20181030 trade-off

1. 认识这个词（基础篇）

词：trade-off   

英英释义：a balance between two opposing things, that you are willing to accept in order to achieve something.

例句：Deciding which modules to display in the Phenomenal English WeChat menu is a matter of trade-off.

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2. 体会这个词 （进阶篇）

“trade-off”（也可以写成 'tradeoff“）是个可数名词，意思是“权衡”“折中”，也可以根据语境接地气地翻译成“鱼与熊掌不可兼得”。它是来自动词短语 'trade off'，是个非常高频、好用的地道单词，可以在口语和写作中替换“balance”。   

生活中充满了各种折中，我们不可能什么都想要，就可以说： 

Life is full of trade-offs. You cannot have your cake and eat it too. （“You cannot have your cake and eat it too.”是口语中比较常见的英文谚语，表示“鱼与熊掌不可兼得”，可以和“trade-off”一起记忆。） 

使用“trade-off”时，最常见的表达句式是“a trade-off between A and B”。比如，对很多制造商来说，他们必须在质和量之间有所权衡，就可以说：   

There must be a trade-off between quality and quantity for many manufacturers.   

最新一期《经济学人》中一篇关于英国脱欧的文章中有这么一句：   

But leaving the EU inevitably involves difficult trade-offs. （“difficult trade-offs”在这里指英国一旦脱欧，就不得不面对政治和经济的权衡。）

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3. 从认识到会用（作业）

1）翻译下面的句子：   

这个决定是权衡效率和成本后的结果。 

This decision is the result of trade-off between efficiency and cost.

（参考翻译：The decision is a trade-off between efficiency and cost.）   

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。

学会在健康和财富之间取舍

You should learn the trade-off between health and wealth.