Vocabulary and text types

11.1

Growing your vocabulary

Syllabus

learn new words together with their meaning, spelling and how they sound
group vocabulary by topic and by everyday situation
use set phrases, phrasal verbs and collocations naturally

Source: Cambridge International syllabus

A wide vocabulary 词汇 helps you in every part of the exam.

Learn words well

Learn a new word with its meaning, its spelling, and how it sounds.
Keep a vocabulary notebook. Group words by topic, such as travel or health.

Knowing a word well means knowing all of this

Use natural phrases

Learn words that go together. These are called collocations 词语搭配, like "make a decision" or "heavy rain".
Learn set phrases 固定短语 and common phrasal verbs 短语动词, like "give up" or "look after".
Using natural phrases makes your English sound fluent 流利.

Vocabulary Train

English	Chinese	Pinyin
vocabulary	词汇	cí huì
collocations	词语搭配	cí yǔ dā pèi
set phrases	固定短语	gù dìng duǎn yǔ
phrasal verbs	短语动词	duǎn yǔ dòng cí
fluent	流利	liú lì

11.2

Knowing your text types

Syllabus

recognise common text types: article, blog, email, essay, report, review, notice, leaflet and interview
know the purpose and audience of each text type
match the right style and format to each text type

Source: Cambridge International syllabus

Each writing task is a text type 文本类型 with its own rules.

Common text types

An email is a message to one person; an article 文章 is for many readers; a report 报告 gives facts to a person in charge.
A blog 博客 is a personal, informal online post — like an article but more personal and casual, so it sits near the informal end of the formality scale.
A review 评论 gives an opinion about something you tried; an essay 议论文 argues a point of view.
A notice 通知 and a leaflet 传单 give short, clear information.

Match style to type

Each text type has its own purpose, reader and tone.
Before you write, ask: what is this text type, and what style does it need?

A line from informal to formal: an email to a friend sits at the informal end, articles and reviews in the middle, and reports, formal letters and essays at the formal end, each with its matching tone Every text type sits somewhere on the line from informal to formal

A vocabulary routine

Turn new words into words you truly own with four steps:

Meet it — when you find a new word, write it down with one example sentence.
File it — put it in your notebook under a topic group (travel, health, school).
Test it — cover the meaning and try to recall it the next day, then again a week later. This spaced review 间隔复习 fixes words in your memory far better than reading a list once.
Use it — put the word into your own writing or speaking within a few days, before you forget it.

Five words learned this way each day is over a thousand a year.