⊙ By Finn & Alice

Let’s Talk about PREFIXES

前缀漫谈

⊙ By Finn & Alice

Prefixes

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Alice: In today’s show we’re going to look at a very interesting area of vocabulary—prefixes.

Finn: We’ll look at what they are, what they mean and how to use them.

Alice: There’ll be a quiz…

Finn: And we’ll leave you with a top tip for learning vocabulary.

Alice: But before all that, we’re going to hear from Dave. He’s just got back from lunch, but he isn’t happy.

Finn: Mm, now, a question to think about while you listen: What was the problem with Dave’s food?

Alice: Mm. What was the problem with Dave’s food? Let’s find out.

Dave: I just tried the new seafood restaurant, and I wish I hadn’t. It was intolerable! To start with, my seat was really uncomfortable. I had no room to move. And the menu was very misleading[误导的].The photos looked nothing like the actual food. When my food came, it was uncooked. I told the waiter, but he disagreed. He said it was fine. He said he’d eat it himself! And I looked in the kitchen—it was really unhygienic[不卫生的]. There was food all over the floor. It was a disgrace[不光彩的事]!

Finn: So Dave’s pretty unhappy. And what was wrong with his food?

Alice: Well, he said that it was uncooked. It was cold and raw because it hadn’t been cooked.

Finn: Mm. Not very nice! Well done if you got that right at home. Now, uncooked is an example of the vocabulary area we’re looking at today—prefixes.

Alice: Yes, prefixes—or as some people say, prefixes. Prefixes, prefixes. A prefix is a small part of a word, usually just a couple of letters, that we put at the front of a base word to change its meaning. For example, the prefix un, spelt u-n, is added to happy, to make unhappy, which means not happy.

Finn: Mm, and Dave was unhappy about the restaurant.

Alice: Yes. He said the seats were uncomfortable—meaning not comfortable, and the kitchen was unhygienic, meaning unclean—not clean.

Finn: Yeah, that’s un, meaning “not” —and all today’s prefixes have the meaning of “not.” So, Dave said the meal was intolerable. Intolerable. In, spelt i-n, is another prefix that can mean

“not”—and poor Dave couldn’t tolerate the meal.

Alice: No.

Finn: Now, let’s listen to a bit more of Dave.

Dave: …I told the waiter, but he disagreed. He said it was fine.

Finn: The waiter disagreed with him about the food. The prefix dis, spelt d-i-s, means “not,”or “to do the opposite,” like disagree—to not agree.

Alice: Yes, and Dave said it was a disgrace—they should be ashamed of it.

Finn: Mm, let’s hear today’s prefixes again.

Alice: So the first one was: un.

Finn: Unhappy, uncooked, unhygienic, unclean.

Alice: In.

Finn: Intolerable, inexpensive.

Alice: Dis.

Finn: Disagree, disgrace. And it’s time f

Alice: Oh?

Finn: Try to work out the word that

finishes the sentence. Ready?

Alice: Mm, hm.

Finn: No. 1. The advert[广告]said that the phone was £5 a month, but it didn’t say anything about the £50 set up fee. It was very…a) unhappy, b) inexpensive, or c) misleading.

Alice: The advert made people believe something that isn’t true, so it was very…c) misleading.

Finn: Now No. 2. This letter has come to the wrong house. There’s been a…a) mistake, b) disgrace, or c) disagreement.

Alice: It’s not correct, so…a) mistake.

Finn: Yep! Well done if you got those right.

Alice: And that brings us almost to the end of today’s programme.

Finn: Before we go, here’s a top tip for learning vocabulary: If you look up some of today’s words in a dictionary, you’ll find lots more words starting with the same prefixes. Many of them may be words that you already knew without the prefix, so, when you add a prefix, you get two words for the price of one!

Alice: That’s brilliant. Sounds like a good way to quickly double your vocabulary.

Finn: Very good, isn’t it?

附：人教版高中课本中部分含有un、in、dis前缀的单词