age and poverty and daily life. They were respected by many intellectuals and by some serious musicians. Largely thanks to the Beatles, pop music has grown into an immense and profitable industry.
The influence of British pop in America was immense. American pop groups soon became as famous as British groups. Both British and Americans are experimenting with new ideas, and pop is developing and changing, and merging with modern folk music.
《英语词汇学教程》参考答案 Chapter 1 1. The three definitions agree that lexicology studies words. Yet, they have different focuses. Definition 1 focuses on the meaning and uses of words, while definition 2 on the overall structure and history. Definition 3 regards lexicology as a branch of linguistics and focuses on the semantic structure of the lexicon. It is interesting to note that the three definitions use different names for the object of study. For Definition 1, it is words, for Definition 2 the vocabulary of a language, and for Definition 3 the lexicon. 2. (1) They can go into the room, and if they like, shut the door. (2) You boys are required to give in your homework before 10 o’clock. (3) I watch the football match happily and find it very interesting. 3. (1) W hen it follows ‘-t’ and ‘-d’, it is pronounced as [id]; (2) When it follows voiceless consonants, it is pronounced as [t]; (3) When it follows voiced consonants and vowels, it is pronounced as [d]. 4. (1) They are words that can be included in a semantic field of “tree”. (2) They represent the forms of the verb “fly” and have a common meaning. (3) They belong to a lexical field of “telephone communication”. (4) They are synonyms, related to human visual perception. Specifically, they denote various kinds of “looking”. 5. (a) 'blackboard: a board with a dark smooth surface, used in schools for writing with chalk (the primary stress in on black); 'blackbird: a particular kind of bird, which may not necessarily be black in color (the primary stress in on black); 'greyhound: a slender, swift dog with keen sight (the primary stress in on black); 'White House: the residence of the US President in Washington (the primary stress in on black). (b) 'black 'board: any board which is black in color (both words receive primary stress); 'black 'bird: any bird which is black in color (both words receive primary stress); 'grey 'hound: any hound that is grey in color (both words receive primary stress); 'white 'house: any house that is painted white (both words receive primary stress). 6. There are 44 orthographic words, i.e. sequences of letters bounded by space. There are 24 open class words and 20 closed class words. 7. (a) The ‘bull’ is literal, referring to a male bovine animal. (b) ‘Take the bull by the horn’is an idiom, meaning (having the courage to) deal with someone or something directly. (c) ‘Like a bull in a china shop’is an idiom, meaning doing something with too much enthusiasm or too quickly or carelessly in a way that may damage things or upset someone.
试题三 第一部分选择题 I. Each of the statements below is followed by four alternative answers. Choose the one that would best complete the statement and put the letter in the bracket.(30%) 1.According to the degree of similarity, homonyms can be classified into ( ) A. perfect homonyms B. homonyms C. homophones D. all the above 2.Transfer as a mode of semantic change can be illustrated by the example ( ) A. ad for “advertisement” B. dish for “food" C. fond for “affectionate” D. an editorial for “an editorial article" 3.It is a general belief that the meaning does not exist in the word itself, but it rather spreads over ( ) A. the reader’s interpretation B. the neighbouring words C. the writer's intention D. the etymology of the word 4.Which of the following is a prefix of time and order? A. extra- B. pro- C. re- D. semi- 5.Which of the following dictionaries is not a specialized dictionary? A. The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology B. Chamber's Encyclopedic English Dictionary C. Longmont Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs D. Webster's New Dictionary of Synonyms 6.Which of the following statements is Not true? A. Reference is the relationship between language and the world. B. The relationship between a word and its referent is arbitrary. C. Concept is universal to all men alike. D. Sense denotes the relationships outside the language. 7.The words which occur before or after a word and may affect its meaning form ( ) A. physical context B. grammatical context C. lexical context D. linguistic context 8."Smith is an architect. He designed World Trade Center. "The clue provided in the context is ( ) A. definition B. explanation C. example D. hyponym 9.The term "vocabulary" is used in different ways because of all the following reasons EXCEPT that ( ) A. it can refer to the common core of a language B. it can refer to the total number of the words in a language C. it can represent all the words used in a certain historical period D. it can stand for words in given dialect or field 10.The idiom "a dark horse" is a ( ) A. simile B. metaphor
《英语词汇学教程》（2004 年版）练习答案 Chapter 1 7. Choose the standard meaning from the list on the right to match each of the slang words on the left. a. tart: loose woman b. bloke: fellow c. gat: pistol d. swell: great e. chicken: coward f. blue: fight g. smoky: police h. full: drunk i. dame: woman j. beaver: girl 8. Give the modern equivalents for the following archaic words. haply = perhaps albeit = although methinks = it seems to me eke = also sooth = truth morn = morning troth = pledge ere = before quoth = said hallowed = holy billow = wave / the sea bade = bid 12. Categorize the following borrowed words into denizens, aliens, translation loans, and semantic loans. Denizens: kettle, die, wall, skirt, husband Aliens: confrere, pro patria, Wunderkind, mikado, parvenu Translation loans: chopstick, typhoon, black humour, long time no see Semantic loans: dream Chapter 2 1. Why should students of English lexicology study the Indo-European Language Family? The Indo-European Language Family is one of the most important language families in the world. It is made up of most of the languages of Europe, the Near East and India. English belongs to this family and the other members of the Indo-European have more or less influence on English vocabulary. Knowledge of the Indo-European Language Family will help us understand English words better and use them more appropriately. 2. Make a tree diagram to show the family relations of the modern languages given below.
Chapter 6: Test ⅠAccording to the given meaning, Choose the proper form of the English idiom from the four alternative answers. 1.forever A. till cows come home B. till the cows come home C. till bulls come home D. till the bulls come home 2.deep in thought A. in a brown study B. in a red study C. in a green study D. in a dark study 3.Support only in words, not in fact A. mouth service B. lip service C. brain trust D. mind trust 4.quite certainly A. sure as egg is egg B. sure as a egg is a egg C. sure as eggs are eggs D. sure as eggs is eggs 5.naked A. in the air B. in the open C. in the raw D. in the straw 6.something useless and unwanted but big and costly A. white elephant B. dark elephant C. white horse D. dark horse 7.most important and essential part A. might and main B. bag and baggage C. sum and substance D. part and parcel 8.damage from continuous use A. fair and spare B. toil and moil C. wear and tear D. kith and kin 9.the member thought to be a disgrace in the family A. black sheep B. a dark horse C. gray mare D. white elephant 10.through all difficulties and troubles A. through high and low B. through thick and thin C .from head to foot D. from start to finish ⅡEach of the statements below is followed by four alternative answers. Choose the best one. 1.Among the following idioms, which one is nominal in nature as far as syntactic function is concerned. A.flesh and blood B.heart and soul C.tooth and nail D.high and low 2.Strictly speaking,idioms are expressions that are not readily understandable from their of individual elements. A.grammatical meaning B.literal meaning C.deep meaning D.structural meaning 3.The structure of an idiom is to a large extent . A.flexible B.changeable C.unchangeable D.none of the above 4.Duplication of synonyms is called . A.repetition B.reiteration C.juxtaposition D.metaphor 5. refers to idioms in which the name of one thing is used for that of another associated with it. A.Euphemism B.Personification C.Synecdoche D Metonymy 6.The meaning of the idiom black bottle is . A.poison B.alcoholic drink C.bottle that is black in color D.bottle bought in an illegal way
全国高等教育自学考试 英语词汇学试题 课程代码：00832 Ⅰ．Each of the statements below is followed by four alternative answers. Choose the one that best completes the statement and put the letter in the bracket.（30%）1．According to semanticists, a word is a unit of ______.（） A．meaning B．Sound C．combination of sounds D．Group 2．The pronunciation has changed ______ spelling over the years.（） A．more slowly than B．As quickly as C．more rapidly than D．Not so quickly as 3．Words may fall into the basic word stock and nonbasic vocabulary by ______.（）A．use frequency B．notion C．origin D．sound 4．Rapid growth of science and technology breeds such new words as the following EXCEPT______.（） A．green revolution B．fast food C．moon walk D．space shuttle 5．Semantic change means an old form which takes on a new ______ to meet the new need. （）A．form B．meaning C．look D．pronunciation 6．Reviving archaic words also contribute to the growth of English vocabulary. For instance, in American English “fall” means ______ in British English.（） A．four B．fell C．for D．autumn 7．The plural morpheme “-s” is realized by /s/after the following sounds EXCEPT ______. （）A．/t/ B．/g/ C．/p/ D．/k/ 英语词汇学试卷第 1 页共9 页
《英语词汇学教程》参考答案 (注：参考答案仅供参考。有些题目的答案并非是唯一的) Chapter 1 1. The three definitions agree that lexicology studies words. Yet, they have different focuses. Definition 1 focuses on the meaning and uses of words, while definition 2 on the overall structure and history. Definition 3 regards lexicology as a branch of linguistics and focuses on the semantic structure of the lexicon. It is interesting to note that the three definitions use different names for the object of study. For Definition 1, it is words, for Definition 2 the vocabulary of a language, and for Definition 3 the lexicon. 2. (1) They can go into the room, and if they like, shut the door. (2) You boys are required to give in your homework before 10 o’clock. (3) I watch the football match happily and find it very interesting. 3. (1) when it follows ‘-t’ and ‘-d’, it is pronounced as [id]; (2) when it follows voiceless consonants, it is pronounced as [t]; (3) when it follows voiced consonants and vowels, it is pronounced as [d]. 4. (1)They are words that can be included in a semantic field of “tree”.
英语词汇学试题 Introduction and Chapter 1 Basic Concepts of Words and Vocabula ry（练习1） I．Each of the statements below is followed by four alternative answers. Choose the one that would best complete the statement. 1.Morphology is the branch of grammar which studies the structure or forms of words, primarily through the use of _________construct. A. word B. form C. morpheme D. root 2.________ is traditionally used for the study of the origins and history of the form and meaning of words. A. Semantics B. Linguistics C. Etymology D. Stylistics 3.Modern English is derived from the language of early ______ tribes. A. Greek B. Roman C. Italian D. Germanic 4. Semantics is the study of meaning of different _________ levels: lexis, syntax, utterance, discourse, etc. A. linguistic B. grammatical C. arbitrary D. semantic 5.Stylistics is the study of style . It is concerned with the user’s choices of linguistic elements in a particular________ for special effects A. situation B. context C. time D. place 6.Lexicography shares with lexicology the same problems: the form , meaning, origins and usages of words, but they have a _______ difference. A . spelling B. semantic C. pronunciation D. pragmatic 7. Terminology consists of _______ terms used in particular disciplines and academic areas. A. technical B. artistic C. different D. academic 8. __________refers to the specialized vocabularies by which members of particular arts, sciences, trades, and professions communicate among themselves. A. Slang B. Jargon C. Dialectal words D. Argot 9 ._________ belongs to the sub-standard language, a category that seems to stand between the standard general words including informal ones available to everyone and in-group words. A. Jargon B. Argot C. Dialectal words D. Slang 10. Argot generally refers to the jargon of _______.Its use is confined to the sub-cultural groups and outsiders can hardly understand it. A. workers B. criminals C. any person D. policeman 11.________ are words used only by speakers of the dialect in question. A. Argot B. Slang C. Jargon D. Dialectal words 12. Archaisms are words or forms that were once in _________use but are now restricted only to specialized or limited use. A. common B. little C. slight D. great 13. Neologisms are newly-created words or expressions, or words that have taken on ______meanings. A. new B. old C. bad D. good 14. Content words denote clear notions and thus are known as_________ words. They include nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and numerals. A. functional B. notional C. empty D. formal 15. Functional words do not have notions of their own. Therefore, they are also called _______words. Prepositions, conjunctions, auxiliaries and articles belong to this category. A. content B. notional C. empty D. new
英语词汇学习题集 Chapter I A General Survey of English Vocabulary 1. Which of the following is NOT correct? _________ A. A word is a meaningful group of letters. B. A word is a unit of meaning. C. A word is a sound or combination of sounds. D. A word is a form that cannot function alone in a sentence. 3. After the invading Germanic tribes settled down in Britain, their language almost totally blotted out ______. A. Old English B. Middle English C. Anglo-Saxon D. Celtic 4. In the early period of Middle English, English, ______ existed side by side. A. Celtic and Danish B. Danish and French C. Latin and Celtic D. French and Latin 9. Both English and ______ belong to the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family. A. Celtic B. Dansih C. French D. Scottish 12. Words can be classified according to the following criteria EXCEPT _________. A. notion B. use frequency C. foundation D. origin 7. Which of the following is NOT one of the main sources of new words?（） A. The rapid development of modern science and technology. B. Geographical and political changes. C. The influence of other cultures and languages. D. Social and economic changes. 6. The major factors that promote the growth of modern English are ______. A. the growth of science and technology B. economic and political changes C. the influence of other cultures and languages D. all the above 7. Since the beginning of this century, ______ has become even more important for the expansion of English vocabulary. A. word-formation B. borrowing C. semantic change D. both B and C 9. The term "vocabulary" is used in different ways because of all the following reasons EXCEPT that ( )
试题二 第一部分选择题 I. Each of the statements below is followed by four alternative answers Choose the one that would best complete the statement and put the letter in the bracket（30％） 1. Degradation can be illustrated by the following example A. lewd → ignoran t B. silly → foolish C. last → pleasure D. knave → boy 2. Homophones are often employed to create puns for desired effects of: A. humour B. sarcasm C. ridicule D. all the above 3. The four major modes of semantic change are _____. A. extension, narrowing, elevation and degradation B. extension, generalization, elevation and degradation C. extension, narrowing, specialization and degradation D. extension, elevation, amelioration and degradation 4. The use of one name for that of another associated with it is rhetorically called _____. A. synecdoche B. metonymy C. substitution D. metaphor 5. Idioms adjectival in nature function as _____. A. adjectives B. attributes C. modifiers D. words 6. Grammatical context refers to _____ in which a word is used. A. vocabulary B. grammar C. semantic pattern D. syntactic structure 7. In the idiom 'in good feather', we change 'good' into 'high, full' without changing meaning. This change of constituent is known as _____ . A. addition B. replacement C. position-shifting D. variation 8. The word "laconic" is _____. A. onomatopoeically motivated B. morphologically motivated
英语词汇学英语词汇学习题3及答案
试题三 第一部分选择题 I. Each of the statements below is followed by four alternative answers. Choose the one that would best complete the statement and put the letter in the bracket.(30%) 1.According to the degree of similarity, homonyms can be classified into ( ) A. perfect homonyms B. homonyms C. homophones D. all the above 2.Transfer as a mode of semantic change can be illustrated by the example ( ) A. ad for “advertisement” B. dish for “food" C. fond for “affectionate” D. an editorial for “an editorial article" 3.It is a general belief that the meaning does not exist in the word itself, but it rather spreads over ( ) A. the reader’s interpretation B. the neighbouring words C. the writer's intention D. the etymology of the word 4.Which of the following is a prefix of time and order? A. extra- B. pro- C. re- D. semi- 5.Which of the following dictionaries is not a specialized dictionary? A. The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology B. Chamber's Encyclopedic English Dictionary C. Longmont Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs D. Webster's New Dictionary of Synonyms 6.Which of the following statements is Not true? A. Reference is the relationship between language and the world. B. The relationship between a word and its referent is arbitrary. C. Concept is universal to all men alike. D. Sense denotes the relationships outside the language. 7.The words which occur before or after a word and may affect its meaning form ( ) A. physical context B. grammatical context C. lexical context D. linguistic context 8."Smith is an architect. He designed World Trade Center. "The clue provided in the context is ( ) A. definition B. explanation C. example D. hyponym 9.The term "vocabulary" is used in different ways because of all the following reasons EXCEPT that ( ) A. it can refer to the common core of a language B. it can refer to the total number of the words in a language C. it can represent all the words used in a certain historical period D. it can stand for words in given dialect or field