College English Vocabulary Full Explanation for the New Syllabus 1-6 Levels

Author: Wang Changxi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features:
- The first book in the country to provide full-word meaning explanations for 6,674 words of the new syllabus.
- The first book in the country to compare vocabulary changes between the new and old syllabi.
- The first book in the country to distinguish between college and high school English terms and definitions.
- The first book in the country to address the new requirements of college English teaching reform.
- The first book in the country to reflect the new content of the College English Test Band 4 and 6 (CET-4 and CET-6).
In response to the reform of college English teaching and the official implementation of the revised College English Teaching Requirements in January 2004, the new "Reference Vocabulary List for College English Teaching Requirements" (also known as the syllabus vocabulary list, hereinafter referred to as "Vocabulary List") was also released. The "Vocabulary List" adheres to the concept of "personalization" and clearly categorizes the vocabulary students should master at various levels during their university studies, holding significant guiding importance. However, the "reference" nature of the "Vocabulary List" means it only provides "naked" vocabulary without any part-of-speech or semantic scope explanations, making it difficult for college teachers and students to assess their mastery of the vocabulary. Determining the part of speech and semantic scope of the listed words in the "Vocabulary List" has become a key challenge before us.
We believe that vocabulary serves the communicative functions of language. The scope of vocabulary to be mastered (which words to learn) and the extent of semantic mastery (how many meanings of a word to learn) should be based on the practical application of language rather than the vocabulary and definitions listed in any single or several "authoritative" dictionaries. In other words, we adopt a pragmatic approach when selecting vocabulary and their semantic ranges. For Chinese college students, a practical vocabulary list should help them effectively solve vocabulary problems encountered in textbooks, exams, and practical reading materials (such as common newspapers, magazines, and books). To this end, we conducted a comprehensive statistics of semantic frequencies in over ten current mainstream college English textbooks, college English CET-4 and CET-6 test papers, and recent three years' editions of common English newspapers such as The China Daily, The 21st Century, and Beijing Week. The semantic frequencies in CET-4 and CET-6 test papers were taken as the primary reference (and marked in the upper right corner of each word, such as absorb, "10" for total word frequency and "2" for vocabulary question frequency), resulting in the compilation of this set of College English Vocabulary Full Explanation for New Syllabus (Levels 1-4) and College English Vocabulary Full Explanation for New Syllabus (Levels 1-6). This is a first in the country.
The book mainly includes the following content:
1. The CET-4 and CET-6 volumes of this series provide full-word meaning explanations for all 4,538 CET-4 words and 6,674 CET-6 words (including 1,055 post-CET-6 words) listed in the new syllabus, known as "full-word full-explanation." Symbols are clearly marked before words of different levels (high school, CET-4, CET-6) and different categories (e.g., active vocabulary), and the meanings of these symbols are printed at the foot of each page for easy identification and lookup. Considering the current usage of college English vocabulary, the 1,055 post-CET-6 words are arranged separately. In addition to semantic explanations, the book provides collocation examples after each meaning to highlight the word's important usage and the key semantic areas targeted in CET-4 and CET-6 exams, reflecting the book's clear toward these exams.
2. The series also marks the newly added vocabulary during this syllabus revision for users to compare the changes between the new and old syllabi. Words included in the old syllabus but not listed in the new one are omitted due to their minimal quantity and lack of practical value.
3. The revision of this syllabus also considers the alignment between college English teaching requirements and the new high school English curriculum requirements. To reflect the differences between college and high school terms and definitions, the series marks not only the differences in terms but also the distinctions in semantic mastery (i.e., the extent of learning required): underlined meanings indicate those required to be mastered in high school, while an underlined meaning alongside an ununderlined one in the same word indicates a new meaning required to be mastered in college.
Based on the above content and various symbol distinctions, this series fully reflects the new requirements of college English teaching reform and the CET-4 and CET-6 reforms, holding significant reference value for the English learning and exam preparation of current and future college students.