VOCABULARY SECTION 6 Collocation: an introduction 1 WHAT IS COLLOCATION? We say that words that occur together frequently ‘collocate’. Words that don't collocate almost never occur together: If we try, they sound unnatural and Sit peel tele e ib tia tt collocate) ¥ Time flies /goes by /wears on /passes. (= they collocate) + There are no rules or logical explanations for why some words collocate and others don't. For example, we can talk about an academic year but not -studying-yean Discussions can be productive oF fruitful but not prolife 1 Choose which of the words, a or b, collocate in these sentences. 2 The... peace agreement is under threat again. fragile b weak 2 After the accident, she frequently suffered bouts of blurred a sight _b vision 2 GRAMMATICAL FORMS. + adverb + adjective: I'm hopelessly addicted to coffee. + adjective + noun: I remember my formative years. + noun + noun: The government have just unveiled their policy review. + verb + noun: We will honour our pledge to reduce employment + dependent preposition: Personally 1 think they should be ashamed of themseives + part of a longer phrase: It's always interesting to delve into the past. 2 Match these examples with the grammatical forms listed above: a People were genuinely moved by the pictures of the rescued child, bb Paul is such an introvert: a real contrast to his brother. ¢ Iwould question the wisdom of such an approach 4 Clearing out that room was backbreaking work, € She's a real breath of fresh air. f T'm fed up with the endless road works on the Botley Road. 2 3 FIXED AND OPEN COLLOCATIONS Some collocations are fixed phrases which cannot usually be changed: TU be back in a flash. My boss usually arvives at eight o'clock on the dot. The chilaren arrived safe and sound. + Some words have a very limited number of collocates. We call these ‘strong collocations’ ‘They are often highly idiomatic: She's stark raving mad. The outbreak of violence served as a stark reminder of hhow fragile the peace was. He came to the door stark naked. You're bone idle ‘This soil is bone dry. + Other words have a larger number of possible collocates. We call these ‘weak’ collocations. They are more common than ‘strong’ collocation ‘accumulate /acquire/amass/come into/flaunt your/ inherit wealth abandon /be involved in/ dabble in/enter/go into/ ‘engage in/ politics prices droppel/fell/ plummeted /slumped /fluctuated/ remained steady/rose/shot up/ soared /spiralled/went through the roof + Some collocations can be changed by using different grammatical forms or adding other words You're/ We've in danger of pricing yourself/ourselves out ofthe (property) market. ‘She's been gaining (an aweful lot of) weight recently. to purify water/a water purifying gadget water purification ‘+ However some collocations cannot make these changes without sounding very unnatural 4 tidal wave/the-wave-was tide They agreed unconditionally. /They wnconditionally- agreed In the first sentence, only one word can complete the collocation. In the second sentence, there is more than one. Circle the ‘words that can complete the sentences. 1 Please arrive in... time for the meeting afine b great cbest_d good 2 The police arrived with timing just as the ‘gang were leaving the bank. apure b perfect immaculate d right e exquisite| Practice @ Decide which word, a or b, collocates in these sentences. 1 1... agree with everything you said. a whole-heartedly b unconditionally 2 Doesnt time..... when you're having fun? amowe b fly 3. The leaders claimed the meeting had been a fruitful b prolific 4 Everyone got back safe and ... after the storm, asoundly b sound 5 I think I've ... weight since I stopped work. aaccumulated b gained 6 ‘They're building a new water coast. adeaning b purification 7 House prices have... dramatically in recent months. aascended b scared 8 ‘The disgraced former minister has decided to politics altogether, adesert abandon plant on the © The following sentences contain collocations ‘connected with ‘time’. Put one of the given words in each of the sentences. text time-consuming matter surely twinkling nick immemorial — ill long-standing time 1 Let's leave it at that for the... being and continue tomorrow. 2 Slowly but... the band is becoming more and ‘more popular. 3 Inthe... of an eye the swindler had vanished, never to return, 4 Im... to;no time they had become the best of friends 5 ‘The Whittington family have lived there since time 6 Lartived in the potential disaster. 7 wandered around the city centre to... time before my appointment. 8 Cooking good French food can be a very job. 9 They had a... agreement to keep each other fully informed of developments 10 Ina... of minutes the whole building had been razed to the ground. of time to prevent a COLLOCATION: AN INTRODUCTION. © Think of one word only which can C ce] be used appropriately in all three sentences. In this exercise, many of the collocations are connected with ‘time’. Example: For four years. the team won the European Cup. The film contained a ... joke about the main character's digestive disorder. We'd better hurry because we're ...a bit late running 1 My watch is........ several minutes a day: ‘The car in second place is... on the leader. I think that the chances of our ..... access to such sensitive information are slim, 2 The performance will start... on time. “The race was declared a... heat Twas awoken in the ..... of night by a strange noise from outside. 3 The winning goal was scored in the seconds of the game T've been... to meet you for ages. "Throughout the world, many minority languages are in danger of ..... out completely. 4 T'm sure such practices were common in the and distant past. The judge took 2 'm afraid [ have only a events, 5. Early evening is normally considered ‘viewing time by television bosses. As a singer, she is atthe ........ ofher career. As thisis....... season, 'm afraid fights are difficult to find. 6 [think it’s important to fature reference, Please Jet me Know the 0» she arrives. ‘The director asked to be kept up to the... on any major developments, 7 Abeated debate has corruption in high places. She comes from a... home but has never been ‘worried about only seeing one parent at a time. Thad a night of very ....... sleep and am consequently feeling a bit slow this morning. view of her excuses. recollection of the this meeting for ‘out in the media about 2030 Exam practice 1 4 Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the frst sentence, using the word given. Do not change the word given. You ‘must use between three and eight words, including the word given. Exampl Wha is the organiser ofthis event? running Wiha smn ths event? 1 Its only after a week that you begin to feel relaxed here. home You won't begin to feel gone by. 2. He's almost certain to leave before we get there. arrive By the time let 3 Loulas was last heard of over a week ago. contact Nobody 4 Theo is the most infuriating person I've ever met a week. ve yet Theo. 5 Never before have | seen children who are so well-behaved, such This is well-behaved children, 6 This type of car used to sell very well before they started producing the more modern 306. less Since they started producing the more modern 308 well 7 It appears we have received the wrong information, sent We the wrong information, 8 It looks as if we made a mistake on our order form. filled We seem correctly, 9 The ministers were clearly felt by the president not to have acted swiftly enough. opinion The President was clearly swiftly enough. acted 10 I'm glad we managed to get out of there: it was hell made I'm glad we there: it was hell. 2 Fill each of the numbered blanks with one suitable word. Many tovms and cities around the world cy up @ particular image or memory as soon as they are mentioned, whether itis due to a catastrophic earthquake that shattered it, an aeroplane that came down just outside it, of a madman with a gun (12) amok through the Streets ln the dim and (13) past Glastonbury now (14) this group. ‘Have ‘you been to Glastonbury? will rarely be 2 query as ‘to whether you have (15) passed through ‘the town on your travels, Almost certainly it will be a reference to the twenty-odd-year-old Festival of Music whose home it is. What is (16) to in the media as ‘an instant town the size of Oxford’ appears there for three days in late June and (17) inhabited by around 100,000 people, most of whom will have (18) Up to £100 a ticket for the privilege. In the last year or so, a sometimes quite heated argument has (19) ‘out along the lines of ‘Are you 100 old for Glastonbury?" As we milled yesterday amongst the crowds, opinion seemed ‘evenly divided. Never (20) been to such a festival before, seventeer-year-old Nathalie Worsnip falled to see why forty-somethings who (21) had their day should spoil things for people like her who (22) going to Glastonbury for the first time. She suspected the former would be (23) like mad for middle- aged has-beens’ and ignore up-and-coming young bands who had (24) 10 break into the big time. On the other hand, reformed hippie and university lectures, David Stone, pointed out that it vas his generation who had (25) Glastonbury on the map.3 Circe a letter A B, Cor D that best fils each numbered gap As time (26) is odd because in the relatively (28)... past people were predicting thatthe influence of the written word would diminish in (28)... proportion to the rate of increase of the spoken word and moving image through TV and video. As people whole-heartedly (80) ...... the internet and cable and satelite television, why dort we see newspapers (81) ..... out? How have these organs survived, let alone (82)... particularly on a Sunday? Why con't people who have watched a football match ive on the small screen (3)... the wisdom of rushing out the next day to read a (84)... version of it in four or fve columns? Why would anyone who has seen a fim and formed a (35)... impression of it the folowing day read 2 review of the (36)... fm in a newspaper? To see if s/he i right? Isnt that what fiends are for? Don't we have colleagues for just that purpose to see if our ideas on any (87)... song, film or programme tally with others”? What is this product that (88)... of not much more than outrageous headlines, wayward comment, subjective editors and hyperbolic sports pages sill doing in our ves? It seems for the time (89)... to be leading a charmed life. When it finally goes, though, many may come to mourn its (40) « the power of newspapers seems to be on the (27) This 26 A files B passes, € goes D crags 27 Aincrease Brise expansion build 28 A latest B distant C immediate D recent 29 Acxact B direct C precise equal 30 A embrace Bview agree D win 31 A going Bdecreasing dying D declining 32 Afiourished bloomed C flowered rooted 33 A press B question Cask D increase 34 A curtailed Bout Creduced —D potted 35 A vivid B coloured bright D direct 36 A exact B seit-same Cast D copied 37 Agiven B taken C subjected —_D written 38 Acomprises —B contains. Consists informs 39 Aout B being C given D present 40 Aperishing BB dying € falling D passing ce 3