Compound

1. 认识这个词（基础篇）

词：compound

英英释义：to make a difficult situation worse by adding more problems

例句：In romantic relationships, arguing usually compounds problems.

2. 体会这个词 （进阶篇）

“compound”可以作名词、形容词和动词。它作名词一般有“有围墙的建筑群”（比如美国驻华大使馆就经常会自称是 “US embassy compound”）、“混合物”、“复合词”等意思；作形容词意思一般是“复合的”。   

我们今天学习它作动词的用法，表示“使......加剧、使......恶化、雪上加霜”。当我们想表达 make something worse 的时候，我们就可以用更简洁、高级的 compound。我们通过几个例句来掌握 compound 的这层意思。   

他本想用一个善意的谎言来让她息怒，却没想到反而让事情变得更不可收拾。用英语就可以说成：   

He tried to use a white lie to soothe her anger, only to find that he compounded the problem.   

在两性关系中，很多时候讲道理往往只会让问题变得更糟，我们就可以说：   

In romantic relationships, arguing usually compounds problems.   

雅思、托福考试中，我们表述某些论点的时候也可以用到 compound。比如对处于叛逆期的孩子来说，严苛的惩罚方式往往会让他们更叛逆。想表达这个观点就可以说：

Harsh punishment would only compound the situation.

由于《经济学人》经常分析各种时事的发展变化，所以 compound 这个词会经常出现，比如一篇分析全球化变慢的文章中就用到了 compound：

Today’s trade tensions are compounding a shift that has been under way since the financial crisis of 2008-09.

compound 常见的同义词还有 worsen, exacerbate, aggravate 等，掌握了 compound 的用法后，建议查一查它的这几个同义词，增强表达的多样性。

3. 从认识到会用（作业）

1）翻译下面的句子：   

军事行动只会让叙利亚的情况变得更糟。

Military actions would only compound the situation in Syria.

（参考翻译：Military actions would only compound the situation in Syria.）

2）结合自己的生活、学习、工作、兴趣等，想象在什么语境下会用到这个表达。先简要描述这个场景，再造句。

场景：经济

造句：Keynes mused that within a century “the economic problem” would be solved: in rich countries people would be at least four times wealthier, on average, and have to work perhaps 15 hours a week.He looks right about living standards, but horribly wrong about working hours. In the rich world the modern economic problem, the Skidelskys say, is how to live well amid plenty, not how to survive amid scarcity. Yet the west still chases slavishly after ever-higher GDP, a purely material measure that compounds the problem, since it takes no account of the blessings of nature or leisure. Humanity has become insatiable, in short.