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近义词解析:concentrate, assemble, converge and focus

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一位网友想知道动词 “concentrate、assemble、converge” 和 “focus” 的区别。动词 “concentrate” 特指 “(无计划地)聚集”;动词 “assemble” 则指 “(有计划地)集合”;动词 “converge” 表示 “(从一处)汇合(到一处)”;而只有动词 “focus” 不能用来描述人群的 “聚合”。听主持人 Beth 和佳莹讲解这四个词的用法和区别。

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Jiaying
大家好,欢迎收听 “你问我答” 节目,我是佳莹。在本期节目中,我和同事 Beth 一起回答一位网友发来的问题。问题是这样的:

Question
单词 “concentrate、assemble、converge” 和 “focus” 都有 “集中” 的意思,我想问一下它们有什么区别啊?

Jiaying
谢谢这位听众的问题。我们先来看看问题中的第一个词 “concentrate”。

Beth
Hello, everyone! So, we use the verb 'concentrate' to describe the action of people or things gathering in a certain area. When we see it in this way, the gathering is often unplanned or a natural process, but not always. 'Concentrate' is commonly used in the passive voice. The fact it's often unplanned is what makes it different to some of the other words, such as 'assemble'. Here are some examples.

Examples
During the mating season, the birds usually concentrate in areas near food so they can feed their chicks.
(在繁殖季节,这些鸟通常集中在食物附近的区域,以便喂养幼鸟。)

The majority of the population is concentrated in the capital city.
(大多数人口都集中在首都。)

Jiaying
在上面的例句中,动词 “concentrate” 表示 “(人群或事物)聚集、集中在某个地方”。

通常情况下,“concentrate” 用来谈论自发性的、而不是预先安排好的聚集行为,但并不绝对。表达这个含义时,“concentrate” 多用在被动语态中。Beth,问题中的第二个词 “assemble” 是不是同样可以用来谈论人群呢?

Beth
Yes. 'Assemble' is a verb and can be used to describe the action of people gathering or being put together into one group, often planned and organised by someone. None of the other words describe the action of a person creating a team or putting other people into a group.

Examples
My boss wants to assemble a new trouble-shooting team.
(我的老板想组建一个新的问题解决小组。)

The children assembled in the hall every Monday for the headteacher to read out school announcements.
(孩子们每周一都在大厅集合,听校长宣读学校公告。)

Jiaying
所以说,动词 “assemble” 用来描述 “(人群有计划地)聚集在一起”。问题中的其它词语都不能用来谈论 “组建团队或召集人群”。

接着,我们来看 “converge”。动词 “converge” 有哪些用法呢?

Beth
The verb 'converge' can be used to describe the action of people or things meeting at one specific point, often because they have moved from other places. While it can be used interchangeably with 'assemble' when talking about a group of people coming together in one place, 'converge' is often used with the preposition 'on' as an intransitive verb to reinforce the idea of movement.

Jiaying
动词 “converge” 的意思是 “(人或事物)从多个地方在一处或向一处汇合”。不及物动词 “converge” 常与介词 “on” 搭配使用,强调移动的过程。来听两个使用了 “converge” 的例句。

Examples
The football fans converged on the stadium an hour before the final.
(球迷们在决赛开始前一小时在体育场汇合。)

All four roads converge at this point – this is why you always get traffic jams during rush hour.
(四条路在此处汇合成一条。这就是为什么一到高峰期,这里就总是堵车。)

Jiaying
Interesting. 最后,我们来看 “focus”,这个词在英语中怎么用呢?

Beth
Well, the verb 'focus' isn't normally used to describe the action of people coming together in one place. Unlike the other words, 'focus' can be used as a verb in science to describe the action of light or sound waves meeting at a certain point. This meaning is mainly limited to science though.

Jiaying
原来,动词 “focus” 不能用来描述人群聚集到某地的行为。与问题中的其它词语不同的是,“focus” 作动词时可以用在谈论科学的语境中,描述 “(光波和声波)聚焦在一处”。来听两个例句。

Examples
The light beam of the laser focussed on one point.
(激光束聚焦在一个点上。)

During the scanning process, soundwaves are focused on specific parts of the body.
(在扫描过程中,声波聚焦在身体的特定部位。)

Jiaying
总结一下,动词 “concentrate” 表示 “人群或事物自发地聚集”。动词 “assemble” 表示 “(有组织或有计划地)集合”。动词 “converge” 表示 “(从不同的地方在一处或向一处)汇合”,常与介词 “on” 搭配使用。“Focus” 作动词时,通常不能用来谈论人群聚集到某个地方。作为科学术语,动词 “focus” 描述 “(光波或声波)聚集到一点”。好了,谢谢这位网友发来的问题。

欢迎大家向我们提问。你可以通过我们的微博账号 “BBC英语教学” 发送你的问题,也可以将问题发送至:questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk

Bye, everyone!

Beth
Bye!

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