英語日常口語 Unit43:Exam revision

本單元是關于復習考試的對話

Michal: Oh dear I have my exam today. I'm really worried. Helen, will you practise with me please?
Helen: You must be joking!
Michal: Alice?
Alice: Oh Michal, you know I'm just back from a night-shift. I'm exhausted, sorry.
Tim: Don't worry mate, you'll be all right. Just relax, be yourself...
Michal: But I did very bad in my practice test last week.
Helen: I told you Michal, it's important to revise for exams but you went out every night this week.
Michal: Yes I know but it's a speaking exam so I had to talk to people. Won't anyone help me? Thanks Bronka, that's a big help!


Vocabulary:（詞匯）

a night-shift: （夜班）
a period of work that takes place during the night

exhausted: （精疲力盡）
very tired

to revise for exams: （為準備考試而復習）
to do special preparation for an exam, when you look back at your earlier work

本單元的語言點是 homophones, 在英語里有時候有兩個完全不同的字 - 拼寫不同、字義不同 - 卻有相同的發音。這就叫做 homophones 。舉例來說， mail 和 male ， practice 和 practise。這是因為英文字并不完全按照聲音來拼寫。英文里估計大約有 400 組同音字。

Homophones

In English it is possible for two different words - words with different spelling and different meaning - to have the same pronunciation. These are homophones. For example, mail and male and practice and practise. This occurs because English is not written in a strictly phonetic way. There are more than 400 pairs of homophones.

Common homophones:（常見同音字）

mail and male
The first means post and letters, the second is the opposite of female

brake and break
The first stops a car or bicycle from moving, the second means to damage something

wait and weight
The first is what you do at a bus stop, the second is measured in kilogrammes

read and red
The first is the past simple of 'to read', the second is the colour of danger

buy, by and bye
The first is to obtain something using money, the second is a preposition, the third is a shortened form of 'goodbye'

sore and soar
The first means something hurts, the second means to fly high in the sky

pause and paws
The first is a short gap in speech, the second are animals' feet

pores and pours
The first are small holes in the skin, the second is from the verb 'to pour water from a jug'


Verb and noun homophones:（動詞與名詞同音字）

practise and practice
Both mean to do something to get better at it. The first is the verb, the second the noun

license and licence
Both refer to official permission to do something. The first (in British English) is verb meaning to give the permission, the second is the noun and refers to the official document of permission


Contractions (e.g. he's, I'm) homophones:（縮寫同音字）

aisle, isle and I'll
The first is the gap between columns of seats, the second is a small island, the third is a contraction of 'I will'

heel, heal and he'll
The first is the back of the bottom of your foot, the second means to repair an injury, the third is a contraction of 'he will'

your and you're
The first is a possessive pronoun, the second the contraction of 'you are'

there, their and they're
The first is an adverb, the second a possessive pronoun, the third a contraction of 'they are'