◆ quiet; silent; still ◇ quiet意为“安静的、寂静的”。用于自然环境,指没有活动、喧闹的寂静状态;指人时,表示生性安静、不易激动。如:
Be quiet.Your father is sleeping now.安静点,你爸爸正在睡觉呢。
Jane was a quiet girl.简是个天性好静的女孩。
◇ silent意为“寂静的、沉默的”,表示不说话、不弄出声响,但不一定指没有活动。如:
He always keeps silent when the teacher questions him. 老师向他提问时,他总是保持沉默。
The class was silent as the teacher explained the exam rules. 当老师解释考规时教室里寂静无声。
◇ still意为“安静的、不动的”,不指心理状态,而指环境和人表面上无动作的平静状态。如:
Stand still while I take your photo.站着别动,我给你拍照。
◆ particular; especial; special
◇ particular着重指同类事物中某一个具有独特性质的事例,是相当“一般”而言的“特殊”、“特定”。如: On that particular day the stores are closed. 在特定的那一天店铺都关了门。(平时没有这种现象)
◇ special和especial都有“特殊的,特别的”之意。如: What are your special interests? 你有些什么特别的爱好? Collecting stamps is a matter of especial interest. 集邮是特别有趣的事。
◇ 不同的是,special还有“专门的,额外的”的意思。如: You need a special tool to do that.干那个活儿要用专用工具。 Take special care of it.对这东西要特别细心。
◆ persuade sb.to do sth.; advise sb.to do sth.; try to persuade sb.to do sth. ◇ persuade sb.to do sth.意为“说服某人干某事”,其结果是成功的(即成功地说服某人干某事)。如:
Tom persuaded his father to give up smoking at last.汤姆终于说服他父亲戒烟了。
◇ advise sb.to do sth.意为“劝说某人干某事”,其结果可能是劳而无功(即“说”而未“服”)。如:
She advised her parents to give up smoking, but they wouldn’t listen. 她劝她的父母戒烟,但他们不愿听。
◇ try to persuade sb.to do sth.意为“尽力说服某人干某事”,相当于advise sb.to do sth。如:
I tried to persuade him to continue his study, but I failed. 我尽力劝他继续学习,但没有成功。
◆ penny; pence; pennies◇ penny“便士”,为硬币,是英国及爱尔兰等国的货币单位,100便士等于一英磅。pence及pennies都是penny的复数,但用法有别:pence指钱的总额,pennies指一个一个的硬币。例如:
This pen costs thirty pence. 这支钢笔卖三十便士。
Give me ten pennies for this ten-penny piece. 请把这枚十便士的硬币换成十枚一便士的硬币。
◇ “数词+penny”表示“……便士的”,为形容词,作定语;“数词+pence”表示“……便士”,为名词。试比较:
five penny五便士的(形容词)five pence五便士(名词)
◆ pity; shame◇ 两者均可表示“遗憾的事”,常与a连用,指没实现某种愿望而感到遗憾、懊悔或可惜,可以换用。例如:
What a pity/shame that she can not come! 她不能来真是遗憾!
It is a shame/pity that you can’t help us.
你不能帮助我们真是遗憾。
◇ shame还可表示“可耻之事;令人难堪的事”,指说话人对某种行为感到厌烦、憎恶或讨厌,而pity没有这一意思。例如:
It’s a shame to be so wasteful.这么浪费,太可耻了。
It’s a shame to treat animals like that.那样对待动物真是太过分了。
◆ point to/ point out
◇ point to表示“指向”、“指着”,其中to表示方向;point out表示“指出”。EXERCISES:①Mr Li one of these things. ②Can you my mistakes?(Keys:①points to ②point out) ◆ possibly; probably; perhaps; maybe 这几个副词都有“可能”的意思,用法如下:
◇ possible“或许;也许”,所指的可能性较小,为加强语气,可与can或could连用;与may连用,表示的可能性更小。例如:
It may possibly be true.也许是真的。
Please call me as soon as you possibly can.请尽快给我打电话。
Could you possibly tell me the answer﹖你能告诉我这个答案吗?
◇ probably“很有可能;十之八九”,其语义较强,可能性较大。在否定句中,probably不能紧跟在否定词之后。例如:
It will probably be fine tomorrow.明天大概会是晴天。
译:她大概不会来这里。
正:Probably she won’t come here.
正:She probably won’t come here.
正:She won’t come here probably.
误:She won’t probably come here.
◇ perhaps“或许”,含有“可能这样,也可能不这样”之意,其含义和用法与maybe一样,多用于口语。maybe多用于美国英语。在这几个单词中,语义最强的是probably,其次是perhaps和maybe,最弱的是possibly。例如:
Perhaps we will be late for work.或许我们上班会迟到。
Perhaps we’d better take a bus.也许我们最好乘公共汽车。
◆ power force strength 都含"力"、"力量"的意思。
◇ power 指 "身体上、精神上或心理上的力量, 不管是表现出来的还是潜在的", 如:
It's beyond his power.这是他力所不及的。
◇ force 指"运用或发挥出来的力量, 可以克服阻力, 使人或物按要求方向运动", 如:
He did it with a great force. 他用了很大的力才把它做完了。
◇ strength 指"内部固有的力量", 表示物质力量时, 着重"体格或构造健全、完善等方面的力量, 如体力强度等"; 表示精神力量时, 指"持久、坚定、无畏、坚韧等", 如:
the strength to lift something举起某物的力。
◆ prefer…to…;prefer to… rather than…◇ 两个动词短语均可作“喜欢……而不喜欢……”或“宁愿……而不愿……”解,其后均可接名词。例如: I prefer volleyball to basketball(=I prefer to volleyball rather than basketball). 我喜欢排球而不喜欢篮球。
◇ 主要区别在于:prefer…to…之后接动词时,均用-ing形式。例如: He prefers walking to cycling. 他宁愿步行而不愿骑自行车。
◇ 而prefer to…rather than…之后接动词时,均要用动词原形。例如: Liu Hulan preferred to die rather than surrender before the enemy. 刘胡兰在敌人面前宁死不屈。 Xiao Wu prefers to work rather than sit idle. 小吴喜欢工作而不喜欢闲坐。
◆ prepare;prepare for;prepare…for;be prepared for;be(get)ready
◇ prepare sth.意为“准备某事”强调准备的过程或动作,宾语必须是这一动作的直接承受者;另有“配置、调制”之意。
◇ prepare for意为“为……作准备”,for后面的宾语是准备的目的,即所要应付的情况。
◇ prepare sth.for意为“为……做好准备”。
◇ be prepared for强调准备好的状态。
◇ be(get)ready意为“准备好”,着重指准备的结果。be(get)ready to do还有“乐于干……”的意思。
[EXERCISES]
1.We ____ the mid-term examination.
2.Wheat can be ____ in many different ways.
3.The students ____ their lessons ____ the exam.
4.Can you ____ your future job?
5.He ____ always ____ to help others.
6.Miss Li said,“Everyone should ____ before class.”
7.Mother ____ lunch in the kitchen.
ANSWER: 1.are preparing for 2.prepared 3.are preparing…for 4.be prepared for
5.is…ready 6.be ready7.is preparing
◆ prize;medal
◇ prize是表示“奖品”或“奖(彩)金”之意。例如: Einstein won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. 1921年,爱因斯坦获得了诺贝尔物理奖。 She took the first prize for her singing. 她获得了唱歌一等奖。