每日一词 144 | U-turn

1. 这是个什么词？

词：U-turn

英英释义：a complete change of ideas, plans etc

例句：In the past two years, the local government has been utterly inconsistent with its policies, making various U-turns.

2. 为什么选这个词？

“U-turn”是可数名词，本意是“掉头、转弯”，可以引申为“改变”。开车时“掉头”的英文就是 make a U-turn，所以这个词一点都不难记。U-turn 的引申义“改变”相比 change 更强调改变的彻底性，因此是个非常形象、准确的单词。虽然这个词看起来有点不正式，但在口语和一般的写作中都可以使用。我们来看几个例子。

在过去两年里，这个地方政府的政策一点都不连贯，总会有各种改变，就可以说：

In the past two years, the local government has been utterly inconsistent with its policies, making various U-turns.

如果你想要成为一名受人尊重的领导人，你应该避免过多的决策大转弯，我们可以说：

If you want to be a respected leader, you had better avoid making too many U-turns when making decisions.

不少人批评这个欧洲政府在移民政策问题上出尔反尔， 可以这么写：

Many critics accuse the European government of doing a sudden U-turn on its promise to take in more immigrants.

《经济学人》在说到变化时常会用 U-turn，比如下面这两句：

1) Earlier this year, AMD forced Intel to make a U-turn in its 64-bit-chip strategy.

2) A year later, following the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the markets made a U- turn.

3. 怎样学会使用这个词？

1）翻译下面的句子：

他的观点发生了 180° 大转弯，决定和前妻复婚。

He has made a U-turn and decided to remarry with his ex-wife.

（参考翻译：He has made a U-turn and decided to remarry his divorced wife. 或 He has made a U-turn, deciding to remarry his ex-wife.）

2）造句：

Since the semester, my child has made a U-turn in learning attitudes.