20181212|20181212 alarming 形容词的用法

1. 这是个什么词?

词:alarming

英英释义:making you feel worried or frightened

例句:It is alarming that students spend so much time learning without actually learning something.

2. 为什么选这个词?

“alarming”是形容词,意思是“令人担忧的、使人惊慌的”;它的名词形式是 alarm,本意是“警报、闹钟”。alarming 经常出现在新闻报道中,用来形容某个问题的严重性。和它同义的表达一般还有 worrying 和 disturbing。在 alarming, worrying, disturbing 后面加上 ly 就变成了它们的副词形式,同样常见,我们可以一起掌握。

一种令人担忧的现象是,现在很多孩子在学习上花了很多时间,但其实并没有真正学到什么东西,就可以说:

It is alarming that students spend so much time learning without actually learning something.

在写稀有物种、自然资源在以令人担忧的速度消失时还可以使用“at an alarming rate/speed”这个表达。比如,中华鲟的数量越来越少,非常令人担忧,就可以说:

The Chinese sturgeon is disappearing at an alarming rate.

类似地,亚马逊热带雨林消失的速度让人担忧,可以说:

The Amazon rainforest is disappearing at an alarming rate.

另外,alarming 的副词形式 alarmingly 也很常见。比如,在最新一期《经济学人》Leaders 板块中有一篇关于印度环境污染的文章,它的摘要中就出现了这个词:

Even by the standards of poor countries, India is alarmingly--and unnecessarily--filthy. It needs to clean up.

《经济学人》另一篇写土耳其 #MeToo 运动的文章中有这么一句话:

Domestic violence is alarmingly widespread in Turkey.

当我们想说某个现象很普遍,而这种普遍性令人担忧的时候就可以直接说 alarmingly widespread 了。

3. 怎样学会使用这个词?

1)翻译下面的句子:

美国的自杀率在过去几年有所上升,这尤其令人担忧。

(参考翻译:The US has seen an alarming increase in suicide in the past few years. 或 It is particularly disturbing that suicide has been on the rise in America in the last few years. 或 It is particularly worrying that a growing number of Americans have taken their own lives over the past few years.)

2)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。

例子:
【20181212|20181212 alarming 形容词的用法】场景 :

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