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Distances and dimensions

在文檔中 English Vocabulary in Use (頁 122-126)

You probably know all the common words for distances and dimensions. In this unit we shall concentrate on derived words and compounds and other connected wordslphrases you may not know or be unsure of how to use accurately.

Broad and wide and tall and high

Wide is more common than broad, e.g. It's a very wide roadlgardenlroom.

Make a note of typical collocations for broad as you meet them, e.g. Economics is a very broad subject; We came t o a broad expanse of grassland. [big area]

Note the word order for talking about dimensions, e.g. The room's five metres long and four wide.

Don't forget that tall is for people but can be used for things such as buildings and trees when they are high and thin in some way. Otherwise, use high for things.

She's very tall for a five-year-old.

Her office is in that tall building in the square.

There are some high mountains in the North.

Deep # shallow

The deep and shallow ends of a swimming pool.

Derived words, phrases and compounds long: ~ e t ' s measure the length of this rope.

I swam 20 lengths (of the swimming pool).

I've lengthened her skirt for her. [shorten, see below]

Getting a visa's a lengthy process. [usually refers to time; rather negative]

Can I make a long-distance phone call?

short: The new road will shorten our journey by ten minutes.

There's a short-cut to the station. [quick way]

wide: Let's measure the width of the room.

They're widening the road.

broad: I want to broaden my experience. [usually more abstract contexts]

high: The height of the wall is two metres.

The fog heightened the feeling of mystery. [usually used only for feelings and emotions]

low: You can lower that table if it is too high.

far: He loves travelling to faraway places.

deep: the depth of the river here is about 3 metres.

His death so soon after hers deepened our sadness even further. [often with feelings]

Other verbs for dimensions and for changing them.

Our garden stretches all the way to the river, so we have plenty of room to extend the house if we want to.

The cities are spreading and the countryside is shrinking.

I Complete B's replies using a suitable form of the dimensioddistance words opposite.

1 A: These trousers I've bought are too long.

B: Well, why not get

...

2 A: He's a big boy, isn't he? 1.90 metres!

B: Yes, he's..

.

3 A: Why are we going across the field?

B: Just to get there that bit quicker; it's..

.

4 A: We'll have to measure how high the room is.

B: That's not necessary; we already know the

...

5 A: The traffic seems to move far quicker on this road since I was last here.

B: Yes, well, they..

.

6 A: Why d o they have to have music on TV news programmes? It seems totally unnecessary!

B: Well, I think they want to create a feeling of drama, and the music is supposed to...

.2 Give opposites for:

1 a length of the pool 3 a very broad range of goods 5 deep water

2 to shorten 4 a local call 6 nearby places

Match the left- and right-hand columns.

1 The city's spread a lot; for miles along the river.

2 It takes ten weeks; you should broaden it.

3 We extended the house it's much bigger now.

4 You can choose; there's a wide range.

5 Your experience is too narrow; it's a lengthy business 6 The forest stretches to give us more room.

Prepositions with distance. Fill in the prepositions. If you are unsure, try looking up the word distance in a good dictionary.

1 The car was parked ... a distance ... about 150 metres from the scene of the robbery.

2 I saw you ... the distance yesterday but I didn't call out as I could see you were with someone.

3 She's a great shot. She can hit an empty can ... a distance of about 100 feet, which I can't.

4 What's the total distance ... here ... Paris?

.I Use these verbs to fill the gaps. Check their usage in a dictionary if necessary.

expand extend spread shrink grow contract 1 AIDS ... rapidly during the 1980s.

2 The steel industry ... when the economy was strong, but now it has ... and only employs 8,000 people.

3 This sweater of mine has ... in the wash!

4 Our land ... as far as those trees there.

5 Our problems have ... ... since that new boss came.

60 Obligation, need, possibility and probability

Obligation

Must is an instruction or command; that is why we see it on notices, e.g.Dogs must be kept on a lead. Cars must not be parked here.

Have (got) to says that circumstances oblige you to do something. Often, the two meanings overlap and there will be a choice of how to express the obligation, but not always.

I must get my hair cut! There's no bus service, so I have [command to yourself] to walk to work. [circumstances]

I've got to get my hair I really must get a bicycle.

cut. I've got an interview [instruction to yourself]

tomorrow. [circumstances]

The company is obliged to give a refund if the tour is cancelled.

You will be liable to pay tax if you work. [formalllegalistic]

The bank robbers forced him at gunpoint to open the safe.

We had no choicelalternative but to sell our house; we owed the bank £100,000.

The death sentence is mandatory for drug-smuggling in some countries. [automatic;

there is no alternative]

Was sport compulsory/obligatory at your school? No, it was optional at mine.

[optional: you can choose]

I am exempt from tax as I'm a student. [free from obligation]

The negative of must and have (got) to are formed with need and have to, when we mean something is not necessarylnot obligatory.

You don't need to/don't have to/needn't wash up; we've got a dishwasher.

Need

The grass needs cutting (badly). This plant is in need of water.

[or 'wants cutting' - informal] [more formal than 'needslwants']

The miners died through a lack of oxygen. [there was none]

There is a shortage of doctors. [there are not enough]

There's a need for more discussion on the matter. [we feel a need]

Scale of probability: 'cannot happen' to 'has to happen'

impossible -. unlikely -+ possible -, probable -+ certain -+ inevitable Note: I've been given an opportunity to go to Bonn. [a real chance] but, Is there any chance/possibility you'll be free next week? [chance is less formal than possibility]

Continue the sentences using 'obligation' words and phrases from A opposite, and using the words in brackets.

1 They were losing E l million a year, so the company

...

(close down) 2 You don't have to buy travel insurance

...

(optional)

3 You can hire a video camera, but you

...

(pay a deposit)

4 We'll have to sell the house, I'm afraid we have

...

(otherwise, bankrupt) 5 This jacket's got curry stains on it; I really..

.

(the cleaners)

6 He didn't want to give them the money, but they had guns; they

...

(hand it over) 7 No, he couldn't choose to pay a fine; the prison sentence is

...

(for dangerous driving) 8 I didn't want to do maths, but I had to. It's

...

(in all secondary schools)

9 How kind of you! You really

...

(buy us a present) 10 If you're over 50, you're..

.

(military service) List something in your world which

...

1 regularly needs cutting. my hair, t h e lawn

2 there is 3 lack of.

3 is obligatory once a year.

4 you are in need of.

5 is inevitable.

6 you n o longer have to do.

7 was compulsory when you were at school.

Collocations with 'possibilityIprobability' words. Use a dictionary to try to fill in the rest of this matrix. One line has already been done for you. If you cannot find out the collocations at all, use the key to this unit.

d = typical collocation )s = not a typical collocation

r

~- highly quite very absolutely

- - -

-possible 8 d d 8

impossible probable (un)likely inevitable certain

Use the collocations in 60.3 to say how probablelpossible these are.

1 Most people will have a videophone in their homes by 2025.

2 There will be rain in the Amazon forest within the next 8 days.

3 A human being will live to be 250.

4 We will all be dead by the year 2250.

5 A flying saucer will land in Hong Kong.

6 You'll be given an opportunity to meet the US President.

7 There will be a third world war.

在文檔中 English Vocabulary in Use (頁 122-126)