“panacea”是名词,注意它的发音是/ˌpanəˈsiːə/,重音在后面。意思是“解决某些问题的万灵丹、灵丹妙药”,我们可以用它来替换“a perfect solution”。不管是四六级考研作文,还是托福、雅思、GRE 作文,涉及到“问题”时,都可以用到这个词。英英释义:something that people think will make everything better and solve all their problems
例句:
① 很多问题复杂、棘手,没有完美的解决方案,比如美国的移民问题、日本的人口问题、中国的环境问题等。我们可以使用“There is no panacea for X problems”的句式来表达“x问题没有完美的解决方案”:
There is no panacea for America's immigrant problems.
There is no panacea for Japan's population problems.
There is no panacea for China's environment problems.
②《经济学人》中经常可以看到 “panacea”。因为《经济学人》不仅仅是报道新闻,它还会深入分析问题,并且提出解决方案。比如在关于非洲科技创新的文章中,就出现了 panacea:
Yet there is also reason to hope that even if technology is not a panacea, it can still help reduce some of the costs and frictions of doing business in Africa.
比如一篇讨论全球气候变化应对方案的文章中,也出现了 panacea:
Taxes on carbon, though not a universal panacea for the problems of climate change, would be a reform in the right direction, too.
我们还可以从这个句子中提炼出一个好用的句式:
X(某个解决方案), though not a universal panacea for the problems of Y, would be a reform/change/step in the right direction.
当我们想表示“某个解决方案虽然不够完美,但是也能奏效”时,就可以直接套用上面这个句型。
比如,想要表达“虽然鼓励乘坐公共交通出行并不能解决全部的交通拥堵问题,但政府仍旧应该鼓励”,就可以写成:
Encouraging residents to use more public transportation, though not a universal panacea for the problems of traffic jam, would be a change/step in the right direction.
从这个单词的英文释义和例句中,可以观察到三点:
1)panacea 是可数名词,但一般使用单数形式;
2)panacea 后面常接的表示“问题”的名词,而且常用复数形式,比如 problems/ills;
3)panacea 前面一般会和 no/not/never 这样表示否定的词连用。
(1) 翻译
很多 CEO 希望能够找到解决企业所有问题的万能药。
Many CEOs hope they can find the panacea for all the company's problems.
Many CEOs wish they could find the panacea for all corporate ills.
The panacea for all corporate ills would be hopeful thing for many CEOs
(2)场景:朋友给我的提议虽不是灵丹妙药,但也助我在正确的道路上更进一步。
造句:My friend's suggestions are not a panacea for me, but they are a step in the right direction.