synonyms, we mend clothes, a bicycle, TV, wall, etc., but only patch clothes. 2. Difference in connotation
1) Synonyms differ in style. For example, agree and concur are similar in meaning, but concur is more formal than agree.
2) Synonyms differ in emotive meaning. For example, famous and notorious have the same conceptual meaning, but famous is positive while notorious is negative. 3. Difference in application
1) Synonyms differ in collocation. For example, accuse and charge have the same conceptual meaning, but we say accuse sb. of but charge sb. with.
2) Synonyms differ in use. For example, start and begin are synonymous, we “the car cannot start” but not “the car cannot begin” while “the world began” but not “the world cannot start”.
4. 题干: Explain the difference between partial conversion and full conversion with examples.
答案: When adjectives are converted into nouns, some are completely changed, thus known as full conversion, and others are partially changed, thus known as partial conversion. Adjectives which are fully converted can achieve a full noun status, e.g. having all the characteristics of nouns. That is they can take a/an or–s/-es to indicate singular or plural forms, e.g. a native, a Republican, a pair of shorts, finals.
Adjectives which are partially converted still keep adjective features. They should always be used with the, and they cannot take –s/-es to show plural forms. Moreover, the words can have comparative or superlative degrees, e.g. the poor, the poorer, the young, the very unfortunate.
5. 题干: The guy is running after the girl with a bouquet of flowers.
Study the above sentence and find out any ambiguity in it. What causes the ambiguity? How can you improve the sentence?
答案: (1) The ambiguity of the sentence is caused by polysemy and structure.
(2) “run after” may mean “go after in order to get the attention of”, or “try to catch” (3) “with a bouquet of flowers” may be the modifier of “the girl”, or the adverbial of the predicate.
(4) The sentence can be improved as follows.
a. The girl holds a bouquet of flowers in her hand. The guy is trying to catch her.
b. The guy has flowers in his hands. He is trying to catch her.
c. The girl has a bouquet of flowers in her hands. The guy is courting her.
d. The guy has a bouquet of flowers in his hands. He is courting the girl. （每题语言扣分不超过2分）
6. 题干: Explain the main characteristics of idioms with examples.
答案: Idioms are set phrases or short sentences whose meanings are usually difficult or impossible to understand according to the constituent words. Idioms have
two main characteristics: semantic unity and structural stability. So far as the meaning is concerned, each idiom expresses a single meaning. For example, make up one?s mind has four words, but the meaning can be conveyed by one word “decide”. Structurally, each idiom is stable or fixed. The constituents cannot be easily changed. For example, kick the bucket (to die) cannot be changed as strike the bucke or kick the pail.
7. 题干: What is the advantage of classifying idioms according to their grammatical functions?
答案: The functions of idioms are not always identical with their forms. Idioms formed with nouns may actually function as adverbs, those formed with adjectives can also be used as adverbs. For example, bag and baggage is a noun phrase, but it functions as adverbial e.g. With great anger, the landlord threw the poor woman out bag and baggage. Thick and thin is an adjective phrase, but it is treated as a noun e.g. The workers stuck together through thick and thin. Therefore, the classification of idioms according to grammatical functions can help us use idioms correctly.
8. 题干: What are the rhetorical features of idioms? Illustrate them with examples.
答案: The rhetorical features of idioms are reflected in phonetic aspect, lexical aspect and figures of speech. Phenetically, idioms may form alliteration such as chop and change, part and parcel; rhyme such as fair and square, toil and moil. Lexically, there is duplication of synonyms like pick and choose, ways and means; word repetition like by and by, neck and neck; juxtaposition of antonyms like up and down, back and forth. There are a variety of figures of speech such as simile (as white as snow), metaphor (black sheep), metonymy (from cradle
to grave), synecdoche (earn one?s bread), personification (Actions speak louder than words), euphemism (sleep around) and so on.
9. 题干: What are the stylistic features of idioms? Explain with examples.
答案: Most of the idioms belong to the common core of language. That is they are neither formal nor informal and they can be used in all context. But since all idioms grow out of spoken expressions, generally they are still informal than single words. Among them are slang expressions like cancer stick, hit the sack; colloquialisms like big wheel, can of worms; literary
expressions like give the lie to, be it that. These expressions can be used on different occasions.
10. 题干: Both LDCE (1987) and CCELD (1987) have elaborate grammatical information. How do they arrange the information respectively? Which do you find more convenient? Why?
答案: LDCE follows the tradition of arranging the grammar information right before each definition whereas CCELD puts such information in the extra column
arranged parallel to each definition. Each has its advantage. In the first case, before we read the definition, the grammar information meets the eye and you do not have to look anywhere else to find it. But some people may think it is not easy to find grammar information because it scattered all over. In the second case, grammar information is arranged aside and together it is more eye-catching and easier to locate. But tastes vary. Which is more convenient depends on the very users. Some may prefer LDCE and other CCELD.
11. 题干: How are English words generally classified? Give your reasons.
答案: Vocabulary can be classified by different criteria into different types. By use frequency, words fall into the basic word stock and non-basic vocabulary. Basic vocabulary is small in number but forms the core of the language and enjoys high frequency of use. Non-basic vocabulary contains such words as terminology, jargon, slang, argot, archaism, neologism, which have a relatively limited use. By notion, words can be divided into content words and functional words. Content words have clear notions such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs; functional words cover prepositions, pronouns, articles, conjunctions, etc., whose major functions are to help make sentences. By origin, words can grouped into native words and foreign words. Native words refer to the words of Anglo-Saxon origin, which are small in number but form the mainstream of the basic word stock. Foreign words are borrowed from other languages and make up 80% of the whole English vocabulary. There are other ways too, for example, by morphological structure, formality, emotionality, and so on.
12. 题干: A magnificent building was destroyed recently in a large city. What is the problem with this sentence? How can you improve it?
答案: This sentence has a very vague idea because a number of superordinates are used such as a magnificent building, destroyed, some time ago, in a large city in England.
The sentence can be improved like this: \Royal Hotel in London was
burnt down last Wednesday night.? In the improved sentence, the subordinates the Royal Hotel, in London, burnt down, last Wednesday night are used respectively instead of a magnificent building, in a large city, destroyed, some time ago, the meaning of the sentence becomes clear and definite. Therefore, it is much better.
13. 题干: What is the difference between superordinates and subordinates? Explain it with examples.
答案: Superordinates are words denoting genus, thus being general, and subordinates are words denoting species, thus being specific. Superordinates are cover terms which include the concept of subordinates whereas subordinates are specific and their meanings are included in the sense of superordiantes. Take flower-rose, furniture-cupboard, fruit-apple for example. In each pair, the former is the
superordinate and the latter subordinate.
14. 题干: In what way are compound verbs generally formed? Give examples to illustrate your point.
答案: The compound verbs are created either through conversion or backformation. e.g.
Through conversion:
machine-gun(n,) to machine-gun first name(n.) to first-name moonlight (n.) to moonlitght Through backformation:
vacuum cleaner to vacuum clean mass production to mass-produce tape recorder to tape-record
15. 题干: What is the fundamental difference between the processes of ?radiation? and ?concatenation?? Illustrate your point.
答案: Radiation is a semantic process which shows that the primary meaning and each of the derived meanings are directly connected, e.g. Neck:
1) that part of a man or animal joining the head to the body; 2) that part of the garment;
3) the neck of animal used as food;
4) a narrow part between the head and body or base of any object; 5) the narrowest part of anything.
Of these five meanings, 1) is the primary meaning and all the rest are derived but each of the other four is directly related to 1). Therefore, we can say neck has developed through the process of radiation. Concatenation is a semantic process which shows that the primary meaning gives birth to a second meaning and this second meaning in turn give birth to a third meaning and so on. Each of the derived meanings is directly related only to the preceding meaning and there is no direct connection between the primary meaning to the latest developed meaning, e.g. Candidate: 1) white-robed;
2) office seeker in white gowns; 3) a person who seeks an office;
4) a person proposed for a place, award, etc.
Of the four meanings, 1) is the primary meaning and the other three are derived, but each of the derived meanings is only directly related to the preceding one and there is no direct connection between 1) and 4). Therefore, we can say candidate has developed through the process of cancatenation.
16. 题干: Both back-formation and back-clipping are ways of making words by moving the endings of words. How do you account for the coexistence of the two? Can you explain the difference?
答案: Back-formation is a method of creating words by memorizing supposed suffixes. Back clipping is to shorten a longer word by cutting a part off the original and using what remains instead, and what is cut off is not suffix in any way, e.g. Back clipping: discotheque→disco; dormitory→dorm Back-formation: donation→donate; television → televise
17. 题干: How do you understand the statement that ?true synonymy is non-existent?? 答案: Synonyms can be classified into absolute synonyms and relative synonyms. Absolute synonyms are considered to be identical in every aspect and are interchangeable in all situations. They are confined to technical terms like
word-formation, word-building. But even technical terms like these might still have some slight difference, for example, one term may be more used than the other or one term is preferable in some situation, etc. That is why we say \non-existent\
18. 题干: How do you account for the semantic change in living languages?
答案: Changes in meaning make up the main character of any living language. As language is the tool of human communication, changes are natural in language because people need these to express the changes in our daily life and in society as new concepts, new ideas and new things emerge continuously. Once the changes in language stop, the language is dead.