[scode type="blue"]volley[/scode]
音标:/'vɒlɪ/
英英释义:
①In sport, if someone volleys the ball, they hit it before it touches the ground.【v.截踢,截击(空中球)】
②A volley of gunfire is a lot of bullets that travel through the air at the same time.【n.(子弹的)群射,齐发】
例句:
①He volleyed the ball spectacularly into the far corner of the net.
他一脚漂亮的凌空抽射,把球踢进了球门的远角。
②Three mounted officers rode into the field after the volley.
枪炮一起开火后,3名军官骑着马冲进战场。
《经济学人》一篇题为 Fail deadly 的文章也出现了这个表达:
注:sinuous 表示“弯曲的”
[scode type="blue"]pen up
把…关起来;把…圈起来[/scode]
英英释义:
If people or animals are penned somewhere or are penned up, they are forced to remain in a very small area.
例句:
①The goats are penned in and fodder has to be cut and carried each day.
山羊被关进圈里,每天都得铡草运料。
②I don't have to stay in my room penned up like a prisoner.
我不必像个囚犯一样被关在房间里。
《经济学人》一篇关于死刑的文章 Pointlessly punitive 也出现了这个表达:
从这里的外刊语境可以看出,这里是形容囚犯被关在监狱里,使得大多数人失去了暴力的倾向或者能力。
看到这个短语的解释也是再一次刷新我对英语的认知了,给我一种:学的越深入,反而越会发现自己的无知,因为还有这么多的知识没有掌握的感觉。
所以呢,其实“pen”还有一个意思,作为名词就可以表示“监狱”【People sometimes say the pen to refer to a prison.】
拓展:
“监狱”的同义词:
cell, jail, porridge, behind bars 等等