一、例句

To say he was tremendously respected would be a gross understatement—loved is more like it. (选自 Trillion Dollar Coach) 

二、句子解析

参考译文：说他非常受人尊敬是一种保守的说法—更准确地说，是被爱。

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这句话选自 Trillion Dollar Coach，这本书的三位作者分别是谷歌前 CEO、Alphabet 公司（谷歌母公司）前执行董事长、著名电脑工程师 Eric Schmidt，谷歌产品管理和营销高级副总裁 Jonathan Rosenberg 和谷歌行政沟通总监 Alan Eagle。这本书总结、分享了美国知名管理教练 Bill Campbell 的管理经验。

understatement 在《柯林斯英语词典》中的英英释义是：If you say that a statement is an understatement, you mean that it does not fully express the extent to which something is true.

这句话中的 he 指的是 Bill Campbell。这个句子的意思是，说 Bill Campbell 受人尊敬根本无法表达人们对他真正的感情，这么写是为了进一步强调他的人格魅力和影响力。

当我们想表达“说......是一种保守的说法”或“某某说法根本无法表达......”时，就可以使用“To say {X} would be a gross understatement.”这个简单、好用的句式。

其中，X 是完整的句子。

“To say {X} would be a gross understatement.”本身就是完整的句子，但也可以像原句一样在它后面作补充说明。注意，作补充时，后面可以用破折号也可以用分号（详见“造句示范”）。

三、句式临摹

临摹句子：

To say he was tremendously respected would be a gross understatement—loved is more like it.

提炼句式：

To say {X} would be a gross understatement.

注意：

X 是完整的句子。

造句示范：

a) 场景：说他高考落榜让人失望只是一种保守说法，这实际上激怒了他的父母。

To say {his failure in gaokao was a disappointment} would be a gross understatement—it infuriated his parents.

To say {his failure in gaokao was a disappointment} would be a gross understatement; it infuriated his parents.

b) 场景：说 2020 年是不好的一年根本无法表达这一年有多么糟糕，它简直是十年来最让人烦恼的一年。

To say {2020 is a bad year} would be a gross understatement.

To say {2020 is a bad year} would be a gross understatement—it is probably the most troubling year in a decade.

To say {2020 is a bad year} would be a gross understatement; it is probably the most troubling year in a decade.

四、作业

参考第三部分的句式造句，造句时尽量用中文写出具体的语境