日常口語(yǔ)交流已經(jīng)較為得心應(yīng)手的你，有沒(méi)有一個(gè)苦惱？那就是你的詞匯量似乎還停留在“小學(xué)生”階段，說(shuō)的時(shí)候腦海里瞬間浮現(xiàn)的就是那么幾個(gè)單詞、短語(yǔ)。常常使用同樣的表達(dá)，別說(shuō)聽(tīng)的人，可能連自己都會(huì)覺(jué)得乏味而尷尬。

一種語(yǔ)言的魅力正在于它的豐富的內(nèi)涵和變化。英語(yǔ)表達(dá)的多樣性主要包括兩個(gè)方面，一是單詞和短語(yǔ)的多樣性，比如優(yōu)缺點(diǎn)的表達(dá)，學(xué)渣可能會(huì)說(shuō)advantages and disadvantages，學(xué)霸會(huì)說(shuō)pros and cons，而學(xué)神就使用了高級(jí)的merits and demerits。另一個(gè)是句式的多樣性，包括陳述語(yǔ)序、倒裝語(yǔ)序、部分倒裝等等。想要完全掌握英語(yǔ)各式各樣的表達(dá)，只怕對(duì)于母語(yǔ)為英語(yǔ)的人來(lái)說(shuō)，也是一種挑戰(zhàn)。今天我們分享的就是一個(gè)Native Speaker 講述英語(yǔ)多樣化表達(dá)帶來(lái)的挑戰(zhàn)。

New Words

spice n.香料，調(diào)味品；趣味，情趣；
insomnia n.失眠；失眠癥；
subtle adj.微妙的；巧妙的；敏感的；
crayfish n.小龍蝦；
angle vi. 垂釣；斜移；彎曲成一角度；從（某角度）報(bào)道；
razor shells n.竹蟶；

Variety is the spice of life, and because many words of modern English come from lots of different sources, French, German, Nordic languages, Latin, Spanish and even Hindi and Eskimo, speakers and writers have lots of choices when it comes to which words to use.

變化是生活的調(diào)味品，因?yàn)楝F(xiàn)代英語(yǔ)的許多單詞來(lái)自不同的語(yǔ)種，法語(yǔ)、德語(yǔ)、北歐語(yǔ)言、拉丁語(yǔ)、西班牙語(yǔ)，甚至還有印地語(yǔ)和愛(ài)斯基摩語(yǔ)，所以說(shuō)英語(yǔ)的人和英文作家在使用詞匯時(shí)有很多選擇。

For example:
Is this bed hard or solid?
Is he clever / intelligent / bright / smart ...?
This all makes English a rich language, but it can be frustrating.

例如：

這床硬嗎？

他聰明嗎？

這一切都使英語(yǔ)成為一種豐富的語(yǔ)言，但太豐富卻可能讓人沮喪。

My husband occasionally has a restless night, which involves getting up at 3 am and making tea or catching up on the ironing. Does he suffer from sleeplessness or insomnia? I would say sleeplessness because I know he was asleep by 10 pm and that it only happens about once every few weeks. On the other hand, I have been a poor sleeper since I was young; often not falling to sleep until 3 am or even later and then waking up again around 7am. So, I would say I have insomnia. In this case the choice is governed by the degree of sleeplessness. It is a subtle difference, but there is a difference.

我丈夫偶爾會(huì)有一個(gè)不眠之夜，包括在凌晨3點(diǎn)起床，泡茶或熨衣服。他是失眠（sleeplessness）還是患有失眠癥（insomnia）？我會(huì)說(shuō)只是失眠（sleeplessness），因?yàn)槲抑浪砩?0點(diǎn)就睡著了，而且每隔幾周才發(fā)生一次而已。另一方面，我從年輕時(shí)就睡得很差；通常直到凌晨3點(diǎn)或更晚才入睡，然后在早上7點(diǎn)左右醒來(lái)。所以，我想說(shuō)我才有失眠癥（insomnia）。在這種情況下，詞匯的選擇是由失眠的程度決定的。這是個(gè)很細(xì)微的差別，但確實(shí)存在。

It is the same when it comes to describing interests and hobbies. Do you go fishing or angling? The latter is specifically for using a hook and line, but the more general term fishing covers everything, including lying on your stomach and pulling crayfish out of a stream or even catching razor shells on a beach armed with a packet of salt.

描述興趣愛(ài)好也是一樣。你去捕魚（fishing）還是釣魚（angling）?-后者是專門用于描述使用魚鉤和魚線。更通用的捕魚（fishing）則涵蓋了一切，包括趴著從溪中拽出小龍蝦，甚至在海灘上用一包鹽釣到竹蟶。

OMG! I hear you cry. How can you, as a learner, be expected to learn all this? Well, I'll be honest. You can't. It is the sort of knowledge that comes when using the language, in real situations. So, even though it can be confusing, and for a while you may always choose the same word again and again, you will still be understood, and asking someone what something means is a great way of starting a conversation.

天哪！我聽(tīng)見(jiàn)你哭了。作為一個(gè)學(xué)習(xí)者，怎么能被期望學(xué)明白所有這些？好吧，說(shuō)實(shí)話，你不能。這是一種在實(shí)際生活中使用時(shí)才能獲得的知識(shí)。所以，盡管這可能會(huì)讓人感到困擾，并且在一段時(shí)間內(nèi)，你可能會(huì)一遍又一遍地使用同一個(gè)詞，大家會(huì)理解的。而問(wèn)別人某件事的意思是什么，是一個(gè)開(kāi)啟對(duì)話的好方法。

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