Spell-Check Software and What It Fails to Do- 123docz.net

spell-check software and What It Fails to Do

Understand the concept

Spell-check software can be a useful tool in checking your work on the computer. However, keep in mind that spell check does not always make the correct decisions. Some typographical errors will not be caught by a spell check because the word may still be spelled correctly—it was just the wrong word to begin with. Consider the following sentence:

When I finally remembered to remove he book form my book bag and return it to the library, it was too months late.

Running a spell check on that sentence would result in no errors found.

However, there are three errors. Can you find all three?

Try It Yourself

E x E r c I s E A

Type this paragraph into a word processing program on a computer.

If you do not have access to a computer in your classroom, try your school or local library. Do not check for spelling mistakes as you type.

When you are finished, run a spell check on your work. After the spell check is complete, proofread your paragraph against this one. Did you find any mistakes? If not, congratulations! You’re an accurate typist, and your spell check did its job. If you did find mistakes, examine the mistakes. Are they correctly spelled words that are used incorrectly in the sentence? For example, did you type “did it’s job” or “did its job”?

These small differences make big differences in meaning.

E x E r c I s E B

Proofread the following paragraph for errors that would not be caught by a spell-check program. Rewrite the paragraph correctly below.

When researching a author, keep in mind that it takes time to find a quality, informative sight among the clutter and gigantic mass of the Internet. Web browsers are a great place to start;

most of the sites you will find their will be well-organized and in-depth. The best cites are often those hat the authors put together themselves. When a writer creates a home page, you can often find personnel messages an anecdotes that sallow

With most spell-check programs, you can choose preferences that will help to customize what you want your spell check to suggest. For example, you can choose if you want a standard or specialized dictionary.

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30 Exceeding the Standards: Vocabulary & Spelling © EMC Publishing, LLC

you to get a real sense of who he or she is. Good secondary sites include these authorized by the author or his or her agent, literary societies, publishers, and fans of the other.

Most spell checks will ask if you want to delete a repeated word. Sometimes you will have accidentally typed a word twice and will want to delete the second usage. Other times, you will want to have the word repeated, as in this sentence: “If he had had thirty more minutes to complete the exam, he would have done really well.”

Tip

Start a section of your Word Study Notebook for recording typos you make frequently. Words like from/form, the/he, too/two are problematic because a spell check won’t catch them. Become familiar with the kinds of mistakes you make, and then proofread your work for those mistakes.

Just for Fun

Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________

Time Out for Test Practice

spelling

Choose the letter of the word as it is spelled correctly. Write the corresponding letter on the blank provided.

_____ 1. Jana flipped the (calendar / calender) page over to see the month of

September.

A. calendar B. calender

_____ 2. Mike is a very (competetive / competitive) chess player.

A. competetive B. competitive

_____ 3. I don’t like it when my mother (embarrasses / embarasses) me in front of my friends.

A. embarrasses B. embarasses

_____ 4. Lila thought the film was (extrordinary / extraordinary).

A. extrordinary B. extraordinary

_____ 5. Who knows how to (attatch / attach) the hitch to the pickup truck?

A. attatch B. attach

_____ 6. Everyone thinks that the boys are (heroes / heros).

A. heroes B. heros

_____ 7. The puppies are very (mischievous / mischievious).

A. mischievous B. mischievious

_____ 8. Do you know what the (temprature / temperature) is outside?

A. temprature B. temperature

_____ 9. The comedian was quite (humorous / humerous).

A. humorous B. humerous

_____ 10. The movie was full of (repitition / repetition).

A. repitition B. repetition

_____ 11. That story is so (weird / wierd)!

A. weird B. wierd

_____ 12. The waiter (reccomends / recommends) the tortellini salad.

A. reccomends B. recommends

_____ 13. Howard finds his sock warmers (indispensible / indispensable) in the winter.

A. indispensible B. indispensable

_____ 14. I was (surprised / suprised) to see Tori at the football game.

A. surprised B. suprised

_____ 15. That dog likes to (harrass / harass) everyone who walks by the house.

A. harrass B. harass

_____ 16. Noelle is (eligible / elligible) for the award.

A. eligible B. elligible

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_____ 17. We went to the old (cemetary / cemetery) to do grave rubbings.

A. cemetary B. cemetery

_____ 18. The floral dress is very (feminine / femenine).

A. feminine B. femenine

_____ 19. Peter’s (concience / conscience) was bothering him.

A. concience B. conscience

_____ 20. The (amateur / amature) soccer team won the tournament.

A. amateur B. amature

_____ 21. The two roads run (parallel / paralell) to each other.

A. parallel B. paralell

_____ 22. After halftime, the Rivertown Rats came back with a (vengence / vengeance) and won the game.

A. vengence B. vengeance

_____ 23. The neighborhood bakery agreed to (sponsor / sponser) our softball team.

A. sponsor B. sponser

_____ 24. It would be a (privilege / privelege) to be in your wedding!

A. privilege B. privelege

_____ 25. The school board formed a (comittee / committee) to study the effects of additional testing.

A. comittee B. committee

Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________

posterity (p5 ster‘ @ t7) n., all future generations; descendants The governor stated that the major reason to clean up the environment is to leave a healthy planet for posterity.

Posterity contains the prefix post-, which refers to something that comes afterward. Posterity is a word that is commonly found in speeches by politicians, who want voters to know they are concerned about the quality of life for everyone’s children and grandchildren.

Word of the Week

LEssON 14

Morphemes—The Building Blocks of Words

Understand the concept

A morpheme is a chunk of a word that has meaning. All words are made up of one or more morphemes. For example, the word apples can be broken into two meaningful chunks: apple / s. Apple is a base word that refers to a type of fruit. The s is a suffix that means “more than one.”

Breaking a word down into its parts can help you figure out what the word means. For example, suppose you did not know the meaning of the word prediction. You could break it down into three meaningful parts:

prediction = pre- + dict +- ion pre- = a prefix meaning “before”

dict = a word root meaning “say” or “tell”

-ion = a suffix meaning “act of,” “state of,” or “result of”

Together, the parts create a word that means “the act of telling about something before it happens.” Notice that they can also be combined with other parts to create new words such as the following:

pre- (preview, pretest, preschool)

dict (diction, dictionary, dictator, dictation) -ion (communication, transportation)

Try It Yourself

E x E r c I s E A

List five words that contain each of the following word parts.

example ex-, prefix meaning “out of; from”

explode, export, extend, excel, except 1. pro-, prefix meaning “before; forward”

2. spect, word root meaning “look”

3. ject, word root meaning “throw”

4. -ify, suffix meaning “make or cause to be”

The four main types of morphemes are prefixes, suffixes, word roots, and base words. Prefixes are word parts that attach to the front of a word;

suffixes attach to the end.

Word roots and base words are word parts that form the core of a word. Word roots cannot stand alone as words; base words can stand on their own.

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34 Exceeding the Standards: Vocabulary & Spelling © EMC Publishing, LLC

E x E r c I s E B

Break each of the following words down into its morphemes, or word parts. Tell whether each part is a prefix, suffix, word root, or base word.

Also, give the meaning of each part, as found in your lists of common word parts. Finally, using the dictionary and your knowledge of the word parts, write a definition of the word.

1. stupefy

Word Part Type Meaning

2. protract

Word Part Type Meaning

3. servitude

Word Part Type Meaning

4. sheepishly

Word Part Type Meaning

5. semitranslucence

Word Part Type Meaning

Some words contain just one morpheme. These are called base words. They cannot be broken down into smaller parts.

apple, pink, read

Tip

Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________

enmity (en‘ m@ t7) n., hostility or bad feelings toward a person or group

The enmity between the Greek and Turkish peoples, which dates back to the Ottoman Empire, has diminished in recent decades.

The word enmity shares an origin with the word enemy—they are both derived from the Latin word inanimus, meaning “not a friend.” There are many synonyms of enmity, including hostility, antagonism, antipathy, animosity, acrimony, loathing, and hatred.

Word of the Week

LEssON 15

Prefixes, roots, and suffixes

Understand the concept

Many words consist of a central part, called either a root or a base word, and a prefix or a suffix (or both a prefix and a suffix). If you are familiar with common roots, prefixes, and suffixes, it will be easier for you to figure out the meaning of words that are new to you.

The root or base word is a group of letters to which a prefix or suffix is attached. A prefix is a letter or group of letters added to the beginning of a root or base word, whereas a suffix is a letter or group of letters added to the end of a root or base word. Adding a prefix or suffix almost always changes the meaning of a word.

Prefixes

The following are some of the most common prefixes:

Prefix Meaning

bi- two

con- with

dis- not, opposite

mid- middle

inter- together

un- not

semi- half

For example, semifinal means “half-finals” (or in a tournament, the round just before the finals), disappear means the opposite of appear, and unattractive means “not attractive.”

Try It Yourself

E x E r c I s E A

Try to determine the meaning of the following words, using their prefixes and roots or base words as clues. Write your answers on the lines given.

1. semiannual 2. disassemble 3. bimonthly 4. interfaith 5. midtown 6. unknown

Many words consist of a root and a prefix or suffix (or a prefix and a suffix). Roots and base words are discussed in more detail in Lessons 19 and 20.

Tip

Knowing common roots, prefixes, and suffixes can help you figure out the meaning of words you do not know.

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36 Exceeding the Standards: Vocabulary & Spelling © EMC Publishing, LLC

suffixes

The following are some of the most common suffixes:

Suffix Meaning

-er, -or one who

-en made of

-ful full of

-hood condition of; quality of -ly having the characteristics of -ness state or quality of

-ship state of

For example, banker means “one who works for a bank,” neighborhood refers to what the neighbors are like in a certain area, happily means “in a happy manner,”,and ownership is the state of owning something.

Try It Yourself

E x E r c I s E B

Try to determine the meaning of the following words, using their suffixes and roots or base words as clues. Write your answers on the lines given.

1. fatherhood 2. southerner 3. relationship 4. preparedness 5. scholarly 6. hopeful E x E r c I s E c

In the left column of the chart below, write two common prefixes and two common suffixes that were not mentioned in this lesson. Then write down a word using each one. Based on your knowledge of what these words mean, what do you think the prefix or suffix means?

example Prefix Word Meaning

pre- precede “before”

Prefix/Suffix Word Meaning

Prefix 1:

Prefix 2:

Suffix 1:

Suffix 2:

Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________

abhor (@b h0r>) v., to intensely dislike

Tom Sawyer truly abhorred bathing.

Abhor and horror are both derived from the Latin word horre–re, which means “to shudder.” Using the word abhor can be a more refined way to express intense dislike than the more common word hate, which at times seems crude. Other synonyms of abhor include detest, loathe, and despise.

Word of the Week

LEssON 16

More About Prefixes

Understand the concept

A prefix is a meaningful word part that appears at the beginning of a word. A prefix can be added to an existing word to change the word’s meaning, or it can be combined with a word root (such as rupt, fer, or ject) to create a new word.

prefix + word re- + read = reread prefix + root re- + fer = refer

Knowing the meanings of common prefixes can help you decipher words that contain them. For example, the prefix ante- means “before.”

Words that share this prefix have “before” as part of their meaning.

antecedent: something or someone that comes before, such as ancestors

Our antecedents believed that the Earth was flat.

The following prefixes mean “before” or “after.”

Prefixes Meaning Examples

after- after afterthought

ante- before; in front of antecedent

epi- after (also “on; at; besides”) epilogue, epitaph

fore- before forerunner, forecast

post- after; behind postpone, postscript

pre- before; in front of preamble, preview

pro- before (also “in favor of”) prologue, prognosis

Try It Yourself

E x E r c I s E A

Use your knowledge of prefixes to define each of the following words.

In your definition, include the word before or after. Then use each word in a sentence.

1. antechamber

2. afterglow

Most prefixes we use today come from ancient Greek and Latin, although some come from Old English.

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3. epitaph

4. prognosis

The following prefixes express togetherness and separateness.

Prefixes Meaning Examples

ab- / abs- / a- away, from; separate from abduct, absent, avert con- / com- / col- /

co- / cor-

with; together connect, compile, collaborate, coordinate, correspond dis- / di- / dif- apart; in different

directions; not

distract, divorce

se- / sed- apart, aside, without segregate, secret syn- / sym- / syl- /

sy- / sys- with; together sympathy, synchronize

Try It Yourself

E x E r c I s E B

Use your knowledge of prefixes to define each of the following words in your notebook. In your definition, use one of the following words:

together, separate, apart. Then, use each word in a sentence.

1. avert 2. collaborate 3. diverge

The following prefixes express opposite, or contrasting, ideas.

Prefixes Meaning Examples

bene-, eu- good; well benefactor, euphony

dys-, mal-, mis- bad; badly dysfunction, malpractice, mismanagement

anti- / ant- against antislavery, antagonist

contra- / contro- /

counter- controversy, counteract

pro- for, in favor of (also

“before; forward”) progress, pro-American The spelling of a prefix

may vary depending on the word or base to which it is attached. The prefix con- can be spelled com-, col-, co-, or cor-.

com- used before b, p, or m col- used before l

co- used before o cor- used before r The spelling changes make the resulting words easier to pronounce. For instance, when con- is added to the word respond, it is spelled cor-.

Correspond is easier to pronounce than conrespond.

Tip

Prefixes may have more than one meaning. The prefix ex- can mean “out of,” as in extract and exclude, or it can mean “former,” as in ex-boyfriend and ex-president.

Tip

Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: __________________

devise (di v8z>) v., to produce or form a plan

When Franklin Roosevelt took office in 1933, he wanted to devise a plan to pull America out of the Great Depression.

Devise means to invent or concoct a means of solving something.

It has many synonyms, such as formulate, conceive, invent, plan, develop, create, and imagine.

When spelling devise, be sure not to confuse it with device (pronounced di v-s´), a noun that refers to a machine or gadget.

Word of the Week

LEssON 17

More About suffixes

Understand the concept

A suffix is a meaningful word part that appears at the end of a word.

Some suffixes indicate nouns—people, places, and things.

Suffix Meaning and Examples

-an/-ian/-arian one who does or is connected with (American, guardian, librarian)

-ant/-ent one who or thing that (immigrant, irritant, resident) -ar/-er/-or, -ier/-yer, -eur one who (liar, actor, lawyer, cashier, chauffeur)

-ee one who receives or is the object of (payee,

employee) -arium/-orium, -ary/-ory/-

ery place for (aquarium, laboratory, bakery)

-ence/-ance, -ency/-ancy/-cy state or quality of (defiance, infancy)

-hood state or quality of (childhood)

-ion, -tion, -sion action of; state of; result of (ambition, suspicion) -ment action or process of; state or quality of (development,

amazement)

-ness state or quality of (kindness)

-ship state or quality of (hardship); skill, art, or practice of (penmanship)

-tude/-itude, -ty/-ity state or quality of (solitude, necessity)

Try It Yourself

E x E r c I s E A

Add a noun suffix to each of the following words or word roots to create a word with the meaning given.

1. Something that causes pollution: pollut_______.

2. One who is brought into a new family: adopt_______.

3. State or quality of extreme coldness: frigid_______.

4. State or quality of being an unmarried man: bachelor_______.

5. Action of communicating by letters: correspond_______.

6. One who defends himself or herself in a court of law:

defend_______.

7. One who is not a professional: amat_______.

The suffix -ary, meaning “a place for,” is found in the word dictionary. A dictionary is “a place for” words.

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A number of common suffixes form adjectives—words that describe nouns.

Suffix Meaning and Examples

-able, -ible able to; likely to (attainable, durable)

-al relating to (personal, natural)

-ant, -ent tending to (defiant, urgent)

-en made of; relating to (golden, wooden)

-er more (higher, calmer, shorter)

-est most (lowest, craziest, tallest)

-ful full of; characterized by (hopeful, fearful) -ic relating to; characterized by (scientific, historic)

-ish relating to (selfish, reddish)

-ive tending to (festive)

-less without (hapless, careless)

-like resembling (childlike)

-ly resembling (motherly); every (monthly, daily)

-oid resembling (humanoid)

-ous/-ious/-uous full of or characterized by (generous, anxious)

-y characterized by (flowery)

A few suffixes indicate adverbs, words that describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.

Suffix Meaning and Examples

-ly in such a way (quickly, studiously, invisibly) -ward, -wards, -ways, -wise in such a direction (towards, sideways, clockwise)

Try It Yourself

E x E r c I s E B

Add an adjective suffix to each of the following words or word roots to create a word with the meaning given.

1. Likely to spoil if not refrigerated: perish_______.

2. Tending to be watchful: vigil_______.

3. Full of scorn for others: contempt_______.

4. An object that looks like a falling star: aster_______.

5. Having to do with the universe: cosm_______.

Add an adverb suffix to each of the following words. Give a definition of the new word you have formed.

6. cross_______:

7. reckless_______:

8. to_______:

Some suffixes have more than one meaning and can indicate more than one part of speech. For example, the suffix -ant can indicate a noun (defendant) or an adjective (militant).

Tip

Many words ending in -ing, -en, and -ed are participles.

Participles form part of two- word verbs: was swimming, had written, have closed. They can also be used as adjectives: the swimming fish, the half-written note, the closed door.

Words ending in -ing can also be used as nouns.

Swimming is my favorite sport.

Tip

Divide the class into groups. See how many words each group can form by adding suffixes to the following words. Set the timer for 3 minutes. The group with the most new words wins the game.

defy predict beauty false

Just for Fun

Spell-Check Software and What It Fails to Do

Vocabulary Questions on Standardized Tests