Лексикология английского языка. Practice Makes Perfect. Учебное пособие

––A little pot is soon hot.

––It’s a sin to steal a pin.

9.Some popular proverbs are twisted by the speakers or advertisers to achieve a humorous effect. Read some new versions of the proverb “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Explain the changes in the structure and meaning of the proverb

––Eat on apple on going to bed and you’ll keep a doctor from earning his bread.

––An onion a day keeps everybody away.

––A beer a day keeps the doctor away.

––A potato a day could keep high blood pressure away.

10.Read the following English proverbs. Translate them into Russian. Do British and Russian people use the same or different imagery?

––Don’t teach fishes to swim.

––The same knife cuts bread and fingers.

––Dumb dogs are dangerous.

––A single bamboo can’t make a row.

––A cat in gloves catches no mice.

––It never rains but it pours.

––Make hay while the sun shines.

––An hour in the morning is worth two in the evening.

11. Give the English equivalents for the following Russian proverbs

––В гостях хорошо, а дома лучше.

––Поспешишь – людей насмешишь.

––Он пороху не выдумает.

––Взялся за гуж, не говори, что не дюж.

––Слезами горю не поможешь.

––Дуракам закон не писан.

––Нет худа без добра.

12.Read the examples of English sayings. Translate them into Russian. What is the difference between proverbs and sayings?

––Boys will be boys.

––Take while the taking is good.

––Heads I win, tails you lose.

––Will a duck swim?

––A little bird told me.

––Queen Ann is dead!

––All is fish that comes to his net.

B.Usages where the term is familiar, but its sense differs in Britain, though the phenomenon is shared by both, e.g. billion, gas.

C.Usages where the term or sense refers to an American ‘institution’ (in the broadest sense, including geographical, political, botanical, etc. phenomena) and could be used in Britain, but only when referring to that institution, e.g. senator, baseball.

D.Usages where term, sense and phenomenon are shared but the occurrence is more normal in the United States than in Britain, e.g. hi, can.

E.Usages where there are still definite overtones of American origin, but there is no obvious difference in frequency of use between Britain and the United States, e.g., O.K., coke (coca-cola).

3.Give the British equivalents for the following Americanisms. What group do they belong to?

Apartment, baby carriage, sidewalk, subway, truck, round trip, backpack, eraser, pants, resume, faucet, garbage, cab, supermarket cart, fall, elevator, candy, flashlight, fortnight, bottled water, spare room, shrimp, intersections, parking lot, drugstore( pharmacy), downtown, installment plan, dormitory (dorm), principal, mailman, pedestrian crossing, vacation.

4.Explain the difference in the meanings of the words in British and American English. What group do they belong to?

Minced meat, mean (adj.), lacquer, bathroom, gas, corn, biscuit, hold-up, to table an item (on the agenda).

5.Early Americans had to coin words for the unfamiliar fauna and flora, food, features of landscape, etc. Later on new words were coined to describe a peculiar American lifestyle. Analyze the following words from the point of view of wordbuilding and add 5–8 examples of your own to each group

A.Blue grass, bullfrog, sunfish, rattlesnake; New York, New Jersey; Georgia, Virginia;

B.Superpower, yuppie, weight watcher, sitcom, unisex, zip code, jogging, laser, hit parade, summit, foxtrot.

6.Words were also borrowed from other languages to name the unfamiliar fauna and flora, new objects. Identify the etymology of the following words:

Wigwam, moccasin, tomahawk, Michigan, Texas, Ohio, canoe, toboggan; tornado, ranch, canyon, sombrero; pumpkin, prairie, rapids, cache; pipe of peace, pale-faced, to go on the war path.

7.Words in British and American English might differ in their collocations. Study the examples given below and illustrate the differences using sentences from original texts

A.The use of prepositions in British. –American English: in the street – on the street, to do things at the weekend – to do things on the weekend, to be in two minds about something – to be of two minds about something, to enroll on a course – to enroll in a course, to leave on Monday – to leave Monday, to fill in a form – to fill out a form, to meet somebody – to meet with somebody;

B.The difference of usage of idiomatic expressions in British – American English: to sweep under the carpet – to sweep under the rug, not to see the wood for the trees – not to see the forest for the trees, a drop in the ocean – a drop in the bucket, flogging a dead horse – beating a dead horse, touch wood – knock on the wood, to take something with a pinch of salt – to take something with a grain of salt, to blow one’s own trumpet – to blow one’s own horn, a storm in a teacup – a tempest in a teacup / teapot.

C.The difference in some collocations in British and American English: to have a bath – to take a bath, to ship goods by sea – to ship goods by sea or by land, to ride a horse, a bicycle – to ride a horse, a bicycle + in a car, in a train, in a boat, to do a deal – to make a deal, to go to university – to go to the university, to go to hospital – to go to

the hospital; the collocations to go to church/ school / college, to be at church, school / college are shared by both of the variants.

8.In some spheres (such as advertizing, commerce, technology, pop culture, rock music, show biz etc.) the impact of American English on British English and other languages (e.g. French, German, Swedish, Spanish, Russian) is great. Choose one of the spheres mentioned above and compile a list of words (neologisms) which appeared in American English two or three decades ago. Later on the words were borrowed into other languages, becoming international words.

9.Analyze the spelling differences between BrE and AmE. Classify the differences into systematic (affect large groups of words) and non-systematic (affect a small group of words) and state what spelling norms are accepted in Great Britain and the US.

Colour, flavour, humour, labour, odour – color, flavor, humor, labor, odor;

Centre, fibre, litre, theatre – center, fiber, liter, theater; Distil, fulfil, enrol, instil – distill, enroll, fulfill, instill; Apologise, civilise, organise, – apologize, civilize, organize;

Catalogue, dialogue, monologue, prologue – catalog, dialog, monolog, prolog;

Judgement, acknowledgement – judgment, acknowledgment; Cheque – check; axe –ax; gaol –jail; plough – plow, grey – gray; Nouns: defence, offence, practice – defense, offense, practise; Marvellous– marvelous, woollen –woolen.

10.Visit Wikipedia website and read the information about AmericanandBritishspellingdifferences(http//en.wikipedia. org) Add 3–5 examples to each group mentioned above.

11.Read the text. Analyze the italicized words. What group of Americanisms do they belong to?

Crime Report: Subway Showdowns, Cell Swipes, Purse Pinches, and More

Here’s the latest installment of “Police and Thieves”.

A.A guy asked a woman for directions in the Second Avenue subway station and then snatched her cellphone on March 17. The 23-year-old victim said that after she gave the suspect directions at around 9:50 p.m., he grabbed her iPhone 45 from her hand. She gave chase but lost the thief on the street.

B.After drinking till closing time At Double Down Saloon on March 18, a 27-year–old from Wisconsin passed out on a subway platform. He woke up four hours later and was missing his cellphone as well as the iPhone that he used for browsing the Internet. To add insult to injury, when he tried to report the crime to a booth clerk at the station she wouldn’t help him out.

C.A woman realized her wallet was missing while she ate dinner at Otafuku on March 12. A $175 transaction had already been made on her credit card by the time she canceled it.

D.A woman’s purse went missing from Webster Hall on Jan.1. The victim decided to report the crime on March 7 after she was alerted by her bank that she had a negative balance of $5,196 due to the suspect writing numerous bad checks.

12.Read some extracts from the text dealing with American higher education. Write out words and word collocations related to the topic. What group of Americanisms do they belong to? Point to some cases of American spelling. Find additional information about Universities mentioned in the text.

A.Super senior. A super senior is a student in an American fouryear educational institution such as a high school or university who has been attending the institution for 5 or more years or has more than the usual number of credits required to graduate without achieving a diploma or bachelor's degree.

B.Redshirt student athlete. A student athlete may have been made a redshirt during their freshman year, which delays their four year

eligibility for competition in the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association, the organization which is in charge of sports at American colleges and universities) till their sophomore year. As a result, they will still be eligible the year after their senior year and may stay in college to continue competition.

C.Leave of absence. Students may take a leave of absence from their university for the difficult circumstances described below or pursue other endeavors, such as living, working, or studying abroad, tending to a fledgling business, or pursuing opportunities in their chosen career. Stanford University in particular is known for its sizable constituency of fifth-year (and sometimes even of six-year) seniors who took time off to volunteer or work overseas. Many of Stanford’s more famous alumni have taken a leave of absence and never returned to the school. Another school well-known in this regard is Brigham Young University, the flagship school of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Many Male BYU students, both at the main campus in Utah and at its branch campuses in Hawaii and Idaho, take two years off during their studies to go on LDS missions.

D.CommunityCollegeTransfers.Manytimeswhenastudenttransfers to a 4-year school after completing 2 years at community college not all credits transfer over and the student may have to attend 3 years at the 4-year university or college for a total of 5 years. All classes that a student wants to transfer over to the University must be transferable. Although the grades will show up on all college transcripts, the units for the classes may not count and should always be checked. Additionally, a student needs to check their catalog and bulletin rights as these change yearly. However, the year a student enters the school system is the year their catalog rights begin and most changes do not affect them as long as they have not had a leave of absence.

13.Read the text. Is it written in British or American English? Prove your point of view by the examples from the text. Analyze the italicized words from the point of view of vocabulary and / or spelling. What are the stylistic characteristics of the text?

Navy pilots eject from jet

and send fighter careening into apartments

Virginia Beach, Va. – Two Navy pilots ejected from a fighter jet after dumping loads of fuel to avoid major explosion, sending their unmanned plane careening into a Virginia Beach apartment complex and engulfing several buildings in flames, officials said.

Seven people, including both pilots, were injured. The Navy said both aviators on board the jet ejected before it crashed around noon and were being taken to the hospitals for observations.

Dozens of police cars, fire trucks and other emergency vehicles filled the densely populated neighborhood where the plane crashed. Yellow fire hoses snaked through side streets as fire crews poured water on the charred rooftops of brick apartment houses. By late afternoon, the fire had been put out.

Joanie Coleman said she heard several explosions and saw the black smoke. She picked up her bag and ran around behind the apartment, where people were tending to the pilot.

“He fell on someone’s patio,” she said, “He was in shock and he apologized to the person who was trying to help him. He said, ’I’m sorry I landed in your back yard.”

A multicolored parachute could be seen hanging from the roof of an apartment closest to the crash center.

As authorities closed roads in the neighborhood, highway traffic backed up on side streets and on nearby Interstate 264, with slowmoved columns of vehicles bringing drivers to a virtual standstill early Friday afternoon.

The attorney said the jet suffered a mechanical failure, but a series of bad decisions led the pilot student-to-bypass a potentially safe landing at a coastal Navy base after his engine failed. The pilot ejected and told the investigators he screamed in horror as he watched the jet plow into the neighborhood, incinerating two homes. The court ordered the US government to pay the family nearly $18 million in restitution.

Revision

1.Read the text. In what vein is the article written: is the text formal, informal, neutral? Can you spot some cases of irony?

Even Candy Can Be Health

For many people, the scariest part of starting off on a new, healthier way of eating is the idea of giving up their favorite sweet treats – forever!

If you are a cookie-and-candy craver, don’t despair. Candies can be part of a healthy, lifelong eating pattern. But for the least harm and – don’t forget this – the fullest enjoyment, they should be eaten in moderation. That means in small amounts, or only a couple of times a week. Even a woman who has made a career out of eating candy admits she has cut back her consumption to one day a week. Hilary Liftin, blessedly svelte, wrote the critically acclaimed, tongue-in- the-cheek memoir Candy and Me: A Love Story.

“Candy’s meaning,” she says, “has more subtlety than it tastes. It affords a fleeting spike of pleasure, sometimes guilty, or elusive or bittersweet, like an impossible love affair.”

Such a romanticization aside, the smorgasbord of candy – not to mention cheeseburgers, cookies, cakes, pies, fries, chips, barbeque, and ice-cream – that Americans consume has helped to lead to skyrocketing obesity rates and a near-epidemic of diabetes.

So why would anyone in his or her right mind ever think it’s OK to eat candy, cake, or pie?