今天继续《新概念·写作》专栏：
《新概念三》第 23 课的题目叫 One man's meat is another man's poison，翻译过来是《各有所爱》，讲了一个人喜欢的东西，可能恰恰是另一个人所讨厌的。文中有些表达/句型很实用，我带大家看一下：
People become quite illogical when they try to decide what can be eaten and what cannot be eaten. If you lived in the Mediterranean, for instance, you would consider octopus a great delicacy. You would not be able to understand why some people find it repulsive. On the other hand, your stomach would turn at the idea of frying potatoes in animal fat -- the normally accepted practice in many northern countries.
在决定什么能吃而什么不能吃的时候，人们往往变得不合情理。比如，如果你住在地中海地区，你会把章鱼视作是美味佳肴，同时不能理解为什么有人一见章鱼就恶心。另一方面，你一想到动物油炸土豆就会反胃，但这在北方许多国家却是一种普通的烹任方法。
这段话不难，但语言灵活，值得学习。比如表达“喜欢”或“不喜欢”时，没有像我们一样用 like, dislike, hate 等词，而是分别用了 consider... a great XX, find sth repulsive, stomach would turn at the idea of 等多样化的表达，来体现人们的态度。
[总领句] People become quite... when... [观点一] Some would consider..., and would not be able to understand why some people find it... [观点二] On the other hand, others would...
这个句型可用于科技类、时事热点类话题的写作中，用来描述人们对事物的不同态度。
People become quite split when it comes to technology. Take smartphones for example. Some consider the devices a great blessing, and would not be able to understand why some people find it damaging. On the other hand, however, some believe that smartphones, which allow bosses to reach us at any moment, have disturbed our lives.
谈到科技的时候，人们观点不一。以智能手机为例，一些人认为智能手机是一大福音，而且无法理解为什么有的人觉得它不好。然而另一方面，一些人认为手机让老板能随时联系我们，已经扰乱了我们的生活。
No creature has received more praise and abuse than the common garden snail.
没有一种生物所受到的赞美和厌恶会超过花园里常见的蜗牛了。
这句话有两处精彩的地方，一是用「否定词+比较级」的结构来表达最高级的含义，字面意思是“没有比...更...”，也就是“...最...”，二是用 praise and abuse 这对反义词来表达“饱受争议、毁誉参半”的概念。
Nothing has received more praise and abuse than XX
这个句型可以用于科技类、时事热点类、政策类话题的写作中，比如《哈利波特》手游上线后毁誉参半，有人称赞这款游戏带来了回忆感，也有人指责它背离原著、收割情怀。对此我们可以说：
No games have received more praise and abuse than "Harry Potter", a mobile game launched by Netease.
没有什么游戏比网易推出的《哈利波特》更毁誉参半的了。
三、more than was good for sb
文章里的主人公在出院后，为了弥补在圣诞节住院的痛苦，多喝了点酒，没想到把另一条腿摔骨折了，又一次住进了医院：
To compensate for his unpleasant experiences in hospital, the man drank a little more than was good for him.
为了补偿住院这一段不愉快的经历，那人喝得稍许多了一点。
drank a little more than was good for him 的字面意思是：喝得比对他有利的量多了一点，说得通顺点就是“喝地有点多”。
很多人以为 than 后面只能加名词，其实 than 的用法很灵活，后面可以加名词、完整的句子，也可以加动词（包括 be 动词）。加名词的用法很常见，我们不举例子了，这里看一下加句子的用法：
2019 年 8 月 22 日的《经济学人》中有篇文章分析了高等教育的发展情况，文中有这么一句话：
The university is much bigger than it was half a decade ago.
这里 than 后面跟的是句子 it was half a decade ago.
再比如关于新冠疫情，很多国家公布的死亡数据比实际死亡数字低，《经济学人》是这么说的：
The death toll from covid-19 appears higher than official figures suggest.
这里 than 后面跟的是句子 official figures suggest.
2020年5月21日的《经济学人》中有篇文章讲到了疫情使英国经济快速下滑，文中有这么一句话
Between 2008 and 2018, 550,000 more Britons left London than moved to it.
在2008-2018年间，离开伦敦的英国人，比迁入伦敦的英国人，多55万人。
这里 than 后面加的是动词 moved to it.
回到文中来，than was good for him 中，than 后面也是加的动词（be动词）。
凡事都要有度，过犹不及，写作中我们就可以用 XX a little more than was good for sb 来表达“过度”的概念。比如谈到“ 平衡工作和生活”时，我们就可以说：
People should not work longer than is good for them, and try to strike a balance between work and life.
再比如上个月政府出台了有史以来最严厉的防沉迷政策，游戏适当玩一下能调节生活，但如果沉迷，那就弊大于利了。对此我们可以说：
As an increasing number of school kids in China immerse themselves in video games longer than are good for them, the country stepped in and introduced new rules that limit the amount of time children can spend on games to three hours a week.
随着中国越来越多的学生过度沉迷游戏，国家介入并出台新规，限制学生每周最多只能玩三小时游戏。
四、add colour to the dull routine of everyday life
第 31 课介绍了一个可爱的怪人，文章开头是这么讲的：
True eccentrics never deliberately set out to draw attention to themselves. They disregard social conventions without being conscious that they are doing anything extraordinary. This invariably wins them the love and respect of others, for they add colour to the dull routine of everyday life.
真正古怪的人从不有意引人注意。他们不顾社会习俗，意识不到自己所作所为有什么特殊之处。他们总能赢得别人的喜爱与尊敬，因为他们给平淡单一的日常生活增添了色彩。
invariably 由 in+vary+able+ly 组成，“in-”在这里是否定前缀，比如 logical→illogical，vary 表示“变化”，“-able”是形容词后缀，在形容词后面加“-ly”变成副词，所以 invariably 的意思是“不变化地、一成不变地”，写作中我们可以用 invariably 表达“总是、一直”的含义，替换 always.
add colour to the dull routine of everyday life 是个很实用的表达，它的意思是：给平淡单一的日常生活增添了色彩。这个表达可用于兴趣爱好、娱乐话题的写作中，比如最近剧本杀很火，我们就可以说：
Script murder, or live action role playing games, add colour to the dull routine of everyday life.
Hobbies could add colour to the dull routine of everyday life.
- 如何表达不同的观点/态度：[总领句] People become quite... when... [观点一] Some would consider..., and would not be able to understand why some people find it... [观点二] On the other hand, others would...
- 如何表达饱受争议、毁誉参半：Nothing has received more praise and abuse than XX
- 表达“过度”的概念：XX a little more than was good for sb
- 用 invariably 表达 always 的含义。
- 兴趣类话题：add colour to the dull routine of everyday life
今天就到这里，感谢阅读！
原文始发于微信公众号（经济学人双语精读）：《新概念三》中有哪些地道实用的表达或句型？（2）
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