1. 这是什么词?
词:viable
英英释义:able to be done, or worth doing
例句:Renewables are economically viable alternatives.
2. 为什么选这个词?
“viable”是个形容词,它本身的意思是“可以存活的”,常被引申使用表示“可行的” “值得做的”。正如健康的生命才可以存活,好的想法、产品、解决方案才能存活,我们可以用 viable 来形容表示想法、产品、解决方案这一类词,也常可以用它替换 effective, feasible 等词。
在产品设计中,有个概念叫“最简可行产品”,它的英文就是 Minimum Viable Product(MVP),我们可以从它的英文解释中体会一下 viable 的意思:
A minimum viable product (MVP) is a product with just enough features to satisfy early customers and to provide feedback for future product development.
这里的 viable 就可以理解为“satisfy early customers”。如果一个产品可以满足用户的需求,实现盈利,那它就是一个 viable product。
比如星巴克在某一个四线城市开店半年以来,收入明显好于预期,就可以说:
Starbucks' new store in this fourth-tier city has proved commercially viable.
从经济角度来看,可再生能源是合适的替代能源。用英文可以说成:
Renewables are economically viable alternatives.
《经济学人》在一月份一篇讲电脑芯片的文章中就用到了 viable:
To keep its design pipeline full of viable new ideas, the firm must constantly forecast the computer industry’s direction.
3. 怎样学会使用这个词?
1)使用《牛津英语搭配词典》查“viable”,了解它作为形容词时的常用搭配。
2)翻译下面的句子:
中国经济下行,许多 O2O 模式显得不再可行。
Because of the economic downturn in China, many O2O business models seem not viable any more.
造句
To help with pollution and slow global warming, using more wood to build is viable.
参考翻译:As China’s economy is going downhill, many online-to-offline (O2O) businesses no longer seem (commercially/economically) viable.