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小词详解 | scrutiny

田间小站 田间小站 2022-09-30
scrutiny 英 [ˈskruːtəni] 美 [ˈskruːtəni]
考研 IELTS TEM8

外刊例句

  • Powerful companies can be a boon to customers, but they still deserve scrutiny.
    实力强大的公司可以成为消费者的福音,但仍需对它们密切留意。
    ——《经济学人》
  • Ms. Calvery said The Times investigation had been important in raising awareness about problems with shell companies and in convincing the Treasury that more scrutiny of high-end buyers is needed.
    卡尔韦里表示,时报的调查起到了重要作用,它使空壳公司问题受到了更多重视,有助于说服财政部,需要对高端买主开展更多审查。
    ——《纽约时报》

基本释义

[noun] critical observation or examination
[名词] 审慎的观察或检查


深入解读

Scrutiny 一词源自晚期拉丁语 scrutinium (搜查、调查,该词在中古拉丁语中类似小站之前推送过的 ballot 指“无记名的投票方式”),15世纪初进入英语后先是指“在选举过程中进行个人投票”,对应今义指选举新教皇时“红衣主教所投下的一张选票”。

等到了17世纪后, scrutiny 才开始用来表示现在的主要含义,指“仔细检查、认真彻底的审查”,作为正式用语使用,强调密切观察和关注细节,比如:

  • 他那站不住脚的观点经不起认真推敲。
    His
    feeble argument doesn't really stand up to scrutiny.
  • 由于通货膨胀问题已经到了极其严重的地步,政府的货币政策近来受到了认真彻底的审查。
    Monetary policy has come under close scrutiny recently since the problem of inflation had reached
    epic proportions.

此外, scrutiny 也可以单纯用来表示“细看、细阅”这个动作,与 glance (匆匆一看、迅速瞥一眼、扫视)相反,以及引申表示“密切关注”或“监视、监督”,比如:

  • 那个羞怯的女孩觉得有人在仔细打量她,一看原来是她的姐姐。
    The
    timid girl felt herself under scrutiny and caught her sister's eyes upon her.
  • 他的私生活受到媒体的密切关注。不过,他的私生活没有爆出过一丁点儿的丑闻。
    His private life came under media scrutiny. However, not a
    whiff of scandal had ever tainted his private life.

而从 scrutiny 衍生出来的动词 scrutinize 或 scrutinise 则相应表示“仔细察看、认真检查、细致审查”,比如:

  • 她探身向前,端详他们的面容。
    She
    leaned forward to scrutinize their faces.

名著用例
Excitedly, he envisaged his headless Naseem tingling beneath the scrutiny of his eyes, his thermometer, his stethoscope, his fingers, and trying to build a picture in her mind of him.
他满心兴奋,心中想象着这个脑袋不知是什么样子的纳西姆在他的眼睛、体温计、听诊器和他的手指的诊治下面红耳赤的神态,她心中也正努力试图勾画出他的模样来。
出自印裔英国作家萨尔曼·鲁西迪(Salman Rushdie,又译萨尔曼·拉什迪)在1981年出版的长篇小说《午夜之子》(Midnight's Children)。

同近义词

  • audit: a systematic review or assessment of something
  • inspection: careful examination or scrutiny
  • exploration: thorough examination of a subject

往期回顾
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