英语词汇辨析|雅思考研词汇之“描述”

本期介绍英语中和“描述”有关的 6 个表达以及地道的用法。

• describe something/somebody as 

释义：描述，通常反映了描述者的看法

例句1：

Hospitals set prices using various multipliers and formulas that are often outdated and not linked to costs or quality—a process that the late Uwe Reinhardt, an economist at Princeton University, once described as “chaos behind a veil of secrecy”. Studies of people in high-deductible plans show that when they have access to prices they reduce their use of services but do not pay less for them. （《经济学人》2019-01-12）

医院定价依据的各种乘数和公式通常都是过时的，和成本与质量毫无挂钩。已故的普林斯顿大学经济学家Uwe Reinhardt曾经将这种做法称为“神秘面纱背后的混乱”。研究发现，选择高自付额计划的人如果知道价格，他们会减少使用服务，但是付的钱却还是不会少。

语言点：

set prices：定价

have access to：获得，使用

例句2：

But by the end of the 19th century the state had begun to clamp down on the exploitation of children in the West. Education for the younger age groups became mandatory in ever more countries. Children were seen as in need of protection, and their period of economic dependency lengthened in both Europe and America. The scene was set for the emergence of what Viviana Zelizer, a sociologist at Princeton, has memorably described as “the economically useless but emotionally priceless child”. （《经济学人》2019-01-05）

然而，到19世纪末，西方国家已经着手整治儿童剥削问题。越来越多国家针对青少年开展义务教育。人们把儿童看成是需要保护的对象，欧美儿童经济不独立的时间都延长了。普林斯顿大学社会学家Viviana Zelizer所描述的“经济无用而情感无价的孩子”出现的条件已经成熟了。

语言点：

clamp down on：打压、收紧、整治

set the scene for：准备好

• characterise somebody/something as 

释义：描述人或事的特征，特别是为了让人们相信一些可能不是真实的东西。

例句1：

Mr. Autor and Ms. Fournier reckon that new types of jobs fall into three broad categories: frontier work, closely associated with new technologies; wealth work, catering to the needs of well-to-do professionals; and “last-mile jobs”, which Mr Autor characterises as those left over when most of a task has been automated. （《经济学人》2019-01-12）

Autor先生和Fournier女士认为新兴职业主要有三大类型：和新科技紧密联系的前沿职业、对接富有人才的需求的财富职业、“最后一公里职业”。根据Autor先生的定义，第三类职业涵盖的是自动化后剩余的内容。

语言点：

fall into：分成（……类）

cater to：迎合

leave over：剩下

• label somebody/something as

释义：通常指的是不正确地描述人或事。

例句：

In 2015, five years after its report, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said the Bureau of Prisons had fixed the problem. The agency had created an anti-harassment policy, made commission counsellors more independent and formalized the process used to vet employees for promotion. The old system, the commission had found, tended to overlook harassment accusations against employees and label those who filed complaints as “troublemakers.” （《纽约时报》2018-11-30）

2015年（报告发布五年后），公平就业机会委员会（Equal Employment Opportunity Commission）说，联邦监狱局已经把问题解决了。该机构已经推出反骚扰政策，让委员会顾问变得更加独立，还将员工升职审核过程正式化。委员会发现，在旧系统下，针对员工的骚扰行为提出的控告常常被忽略，而那些提出控告的人则被说成是“闹事者”。

语言点：

file a complaint：投诉；提出控告

• portray/represent somebody/something as

释义：描述人或事，使人们对这些人或事产生不正确的认识。

例句1：

But dissonance rains down from the top. In November, the White House not only took the unprecedented step of banning a reporter—it then released, as supporting evidence, an apparently doctored video, digitally altered to portray actions that had not occurred. （《时代周刊》2018-12-24）

但是矛盾铺天盖地而来。11月，白宫破天荒地禁止一名记者出席记者会，然后发布了一段明显经过窜改的视频，作为支撑证据。该视频经过数字处理，呈现了一些并没有发生的行为。

语言点：

rain down：如雨般落下

例句2：

Since XXXTentacion’s death, what was once a moral debate over the music industry’s complicity in his rise to stardom has turned into a battle over his legacy. In connection with the release of his first posthumous album, “Skins,” his team has hit the media circuit to portray him as a martyr, not a monster. （《纽约时报》2018-11-12）

XXXTentacion一夜成名后，人们对背后音乐行业合谋的道德问题存在争议。在他死后，这场争议演变成了对其遗产的争论。他死后的首张专辑《Skins》发布时，他的团队在各大媒体上将他刻画为烈士，而非怪物。

语言点：

rise to stardom：成名

turn into：演变成

• depict somebody/something as

书面用语，使用大量细节来描述人或事，提供真实的情况。

例句1：

In the two millennia from antiquity to the 17th century, children were mostly seen as imperfect adults. Medieval works of art typically depict them as miniature grown-ups. （《经济学人》2019-01-05）

17世纪以前的两千年里，儿童主要被看作有缺陷的成年人。中世纪的艺术作品通常将他们描述小型的成年人。

例句2：

Though the show omits some of the character’s cruellest moments, Hughes doesn’t flinch in depicting her as a selfish, conniving life ruiner. （《时代周刊》2018-12-17）

虽然节目略去了该角色某些无比凶残的行为，Hughes却毫不畏缩地将她刻画成自私阴险的生活破坏者。

• paint a +adj.+ picture of

释义：将某事描述得……，与事实可能完全不符。

The report painted a harsh picture of the company and recommended forty-seven changes, including restructuring the board of directors to make it more independent and restricting alcohol and drug use at company events.（《纽约客》2018-04-09）

该报告指出，公司的形势很严酷，并建议公司做出47处改变，包括重组董事会，让董事会变得更加独立，同时限制在公司活动上喝酒和使用毒品。