This quiz is for you to test your dictionary skills. The objective is for you to find any weak areas in your skills so that you can study and improve.

Question 1:
Where can you look for normal dictionary information? (More than one may be  correct)

a. In standard book form
b. On the Internet
c. In an encyclopedia
d. On CD-ROM
e. The Virtual Language Centre (VLC)

 

Question 2:
What kind of information can you find in a dictionary? (More than one may be correct)

a. Word definitions
b. Grammatical information
c. Word usage
d. Pictures
e. Pronunciation information

 

Question 3:
A THESAURUS is...

a. ..a prehistoric animal.
b. ..a dictionary that translates between varieties of the same language, e.g Shanghainese and Cantonese.
c. ..a dictionary that lists synonyms together.
d. ..a dictionary that tells you slang or colloquial expressions.
e. ..an antique wooden chest designed to contain important books or manuscripts.

 

Question 4:
A HEADWORD is...

a. The first syllable with semantic meaning in a word, e.g un-, dis- re-
b. The 'main' word in a phrasal verb.
c. A word connected with the brain and its functions.
d. The root word, or first word in a dictionary entry.
e. The most important word in a book title or newspaper headline.

 

Question 5:
REGISTER, in the context of language, means...

a. ..the degree of formality or politeness of a word.
b. ..that a word is officially listed as part of a language.
c. ..that people are paying attention to what you are saying.
d. ..a personalised vocabulary book made by an individual.

Question 6:
Dictionaries use codes or abbreviations to indicate the grammar and usage of a word. How many of these are correct?

i) V = verb    ii) N = normal     iii) Adj = adjacent    iv) pl = please     v)Infml = informal     vi) vt = transitive verb

a. None of these
b. 1-2 of these
c. 3 of these
d. 4-5 of these
e. All of these

 

Question 7:
CURRENCY, in the context of language, means..

a. ..that  a sentence 'flows' poetically, like a current of water or electricity.
b. ..how up-to-date, or current, a word is.
c. ..a word that has come from another language, as in 'foreign currency'.
d. ..the original source and history of a word or phrase.

Question 8:
Of the following spellings, how many are correct?

i) committee     ii) recommend    iii) necessary     iv) offerred     v) fourty      vi)separate

a. None of these
b. 1-2 of these
c. 3 of these
d. 4-5 of these
e. All of these

 

Question 9:
When a word has more than one  meaning given in a dictionary, how do you decide which meaning you want? More than one way may be effective.

a. By thinking about the context/ situation and possible meaning of the word in the sentence and choosing the best     fit.
b. By looking at the sentence structure (grammar). What part of speech is the word in the sentence? How is it related to other  words? Match with grammar informaton in dictionary.
c. By choosing the first meaning because it's the most common.
d. By picking  one at random.

Question 10:
Alphabetical order sometimes needs practice. This is a timed question: spend no more than 2 minutes on it! How many of these statements are true? In alphabetical order,

i) QUIZ comes before QUITE and QUIET

ii) DEDICATED comes before DEDICATION

iii) MAINSTREAM comes before MAINSTAY

iv)STABILIZE comes before STABLE

v)UNOCCUPIED comes before UNOFFICIAL

vi)BROWSE comes before BRUISE

a.  None of these
b.  1-2 of these
c.  3 of these
d.  4-5 of these
e.  All of these

 

Question 11:
Dictionaries can help you in ways you may not have thought of. How many of these statements are true?

i)  Dictionaries can help you proofread your written work.

ii) Dictionaries can help you find out the origins of a word.

iii) Dictionaries can help you improve your posture.

iv) Dictionaries can help you to learn and practice the phonemic alphabet.

v) Dictionaries can help you to understand grammar and structure.

vi) Dictionaries can help you to enlarge your vocabulary .

a. None of these
b. 1-2 of these
c. 3 of these
d. 4-5 of these
e. All of these

 

Question 12:
An IDIOM is ...

a. ..a group of stupid people.
b. ..an expression used to insult someone.
c. ..an expression used to give emphasis or dramatic power.
d. ..an expression with a different overall meaning to that of the actual words.
e. ..a vulgar or offensive expression.

 

Question 13:
TABOO, in a language context, means..

a. ..a picture on somebody's skin
b. ..a  particular linguistic rhythm or intonation
c. ..something not normally talked about directly, e.g death, or something potentially embarrassing e.g sex
d. ..a  spell or incantation used in some kind of ritual.
e. ..the pitch or tone (level) in spoken language.

 

Question 14:
How many of these grammar questions are true?

i) THAN is only used to compare or contrast things.

ii) STRICT is a noun and STRICTNESS is an adjective.

iii) FOR and SINCE are normally used with the present perfect tense.

iv) AGO is normally used with past forms of a verb.

v) Some verbs can be transitive (followed by an object) or intransitive (can stand alone).

vi) The PROGRESSIVE form of a verb ends in 'ed'.

a. None of these
b. 1-2 of these
c. 3 of these
d. 4-5 of these
e. All of these

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Congratulations, you have finished.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feedback for Question 1, Choice 'a': "In standard book form."
Of course, but remember there are many different styles of dictionary. Browse before you buy. (N.B: This is not the only correct answer to this question; check the others out.)
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Feedback for Question 1, Choice 'b': "On the Internet"
True, although this way is slower unless you're online. (N.B: This is not the only correct answer to this question; check the others out.)
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Feedback for Question 1, Choice 'c': "In an encyclopedia."
No, this will give you general knowledge not specific dictionary information. Encarta is an example of a CD Rom encyclopedia.
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Feedback for Question 1, Choice 'd': " On CD-ROM."
Yes: retrieval is fast and some CD dictionaries contain pronunciation sounds and practice exercises. (N.B: This is not the only correct answer to this question; check the others out.)
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Feedback for Question 1, Choice 'e': "The Virtual Language Centre (VLC)."
Yes: the VLC has an on-line lexicon and may other interesting features. (N.B: This is not the only correct answer to this question; check the others out.)
Click here to visit the Virtual Language Centre.
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Feedback for Question 2, Choice 'a': "word definitions."
Of course but that's not all. (N.B: This is not the only correct answer to this question; check the others out.)
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Feedback for Question 2, Choice 'b': "Grammatical information ."
Yes, a dictionary gives parts of speech and often an example sentence with the word in context. (N.B: This is not the only correct answer to this question; check the others out.)
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Feedback for Question 2, Choice 'c': " Word usage."
Yes: 'usage' tells us how the word is used, e.g how formal it is, or whether it is derogatory, euphemistic etc. (N.B: This is not the only correct answer to this question; check the others out.)
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Feedback for Question 2, Choice 'd': " Pictures."
Yes, many dictionaries use images. (N.B: This is not the only correct answer to this question; check the others out.)
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Feedback for Question 2, Choice 'e': " Pronunciation information."
Yes, using the phonemic alphabet or, with CD Rom, actual sounds. (N.B: This is not the only correct answer to this question; check the others out.)
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Feedback for Question 3, Choice 'a': ".. a prehistoric animal."
No, although word ending is often a clue to guessing the meaning of a word and some dinosaur names end in "saurus", so your strategy was reasonable!
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Feedback for Question 3, Choice 'b': " .. a dictionary that translates between varieties of the same language, e.g Shanghainese and Cantonese."
No, although dictionaries do exist for this type of difference e.g British and American English.
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Feedback for Question 3, Choice 'c': " A dictionary that lists synonyms together."
Yes, a synonym is a word which means the same as another word (or very similar). A Thesaurus can help your written style by giving you alternatives.
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Feedback for Question 3, Choice 'd': "A dictionary that tells you slang or colloquial expressions."
No, although this type of English dictionary exists (e.g Penguin Dictionary of slang and colloquialisms).
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Feedback for Question 3, Choice 'e': "An antique wooden chest designed to contain important books or manuscripts.."
No!
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Feedback for Question 4, Choice 'a': " The first syllable with semantic meaning in a word, e.g un-, dis- re-."
No, these syllables are called prefixes.
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Feedback for Question 4, Choice 'b': "The 'main' word in a phrasal verb."
No, although some phrasal verbs use the infinitive, which would be the headword in a dictionary.
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Feedback for Question 4, Choice 'c': " A word connected with the brain and its functions.."
No, sorry.
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Feedback for Question 4, Choice 'd': The root word, or first word in a dictionary entry."
Yes. The headword is usually the shortest form of the word with that meaning.
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Feedback for Question 4, Choice 'e': " The most important word in a book title or newspaper headline."
No, sorry.
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Feedback for Question 5, Choice 'a': "The degree of formality or politeness of a word."
Yes: for instance, you would use different language to ask your friend for the loan of her mobile phone (informal) than  to ask your Bank manager for a financial loan (formal, polite)  .
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Feedback for Question 5, Choice 'b': "..that a word is officially listed as part of a language."
No, but the most comprehensive 'official' list of English is the Complete Oxford English Dictionary.
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Feedback for Question 5, Choice 'c': "..that people are paying attention to what you are saying."
No, although the word can be used as a verb to mean 'to note or pay attention to something'
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Feedback for Question 5, Choice 'd': " A personalised vocabulary book made by an individual."   
No, sorry, although your own vocabulary record is a very good idea.
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Feedback for Question 6, Choice 'a': " None of these."
No, sorry.
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Feedback for Question 6, Choice 'b': "1-2 of these."
No, sorry.
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Feedback for Question 6, Choice 'c': " 3 of these."
Good, V= verb, infml=informal and vt=intransitive verb. The incorrect ones should be: N =noun, adj=adjective and pl = plural
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Feedback for Question 6, Choice 'd': "4-5 of these."
No, sorry.
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Feedback for Question 6, Choice 'e': "All of these."
No, sorry.
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Feedback for Question 7, Choice 'a': "that a sentence 'flows' poetically, like a current of water or electricity."
No, but a poetic idea!
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Feedback for Question 7, Choice 'b': "how up-to-date, or current, a word is."
Yes: currency can also determine how frequently a word is used.
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Feedback for Question 7, Choice 'c': " ..a word that has come from another language, as in 'foreign currency'."
No, sorry.
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Feedback for Question 7, Choice 'd': "the original source and history of a word or phrase."
No, sorry. This is known as ETYMOLOGY.
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Feedback for Question 8, Choice 'a': "None of these."
No. Try to memorize  spellings of words you use a lot so you don't rely too heavily on spellcheck!
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Feedback for Question 8, Choice 'b': " 1-2 of these."
No. Try to memorize  spellings of words you use a lot so you don't rely too heavily on spellcheck!
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Feedback for Question 8, Choice 'c': "3 of these."
No. Try to memorize  spellings of words you use a lot so you don't rely too heavily on spellcheck!
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Feedback for Question 8, Choice 'd': "4-5 of these."

Well done. 'Committee', 'recommend', 'necessary' and 'separate'. The others should be 'offered' and 'forty'..
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Feedback for Question 8, Choice 'e': "All of these."
No. Try to memorize  spellings of words you use a lot so you don't rely too heavily on spellcheck!
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Feedback for Question 9, Choice 'a': "By thinking about the context/situation and meaning of the word on the sentence and choosing the best fit."

Good: this is actively using your knowledge of language to help you. (N.B: This is not the only correct answer to this question; check the others out.)
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Feedback for Question 9, Choice 'b': "By looking at the sentence structure (grammar). What part of speech is the word in the sentence? What is it preceded/followed by? Match with grammar informaton in dictionary. "
Good: this is actively using your knowledge of language to help you. (N.B: This is not the only correct answer to this question; check the others out.)
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Feedback for Question 9, Choice 'c': "By choosing the first meaning because it's the most common."
Yes, although it sounds a little strange: if you're not sure of the other clues then this will be correct more times than not! (N.B: This is not the only correct answer to this question; check the others out.)
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Feedback for Question 9, Choice 'd': "By picking  one at random."
No, sorry.
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Feedback for Question 10, Choice 'a': "None of these."
No, sorry.
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Feedback for Question 10, Choice 'b': "1-2of these."
NO, sorry.
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Feedback for Question 10, Choice 'c': " 3 of these."
No, sorry.
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Feedback for Question 10, Choice 'd': "4-5 of these."
Good. Dedicated comes before dedication, stabilize before stable , unoccupied before unofficial and browse before bruise. The others should be the other way around..
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Feedback for Question 10, Choice 'e': " All of these."
No, sorry.

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Feedback for Question 11, Choice 'a': " None of these."
No, sorry.
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Feedback for Question 11, Choice 'b': " 1-2 of these."
No, sorry.
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Feedback for Question 11, Choice 'c': "3 of these."
No, sorry.
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Feedback for Question 11, Choice 'd': "4-5 of these."

Yes, dictionaries can help you proofread your written work, find out the origins of a word, learn and practice the phonemic alphabet, understand grammar and structure and help you to enlarge your vocabulary , but a dictionary will only improve your posture if you carry it on your head!
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Feedback for Question 11, Choice 'e': " All of these."
No, sorry.
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Feedback for Question 12, Choice 'a': "..a group of stupid people."
No!
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Feedback for Question 12, Choice 'b': "..an expression used to insult someone."
No, this would be called a DEROGATORY term.
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Feedback for Question 12, Choice 'c': "..an expression used to give emphasis or dramatic power."
No, this would be called an EMPHATIC phrase.
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Feedback for Question 12, Choice 'd': "..an expression with a different overall meaning to that of the actual words."
Well done!
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Feedback for Question 12, Choice 'e': ".. a vulgar or offensive expression."
No, sorry.
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Feedback for Question 13, Choice 'a': "A picture on somebody's skin."
No! The word you're thinking of is probably "tattoo"!
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Feedback for Question 13, Choice 'b': " A particular linguistic rhythm or intonation."
No, afraid not.
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Feedback for Question 13, Choice 'c': "Something not normally talked about directly, e.g death, or something potentially embarrassing e.g sex."
Good.
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Feedback for Question 13, Choice 'd': "A spell or incantation used in some kind of ritual."
No, maybe you're thinking of "voodoo", the name of a kind of ritualistic black magic .
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Feedback for Question 13, Choice 'e': "The pitch or tone (level) in spoken language."
No, sorry .
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Feedback for Question 14, Choice 'a': "None of these."
No, sorry.
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Feedback for Question 14, Choice 'b': "1-2 of these ."
No, sorry.
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Feedback for Question 14, Choice 'c': " 3 of these."
No, sorry.
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Feedback for Question 14, Choice 'd': "4-5 of these"
Good; THAN is only used to compare or contrast things, FOR and SINCE are normally used with the present perfect tense, AGO is normally used with past forms of a verb and   some verbs can be transitive (followed by an object) or intransitive.  STRICT is an adjective and STRICTNESS is  a noun and the PROGRESSIVE form of a verb ends in 'ing' and 'ed'.

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Feedback for Question 14, Choice 'e': " "All of these."
No, sorry.
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hits since 16 January 2001.