1984-01-16 — Page 25

育教刊室頁一第張七第日四十月二十年亥癸夏 WAH: KIU YAT PO

報日僑華

●期星

日六十月一年四八九一曆公年三十七國民载中

-MIFENG-3-

REISEN

1984

中學會考試題預習專欄

英文 (++) 立基出版社提供資料

ENGLISH [17]

Ronald Chiu.

(Foundation Press)"

Dear Students,

Most teachers of English are sad dened to see the low standard of English composition among students, particular- ly the alarming number of common and silly mistakes made. No matter how hard the teachers try to correct the composition exercises, the students keep on making the same old mistakes time and again. The situation has deteriorated to a lamentable stage. The students are frustrated at their proneness to mistakes. No less frustrated are the teachers seeing their painful yet seemingly unrewarding teaching efforts. Surely something must be done about it before it is too late

tha

Common mistakes can be rectified by identifying and eventually elimi- nating them. Identification is of fore most importance for initially you must be shown which are the correct forms of English usage and which are not. The underlying principle is that if one does not know where one's weakness lies, one can never be expected to avoid it next time. Thuis, by avoiding the in- correct forms, you will gradually have the common mistakes under control. This will subsequently release you from the pressure of composition and stimu late your interest in the subject.

Here is the continued list of words commonly mis-used by Chinese students, selected from my book "Three Hundred Problems in English. I hope you will study the examples given and remember the correct usage.

1.

indoor, indoors

"Indoor" is an adjective whereas indoors an adverb.

Bowling is an indoor game. I'd rather stay indoors.

industrial, industrious sy

*Industrial”

means relating - to industry". "Industrious" means

"hard-working.

Kwun Tong is an industrial.

area.

Tom is an industrious student.

3. instance, înstant

‘Instance" means "example" or “fact”. “Instant" means "moment';

Spitting in public places is an instance of bad behaviour.

9.

I shall be back in an instant.

interested, interesting

Interested is used for someone who takes an interest in something.

"‘Interesting" is used for something

which arouses interest.NA

I am very interested in my work.

I am reading an interesting story book,

invaluable, valueless

*Invaluable' is used for something

whose value is too high to be 11 measured. Valueless' means "with- out value'.

This car cost a lot of money many years ago, but it is now almost valueless.

Mona Lisa is an invaluable painting

journey, voyage

A journey is a trip of some dis tance, usually on land. A voyage

is a "sea journey.

How long will the journey take if I go from Hong Kong to

Canton by train?

How long will the voyage take if I go from Hong Kong to Taiwan by ship?

last, latest

(i) “Last"" mean immediately before and is the opposite of 'next.

Latest means 'most recent'. December is the last month of a year..

Have you heard the latest news? late, lately t

The opposite of "early' is 'late", not Lately. “Lately' means recently.. He arrived home very late last night.

Have you been to the cinema lately? later, latter

(i) 'Later' is used for time. Its

superlative is "latest":

e.g. You should hand in your homework this Friday at the latest

(ii) ‘Latter' is used for order and means "the second of the two persons or things just men- tioned". Its superlative is “last'. e.g. I am to speak last at the

meeting....

I shall come back a few minutes later.

Of iron and gold, the latter is more precious.

10. Jay, lie

(i) "Lay, laid, laid' means 'put' or *produce eggs'. It always takes an object.

e.g. He laid his book on the

table.cal

They had laid the founda- tion of the house. My hen laid an egg yester _day;"

The hen has just laid an egg.

(ii) Lie means "rest and can never take an object. Its principal parts are lie,

e.g. She lay down on the floor. I had lain on the grass all night.

(i) Lie, lied, lied means tell an

untruth',

eg. He led to his teacher.

. He has lied to me.

I like to lay on the sofa,

If you are tired, go and lie down,

like, alike

'Like' is often used before a noun or pronoun. "Alike is often used after a verb. It is not usually followed by a noun or pronoun. The two brothers look alike. The two brothers look like each other.

12. little, a little

'Little means not much" and stresses the smallness of the amount. A little means "at least some and is more positive in meaning than 'little'.

I cannot afford it as I have little money left..

He slept a little and felt better.

13. little, small

Broadly speaking, 'little' is used for quantity whereas small for size. e.g. Tom is a little boy. (He is very

young)

Tom is a small boy. (He is not large in size.)

There is a small house.

I have little knowledge of chemistry.

14. long, lengthy

Lengthy means 'very long or too long. It is usually used for speeches and writings.

e.g. As I have not seen him for a long time, I send him a lengthy letter.

15. look, see

'See' simply means "notice with the eyes. "Look' means *see with 'attention'.

Please look at the blackboard. A cat is able to see in the dark.

16. loud, loudly {|}

(1) As a mere indication of volume of sound, the usual adverb is. "loud”, not 'loudly?,

(ii) Loudly means with a strong

voice' or 'shouting". Don't talk so loud.

As he is deaf, I have to speak to him loudly.

17. make, do

(1). We use 'do if the idea is that of fact or perform. But we use 'make' if the idea is that of "construct", "create", "manufac ture or bring into being'. (ii) The following are some typical expressions in which 'do' and 'make' are used.

Make make a decisión

Take a fuss

make a gamient make a journey make a mistake

make a noise

make a promise

make a suggestion

make a speech. make an article make an excuse

make an experiment

make an object

make up a poem

make up a story

make up one's mind make friends make fun of make haste make love make progress

Do

do a lesson do a problem do a task

do an injury

do one a favour

do one's duty.

do one's homework

do one's best

do business

de evil

do exercise

do good

do gymnastics

do wrong

The carpenter made a long. chair.

I have a lot of homework to do every day.

18. many, much

"Many is used for plural countable nouns whereas much for singular uncountable nouns.

I have many books.

•He has much money.

19. maybe, may be

Maybe is an adverb meaning 'perhaps or possibly", "May be is a verb form.

Maybe you are right. You may be right.

20. meter, metre

(1) A 'meter is an instrument for measuring. Metre is a unit of length in the metric system. (ii) In American English, meter" can be used for both meanings. The water-meter was our of order.

One metre is equivalent to 39.37 Inches..

21. most, mostly

The adverb most means more than anything else" or "in the greatest degree. Mostly means

mainly or almost all'. eg. She is the most beautiful girl

that I have ever seen.

I write to her every week,

mostly on Sundays.

- Uf my school subjects, English:

is the one I like most.

The audience consisted mostly of men.

much, very

(1) ́ ́“Much' is used before a com- parative adjective or adverb, and before a past participle which retains its verbal function. e.g. He runs much more quickly

than she

This picture has been much admired.

(i) 'Very is used before a positive adjective or adverb, and before participle which is used as an adjective.

eg. Tom is a very diligent

student,

He runs very quickly.

This is a very challenging job

I am very interested in this job.

Jack is much taller than John:

I am very pleased to hear of your success.

23. nearby, near by

Nearby is an adjective whereas near, by an adverb.

There was a store near by. He lives in a nearby house.

negligent, negligible

"Negligent means not taking or showing enough care'.

Negligible means can be neglected" (because of little or no importance or size). Agar

He was dismissed because he was negligent in his duties. The additional charge was negligible.

25. next door, next-door

"Next door" is an adverbial phrase. whereas ‘next-door" an adjective.

He lives next door. They are my next-door neighbours.

26. no, not

No means not any and is used as an adjective to qualify nouns, gerunds or adjectives" followed by nouns. e.g. I have no money. He is no fool.

No talking is allowed during the lesson....

I have no warm clothes. (ii). We must use the adverb 'not'

when the nouns are already qualified by adjectives like fal, 'all, any, both', 'enough', “every", "much", "the" and most adjectives where "no. nouns follow.

e.g. I have not any money.

·He is not a fool.

us

Not all of us like him. Nor both of them can do it.

He has not enough food, Not everybody likes dance ing.

I have not much money. She is not the only girl in the world.

They are not different. She is not attractive.

No smoking please.

I am not smoking now.

27, no one, no-one,

“No one" means "no individual one”. "No-one" means "nobody".

Each of the boys tried to lift the table, but no one of them was strong enough to lift it alone.

There was no-one in the room.

28. passed, past

(1) Passed' is the past tense and

past participle of the verb "pass e.g. He has passed his exam-

ination.

(1) Past can be used as:

an adjective

e.g. During the past few days, many visitors have flocked into the town.

an adverb

e.g. The bus went past. a preposition

e.g. I walked past the.

house.

a noun

e.g. Don't think of the

past.

He passed his examination. I have been very busy during the past week.

29. pleasant, pleased

(i) 'Pleasant' means 'giving pleas ure. agreeable or "friendly and can be used for both per- sons and things:

e.g. She always looks pleasant. She has a pleasant ap pearance.

(ii) Pleased'

means "feeling or showing happiness or satisfac tion and is used for persons only,

̈e.g. I'm pleased to meet you. She looks pleased with herself.

I hope you will have a pleasant holiday.

I am very pleased with his work.

30. popular, populous

Popular means liked by many people, Populous' means having a large population", "

John is popular with his classmates.

Mongkok is the most populous district in Kowloon..

Page 25Page 26