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基本释义 Havoc is great disorder and confusion. If one thing plays havoc with another or wreaks havoc on it, it prevents it from continuing or functioning as normal, or damages it. n. 混乱，破坏 Washington state is the country's largest producer of cherries and blueberries. The state's wine industry is second only to California's in value. But one non-native, nuisance bird is wreaking havoc. The European starling was brought to North America more than a century ago, by unwitting naturalists who wanted to introduce all the birds mentioned in Shakespeare's plays. Today, the starlings do hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of damage to Washington's crops.华盛顿是生产樱桃和蓝莓最多的州，该州的酿酒工业市值位于第二位，仅次于加利福尼亚州。但是，一种非本土、且令人讨厌的鸟却在大搞破坏。这种欧洲椋鸟在一个世纪以前被自然学家无意中引入北美，这些自然学家想引入莎士比亚戏剧中提到的所有鸟类。现在，这种鸟类对华盛顿的作物造成的损失高达数亿美元。 《科学美国人》
单词havoc来自古法语havok，表示“掠夺、抢劫”。古人用cry havoc表示“准许士兵抢劫的信号”，这种命令一旦下达，对被掠夺的地方和百姓来说是一场浩劫。因此havoc可以指“（战争、天灾等带来的）大破坏、大毁坏”。如果一群调皮捣蛋的孩子胡闹，会将整个屋子弄得一团糟，就像是经历了一场浩劫，也可以用havoc表示“混乱、杂乱”，比如孙悟空大闹天宫就可以说Making havoc in Heaven。havoc最常见的表达就是play (wreak, raise, work, make) havoc (with, among)，表示“（对…...）造成严重破坏、打乱”。This episode crystallizes the irony that although American men tend to talk more than women in public situations ,they often talk less at home. And this pattern is wreaking havoc with marriage.这段插曲体现了一个讽刺：尽管美国男人在公共场合比女人说话多，但他们在家里却很少说话。 这种模式对婚姻造成了严重破坏。
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