Phrases and Word Combinations. Издание четвертое, переработанное и дополненное

Под редакцией В.Д. АРАКИНА

Издание четвертое, переработанное и дополненное

Допущено

Министерством образования Российской Федерации

в качестве учебника для студентов

педагогических вузов по специальности «Иностранные языки»

Сканирование, распознавание, редактирование

Июнь 2007

Москва

гуманитарный издательский центр

ВЛАДОС

ББК 81.2Англ-923

П69

В.Д. Аракин, И.А. Новикова, Г.В. Аксенова-Пашковская,

С.Н. Бронникова, Ю.Ф. Гурьева, Е.М. Дианова, Л.Т. Костина,

И.Н. Верещагина, М.С. Страшникова, С.И. Петрушин

Рецензент

кафедра английского языка Астраханского

государственного педагогического института

им. С.М. Кирова

(зав. кафедрой канд. филол. наук Е.М. Стпомпель)

Практический курс английского языка. 4 курс: П69 Учеб. для педвузов по спец. «Иностр. яз.» / Под ред. В.Д. Аракина. - 4-е изд., перераб. и доп. - М.: Гуманит, изд. центр ВЛАДОС, 2000. - 336 с.: ил.

ISBN 5-691-00222-8.

Серия учебников предполагает преемственность в изучении анг­лийского языка с I по V курс. Цель учебника - обучение устной речи на основе развития необходимых автоматизированных рече­вых навыков, развитие техники чтения, а также навыков письмен­ной речи.

Учебник предназначен для студентов педагогических вузов.

ББК 81.2Англ-923

ПРЕДИСЛОВИЕ

Настоящая книга является четвертой частью серии комплексных учебни­ков английского языка под общим названием «Практический курс английско­го языка» и предназначается для студентов 4 курса факультетов и отделений английского языка педагогических вузов. Данный учебник рассчитан на дальнейшее развитие навыков устной и письменной речи в результате овла­дения речевыми образцами, содержащими новые лексические и граммати­ческие явления.

Учебник состоит из Основного курса (Essential Course) и Приложения (Appendix).

Основной курс (авторы В. Д. Аракин, И. А. Новикова, Г. В. Аксенова-Пашковская, С. Н. Бронникова, Ю. Ф. Гурьева, Е. М. Дианова, Л. Т. Костина, И. Н. Верещагина, С. И. Петрушин, М. С. Страшникова) состоит из 8 уроков, каждый из которых делится на две части, дополняющие друг друга. Первая часть урока содержит оригинальный текст, где главный упор делается на уг­лубленную работу над речевыми образцами, на изучение, интерпретацию, перевод, пересказ текста, а также на расширение словарного запаса студен­тов и анализ изучаемых лексических единиц (выявление многозначности, подбор синонимов, антонимов и т. д.) в целях дальнейшего развития навыков устной (в том числе и спонтанной) и письменной речи.

В четвертое издание авторы включили в активный вокабуляр существи­тельные широкой семантики и фразовые глаголы, чтобы еще более наглядно показать национальную специфику английского языка.

Тексты, на которых строится работа в первой части каждого урока, взя­ты из произведений английских и американских авторов XX в. (или из издан­ных в Англии учебников), все тексты несколько сокращены. По своему со­держанию они связаны с темой второй части урока. Работа над оригиналь­ным текстом на 4 курсе, ломимо краткого лексико-грамматического анализа, предполагает толкование имеющихся в нем реалий, перевод на русский язык и, наконец, интерпретацию текста для выявления его идейного содержания и стилистических особенностей.

При отборе текстов авторы стремились, с одной стороны, дать образцы высокохудожественной литературы, в которых прослеживаются функцио-нальносгилевые особенности современного английского языка, а с другой стороны, максимально приблизить их к программной тематике 4 курса, что­бы подвести студентов к беседе на определенные темы: «Образование в Со­единенных Штатах», «Суд и судопроизводство», «Писатель и его творчест­во», «Музыка», «Средства массовой информации» и др.

За текстом следуют пояснения (Сommentary), список речевых образцов (Speech Patterns, Phrases and Word Combinations) и лексические пояснения (Essential Vocabulary). Отбор речевых образцов обусловлен их употребитель­ностью в устной или письменной речи.

Раздел упражнений на звуки речи и интонацию предназначен для завер­шающего этапа работы над английской фонетикой и является продолжением аналогичных разделов учебника 3 курса. Его основная цель — расширение и

углубление отработанного на первых трех курсах материала. Эти упражне­ния состоят из серии обучающих, контролирующих и творческих заданий для дальнейшей автоматизации воспроизведения и употребления основных интонационных структур в английской речи.

Специальные задания на транскрибирование, интонирование и графи­ческое изображение интонации могут быть даны при работе над любым уп­ражнением.

Упражнения по обучению чтению на материале основного текста урока составлены с учетом принципа нарастания трудностей и призваны развивать у будущего учителя иностранного языка высокую культуру чтения, форми­ровать способность интерпретировать художественное произведение во всем многообразном идейном и художественном богатстве.

Одновременно с работой над содержанием текста изучается активный словарь, отличающийся высокой степенью сочетаемости и большими слово­образовательными возможностями. Значительное место отводится наблюде­нию над семантической структурой слова, развитием переносных значений, сужением и расширением значения слов.

Упражнения на предлоги преследуют цель систематизации употребле­ния английских предлогов, которые даются в упражнениях во всех их значе­ниях, с тем чтобы были показаны все основные случаи их употребления.

Вторая часть урока (Соnversation and Discussion) представляет собой дальнейшее развитие соответствующей темы и рассчитана на расширение и закрепление запаса речевых образцов и лексики.

Система упражнений по дальнейшему развитию навыков диалогической и монологической речи строится на речевых образцах, материале основного текста урока, активном словаре урока и завершается при работе над темати­кой курса в разделе «Соnversation and Discussion». Этот раздел пополнился такими активными формами речевой деятельности, функционально связан­ными с профессией учителя, как ролевая игра, диспут, дискуссия. Разговор­ные формулы, организованные по целевому признаку, должны послужить опорой студенту в построении творческого высказывания.

Во всех восьми уроках упражнения по обучению речевому общению на­писаны по единой схеме:

1. Упражнения на свертывание и развертывание информации к тексту информативно-тематического характера.

2. Упражнения коммуникативного характера и клише, сгруппированные по функционально-семантическому признаку. Предлагаемые разговорные формулы, как правило, не содержат новой лексики. Их назначение — помочь студентам облечь свои мысли в естественную языковую форму.

3. Упражнения дискуссионного характера на основе научно-популярных и публицистических текстов.

4. Упражнения для коллективного обсуждения, в которых студенты дол­жны использовать речевые клише и тематическую лексику. Раздел заканчи­вается перечнем тем для творческого высказывания и ситуацией для ролевой игры.

При подготовке четвертого издания учебника авторы стремились в пер­вую очередь пополнить учебник упражнениями творческого характера. Пол­ностью переработаны и значительно расширены разделы, посвященные ра­боте над устной темой, которые теперь имеют комплексную структуру и со­стоят из нескольких блоков. Значительно усилен раздел профессионально-ориентированных упражнений, предусматривающих дальнейшее закрепле­ние профессионально-значимых умений.

Авторы старались обновить материалы учебников за счет новых публи­каций (Урок 7), заново написанной 2-й части (Урок 3, The Reader’s Choice), расширения иллюстративного материала, существенной переработки прило­жения к учебнику.

В Приложение внесены инструкции по написанию письменных работ, практикуемых на 4 курсе: сочинение-повествование и сочинение-описание с обязательным выражением своего мнения, отношения к заданной теме. Кро­ме того, в него вошли дополнительные тексты по высшему образованию в США, по системе телевешания. Добавлено окончание к рассказу «W.S.» by L.P. Heartley, Unit 3. Специально подобраны ситуации для ролевых игр, совпадающие по тематике с разделами учебника, а также методические ре­комендации студентам, готовящимся к проведению микроуроков (автор И.Н. Верещагина).

Авторы

ESSENTIAL COURSE

Unit One

text

From: DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE

By R. Gordon

Richard Gordon was born in 1921. He has been an anaesthetist at St. Bartholomew's Hospital,¹ a ship's surgeon and an assistant editor of the British Medical Journal. He left medical practice in 1952 and started writing his "Doctor" series.

"Doctor in the House" is one of Gordon's twelve "Doctor" books and is noted for witty description of a medical student's years of professional train­ing.

To a medical student the final examinations are something like death: an unpleasant inevitability to be faced sooner or later, one's state after which is determined by care spent in pre­paring for the event.

An examination is nothing more than an investigation of a man's knowledge, conducted in a way that the authorities have found the most fair and convenient to both sides. But the medi­cal student cannot see it in this light. Examinations touch off his fighting spirit; they are a straight contest between himself and the examiners, conducted on well-established rules for both, and he goes at them like a prize-fighter.

There is rarely any frank cheating in medical examinations, but the candidates spend almost as much time over the techni­cal details of the contest as they do learning general medicine from their textbooks.

Benskin discovered that Malcolm Maxworth was the St. Swithin's representative on the examining Committee and thenceforward we attended all his ward rounds, standing at the front and gazing at him like impressionable music enthusiasts at the solo violinist. Meanwhile, we despondently ticked the days off the calendar, swotted up the spot questions, and ran a final breathless sprint down the well-trodden paths of medicine.

Flagrant – вопиющий, грубый

The examination began with the written papers. A single in­vigilator² sat in his gown and hood on a raised platform to keep an eye open for flagrant cheating. He was helped by two or three uniformed porters who stood by the door and looked dispassionately down at the poor victims, like the policemen that flank(стоять сбоку) the dock(скамья подсудимых) at the Old Bailey.³

Three hours were allowed for the paper. About half-way through the anonymous examinees began to differentiate them­selves. Some of them strode up for an extra answer book, with an awkward expression of self-consciousness and superiority in their faces. Others rose to their feet, handed in their papers and left. Whether these people were so brilliant they were able to complete the examination in an hour and a half or whether this was the time required for them to set down unhurriedly their entire knowledge of medicine was never apparent from the nonchalant air with which they left the room. The invigilator tapped his bell half an hour before time; the last question was rushed through, then the porters began tearing papers away from gentlemen dissatisfied with the period allowed for them to express themselves and hoping by an incomplete sentence to give the examiners the impression of frustrated brilliance.

Iwalked down the stairs feeling as if I had just finished an eight-round fight. In the square outside the first person I re­cognized was Grimsdyke.

"How did you get on?" I asked.

"So-so," he replied. "However, I am not worried. They nev­er read the papers anyway. Haven't you heard how they mark the tripos⁴ at Cambridge, my dear old boy? The night before the results come out the old don totters bade, from hall and chucks the lot down the staircase. The ones that stick on the top flight are given firsts,⁵ most of them end up on the landing and get seconds, thirds go to the lower flight, and any reaching the ground floor are failed. This system has been working admirably for years without arousing any comment."

The unpopular oral examination was held a week after the papers. The written answers have a certain remoteness about them, and mistakes and omissions, like those of life, can be made without the threat of immediate punishment. But the viva is judgement day. A false answer, and the god's brow threatens like imminent thunderstorm. If the candidate loses his nerve in front of this terrible displeasure he is finished: confusion breeds

confusion and he will come to the end of his interrogation struggling like a cow in a bog.

Iwas shown to a tiny waiting-room furnished with hard chairs, a wooden table, and windows that wouldn't open, like the condemned cell. There were six other candidates waiting, to go in with me, who illustrated the types fairly commonfy seen in viva waiting-rooms. There was the Nonchalant, lolling back on the rear legs of his chair with his feet on the table. Next to him, a man of the Frankly Worried class sat on the edge of his chair tearing little bits off his invitation card and jumping irritatingly every time the door opened. There was the Crammer, fondling the pages of his battered textbook in a desperate farewell embrace, and his opposite, the Old Stager, who treated the whole thing with the familiarity of a photographer at a wed­ding. He had obviously failed the examination so often he looked upon the viva simply as another engagement to be fitted into his day.

The other occupant of the room was a woman. Women stu­dents - the attractive ones, not those who are feminine only through inescapable anatomic arrangements — are under dis­advantage in oral examinations. The male examiners are so afraid of being prejudiced favourably by their sex they usually adopt towards them an attitude of undeserved sternness. But this girl had given care to her preparations for the examination. Her suit was neat but not smart; her hair tidy but not striking; she wore enough make-up to look attractive, and she was obvi­ously practising, with some effort, a look of admiring submis­sion to the male sex. I felt sure she would get through.

"You go to table four," the porter told me.

I stood before table four. I didn't recognize the examiners. One was a burly, elderly man like a retired prize-fighter; the other was invisible, as he was occupied in reading the morn­ing's Times.

"Well, how would you treat a case of tetanus?" My heart leaped hopefully. This was something I knew, as there had recently been a case at St. Swithin's. I started off confidentially, reeling out the lines of treatment and feeling much better. The examiner suddenly cut me short.

"All right, all right," he said impatiently, "you seem to know that A girl of twenty comes to you complaining of gain­ing weight, what would you do?" I rallied my thoughts and stumbled through the answer...

The days after the viva were black ones. It was like having a severe accident. For the first few hours I was numbed, unable to realize what had hit me. Then I began to wonder if I would ever make a recovery and win through. One or two of my friends heartened me by describing equally depressing experi­ences that had overtaken them previously and still allowed them to pass. I began to hope. Little shreds of success collected together and weaved themselves into a triumphal garland...

"One doesn't fail exams," said Grimsdyke firmly. "One comes down, one muffs, one is ploughed, plucked, or pipped. These infer a misfortune that is not one's own fault. To speak of failing is bad taste. It's the same idea as talking about pass­ing away and going above instead of plain dying." The exami­nation results were to be published at noon.

We arrived in the examination building to find the same candidates there, but they were a subdued, muttering crowd, like the supporters of a home team who had just been beaten in a cup tie.

We had heard exactly what would happen. At midday pre­cisely the Secretary of the Committee would descend the stairs and take his place, flanked by two uniformed porters. Under his arm would be a thick, leather-covered book containing the results. One of the porters would carry a list of candidates' numbers and call them out, one after the other. The candidate would step up closely to the Secretary, who would say simply "Pass" or "Failed". Successful men would go upstairs to re­ceive the congratulations and handshakes of the examiners and failures would slink miserably out of the exit to seek the opiate oblivion.

One minute to twelve. The room had suddenly come to a frightening, unexpected silence and stillness, like an unexploded bomb. A clock tingled twelve in the distance. My palms were as wet as sponges. Someone coughed, and I expected the windows to rattle. With slow scraping feet that could be heard before they appeared the Secretary and the porters came solemnly down the stairs. The elder porter raised his voice.

"Number one hundred and sixty-one," he began. "Number three hundred and two. Number three hundred and six." Grimsdyke punched me hard in the ribs, "Go on," he hissed. "It's you!"

I jumped and struggled my way to the front of the restless crowd. My pulse shot in my ears. My face was burning hot and

I felt my stomach had been suddenly plucked from my body. Suddenly I found myself on top of the Secretary.

“Number three oh six?" the Secretary whispered, without looking up from the book. "R. Gordon?" "Yes," I croaked.

The world stood still. The traffic stopped, the plants ceased growing, men were paralysed, the clouds hung in the air, the winds dropped, the tides disappeared, the sun halted in the sky.

"Pass," he muttered.

Blindly, like a man just hit by a blackjack, I stumbled up­stairs.

Commentary

¹ St Bartholomew's, St. Swithin's Hospitals: medical schools in London.

² invigilator: a person who watches over students during examinations.

³ Old Bailey: Central Criminal Court, situated in London in the street of the same name.

⁴ the tripos: examination for an honours degree in Cam­bridge University.

⁵ firsts, seconds, thirds: a system of grading degrees.

⁶ the viva: an oral examination.

SPEECH PATTERNS

1. However, I'm not worried. They never read the papers any­way.

— You needn't worry about the meals. She never has anything for breakfast anyway.

— I'm sure she is perfect for you. Anyway, I didn't mean to im­ply she was deficient.

2. "His father will have him go in for medicine,".the house­master said.

None can have him wear a formal dress for any function".

The examiner will have him give the proper answer.

3. Now that you are well again, you can travel.

Now that you are through with this problem you can do anything.

Now that he's become a graduate student, he can go in for research.

Phrases and Word Combinations

to cheat in exams to adopt an attitude of…

to tick smth off …towards

to swot up colloq. for to study to get through

to keep an eye open for smth/smb to cut smb short

to mark and grade the papers to rally one's thoughts

to come out (about results) to call out names

to raise one's voice

ESSENTIAL VOCABULARY

1. annoyvt/i 1) to make a little angry, especially by repeat­ed acts; to disturb and nervously upset a person, e. g. Wilfred did not want to pay too much attention to Fleur, he was afraid of annoying her.

Syn. vex, irk, bother

2) persistent interrupting, interrupting with or intruding on until the victim is angry, or upset, e. g. Clouds of flies annoyed our horses.

Syn. worry, harass, plague, pester, tease .

Ant. soothe, comfort

to be annoyed at/over smth,e. g. He was annoyed at the boy's stupidity.

to be annoyed with,e. g. The old woman was annoyed with the noisy children.

annoyinga causing one to feel annoyed, as annoying man­ners, e. g. How annoying...! The annoying thing about it is that I keep thinking about Lizzy.

Syn. bothersome, irritating, troublesome, harassing, torment­ing, nagging, vexatious.

2. chattervi 1) to talk quickly or foolishly or without a stop, e. g. The two gids chattered merrily unaware of Roger's pres­ence. 2) to make quick indistinct sounds, e. g. The sparrows were chattering on the roof of the cottage. 3) to strike the lower and upper teeth together from cold or fever, e. g. She was so frightened that her teeth chattered.

chatterboxn a person who chatters.

chatternsounds of the kinds described by the verb to chat­ter, e.g. The chatter of the birds could be heard everywhere.

chattering n e. g. The cheerful chattering of children came from the nursery.

To chatter like a magpie

3. cheervt/i 1) to fill with gladness, hope, high spirits; com­fort, e. g. Everyone was cheered by the good news. He cheered up at once when I promised to help him. Cheer up! Your trou­bles will soon be over. 2) to give shouts of joy, approval, or en­couragement, e. g. The speaker was loudly cheered. Everybody cheered the news that peace had come.

to cheer for (cheer on) to support (a competitor) with cheers, to encourage, e. g. Let's go to the football game and cheer for our favourite team. Please come to the sports meeting to cheer on dur team.

cheern 1) state of hope, gladness; words of cheer, of en­couragement; 2) shout of joy or encouragement used by spec­tators to encourage or show enthusiasm or support for their team, e. g. The cheers of the spectators filled the stadium.

to give three cheers for to cry, or shout "Hurrah!" three times, e. g. The team members gave three cheers for their captain.

cheerful a 1) happy and contented, e.g. He kept through­out his life his youthful optimism and his cheerful trust in men.

Syn, glad, happy, light-hearted, joyful, joyous

Ant. gloomy

2) bright, pleasant, bringing joy, as a cheerful room, sound, conversation; cheerful surroundings, e. g. Mary's cheerful talk encouraged her friends.

Ant. cheerless, gloomy

cheerya is a rather trivial colloquialism for cheerful.

cheerio interj a colloquial word used as farewell, e. g. Chee­rio, old friends!

cheers 1) is used as a toast "Your health!”, e. g. Does every­body have beer? Yes, cheers. 2) a modern informal use of cheers in British English is to mean good-bye or thank you, e. g. I'll give you a hand tomorrow. Cheers, that'll be great.

4. contestvt 1) to argue; debate, dispute, as to contest a state­ment (a point); to try to show that it is wrong, as to contest smb's right to do smth.; 2) to take part in a struggle or competi­tion (with or against srab or smth.), as to contest a match (a race), e. g. Jimhad to contest against the world's best winners in the

Games and did well to come third. 3) to fight or compete for, to try to win, as to contest a seat in Parliament, e. g. The soldiers contested every inch of the ground.

Syn. contend

contestn struggle, fight; competition, as a keen contest for the prize; a contest of skill; a musical contest; a close contest, e. g. The ice-hockey championship was a close contest be­tween Canada, Sweden and Russia.

contestantn one who contests

Syn. contender

contestablea open to argument, e. g. That's a contestable statement, you can't prove it.

5. emergevi 1) to come forth into view from an enclosed and obscure place, e. g. The moon emerges from beyond the clouds. 2) to rise into notice and esp. to issue, (come forth) from suffer­ing, subjection, danger, embarrassment, etc., e. g. New artistic developments emerged after the revolution. 3) to come out as the result of investigation, discussion (of a fact, a principle), e. g. At last there emerged Einstein's Theory of Relativity.

Syn. to turn up, to show up

emergencyn a sudden happening requiring prompt action; one to be used in an emergency, as an emergency exit (door); an emergency fund; an emergency (forced) landing, e. g. These stairs are to be used only in an emergency. The plane was caught in a snowstorm and had to make an emergency landing.

Syn. juncture, contingency, pinch, crisis

6. go vt with adv and prp

go about1) to move or travel around, e. g. The quickest way to go about the city is by underground train. 2) to start (smth or doing smth), e. g. I wanted to make a dress but didn't know how to go about it.

go alongto proceed, make progress, e. g. You may have some difficulties at first, but you'll find it easier as you go along.

go at(smth or smb) to rush at, attack (informal), e. g. They went at each other furiously.

go back1) to return, as in conversation (to smth), e. g. Let us go back to what the chairman was saying. 2) to fail to fulfil (a promise, agreement, etc.), e. g. You should never go back on your promise to a child.

go behind toexamine a deeper level of smth, e. g. You have to go behind the poet's words to see what she really means.

go by(of fault, etc.) 1) to pass without being noticed (infor­mal), e.g.Iknow you were late again this morning, but we'll let it go by. 2) to base one's judgement on smb, e. g. You can't go by what he says, he's very untrustworthy.

go down1) to be received, esp. with approval, to be liked (by someone), e. g. How did your speech go down (with the pub­lic)? 2) to be considered less worthy, e. g. He went down in my opinion.

go down the drainto be wasted; to fail completely, e. g. All my attempts to helphim went down the drain.

go easy (informal) 1) to behave calmly (usu. imper.), e. g. Go easy, dear, there's nothing to get excited about. 2) to treat some­one kindly, not severely (on, with), e. g. Go easy on the child, will you, she is too young to understand what she did.

go as/so far as (informal) to be bold or direct enough (to do smth), to declare the truth,

e. g. I wouldn't go so far as to say she is a liar.

go intoto examine, e. g. The police went into the man's story to see if he was telling the truth.

go overto examine, to see that it is correct, e.g. The coun­sellor went over his story in detail and suggested some im­provements.

go roundto move around, to be publicly noticed (doing smth), e. g. You can't go round saying nasty things like that about him.

7. hintn slight or indirect indication or suggestion, e. g. She gave him a hint that she would like him to leave. I know how to take a hint. "Hints for housewives" (as the title of an article giv­ing suggestions that will help housewives)

to drop a hint,e. g. Idropped him hints on the impropriety of his conduct.

to give a person a gentle (broad) hint,e. g. Martin gave Joe a gentle hint but it was lost upon him.

hintvi to suggest, to mention casually, e. g. The woman hinted at her urgent need of money. He hinted at my impu­dence. He hinted that I ought to work harder.

Syn. suggest, imply, intimate, insinuate

8. rattle vt/i 1)(cause to) make short, sharp sounds quickly, one after the other, e. g. The windows were rattling in the strong wind. The hail rattled on the roof.

to rattle off (colloq.) to talk, to say or repeat smth quickly; to repeat (words) quickly and too easily from memory; to per­form (an action) with ease and speed, e. g. What is the point of teaching the children to rattle off the names of the kings and queens of England if they know nothing about history?

to rattle away/on to talk rapidly and at some length and un­interestingly, e. g. At every meeting of the women's club, Mrs White rattles on for hours.

2) to annoy, cause to feel angry, e. g. My persistent quest­ioning of his story rattled him, and he refused to answer my queries. She was rattled by the hypothetical eyes spying upon her.

Syn. embarrass, discomfit, abash, faze

rattled a annoyed, e. g. In the end he got rattled, (or: We got him rattled.).

9. reduce vt/i 1) to take (smth) smaller or less; being smth (such as a price, size, or amount) down to a lower level or smaller size, e. g. Your speed must be reduced to the city speed limit as soon as you cross the border. Taxes should be reduced to an amount that people can afford to pay. The book will have to be reduced to 300 pages. The whole town was reduced to ashes in the bombing. 2) to bring or get to a certain condition, e. g. The new teacher was quickly able to reduce the noisy class to silence. Hunger had reduced the poor dog to skin and bone. His opponent's clever speech reduced the speaker's argument to nonsense.

to reduce by/to, e. g. We have been able to .reduce our tax bill by 10%. The price of the chair has been reduced to $ 10.

to reduce someone to tears to make someone weep, e. g. You may choose to scold this child, but there's no need to reduce him to tears.

Syn. decrease, lessen, diminish, abate, dwindle

reduction n reducing or being reduced, e. g. The goods are sold at a great reduction in price.

Syn. discount