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8
with their meanings) for his characters. To be understood, he depended upon his readers' background
knowledge of the criminal world (presumably acquired second-hand, from reading and seeing «thrillers»). But
he also depended upon their knowledge of the forms and functions of words in ordinary English.
What sense can you make of the following passage taken from The Clockwork Orange?
Then we slooshied the sirens and knew the millicents were coming with pooshkas pushing out of the police
auto-windows at the ready. That little weepy devotchka had told them there being a box for calling the rozzes
not too far behind the Muni Power Plant.
SECTION III
EVALUATE YOUR WORD KNOWLEDGE
How large is your English vocabulary? Do you need to have precise knowledge of every word in order to be
able to understand a text? Is it sometimes enough to have only a vague idea about some of the words? Is it
sometimes all right to ignore a difficult word, hoping you will be able to figure out what it means after further
reading?
1. Evaluate your word knowledge (decontextualized). The following words come from Sublist 1 of A
University Word List, prepared by Xue Guo-yi and Paul Nation, reprinted in Language and Communication,
3(2), 1984).
How well do you know each of them? (place the appropriate symbol before each word.)
i. 0 = no knowledge,
ii. ? = some knowledge,
iii. + = knowledge (discriminating knowledge, i.e. you can translate it, can give a definition, can understand
it fully in reading and can use it productively in writing.)
alternative
arbitrary
assume
concept
constant
criterion
denote
dimension
element
equivalent
evident
guarantee
ignore
imply
interpret
method
negative
presume
publish
range
restrict
specify
suffice
tense
valid
analyse
assess
compensate
conclude
construct
data
derive
distinct
environment
establish
facilitate
hypothesis
illustrate
indicate
involve
minimum
obvious
prime
pursue
region
role
status
summary
ultimate
vary
approach
assign
complex
consist
context
define
devise
dominate
equate
evaluate
formula
identify
impact
initial
magnitude
modify
potential
proceed
random
require
similar
subsequent
technique
usage
vertical