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Test Practice 1

This document contains questions about semantics and pragmatics concepts including lexical and structural ambiguity, presuppositions, lexical relations such as antonymy and hyponymy, and direct and indirect speech acts. The questions cover topics such as providing paraphrases to resolve ambiguous sentences, rewriting headlines to clarify intended meaning, identifying presuppositions in sentences, determining lexical relations between word pairs, and classifying examples as using direct or indirect speech acts.

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Nurul Hyun Lee
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71 views2 pages

Test Practice 1

This document contains questions about semantics and pragmatics concepts including lexical and structural ambiguity, presuppositions, lexical relations such as antonymy and hyponymy, and direct and indirect speech acts. The questions cover topics such as providing paraphrases to resolve ambiguous sentences, rewriting headlines to clarify intended meaning, identifying presuppositions in sentences, determining lexical relations between word pairs, and classifying examples as using direct or indirect speech acts.

Uploaded by

Nurul Hyun Lee
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ALS152 - SEMANTICS & PRAGMATICS

Answer all questions.

A. The following sentences may be lexically or structurally ambiguous or both. Provide


paraphrases showing that you comprehend all the meanings.

Example: I saw him walking by the bank.


Meaning 1: I saw him walking by the bank of the river.
Meaning 2: I saw him walking by the financial institution.

a. He was knocked over by the punch.


1.
2.

b. The police were urged to stop drinking by the fifth.


1.
2.

c. I said I would file it on Thursday.


1.
2.

d. What looks better on a handsome man than a tux? Nothing! (Attributed to Mae West)
1.
2.

e. Wanted: Man to take care of a cow that does not smoke or drink. (Actual notice)
1.
2.

f. For Sale: Several old dresses from grandmother in beautiful condition. (Actual notice)
1.
2.

B. Rewrite the following headlines to make the intended meaning clear.

a. SQUAD HELPS DOG BITE VICTIM

b. LACK OF BRAINS HINDERS RESEARCH

c. MINERS REFUSE TO WORK AFTER DEATH

d. JUVENILE COURT TO TRY SHOOTING DEFENDANT

e. QUEEN MARY HAVING BOTTOM SCRAPED

C. The following sentences have certain presuppositions that ensure their appropriateness.
ALS152 - SEMANTICS & PRAGMATICS

What are they?

Example: The minors promised the police to stop drinking.


Presupposition: The minors were drinking.

a. We went to the ballpark again.

b. That her pet turtle ran away made Emily very sad.

c. Disa wants more popcorn.

d. Jack knows who discovered Pluto in 1930.

e. Mary was tired after the event.

D. What is the basic lexical relation between each pair of words listed here; antonymy,
polysemy, homonymy or hyponymy?

a. book/book
b. damp/moist
c. deep/shallow
d. dog/poodle
e. furniture/table
f. married/single
g. peace/piece
h. pen/pen
i. line/line
j. son/sun

E. Read the following situations.

a. Someone stands between you and the TV set you’re watching, so you decide to say one of the
following. Identify which would be direct or indirect speech acts.
i. Move!
ii. Could you please sit down?
iii. You’re in the way.
iv. Please get out of the way.

b. Someone takes your book by mistake, so you decide to say one of the following. Identify which
would be direct or indirect speech acts.
i. Could you please return my book? (direct)
ii. Hey, can you check the book before taking it. (direct)
iii. Are you sure you are taking the correct book? (indirect)
iv. You think that book is yours? (indirect)

(Taken and adapted from Fromkin’s et.al and Yule’s)

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