ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC RESEARCH Adrian Wallwork English for Academic Research: Vocabulary Exercises English for Academic Research Moreinformationaboutthisseriesathttp://www.springer.com/series/13913 Adrian Wallwork English for Academic Research: Vocabulary Exercises Adrian Wallwork Via Carducci 9 56127 Pisa, Italy [email protected] ISBN 978-1-4614-4267-7 ISBN 978-1-4614-4268-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-4268-4 Springer New York Heidelberg Dordrecht London Library of Congress Control Number: 2012948772 © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013, Corrected at 2nd printing 2016 This work is subject to copyright. 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Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) Preface English level required for this book This book contains almost 200 exercises designed to practice the non-tech- nical vocabulary you will need when writing a research manuscript in English. It is aimed at students and researchers of any discipline whose fi rst lan- guage is not English. It is assumed that you have already reached a suffi cient level of English to read and understand a research paper in your particular fi eld. You may fi nd some technical words in the exercises that you are not familiar with. You can simply ignore such words – they should not prevent you from being able to complete the exercise. Structure of the book Chapters 1-5 practice vocabulary in terms of grammatical function (e.g. adjectives and adverbs, link words, nouns, prepositions and verbs). The other sections deal with false friends, synonyms, and spelling issues, as well as useful phrases for research papers and emails (to colleagues and editors). There are many more exercises on verbs than on nouns. If you wish to practice the difference between, for example, identi fi cation and detection , or proposal and recommendation , and you cannot fi nd such words in the index (page 189), then look under the related verbs ( identify, detect, propose, recommend) . Generally speaking the difference between two nouns is likely to be the same difference as between the two related verbs. v vi Preface Self study and classroom use All of the exercises can be done with or without the aid of a teacher. They are thus suitable both for self study and classroom use. In some exercises you have to fi ll a gap with a word or phrase from a list. You can make the exercise more challenging by ignoring the list of sug- gested words, and trying to fi nd the correct word yourself. Then you can check with the key. Instructions to the exercises One of the main criteria of this book is to enable you to do exercises quickly and effectively, with minimal writing. In most cases (particularly in Chapters 1-5), no instructions are given. This is because all you have to do is select the correct word from a choice of words that are in bold. Note that in some cases there may be more than one correct answer. Keys to the exercises The keys (answers) to the exercises appear immediately below the exercise, but in a smaller font. The idea is that you don’t have to fl ip to the back of the book to fi nd the answers. This should speed up the process of doing the exercises. Words and phrases in parentheses indicate that these are alternative solutions to the ones outside parentheses, but they are probably less com- monly used. Words and phrases separated by a slash (e.g. which/that ) indicate that both solutions are equally valid. In some cases the answers given are subjective. This is due to the fact that there may be only very subtle differences in meaning between certain words. Additionally, the same word may be used in a different way in differ- ent disciplines. If in doubt, consult with your tutor or English teacher. If you disagree with any of the answers, then please feel free to email me with your suggested solution: [email protected] Preface vii Cross-referencing with other books in the series English for Research: Grammar, Usage and Style – designed to resolve your doubts about the grammar, usage and style of academic English. English for Writing Research Papers – everything you need to know about howtowriteapaperthatrefereeswillrecommendforpublication. English for Academic Correspondence – tips for responding to editors and referees, networking at conferences, understanding fast-talking native English speakers, using Google Translate, and much more. No other book likethisexistsonthemarket. English for Presentations at International Conferences – all the tricks for overcomingyourfearofpresentinginEnglishataconference. English for Interacting on Campus – tips for: socializing with fellow students, addressing professors, participating in lectures, improving listening skills and pronunciation, surviving in a foreign country. To find out how the manuals are cross-referenced with the exercise books go to: http://www.springer.com/series/13913 A note for teachers This book is not designed to be a fully comprehensive vocabulary exercise book. It only focuses on those problems that are regularly found in manuscripts and emails written by non-native speakers. This means that thereisgreatemphasisonalimitednumberofvocabularyitems. I hav e tried to neutr alize the effe ct o f technical te rm inology impe ding the possibility of completing the task, but some students may wish to focus equally on each word of a sentence. If such a sentence contains several technical words that are not in their personal vocabulary, they may find the exercise frustrating. A good solution is to tell students to choose which sentences within each exercise to complete. For example, your instruction could thus be: complete five or more of the ten sentences in Ex .e rcise 2.14. For full details on how to exploit all the books in the English for Academic series, see: English for Academic Research: A Guide for Teachers Contents 1 Adjectives and Adverbs .............................................................. 1 1.1 actual, current, topical ......................................................... 1 1.2 actually, currently, nowadays ............................................... 2 1.3 advisable, convenient, comfortable ..................................... 3 1.4 all, entire, everything, whole ................................................ 4 1.5 almost, hard, hardly, nearly ................................................. 5 1.6 alone, only, solely ................................................................ 5 1.7 alone, individual, only, single, sole, unique .......................... 6 1.8 alternate(ly), alternative(ly) .................................................. 7 1.9 always, ever, never .............................................................. 8 1.10 apparently, seemingly .......................................................... 8 1.11 appropriate, proper, right, suitable ....................................... 9 1.12 appropriate(ly), convenient(ly), correct(ly), proper(ly), right(ly) ............................................................... 10 1.13 at present, currently, now, nowadays ................................... 11 1.14 characteristic, peculiar, typical, unique ................................ 12 1.15 classic, classical .................................................................. 13 1.16 coherent(ly), consistent(ly) .................................................. 13 1.17 coherent(ly), consistent(ly), substantial(ly) .......................... 14 1.18 common, diffuse, widespread .............................................. 15 1.19 comprehensible, understandable ........................................ 16 1.20 connected, linked, related ................................................... 17 1.21 contemporary, contemporaneous, simultaneous ................. 18 1.22 continual(ly), continuous(ly) ................................................. 19 1.23 corresponding, correspondent ............................................. 20 1.24 deeply, strictly, strongly, tightly, thoroughly .......................... 21 1.25 different, several, various ..................................................... 22 1.26 each, every, any .................................................................. 23 1.27 each other, one another, themselves .................................. 24 ix x Contents 1.28 early, soon ........................................................................... 25 1.29 economic, economical, economically, financial ................... 26 1.30 economic, low-cost .............................................................. 27 1.31 enough, quite, sufficient(ly) ................................................. 28 1.32 few, little, a few, a little ......................................................... 29 1.33 fewer, less, minor ................................................................. 29 1.34 for, since .............................................................................. 30 1.35 greater, main, major ............................................................ 31 1.36 independent(ly), irrespective(ly), regardless(ly) .................. 32 1.37 main, principal, principle ...................................................... 33 1.38 pointless, useless ................................................................ 33 1.39 relevant, remarkable, significant .......................................... 34 1.40 sensible, sensitive ............................................................... 35 1.41 subsequent(ly), successive(ly) ............................................ 35 1.42 adverbs of manner 1 ........................................................... 36 1.43 adverbs of manner 2 ........................................................... 37 1.44 adverbs of time .................................................................... 38 1.45 adjectives -ing vs -ed ........................................................... 39 1.46 adjectives ............................................................................ 40 1.47 adjectives: positive and negative ......................................... 41 1.48 adjectives with similar meanings ......................................... 42 2 Link words .................................................................................... 43 2.1 according to, depending on, following, in accordance with, in agreement with, in compliance with, .............................................................. 43 2.2 also, as well as, even, too .................................................... 44 2.3 also, as well as, either, even, neither / nor, not only, so, too ......................................................................... 45 2.4 although, even if, even though, though ................................ 46 2.5 apart from, besides, except for, in addition to, with the exception of ............................................................ 47 2.6 as long as, if, provided that, unless ..................................... 48 2.7 as is, as it is ......................................................................... 49 2.8 as, how, like ......................................................................... 50 2.9 as a consequence, consequently, hence, it follows that, thus, therefore ............................................... 51 2.10 at the end, in the end, fi nally, lastly...................................... 52 2.11 because, why....................................................................... 53 2.12 both, either, neither. ............................................................. 54 2.13 both, either, neither, if, whether ........................................... 55 2.14 by now, for the moment, so far ............................................ 56 2.15 by, thus, When, While .......................................................... 57 2.16 compared to, in relation to, with respect to .......................... 58 Contents xi 2.17 despite, despite the fact, however, in any case, in spite of the fact, nevertheless, notwithstanding, still, yet ..................................................... 59 2.18 e.g., i.e. ................................................................................ 60 2.19 e.g., for example, i.e., such as, that is to say, etc ................ 61 2.20 eventual(ly), if necessary, in the end ................................... 62 2.21 in fact, instead (of), on the other contrary, on the other hand ................................................................ 63 2.22 various link words 1 ............................................................. 64 2.23 various link words 2 ............................................................. 65 3 Nouns ............................................................................................ 67 3.1 base, basis .......................................................................... 67 3.2 basis, degree, extent, level, region ...................................... 68 3.3 capacity, competence, skill .................................................. 69 3.4 chance, opportunity, possibility, probability .......................... 70 3.5 consideration, observation, remark ..................................... 72 3.6 danger, hazard .................................................................... 73 3.7 dimension, size .................................................................... 74 3.8 measure, measurement ...................................................... 75 3.9 motivation, reason ............................................................... 76 3.10 replacement, substitute, substitution ................................... 77 3.11 requirement, request, query ................................................ 78 3.12 standard, degree, grade, level ............................................. 79 3.13 various nouns ...................................................................... 80 4 Prepositions ................................................................................. 81 4.1 about, for, of ........................................................................ 81 4.2 above, over, below, under, underneath ................................ 82 4.3 among, between, of ............................................................. 83 4.4 among, between, from, of, with ........................................... 84 4.5 at, in, into, inside, to ............................................................. 85 4.6 at, to, ø (no preposition) ...................................................... 86 4.7 at, to, towards ...................................................................... 87 4.8 by, from ................................................................................ 88 4.9 by, from, in, of, with .............................................................. 90 4.10 during, over, throughout ...................................................... 91 4.11 for, of ................................................................................... 92 4.12 in, into .................................................................................. 93 4.13 in, on .................................................................................... 94 4.14 in, into, on, onto ................................................................... 95 4.15 with, within ........................................................................... 96 4.16 various prepositions 1 ......................................................... 97 4.17 various prepositions 2 ......................................................... 98 4.18 various prepositions 3 ......................................................... 99 4.19 various prepositions 4 ......................................................... 100 4.20 various prepositions 5 ......................................................... 101