1. 这是什么词?
词:prowess
英英释义:great ability or skill
例句:Zhuge Liang was widely acclaimed for his intellectual and military prowess.
2. 为什么选这个词?
“prowess”是个不可数名词,意思是“高超的技艺” “深厚的造诣”,当我们想表达某人擅长某事时就可以用到它。
比如我们常戏称俄罗斯是“战斗民族”,很大程度上是因为俄罗斯人以英勇善战而著名。这时除了用“be good at”表达这个意思,我们还可以说:
The Russians are famed for their prowess in battle. (“their prowess in battle”就是指“在战斗这一方面很厉害”)
prowess 也经常和形容词搭配使用,表示在某一方面有杰出的才能,比如“语言天赋”就可以说成“language/linguistic prowess”,“善于讲价”就可以用到“bargaining prowess”。
诸葛亮以智力、军事才能超群而闻名,我们就可以说:
Zhuge Liang was widely acclaimed for his intellectual and military prowess.(“intellectual and military prowess”就表示“在智力和军事上有杰出的才能”)
《经济学人》中也经常用到 prowess,比如在提到中国的南通市时写到:
Nantong, a city about 150km north of Shanghai, demonstrates both China's prowess in infrastructure and what seems to be a newfound restraint.
提到丘吉尔时写到:
Over-confident of his prowess as a strategist, he made serious mistakes during the second world war, too.
3. 怎样学会使用这个词?
1)使用《牛津英语搭配词典》查“prowess”;
prowess (ADJ. academic, athletic, golfing, intellectual, military, physical, sexual, sporting, technical, etc.
VERB + PROWESS demonstrate, show | boast about/of | admire | be famed/famous for
PREP. ~ as He boasted of his prowess as a lover. | ~ at her prowess at tennis | ~ in The Gurkhas are famed for their prowess in battle. | ~ with Their striker demonstrated all his prowess with the boot
2)翻译下面的句子:
他是个让人羡慕的学霸。
He is admired by his academic prowess.
His academic prowess is the envy of his peers.
(参考翻译:His academic/exam-acing prowess is the envy of his peers. 或者 He is the envy of his cohorts by demonstrating his prowess in exams.)
3)结合自己的生活、学习、工作、兴趣等,想象在什么语境下会用到这个表达。先简要描述这个场景,再造句。
例子:The Chinese are famed for their powess in paper cutting. Many kids in the class boasted of their prowess in Chinese paper-cuts
场景 : 带小朋友剪纸,介绍中国剪纸的文化