Increasing Your Word Power
1 The same word can perform different roles and functions as different parts of speech. Listed in the box below are some of these words. Complete the following sentences with the words in the box. Make sure that your sentences are grammatically correct. 1) The Nile is one of the principal / major rivers of Africa.
2) Your story is a great one, but I think I can top yours with an even funnier one.
3) My friend Mary is a psychology major at Stanford University.
4) William has always been a hardworking student. It is no wonder he came out
top in the exam again.
5) Mr. Williams is retiring at the end of this year; he has been the principal of this school for 20 years.
6) What did you major in at college, computer science or accounting?
7) I haven’t got time to work on the report yet. My schedule is really tight for this week.
8) Many people advocate / have advocated a reduction in college tuition fees.
9) He started at the bottom and worked his way out to the top.
10) This scientist claims that he has found a new approach to cancer treatment.
11) Don’t blame me if it doesn’t work — it’s not my fault.
12) Shipbuilding used to be of the major / principal industries of this city.
13) He was a strong advocate of free market policies.
14) The railway station is trying to schedule another early train to the capital city of the province.
15) The judge put the blame for the accident on the driver of the car.
16) Most students will get nervous when final exams are approaching.
17) He says that he made his statement to the police under pressure, and that the statement is false.
18) She slowed down her pace so I could keep up with her.
19) The Government should not be pressured into making hasty decisions.
20) We have a lot to do today, so pace yourself, or you’ll get very tired.
2 In this unit there are many words and phrases that are similar in meaning. Find out those pairs of words and phrases and put them down in the space provided.
Words and phrases that are similar in meaning:
reveal
tentative (questions) achieve super-achiever steer toward be caught
3 In this unit the verb set is collocated with priorities, timetables, and standards. Try to fill in as many nouns as possible that can go with set in the space provided. If you are not sure of some collocations, consult a dictionary. Then make sentences of your own using the collocations in the space provided.
set priorities / timetables / standards / an exam / an alarm / an example / a disclose
possible (questions) attain
straight-A student point toward be trapped
price /a record / limits
1) Who is going to set (the questions for) the exam this time?
2) She forgot to set her alarm last night: that was why she overslept.
3) Her heroic behavior sets a good example for us to follow.
4) We had to compromise and finally the price was set at $ 1,000.
5) We were all pleased to know that Liu Xiang had set a world record in the 110-meter hurdles.
6) The government has set strict limits on pay increases.
4 Did you notice the suffixes -ion, -ation, -ly in words such as education, expectation, deliberately in this unit? The suffixes -ion, -ation can be put after many verbs to form nouns, and -ly can be added to many adjectives to form adverbs. Listed in the box below are some nouns and adverbs with suffixes -ion, -ation, -ly you have come across in this unit. Write down their corresponding verb and adjective forms in the space provided. Nouns with -ion/ation anticipation association contribution edition expectation
Verbs
Adverbs with
-ly
Adjectives
anticipate associate contribute edit expect
concisely deliberately effectively equally immediately
concise deliberate effective equal immediate
frustration participation revision
frustrate participate revise
presumably psychologically ultimately
presumable psychological ultimate
Task 1: Complete each of the following sentences with a proper noun with suffixes -ion, -ation listed above.
1) The dictionary sold well, so the publisher soon printed a second edition.
2) This book had five revisions before it was actually published.
3) Albert Einstein’s most notable contribution to the world is his Theory of Relativity.
4) People are buying extra groceries in anticipation of heavy snowstorms.
5) She couldn’t stand the frustration of not being able to save her husband from the fire.
6) They want greater participation in the decision-making process.
7) Our long association with that company has brought great benefits to both sides.