handout 2

A.Replace the underlined parts in the following sentences with less formal words.

1.At the counter, we inquired about the arrival time of the aircraft.

2.He eradicated all the imperfections in his notes.

3.She contemplated his utterance.

4.Paul was terminated from his employment.

5.Personnel are requested to extinguish illumination before departure from these premises.

6.Unfortunately, we are not in a position to offer assistance to you.

7.Our university is in close proximity to an amusement park.

8.Terry is of the opinion that everything will be going on smoothly.

B. Rephrase the underlined words in the following sentences by using more specific, concrete words or expressions in order to make the sentences more interesting

1.General: He has a big house.

Specific: He has a two-storeyed house with four bedrooms, two-living rooms, a dining-room and a kitchen.

2.General: The man ate a big meal.

Specific:

3.General: Somebody asked me to deliver these red roses to you.

Specific:

4.General: My relative gave me two gifts.

Specific:

5.General: The film I saw last week was good.

Specific:

6.General: In spring, the weather in Beijing can be very bad.

Specific:

7.General: A car was parked in the street.

Specific:

8.General: She bore a great burden.

Specific:

9.General: She uses simplicity in her style of writing.

Specific:

10.General: Some children stood anxiously at the counter.

Specific:

Exercise: In each sentence, choose the more precise of the two in italics, and explain your reasons.

1. A few listeners were disinterested/uninterested and dozed off.

2.Though she has grown up, her behavior is often childlike/childish.

3.I am quite jealous/envious of your opportunity to study at such a famous university.

4.Her clothes, though made of cheap/inexpensive material, are quite elegant.

5.I am sorry to refuse/decline your invitation.

6.He was surprised/stunned to find that his little sister had become a pretty, slim/skinny young

woman.

7.This servile man was especially modest/humble when he was talking with his superiors.

8.I asked every/each boy in the group the same question, and interestingly, everyone/each gave me a

different answer.

9.They all felt sympathy/pity for the victims of the disaster and made donations.

10.Express Dowager Cixi was famous/notorious for her cruelty.

Exercise 1: Read the following sentences, underlie the general words in them and see how you can add power to them by replacing the general words with specific ones.

a.Kate said she had an awful time at the homecoming party.

b.I think Mr Brown is a bad speaker.

c.The husband gave the wife a nice necklace for her birthday.

d.There are certain things I look for in judging a person’s character.

Exercise 2: Some words are misused in the following sentences. Find them out and then make corrections.

1.The little boy was mouse-hearted.

2.That politician is a respectable figure in the political arena.

3.We sat down by the oak tree, enjoying the wind coming from the lake.

4.We need to utilize the milk before it sours.

5.The child had difficulty ascertaining his way to school.

6.The young woman was bombarded with flowers and gifts.

7.My father opened the curtain a little lest I see him.

8.Our university can contain 4, 000 students.

9.Social habits vary greatly from country to country.

Exercise 3: Make the following narration more concrete.

It was fine last weekend, so we went to the countryside and had a good time. We saw many things and people there. And we had a wonderful time.