“mean”作動詞除了“意思是”外，還常用來表示“意味著”“產(chǎn)生......的結(jié)果”。想表達“A 事件意味著/導(dǎo)致某種情況”時，就可以想到使用 mean，這也是外刊中常見的用法。這個意思看似簡單，但很多英語學(xué)習(xí)者可能并沒有掌握。我們來通過幾個例句掌握這個用法。
A meager salary?means?that the family has to choose between paying rent and buying groceries.
The pouring rain?means?that the football match will be canceled. ?
從以上例句可以看出，mean 后面常接從句。它也可以直接接名詞短語或者動名詞。比如
A promotion doesn't necessarily mean a pay raise. (mean 后直接接名詞）
His new job at a consulting firm will mean traveling all over the country.（mean 后接動名詞，注意這種用法出現(xiàn)頻率較低） ? ??
需要注意的是，“mean”作“意味著”“產(chǎn)生...的結(jié)果”時沒有進行時。也就是說，不會說“something is meaning...”，只會說“something means that/doing something...”。
He argues that his firm’s unusually high level of integration of its various businesses and technology?means?it can produce more efficiently than its peers.
But the rest of Asia may be harder to crack. For one thing, a warm climate in several countries?means?that UNIQLO cannot rely on its cold-weather products as a main driver of sales. ? ?
翻譯：經(jīng)濟非常不景氣，這意味著大量公司不得不采取裁員。
大家目前水平可能寫出的句子：The bad economy means that a large amount of companies have to fire their employees.
高級一些的版本：The troubled economy means that many companies will resort to layoffs.
這兩個版本的最大區(qū)別在于“nominalization”即名詞化。水平一般的同學(xué)，在寫作的時候習(xí)慣用動詞?companies have to fire their employees，但是在寫作當(dāng)中，名詞化現(xiàn)象比較多，區(qū)別于動詞比較多的口語表達?many companies will resort to layoffs。
