Nghiên cứu từ vựng trong tiếng anh 9 ppt

satellite
SATELLITE
Originally a satellite was a follower. Astronomers applied the term to smaller bodies orbiting about
planets, like our moon. Then we began launching artificial satellites. Since few people were familiar
with the term in its technical meaning, the adjective “artificial” was quickly dropped in popular
usage. So far so bad. Then television began to be broadcast via satellite. Much if not all television
now wends its way through a satellite at some point, but in the popular imagination only broadcasts
received at the viewing site via a dish antenna aimed at a satellite qualify to be called “satellite
television.” Thus we see motel signs boasting:
AIR CONDITIONING,*
SATELLITE
People say things like “the fight” s going to be shown on satellite.” The word has become a pathetic
fragment of its former self. The technologically literate speaker will avoid these slovenly
abbreviations.
*At least motels have not yet adopted the automobile industry” s truncation of “air conditioning” to
“air."
List of errors
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say/tell
SAY/TELL
You say “Hello, Mr. Chips” to the teacher, and then tell him about what you did last summer. You
can’t “tell that” except in expressions like "go tell that to your old girlfriend."
List of errors
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schizophrenic
SCHIZOPHRENIC
In popular usage, “schizophrenic” (and the more slangy and now dated “schizoid") indicates “split
between two attitudes.” This drives people with training in psychiatry crazy. “Schizo-” does indeed
mean “split,” but it is used here to mean “split off from reality.” Someone with a Jekyll-and-Hyde
personality is suffering from “multiple personality disorder” (or, more recently “dissociative identity
disorder” ), not “schizophrenia."

List of errors
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sci fi
SCI-FI
SCIENCE FICTION, SF
“Sci-fi,” the widely used abbreviation for “science fiction,” is objectionable to most professional science fiction writers, scholars, and many fans. Some
of them scornfully designate alien monster movies and other trivial entertainments “sci-fi” (which they pronounce “skiffy") to distinguish them from true
science fiction. The preferred abbreviation in these circles is “SF.” The problem with this abbreviation is that to the general public “SF” means “San
Francisco.” “The Sci-Fi Channel” has exacerbated the conflict over this term. If you are a reporter approaching a science fiction writer or expert you
immediately mark yourself as an outsider by using the term “sci-fi."
List of errors
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sea change
SEA CHANGE
In Shakespeare’s Tempest, Ariel deceitfully sings to Ferdinand:
Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
This rich language has so captivated the ears of generations of writers that they feel compelled to
describe as “sea changes” not only alterations that are “rich and strange,” but, less appropriately,
those that are simply large or sudden. Always popular, this cliché has recently become so pervasive
as to make “sea” an almost inextricable companion to “change,” whatever its meaning. In its original
context, it meant nothing more complex than “a change caused by the sea.” Since the phrase is almost
always improperly used and is greatly over-used, it has suffered a swamp change into something dull
and tiresome. Avoid the phrase; otherwise you will irritate those who know it and puzzle those who
do not.
List of errors

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seam/seem
SEAM/SEEM
"Seem” is the verb, “seam” the noun. Use “seam” only for things like the line produced when two
pieces of cloth are sewn together or a thread of coal in a geological formation.
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second of all
SECOND OF ALL
SECOND
“First of all” makes sense when you want to emphasize the primacy of the first item in a series, but it should not be followed by “second of all,” where
the expression serves no such function. And “secondly” is an adverbial form that makes no sense at all in enumeration (neither does “firstly” ). As you
go through your list, say simply “second,” “third,” “fourth,” etc.
List of errors
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saw/seen
SAW/SEEN
In standard English, it’s “I” ve seen” not “I” ve saw.” The helping verb "have” (abbreviated here to
“” ve” ) requires “seen.” In the simple past (no helping verb), the expression is “I saw,” not “I seen.”
“I” ve seen a lot of ugly cars, but when I saw that old beat-up Rambler I couldn’t believe my eyes."
List of errors
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select/selected
SELECT/SELECTED
“Select” means “special, chosen because of its outstanding qualities.” If you are writing an ad for a
furniture store offering low prices on some of its recliners, call them “selected recliners,” not “select
recliners,” unless they are truly outstanding and not just leftovers you’re trying to move out of the
store.
List of errors
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self-worth
SELF-WORTH
SELF-ESTEEM
To say that a person has a low sense of self-worth makes sense, though it’s inelegant; but people commonly truncate the phrase, saying instead, “He has
low self-worth.” This would literally mean that he isn’t worth much rather than that he has a low opinion of himself. “Self-esteem” sounds much more
literate.
List of errors
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sense/since
SENSE/SINCE
“Sense” is a verb meaning “feel” ("I sense you near me” ) or a noun meaning “intelligence” ("have
some common sense!” ). Don’t use it when you need the adverb “since” ("since you went away,”
“since you’re up anyway, would you please let the cat out?” )
List of errors
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