EXERCISES 11
I. Give brief answers to the following questions, using your own words as much as possible:
  1) What critical views did the popular press express on the publication of Webster's Third New International Dictionary?
  2) How much effort and money was spent on the making of this dictionary?
  3) What new science came into being between the appearance of the two editions of the dictionary? What are some of the features of this new science?
  4) Why are new dictionaries needed?
  5) How does the writer refute the criticisms of the popular press?
  6) What does the writer say about spelling and pronunciation?
  7) Why is the definition of a ‘door’ so complicated?
  8) Has the Third New International Dictionary any faults?
II .Paraphrase:
  1) a flagrant example of lexicographic irresponsibility
  2) What underlies all this sound and fury?
  3) It cannot be described in terms of any other language, or even in terms of its own past.
  4) All languages are dynamic rather than static
  5) Even in so settled a matter as spelling, a dictionary cannot always be absolute.
  6) But neither his vanity nor his purse is any concern of the dictionary's
  7) Has the dictionary abdicated its responsibility?
  8) lexicography, like God, is no respecter of persons
  9) And this, too, is complex, subtle, and forever changing.
  10) the editorial charges the Third International with "pretentious and obscure verbosity"
III. Translate the following into Chinese'
  1) What underlies all this sound and fury? Is the claim of the G& C Merriam Company, probably the world's greatest dictionary maker, that the preparation of the work cost $3.5million, that it required the efforts of three hundred scholars over a period of twenty-seven years, working on the largest collection of citations ever assembled in any language -- is all this a fraud, a hoax?
  2) The definition reads: a movable piece of firm material or a structure supported usu. along one side and swinging on pivots or hinges,sliding along a groove, rolling up and down, revolving as one of four leaves, or folding like an accordion by means of which an opening may be closed or kept open for passage in to or out of a building, room, or other covered enclosure or a car, airplane, elevator, or other vehicle
  3) For two hundred years his definition of network as "any thing reticulated or decussated, at equal distances, with interstices between the intersections" has been good for a laugh. But in the merriment one thing is always overlooked:no one has yet come up with a better definition!
IV. Spell the following words in another acceptable way:
  Models: 1) theatre – theater
      2) travelled – traveled
  1) anaemia 9) dialogue
  2) anaesthesia 10) gramme
  3) behaviour 11) programme
  4) favourite 12) modelled
  5) cheque 13) practise
  6) centre 14) manoeuvre
  7) metre 15) Muslim
  8) defence 16) fulfil
Ⅴ. Replace the italicized words with simple, everyday words or expressions '
  1) An article "viewed it as "a scandal and disaster."( )
  2) The New York Times, ?- felt that the work would "accelerate the deterioration" of the language ( )
  3) Life called it "a non-word deluge," "monstrous," "abominable," ( ) ( )
  4) working on the largest collection of citation.s ever assembled in any language ( )
  5) So monstrous a discrepancy in evaluation requires us to examine basic principles.( )
  6) But the great increase in our vocabulary in the past decades compels all dictionaries ( )
  7) If something must be eliminated, it is sensible to throw out these extraneous things and stick to words.( )
  8) Has the dictionary abdicated its responsibility? ( )
  9) he wants to know what a word will convey to his auditors( )
  l0) the editorial charges the Third International with "pretentious and obscure verbosity” ( )
  11) There has been an enormous proliferation of closing and demarking devices and structures ( )
  12) There can be linguistic objection to the eradication of proper names. ( )
VI. For each word or phrase listed below, give another word or expression of similar meaning from the text:
  Model: calamity -- disaster
  1) to view sth. as
  2) fraud
  3) to accuse
  4) to establish
  5) to adhere to
  6) citation
  7) to restrict
  8) to set down
  9) contemporary
  10) elevation
  11) to be the concern of
VII .The following sentences all contain metaphors or similes.Explain their meanings in plain, non-figurative language.
  1) Life called it "a non-word deluge"
  2) The difference, ... is not like the difference between yearly models but. Like the difference between the horse and buggy and the automobile
  3) Modern linguistics gets its charter from Leonard Bloomfield' s Language (1933).
  4) But if so, he has walked into one of lexicography's biggest booby traps
  5) anyone who tries to thread his way through the many meanings now included under door may have to sacrifice brevity to accuracy
  6) And, sure enough, in the definition which raised the Post's blood pressure
VII. Point out the figures of speech used in the following sentences:
  1) a concept of how things get written that throws very littlelight on Lincoln but a great deal on Life ( )
  2)between the much-touted Second International (1934) and the much-clouted Third International (1961) ( )
  3) The Washington Post, in an editiorial captioned "Keep Your Old Webster's" ( )
  4) In short, all of these publications are written in the language that the Third International describes ( )
  5) But neither his vanity nor his purse is any concern of the dictionary' s ( )
  6) the Post ’ s editorial fails to explain what is wrong with the definition, we can only infer from "so simple" a thing that the writer takes the plain, downright, man-in-the-street attitude that a door is a door and any damn fool knows that( )
  7) Or what of those sheets and jets of air that are now being used, in place of old-fashioned oak and hinges ...( )
IX. The author uses a lot of emphatic forms to give force to the Writing. Pick out all the sentences in which various emphatic forms are used.
X . Translate the following into Chinese-
  1) We have come to terms.
  2) He always considers problems in terms of money.
  3) They speak of the boy in terms of praise.
  4) The two countries have kept on good terms since then.
  5) You must set it down to his account.
  6) We set down our success to your help.
  7) His parents set him up as a lawyer.
  8) They were held up by fog.
  9) It's hard work. But you must hang on.
  10) She has turned to singing.
XI . Translate the following into English (using the following words or expressions: preference, to infer, to model ... on, to furnish ... with, to convey, to restrict, to relegate, as much ?- as, to set down, terms, to adapt, to hang on to):
  1）谐趣园是仿照无锡的一座花园造的。
  2）他号召孩子们以解放军英雄为榜样。
  3）这本书应归入哲学类。
  4）本杰明?弗兰克林不仅是政治家而且还是科学家、发明家。
  5）他把每次试验的结果都记在本子上。
  6）你能用简明的语言概括这首古诗的中心思想吗？
  7）我们应不断地使自己的思想适应变化的情况。
  8）年轻的士兵冻死在雪地里，手中还紧握着。
  9）该公司将为他们提供住宿和交通工具。
  10）车速限制在每小时五十五公里之内。
  11）电报转达了首都人民对震区人民深切的关怀。
  12) 关于作者本人的情况，你能从文章本身猜出些什么？
  13) 她特别喜欢古典音乐
  14) 教师让学生多用英英字典，而不要总用英汉字典
XII. Choose the right word from the list given below for each blank:
  their changes sometimes for
  such coinage under of
  lexicography steps employed are
  lexicographer listing data milestone
  language feet dictionary it
  fall that selecting up
  useful went assembling
  establish vocabulary
  The science of ___makes possible for the____ staff of our times to keep ____with these shifts and turns in____ and to accumulate large stores of ____with which to work. It is still, however, the art of ____the that must be ____in sifiting the masses of data, _____those items and details that ____properly within the scope of the dictionary____ construction, and_____ these into an instructive,____ and graceful whole. Most often, a period of incubation is required ____new Words to prove_____ vitality and____ their right to entry in the dictionary.,_____ however, the swift current ____events brings startling_____, and the items of _____ resulting from such events____ firmly fixed in our speech from the day of their____. Not long before this work____ _ _ to press, we witnessed a_____ in the human saga, man's first, halting _____ on the moon's surface, an event _____demanded the insertion of _____ _ an entry as mascon and a biographical ___of Neil Armstrong whose feat-- and ____made history.
XIII. Topic for oral work
  Describe the merits and faults of a dictionary you're familiar with.
XIV. Write an outline of the text.
习题全解
I .
  1) the Atlantic. a "disappointment", a "shock", a "calamity", "a scandal and a disaster". the New York Times :speeding the deterioration of the language. the Journal of the American Bar Association: deplorable, a flagrant example of lexicographic irresponsibility, a serious blow to the cause of good English. Life :a non-word deluge, monstrous, abominable, a cause for dismay.
  2)The making of the dictionary involves $ 3.5 million and the efforts of three hundred scholars over a period of twenty-seven years.
  3)Between the appearance of these two editions, the science of descriptive linguistics has come into being. Some of the major features of the science are: a)Atl languages are systems of human conventions, not systems of natural laws. b)Each language is unique in its pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary, c)All languages are dynamic rather than static, d)"Correctness'can rest only upon usage, and all usages is relative.
  4)New dictionaries are needed because English has changed more in the past two generations than at any other time in its history.
  5)He uses facts to show the popular press is using the language that the Third International describes, even including the very editorials which scorn it.
  6)He says many English words may be spelled and pronounced, with equal correctness, in either way.
  7)Because the obvious is not necessarily easy to define.
  8)Yes, it certainly has some.
Ⅱ.
  1)a shameless example of irresponsibility in making the dictionary
  2)What causes the abuse in the popular press?
  3)Each language cannot be described according to other language, or even by its own past.
  4)Every living language is in a process of constant change.
  5)Even in spelling, which is so stable and hardly debatable, a dictionary cannot always decide absolutely which is right and which is wrong.
  6) A dictionary should record the fact without bothering whether it can satisfy the vanity of those who use a dictionary to prove their unyielding position in an argument or help those who bet some money in support of their conviction.
  7)Has the dictionary failed to do its duty?
  8)Lexicography is a science and its judgment, like the judgment of God, cannot be swayed by anybody no matter what high social position he may occupy.
  9)And this is also complicated, delicate, and always changing.
  10)The editorial accuses the Third International of being pedantically and confusingly wordy.
Ⅲ. See the translation of the text.
IV.
　1)anemia    2)anesthesia    3)behavior    4)favorite  　5)check    6)center    7)meter    8)defense    9)dialog    10)gram    11) program    12)modeled    13)practice  　14)maneuver    15)Moslem    16)fulfill
V .
　1)shame, disgrace    2)speed up the lowering of the quality    3)horrible, shocking/disgusting, very bad    4)quotations    5)difference, disagreement    6)forces    7)removed, taken away/irrelevant, not essential    8) given up, neglected    9)listeners    10) wordiness    11)increase    12)removal
Vl.
　1)to see sth. as    2)hoax    3)to charge    4)to set up    5)to follow    6)quotation    7)to limit    8)to record    9)current    10)distinction    11)to be the business of
Ⅶ.
  1)Life regarded the dictionary being full of words that have not come to be accepted.
  2)is by no means insignificant, it is basic.
  3) Modern linguistics take Leonard Bloomfield's Language (1933)as its authority.
  4)But if so, he has made unconsciously one of the biggest mistakes one is liable to make in dictionary making.
  5)Anyone who tries to sort out the many meanings now included under door may have to sacrifice brevity to accuracy.
  6)And, sure enough, in the definition which made the
Ⅷ.
　1)alliteration and sarcasm    2)assonance and antithesis    3)metonymy    4) metonymy  　5) synecdoche    6) sarcasm    7)synecdoche
IX .
  1)Never has a scholarly work of this stature been attacked with such unbridled fury and contempt.
  2)Is all this a fraud, a hoax?
  3)The first—and essential—step in the study of any language is observing and setting down precisely what happens when native speakers speak it．
  4)Change is constant—and normal．
  5)But he wants—and has a right to—the truth，the full truth．
  6)And this，too，is complex，subtle，and forever changing．
  7)The fine print in the lease…-and the rent is computed on the number of rooms．
  8)But one thing is certain：anyone who…nonsense．
Ⅹ．
  1)我们已达成了协议。
what are words下载  2)他总是从钱的角度考虑问题。
  3)谈到这个男孩时他们总是赞扬。
  4)从那时起两国一直保持着友好关系。
  5)你必须把这件事记在他的帐上。
  6)我们把成功归于你的帮助。
  7)他的父母帮他开设了律师事务所。
  8)他们被大雾耽搁了。
  9)工作是困难的，但你一定要坚持下去。
  10)她改行搞演唱了。
Ⅺ．
  1)The Garden of Harmonious Interest was modelled on a garden in Wuxi．
  2)He called on the children to model themselves on the PLA heroes．
  3)This work may be relegated to philosophy．
  4)Benjamin Franklin was as much a scientist and an inventor as a statesman．
  5)He set down all the findings of every experiment in his notebook．
  6)Can you sum up the central idea of this ancient poem in plain terms?
  7)We should constantly adapt our thinking to the changing conditions.
  8) The young soldier was frozen to death in the snow, his hands still hanging on to the gun.
  9) The said company will furnish them with lodging and transportation.
  10)The speed of motor vehicles is restricted to 55 km. per hour.
  11)The cable message conveyed the deepest concern of the people in the capital for those in the quake-afflicted areas.
  12)What can you infer about the author from the article it-self?
  13)She has a preference for classical music.
  14)The teacher urges the students to use English-English dictionaries in preference to English-Chinese dictionaries.
XII .
  lexicography, it, dictionary, up, language, data, lexicographer, employed, selecting, fall, under, assembling, useful, for, their, establish, sometimes, of, changes, vocabulary, are, coinage, went, milestons, steps, that, such, listing, feet
XIII. Omitted.
ⅩⅣ.
                  　Outline
  At first, the author mentions the abuse in the popular press that greeted the appearance of Webster's Third New International Dictionary and asks: what underlies all this sound and fury? He doesn't answer the question at once but introduces the newly appearing science of descriptive linguistics related to the making of dictionaries. From the general findings of the new science he draws a conclusion that dictionary is good only insofar as it is a comprehensive and accurate description of current usage. Then by citing facts he points out that the English language has changed a lot since the birth of the Second International, and the popular press vehemently attacking the Third International uses many words only to be found in it. Therefore it is necessary to have a new dictionary to respond to and record the changing language. At last, he states though there is room for improvement in the Third International, it is wise and practical to use the Third instead of the Second.