全国2007年4月高等教育自学考试
英语词汇学试题
课程代码：00832
I. Each of the statements below is followed by four alternative answers. Choose the one that best completes the statement and put the letter in the bracket. (30%)
1．Which of the following is NOT a rhetorical feature of idioms?（ ）
A．Phonetic manipulation. B．Lexical manipulation.
C．Figures of speech. D．Phrasal verbs.
2．The sentence “I like Mary better than you.” is ambiguous due to ______.（ ）
A．extra-linguistic context B．lexical context
C．grammatical context D．homonymy
3．Which of the following is NOT one of the obvious characteristics of the basic word stock?
（ ）
A．Creativity. B．Stability.
C．Duality. D．All national character.
4．Which of the following is NOT considered as an inflectional affix?（ ）
A．-es B．-or
C．-est D．-er
5．The following are user-friendly features of Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, except ______. （ ）
A．extra column B．clear grammar codes
C．usage notes D．language notes
6．Which of the following is a case of suffixation? （ ）
A．Hemisphere. B．Attempt.
C．NATO. D．Respondent.
7．Which of the following is NOT one of the main sources of new words?（ ）
A．The rapid development of modern science and technology.
B．Geographical and political changes.
C．The influence of other cultures and languages.
D．Social and economic changes.
8．Webster’s New World Dictionary is a(n) ______ dictionary. （ ）
A．unabridged B．desk
C．pocket D．encyclopedic
9．Angel, martyr and paradise have their meanings ______ because of the influence of Christianity.（ ）
A．elevated B．degraded
C．narrowed D．extended
10．As far as denotation is concerned, relative synonyms may differ ______. （ ）
A．in the diachronic approach B．in the stylistic and emotive colouring of words
C．in usage in simple terms D．in the range and intensity of meaning
11．Which of the following is NOT true about Old English? （ ）
A．Uses of Old English borrowed heavily from Latin and other languages.
B．Old English has a vocabulary of about 50,000 to 60,000.
C．Old English refers to the English language used from 450 to 1150.
D．Old English was a highly inflected language.
12．Neologisms are newly-created words or expressions. Which of the following is NOT an example of neologisms? （ ）
A．SARS. B．Can-opener.
C．Futurology. D．Freak out.
13．Which of the following words is morphologically motivated? （ ）
A．Black market. B．Greenhorn.
C．Hopeless. D．Neigh.
14．In the sentence “Italian artists were more active in the quattrocento than in the sixteenth century which followed.” The meaning of quattrocento can be inferred from the clue of ______. （ ）
A．definition B．explanation
C．example D．relevant detail
15．Tooth and nail is an idiom ______ in nature. （ ）
A．norminal B．adjectival
C．adverbial D．verbal
II. Complete the following statements with proper words or expressions according to the course book. (10%)
16．The smallest functioning unit in the composition of words is the ______________.
17．Word-meaning changes by modes of extension, narrowing, degradation, elevation and ______________.
18．In the word “post-war”, “post-” is a prefix of ______________.
19．Functional words such as preparations, conjunctions, though having little lexical meaning, possess strong ______________meaning.
20．Relative synonyms also called ______________ are similar or nearly the same in denotation, but embrace different degrees of a given quality.
III. Match the words or expressions in Column A with those in Column B according to 1) meaning of prefixes; 2) type of word formations; 3)types of meaning changes and 4) types of idioms. (10%)
A B
（ ）21．Ultr- A. backformation
（ ）22．burgle B. initialism
（ ）23．pop C. transfer of sensation
（ ）24．clear-sounding D. before
（ ）25．VOA E. brim (water’s edge —the top edge of a cup)
（ ）26．fore- F. mistress
（ ）27．degradation G. succeed
（ ）28．kick the bucket H. clipping
（ ）29．extension I. die
（ ）30．make it J. extreme
IV. Study the following words or expressions and identify 1) historical stage of English vocabulary; 2) origins of homonyms; 3) types of meanings; 4) sources of synonyms; 5) causes of ambiguity and 6) types of motivations. (10%)
31．ball, ball （ ）
32．a hard businessman （ ）
33．friend or foe （ ）
34．miniskirt （ ）
35．an attractive ball （ ）
36．lie –distort the fact （ ）
37．occupation-walk of life （ ）
38．coffee （ ）
39．mother (love, care) （ ）
40．enrich （ ）
V. Define the following terms. (10%)
41．loan words
42．specialized dictionary
43．conversion
44．lexical context
45．amelioration
VI. Answer the following questions. Your answers should be clear and short. Write your answers in the space given below. (12%)
46．What are bound morphemes? Illustrate your point.
47．Why is context very important for the understanding of word-meaning?
48．What is the difference between associative meaning and conceptual meaning?
VII. Analyze and comment on the following. Write your answers in the space given below. (18%)
49．Some people hold that Shakespeare is more difficult to read than contemporary writings. Do you agree or disagree to this comment? State your reason(s) with at least three examples.
50．Use examples to illustrate the similarity and difference between absolute synonyms and relative synonyms.