別說我沒警告大家。從這些答案可見此挑戰之難度，我們也可以看到英語和漢語的不同特點。英語是很精確，邏輯性的語言，比如，漢語沒有對 emigrate

和 immigrate，或對 fictitious 和 fictional 做類似區別，但這種微妙的區別對英語極為重要。

1.  (A) allude (B) elude

a. The bank robber has failed to elude the police and is now behind bars.

b. In his speech the President will allude to the valuable contribution immigrants

have made to America.

2.  (A) dateline (B) date line (C) deadline

a. Please do not miss the deadline for claiming re-imbursement for lost

baggage. Otherwise the airline can refuse to pay.

b. When flying westbound from San Francisco to Beijing you will cross

the International date line. You must set the calendar forward by one day.

c. A dateline is a journalism phrase which indicates the date and location

of a story, and is normally placed at the top of an article.

3.  (A) definite (B) definitive

a. I cannot give you a definite answer until I have spoken to the boss.

b. The Origin of Species is a definitive work by Charles Darwin.

It lays the foundation for the theory of evolution.

4.  (A) deprived (B) depraved

a. Only someone with a depraved mind can commit such a horrific crime.

b. Many children from the third world are deprived the basic necessities of life.

5.  (A) discrete (B) discreet

a. People who are rude have never learned to be discreet and courteous.

b. The American flag is composed of three discrete colors: red, white,

and blue. These three colors are completely separate from one another.

6.  (A) disinterested (B) uninterested

a. The passersby are uninterested in the commotion and continued on

with their business.

b. There were many disinterested citizens who simply did not bother to vote.

(Note: disinterested here means "who have lost interest". 這是一個現代用法。) 

c. Only those who are truly disinterested can vote in this resolution.

(Correct grammatical usage. Here disinterested means having no stake in the outcome.)

7.  (A) economic (B) economical

It is (a) uneconomic to buy one subway ticket for $3 when you can buy 6

for $15, but traveling by subway is till the most (b) economical way to

move about in New York City.

8.  (A) emigrate (B) immigrate

My parents have decided to (a) emigrate from China, they have chosen to

(b) immigrate to the USA.

9.  (A) fictitious (B) fictional

a. Most people use fictitious names when commenting on newspaper articles.

b. The movie “The South Pacific” is based on fictional characters.

10.  (A) formally (B) formerly

a. Writing the speech was formerly the job of the executive assistant,

but she quit, so the boss now has to do it himself.

b. Mary will be formally presented with the award when she returns from her vacation.

11.  (A) fortunate (B) fortuitous

a. Many immigrants know they are very fortunate to be living in Canada.

b. It was fortuitous that no one was around when the bomb went off.

12.  (A) imminent (B) eminent

a. Harvard Law School has many eminent legal scholars in their ranks

who will move on to become top judges.

b. I know from a reliable source that an announcement of the award is imminent.

13.  (A) incident (B) incidence

a. Three recent incidents of road rage have made many people nervous

about driving in the city.

b. Following the flag-burning incident there was a riot in the streets of San Mateo.

c. Increased incidence of malnutrition has raised fear of a rickets epidemic in Haiti.

14.  (A) lose (B) loose

a. It was a loose screw which caused the door to become unhinged.

b. Your brain: use it or lose it!

五分鐘英語：容易混淆的詞語（一）

精選口語英譯和造句

英語課 - 測試你的成語知識（一）