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作者 魏劍峰

In The Air

Roger Subirana - X I I

這是“讀外刊，學(xué)英文句型”欄目的第五期，關(guān)于該欄目第一期的說(shuō)明可以見(jiàn)如何通過(guò)閱讀外刊積累英文寫作句型？

1.造成……的原因

議論文寫作中經(jīng)常要表達(dá)這樣的意思：A問(wèn)題是由某幾個(gè)因素引起的，寫成英文是：XX factors lead to / result in A，例如：

Three factors lead to / result in the increase in unemployment rate in this country. First…Second…

這里介紹一個(gè)新的說(shuō)法：

The exponential growth in the power of silicon chips, digital sensors and high-bandwidth communications improves robots just as it improves all sorts of other products. And, as our special report this week explains, three other factors are at play.

上面選段中play是熟詞生義，它的意思是“影響，作用”(the effect or influence of something)，at play是一個(gè)在外刊中很常見(jiàn)的詞組，three other factors are at play 即“有另外三個(gè)因素在起作用”。

寫作中可以用 Two/Three/Several factors are at play in… / Two/Three/Several factors are at play when it comes to… 來(lái)說(shuō)明某問(wèn)題由某幾個(gè)因素引起，例如：

Several factors are at play when it comes to teenage smoking. First, many young people are susceptible to peer pressure. They may pick up smoking to be better liked by more popular peers, or out of fear of losing friends who have already taken up the habit. Second, teenagers are at an impressionable age where they can be easily influenced by adults. Some of them start smoking by imitating adult figures or role models, such as their parents, older siblings, and even celebrities.

此外，關(guān)于play還有另外一個(gè)表達(dá)：bring/put something into play，它的意思是“使某事發(fā)揮作用”。例如：

All the resources and staff available were brought into play to cope with the crisis.

2.基于……的原因

下面給出的這個(gè)句式同樣也與“原因”有關(guān)：

Another firm, MoneyGram of America, accepted an offer of $1.2bn from Ant Financial, but in January the sale was blocked on national-security grounds by America’s watchdog, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US.

上面這段文字的背景是美國(guó)監(jiān)管部門出于國(guó)家安全的考慮，禁止了螞蟻金服對(duì)速匯金的收購(gòu)。其中on…grounds / on grounds of是一個(gè)常見(jiàn)的表示原因的用法，它的意思是“以……為由，基于……的原因”。

該短語(yǔ)通常用在議論文分論點(diǎn)的開頭，用于闡述人們反對(duì)某事物的原因。舉個(gè)例子，轉(zhuǎn)基因目前仍然是一項(xiàng)很有爭(zhēng)議的技術(shù)，一些人反對(duì)轉(zhuǎn)基因，理由是它可能對(duì)我們的健康造成危害。對(duì)于這種情況可以說(shuō)：

While some people support genetically modified food, others oppose this technology on health grounds. They argue that GM crops may produce harmful substances and thus have a negative impact on human health.

3.說(shuō)明一種轉(zhuǎn)折情況

下面出現(xiàn)在The Economist文章中的表達(dá)可以用在轉(zhuǎn)折句中：

The biggest winners all round are likely to be consumers, though with a number of caveats. Four stand out: market concentration, security, privacy and inequality.

這里caveat是一個(gè)比較正式的詞，它的意思是“警告，提醒，告誡”(a warning that something may not be completely true, effective etc)：

caveat通常出現(xiàn)在轉(zhuǎn)折句中，用來(lái)引出不同的看法。在寫關(guān)于事物優(yōu)缺點(diǎn)的文章時(shí)可以使用該句型。

舉個(gè)例子，有一篇作文要求我們分析網(wǎng)上購(gòu)物對(duì)年輕人的好處和壞處。在分析完網(wǎng)購(gòu)的好處之后，可以用caveat來(lái)進(jìn)行轉(zhuǎn)折：

Although online shopping can offer some benefits to young people, there are also a number of caveats that they should bear in mind. First, the convenience of e-commerce may encourage frivolous spending by inducing youngsters to buy more than they need. Second, there is a chance that young people who are already introverted may become ever more alienated from the outside world, as they can buy almost everything they want in the comfort of their home.

4.與……相反

要表達(dá)“A與B截然相反”，一般可以說(shuō)：A is the opposite of B，除了這個(gè)說(shuō)法之外，還可以說(shuō)：

Some airports are known for being the antithesis of elegance.

其中be the antithesis of是一個(gè)固定搭配，含義是“與……截然相反”，它要比the opposite of something更為正式，語(yǔ)氣也更重。

如果要強(qiáng)調(diào)某事物站在某事物的對(duì)立面，可以用上該短語(yǔ)。例如：

(1) Staying up late is the antithesis of healthy living.

(2) Deforestation is the antithesis of environmental protection.

此外，與“對(duì)立，相反”有關(guān)的還有一個(gè)詞組at the opposite end of the scale/spectrum

5.強(qiáng)調(diào)

下面這一句式可以用來(lái)對(duì)事物進(jìn)行強(qiáng)調(diào)說(shuō)明：

India is a land of large numbers: a place of over a billion people, a million mutinies and a thousand different tongues. But it is not too much of a stretch to say that since independence in 1947 there have only been two kinds of Indian economy.

其中stretch是熟詞生義，它來(lái)自stretch the truth這一用法，在這里是指“夸大事實(shí)，言過(guò)其實(shí)”，It is not too much of a stretch to say that… 即“說(shuō)……并不過(guò)分，說(shuō)……并不言過(guò)其實(shí)”。

可以使用該句型來(lái)對(duì)某個(gè)觀點(diǎn)進(jìn)行強(qiáng)調(diào)，例如：

Taobao, a Chinese e-commerce giant, was founded by Jack Ma and his team in the early 2000s, and it is not too much of a stretch to say that Taobao has changed China profoundly since its foundation.

總結(jié)：

這期一共介紹了五個(gè)表達(dá)：

(1) at play

(2) on...grounds / on grounds of...

(3) a number of caveats

(4) be the antithesis of

(5) It is not too much of a stretch to say that...

感興趣的同學(xué)可以對(duì)這些短語(yǔ)句型做造句練習(xí)，以進(jìn)一步加深印象。