英语词义辨析

英语词义辨析

1.tone vs tune

tone: 1) sound with reference to its quality: the sweet ~ of the violin; the shrill ~ of the factory whistle

2) the intonation, phrasing, choice of words etc. of a speaker or writer that expresses a particular meaning, feeling, attitude of him: speak in an angry ~ / in a ~ of contempt / disapproval;

3) the rise or fall of the voice in speaking or pronunciation: pay attention to the rising and falling ~s in your pronunciation

4) shades of color: a photo in warm ~; the coat is a light ~ of green

tune: suggests the succession of note forming a melody (of a song), used often in opposition to the words of a song

E.g. He hummed a ~ to keep his courage up.

Never shall I forget that haunting ~.

2. question vs problem

question is more general, while problem refers to a question esp. connected with numbers and facts, like problems in addition and subtraction

question is more general while problem often refers to a serious difficulty that needs attention and thought

3. ashamed vs shameful

ashamed:

You should be ashamed of yourself.

He said he felt ashamed of having done so little for the society.

shameful:

It is shameful that she stole money from the blind man.

The correspondent had discovered their shameful treatment of political prisoners.

4. collision/clash/crash

1) an accident in which two or more people or vehicles hit each other while moving in different directions

[+with]: The school bus was involved in a collision with a truck.

head-on collision: (=between two vehicles moving directly towards each other.)

2) the conflict of opposed ideas, wishes, attitudes, etc.

Discrepancies between ideas and collisions between beliefs had to be reconciled and mediated.

a collision of interests

Collide

Two trains collided head-on early this morning.

The physicists collided the particles.

Their views on the matter collided.

e.g., Troops clashed near the border. ( if two armies, or groups of people clash, they suddenly start fighting each other.)

e.g., Democrats clashed with Republicans in a heated debate. (if two people or groups of people

clash, they disagree with each other.)

e.g., That purple clashes with your red shirt. (if two colors or patterns clash, they are incompatible, offensive to eyes.)

e.g., Unfortunately the concert clashes with Ann and Jim’s dinner party. (if two events clash, they happen at the same time in a way that is inconvenient.)

e.g., The cymbals clashed. (if two pieces of metal clash or if you clash them, they make a loud ringing sound.)

Note: Clash is often used in preference to collision when two or more things come into contact with one another in such a manner that noises of crashing and jangling are more apparent than the destruction or ruin wrought:

e.g. the clash of swords in battle

e.g., There is a clash between two classes held at 3 p.m. on the same day.

cultural/culture clash

n. 1) a violent accident involving one or more vehicles: plane/car/train etc. crash

e.g., 41 people were killed in a plane crash last week.

2) a sudden loud noise made by something falling, breaking etc.

Jessica heard the crash of breaking glass behind her.

There was a loud crack and the branch came down with a crash.(哗啦声)

v. 1) to break into pieces violently and noisily; shatter. (forests crash)

2) to force or drive with violence and noise (usually followed by in, through, out, etc.). (Crash through the woods.)

3) to cause (an aircraft) to make a landing in an abnormal manner, usually damaging or wrecking the aircraft. (An airliner crashed.)

5.Miseducated& uneducated

An uneducated person is one who has received no formal school education while a miseducated person is one who has received formal education but is educated in a wrong way. Undereducated: not having received adequate education

Well-educated: having had a good education

6. Understand, comprehend, appreciate, apprehend

To have a clear or complete idea of

Understand: may stress the fact of having attained a mental grasp of something understanding the instruction

Comprehend: stress the mental process of arriving at a result

Appreciate: imply a just estimation of a thi ng’s value and is often used in reference to what is likely to misjudged

Apprehend: understand, especially intuitively

7.repress/suppress/oppress

Repress/suppress

to keep under control, restrain (desires, feelings, actions, tears, etc.)