CUJS和理文编辑 (http://www.liwenbianji.cn/welcomecujs.htm) 联合推出英文写作贴士 No. 4 常见易混单词 英语中有许多对单词很容易混淆。此次小贴士主要讨论拼写相近而意义不同单词，或者充当不同词性的单词。 在看常用易混单词的释义之前，请先做以下小测试检验一下自己的知识。答案解答在页末。 affect = A, effect = B, capability = C, capacity = D, continually = E, continuous = F, adverse = G, aversion = H 1. The _______ conditions caused by the hurricane prevented the plane from taking off. 2. Despite the skill of its employees, the small factory did not have the ________ to produce large amounts of goods. 3. The _________ noise of the waves crashing on the beach was very relaxing. 4. Luckily, the medicine did not adversely ______ the patient. 5. Because he had not received any training, John did not have the __________ to repair the complicated machinery. 6. Many scientists believe that global warming is the ______ of greenhouse-gas emissions. 7. Because of she is a vegetarian, Susan had an ________ to the idea of going to the Korean Barbeque restaurant. 8. The website is ___________ updated. 常见易混单词列表 1. capability/capacity capability: a certain ability, the quality of being capable, a potential aptitude. capacity: the ability to contain; the volume or amount that fits in a certain container. 2. compliment/complement complement: a worthy addition (n.) (e.g., The girl’s pink cheeks were the perfect complement to her dark eyes.) compliment: to praise (v.); a piece of praise (n.) (e.g., The girl accepted the compliment with a shy blush.) 3. trial/trail This is often the result of a simple typing error. trial: a tryout or experiment to test quality, value, or usefulness of something (e.g., clinical trial). It also refers to the number of repetitions of an experiment. trail: a marked or established path or route, or a course followed or to be followed (e.g., mountain trail). 4. intercellular/intracellular intercellular: located between cells intracellular: occurring or situated within a cell or cells (e.g., intracellular fluid). 5. principal/principle principal (adjective): chief, main, leading, most important. principal (noun): the most important person or group of people ("After much debate, the two principals reached an agreement"); the head of a school (the principal person in the administration); borrowed money (as distinct from interest). principle (always a noun): a rule, standard, law, guideline, or doctrine. 6. adverse/averse adverse: bad, opposed (e.g., Benjamin ate zongzi every day for lunch and suffered no adverse effects.) averse: feeling unwilling; experiencing distaste (e.g., Benjamin’s mother was averse to the idea of an all-zongzi lunch.) 7. affect/effect affect (verb): “to influence” (e.g., Xiao Wang’s wild partying on Thursday night affected his performance on the history test.) effect (noun): “result” (e.g., Xiao Wang’s wild partying on Thursday night had a terrible effect on his performance on the history test.) 8. continually/continuously continual: repeatedly (e.g., For two weeks, the travelers continually went on trips to the Great Wall.) continuous: without interruption (e.g., The flow of water is continuous.) 9. criterion/criteria criterion: singular form (e.g., one criterion) criteria: plural form (e.g., some criteria) 10. ensure/insure ensure: “to make sure or certain” insure: “to guarantee with insurance against risk or loss of life” *However, in American English, “insure” can be used for both of these meanings. References: http://cgi.sparknotes.com/ http://forum.wordreference.com/ http://www.m-w.com/ http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ 参考答案: 1) G 2) D 3)F 4) A 5) C 6) B 7) H 8) E