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论述事物的好处是议论文中经常用来支持自己观点的重要手段,这其中避不开的一个词汇就是benefit,但是学生往往在使用时出错,且一篇文章中错上好几次,大有不逼疯考官誓不罢休的尽头。使用该词时所犯错误五花八门,且举两例:
①More and more countries are benefit from outer space exploration.
②In addition, exploring outer space will also take a lot of benefits for the people.
为了弄清楚上述句子到底该如何修改并让学生记牢benefit的用法,接下来就来详细看看这个词儿。
Benefit首先可以用为及物动词,即后面直接跟宾语。其前为带来好处的人或物,其后为获益者,即A benefits B。且看如下例句(例句③至⑩均摘自李笑来老师编著的《李笑来TOEFL iBT高分作文》):
③These people include good government officials who try to make policies that benefit the poorer class of society.(这些人中包括一些好的政府官员。他们努力制定造福社会中贫穷阶层的政策。)
其次,benefit经常与from搭配,表示“从中获益”。即,A benefits B的对应结构就是B benefits from A。请看例句:
④We need to eliminate the stereotype that women are less intelligent than men so that our community can benefit from the achieve
ments that women are capable of making when armed with education.(我们要消除那种女人没有男人聪明的定势思维;这样一来,当女性拥有知识时,我们的社会就能从她们所能达成的成就中获益。)
至此已不难看出句①错在何处了:are benefit from中两个动词,难以容忍。故需要修改为:
More and more countries benefit from outer space exploration.
在句②中,benefit显然用作了名次。在作名次时,该词用法搭配非常多,但是take和benefit并不是句中那样搭配的。句②的表述实际上是Chinglish:“也给人们带去/来很多的好处。”写作过程中,字对字的汉英翻译是很危险的,一不小心,就会由于两种语言之间的差异而贻笑大方。Take和benefit的正确组合是take benefit from,意思类似take advantage of,表示“利用……之便”。如:
Indonesia must take benefit from its position as a member of G20 countries to gain loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) if another crisis strikes again, a senior economist told Xinhua in a recent interview.意为:一位著名经济学家在接受新华社采访时表示,如果新的危机来袭,印度尼西亚必须利用自己G20成员国身份之便从国际货币基金组织获取贷款。)
那么出错的句②到底如何修改才能表达“太空探索也给人民带来很多好处”呢?切记:不要字对字翻译!所谓的“带来很多好处”也就是benefit一个动词而已,即:
In addition, exploring outer space also benefits people a lot.或者:
In addition, people can also benefit a lot from outer space exploration.
所以,benefit的动词结构非常实用,建议学员首先将其牢固掌握。如果希望实现表达的多样性,还想在学有余力的情况下搞定几个名词搭配,那就参考以下的例句吧(同样摘自《李笑来TOEFL iBT高分作文》,向笑来老师表示感谢!):
⑤It is undeniable that continuously developing technology has brought tremendous benefits.(表示“带来巨大好处”,很实用)
⑥However, it is a little haste to assert students can learn more information and learn it quickly simply because technology helps, since technologies, as always, contribute both benefits and demerits.(表示“既有好处又有坏处”,洋气的表达)
⑦The argument might be made that telephones and instant messaging services like MSN and ICQ are equally viable formats for interactive conversation, with the added benefit of being available over long distances.(表示“额外的好处”,值得借鉴)
⑧Consequently, we should develop its strengths and seek to correct the problems it continues to cause in order to reap greater benefits from this tool.(表示“收获更多利益”,很形象)
⑨Uniforms serve students benefits in several ways.(表示“多方面惠及某人”,用了serve sb sth)
⑩The situation was of no benefit to anyone: the teachers, or the students.(be of great/no benefit to sb,英文写作重要结构,常见的还有be of great/no importance/value等)