（2010 扬州））—Angela， you are going to buy a flat here, aren’t you?  

                 —Yes, but I can’t _________　an expensive one.

                A. spend   B. cost  C. pay  D. afford

问题：这四个词的区别

答：首先这样出题有点无聊，在搞脑子。

解决问题的办法很多，如在百度上搜，请看链接：http://alana22.blog.163.com/blog/static/1241846902010322782462/

spend/ pay/ cost/ take 都有花费的意思，但用法不同，区别如下

spend(spent,spent)   pay(paid,paid)    cost(cost,cost)     take(took,taken)

1. spend( 主语是人)

    spend+ 时间/钱+ on sth.        eg. I spent 100 yuan on the dictionary.

    spend+时间/钱+ (in) doing sth.   eg.He spends an hour doing his homework every day.

2.pay(主语是人) pay + (钱)+for sth.  eg. Sandy paid 10 yuan for the pen.

3.cost(主语是物)   eg. The pen cost Sandy 10yuan.

4.take(常跟在形式主语It 后, 或一件事做主语,只能表示花时间，不能表示花钱)

eg. It took them two hours to get to the city centre by underground.

   The trip from their school to the museum took them two hours by bus.

5.afford 支付得起 主语是人，afford sth.       afford to do sth.  

链接中考：

1.It will ________us several years to learn a foreign language well.

A. cost  B.take  C.spend  D.use

2. How much did the new skirt ______ you?

A. cost  B.take  C.spend  D.pay

3.- What about going to the concert this weekend?

  -Sounds great,but the ticket is too expensive,I can't ________it.

A.spend  B.cost  C.pay  D afford

答案B A D

再看一下朗文字典的解释

af‧ford S1 W3 [transitive]

can/could afford[usually negative]

a) to have enough money to buy or pay for something

afford [to do] something

We can't afford to go on vacation this year.

I couldn't afford the rent on my own.

How can she afford to eat out every night?

b) to have enough time to do something:

Dad can't afford any more time off work.

c) if you cannot afford to do something, you must not do it because it could cause serious problems for you

afford to do something

We can't afford to wait any longer or we'll miss the plane.

蓝色的字是用法 afford sth/afford to do sth, 红色的字（我特意标注）是英文解释，大家以后尽量看英文的解释，少掺和中文，对你以后的学习有利。It is easy to understand , isn’t it?