Ｕｎｉｔｓ１－２相似词语辨析

段瑞敏

1.discover, invent, find与look for

(1)discover“发现”，强调发现以前一直存在但未被人所知的事物。eg:

The islands were discovered by an English Army captain.

这些岛屿是一位英军上校发现的。

(2)invent“发明”，指创造出以前没有的东西。eg:

Printing was first invented by the Chinese.

印刷术是中国人首先发明的。

(3)find“发现”，与discover意思相近，多数情况下可互换,find比discover用得更普遍，偏重寻找的结果，是终止性动词。指重大发现时常用discover。eg:

She finds the film quite attractive. 她发现那部电影挺吸引人的。

Jack found a wallet on the sidewalk the other day.

几天前杰克在人行道上发现了一个钱包。

(4)look for意为“寻找”，多指寻找丢失的物品、人、地方等，强调寻找的动作与过程，是持续性动词。eg:

She looked everywhere for the necklace. 她到处找那条项链。

2.disease, illness与sickness

(1)illness和sickness是最普通的词，两者均指健康状况坏的某一情形，无论是长久的或短暂的，两词可以交换使用，但sickness可能更常用一些，它有时专指“恶心，想吐”。而illness的语义则比较通俗。eg:

The farmer was overcome with sickness shortly after eating the contaminated food. 这个农夫吃过污染的东西后不久就病倒了。

It is an illness that can result in total blindness if you leave untreated. 你如果不治疗，这种病可能会使你完全失明。

(2)sickness暗示暂时的不适，而illness则暗示较长时间的困扰，损及正常功能，而不是停止正常功能。eg:

Sudden sickness kept her in bed for two weeks.

突然的疾病使她卧床两星期。

Long illness makes his mother very miserable.

长期的疾病使他妈妈痛苦万分。

(3)sickness表示急病的原因是外在的，而illness则表示内部的虚弱与功能的失调，凡一切心理的病症皆可用illness表示。eg:

One of the reasons that cause the growing incidence of mental illness is watching unhealthy films.

引起精神病增多的原因之一就是看不健康的影片。

(4)disease病；疾病；危害。广泛适用于任何种类的健康不佳。指某种疾病时为可数名词，用来表示对疾病的通称时为不可数名词。eg:

Some skin diseases are difficult to treat. 有些皮肤病很难治疗。

The business of doctors is to prevent and cure disease.

医生的职责是防病与治病。

3.give away, give out, give in与give up

(1)give away意为“赠送，分发，丧失，泄露”。eg:

He gave away all his money to the poor children.

他把自己所有的钱都送给了穷人家的孩子。

His voice gave him away. 他的声音使他露馅了。……