這些字你以為沒差

文/英語島教學實驗室

Debug

(X)1. Andrew is rich. Actually, he can probably buy an airline company. Andrew 很有錢,事實上,他大概可以買下一間航空公司。 

(X)2. The common students in the U.S. don't wear uniforms. 一般美國學生不穿制服。 

(X)3. I don't know the accurate time we will arrive at the airport. 我不知道我們抵達機場的準確時間。

(X)4. My main trouble is that my sense of direction is terrible. 我最大的困擾是我的方向感很差。 

(X)5. In these years, I've lost money on the stock market. 這幾年我在股市賠了不少錢。 

(X)6. We have been doing a lot of deep research.我們進行了許多深入的研究。

Debugged
(O)1. Andrew is rich. In fact, he can probably buy an airline company.
In fact和actually其實有差別,in fact用來補充說明前面的那句話,actually則是用來修正前面說的那句話,例如:People think that he's rich, but he actually is going bankrupt. 

(O)2. The average student in the U.S. doesn't wear a uniform. Most students in the U.S. don't wear uniforms. 「common people」過去指低下階層的人,地位比皇室,貴族, 紳士階級低。雖然現在不再這樣用,還是帶了些許負面意涵, 假如你說「That guy is common looking」,意思是「那人長得 不怎麼樣」。因此用average比較好,指平均狀況,或是most students,指大多數學生。

(O)3. I don't know the exact/precise time we will arrive at the airport.
accurate指的是一件事情作的準確度,是計算上的正確,但是到 達的實際/確切時間要用exact或precise。

(O)4. My main problem is that my sense of direction is terrible.
不要被中文誤導了,方向感差是讓人頭痛的問題,要用problem。

(O)5. In recent years, I've lost money on the stock market. 
In these years是「這些年來」,特別要說近幾年應該用recent。

(O)6. We have been doing a lot of extensive research. 
deep是深,不是深入,研究可以用extensive,廣泛來形容,或是詳盡、完整就用thorough。

收錄於英語島 2015年9月號
訂閱雜誌

 

專欄最新文章