20190503 -ridden

1. 认识这个词（基础篇）

词：-ridden

英英释义：full of something unpleasant or bad

例句：The movie is cliché-ridden and full of plot holes.

2. 体会这个词 （进阶篇）

“ridden”是个形容词，表示“充斥着…的”，它也常常被用作后缀使用让表达更加简洁。根据它的英英释义，我们知道 -ridden 的这种用法常常可以用来替换 full of something，to contain a lot of something。另外要注意它前面的名词一般是有负向含义的词，比如 debt/scandal/conflict/crime/superstition 等。

比如我们想吐槽一个电影毫无新意，到处都是陈词滥调和情节硬伤，就可以说：

The movie is cliché-ridden and full of plot holes.

我们可以用 -ridden 来介绍一个地方。比如《新概念英语》第四册第三课在吐槽一个糟糕的旅店时就用到了 -ridden：

Such inns as there were generally dirty and flea-ridden; the food simply local cheese accompanied by bread often twelve months old, all washed down with coarse wine.

flea-ridden 是说这个地方有许多的跳蚤。相应地，如果一个地方有很多蚊子/黑社会/骗子，我们就可以在 - ridden 前面加上名词 mosquito/mafia/fraud 就可以了。

-ridden 也常常用来描写糟糕的境况。比如《经济学人》在描写难民受灾的国家时写到：

Yet with many hailing from poor or conflict-ridden African nations such as Sierra Leone and Cameroon, refugee agencies point out that they have every right to seek asylum in Australia.

《经济学人》在写到阿根廷的时候也用到了 -ridden：

The country is not quite repeating its own crisis-ridden history. Argentina today has a reformist government largely intent on doing the right thing, rather than the populist administrations that blighted its recent past

3. 从认识到会用（作业）

1）翻译下面的句子： 这家债台高筑的公司开始把目光聚焦到海外业务。

The debt-ridden firm is starting to shift its focus to overseas operations.

（参考翻译：The debt-ridden firm is starting to shift its focus to overseas operations. ）

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。

娱乐圈到处充斥着丑闻和潜规则。

The entertainment circles are scandal-ridden and full of hidden rules.