ability;capacity;faculty;talent;skill;competence;aptitude.

　　These nouns denote the qualities in a person that permit or facilitate achievement or accomplishment.

　　这些名词都表示某人具有取得进步或成功的素质。

　　Ability is the power，mental or physical，to do something.

　　Ability是指智力或体力上具有做某事的能力.。

　　“To make a fortune some assistance from fate is essential. Ability alone is insufficient”(Ihara.Saikaku).

　　“要致富，光靠能力是不够的，还得看机遇”(伊哈拉.塞科古)。

　　Capacity refers to an innate potential for growth，development，or accomplishment.

　　Capacity 指天赋的，如生长、发展或成功的潜力。

　　“Not by age but by capacity is wisdom acquired”(Plautus).

　　“智慧的获得是依靠才能而不是年龄”(普洛提斯)。

　　Faculty denotes an inherent power or ability.

　　Faculty指内在的力量或能力。

　　An unerring faculty for detecting hypocrisy is one of her most useful attributes.

　　能无误地看出伪善的能力是她身上最有用的特征之一。

　　Talent emphasizes inborn ability，especially in the arts.

　　Talent强调天生的才能，尤其是在艺术方面。

　　“There is no substitute for talent. Industry and all the virtues are of no avail”(Aldous Huxley).

　　“勤奋及其他的品质都不能弥补天分的不足”(阿尔多斯。赫胥黎)。

　　Skill stresses ability that is acquired or developed through experience.

　　Skill强调由经验而获得或发展的能力。

　　“The intellect，character and skill possessed by any man are the product of certain original tendencies and the training which they have received”(EdwardL.Thorndike).

　　“任何人的知识、性格和能力都是由起初的兴趣加上后来接受的训练而得到的。”(爱德华L.桑戴克)。

　　Competence suggests the ability to do something satisfactorily but not necessarily outstandingly well.

　　Competence指能做到使人满意但并不一定特别出众的能力。

　　The concerto was performed by a violinist of unquestioned competence but limited imagination.

　　小提琴家所演奏的协奏曲毫无疑问是出色的，但是缺乏想像力。

　　Aptitude implies inherent capacity for learning，understanding，or performing.

　　Aptitude暗指内在的学习、理解和表演的才能。

　　Even as a child he showed an unusual aptitude for mathematics.

　　甚至孩童时他就显露出非同一般的数学才能形容词complete和perfect虽然都有“完全的”含义，但并非同义词，在许多情况下它们只是词义相近而已。

　　complete的含义是“完整无缺的”、“圆满的”。He is a complete stranger to me.

　　我一点也不认识他。(可以和perfect换用)

　　Before long，the noise dropped completely.不久，那轰鸣声就完全消失了。

　　perfect不仅可表示“完整无缺”、“完全”或“纯粹”，而且含有“完美无缺”、“匀称”或“健全”的含义，总之它可以表示“尽善尽美”。由上可见，perfect可以表示complete 的含义，而complete只能表示perfect的一部分含义。但是，a complete stranger和a perfect stranger没有什么差异，complete happiness和perfect happiness都表示了“美满的幸福”。

　　But as they soon discovered，disguises can sometimes be too per fect.

　　正象他们不久就发现的那样，化装效果有时可能太完美无缺了。

　　It is a perfect alibi.这完全是在开脱罪责。

　　It's a perfect stranger here.我在这里完全是个陌生人。(可以换用complete)

　　注：perfect的同义词有whole，entire;complete的同义词有full，plenary.

　　complete，close，end，finish，conclude，terminate These verbs mean to bring or to come to a natural or proper stopping point.

　　这些动词都是指达到一个自然或适当的终点。

　　Complete suggests the final stage in bringing an undertaking to fruition.

　　Complete暗指取得成功的最后一步。

　　“Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime”(Reinhold Niebuhr).

　　“我们这辈子连一件有意义的事也没完成”(莱因霍尔德。尼泊赫)。

　　Close applies to the ending of something ongoing or continuing.

　　Close指正在进行的事件接近终点。

　　The orchestra closed the concert with an encore.交响乐团在再来一次的欢呼声中结束了音乐会。

　　If there is a further falloff in ticket sales，the play will close.

　　如果门票销售进一步下跌，这个剧目就会停演。

　　End emphasizes finality.

　　End强调结果。

　　We ended the meal with fruit and cheese.我们最后吃的是水果和奶酪。

　　“Where laws end，tyranny begins”(William Pitt).

　　“哪里没有法制，暴政就从哪里开始”(威廉姆。皮特)。

　　Finish is sometimes interchangeable with complete.

　　Finish有时可与complete互换。