Go figure
文章来源: 文章作者: 发布时间:2009-03-01 05:38 字体: [ ]  进入论坛
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)

Chinese learners of English have a greater difficulty when it comes to picking up a new word or expression. Well, I guess that's speaking the obvious.

Native speakers, you see, pick up a new word or expression via hearing it first from other people. They hear, watch and see others use it, in conversation, over television or via the print media. They see others use it till one day they themselves become comfortable with it.

And they use it. The process is simple.

Most Chinese learners of English however, have to use a dictionary. And thereby1 all sorts of new problems arise. Every time they confront2 a new word or expression, they look it up. That's obviously a lot of work, especially for beginners. And a lot of people tire themselves out so quickly looking everything up that they eventually give up the dictionary entirely3 – and with it, the language itself. Many an English major at school have said they have all but forgotten the language five, ten years into a regular job.

Others who believe in the dictionary have other problems. One is when they have a new word or expression to look up, they don't happen to have a dictionary with them. Another problem is when they do have a dictionary with them, the word or expression they are looking for is not listed in the dictionary. What to do?

The thing to do is, again, risking stating the obvious, to do what the native speakers do. And that is, to acquaint4 yourself with a new word or expression by hearing it first from other people, either directly in conversation or via newspapers and magazines, television and of course the Internet. You can't always depend on the dictionary, especially with colloquial5 expressions that may not even be listed in YOUR particular dictionary, either a pocket-sized dictionary that doesn't have much of anything or a 1995 edition of a Longman Contemporary (mine) that's getting older by the year, or a Kingsoft online dictionary that's even more unreliable whenever it comes to the nitty-gritty.

What you have to do is to hear it and hear it if hearing it one time doesn't get the job done. Be patient, you'll meet it again soon – many have also spoken of the experience of learning a new word today and seeing it again the very next day.

Take the American vogue6 expression "go figure", for example. First time you see it, you'd probably think of it as a typo or some poor grammar. That's alright. Wait till you see it a second, third time.

Example 1: The prepositions are strangely the last thing almost all the children learn in a language. Go figure!

Example 2: Women and children are the first targets of war. Go figure.

Example 3: Go figure: Weight loss is one of the worst reasons for exercise.

Now, if your definitions of "go figure" run along the lines of "wow, isn't that right?" or "who'd have thought?" or "how come", they're all correct.

Think of "go figure" as short for "go and figure it out for yourself". It is used more like an exclamation7, though, punctuating8 an unexpected fact. Oh yeah, that's right.

If, however, after reading this article, your reaction still runs alone the lines of "but I'm not a native English speaker, how I can be expected to learn like one", oh everyone, please have mercy on you.



点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 thereby Sokwv     
adv.因此,从而
参考例句:
  • I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市,因此对它不怎么熟悉。
  • He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民,因而得到了投票权。
2 confront BYBy8     
vt.遭遇,勇敢地面对,正视,使对质
参考例句:
  • A soldier has to confront danger.士兵须面对危险。
  • We must confront future with optimism.我们必须乐观地面对未来。
3 entirely entirely     
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
  • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
4 acquaint mfMy4     
vt.(with)使认识,使了解,使熟悉
参考例句:
  • You must acquaint yourself with your new duties.你必须熟悉你的新任务。
  • Let me acquaint you with the facts.让我把事实告诉你。
5 colloquial ibryG     
adj.口语的,会话的
参考例句:
  • It's hard to understand the colloquial idioms of a foreign language.外语里的口头习语很难懂。
  • They have little acquaintance with colloquial English. 他们对英语会话几乎一窍不通。
6 Vogue 6hMwC     
n.时髦,时尚;adj.流行的
参考例句:
  • Flowery carpets became the vogue.花卉地毯变成了时髦货。
  • Short hair came back into vogue about ten years ago.大约十年前短发又开始流行起来了。
7 exclamation onBxZ     
n.感叹号,惊呼,惊叹词
参考例句:
  • He could not restrain an exclamation of approval.他禁不住喝一声采。
  • The author used three exclamation marks at the end of the last sentence to wake up the readers.作者在文章的最后一句连用了三个惊叹号,以引起读者的注意。
8 punctuating b570cbab6b7d9f8edf13ca9e0b6e2923     
v.(在文字中)加标点符号,加标点( punctuate的现在分词 );不时打断某事物
参考例句:
  • Finally, it all came to a halt, with only Leehom's laboured breathing punctuating the silence. 最后,一切静止,只剩力宏吃力的呼吸,打破寂静。 来自互联网
  • Li, punctuating the air with her hands, her fingernails decorated with pink rose decals. 一边说着,一边用手在空中一挥,指甲上还画了粉红玫瑰图案。 来自互联网
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