【正确答案】：
RELATIVE SYNONYMS ALWAYS DIFFER IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SYNONYMS BOIL DOWN TO THREE AREAS: DENOTATION, CONNOTATION, AND APPLICATION.
DIFFERENCE IN DENOTATION. FOR GROUP(1), THESE SYNONYMS DIFFER IN DEGREE OF INTENSITY. WANT IS THE MOST GENERAL AND HAS THE WIDEST RANGE OF MEANING WHILE WISH AND DESIRE ARE MUCH NARROWER IN SENSE. AS FAR AS INTENSITY IS CONCERNED, BOTH ARE STRONGER THAN WANT AND DESIRE THE STRONGEST OF ALL.
DIFFERENCE IN CONNOTATION. MANY SYNONYMS HAVE CLEAR AFFECTIVE VALUES. FOR GROUP (2), RESULT IS NEUTRAL, NEITHER APPRECIATIVE NOR DEROGATORY. CONSEQUENCE, HOWEVER, ALWAYS HAS A NEGATIVE IMPLICATION.
DIFFERENCE IN APPLICATION. MANY WORDS ARE SYNONYMOUS IN MEANING BUT DIFFERENT IN USAGE IN SIMPLE TERMS. FOR GROUP (3), EMPTY AND VACANT ARE SYNONYMS, BUT THEIR COLLOCATIONS ARE
NOT THE SAME. WE MAY SAY EMPTY BOX, EMPTY ROOM, BUT VACANT SEAT, VACANT APARTMENT. EMPTY IMPLIES THAT THERE IS NO ONE OR NOTHING INSIDE WHILE VACANT SUGGESTS THAT SOMETHING OR SOME PLACE IS NOT OCCUPIED.
【题目解析】：相对同义词是有区别的。同义词的区别主要表现在3个方面：外延；内涵和应用。1）外延上的区别。例如第(1)组词，这些同义词在强弱程度上有区别。want是最普通的词义，词义宽泛，而wish和 desire的词义范围小一些。就语义强弱程度而言，wish和desire比want要强，而desire的语义最强。2）内涵上的区别。许多同义词都有明确的感情色彩。例如第(2)组词，result是中性词，不褒不贬；而consequence经常暗含了贬义。3）应用上的区别。许多词在意义上是同义词，但在简单用语中用法却不同。例如第(3)组词，empty和vacant是同义词，但是它们的常用搭配却不同，例如empty box，empty room，vacant seat，vacant apartment，所以empty表示里面没有人或物，vacant表示某物或某地未被占用。