English words are made of 26 letters, and palindromes and anagrams are two kinds of word games about spelling. A palindrome is a word or a sentence that reads the same from left to right or from right to left, ( 40 ), "eye," "Bob," "my gym," and "Was it a car or a cat I saw?" An anagram of a word or words is made by putting the letters of the word or words in a different way. Look at the words and their anagrams below. Can you think of other possible anagrams of these words?
〔圖:單字與異位構詞對照。earth→heart;between→been wet;a tie→I eat;mistake→( 本題 )〕
Anagrams are often longer words that don't really mean anything but are fun to say. Sometimes they can even mean something ( 42 ), like when a common word, "restaurant," becomes "Eat rats, run!"
Actually, palindromes and anagrams are ( 43 ). Palindromes can be used to learn mathematics and make music. Anagrams are also a good way to hide something. In history, people often hid their important studies in anagrams. Can you think of any other way to use them?
A
take sit
B
Ms Easy
C
it makes
D
me steak
正解:(C) it makes
(本題要選出 mistake 這個字重新排列字母後的結果。)
詳解
這題很特別,它不考文法也不考語感,考你有沒有真的讀懂文章定義的規則,然後動手操作一次。規則是:字謎必須用原字的每一個字母、不多不少,只是換順序。所以,把 mistake 拆開:m、i、s、t、a、k、e,七個字母。再把 (C) it makes 拆開:i、t、m、a、k、e、s,同樣七個,兩邊一一對上,完全吻合。這題最踏實的解法就是逐字母清點,像對帳一樣,對得上才算數。文章前面給的三組範例(earth 變 heart)就是在教你這套驗證法,出題老師其實把解題示範放在題目前面了。
誘答分析
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(A) take sit:陷阱在 take 這四個字母全部都在 mistake 裡,乍看很像。但清點一下,take sit 有兩個 t,mistake 只有一個 t,而且 m 不見了。只驗一半就下手的人會中。
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(B) Ms Easy:開頭的 Ms 跟 mistake 的前兩個子音撞臉,視覺上有既視感。但 easy 裡的 y 根本不在 mistake 裡,一個外來字母就足以判它出局。
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(D) me steak:最狠的一個,因為 steak 和 mistake 長得實在太像。可是 me steak 有兩個 e,mistake 只有一個,而且 i 消失了。它專門收割「用眼睛掃、不用手數」的考生。
關鍵字彙
mistake(n. 錯誤)、letter(n. 字母)、in a different way(用不同的方式)、possible(adj. 可能的)