Unit 1 Using a Thesaurus

Unit 1
Using a Thesaurus
A thesaurus will help you expand your vocabulary by giving you alternative
words with a similar meaning. It is very important that you use a dictionary to check
the finer meanings of words.
Some Features on a Thesaurus Page
Guide Words
These words at the top of the page indicate the first and last words
included on this page. Words in a thesaurus are arranged alphabetically: a, b, c, d, etc.
Therefore, you can expect to find on this page those words that would alphabetically
follow the first guide word but precede the second.
Main Entry Words
These are words listed in boldface and in alphabetical order. If words
begin with the same letter, they are arranged according to their second letter: hat,
head, high, holiday, huge, etc.
An entry is composed of:
1. Part of speech
This part shows how words can be used in a sentence such as, a
verb(v) , noun(n)and adjective(adj).These abbreviations appear after the
word before the words with similar meaning, or definition, and
examples. Some words can be more than one part of speech and there
can be several definitions for a word within one thesaurus entry.
2. Meanings
The meanings of the words are synonyms or near-synonyms.
3. Idiomatic expressions
4. Example in context.
5. Opposite meaning, or antonyms
Example of a Thesaurus Page
(Source: Oxford The Australian Student’s Thesaurus,1998, p. 115)
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Exercise 1
Put these entries in the order in which they would appear in a thesaurus.
1. picture class
student
book
notes
teacher
report
dictionary
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2. break
beginner
build
brain
basic
bibliography
blot
board
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3. lime
like
limit
line
lick
lie
life
literature listen
live
lift
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4. mango manful manhood mankind manly manner mansion manual
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5. orbit
leave
agriculture
mind
letter
headache
nonfiction
king
queen
keep
envelope lesson
swim pretty
knock
strategy trick
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6. __________direction
7.___________beautiful
__________capable
___________angry
__________mural
___________curious
_________ rinse
___________honest
_________ spectacular
___________strong
__________pygmy
___________harmful
__________vocal
__________ fantastic
__________extra
__________ childish
__________repellent
___________tame
__________humidity
___________fragile
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Exercise 2
Work in pairs. Read the passage quickly and list the underlined words in
alphabetical order from it. Then write them in the table provided.
Tea –the natural drink with a unique refined taste
With its own characteristic flavor and smell, tea is a unique drink that has
one people’s hearts the world over. Drinking tea is not merely about quenching one’s
thirst; there is an art etiquette to it that can be traced back thousands of years. In
contemporary times, too, tea drinking continues to be popular both among the young
and the young at heart.
For avid fans of tea, the proper way to drink it is hot, as it yields more of its
delightful scent and pleasant taste. As a tradition, hot tea served with such snacks as
normally sees in buffets, conferences and seminars. With each type of tea boasting its
own flavor and quality, a wide variety of teas suitable for serving hot are available
nowadays, giving tea drinkers more alternatives.
There are many types of teas-black tea, red tea, green tea, and others- and
each flaunts it own attributes of flavor, smell and color that differ from traditional
Early. For example, Four Red Fruit Tea- the fruity flavored black tea bursting with a
combination of strawberry, cherry, red currant, rasp berry-yields a sweet fragrance
and refined flavor that delights the taste buds. The blend also includes green tea that
brings together pure fruit scents such as GreenTea&Apple, Green Tea& Orange.
These aromatic teas bring tea drinkers fine moments of enjoyment.
(Bangkok Post, December 15, 2005, p. 5)
1.
8.
15.
2.
9.
16.
3.
10.
17.
4.
11.
18.
5.
12.
19.
6.
13.
20.
7.
14.
21.
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Exercise 3
Study the thesaurus entries on page 3 and then answer the following
questions.
1. What are the guide words for this page?
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2. What part of speech is the word delight?
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3. How many head words are there for the word deliver on this page?
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4. How many meanings are given to the word delicate?
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5. Write an example of the meaning in 6.
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6. When delicious is used as an informal language, what is its meaning?
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7. What is the opposite meaning of the word delete?
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8. When delight is used as a noun, what does it mean?
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9. Write an example of usage of the word delay in 2?
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10.Which of these words would you find on this page: deft design, defraud,
deleterious,
deliver,
defrost,?
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Exercise 4
Study the thesaurus entries on page 115, and then copy the parts of speech of
these words. Some words can be more than one part of speech.
Example: deliberate – adjective ___________________
1. delinquent ______________________________________
2. deify __________________________________________
3. delicacy _______________________________________
4. deity __________________________________________
5. delineate _______________________________________
6. delegation ______________________________________
7. delightful _______________________________________
8. delirious ________________________________________
9. dejected ________________________________________
10. deign ___________________________________________
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Example of a Thesaurus Page
(Source: Oxford The Australian Student’s Thesaurus, 1998, p. 214)
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Exercise 5
Study the thesaurus entries on page 8 and then answer these questions.
1. Write the entries of the thesaurus on page 8.
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2. Which of the words do you expect to see at the end of the page?
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3. Which word contains the most definitions?
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4. How many meanings are there for that word?
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5. In the sentence, He has made sufficient headway with the work. What is the
synonym of headway. ?
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6. The opposite of the word healthy is __________________________________
7. Give the usage of the word head which means supervisor.
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8. Give 2 examples of plural nouns.
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9. Which word has the same meaning as light and headlight?
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10. a hazy blue means ________________________________________________
The Use of a Thesaurus
Some strange sentences can emerge from the use of the thesaurus.
Example
It was a nice day and we got into our old red car to go for a lovely drive in the
beautiful sunshine. Unfortunately, we ran over a bottle and got a flat tire. Then
the weather turned cold and so the outing turned out to be terrible.
Using a dictionary and a thesaurus to check finer meanings you might come up
with the following:
It was a marvelous day and we leapt into our ancient vehicle to go for a
delightful outing in the brilliant sunshine. Unfortunately, we ran over a bottle
and sustained a flat tire. The weather turned bleak and the outing concluded
disastrously.
(Adapted from Ford, & Haywood, 1993, p. 148)
Exercise 6
Compare the two passages and look at the changes made to the second
passage. Do you think they improved the passage? Discuss this in groups. What other
alternative words could have been used?
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Exercise 7
From the paragraph below write a new paragraph by changing some of the
words in bold type that have the same meanings. (use a thesaurus to help you find
new words)
Traveling by Horse
One hundred years ago, horses provided the best way to travel. At that time,
most people traveled from city to city in coaches or buggies. When someone was
sick, a family member rode by horse to call the doctor, and the doctor came by buggy.
Mailmen rode from door to door on their horses to deliver the mail. It was a fast and
efficient way to get from place to place. But this way of traveling was both good and
bad. It was good because people didn’t pollute the air. Cars, trains, and other means
of transportation today leave gases behind when they move. But it was bad because
riding on a horse damaged the horse’s back and legs. And traveling by horse could be
dangerous, especially on bad roads, in bad weather, and at night. It was also much
slower than transportation today. The ways of transportation today are better than
travel by horse 100 years ago because they are safer and faster.
(Adapted from Fellag, 1998, p. 52)
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Exercise 8
As you can see, the thesaurus can help your writing be more interesting and
accurate. It can also help you think more carefully about the words you choose in your
writing. In this exercise use your thesaurus to find synonyms of the following words.
1. tell
:______________________________________________________
1. big
:_______________________________________________________
2. love :_______________________________________________________
3. funny :_______________________________________________________
4. kind :_______________________________________________________
4. beautiful :_____________________________________________________
5. clearly :_____________________________________________________
6. busy :________________________________________________________
7. upset :________________________________________________________
8. hill
:________________________________________________________
9. cut
:________________________________________________________
10. show :________________________________________________________
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Exercise 9
Read the following paragraphs again. And then rewrite them by choosing
the suitable words from the thesaurus given to you for the underlined words. You
have to understand the context in the passage before you decide on a suitable word.
After that, check your grammar.
Tea –the natural drink with a unique refined taste
With its own characteristic flavor and smell, tea is a unique drink that has
won people’s hearts the world over. Drinking tea is not merely about quenching one’s
thirst; there is an art etiquette to it that can be traced back thousands of years. In
contemporary times, too, tea drinking continues to be popular both among the young
and the young at heart.
smell (n) : fragrance,
odor,
merely (adv): commonly,
perfume,
scent,
ordinarily,
aroma
slightly
quenching (adj): satisfying
etiquette (n): manner,
convention,
contemporary (adj): current,
rules
modern,
new,
present-day,
famous,
renowned,
recent,
trendy
popular (adj) admired,
well-known
young at heart : thinking and behaving like a young person even when
you are old (old people)
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Paragraph 2
For avid fans of tea, the proper way to drink it is hot, as it yields more of its
delightful scent and pleasant taste. As a tradition, hot tea served with such snacks as
one normally sees in buffets, conferences and seminars. With each type of tea
boasting its own flavor and quality, a wide variety of teas suitable for serving hot are
available nowadays, giving tea drinkers more alternatives.
avid (adj): eager,
yields (v):
bear,
enthusiastic,
bring,
tradition (n) custom,
convention,
quality (n) feature,
attribute,
greedy,
keen
give,
produce
habit,
practice
characteristic
available (adj) usable,
handy,
ready,
alternative (n) choice,
option,
possibility
obtainable
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Paragraph 3
There are many types of teas-black tea, red tea, green tea, and others- and
each flaunts it own attributes of flavor, smell and color that differ from traditional
teas. For example, Four Red Fruit Tea- the fruity flavored black tea bursting with a
combination of strawberry, cherry, redcurrant, raspberry-yields a sweet fragrance and
refined flavor that delights the taste buds. The blend also includes green tea that
brings together pure fruit scents such as Green Tea & Apple, Green Tea& Orange.
These aromatic teas bring tea drinkers fine moments of enjoyment.
(Bangkok Post, Thursday, December 15, 2005, p. 5)
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type (n)
kind,
flaunt (v)
make,
show off,
bursting (adj)
filled,
model,
sort,
variety,
species
exhibit
full,
overflowing
combination (n) blend,
composition,
conjunction,
refined (adj) elegant,
polished,
precious,
blend (n)
go together,
pure (adj)
aromatic (adj)
unmixed,
fragrant,
mixture
cultivated
harmonize
clear,
clean,
spicy,
unpolluted
strong-smelling
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Exercise 10
Use the words from Exercise 8 to write a paragraph telling a story from your
own imagination.
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