1. 认识这个词(基础篇)
词:shift
英英释义:a slight change in position, direction, or tendency
例句:There has been a marked shift in attitudes towards how to ask qustions in the Phenomenal English community.
2. 体会这个词 (进阶篇)
前面我们学过“shift”作动词表示观点、态度、聚焦点等变化的用法,“shift”做名词也很常见,也可以表示同样的意思。了解它不同词性的用法,可以增强我们表达的多样性。
比如,之前的一个例句是:
最近几年大众对同性恋的态度已经有所改变了。Attitudes to homosexuality have shifted in recent years.
把这里的“shift'改成名词,就可以改写成:
Recent years have seen a shift in attitudes to homosexuality.
注意这个句子中“shift”后面搭配的介词是“in”。除了“a shift in attitude”外,常用的搭配还有:
a shift in public opinion/opinion/perspective
a shift in emphasis/mood/tone
a shift in direction/focus/policy/strategy
比如,经济低迷的时候人们的消费观就会变化,可以这么表达:
With the gloomy economy comes a shift in personal financial focus: people are more careful about spending and tend to spend primarily on truly necessary items.
(这句话中使用了倒装句式,把 comes 提前了,正常语序应该是:A shift comes in personal financial focus with the gloomy economy。)
《经济学人》一篇关于谷歌商业模式的文章中,有几句话正好同时用到了“shift”作名词和动词的用法:
Alphabet has confronted worrisome transitions before, such as the shift from desktop PCs to mobile. Its ad business is still booming, because it devised a way to deliver ads on small screens. It is possible that Google’s ad model could in future shift to taking a fee for each transaction it facilitates.
这句话的意思是:“Alphabet 已经经历过一些令人担忧的过渡,比如从个人台式电脑到移动设备的转变。它的广告业务还很繁荣,因为它设计了一种方法,可以将广告投到很小的屏幕上。在未来谷歌的广告模式很可能转向对自己促成的每一笔交易都收费。”
大家在阅读中要有“温故而知新”的意识,注意一个词的不同词性,以及各自的使用特点。这样在自己写作的时候,就可以写出更灵活、地道的句子。
3. 从认识到会用(作业)
1)复习 “shift”(可点击单词直接跳转)作动词的用法。
2)使用《牛津英语搭配词典》查“shift”,了解它作名词的常用搭配。