如何通过阅读外刊积累英文写作句型？（9）

这是“读外刊，学英文句型”栏目的第九期，关于该栏目第一期的说明可以见如何通过阅读外刊积累英文写作句型？

1.对……人们有不同意见

The Economist最近在商业板块推出了一个全新专栏Bartleby，该专栏会对一些职场以及商业趋势进行解读，推荐感兴趣的同学关注。

今天要分析的句子来自Bartleby专栏一篇关于自由职业的文章：

THE decline of the conventional job has been much heralded in recent years. It is now nearly axiomatic that people will work for a range of employers in a variety of roles over their lifetimes, with a much more flexible schedule than in the past. Opinion is still divided over whether this change is a cause for concern or a chance for workers to be liberated from the rut of office life.

这一开头段虽然只有三个句子，但每个句子都值得模仿学习。第一句The decline of the conventional job has been much heralded in recent years. 意思是“传统工作的衰落在近年来被大势宣扬”，从中我们可以提取出一个句式：…has been much heralded in recent years. 用于形容某一现象被人们广泛关注和赞扬。例如：

(1) The rise in remote working / sharing economy has been much heralded in recent years.

(2) The widespread use of artificial intelligence has been much heralded in recent years.

第二个句子中It is now nearly axiomatic that… 含义是“……几乎是不言自明的”，例如：It is now nearly axiomatic that China will surpass the U.S. to become the world's largest economy.

第三个句式则可以用于说明人们对某事物（例如变化、趋势等）持有不同的看法：Opinion is still divided over whether…is a cause for concern or a chance for… 其中a cause for concern是一个固定搭配，含义是“令人担忧的事物”。

举个例子：

Opinion is still divided over whether genetically modified foods are a cause for concern or a chance for humanity to fight world hunger and poverty.

2.对……感到担忧

下面的句子出自Bartleby专栏的另一篇文章：How an algorithm may decide your career.

Worries about potential bias in AI systems have emerged in a wide range of areas, from criminal justice to insurance. In recruitment, too, companies will face a legal and reputational risk if their hiring methods turn out to be unfair.

第一句话的大意是“对于AI系统潜在歧视的担忧已经在很多领域开始显现，包括刑事审判和保险”，从这里我们可以提取出一个句式：Worries about…have emerged in a wide range of areas, from…to… 可以使用该句式来对人们担忧的现象进行说明并举例。比如：

Worries about genetic engineering have emerged in a wide range of areas, from food safety to biodiversity. Some claim genetically modified crops can develop new substances that are harmful to humans. There is also concern that engineering specific traits into select species threatens biodiversity by upsetting the natural balance. Engineered organisms spread quickly into the wild, and other species may be driven to extinction because of this.

3.观点站得住脚

要表达“某观点（声明、解释等）站得住脚”，我们一般可以说The statement/argument/explanation is true/reasonable/valid. 除此之外，还可以采用下面这个说法：

These temporary workers can be viewed as a “reserve army” of labour that employers can use to hold down wages. (This might explain the sluggish growth of real earnings in America of late; but that argument holds water only if the reserve army is growing over time, and the BLS data cast doubt on that.)

上面选段中有这样一句话：…but that argument holds water only if the reserve army is growing over time… （但这一论点只有当预备员工的数量随着时间流逝而增加时才成立）其中hold water是议论文写作中经常用到的一个表达，它的含义是“（观点、声明、解释等）站得住脚”。例如：

The argument that foreign visitors should pay more than locals for cultural and historical attractions holds water, as the local population already pay money to these sites through the tax system.

这一表达也可以使用否定形式…does not hold water，例如：

The argument that universities should accept equal numbers of male and female students in every subject does not hold water. In fact, it would be unfair to base admission to university courses on gender, since some qualified candidates will be denied a place on their favorite courses because of the criterion.

4.一个对比句型

常见的用于对比的句型有in/by contrast，这里再介绍一个新的表达：

Countries in the OECD have very different immigration rates (the size of the immigrant flow relative to the population). From 1990 to 2000, the United States’ immigration rate was 5.7%. At the other end of the spectrum stood Estonia, with a rate of -16.7%. A negative value means that more people left than arrived.

第二句中有一个说法：At the other end of the spectrum stood Estonia…这是一个倒装结构，还原后是Estonia stood at the other end of the spectrum.其中spectrum原本含义是“光谱”，at the other end of the spectrum即“处于光谱的另一端”，引申为“与……相反的情况”。at the other end of the spectrum也可以写成at the other end of the scale.

我们可以使用该句型来引出与上文相反的情况，例如：

Global inequality is growing ever more pronounced in recent years. The rich throw lavish parties and snap up luxury products. At the other end of the spectrum/scale are the poor who struggle to get enough to eat.

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总结：

这期一共介绍了以下几个表达：

(1) ...has been much heralded in recent years.

(2) It is now nearly axiomatic that…

(3) Opinion is still divided over whether…is a cause for concern or a chance for… 

(4) Worries about…have emerged in a wide range of areas, from…to… 

(5) hold water

(6) at the other end of the spectrum/scale

感兴趣的同学可以对这些短语句型做造句练习，以进一步加深印象。

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