關鍵字彙：
alert/ approach/ assiduous/ bungle/ circumspect/ cursory/ desultory/ discreet/ discretion/ expedient/ fashion/ gingerly/ haphazard/ heedless/ impromptu/ improvise/ indolence/ laxity/ meticulous/ neglectful/ negligent/ perfunctory/ piecemeal/ provident/ prudence/ punctilious/ slacken/ slipshod/ sloppy/ sloth/ superficial/ vigilant/ wary
1. 中文「方法」除了我們熟悉的way、manner、method等字以外，還有approach 和fashion。其中，approach指做某件事情的方法，常與介系詞to連用，後面接用所做的那件事。fashion指的是人的行為舉止。這是個頗正式的用法，不過現在似乎已經不太常用，網路上Oxford和Longman等學習辭典中都已不列它。但文章或文學作品中這種用法出現的機會不少，所以還是值得學習和了解：
•That critic's approach to the poem is quite different from anyone else's.
•This is a new approach to teaching languages.
•He behaves in a very strange fashion.
•He expressed his idea in a serious fashion.
2. 形容詞「權宜的」或名詞「權宜之計」都用expedient：
•She thought it expedient not to tell her mother where she had been.
•He found it expedient to maintain silence at that moment.
•They decided it was not expedient to interfere with the couple's problem.
•They have tried all expedients to achieve a quick result.
3. 形容做事情缺乏計畫，「有一搭沒一搭的（地）」、「零零散散的（地）」 用piecemeal。儘管這個字也能當形容詞用，但更常用作副詞：
•Rather than do everything piecemeal, you should make plans.
4. 「即席的」可用impromptu，「即興而做」叫improvise：
•The guest made an impromptu speech.
•I forgot the words of my speech, so I had to improvise.
•She improvised a cake although she had no sugar.
5. 「勤勞的」可用assiduous，「偷懶」、「怠惰」可用indolence或sloth （文言）：
•Her assiduous practice made her become a great violinist.
•She learned to speak English by assiduous practice.
•The sultry weather in the tropics encourages life of indolence.
•Sloth was regarded as one of the seven deadly sins; the others were pride, lust, anger, gluttony, envy, and covetousness.
6. 「機警的」、「警覺的」可用alert或vigilant；「不嚴謹」、「過度放鬆」可用laxity，「鬆懈」叫slacken：
•He is an alert boy.
•The guards must be vigilant at all times.
•The child's behavior indicates laxity in discipline.
•Don't slacken your efforts till the job is well done.
7. 「仔細的」、「留心細節的」可用meticulous或punctilious；「疏忽的」可用neglectful或negligent：
•The accountant was meticulous in checking all the accounts.
•As a nurse, she is punctilious in obeying the doctor's orders.
•Parents should not be neglectful of their children.
•He was negligent in not locking the doors as he had been told to do.
8. 「草率的」、「敷衍的」可用cursory、perfunctory、slipshod、sloppy 或superficial，「漫無章法的」可用desultory（正式）或haphazard：
•A cursory glance revealed no trace of the missing book.
•Time permitted only a cursory examination.
•The inspector overlooked many weaknesses when he inspected the factory in his perfunctory manner.
•A slipshod piece of research cannot bring out any desirable result.
•The employee was fired because he had been doing sloppy work.
•Since your report gave only a superficial analysis of the problem, I cannot give you more than a passing grade.
•If she continues to work in that desultory way, she will never finish anything.
•It's a haphazard timetable; sometimes lessons happen, sometimes they don't.
•His haphazard reading left him unacquainted with the gist of the book.
9. 「小心的」可用circumspect或wary，為避免傷害而「小心翼翼地」可用副詞gingerly：
•Marriage is a matter for which everyone has to be as circumspect as possible.
•You must be circumspect in your decision.
•The crow is said to be a very wary bird.
•He gingerly picked the delicate flower.
•Gingerly, she reached out to touch the snake.
10. 「未雨綢繆的」叫provident，為避免尷尬或吸引太多注意等而「謹慎的」叫discreet，「謹慎」可用discretion或prudence：
•A provident person will put away for a rainy day.
•The family made discreet enquiries about his background.
•Use your own discretion in this matter.
•Through years of experience, he displayed laudable prudence in setting up his new business.
11. 「不計後果的」、「不把…當回事的」可用heedless，把事情「搞砸」用bungle：
•The reckless young man drove on, heedless of the warning signals.
•They rushed into battle, heedless of the danger.
•Why are you always bungling?
•I am so sorry because I have bungled the job.
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