每日一词 114| navigate

1. 这是个什么词？

词：navigate

英英释义：to understand or deal with something complicated

例句：People are willing to pay large sums of money to immigration lawyers because they can help them navigate the complex immigration system.

2. 为什么选这个词？

“navigate”是动词，基本意思是“导航、指路、驾驶”，还可以引申为“理清、弄明白”。我们今天学习它的引申义。作引申义讲，navigate 的出现频率不算特别高，但这个用词很精准，它后面一般接专业度很高、比较复杂的领域（比如移民、置地、信托等）。我们来看几个例句。

人们愿意支付大笔移民律师费是因为律师可以帮忙弄明白复杂的移民系统，就可以说：

People are willing to pay large sums of money to immigration lawyers because they can help them navigate the complex immigration system.

买房流程复杂，常常让人一头雾水，于是许多人愿意花钱找房屋中介来帮忙。根据这个场景我们可以用 navigate 造句说明房屋中介的主要工作：

Realtors/Estate agents can make a decent living because they can help new home-buyers navigate the complex and often confusing process of purchasing a property.

《经济学人》一篇关于家族办公室（family offices; FOS）的文章中有这么一句：

Advisers from banks and consultancies are also jostling to help FOS navigate what many consider their biggest challenge: ensuring a smooth transition to the next generation.

从这句中也可以看出，帮助家族办公室顺利过渡到下一代是专业性很强的工作。

《经济学人》一篇关于身份识别的文章中有这么一段：

For several months this year, students from Johns Hopkins University and members of Living Classrooms, a local NGO, operated an “identity clinic” for anyone who walked in. Visitors tended to be ex-convicts who had lost their documents. Some were homeless, some were recovering addicts. A few were all three. Volunteers helped them navigate the bureaucracy required to regain recognition.

对有前科的犯人、无家可归者和瘾君子来说，想要自己弄明白如何重新获得身份是件繁琐、复杂的事情，因此训练有素的志愿者就可以发挥价值了。navigate the bureaucracy 就体现了繁琐和复杂性。

3. 怎样学会使用这个词？

1）翻译下面的句子：

因为书单异常晦涩，只有一半的人完成了阅读作业。

（参考翻译：Only half the students completed the assignment because the reading list was unusually obscure to navigate.）

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。

例子： Although the decision leaves me in a peculiar predicament, I will navigate through the diffuculties somehow. (尽管这个决定让我陷入窘境，但接下来的这几天还是会找到办法的)

场景 ：navigate 这个熟词生意可以理解为“找到正确的（应对困境）方法、找到正确的行动方向”navigate through+n，总体用法有点像“manage to do”“设法做成某事”吧