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English is a Queer Language • Those that will combat use and custom by the strict rules of grammar do but jest. -- Michel de Montaigne Essays Language is queer • 我好高兴。 • 我好不高兴。 ？ ？ • Eat what you can and can what you cannot. • Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana. • I think we've chosen the right person to lead the expedition. • My joke about the alcoholic went down like a lead balloon. • Did you notice the tears in his eyes when he talked about Diane? • You have to be very careful with books this old because the paper tends to tear very easily. • The weather forecast warned of winds of up to 60-miles-an-hour today. • That noise you can hear is the tape winding back. Tense Times with Verbs • • • • • • The verbs in English are a fright. How can we learn to read and write? Today we speak, but first we spoke; Some faucets leak, but never loke. Today we write, but first we wrote; We bite our tongues, but never bote. • • • • • • • • Each day I teach, for years I taught, And preachers preach, but never praught. This tale I tell; this tale I told; I smell the flowers, but never smold. If knights still slay, as once they slew, Then do we play, where once we plew? If I still do as once I did, Then do cows moo, as they once mid? • • • • • • • • I love to win, at games I’ve won. I seldom sin, and never son. I hate to lose, and games I lost, I didn’t choose, and never chost. I love to sing, and songs I sang. I fling a ball, but never flang. I strike that ball, that ball I struck; This poem I like, but never luck. • • • • • • • • I take a break, a break I took; I bake a cake, but never book. I eat that cake, that cake I ate, I beat an egg, but never bate. I often swim, as I once swam, I skim some milk, but never skam. I fly a kite that I once flew; I tie a knot, but never tew. • • • • • • • • I see the truth, the truth I saw; I flee from falsehood, never flaw. I stand for truth, as I once stood; I land a fish, but never lood. About these verbs I sit and think. These verbs don’t fit. They seem to wink At me, who sat for years and thought Of verbs that never fat and wought. Spellbound • • • • • • I take it you already know Of tough and bough and cough and dough? Others may stumble, but not you On hiccough, thorough, laugh and through. Well done! And now you wish, perhaps To learn of less familiar traps? • • • • • • Beware of heard, a dreadful word That looks like beard and sounds like bird. And dead: it’s said like bed, not bead – For goodness’ sake don’t call it deed! Watch out for meat and great and threat. (They rhyme with suite and straight and debt). • • • • • • • • • • A moth is not a moth in mother, Nor both in bother, broth in brother, And here is not a match for there, Nor dear and fear for bear and pear, And then there’s does and rose and lose Just look them up – and goose and choose And cork and work and card and ward, And font and front and word and sword, And do and go and thwart and cart – Come, come, I’ve hardly made a start! • • • • A dreadful language? Man alive! I’d mastered it when I was five. And yet to write it, the more I tried, I hadn’t learned at fifty five. Alice Hamilton Alice Hamilton was the first woman appointed to the faculty of Harvard Medical School and was a leading expert in the field of occupational health. She was a pioneer in the field of toxicology, studying occupational illnesses and the dangerous effects of industrial metals and chemical compounds on the human body. 1869~1970 • • • • a number of any number of A small number of children are educated at home. (slightly formal) A small number of children is educated at home. • A large number of (= Many) invitations have been sent. • (slightly formal) A large number of invitations has been sent. defy • • • • • • • defy the law of gravity defy the snow to play the match defy description defy sb. to do sth. a pointless act/gesture of defiance in defiance of … a defiant attitude/gesture /student -oriented • export-oriented industries • democratically-oriented votes • a poor but education-oriented family going • Where is she going? • She is going to school. • She is going to stay a week. Inversion after negative expressions • • • • seldom, rarely, never hardly, scarcely, no sooner only … … no … have … to do with • have nothing to do with • have something / anything to do with • have much / little to do with identical • four identical houses • identical to/with • identical in see through vs. see … through • It'll take a lot of effort to see the project through. • Once Charles started a job, he saw it through till it was finished. • Setting goals should help see you through. • I've got enough money to see me through six months of unemployment. • She had learned to see through her boyfriend's deceptions. • I could never lie to her because I know she'd see through me straight away. idiomatic & idioms • • • • idiomatic expressions / phrases full of beans to be on top of the world Don’t bite off more than you can chew. • I’m hard up. capacity • capacity for sth. • capacity to do sth. beyond • live beyond one’s means • a question that is beyond sb. miss • I missed the start of the exam because my bus was late. • Often I miss breakfast and have an early lunch instead. • He really missed his girlfriend when she went away. • What did you miss most about England when you were living France? even + comparative form • • • • make our job even more difficult even worse than expected even colder with snow showers … even, much, a great deal + comparative form • * very + comparative form burn up vs. burn down • The satellite will burn up as it re-enters the earth's atmosphere. • Most of the woodland has now been burnt up. • Most household appliances burn up loads of electricity. • He just burns up money! • Feel his forehead - he's burning up. • The way he treats her really burns me up. • As we get older, our body becomes less efficient at burning up calories. • She was worried that the house might burn down while they were away. • The old town hall was burnt down in the 1970s. either • • • • • "I don't like either." "Either will do." either way, in either case either … or an either-or situation direct speech - punctuation • “Your information,” I replied, “is out of date.” • “Yes, I suppose so,” he said. “It’s difficult, isn’t it?” hurry up • Hurry (up), or we'll miss the train. [I] • hurry the children up • hurry up the report clean up • • • • • • • • clean down the woodwork clean up the kitchen give … a good clean-up call for a clean-up campaign clean up the town clean up television clean up your act clean up a small fortune in the lottery wrap up • • • • wrap up the present be wrapped up in someone /something wrap oneself up wrap up a deal mess • • • • make a mess look a mess a mess of … [compare] mass tidy • • • • • tidy up the room tidy away the toys tidy adj. tidiness tidily skeptical • be skeptical about • skeptic • skeptically meditation • • • • a meditation on sth. deep in meditation meditate on / upon sth. meditative come back • come back at sb. with… • find no suitable comeback to the remark • invite a sarcastic comeback triumph • • • • • return in triumph triumph for triumph over Good must triumph over evil. triumph against the odds triumphal and triumphant • The Arc de Triomphe is a triumphal arch in Paris which commemorates Napoleon's military victories. • It seemed as though the whole city had turned out for their team's triumphant homecoming. make up • • • • • • • make up the bed make up one’s mind make up one’s face make up with sb. make up the difference make up a quarter of the patients make up a story entertain • educate and entertain at the same time • entertain sb. • entertainer • entertainment • entertaining • Now that I live on my own, I don't entertain much. • Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. • The General refused to entertain the possibility of defeat. send sb. on sth. • send a servant on an errand • send sb. on a training course the rest • the rest of one’s life / the day • for the rest • (and) all the rest put sb. to … • put sb. to bed / work /death • put sb. to shame / inconvenience / great expense add (sth.) up • add up the bill • add up to … • It doesn’t add up. wake up • wake sb. up • wake up to up to now • up to now • up to yesterday • up-to-the-minute up to sb. • It’s up to sb. to do sth. look up • If you don't know what the word means, look it up in a dictionary. • He looked up at my words. • Look me up when you're in Beijing. • I hope things will start to look up in the New Year. give up • give up (doing) sth. • give oneself up Other “up” phrases: • • • • turn up put up with end up live up to compulsion – force • under some / no compulsion to do sth. • compulsory compulsion – desire • have a constant compulsion to eat • a compulsive liar / thief / gambler • compulsive performance command • • • • under sb.’s command have command over / be in command of have … at one’s command (have a) good / excellent / poor command of sth. • command sb. to do sth. • commanding must have been • It must have rained yesterday; the ground is still wet. • It’s already 9 o’clock. She must be at the airport now. • You did extremely well in the exam. You must have been working hard. can’t have done • He can’t have arrived at the airport. He left only 10 minutes ago. • He can’t be in the classroom now. I met him on the playground just now. tough • • • • a tough job / assignment face a tough winter / tough decisions tough competition a real tough customer / nut subject complement • If you don’t tip the waiter, you’ll step out of the restaurant leaving long-faced waiters behind you. • He came back from the day’s work tired out. • They went hunting for hours and returned emptyhanded. • They came back from the hunting in low spirits. • He entered the office still annoyed by the way she spoke to him. • I leave the classroom an hour later convinced that I was even more boring than usual. subjunctive mood • If it were raining now, we wouldn’t be having the sports meet today. • If it had rained last night, the ground would not be this dry. • If he had taken my suggestions, he would have succeeded. hunt • on the hunt for • The hunt is on for … • hunt high and low yield • • • • yield plenty of fruit / big profits crop yields yield to the temptation yield under the weight of … disagreeable • agreeable • disagree with / on / about / over • disagreement between / among sb. about sth. arouse • [Compare] arise confusion • • • • • • confusion over / between in confusion confuse confuse A with B confusing confused I. Spell the following words, with the first letter given: • • • • • • • • • • 1. unusual, strange or not expected 2. exactly the same, or very similar 3. showing disbelief, doubting the truth of sth. 4. difficult to do or deal with 5. refuse to obey the rules; fight against 6. to give direction or guidance 7. the act of thinking deeply and seriously 8. force or influence that makes sb. do sth. 9. large quantity, more than enough 10. produce, profit, result q____ i_____ s_____ t_____ d_____ o_____ m______ c_____ a______ y______ II. Match the phrasal verbs on the left with their definitions on the right. • • • • • • • • • • 1. see sth. through 2. tired out 3. burn up (down) 4. slow up (down) 5. wrap up 6. look up 7. make up 8. give up 9. get cold feet 10. get even with sb. a. exhausted b. make or become slower c. raise one’s eyes d. cover e. lose interest, wish to stop f. re-establish good relations g. take revenge on sb. h. continue with sth. until the end i. burn completely j. lack confidence III. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate forms of the given phrases. get along, get by, get over, get to, get together, get about, get away with, get behind, get in with, get out • • • • • • • • • • 1. Now he has got a small car, he _______ much more. 2. The teacher doesn't seem to notice that Peter never does his homework. I don't know how he _______ it. 3. He couldn't afford to go out last month after he _______ with his rent. 4. She doesn't earn a lot of money but she earns enough to _______. 5. She _______ the crowd at the local bar and she doesn't go around with us anymore. 6. I don't _______ with my dad, so I only see him at Christmas. 7. We're going to _______ with some friends for a barbeque. Would you like to come? 8. Sandra doesn't seem able to _______ her mother's death. 9. I know it's very stressful, but try not to let it _______ you. 10. Although they wanted to keep it quiet, news of the job losses _______ very quickly. IV. Write three words with each negative prefix: • • • • • • im- _____________, ____________, ______________ in- _____________, ____________, ______________ dis- ____________, ____________, ______________ il- _____________, ____________, ______________ un- _____________, ___________, ______________ ir- _____________, ___________, ______________ V. Dictation: • • • • paradox 悖论，自相矛盾的话 vagaries 难以预计的情况 quicksand 流沙 silverware 餐具 • Language is like the air we breathe. It’s invisible, inescapable, indispensable, and we take it for granted. But when we take the time to explore the paradoxes and vagaries of English, we find that hot dogs can be cold, darkrooms can be lit, homework can be done in school, hours – especially happy hours and rush hours – can last longer than sixty minutes, quicksand works very slowly, boxing rings are square, silverware can be made of plastic and tablecloths of paper, and most telephones are dialed by being punched (or pushed?).
