The earthquake was a calamity that destroyed the entire town.(这场地震是摧毁整个城镇的灾难。)
The financial crisis brought calamity to many small businesses.(金融危机给许多小企业带来了灾难。)
场景:书面语、新闻报道、文学作品等正式场合。
不幸事件、灾祸的后果
含义:泛指带来严重负面影响的事件或状况。
例句:
The loss of her job was a calamity she struggled to overcome.(失业是她难以克服的不幸。)
三、常见搭配
natural calamity:自然灾害(如地震、洪水)
avoid a calamity:避免灾难
recover from a calamity:从灾难中恢复
a calamity strikes/occurs:灾难发生
the calamity of war:战争的灾难
四、近义词辨析
|-------------|-------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 词汇 | 侧重特点 | 例句对比 |
| calamity | 正式用语,强调 "重大且后果惨重" | The hurricane was a calamity that killed hundreds of people.(飓风是导致数百人死亡的大灾难。) |
| disaster | 通用词,可指各种程度的灾难 | The oil spill was an environmental disaster.(石油泄漏是一场环境灾难。) |
| catastrophe | 语气最强,指 "毁灭性的大灾难" | The earthquake was a catastrophe that left millions homeless.(地震是让数百万人无家可归的大灾难。) |
| misfortune | 侧重 "个人不幸",程度较轻 | Losing her wallet was a misfortune, but not a disaster.(丢钱包是不幸,但不算灾难。) |
五、反义词
blessing(幸事、福气)
prosperity(繁荣、兴旺)
六、实际应用场景
自然灾害:
Governments must prepare for natural calamities like floods and typhoons.(政府必须为洪水、台风等自然灾害做好准备。)
社会与历史:
The Great Depression was a global economic calamity.(大萧条是一场全球性的经济灾难。)
文学与修辞:
The poem describes the calamity of war through vivid imagery.(这首诗通过生动的意象描绘了战争的灾难。)
七、词形拓展
形容词:calamitous(灾难性的)
例:The decision had calamitous consequences for the company.(该决定给公司带来了灾难性后果。)
副词:calamitously(灾难性地)
八、文化与影视中的应用
在《圣经》中,"calamity" 常指上帝降下的惩罚或灾难;
电影《后天》(The Day After Tomorrow)中,全球气候剧变被描述为 "environmental calamity"。
technician-技术人员
threaten - 威胁
The Guardian-卫报(英国的一家媒体)
reveal-揭露
as well as-也
more likely to - prone to
Text 2
1.dramatically
2.insurance
3.coverage
4.aspect
5.debt
The lack of comprehensive insurance coverage leaves many patients with economic difficulties.
With the rise of inflation, household budgets need more adjustments.
The lack of transparency makes it hard for consumers to compare medical costs.
transparent - 透明的
shop around-货比三家
medical insurance - health insurance - 医疗保险
transparency - 透明度-透明性
improving - 改善 -better - 变好
work on - 致力于
financial meltdowns - 财务崩盘-bankruptcy - 破产
trigger - 引起
idea - 意图
premiums - 保险费,会员费
deduct - 扣除,减去
the rise of - ...的兴起
health career - 医疗
out of pocket - 自掏腰包
在英式英语中,也可用 "out of one's pocket" 强调 "自掏腰包",如:He paid the bill out of his own pocket.(他自己掏钱付了账单。)
例句:She managed to magic up a delicious meal from leftover ingredients.(她用剩菜神奇地变出了一顿美味的饭。)Can you magic up a solution to this problem?(你能突然想出这个问题的解决办法吗?)
描述行为或现象的 "过分、不公" :
例:"The company's profits soared while workers were paid scandalously low wages.(公司利润飙升,而工人的工资却低得不像话。)"
在气候危机主题中 :
可用于批判对气候问题的不作为、资源分配不公等,比如:
"Wealthy nations have acted scandalously slow in providing climate aid to vulnerable countries.(富裕国家在向脆弱国家提供气候援助方面行动慢得令人愤慨。)"
(呼应你学习的外刊中 "不同地区受气候危机影响不均" 的内容,强调这种不公的 "令人震惊" 程度)
conglomerate - 企业集团;联合大企业- company - 公司
alongside - 在...旁边,与...一起,与...同时
silos of residents - 孤岛般的居民
常见本义
筒仓;青贮窖:指用于储存谷物、饲料等的筒状建筑物。例如:"Farmers store grain in the silo for future use.(农民把粮食储存在筒仓里以备日后使用。 )"
引申义
孤立的体系(或部门、群体等 ):在商业、管理、社会等领域,用来形容某个相对封闭,与外界交流、协作较少的体系或部门。在气候危机相关的讨论中,这种含义比较常见,因为应对气候危机需要跨部门、跨领域的合作,而 "silo" 现象会阻碍这种协作。比如 "In climate research, breaking down the silos between different scientific disciplines is crucial for comprehensive solutions.(在气候研究中,打破不同科学学科之间的孤立状态对于找到全面的解决方案至关重要。 )"
信息孤岛:指数据信息单元单独存放、不能自动地实现信息共享与交换,需要靠人工与外界进行联系的一种现象。在气候数据管理方面,可能会提到 "We need to avoid creating data silos to ensure effective climate monitoring.(我们需要避免形成数据孤岛,以确保有效的气候监测。 )"
offshore - 离岸的,设立在海外的(主要用于避税)
outsourcing - 外包
shameful - 可耻的
privatisation - 私有化 - private - privatize
quarantine - 隔离(防疫)
editor n编辑 - editorial 社论,官方文章 - edit v编辑
equity - 资产净值;股本;股权;证券
privilege - 特权
priority - 优先权,重点事项
care home - 养老院
prioritise A over B - 优先考虑A而不是B
Text 6
parliament - 议会,国会
moderation - 适度
restraint - 克制
exercise its rights - 行使权力
overwrought - 过度紧张的,过激的
injunction - 禁令
judicial - 司法的
The Monarch - 君王
Text 7
答案选 A。
解析:"Ignoring"(忽视;无视 ),"Ignoring the law"(无视法律 ),符合公司因违反环境法规被罚款是因无视法律的语境;"Resigning"(辞职 )、"Resisting"(抵抗 )、"Upholding"(维护;支持 )代入后语义不通。