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Writers develop a deep respect for words.They know that whether their writing is interesting or uninteresting，clear or unclear，depends largely on the words they choose.

One of the best ways to improve your writing is to cultivate an interest in words.In this chapter you will explore varieties，meanings and uses of English.

Varieties of English

When people speak about a subject，even a serious one，they do it in a different way than when they write about it.The difference is one of register and style.Register means how you adapt your language to specific contexts or audiences and style means the way in which you use the language.Generally there is a division between standard English，the most widely used form of English in newspapers and magazines，on television and radio，and in business and professional conversations and correspondence，and sub-standard English.Standard English can be further divided，according to style，into spoken language and written language，and according to register，into informal language and formal language.Spoken English tends to be more informal，more personal，less concise and less organized.Written English，in contrast，tends to be more formal，more impersonal，and more precise and economical in the use of words.Specific differences can be shown in the following pairs of sentences.

1a.We discussed the topic.

1b.The topic was discussed.

2a.They couldn't get hold of him.

2b.They weren't able to contact him.

3a.The machine was expensive to run and service，and it was always breaking down.

3b.The machine was expensive to run and service.Moreover，it was always breaking down.

4a.He had to work long hours in his new job for little money，but he was doing what he wanted to.

4b.He had to work long hours in his new job for little money.However，he was doing what he wanted to.

5a.There had been three bad accidents and weather conditions were getting worse，so the police decided to close the road.

5b.There had been three bad accidents and weather conditions were getting worse.As a result，the police decided to close the road.

6a.Well as I was saying，we all had a really good time on our holiday in France last year.

6b.Last year's holiday in France was very enjoyable.

In spoken English more active voice and idiomatic language are used，as in Sentence 1a and 2a.Simple connectors，such as and，but，and so，are commonly used in spoken English，in contrast to more complex connectors，such as moreover，however，therefore，being used in the written style，as in Sentence 3a， 4a and 5a.Spoken English tends to be wordy as in Sentence 6a while conciseness characterizes written English.

Three uses of language—slang，colloquialism，and jargon—are usually found only in informal English.Most dictionaries show such uses with a label，either in bracket or abbreviated.

Slang consists of new words，or old words used in new ways，which seem clever and colorful.For example ，“hang-up”is marked slang when used with the given meaning “an emotional problem”in Webster’ s New World Dictionary.Most slang words do not last long to have a clear and established meaning.Though they are sometimes effective in informal speech，it is usually not effective in writing because it is too general.In your writing practice，take the time to choose words that are more specific and thus more informative than slang.

Colloquialisms are words and phrases usually found only in informal speech and writing， as shown in the italicized part in Sentence 7.Colloquialisms are much more widespread than slang and less likely to mark the user as a member of a distinct group.

7.The bride’ s parents are usually expected to foot the bill for the wedding.

Jargon is used within particular institutions，disciplines or professions and is only meaningful within a limited context.A familiar word may appear unfamiliar when used by different people，as in Example 8.Many dictionaries indicate specialized uses of a word by listing the area in which it is used and the meaning it has in that area.Jargon can be effective for members of a particular group to communicate because it reduces many words to just one or two.However，jargon should not be used when members of an audience do not belong to the same profession as the speaker or writer.

Card players—the act of playing first

Electricians—a wire that carries current

Journalists—the opening paragraph of a news story

Printers—space between lines of type

Meanings of Words:Idioms，Denotations，Connotations and Synonyms

Since English is a living language，it changes as the world of its users changes.Semantics is the study of the meanings of words and the changes in those meanings.

An idiom is a phrase where the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words，which can make idioms hard for ESL students and learners to understand.Idioms develop when the usual meanings of words are bypassed for some reason and other meanings are created to meet a specific purpose.Idioms enrich a language，making it distinct from all other languages.In any language， idioms cannot be explained grammatically or translated literally.习语是不同的民族因其不同的文化背景和生活环境而产生的某种语言所特有的语言现象。它使该种语言显得更加自然贴切。无论是平时交谈还是撰写文章，都少不了使用习语。因此，要写出地道漂亮的英语文章，习语的运用是必不可少的。

English is rich in idioms，which generally fall into the following seven types:phrasal verbs (i.e.groups of words which consist usually of a verb and an adverb， and sometimes a preposition， eg.break out， put up with)， noun phrases (eg.like a cat on hot bricks如坐针毡，the apple of one's eyes掌上明珠)，prepositional phrases (eg.with flying colors出色地，off one’ s food没有胃口)，verbal phrases (eg.go to the dogs每况愈下，hold water站得住脚)，as...as...structure (eg.as large as life千真万确，as different as chalk and cheese天壤之别)，combined words (eg.high and dry处境艰难，孤立无援，touch and go一触即发的，不稳定的)，and proverbs (eg.A miss is as good as a mile.差之毫厘，失之千里).

The meaning of a word has two aspects:denotation and connotation.Denotations are the explicit meanings of a word given in the dictionary.Connotations are meanings suggested by or associated with the word.The words statesman or stateswoman and politician，for example，may have the same denotation—one who is engaged in government or politics.Their connotations are different， however.By referring to an elected government official as a statesman or stateswoman，you honor him or her.By referring to the same person as a politician，you may be insulting him or her because the word politician has an unfavorable connotation for some people.To them，it suggests a person who is more concerned with his or her own interests than with the needs of the people represented.

Some English words may share the same denotations and the same translation in Chinese，but have different connotations.They are called synonyms.English language is rich in synonyms.Synonyms may differ from each other in degree of formality，and in degree of strength in tone/manner of expression.They may also be different in expression of emotion，in commendatory and derogatory sense，and in collocation.Some lexicographers claim that no synonyms have exactly the same meaning (in all contexts or social levels of language)because etymology，orthography，phonic qualities，ambiguous meanings，usage，etc.make them unique.Different words that are similar in meaning usually differ for a reason:feline is more formal than cat; long and extended are only synonyms in one usage and not in others (for example，a long arm is not the same as an extended arm).Synonyms are also a source of euphemisms.

现代英语除本族语外，还包括大量的法语和拉丁语来源的词，这就使英语的同义词相当丰富。总体来讲，源于古英语的英语本族语一般比较短小，只有一两个音节，常用于非正式文体，如日常写作、会话等;一些源于拉丁语、希腊语和法语的长词，多用于正式文体，如学术性或理论性著作、政府文件、法律文书等。如ask， question， interrogate这三个不同来源的同义词在不同的主题、对象、情景下用法就不一样。

除了来源的不同会影响措辞的选择外，同义词在感情色彩上也有不同。比如在表达“瘦”的诸多同义词(slender， slim， lean，thin， underweight， gaunt，lanky， skinny)中， slender是褒义的， skinny是贬义的， underweight则是中性的。即使同是褒义词，表达的感情色彩也不同。比如用little和petite两个同义词来描绘女孩子，虽都意为“个子小的” ，但petite同时还有“匀称”的意义，而little更强调“可爱的”或“可怜的” 。

关于词义，我们要特别注意不要把一个英语词的中文译法当作它的确切意思，或者通过中文译法理解英语词汇。许多英语词的中文译法固然表示它的意义，但也有许多没有确切中文译法的英语词，它们在不同的上下文语境中需采用不同的译法。初学写作的人有时会选错词，但更多的时候是选词并不全错，而是不够准确、地道，导致词不达意，甚至导致冒犯和误解。在此，特别提醒英语学习者:在日常语言积累过程中，不仅要掌握词的内涵，更要了解它的外延，从而在英语写作中选择准确的词来表达自己的思想。

Whenever you describe something by comparing it with something else，you are using figurative language.Figurative language uses“figures of speech”—a way of saying something other than the literal meaning of the words.Figurative language goes beyond the literal meaning of words in order to furnish new effects or fresh insights into an idea or a subject.The most common figures of speech are simile and metaphor.

Simile involves a direct comparison between two unlike things，usually with the words like or as.Metaphor involves an implied comparison between two relatively unlike things using a form of be.The comparison is not announced by like or as.A comparison of the following pairs of Sentences shows that Sentence 9a and 10a in each pair is more vivid.Figurative language adds vigor to your prose.

9a.Each evening he would jog through the neighborhood like an exhausted ostrich.

9b.The way he jogged was awful.

10a.Family life in my parents’home was based upon a cosmic order:Papa was the sun; Mamma，the moon; we kids，minor satellites.

10b.In my family，Papa was the most important; Mama，the second most important，and we kids，the least important.

Principles of Word Preference

When you write，you must make a great many decisions.You must decide which word will be best to say what you want to say.You must also decide which word or words will best suit your purpose and your audience.In choosing words，keep in mind their connotations as well as their denotations.Select ones that accurately denote whatever idea you are trying to convey.By choosing among the various words denoting an event，activity，idea，or object，you can make your focus general or specific，abstract or concrete.Make sure that you are aware of a word’ s connotations before you use the word.Choose words that are appropriate for the situation—formal or informal—and that are specific rather than general.Avoid jargon， slang，or dialect，and try to please the ear by using figurative language.The more time you spend on word choice，the more effective your writing will be.What do you learn from the comparison of the following two sentences?

11a.Wordy:By virtue of their immersion in a heterogeneity of subcultures，the majority of individuals have internalized an extensive repository of collective aphorisms about a multitude of quotidian concerns.

11b.Revised:Because of their participation in a variety of subcultures，most people know a large number of common sayings about many everyday issues.

Reinforcement　知识复习

1.The following sentences are not consistent in style.Improve them.

(1)Please let me express my gratitude for having been a guest at your house last Saturday night.I had bags of fun that evening.

(2)Ladies and gentlemen，it’ s awfully nice to see you here.

(3)Do you take this chap to be your lawfully wedded husband?

(4)He was in deep sorrow because his father had kicked the bucket.

(5)The old guy is impoverished.

2.Change the colloquial expressions into more formal ones.

(1)The police are looking into the matter.

(2)She had realized her own difficult things.

(3)We must use the available natural resources.

(4)Guys in the south of Chinese speak in a different way from people in the north.

(5)We want to report them to the police.

(6)The police asked me if I have a gun.

(7)Tom’ s unhappy married life ended in divorce.

(8)They have found many spelling errors.

(9)The buying power of the dollar has declined.

(10)She’ s never on time for appointments.

3.Choose the word pair with the same relationship as the word pair in capital letters.

A.snow:precipitation

A.calculator:accountant

4.Pick the word choice whose connotation is more appropriate.

(1)The snow (buried，blanketed)the mountains，inviting more tourists.

(2)So neat were the dinner guests that only a few (foul，unclean)napkins were left.

(3)As soon as danger threatened，the sentry (abandoned，left)his post.

(4)Our freshmen English teacher would (flatter，praise)us only when we had clearly made progress.

(5)The defendant was judged not responsible for the crime since he was temporarily (insane，crazy).

5.Use more specific and concrete words for the italicized.

(1)I think Professor Smith is a bad teacher.

(2)Our college provided the students with some fine programs.

(3)It was a cold morning.

(4)I like my English teacher because she has a nice character.

(5)After a day’ s hard work，I walked towards my apartment.

6.Give out the specific words.

(1)see:_____ _____ _____ _____ _____

(2)get:_____ _____ _____ _____ _____

(3)trees:_____ _____ _____ _____ _____

(4)flowers:_____ _____ _____ _____ _____

(5)money:_____ _____ _____ _____ _____

Extension　知识拓展

One of the most analyzed areas where the use of language is determined by the situation is the formality scale.Writers have often used the term“register”as shorthand for formal/informal style，although this is an aging definition.Linguistics textbooks may use the term “tenor”instead (Halliday， 1978)，but increasingly prefer the term“style”—“we characterize styles as varieties of language viewed from the point of view of formality”(Trudgill，1992)—while defining“registers”more narrowly as specialist language use related to a particular activity，such as academic jargon.There is very little agreement as to how the spectrum of formality should be divided.

This diagram is from Quirk et al.(1985)，who use the term attitude rather than style or register.Formality scale:Very formal，Frozen，Rigid ←FORMAL←Neutral→INFORMAL→Very informal，Casual，Familiar.

Two Useful Dictionaries to Improve Your Writing

Longman Language Activator (Second Edition )《朗文英语联想活用词典(第二版)》， this new edition of the writing dictionary expands your vocabulary effectively，and helps you express your ideas more accurately.This dictionary takes you from a key word or basic idea，such as“good” ，and shows you more related words or phrases with information on register，context and grammar structures.

Oxford Collocations:Dictionary for Students of English《牛津英语搭配词典(英语版)》，收录逾9 000个常用英语词条，达15万个搭配词组;例句真实自然， 5万条示例全部选自语料库;专辟25个不同主题的用法说明，加深对搭配词应用的理解;附学习页，通过练习可使读者透彻理解英语搭配，巩固学习效果。