原文:http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzI5MzQ0NjMyMw==&mid=2247485294&idx=1&sn=c9cc1eed8c0e534d9b7c1dbbda78610c&chksm=ec70b0b2db0739a4c7c609cfb7372f6b565661b2afa58de83b92a14f968d13d05ee71dedd68c#rd
今天和大家聊一聊写作中经常出现的两种表达:
如何形容某种现象非常普遍?
如何表示某一现象/问题受到公众关注?
一,如何形容某种现象非常普遍?
不管是热点话题还是漫画图表类写作,我们在开头总要描述一下现象,然后写道:这一现象已变得越来越普遍(以凸显问题的严重性)。
我问大家,“这一现象已变得越来越普遍”用英文你能想到哪些表达方式?
最容易想到的是common/popular这个词,比如诚信类作文中我们可能会写:
近几年,考试作弊现象已变得越来越普遍,如何防范这一问题成了热议话题。
翻译成英文是:
Over the past few years, cheating in the exam has become increasingly common, and thus how to prevent it rushed into the forefront of news and other media.
稍微高级一点,我们可以用commonplace这个词。Commonplace是名词,表示“平常的事,司空见惯的事”,常见搭配为:be/become a commonplace 平常,常见。
我们可以把上句话稍作修改:
Over the past few years, cheating in the exam has become a commonplace, and thus how to prevent it rushed into the forefront of news and other media.
或者用become the rule, become routine “成为普遍情况”,相当于become common. 比如“低头族”的话题:
Today, a growing number of youngsters are playing on their phones while walking on the street, with their heads bowed and eyes glued. That has become the rule over the past few years.
当今,街上越来越多的年轻人一边走一边目不转睛的低头玩手机。最近几年,这种现象已变得非常普遍。
a growing number of...指“越来越多的...”,可以替换more and more.
“玩手机”可以说play with the phone, 也可以说play on the phone,但不可以说play the phone.
with their heads bowed and eyes glued做状语成分,修饰youngsters的状态:低着头,目不转睛的盯着手机。
glue用在这里很形象,它的本义是“(用胶水)粘”,这里形容青少年目不转睛的盯着手机屏幕,就像眼睛被胶水粘住一样,体现了青少年对手机的沉迷。
2017年《经济学人》中出现了become routine这一表达:
But if the idea can be applied to industrial practice, then long-lived, self-cleaning surfaces may at last become routine.
不过,假如这个创意能够应用于工业实践,使用寿命长且有自洁功能的表面也许终会变得司空见惯。
最近英国《金融时报》报道了印度的考试作弊现象,并分析了对策。文中出现了一个新的替换:be not new. 原文如下:
Cheating in college admissions, or accusations of it, is not new in India.
在印度,高校入学舞弊,或指控有这种行为,都不是什么新鲜事。
be not new虽然只有三个幼儿园级的小词,但组合起来也是非常地道的搭配。
二,如何表示某一现象/问题受到公众关注?
表示“某一现象/问题受到公众关注”,最先想到的可能是receive (wide) attention或be paid (a lot of / tremendous) attention to,还可以说:可以说 attract attention。
英国《金融时报》出现了一个比较新的表达:with...increasingly in the public eye。原文是这么说的:
But with mass cheating increasingly in the public eye, the authorities are under pressure to act.
但随着大规模作弊行为越来越多地受到公众关注,当局迫于压力采取行动。
with...increasingly in the public eye,没有大词、难词,但搭配起来清新脱俗。该表达最大的亮点是:可以放在句子非主干成份的位置上,让句子容纳更多的信息、并凸显重要信息。
再补充一个表达:has become a tropical subject/issue/theme
tropical本义是“热带的”,这里是熟词僻义,形容某话题“热门的、受到关注的”。比如:
With..., food safety has gradually become a tropical subject.
随着...,食品安全逐渐成为一个热点话题。
注意,“食品安全”的英文是food safety,指食物是否安全,而food security是“粮食安全”的意思,指 粮食够不够多。这点要区分。
最后补充一对:be in the limelight/foreground或come to the foreground.
关于be in the limelight,《柯林斯词典》给出的解释是:If someone is in the limelight, a lot of attention is being paid to them. 受到公众关注。
foreground和background相对,background是“背景”的意思,那么foreground就是“前景”,引申为an important position 瞩目位置,重要位置,be in / come to the foreground就是“受到公众关注”的意思了。比如:
Environmental protection / Food safety / Online security has been very much in the foreground/limelight recently.
...has come very much to the foreground recently.
最近,环保/食物安全/网络安全问题备受关注。
敲黑板:
有关“某种现象非常普遍”的表达:
be/become common/popular
be/become a commonplace
be/become the rule
be/become routine
be not new
有关“受到(广泛)关注”的表达:
receive (wide) attention
be paid (a lot of / tremendous) attention to
with...increasingly in the public eye
be in the limelight/foreground
come to the foreground.
你在读外刊的过程中有没有遇到知识卡片中的表达?如果有,欢迎写在下方留言区,和我们一起分享。我会在今晚10点选出点赞数最高的两位读者,送上6.6元的鼓励红包~
感谢阅读!