A practical English Grammar is intended for intermediate（中级的） and post-intermediate students. We hope that more advanced learners and teachers will also find it useful.
The book is a comprehensive survey of structures and forms, written in clear modern English and illustrated with numerous examples. Areas of particular difficulty have been given special attention. Differences between conversational usage and strict grammatical forms are shown but the emphasis is on controversial forms.
In the fourth edition the main changes are as follows.
1. Explanation and examples have been brought up to date.
2. There is now more information on countable and uncountable nouns, attributive and predicative adjectives, adverbs of place, sentence adverbs, cleft sentences, prepositions, conjunctives, modal verbs, perfect tenses, infinitive constructions, the passive, purpose clauses and nouns.
3. Some material has been rearranged to make comparisons easier. For example, parts of chapters on can, may, must etc. are now grouped by functions; verbs of liking and preference have a chapter to themselves; suggestions and invitations have joined the chapter on commands, requests and advice.
4. The contents list now summaries every edition heading, and there is a new index containing many more entries references.
In this edition the sign “~” is frequently used to show a change of speaker in examples of dialogue. Note also that although the sign “="”" sometimes connects two words or expressions with the same meaning, it is often used more freely, e.g. to indicate a transformation from active to passive or direct to indirect speech.
We wish to thank all at Oxford University Press who have assisted in the preparation of the fourth edition. We would also like to thank Professor Egawa of Nihon University, Japan, Professor Rene Dirven of Duisburg University, West Germany and other colleagues for their friendly and helpful suggestions.
London, November 1985 A.J.T., A.VM
小题1:The grammar book mentioned in this passage is not suitable for .
A．a middle school teacher
B．a primary school student
C．a senior high student
D．a college student小题2:According to the passage, we know that his grammar book .
A．compares modern English with old English
B．gives a large number of examples to reduce difficulty
C．attaches more importance to conversational forms
D．pays little attention to strict grammatical forms小题3:Which of the following statements about the changes is TRUE?
A．This book keeps up with the latest usages of the America English language.
B．This edition offers more information about pronouns.
C．It’s not easy for us to find the information we need in this book.
D．One particular chapter discusses verbs like “care, like, love, hate, prefer, wish”.小题4:When you see this line in the book, “Did you get a ticket? ~Yes, I managed to get one”, we can understand that .
A．the two parts before and after the sign “~” mean the same
B．the two parts before and after “~” are said by two different people
C．the second speaker repeats what the first speaker says
D．the topic is changed in the part after the sign “~”小题5:In the last paragraph, the authors thank several people because .
A．they have helped the authors with this edition
B．they have agreed to buy a lot of books from the authors
C．the authors want to make use of the fames of those people
D．those people will make advertisements for this book
小题1:B
小题2:C
小题3:D
小题4:B
小题5:A
题目分析：本文主要介绍了实用英语语法书的特点及对它的第四版主要不同的地方进行了介绍。
小题1:细节题。根据文章第一段A practical English Grammar is intended for intermediate（中级的） and post-intermediate students.实用英语语法适合中级水平或者更高水平的学者。即不适用于小学生。故选B
小题2:细节题。根据第二段Differences between conversational usage and strict grammatical forms are shown but the emphasis is on controversial forms.可知，更加注重于有争议的形式，故选C.
小题3:细节题判断题。根据第三条verbs of liking and preference have a chapter to themselves;可知某一个特定的章节会来讨论意思相近的动词的区别，故选D.
小题4:细节题。从In this edition the sign “~” is frequently used to show a change of speaker in examples of dialogue.可知，“~”表示两个不同的人在对话，所以前后两部分是不同的人说话的内容，故选B.
小题5:细节题。从最后一段We would also like to thank Professor Egawa of Nihon University, Japan, Professor Rene Dirven of Duisburg University, West Germany and other colleagues for their friendly and helpful suggestions.可知，他们这些人都给作者提供了好的建议和帮助，故选A.
点评：本文不难，生词多但并影响理解。文中主要对这本实用语法书进行了有针对性的介绍。对于细节题较多的文章，学生应该抱有信心，因为每个答案都在文章中，解答此类文章要注重细节，对长句子要耐心分析成分，结合题目仔细的作答。