早上在地铁上看BBC新闻,读到一篇关于新加坡残疾会冠军叶品秀的新闻,文章简洁明了,有几个句子印象深刻,地道表达值得深挖。
第一句:
But balancing commitments is no easy feat,let alone for a three-time Paralympic champion.
要平衡自己的事业绝非易事,更何况对于一个三届残奥会冠军而言。
先来看commitment这个单词。
第一个意思:awillingness to give your time and energy to something that you believe in, or apromise or firm decision to do something
我们看,其实它表示的一种“意愿”,一种投身于自己的信仰、承诺、决定的意愿。所以词典上解释为:“忠诚;投入;奉献;承诺,保证,诺言”:
看例句:
I'd like to thank the staff for having
shown such commitment.我要对全体员工作出的巨大奉献表示感谢。
写作可用巨型:
She is known chiefly for her commitment toxxx.
以下是一个实例:
GeorgeWashington Carver was born a slave in Diamond Grove, Missouri, around 1864. Heis one of the nation's most famous agricultural scientists.He is best known
for his research on peanuts and his commitment to helping poor Southern African
American farmers.
我们可以模仿改编:
Tu Youyou, a Chinese pharmaceutical chemist, is best known for hercommitment to artemisinin(also known asqinghaosu) and dihydroartemisinin, used to treat malaria, whichsaved millions of lives.
Commitment的另外一个意思是“必作之事”。
看英文释义:somethingthat you must do or deal with that takes your time
例如:family/work
commitments家庭义务/工作任务
I've got too many commitments at the momentto do an evening class.
我眼下要做的事情太多,没时间晚上上课。
再看feat这个词。
英文释义为:somethingdifficult needing a lot of skill, strength, courage, etc. to achieve it
The Eiffel Tower is a remarkable feat of
engineering.
埃菲尔铁塔是工程技术上的一大非凡业绩。
She performed remarkable feats oforganization for the company.
她为办事处所做的组织工作业绩斐然。
看一个feat的成语:
be no mean feat,意为to be a great achievement
Getting the job finished in under a weekwas no mean feat.
一周内就把这项任务完成了,真了不起。
第二句:
By age 12, she ventured into the world ofcompetitive swimming.
Venture可做名词,可做动词。此处做动词,英文释义为:
to risk going somewhere or doing somethingthat might be dangerous or unpleasant, or to risk saying something that mightbe criticized
冒险去(或做);冒昧地说
例句:
As we set off into the forest, we felt as
though we were venturing (forth) into the unknown.当我们动身进入那片森林时,感觉自己似乎正在冒险进入一个未知的世界。
She tentatively ventured the opinion that
the project would be too expensive to complete, but the boss ignored her.她有些犹豫但还是斗胆进言,认为完成那个项目花费太高,但老板不予理睬。
第三句:
Yip also suffers from a nerve conditionthat affects her eyesight. But she remains infectiously optimistic about herlife.
这个句子“infectiously”用得非常棒。本来前一句说她的视力问题,但紧接着第二句说她对生命的乐观。而乐观用了infectiously来修饰,表现了对生命的激情也感染了别人。
Something that is infectious has an effecton everyone who is present and makes them want to join in.
有感染力的;有影响力的
an infectious laugh有感染力的笑声
infectious enthusiasm有感染力的热情
看实例:
Unconditional lover of nature. Passionate about colors. Fascinated by textures,details, shapes and beauty. Such is Catalina Estrada, Colombian illustratorbased in Barcelona since 1999 who has managed to reinterpret the Latin Americanfolklore with its original strength to make it bloom in deep harmony andsimplicity. Her impressive and cheerful visual language, infectiouslyoptimistic, with thousands of colors, and with all the power of nature, goesbeyond borders.
Mu is so infectiously optimistic that he hasbecome a therapist for many of his clients who want to discuss their troubles.Other clients tell him stories that he works into his xiangsheng routines.
第四句:
She is also gearing for Tokyo 2020, whichshe says will be "a very exciting and vibrant event".
在这里gear for很有意思,意思是准备的意思。词典里没有明确的这个搭配。
同意的搭配有:gear up,意思是to make or get ready for a
future event or situation。
看个例子:
Insiders say the senator is gearing up torun for governor.
第五句:
Yip has found tremendous support in herfellow Paralympian Theresa Goh, who herself has racked up world records andmedals.
这里有个短语:rack up,我们看看词典的解释:
mainly US informal to gradually get morepoints, profits, etc.
主要是美国英语,而且是非正式的场合使用,意思是:累计(得分或获利);累积;聚集
He has racked up 450 points in three
months. 3个月内,他已经累积了450分。
Astronomical profits/losses were racked up
by airlines last year.去年各航空公司累计盈利/亏损达到了天文数字。
此外还有个意思:
to increase something such as a rent orprice, especially by an amount that is considered to be too much
(尤指过分地)增加,提高(房租、价格等)
Our landlord racked up the rent by 15percent this year.
我们的房东今年把房租猛涨了15%。