2009年5月10日 星期日

Clips of Language Exchange on 5.10

fraud (n.) = A piece of trickery; a trick.
[synonyms] scam

fraudulent (adj.) A fraudulent call

a con man(men) means a person who does some frauds. = a scammer = a scam artist.
con. came from the word 'confidence'.

a confidence game = It's a tricky game. It almost happened when someone trust other people, so that other people could cheat that one based on trust.

a fraud event

free call (i.e. 800, help lines)

pay call (dating call)

- Some vocabularies with similar spelling but different meanings:
A. stationary (n.) (adj.) = still
stationery (n.) = Writing paper and envelopes

B. adopt (+Object) (vt.) :
(1) choose
(2) Children are adopted by parents, and one normally refers to an adopted child but to adoptive parents, families, and homes. When describing places, one can use either adopted or adoptive: She enjoys living in her adopted country. Detroit is their adoptive city.

adept (+at) (adj.) : proficient in something requiring skill
adapt (+to) (v) : adjust (sb. or sth. ) to difficult conditions.

C. Have the same tense and easy to make mistake.
lay
lie

Lay ("to put, place, or prepare") and lie ("to recline or be situated") have been confused for centuries; evidence exists that lay has been used to mean "lie" since the 1300s. Why? First, there are two lays. One is the base form of the verb lay, and the other is the past tense of lie. Second, lay was once used with a reflexive pronoun to mean "lie" and survives in the familiar line from the child's prayer Now I lay me down to sleep; lay me down is easily shortened to lay down. Third, lay down, as in She lay down on the sofa sounds the same as laid down, as in I laid down the law to the kids.·Lay and lie are most easily distinguished by usage. Lay is a transitive verb and takes a direct object. Lay and its principal parts (laid, laying) are correctly used in the following examples: He laid (not lay) the newspaper on the table. The table was laid for four. Lie is an intransitive verb and cannot take an object. Lie and its principal parts (lay, lain, lying) are correctly used in the following examples: She often lies (not lays) down after lunch. When I lay (not laid) down, I fell asleep. The rubbish had lain (not laid) there a week. I was lying (not laying) in bed when he called.·There are a few exceptions to these rules. The phrasal verb lay for and the nautical use of lay, as in lay at anchor, though intransitive, are standard.

D. affect (V/N) : influence
effect (V/N) : result
(these two words both have many different meanings as well.)

E. advice (N.)
advise (V.) advise sb. to.... = suggest

F. familiar pronounce with different meanings.
conscious (adj./N) : awareness
- consciousness : The state or condition of being conscious.

conscience (N) :The awareness of a moral or ethical aspect to one's conduct together with the urge to prefer right over wrong
- Conscientiousness : the quality of being in accord with the dictates of conscience

cautious (N/adj.) : careful
- cautiousness :the trait of being cautious


U.S. & British spellings:
colo(u)r
favo(u)rite
vendo(u)r
theater/theatre
center/centre

clothes
cloth(s): fabric

immersion : concentrate on / sinking until covered completely with water

theocracy : A government ruled by or subject to religious authority.
theo- means God or religion.
-cracy means government system.

popular
population

numerous : larage in number.

2009年5月3日 星期日

Clips of Language Exchange on 5.3

Knock-off: An unauthorized copy or imitation, as of designer clothing: "the place to go for quality knockoffs" Women's Wear Daily.

hit it off (with sb.) : become friend quickly.

greyhound: A kind of dog. He's good at running.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Greyhound

greyhound bus lines: A bus for communtation in U.S. The price is usually cheaper.

The difference between coach and couch.
coach : bus. sometimes is proposed for trip.
couch: sofa.

The difference between truck and trunk.
truck is a kind of mobile. It used to deliver goods.
trunk is a place you could put your
luggage in it.