內(nèi)容簡介

一位網(wǎng)友想知道動(dòng)詞 “concentrate、assemble、converge” 和 “focus” 的區(qū)別。動(dòng)詞 “concentrate” 特指 “（無計(jì)劃地）聚集”；動(dòng)詞 “assemble” 則指 “（有計(jì)劃地）集合”；動(dòng)詞 “converge” 表示 “（從一處）匯合（到一處）”；而只有動(dòng)詞 “focus” 不能用來描述人群的 “聚合”。聽主持人 Beth 和佳瑩講解這四個(gè)詞的用法和區(qū)別。

歡迎你加入并和我們一起討論英語學(xué)習(xí)的方方面面。請(qǐng)通過微博 “BBC英語教學(xué)” 或郵件與我們?nèi)〉寐?lián)系。我們的郵箱地址是 questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk

文字稿

（關(guān)于臺(tái)詞的備注: 請(qǐng)注意這不是廣播節(jié)目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能沒有體現(xiàn)錄制、編輯過程中對(duì)節(jié)目做出的改變。）

Jiaying
大家好，歡迎收聽 “你問我答” 節(jié)目，我是佳瑩。在本期節(jié)目中，我和同事 Beth 一起回答一位網(wǎng)友發(fā)來的問題。問題是這樣的：

Question
單詞 “concentrate、assemble、converge” 和 “focus” 都有 “集中” 的意思，我想問一下它們有什么區(qū)別啊？

Jiaying
謝謝這位聽眾的問題。我們先來看看問題中的第一個(gè)詞 “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.
（在繁殖季節(jié)，這些鳥通常集中在食物附近的區(qū)域，以便喂養(yǎng)幼鳥。）

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

Jiaying
在上面的例句中，動(dòng)詞 “concentrate” 表示 “（人群或事物）聚集、集中在某個(gè)地方”。

通常情況下，“concentrate” 用來談?wù)撟园l(fā)性的、而不是預(yù)先安排好的聚集行為，但并不絕對(duì)。表達(dá)這個(gè)含義時(shí)，“concentrate” 多用在被動(dòng)語態(tài)中。Beth，問題中的第二個(gè)詞 “assemble” 是不是同樣可以用來談?wù)撊巳耗兀?

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.
（我的老板想組建一個(gè)新的問題解決小組。）

The children assembled in the hall every Monday for the headteacher to read out school announcements.
（孩子們每周一都在大廳集合，聽校長宣讀學(xué)校公告。）

Jiaying
所以說，動(dòng)詞 “assemble” 用來描述 “（人群有計(jì)劃地）聚集在一起”。問題中的其它詞語都不能用來談?wù)?“組建團(tuán)隊(duì)或召集人群”。

接著，我們來看 “converge”。動(dòng)詞 “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
動(dòng)詞 “converge” 的意思是 “（人或事物）從多個(gè)地方在一處或向一處匯合”。不及物動(dòng)詞 “converge” 常與介詞 “on” 搭配使用，強(qiáng)調(diào)移動(dòng)的過程。來聽兩個(gè)使用了 “converge” 的例句。

Examples
The football fans converged on the stadium an hour before the final.
（球迷們?cè)跊Q賽開始前一小時(shí)在體育場匯合。）

All four roads converge at this point – this is why you always get traffic jams during rush hour.
（四條路在此處匯合成一條。這就是為什么一到高峰期，這里就總是堵車。）

Jiaying
Interesting. 最后，我們來看 “focus”，這個(gè)詞在英語中怎么用呢？

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
原來，動(dòng)詞 “focus” 不能用來描述人群聚集到某地的行為。與問題中的其它詞語不同的是，“focus” 作動(dòng)詞時(shí)可以用在談?wù)摽茖W(xué)的語境中，描述 “（光波和聲波）聚焦在一處”。來聽兩個(gè)例句。

Examples
The light beam of the laser focussed on one point.
（激光束聚焦在一個(gè)點(diǎn)上。）

During the scanning process, soundwaves are focused on specific parts of the body.
（在掃描過程中，聲波聚焦在身體的特定部位。）

Jiaying
總結(jié)一下，動(dòng)詞 “concentrate” 表示 “人群或事物自發(fā)地聚集”。動(dòng)詞 “assemble” 表示 “（有組織或有計(jì)劃地）集合”。動(dòng)詞 “converge” 表示 “（從不同的地方在一處或向一處）匯合”，常與介詞 “on” 搭配使用。“Focus” 作動(dòng)詞時(shí)，通常不能用來談?wù)撊巳壕奂侥硞€(gè)地方。作為科學(xué)術(shù)語，動(dòng)詞 “focus” 描述 “（光波或聲波）聚集到一點(diǎn)”。好了，謝謝這位網(wǎng)友發(fā)來的問題。

歡迎大家向我們提問。你可以通過我們的微博賬號(hào) “BBC英語教學(xué)” 發(fā)送你的問題，也可以將問題發(fā)送至：questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk

Bye, everyone!

Beth
Bye!