testing your eyes--proofreading

Proofreading exercises

动词的固定搭配

1. This helplessness of human infants is in marked contrast with the capacity of many new born animals to get on their feet within minutes of birth and run with herd within a few hours.

(on→to: get / rise to one’s feet : 站起来) v的固定搭配

2．To handle with the crops of 1919, they did a lot. (handle→ deal 或者删掉with )

3. Frequently, committees rely outside experts to assist in conducting investigative hearings.

(rely→ rely on )

介词与名词的搭配

4. There is a sharp difference in meaning between ―man is vile‖and ―the man is vile‖, yet ―the vehicle‖ is the single vehicle of this different meaning. (of→ for) (vile: 恶劣的)

5. These contemporary aborigines live to old ages despite of the absence of medical care. (去掉of)

6. Y oung animals are certainly in risk. (in→ at)

7. In central London winter sunshine has increased about 70 percent since 1958. (about 前面加by)

8. An hour of hunting yields in average about 100 edible calories won’t surprise them.

(in→ on)

9. They plan to inquire into the qualification and performance of members and officials of the other branches, and in rare occasions to lay the groundwork for impeachment proceedings. (in→on)

形容词与名词的搭配

10．Since 1990, everyday air pollution data from the British monitoring network have been made available to the public. (everyday-→ daily: daily是指每24小时发生一次的事情，everyday 指经常发生或平常的事情，并不一定是指一天之内发生的事情。)

11．The government appointed the first Canadian Wheat Board, with total authority to buy, sell, and set prices. (total-→ full: total 主要用来表示数目或程度，如：total amount 指总额，总量，a total failure 指彻底的失败；full authority 表示有全权去做某事，又如：full powers 指全权。) 12．Americans married at a higher rate and at a younger age than their Europe counterparts. (Europe-→ European 因为counterpart前面要用adj.)

冠词

13．Moreover, the data are also available on the special free telephone number and on videotext system. (the→ a : 此处电话号码是泛指，而非特指)

14．We certainly could use their eating habits as a model for healthier diet. (healthier 前面添加a, 因为这里需要表示泛指，指一种healthier diet.)

15. Most committee hearings are open to public and are reported widely in the mass media. (public 前面添加the, 用the public 来表示公众，大众。是the +adj 表示一类人。)

分词

16．The domestic smoking control program has been particularly important in achieving this result. (smoking-→ smoke: smoke control 指对烟雾的控制，smoking 指吸烟。)

17．The hunter—gatherer tribes that today live like our prehistoric human ancestors consume primarily a vegetable diet supplementing with animal foods. (supplementing→supplemented: 应该用supplemented做后置定语修饰diet, 相当于一个定语从句：a vegetable diet which is supplemented with animal foods.)

18. But this is a rather misled way of expressing the distinction. (misled-→ misleading: misled 表示被误导的，misleading 表示误导人的，从本句的意思看，应该用misleading, misleading way 表示误导人的方式。)

句子结构

19．As we all know, life would only be possible on the surface of a planet had temperatures somewhere within this range. (plant 后面添加that/which, 否则布恩能够构成完整的定语从句。) 20．An hour of hunting yields on average about 100 edible calories, as an hour of gathering produces 240. (as-→ while/ whereas: 本句前后两部分有对比之意，因此要用while/whereas 来连接，意思为相反，而。)

21．It is not a voice we recognize at once, whereas our own handwriting is something which we almost always know. (which→ that: 当先行词是something时，定语从句的关系代词只能用that.)

22. This is ―natural‖, therefore, that our speech-sounds should be those of our immediate circle. (This→ it: 强调句)

人称代词

23．One is the power to publicize investigations and its result. (its→ their 指的是investigations) 24. They cite for contempt of Congress witnesses who refuse to testify and for perjury（伪誓，伪证）of these who give false testimony. (these→ those 只有those后面能跟定语从句，these 不可以。)

名词的数

25. These give the concentrations on three main pollutants-ozone. (concentrations→concentration UN)

26. The rest is fresh, but three quarter of this is in the form of liquid. (quarter→ quarters)

连词

27. Wheat prices were generally low in the autumn, so farmers could not wait for market to improve. (so→ and两句话之间是转折关系)

28. One is the fact that pronunciation is learnt ―naturally‖ and unconsciously, and orthography(拼写) is learnt deliberately and consciously. (and→ while/whereas)

29．A rough and ready difference which may seem the most obvious is that grammatical words have ―the less meaning‖, but in fact some grammarians have called them ―empty‖ words. (but→ and并列关系)

副词

30．They consider the human infant to be genetic programmed in such a way that it can acquire language. (genetic→ genetically 用副词修饰过去分词)

31．The marketing of wheat became an increasing favourite topic of conversation. (increasing→increasingly)

主谓一致

32．Since 1990, daily air pollution data from the British monitoring network has been made available to public. (has-→ have: data 是datum的复数)

33．When human infants is born into any community in any part of the world it has two things in common with any other infant, provided neither of them have been damaged in any way. (have→ has, 主语是neither of 谓语要求用单数)

逻辑性

34．This is what his body wants to do, therefore his politeness glues his body to the chair. (therefore→but/yet)

干扰词

35．They sold their wheat soon shortly after harvest. (soon 和shortly去掉一个)

36．Three independent committees of which experts have been established. (去掉which)

其它

37．The information features in television and radio weather reports, appears national and local

newspapers. (在appear前面加and, feature 和appears构成并列谓语)

38．His urge to go is held in chick by his desire not be rude to his guest. (在not和be之间加to) 39. It often comes as a shock when we firstly hear a recording of ourselves. (firstly→ first firstly表示一系列事件、原因等按顺序排列的第一，first表示第一次，首先，首次)

40．They refused to let him raise. (raise→ rise)

Passage 1 (1—5选自英语专业八级考试指南—上外蔡君梅主审)

In general, the ancient Romans were practical people. They cared little about (1) ____ philosophy and pure mathematics than do the Greeks. The Romans were the best (2) ___

of the ancient engineers and architects. They were brilliant students of Greek

geometry and trigonometry, and they applied their knowledge in the construction (3) ______

of the bridges, road aqueducts, and public buildings. They used the iron they

produced mainly for spears, swords and shields rather for building construction. (4) ________ Although the Romans accomplished practical wonders, but they did very little (5) ________ theoretical and scientific thinking. Because of their frequent wars, much of their (6) ________ inventions were no more than improvements in the design of Greek weapons

to which they were familiar. There are two reasons for the Roman neglect of (7) ________ Philosophy and mathematics. First they were too busy conquesting nearby nations. (8) ________ Secondly, they are handicapped by the rigidity of their numerical system (9) ________ which encouraged the study of pure mathematics. (10) ________

key: 1) little→less 比较级2) do→ did 时态一致3）in-→ to : apply to 4) rath er︿than 固定短语5）去掉but: 不能和although连用6）much→many 可数名词7）to--→with 固定词组be familiar with 8) conquesting→ conquering: conquest 是名词9）are→ were 时态

10）encouraged-→ discouraged 根据句子语义

Passage 2

Cities can be frightened places. The majority of the population live in noisy (1) ________ massive tower blocks. The sense of belonging to a community tends to appear (2) ________ when you live thirty floors up in a skyscraper. Strange enough, whereas in the (3) ________ past the inhabitants of one street all knew each other, nowadays people on the

same floor in high buildings even say hello to each other. (4) ________ Country life, on the other hand, differs from this kind of isolated existence

in that a sense of community generally keep the inhabitants of small villages (5) ________ together. People have the advantage of knowing that there is always someone to

turn to when they need help. So country life has disadvantages, too. For example, (6) ________ shopping becomes a major problem, and for anything slightly out of the ordinary (7) ________ you have to go for an expedition to the nearest large town. The country has the

advantage of peace and quiet, but it suffers with the disadvantage of being cut off. (8) ________ The city has noise and pollution which do harm to human health. But one of their (9) ________ main advantages is that you are at the center of things and that life doesn’t come

to an end even at ten at night. Some people have found a compromise among (10) ________ the two; they expressed their preference for the quiet life by leaving the city and

moving to the country within commuting distance of the large city.

Key: 1)frightening→frightened 语义2）appear→ disappear 句意3）strange→ strangely 用副词修饰形容词4）︿say-→ don’t say 逻辑5）keep-→ keeps 句子主语是单数6）So---〉But /Y et 转折关系7）for→ on 固定搭配go on an excursion 8) with→ from 固定搭配suffer from

9) their→ its 句子中指代单数10）among→ between 两者之间

Passage 3

Henry Ford probably didn’t know how many the car was going to affect (1) ________ American culture. And it helped make the United states that it is today. (2) ________ There are three reasons why the car became so popular in the United (3) ________ States. First all of the country is a huge one and Americans like to move around

in it. The car provides the most comfortable and cheapest form of transportation.

With a car people can go where without spending a lot of money. The second (4) ________ reason cars are popular is the fact that the United States never really developed

an efficient and inexpensive form of private transportation. Long-distance trains (5) ________ have never been as common in the United States as they are in another parts of (6) ________

the world. Nowadays there is a good system of air-service provided by planes.

But it is too expensive to use frequently. (7) ________

The third reason is the most important one, though. The American

spirit of dependence is what really made cars popular. Americans don’t (8) ________

like to have followed an exact schedule. A car gives them the freedom to (9) ________ schedule their own time. And this is the freedom what Americans want (10) ________ most to have.

Key: 1) many→ much 表示程度的副词2）that→what 宾语从句3）which→ that/why 修饰reason 的定语从句只能用that/why 4）where→anywhere 不论哪里5）private→public 语义6）another→ other 7) to use→ be used 被动符合逻辑（注：通常只改动一个词）8）dependence→independence 句意9）have followed→follow 原形10）what→ that/which 引导定语从句

Passage 4

More newspapers per person are sold in Britain than in any one country. Some (1) ________ believe that this proves that the British people are more civil and more interested in (2) ________

current affairs than other people. There are several explanations for this.

Because Britain is such a relative small country, it is possible to buy national (3) ________ newspapers published in London anywhere in the country at the same day. In (4) ________ most parts of the country, papers are delivering to houses by local newsagent (5) ________ before breakfast. These are morning papers.

Some large towns also have evening papers containing local as well as

national and international news, and nearly everywhere in the country was served (6) ________

by a local weekly paper. This is devoted exclusively for local news and events, (7) ________ and is a very good source of information about that is happening in a particular (8) ________ town or village.

Of course the press means more than newspapers. A vast amount of magazines (9) ________

are published, aimed at readers interested in all sorts of subjects. If you go into

a newspaper’s shop in a large town you will find weekly and monthly magazines

having produced for people with interests from angling to zoos. (10) ________

key: 1) one—〉other用any other指任何一个2）civil→ civilized : civil 表“有礼貌的”civilized 表“文明的，有文化的”3）relative→relatively 用副词修饰形容词4）at→on 在某一天5）delivering→ delivered被动语态6）was→ is 时态7）for→ to 固定搭配be devoted to 8) that →what 引导名词性从句作about宾语9）amount→ number 修饰可数名词10）去掉having：句子结构

Passage 5

The dominance of black athletes to professional basketball is beyond (1) ________ dispute. Two thirds of the players are black, and the number would be greater

was it not for the continuing practice of picking white bench warmers for the (2) ________ sake of balance. Over the last two decades, no less than three players have been (3) ________ among the ten starting players on National Basketball Associations’ All-Star (4) ________ Team, and in the last quarter of this century, only two white players have ever

been chosen as the NBA’s Most V aluable Player. B ut this dominance reflects (5) ________

a natural inheritance: basketball is a pastime of the urbane poor. The current (6) ________ generation of black athletes are heirs of a tradition more than half a century old. (7) ________

In a neighborhood where without the money for bats, gloves, hockey sticks and (8) ________ icing skates, basketball is an eminently accessible sport. ―once it was the game (9) ________ of the Irish and Italy Catholics in Rockaway,‖ writes David Wolf in his book, (10) ________ Foul! ―It was recreation, status and a way out.‖

Key: 1）to→over: dominance 后面用over 2)was—〉were 虚拟语气，省略if, 倒装3）less→more 上下文语义，与下面的only对应和统一4）on︿National-→ on the National专有名词前面用the 5) 去掉But : 无转折关系6)urbane→urban: urbane 表“有礼貌的，文雅的”，urban 表

“都市的”7）of→ to: heir 后面用to 8) 去掉where: 此处没有定语从句9）icing skates→ skates/ ice skates 溜冰鞋固定用法10）Italy→ Italian：和前面Irish一致

Passage 6 (08年真题)

The desire to use language as a sign of national identity is a

very natural one, and in result native language has played a prominent (1) ________

part in national moves. Men have often felt the need to cultivate (2) ________

a given language to show that they are distinctive from another (3) ________

race whose hegemony霸权they resent. At the time the United States (4) ________

split off from Britain, for example, there were proposals that

independence should be linguistically accepted by the use of a (5) ________

different language from those of Britain. There was even one (6) ________

proposal that Americans should adopt Hebrew. Others favoured

the adoption of Greek, though, as one man put it, things would

certainly be simpler for Americans if they stuck on to English (7) ________

and made the British learn Greek. At the end, as everyone (8) ________

knows, the two countries adopted the practical and satisfactory

solution of carrying with the same language as before. (9) ________

Since nearly tow hundred years now, they have shown the world (10) ________

that political independence and national identity can be complete

without sacrificing the enormous mutual advantages of a common

language.

Key：1) one→ thing 2) have（去掉）3) a→ their 4) at the time后加when 5) by→ with

6) those→ that 7) on去掉8) At→In 9) carrying 后加on 10) now改为ago

Passage 7 (09年真题)

The previous section has shown how quickly a rhyme passes

from one school child to the next and illustrates the further difference (1)_____

between school lore知识and nursery lore. In nursery lore a verse, learnt

in early childhood, is not usually passed on again when the little listener (2)_____

has grown up, and has children of their own, or even grandchildren. (3)_____

The period between learning a nursery rhyme and transmitting

it may be something from twenty to seventy years. With the playground (4)_____

lore, therefore, a rhyme may be excitedly passed on within the very hour (5)_____

it is learnt; and in the general, it passes between children of the (6)_____

same age, or nearly so, since it is uncommon for the difference in age

between playmates to be more than five years. If therefore, a playground

rhyme can be shown to have been currently for a hundred years, or (7)_____ even just for fifty, it follows that it has been retransmitting over

and over; very possibly it has passed along a chain of two or three (8)_____ hundred young hearers and tellers, and the wonder is that it remains live (9)_____ after so much handling, to let alone that it bears resemblance to the (10)____ original wording.

Key：(1)illustrates-→ illustrated: 承接has shown and illustrated

(2) the (little listener)→ a 因为是不确指(3)their→ his:以与上文匹配；

(4)something –〉somewhere，前者少指时间之长短；(5)therefore—〉however；

(6) in the general去掉the；(7) currently –〉current；

(8) it has passed along –〉it has been passed；(9) live –〉alive；

(10) to let alone去掉to 改为let alone