每日一词-cause

这是什么词?

词:cause

英英释义:a reason for having particular feelings or behaving in a particular way

例句:High unemployment rates are cause for worry.

为什么选这个词?

“cause”是名词,它最基本也是很多学习者最熟悉的意思是“原因(cause and effect)”,不过它也可以用来表示“理由”。过去一个月中,《经济学人》每一期中都有“cause”的这个用法,可见它有多么高频。我们可以在写作中用它来替换 reason。

注意,cause 表示“理由”时,是不可数名词,前面不要加a/an。它最常见的搭配有be/give cause for concern/celebration/alarm。来看其中几个例子。

在一篇关于巴西总统选举的文章中有这么一句:

The early signals give cause for both hope and worry.(这里的 give 也可以换成 are)

如果我们想表达某个东西让我们喜忧参半,就可以用“give cause for both hope and worry”。

由于媒体报道的问题一般要比好事多,所以我们在阅读中见到“cause for worry/concern/alarm”的几率要比“cause for celebration”高。最近一篇关于拉美政治的文章中也有一句:

Latin Americans are increasingly dissatisfied with politics in their countries. That is cause for worry.

再来看财经版块一篇文章中的这句:

The narrowing gap between bonds and stocks is grounds for anxiety, but not yet cause for alarm.

这句写得特别漂亮,句式工整,表述简洁。从中可以看出 anxiety 和 alarm 之间的程度差异;也可以顺便学到 ground 作复数可以表示“理由”,和我们今天学习的 cause 意思相同,两者经常可以互换。在阅读中要多多留意和积累这种同义替换,一石二鸟,高效学习词汇。

3. 怎样学会使用这个词?

1)使用《牛津英语搭配词典》查“cause”,了解它的常用搭配。
cause for
There is no cause for alarm.
The patient’s condition is giving cause for concern.
The present political climate gives little cause for optimism.
have (good) cause to do something
His father has good cause to be proud of him.
with/without good cause
Many people are worried about the economy, and with good cause.

2)翻译下面的句子:

用户对互联网公司对用户数据的使用越来越不满,这令互联网巨头忧心忡忡。
Internet Titan have good cause to worry since users are increasingly dissatisfied with their usage of the customer data.

(参考翻译:Users are increasingly dissatisfied with how Internet companies treat their data. That is cause for worry. 或者 Internet users grow increasingly discontent with the way their data are treated by Internet companies, which is cause for concern.)

3)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。

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