VOCABULARY LIST Preliminary English Test (PET)
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Introduction to the PET Vocabulary List
The PET Vocabulary List gives teachers a guide to the vocabulary needed when preparing students for the PET examination.
Background to the List
The PET list was originally developed by Cambridge ESOL in consultation with external consultants to guide item writers who produce materials for the PET examination. It includes vocabulary from the Council of Europe’s Threshold (1990) specification and other vocabulary which corpus evidence shows is high-frequency. The list covers vocabulary appropriate to this level of English and includes receptive vocabulary (words that the candidate is expected to understand but which is not the focus of a question), and productive vocabulary (words that the candidate needs to know to answer a question).
The list does not provide an exhaustive list of all words which appear on the PET question papers and candidates should not confine their study of vocabulary to the list alone. How the List is Updated
The vocabulary of English changes over time, with words being added and other words falling into disuse. In order to maintain its currency, the PET list is updated on an annual basis by the addition and removal of words, using a corpus-based approach. Suggested additions to the wordlist are collated and the frequency of these words is obtained by reference to established corpora (electronic databases). The corpora in question represent receptive and productive language in general contexts. The main corpora used for the validation of the PET Vocabulary List are:
? the Cambridge Learner Corpus (CLC) which includes over 20 million words of written learner English at six
levels;
? the British National Corpus (BNC) which includes 100 million words of written and spoken native speaker
data.
Organisation of the List
? Word sets
Some categories of words a learner at this level might be expected to know are not included in the alphabetical list but are listed separately. Words formed with common affixes, some compounds and words from some common word sets, e.g. days of the week are described below and in Appendix 1. Although some ‘grammar words’ (pronouns, modals, etc.) are included, the ‘Language Specification’ section of the PET Handbook (available under ‘Downloads’) should be consulted for a more complete listing.
? Exemplification
Example phrases and sentences showing how words might be used are given only where words with different meanings need to be constrained e.g. the use of case is limited to ‘suitcase’: candidates are not expected to know other meanings, such as ‘a legal case’. PET Vocabulary List 2 ? UCLES 2006
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? Prefixes and Suffixes
A list of possible prefixes and suffixes is provided in Appendix 2, and these may be combined with the vocabulary items in the list as appropriate. Words with an affix which is not included in the appendix are listed separately in the alphabetical list.
? Compound Words
Compound words are not included in the list where both individual words are present and the meaning of the compound is literal and transparent, e.g. coursebook, schoolboy, shoemaker, underwater. A similar approach has been adopted with two-word and hyphenated compounds, for example, coffee bar, leisure centre, home-made, open-air.
? Multi-word Verbs
Multi-word verbs are not included in the list if they have a literal meaning and are composed of verbs and particles already in the list. Examples of ‘literal’ multi-word verbs are come into, sit down, as in ‘Why not come into the kitchen and sit down?’ If the meaning of the verb is not transparent, e.g. put through, get along, then the verb is listed and an example of usage given.
? Topic Lists
In Appendix 3 words have been grouped together under common PET themes, such as ‘House and Home’, ‘Sport’, ‘Food and Drink’. Unsuitable Topics
Cambridge ESOL examinations must not contain anything that might offend or upset candidates, potentially affect their performance or distract them during the examination. A number of ‘sensitive’ topics are considered unsuitable for use in PET, for example, war and politics, and vocabulary relating to these is not included in the Vocabulary List.
Personal Vocabulary
The content of the PET list is general in nature and is unlikely to cover completely the productive vocabulary that may be required by all candidates. Candidates should know the specific lexis they will need to describe themselves and their lives, for example, work, hobbies, likes and dislikes. Abbreviations
Abbreviations used in the Vocabulary List are: abbrev abbreviation or acronym adj adjective adv adverb
Am Eng American English Br Eng British English conj conjunction det determiner
exclam exclamation int interjection n noun
phr v phrasal verb pl plural
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prep preposition
prep phr prepositional phrase pron pronoun sing singular v verb
Summary of Points to be noted
? The list does not include every word that may appear on a PET paper.
? The list covers receptive and productive vocabulary.
? It is updated every year.
PET Vocabulary List 4 ? UCLES 2006 PET Vocabulary List 5 ? UCLES 2006
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A
ability (n) 能力 able (adj) 能够
about (adv & prep)大约，关于 ? about 500 students (adv) 大
约500个学生
? The film is about a small
boy. (prep) 这部电影是关于一个小男孩的
above (prep) 在之上 abroad (adv) 在国外地 absent (adj) 缺席 accept (v) 接收 access (n) ['?kses]
n. 通路,进入,使用之权 v. 存取
? disabled access ? internet access accident (n) ['?ksid?nt] 基本翻译
n. 事故,意外的事
accommodation (n) 住宿 accompany (v) 陪同，伴随 according to (prep) 通过，根据 account (n) 账户
accurate (adj) 准确的 ache (n & v) 疼痛 achieve (v) 到达 across (prep) 穿过 act (n & v) 行动
? in the second act (of the play)
(n) 第二幕
? to act in a play (v)表演 ? to act strangely (v) 行为怪
异
action (n)行动 active (adj) 积极的 activity (n) 活动 actor (n) 演员 actress (n) 女演员 actual (adj) 事实上的
ad (advertisement) (n) 广告 add (v) 增加 addition (n) 附加 ? in addition 另外
additional (adj) 附加的 address (n) 地址
admire (v) 羡慕，崇拜 admission (n) 准许 ? charges/cost/price admit (v) 准许
adult (adj & n)成年人 advanced (adj) 先进的 advantage (n) 有点 adventure (n) 冒险 advert (n) 提及 advertise (v) 广告
advertisement (n) 广告 advice (n) 意见 advise (v) 提意见 aeroplane (n) 飞机 afford (v) 提供 afraid (adj) 害怕 after (prep) 之后 afternoon (n) 下午
afterwards (adv) 后来地 again (adv) 又
against (prep) 反对 age (n) 年龄
aged (adj) 上了年纪的 agent (n) 代理人 agency (n) 代理处 ago (adv) 从前 agree (v) 同意
ahead (adv) 在前面 aim (n & v) 目标 air (n) 空气
air-conditioning (n)冷气机 airforce (n) 空军 airline (n) 航空 airmail (n) 空邮 airport (n) 机场 alarm (n) 警报
alarm clock (n)闹钟 alike (adv) 同样的 alive (adj) 活着的
all (adj, adv, det & pron)所有 all right/alright (adv) 好的 allow (v) 同意 almost (adv) 几乎 alone (adv) 独自一人 along (adv & prep) 伴随
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aloud (adv) 大声的 alphabet (n) 字母表 already (adv) 已经 also (adv) 也
although (conj)尽管
altogether (adv) 在一起地 always (adv) 总是 a.m. (adv) 上午
amazed (adj) 吃惊的
amazing (adj) 令人惊讶的 ambassador (n) 大使 ambition (n) 野心 ambulance (n) 救护车
among (amongst) (prep)在三者之间
amount (n)数量
amusing (adj) 有趣的 ancient (adj) 古代的 and (conj) 和
angry (adj) 愤怒的 animal (n) 动物 ankle (n) 脚踝
anniversary (n)周年纪念 announce (v) 宣布
announcement (n) 宣布 annoy (v)使恼怒 annual (adj) 年度的 another (adj) 另一个 answer (n & v) 回答
answer phone (n) 答复电话 antique (adj & n) 古董 anxious (adj) 担心的
any (adj & pron) 任何一个 anybody (pron) 任何一个人 anyhow (adv) 不管怎样 anyone (pron) 无论谁 anything (pron) 任何事 anyway (adv) 无论如何 anywhere (adv) 无论何地 apart from (prep) 分开 apartment (n) 公寓 apologise (v) 道歉 apology (n) 道歉 appear (v) 出现 appearance (n) 出现 apple (n) 苹果
application (n) 申请