New Concept English Self-Tutoring Dictionary (Lower)

Author: Tang Yijun
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1997-01-01
Features: In his long-term teaching practice, the author meticulously recorded students' questions and conducted thorough analyses and research on universal issues from the perspective of English-Chinese linguistic and cultural differences, providing detailed explanations in the book. Over the years, the author has explored the teaching philosophies of linguist L.G. Alexander, conducted extensive scientific research on the New Concept English textbook itself, and, based on his teaching experience, compiled this New Concept English Self-Study Dictionary suitable for Chinese students and self-learners. The book divides the treatment of the text into four parts:
(1) Intensive Reading
It elaborates on the linguistic difficulties found in the text, guiding readers to summarize, generalize, compare, and analyze similar language phenomena, thereby cultivating the self-learning ability of beginners. It provides a detailed comparison of English and Chinese linguistic features, highlighting both similarities and, more importantly, differences. It analyzes common errors prone to Chinese learners. For example, it compares key prepositions such as under/beneath/below (under…), across/through (through), with/by/in (with), and to/towards (towards), while emphasizing the with-structure. It explains the special meanings and usages of common verbs like do, have, make, take; and offers a meticulous differentiation of near-synonyms such as include/contain (to include, to contain), put on/wear/dress (to wear), find/find out/discover (to find), cost/spend (to cost/spend), and turn on/open (to turn on/open).
(2) Key Structures
With grammar as the core, it explains grammatical rules in a clear and accessible manner using simple concepts and examples. It focuses on analyzing and comparing the connections and distinctions between various grammatical phenomena, identifying both differences and similarities to ensure accuracy in usage. It repeatedly explains grammatical points that are often difficult for Chinese learners to understand and master, such as articles, participial structures, and the subjunctive mood. It provides a detailed comparison of easily confused grammatical points like the simple perfect tense vs. the perfect continuous tense, the simple future tense vs. the future continuous tense, the simple future tense vs. the be going to-form, would vs. used to, restrictive vs. non-restrictive relative clauses, and present participles vs. gerunds. It thoroughly introduces the usage and precautions of coordinating conjunctions, correlative conjunctions, conjunctive adverbs, and relative pronouns.
(3) Special Difficulties
It helps readers address usage issues involving synonyms, homonyms, homophones, phrasal verbs, and various special sentence patterns. For example, it clarifies differences between synonyms like travel/journey/trip/voyage (travel), steal/rob (steal, rob), and job/work (work), as well as between linking verbs like grow/get/turn/go/come/fall. It also explains special structures such as too…to, enough to, it as the formal object, and there is/it is.
(4) Supplementary Written Exercises
It analyzes answers to exercises from grammar, syntax, morphology, linguistic thinking habits, and cultural traditions, pointing out why each answer is correct or incorrect to help self-learners understand the reasoning behind their choices. It supplements important sentence structures, grammar, and morphology not covered in the text. It provides sufficient examples to enhance comprehension. It conducts a detailed comparison and analysis of similar grammatical phenomena, synonyms, and near-synonyms, creating cross-references and complementary support with the "Intensive Reading" and "Special Difficulties" sections. It also provides special reminders for exercises that Chinese learners commonly answer incorrectly or for seemingly plausible but ultimately incorrect choices.