school

at school, in school

这两个短语意思不同:at school常指“在学校上课”,涉及的时间较短; in school常指“在学校求学”,涉及的时间相对较长。试比较:

The kids are now at school.

孩子们正在学校上课。(还未回来)

My son, though 32, is still in school.

我的儿子虽然已32岁了,但还在学校 求学。

school, academy, college, institute, university

这组词都有“学校”的意思。它们的区别在于:school一般指儿童或中学生学习或受教育的场所; university指综合性大学,可授予各种学位; college多指与综合性大学相对应的或综合大学内的专科院校,尤指军事、体育或艺术院校; academy指培训特别是特别技术或技能的学校、学院; institute主要指研究所、学会,在俄罗斯常指专科院校,而在英美教育体系中则很少见。例如:

Children must attend school.儿童必须上学。

The college is affiliated to the university.这所学院隶属于那所大学。

He graduated from an academy of music in his early days.他早年毕业于一所音乐专科学校。

He was graduated from the Dalian Institute of Foreign Languages in the class of 1963.他是大连外国语学院1963届的毕业生。

school, drove, flock, herd, pack, swarm

这组词都可作“群”解。它们的区别在于：flock是鸟或兽群的通俗用语,特指绵羊、山羊的“群”; herd通常指大动物的“群”,特指家畜的“群”; drove指被驱赶着的牛、羊、猪等的“群”; pack指猎犬、狼、狐、恶人等,用来指人群时含有轻蔑的意味; swarm指蜜蜂、昆虫等的“群”; school指水栖动物的“群”,如鱼、虾等。例如:

This is a drove of deer.这是一群鹿。

There are a flock of wild ducks in the pool.池塘里有一群野鸭。

A pack of hounds chased the fox.一群猎狗追猎那只狐狸。

I keep a large herd of cattle.我养一大群牛。

Schools of dolphins live in the Pacific Ocean .太平洋里生活着成群的海豚。

A swarm of ants are moving busily.一群蚂蚁正在忙碌地搬家。