如何通過閱讀外刊積累英文寫作句型？（13）

09-05

來自專欄魏劍峰：當我們在談英語學習時我們在談什麼35 人贊了文章

這是「讀外刊，學英文句型」欄目的第十三期，關於該欄目第一期的說明可以見如何通過閱讀外刊積累英文寫作句型？

1.對……有害

如何表達「某事情對……有害」？最常見的說法是：something will do harm to…/something is harmful to… 除此之外還可以學習下面的表達：

If a reporter discovers, and knows that two or three rival reporters have also discovered, that a politician is going to say something newsworthy, it would be odd, and a disservice to the readers, not to report it.

這句話的大意是如果記者們知道政客接下來要發表有新聞價值的講話，但沒想著去報道，那麼這樣的行為會很奇怪，同時也損害了讀者的利益。這裡可以提取出一個表達be a disservice to somebody/something，意思即「……損害某人/某物（的形象、利益、聲譽等）」。

舉個例子：

Although taking part-time jobs offers a variety of benefits to students, it would be a disservice to them if these jobs take up too much of their time that could otherwise be used for reading textbooks or preparing homework.

同時，該句型的反義表達是do a service to somebody / do somebody a service，例如：

Although academics are important, it is not advisable for students to spend all of their time buried in their books. University students who devote some of their time and energy to extracurricular activities will be doing a service totheir studies and careers.

2.公眾對……很關心

國內考場作文有一個被用濫了的句型 there is widespread concern about… 我們可以從外刊中找到其他句型來替換，比如：

Public concern is picking up. A poll last year of 38 countries found that 61% of people see climate change as a big threat; only the terrorists of Islamic State inspired more fear.

Public concern is picking up. 其中pick up這一片語用得很棒，它在這裡的意思相當於「增加，加強」，可以用 Public concern about/over XX is picking up. 來說明「公眾對於……的擔憂在加強」，例如：

After a series of vaccine scandals, public concern over vaccine safety is picking up.

除此之外，還可以使用下面的句型：

Today, it still has the power to inflame passions: for Protestants, particularly Orangemen, it remains a flaunted source of ancestral pride; for many Catholics, it is an historical irritant.

從這裡可以提取出一個句式something has the power to inflame passions，含義是「某事（通常是有爭議的事件）能夠激起人們強烈的感情」，比如：

Whether animals should be used in medical research has been debated for decades and the topic still has the power to inflame passions, with animal rights activists claiming that humans have no right to use the suffering of others to seek benefits.

3.手段與目的

我們有時候可能需要表達這樣的意思「……只是手段，而不是目的」，用英語應該怎麼說？

The bag ban is not an end in itself. It』s part of a culture change, with more and more people asking questions about the cost of convenience. At heart, it』s a conservative movement – reusing things where you can, making them last, understanding that the greatest power most of us have is consumer power.

這一段話的背景是塑料污染對海洋生物造成了危害，因此有公益組織建議大家停止使用塑料袋。但塑料袋禁令只是手段而不是目的，其根本目的是要喚醒人們的環保意識。第一句中的an end in itself是一個固定用法，含義是「某事物本身就是目的」，舉個例子：

She started exercising for her health, but she enjoyed it so much that exercising became an end in itself.

要表達「……只是手段而不是目的」，即something is not an end in itself，例如：

Economic growth is a means, not an end in itself. The ultimate goal of growth should be to spread benefits to all levels of society.

4.某事情值得懷疑

下面的段落節選自The Economist對於西班牙政局的報道：

A Galician, the Spanish like to quip, is the sort of person you meet on the stairs and you don』t know whether he is going up or coming down. Such ambiguity, or retranca, can make for entertaining and ironic speech, and an attitude of caution, even suspicion. For Mariano Rajoy, the Galician-born Spanish prime minister, playing to this archetype is a way to survive and manage conflicting demands. Whether it is the character trait Spain needs to overcome its agony is open to doubt.

這段文章開頭很有意思，作者引用了西班牙人對加西亞人的調侃（在樓梯上碰到他們時你無法確定他們究竟要上還是下）來說明他們做事風格模糊，令人捉摸不透的特點。通過這一背景介紹很自然地引出了同樣是加西亞地區出身的西班牙首相馬里亞諾·拉霍伊，他通過這種加西亞人式的行事風格來協調各種利益衝突，但這種風格能否幫助西班牙走出困境還是一個未知數。

最後一句話be open to doubt是一個固定表達，含義是「……有待考證，值得懷疑」(If you say that something is in doubt or open to doubt, you consider it to be uncertain or unreliable.) 它更加強調某說法存疑的可能性更大。例如：

(1) Whether minority languages can survive in this increasingly globalized world is open to doubt.

(2) Whether international aid can have a positive impact on the recipient countries is open to doubt.

與此同時，還有一個類似說法something remains to be seen，但該表達更加中立，單純強調某事物目前還無法確定。例如：

Whether humans will be able to colonize Mars in this century remains to be seen.

總結：

本期一共介紹了以下幾個表達：

(1) be a disservice to somebody/something

(2) Public concern is picking up./ have the power to inflame passions

(3) not an end in itself

(4) whether...is open to doubt / remains to be seen