(1) She lay on her back staring up at the ceiling.
(2) a large room with a high ceiling
(3) price ceilings

(1) They gave no indication of how the work should be done.
(2) There are clear indications that the economy is improving.
(3) All the indications are that the deal will go ahead as planned.

(1) (British English also)They are demanding that all troops should be withdrawn.
(2) Good secretaries are always in demand.
(3) Feed the baby on demand.

(1) The gunman used the hostages as a human shield .
(2) Water is not an effective shield against the sun's more harmful rays.
(3) She hid her true feelings behind a shield of cold indifference.

(1) a copper mine
(2) copper pipes
(3) copper-coloured hair

(1) abstract knowledge/principles
(2) The research shows that preschool children are capable of thinking in abstract terms.
(3) We may talk of beautiful things but beauty itself is abstract.

(1) a jolly crowd/face/mood
(2) a jolly evening/party/time
(3) [不可数名词](old-fashioned)scenes of high-spirits and jollity

(1) an intelligent and lively young woman
(2) a lively and enquiring mind
(3) He showed a lively interest in politics.

(1) friction between moving parts had caused the engine to overheat.
(2) The force of friction slows the spacecraft down as it re-enters the earth's atmosphere.
(3) conflicts and frictions that have still to be resolved

(1) wages of £200 a week
(2) a weekly wage of £200
(3) wage cuts

(1) He used to be a pilot but now he has a desk job .
(2) the check-in desk
(3) the reception desk

(1) The project wasted a considerable amount of time and money.
(2) Damage to the building was considerable.
(3) To be without Pearce would be a considerable blow...

(1) carbon fibre
(2) He inserted the paper and two carbons.
(3) Application: mainly use to shave rust and oil paint.

(1) to pick up/lift/put down/replace the receiver
(2) a satellite receiver
(3) to call in the receivers

(1) Husband and wife were similarly successful in their chosen careers.
(2) The United States won most of the track and field events. similarly, in swimming, the top three places went to Americans.
(3) Most of the men who now gathered round him again were similarly dressed.

(1) the Lord mayor of London
(2) the mayor of New York
(3) mayor Bob Anderson

(1) Is there a university in this town?
(2) Ohio State university
(3) the university of York

(1) She made all the usual excuses.
(2) He came home later than usual.
(3) She sat in her usual seat at the back.

(1) ‘What's so funny ? ’ she demanded.
(2) A funny thing happened to me today.
(3) It's funny how things never happen the way you expect them to.

(1) ...the heavy clay soils of Cambridgeshire...
(2) As the wheel turned, the potter shaped and squeezed the lump of clay into a graceful shape.
(3) Most tennis is played on hard courts, but a substantial amount is played on clay...

(1) The judges awarded both finalists equal points.
(2) The judges awarded equal points to both finalists.
(3) He was awarded damages of £50 000.

(1) continual complaints/interruptions
(2) He was in a continual process of rewriting his material.
(3) We lived in continual fear of being discovered.

(1) She was still half asleep (= not fully awake) when she arrived at work.
(2) The police found him asleep in a garage.
(3) He was so exhausted that he fell asleep at his desk.

(1) She's really in her element at parties.
(2) Are we going to brave the elements and go for a walk?
(3) to be exposed to the elements

(1) The pipes should be made of plastic .
(2) a sheet of clear plastic
(3) the plastic industry

(1) medical advances/care/research
(2) her medical condition/history/records
(3) the medical profession

(1) a sale of the artist's early canvases
(2) Campsites in the New Forest quickly filled up as thousands decided to spend the holiday under canvas.
(3) ...a canvas bag.

(1) a cotton/cloth/steel/paper mill
(2) mill owners/workers
(3) a pepper mill

(1) a period of high demand and correspondingly high prices
(2) A change in the money supply brings a corresponding change in expenditure.
(3) Profits have risen by 15 per cent compared with the corresponding period last year.

(1) They have imprisoned an innocent man.
(2) She was found innocent of any crime.
(3) He was the innocent party (= person) in the breakdown of the marriage.

(1) The boat heeled over in the strong wind.
(2) News of rising unemployment followed hard on the heels of falling export figures.
(3) He fled from the stadium with the police at his heels.

(1) a gas/surgical mask
(2) The robbers were wearing stocking masks.
(3) The kids were all wearing animal masks.

(1) ...the sunniest April in Britain for more than sixty years.
(2) ...a lively widow in her sixties.
(3) In the sixties there were the deaths of the two Kennedy brothers and Martin Luther King.

(1) The Normans conquered England in 1066.
(2) conquered peoples/races/territories
(3) The world champion conquered yet another challenger last night.

(1) The ice cracked as I stepped onto it.
(2) He has cracked a bone in his arm.
(3) Her lips were dry and cracked.

(1) Protesters carried a banner reading ‘Save our Wildlife ’.
(2) ...a large crowd of students carrying banners denouncing the government...
(3) A big banner was draped across one of the streets saying, 'Idaho Falls Says NO to Drugs.'

(1) The committee has little or no understanding of the problem.
(2) The existence of God is beyond human understanding (= humans cannot know whether God exists or not) .
(3) We finally came to an understanding about what hours we would work.

(1) an electric razor
(2) a cut-throat/safety/disposable razor
(3) You must be cautious with the razor.

(1) People were working in the fields.
(2) a ploughed field
(3) a field of wheat

(1) He looked at himself in the mirror .
(2) a rear-view mirror (= in a car, so that the driver can see what is behind)
(3) (British English)a wing mirror (= on the side of a car)