這是“讀外刊，學(xué)英文句型”欄目的第二十四期，關(guān)于該欄目第一期的說(shuō)明可以見如何通過(guò)閱讀外刊積累英文寫作句型？

1.一個(gè)舉例句型

下面節(jié)選的句子來(lái)自The Economist關(guān)于印度互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的報(bào)道India’s new Jiography

For a glimpse of how the internet is taking hold in India, catch one of Mumbai’s double-decker buses. Even at rush hour, when people pack so tightly into the ancient vehicles that it is difficult for the conductors to collect fares, and stragglers hang out of the open door, commuters still find space to get out their mobile phones.

這段話的大意是：要想感受互聯(lián)網(wǎng)如何在印度發(fā)展壯大，只需要坐上孟買一輛雙層巴士就可以了，看看乘客們都在干什么。盡管車上非常擁擠，但很多乘客還是想辦法掏出了手機(jī)。

第一句話有一個(gè)值得關(guān)注的句式：For a glimpse of A, do B 含義是：要想看看……只需要…… 這是一個(gè)舉例句式，可以通過(guò)B來(lái)對(duì)A進(jìn)行說(shuō)明。舉個(gè)例子，目前全球變暖對(duì)環(huán)境造成了影響，要想看看這些影響有多大，去北極感受一下就行：

For a glimpse of how global warming changes the environment, go to the Arctic, a region that has seen the rapid melting of ice caps in the past 20 years.

2.替換掉take…for example

考場(chǎng)作文中一想到舉例很多人會(huì)寫 take…for example，比如take China for example/take my friend for example，但實(shí)際上for example這一部分可以刪掉，直接寫take something就可以，而且這一寫法在地道英文中更為常見。例如：

Lots of couples have problems in the first year of marriage. Take Ann and Paul.

除此之外，還可以使用下面的舉例句式：

The concentration of reams of personal data in one place makes serious leaks more likely. One example is the recent scandal at Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy that acquired data on 87m Facebook users in underhand ways (and as a result went out of business).

這段話的背景是目前大平臺(tái)聚集了大量的用戶數(shù)據(jù)，這會(huì)增加信息嚴(yán)重泄露的概率，比如之前鬧得沸沸揚(yáng)揚(yáng)的臉書數(shù)據(jù)泄露事件。這里作者在舉例時(shí)用的句式是：One example is…a political consultancy that... 這一句式很簡(jiǎn)單，但很少見到考生使用。下次在舉例時(shí)可以用該句式來(lái)代替take…for example，例如：

The best way to deal with traffic problems in the city is through congestion charge. Take London for example. It charges motorists a certain amount of money for driving a vehicle within the charging zone during the rush hour, thereby discouraging driving and reducing the number of cars on the road.

可以改為：

The best way to deal with traffic problems in the city is through congestion charge. One example is London, which charges motorists a certain amount of money for driving a vehicle within the charging zone during the rush hour, thereby discouraging driving and reducing the number of cars on the road.

3.以小見大

下面的句子選自The Guardian文章Babies and jobs: no easy choices

Women trying to juggle family responsibilities and their working lives are suffering from 'role strain' despite improved childcare and more positive attitudes towards working mothers over the past decade. The finding comes from a report by the National Family & Parenting Institute, which offers a snapshot of family life in Britain today, and charts how families and the parents' roles have changed since 1994.

這段話的大意是英國(guó)國(guó)家家庭與教育研究機(jī)構(gòu)的研究結(jié)果表明很多女性很難平衡家庭和職場(chǎng)。第二句有這樣的說(shuō)法：...which offers a snapshot of family life in Britain today… 即“……提供了當(dāng)前英國(guó)家庭生活的一個(gè)剪影”。其中snapshot原本是指“快照，抓拍的照片”，它可以引申為“（某事物的）大致情況”。

我們可以用XX offers a snapshot of… 來(lái)說(shuō)明我們可以通過(guò)某個(gè)比較小的事物來(lái)了解事情的總體情況，即“以小見大”。例如：

(1) A tour into downtown Shanghai gives you a snapshot of the life of China's middle class citizens.

(2) The Great Gatsby gives us a snapshot of America's Gilded Age, a period of great economic expansion and gross materialism.

4.逐漸演變成……

下面的句子選自The Economist文章Saltires and smears

What started as an investigation into Mr Salmond’s conduct has snowballed into a political scandal that threatens to undermine Nicola Sturgeon, his successor as first minister, and to damage the cause of Scottish independence.

上面這句話的意思是：一場(chǎng)本來(lái)只是針對(duì)薩爾蒙德先生行為的調(diào)查已經(jīng)演變成一場(chǎng)政治丑聞，這場(chǎng)丑聞可能會(huì)危及他的首席大臣繼任者尼古拉·斯特金，以及損害蘇格蘭獨(dú)立大業(yè)。

句子中snowball 的動(dòng)詞用法很形象，它原本是指“雪球”，這里引申為“（規(guī)模、程度等像滾雪球般）不斷擴(kuò)大”。同時(shí)還有一個(gè)值得注意的句式：What started as…h(huán)as snowballed into… （本來(lái)只是……后面演變成……）。這一句型在地道英文中經(jīng)常可以見到，例如外媒在報(bào)道加州森林大火時(shí)用了這樣的說(shuō)法：What started as a tiny brush fire became the state’s deadliest wildfire.

值得注意的一點(diǎn)是，該句型一般用于描述事物向壞的方向發(fā)展。例如一些科學(xué)發(fā)明在一開始是好的，但在后面可能會(huì)往意想不到的方向發(fā)展，我們可以說(shuō)：

Technology is a two-edged weapon. What starts as a useful invention may turn into an agent for brutality and destruction. The nuclear bomb is a case in point.

總結(jié)：

本期一共介紹了以下幾個(gè)表達(dá)：

(1) For a glimpse of A, do B

(2) One example is…

(3) XX offers a snapshot of…

(4) What started as…h(huán)as snowballed into…