Vocabulary

Match a word/phrase on the left with a word/phrase on the right with roughly the same meaning. On the whole, those on the right are somewhat more formal than those on the left.

Put in a suitable word from the 20 listed below this piece into the twenty open spaces so that the text reads like idiomatic English.

We have grown used to their sirens ______ the peace of a sunny afternoon. Now, _____have found a new way to make themselves heard to householders: by shouting crime _______ advice through loudhailers.
Officers have been ordered to use megaphones to _____ residents who have left doors or windows open. They have even been instructed to enter unlocked _____ and wake up those asleep inside if their home is not ______
It is all part of an _____ by the Northamptonshire police to cut down on the number of summer _____. If _____, it could be copied by other forces.
The megaphone patrols have not gone____ well with residents, however, who have criticised them as patronising and _____. Shirley P.,75, said: “ I don’t want police officers coming into my house and _____ at me with a megaphone. They wouldn’t get in anyway, because I am careful when I go to bed at night. All they are doing is waking my dog and setting him ____ barking at all hours.”
The ______ began two weeks ago in the Thorplands and Lumbertubs areas of Northampton, which have seen a _____ of burglaries in recent weeks.
According to police, one in four of 30 recent burglaries was down to _____ failing to lock up their houses_____. Inspector Mike Grady said: “ _____, a good proportion of burglaries in this ____ take place at homes that have been left _____.

Down, sadly, shattering, initiative, secure, intrusive, police, off, properly, county, insecure, properties, scheme, prevention, spate, alert, burglaries, successful, bellowing, tenants

Match each the 15 phrasal verbs on the left by a meaning equivalent on the right. Consult dictionaries if necessary. Then use each phrasal verb in a sentence in which the meaning becomes clear. You may want to use examples from the Internet or from dictionaries.

One aspect of impoverished English is that writers keep repeating their favourite words- sometimes referred to as lexical ‘teddybears’- thereby creating a text which suffers under lack of variation.

The adjectives interesting, good and nice, and the verbs get, be and have are such overused words. The following are alternatives to one or the other of the six ‘teddybears, but they are of course richer and more specific in meaning.

Possess, delightful, exist, receive, thought-provoking, include, take place, engaging, mean, constitute, catch, competent, compelling, enjoy, acquire, likeable, intriguing, outstanding, amount to, consist of, fascinating, represent.

Choose a suitable alternative from the list above to replace the underlined ‘teddybears’ in these sentences. In some cases more than one alternative is possible. Discuss your choices with a classmate.

She has a strong will. The discussion was profound and interesting. The committee has ten members. Watch out so you don’t get a cold! The concert is tomorrow afternoon. That breach of promise is a threat to our good relationship. I must say you have a good family. Everybody in the office finds Bill a nice fellow. That initiative will get a lot of support among the local residents. The problem is only in your head. He made an interesting remark which left most of us puzzled. Accepting such behaviour is accepting that people can do whatever they like.

The new research group includes a number of very good programmers. The lecture was lively and interesting. We have considerable job security in our company. In the second half some of the home players were very good. There was good evidence for the boy’s innocence. During my stay in the north I got a taste for smoked herring. Did you get a letter from the tax man the other day? All these cutbacks are a dramatic reduction in our services.

When words occur together in authentic phrases and sentences, the combinations are not haphazard. There are patterns of more or less frequent combinations. For example, you are likely to have come across:

a disturbing development, inclement weather, sound advice, badly needed, water a lawn, be easily frightened, superbly qualified.
These are examples of collocations: two (or more) words which often occur together.

The following combinations are unlikely: a mature development, likeable weather, clever shoes, badly frequent, roam a lawn, be easily ripe, superbly fine.

They have the quality of unidiomatic English. In fact, a lot of odd English is odd precisely because the words used do not go well together. Bearing this in mind, attempt the following tasks:

Sub-task A
Find FIVE adjectives that go well (collocate) with advice, as in sound advice

Sub-task B
Find five verbs that can replace present in this collocation: present a report

Sub-task C
Find five nouns that can replace story in this collocation: a convincing story

Sub-task D
Find five adverbs that can replace sincerely in this collocation: I sincerely believe that…

Sub-task E
Find five verbs that can replace stated in this collocation: he stated that …

Sub-task F
Find five adjectives that can replace critical in this collocation: express a critical attitude to

Sub-task G
Find five nouns that can replace cut in this collocation: a dramatic cut in funding

Sub-task H
Find five adjectives that can replace major in this collocation: to play a major role in…

Sub-task I
Find five adjectives that can replace elegant in this collocation: an elegant hotel

Sub-task J
Find five verbs that can replace walked in this collocation: she walked across the street

Match the words/phrases on the left with an appropriate synonym (a word/phrase with roughly the same meaning) on the right.

Match the word/phrases on the left with an appropriate antonym (word/phrase with roughly the opposite meaning) on the right.

Put in a suitable preposition in the open spaces in this text.

The constructions described _____ this book for the most part identify a ‘common core’ ___ English grammar- that is, features which will be found ____ virtually every situation where the language is used. However, it would be wrong to conclude that there is no systematic grammatical variation in English. Although grammar is the least noticeable dimension ____ language variation, several constructions have been affected ____ regional, social or historical change, and many varieties are distinguished stylistically ____ the frequency ____which particular grammatical features are used.

Caution
Regional variation is not a stable phenomenon. Dialects are always changing, and influence each other ____ sometimes unpredictable ways. Patterns ___ American English, ____ particular, have ____ some time been influencing the speech ____ people ___ other part ____the world, and several ____ the USAGE issues identified ____ this book have come _____ ____ this reason.
Not everyone likes it when they notice the emergence of different grammatical patterns ____ the ones they have themselves used _____childhood. Some people get angry, condemn the changes, and protest ____ them _____ anyone who will listen. Change is invariably considered to be ____ the worse. But no one has ever managed to stop the course ____ grammatical change, as can be seen ____ the way English grammar has steadily evolved ____ the centuries.

From David Crystal, Rediscover Grammar, Pearson-Longman, 2003

Rewrite these rather complicated and wordy sentences into briefer and more concise alternatives without changing the main point that is made in each.

1. Rewrite these rather complicated and wordy sentences into briefer and more concise alternatives without changing the main point that is made in each.
2. It is undeniable that a large majority of non-native learners of English experience a number of problems in attempting to master the phonetic patterns of the language.
3. Tea, whether of the Chinese or the Indian variety, is well known to be high on the list of those beverages which are most frequently drunk by the inhabitants of the British Isles.
4. My sister shows a distinct tendency to prefer the company of people who are no longer in their first flower of youth.
5. It is not uncommon to encounter sentences which, though they contain a great number of words and are constructed in a highly complex way, none the less turn out on inspection to convey very little meaning.
6. The evidence taken from the observation of the behaviour of apes and children suggests that there are three clearly separable groups of simple causes for the outbreak of fighting and the exhibition of aggressiveness by individuals.

Material partly based on Michael Swan, Inside Meaning, CUP,1988