http://www.collinslanguage.com/wordbanks/

三、柯林斯英语语料库（the Bank of English）有关说明

What is a corpus?

A corpus is a collection of samples of language which are then used for analysis of words, meanings, grammar and usage. Collins Word Web consists of many corpora which are carefully designed to reflect a balanced snapshot of how language is used today.

Collins corpora are constantly updated with new data from a wide variety of sources such as newspapers, magazines, websites, journals, books, television and radio. International, national and local publications are included to capture a broad range of subject matter and style.

Our corpora are used in the creation of all Collins dictionaries, ensuring that the language in our dictionaries is real and current: as it is used and spoken every day.

What languages are available?

The English corpus contains 550 million words from a wide range of texts from various sources, both written and spoken, and accounts for no less than 8 varieties of English. The majority of sources in the corpus date from between 2001 and 2005 making it one of the most current corpora available for subscription.

What can Collins do with the help of corpora?

a. Check evidence for new senses of existing words and terms

b. Research phraseology, enabling lexicographers to select typical illustrative examples for our users

c. Gain an overview of the word in its linguistic environment, to ensure that definitions and translations can be tested in all contexts with no possibilities overlooked