English Vocabulary in Use: Advanced Book with Answers and Enhanced eBook Vocabulary Reference and Practice 3rd Edition

put your foot in it, you say something without thinking carefully and 
may upset or embarrass someone. 
A
B
C

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Exercises
83
English Vocabulary in Use Advanced
Rewrite these sentences using more appropriate technical terms from A opposite instead 
of the underlined words.
1 The writing system of Burmese is quite difficult for a foreign learner.
2 Japanese uses several different writing systems, with hundreds of letters and symbols.
3 The vocabulary of a language like English is constantly changing. 
4 Unlike English, some world languages have very few vowel sounds and no combinations of vowels.
5 This ancient and beautiful alphabet uses characters that symbolise pictures to express meaning.
6 Meanings connected with probability and obligation are expressed in different forms in different 
languages.
Complete the word formation table below. Use a dictionary if necessary. If your 
dictionary gives pronunciations, mark any differences in stress between the noun form 
and the adjective form.
noun
adjective
change in stress?
orthography
lexicon
modality
metaphor
polysemy
The sentences below are examples of the different types of language in the box. What is 
each an example of?
obsolete language computer jargon metaphor polysemy
1 Life is a journey and sometimes your path will be rocky.
2 Marry, thou are roinish, forsooth.
3 It’s not fair that boy with the fair hair won all the prizes at the fair.
4 What kind of external storage device do you have access to?
Complete the sentences with the words in the box.
eloquent foot inarticulate mot juste speechless succinct words
1 Sam is so good with words – he can always find the 
.
2 I love listening to her – she’s such an 
speaker.
3 I couldn’t believe it when she said she’d lost all my money – I was completely 
!
4 We don’t have much time, so I’ll be as 
as possible.
5 I think I put my 
in it when I asked Sara how Tom was. I didn’t realise they’d split up!
6 I was completely lost for 
when Adam told me he’d quit his job.
7 I couldn’t understand a word of what he was saying – he was completely 
.