The hands of the clock pointed to half past six. 钟的指针指在六点半上。 注：有时也用 towards)。如：
The building points to [towards] the east. 大楼朝东。
All the facts point to [towards] the same conclusion. 所有事实都说明同样的结论。 3. point out 指出，把注意力引向。如： He pointed her out to me. 他把她指给我看。 Please point our my errors. 请指出我的错误。
I must point out that further delay would be unwise. 我必须指明再延误就要吃大亏了。 polite
1. be polite to sb 对某人有礼貌的。如： Be more polite to ladies. 对女士要更有礼貌。 He is polite to his parents. 他对他父母很有礼貌。 2. It’s polite of sb to do sth 某人做某事是有礼貌的。如： It’s polite of him to do so. 他那样做很有礼貌。
It wasn’t very polite of you to serveyourselfwithoutasking. 你也不问一声就自己吃起来是不太礼貌的。
注：以上各句也可说成： He is polite to do so.
You weren’t very polite to serve yourself without asking. poor
1. be poor at 在……很差劲或不行。如： The man is poor at swimming. 这个人不善于游泳。
Some of the students are poor at spelling. 有些人在拼写方面很差劲。 2. be poor in 在……贫乏。如：
The man was poor in thought. 这个人思想贫乏。
He was poor in money but rich inknowledge. 他金钱贫乏，但知识丰富。 3. the poor 穷人。如：
The rich are not always happier than the poor. 富人并不比有钱人更幸福。 The poor were looked down upon in the old days. 在旧社会穷人受人瞧不起。 popular
1. be popular among 受……欢迎，讨……喜欢，在……当中流行。如： Beards are popular among young men. 蓄须在年轻人当中很游行(受年轻人欢迎)。 Swimming is popular with all ages. 游泳是老老少少都喜欢的。
The singer is very popular with [among] young people. 这位歌手很受年轻人的欢迎。 He is popular among men, though not, perhaps, with ladies. 他很受男士们的欢迎，虽然也许不一定讨女士们的喜欢。
population
1. have a population of 有……人口。如：
The city has a population of 250000. 这个城市有25万人口。
China has apopulationofmorethantwelvehundredmillion. 中国有12亿多人口. 2. the population of ……的人口。如：
The population of the country is only ten million. 这个国家的人口仅有一千万。 The population of this city is very large. 这个城市人口很多。 How large [What] is the population of China? 中国有多少人口? possession
1. in possession of sth 拥有某物。如： Who is in possession of the house? 这房子是谁的?
Mr Smith is in possession of the company. 这家公司是史密斯先生的。 比较 in the possession of sb 被某人拥有。如：
The house was in the possession of Mr Li. 这房子是李先生的。 The keys are in his possession. 钥匙在他手里。 2. come into possession of sth 得到某物。如：
He came into possession of a large fortune. 他得了一大笔财产。 比较 come into the possession of sb 被某人得到。如： A large fortune came into his possession. 他得到了一大笔财产。 How did this painting come into your possession? 这幅画你是怎么弄到的? 3. have possession of sth 拥有某物。如： Who has possession of this land? 这片土地归谁所有?
He has had possession of the house for ten years. 他拥有这房子已有十年了。 4. take possession of sth 获得某物，占据某物。如： They took possession of the island. 他们占据了这个岛屿。
You can’t take possession of the house until the papers have been signed. 在文件签字以前，你不能住过那房子。
possible
1. as…as possible 尽可能地……，越……越好。如： Come as early as possilbe. 尽可能早点来。 Be as kind to her as possilbe. 尽可能对她友好些。
I need the money as soon as possible. 我需要尽快得到这笔钱。 2. if possilbe 如果可能的话。如：
I’ll help you if possilbe. 如有可能我会帮助你们的。 Send it by air mail if possible. 如有可能请用航空邮件寄。 3. it’s possible for sb to do sth 某人做某事是可能的。如： It is possible for her to sell her house. 他有可能卖掉房子。
It is possible (for you) to growthisflowereveninwinter. 即使在冬天也可能栽这种花。 注：该句型有时可与 it’s possible that-clause 转换。如：
It is possilbe for them to win. / It is possible that theywill win. 他们可能会赢。
practice
1. it’s one’s practice to do sth 做某事是某人的习惯。如： It was his practice to get up early. 他习惯于早起。
It’s her practice to have a cold bath in the morning. 她早上习于冷水冲凉。 注：有时可将 one’s 换成不定冠词。如：
It is a dangerous practice to get off a bus before it stops. 车未停稳就下车是危险的做法。 2. in practice
(1) 实际上，实行起来(用作状语)。如：
It was quite useless in practice. 这在实际中毫无用处。
It sounded like a good idea, but in practice it didn’t work. 那听起来像个好主意，但实际上不奏效。
(2) 业务熟练，没有荒疏(用作表语)。如： I am not much in practice. 我不很熟练了。 (3) (医生)在开业。如：
Is Doctor Jones still in practice there? 琼斯医生还在那儿开业行医吗? 3. make a practice of (doing) sth 有做某事的习惯，经常做某事。如： He makes a practice of going to bed early. 他有早睡的习惯。
I’ll lend you the money this time, but I don’t intend tomake a practice of it. 我这次把钱借给你，但下不为例。
4. out of practice 荒疏，缺乏练习。如：
I can’t speak English fluently as I am out of practice. 我不能流利地说英语，因为我已荒疏了。
He is out of practice at playing the piano. 我弹钢琴荒疏了。 5. put sth into [in] practice 将某事付诸实施。如：
How will you put your plan into [in] practice? 你要如何把你的计划付诸实施? We have made out the plan and now we mustputitintopractice. 计划已制定好，现在我们必须要将其付诸实施。
6. the practice of doing sth 做某事的习惯。如：
I don’t like his practice of going to bed late. 我不喜欢他晚睡的习惯(做法)。 He has given up the practice of smoking. 他已戒除了抽烟的习惯。 practise
1. practise (doing) sth (1) 练习做某事。如：
The boy practise (playing) the piano every day. 这男孩每天练习弹钢琴。 They are practising singing the new song. 他们正在练习唱新歌。 (2) 经常做某事以养成习惯。如：
He advised me to practise getting up early. 他劝我早起。 He practises taking a walk after supper. 他晚饭后常去散步。
2. practise as 开业当……。如：
He has passed his law examinations and is now practisingas a lawyer. 他已通过法律考试，现在正开业当律师。
My brother is now practising as a dentist. 我兄弟现在开业当牙科医生。 praise
1. in praise of 赞扬，称赞。如：
Much was said in praise of him. 赞扬他的话说了很多。
She wrote a book in praise of country life. 她写了一本歌颂田园生活的书。 2. praise sb for sth 因为某事而赞扬(表扬)某人。如：
The teacher praised him for his good spoken English. 老师赞扬他英语口语好。 People praise this place for its scenery. 人们称赞这个地方风景优美。 注：该结构有时可以不完整。如： He praised her. 他表扬她。
He praised her courage. 他表扬她有勇气。 He praised her for her courage. 他表扬她有勇气。 prefer
1. I’d prefer it if… 我希望……。如：
I should prefer it if you didn’t go there alone. 我倒希望你不要一个人去那儿。 Of course, I would prefer it if I didn’t have to do so much work. 当然，要是不让我做那么多工作，我就高兴了。
注：if 从句通常用过去式。
2. prefer to do [doing] sth 宁愿做某事，更喜欢做某事。如： I prefer walking alone. 我喜欢一个人溜达。 A：Can I give you a lift? 你顺便坐我的车走吗?
B: No, thanks. I prefer to walk. 不用了，谢谢，我喜欢步行。
注：用不定式或动名词的区别是：表示一般情况通常用动名词，表示特定动作通常用不定式。另外当动词 prefer 与 would 或should 连用时，它总是表示特定的想法， 所以其后总是接不定式。如：
正：We would prefer to do it later. 我们宁愿以后做它。 误：We would prefer doing it later.
3. prefer sb to do sth 宁愿某人做某事。如：
Their parents prefer them to be home early. 他们的父母希望他们早点回家。 We (should) prefer her not to go with us. 我们宁愿她不同我们一去。
4. prefer (doing) sth to (doing) sth 喜欢……而不喜欢……，宁愿……而不愿……。如： He prefers tea to coffee. 他喜欢喝茶而不喜欢喝咖啡。
He prefers swimming to riding as a sport. 作为一项运动项目，他更喜欢游泳而不是骑马。
注：这类结构的 prefer 前有时也可用 would, should 等。如：