(1) Which way is east?
(2) A gale was blowing from the east.
(3) a town to the east of (= further east than) Chicago

(1) the river Thames
(2) the Hudson river
(3) on the banks of the river (= the ground at the side of a river)

(1) a basketball game/coach/team
(2) The plan has a sting intail: it means we lose one day's holiday.
(3) To master the skill of playing basketball he is making a great business of it.

(1) thanks for lending me the money.
(2) Many thanks for your support.
(3) ‘How are you? ’ ‘Fine, thanks. ’ (= thanks for asking)

(1) Besides chinese new year, what are the other festivals according to the Lunar Calendar?
(2) The Chinese community here are shooting off fireworks in celebration of the chinese new year.
(3) On chinese new year's Eve all family members enjoys big, delicious meal.

(1) sales forecasts
(2) The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers.
(3) Experts are forecasting a recovery in the economy.

(1) hotel rooms/guests
(2) a two-star/five-star, etc. hotel
(3) a luxury hotel

(1) the relative merits of the two plans
(2) the position of the sun relative to the earth
(3) They now live in relative comfort (= compared with how they lived before) .

(1) It was an experience I will treasure for the rest of my life...
(2) I'm going to throw a party, then invest the rest of the money...
(3) ...a man with nice clothes, a Range Rover and the rest...

(1) a map and compass
(2) the points of the compass (= N, S, E, W, etc.)
(3) a pair of compasses

(1) a needle and thread
(2) the eye (= hole) of a needle
(3) knitting needles

(1) the Edinburgh festival
(2) the Cannes film festival
(3) a beer festival

(1) We get around this problem by skipping leap year for three out of four century years.
(2) leap year is the year when February has 29 days.
(3) A leap year occurs once every four years.

(1) Christmas decorations
(2) a table decoration
(3) the elaborate decoration on the carved wooden door

(1) I bought some new clothes for the trip.
(2) to put on/take off your clothes
(3) Bring a change of clothes with you.

(1) I would prefer buy computer rather than go on a trip.
(2) Mom, may I go on a trip to Beijing?
(3) Shall we go on a trip to the Palace Museum?

(1) They fished a dead body out of the river.
(2) She fished a piece of paper out of the pile on her desk.
(3) fish stocks in the Baltic are in decline.

(1) The railway is still under construction.
(2) a disused railway
(3) Her father worked on the railways.

(1) You take care of your end, kid, I'll take care of mine...
(2) Let's go up to the office and settle the business end of things.
(3) The police force is being manipulated for political ends...

(1) She was holidaying with her family in Ireland.
(2) Happy holidays!
(3) Today is a holiday in Wales.

(1) a map of France
(2) a street map of Miami
(3) to read a/the map (= understand the information on a map)

(1) The Prime Minister is now 64 years old and in all probability this will be the last election that he is likely to contest...
(2) You will find a wide variety of choices available in school cafeterias...
(3) The show will be open to the public at 2pm; admission will be 50p...

(1) Life was harder then because neither of us had a job.
(2) Things were very different back then .
(3) She grew up in Zimbabwe, or Rhodesia as it then was.

(1) a pair of tennis shorts
(2) He was wearing a T-shirt and shorts.
(3) We are in shortage of this sort of comfortable shorts.

(1) snow was falling heavily.
(2) We had snow in May this year.
(3) The snow was beginning to melt.

(1) to stay in bed
(2) ‘Do you want a drink? ’ ‘No, thanks, I can't stay. ’
(3) stay there and don't move!

(1) She went to visit relatives in Wales.
(2) The Prime Minister is visiting Japan at the moment.
(3) You should visit your dentist at least twice a year.

(1) We work every day except Sunday.
(2) They all came except Matt.
(3) I had nothing on except for my socks.

(1) Did you have a good trip?
(2) We went on a trip to the mountains.
(3) a day trip (= lasting a day)

(1) Metallic leather upper in a Roman two piece flat sandal style with a round open toe.
(2) A thong or strap used to fasten a shoe or sandal on the foot.
(3) Rosewood is classified into two sandal wood and padauk wood.

(1) Which way is north?
(2) cold winds coming from the north
(3) Mount Kenya is to the north of (= further north than) Nairobi.

(1) Which way is south?
(2) warmer weather coming from the south
(3) He lives to the south of (= further south than) the city.

(1) when did you last see him?
(2) when can I see you?
(3) when (= in what circumstances) would such a solution be possible?

(1) Two boys were in the street, tossing a baseball back and forth.
(2) I'm a few miles back from the border...
(3) Her hair was tied back...

(1) We should be there by noon.
(2) The conference opens at 12 noon on Saturday.
(3) the noon deadline for the end of hostilities

(1) a tin mine
(2) a tin box
(3) a tin of beans

(1) chicken with herb dumplings
(2) apple dumplings
(3) The utility model can automatically fill stuffing in egg dumpling wrappers at a definite quantity.

(1) to arrive at an agreement/a decision/a conclusion
(2) The new product will arrive on supermarket shelves (= be available) early next year.
(3) The wedding day finally arrived.

(1) a bus/theatre/plane, etc. ticket
(2) free tickets to the show
(3) tickets are available from the Arts Centre at £2.50.

(1) Which way is west?
(2) Rain is spreading from the west.
(3) He lives to the west of (= further west than) the town.