Passage I English Idioms Words to Know 1.peculiar a.独特的;特别的;奇异的 2.particular a.特定的 3.persistent a.持久的;不断的 4.lively a.生动的;鲜明的 5.terse a.简洁的;简短的 6.alter v.改变 7.synonym n.同义词 8.wording n.用词;用语 9.falsify v.伪造;歪曲 10.deceive v.欺骗 11.precise a.正确的;准确的 12.plural a.复数的 13.scorn v.蔑视;嘲笑 14.vigorous a.充满活力的 15.stilted a.不自然的;浮夸的 16.elaborate a.精致的;精心的 17.perseverance n.坚韧;坚持 Time Limit: 11'30′′ 1 Ask any teacher of English what it is that students of English find most difficult and the answer in most cases will be“idioms” . 2 Idioms are peculiar uses of particular words,and also particular phrases and expressions which,from long usage,have become part of the English language.English is particularly rich in idiomatic expressions,and it takes long years of hard and persistent work before a student can master them well. 3 Idioms are usually lively,terse and vivid; the same meaning could be expressed in some other way,but not with equal force and terseness.“You’ ve taken the words right out of my mouth”is shorter and so much more vivid than “What you’ ve said is exactly what I was going to say” .As a general rule an idiomatic phrase cannot be altered; replacing any word with a synonym or changing the wording will usually destroy the idiom and sometimes make the expression meaningless.For example,“to cook the results (of an experiment) ”means to falsify the results in order to deceive.If a synonym of“cook”is used,e.g.“to boil the results”,the phrase makes no sense at all.“To learn by heart”is a very common expression.If a student says “to learn by the heart”,he will be understood but the idiom is destroyed—he has spoken poor English.Therefore the student must be careful to learn the precise words that make up an idiom,and also the exact order of those words. 4 The greatest difficulty for most students is verbal idioms.It is not easy to explain why we can say“make a journey”,and not“make a walk”,but must say“take a walk” ; or,why we can say“set free”and“set at liberty”,but not“set at freedom” ; or why, when we can correctly say either“take hold of”or“lay hold of”,we can only say“take care of”,but not“lay care of” ; or why it must be“take care of”and not“keep care of” . 5 Prepositions are especially troublesome.Even native speakers are not always sure of the correct one to use.There are several reasons for this.Many prepositions are used in so many different ways that they have no clear meaning apart from the phrase in which they occur.For example,the most common sense of“on”is“sitting on a chair”,“putting something on the table”,but we also say “on duty”,“on fire”,“on arrival” .We agree to a proposal,but agree with a person and agree on a plan.We are angry at a thing,but angry at or with a person.Something differs from(is unlike) another thing,but we differ with (disagree with) a person.We go in search of something,but search for something.Someone stays at home,but stays in Beijing for a month.Idiom requires us to say “capable of doing something”,not“capable to do”,and“able to do”,not“able of doing” . 6 Thus there is often no logic to idioms,and very often they do not follow grammar rules.It is idiomatic—at least in speech—to say“It’ s me” ; and it is perfectly correct to use the plural with“none” . 7 Word stress is also important to note,when learning verbal idioms.The English stress a preposition or adverb when it is part of a verbal idiom.“The woman fainted but soon came to.”There is a stress on the word“to”in“came to” .On the other hand,when the preposition or adverb after the verb belongs more to a following noun or phrase,then the verb itself is stressed rather than the preposition or adverb.Thus in“the streets were empty and we soon came to the park”,the stress falls on“came”,not on the word“to” . 8 Idiomatic expressions are to be found in the daily speech of English-speaking people more than in formal writing.In fact most idioms originated in the everyday speech of the working people.Many of them were at first scorned and looked down upon by intellectuals but,as time passed,they became accepted as part of the language.Today language used on the radio and TV,in novels,newspapers and magazines is rich in idioms.In fact,there is a steady tendency in writing English to develop a simple,vigorous,idiomatic style,and to get rid of stilted,elaborate writing. 9 In learning English idioms,therefore,the student should study good modern authors.Magazines,and talks by native speakers will also prove useful.We would say to the student who wishes to use English idioms correctly,“Read a lot and note the idiomatic peculiarities.When you listen to someone speaking English,try to catch the exact expressions used.And write a lot,get your work corrected and pay careful attention to the corrections.” 10Perseverance in all this will in time enable the student to use English fluently and idiomatically. (830 words) Comprehension Exercises: Multiple Choice Directions: For each of the following questions or incomplete statements,decide on the best choice.