英语词汇中的深坑——31个易混词汇

Let’s be honest: English can be a really confusing language. There are pairs upon pairs of words that seem specially designed to torment – sometimes differing by just a single letter – it’s not just language learners who have to be wary but also native speakers of English. Here is a collection of some of the commonly confused words that you often encounter.

以下31个词能分得清吗？

1-2.elicit or illicit

3-4.hoard or horde

5-6.farther or further

7-8.flaunt or flout

9-10.historic or historical

11-12.diffuse or defuse

13-14.pour or pore

15-16.adverse or averse

17-18.flair or flare

19-20.discreet or discrete

21-23.cite, site, or sight

24-25.cereal or serial

26-27.breach or breech

28-29.appraise or apprise

30-31.tortuous or torturous

1-2. elicit or illicit

Would you elicit an illicit reply, or vice versa?

Elicit

使发出；引出，推导出(真理等)：

to elicitthe truth

推导出真理

to elicita response with a question

以问题引起反应

导致，诱出(回答)：

to elicitan angry reply

诱出愤怒的回答

使谈出，使透露，使吐露：

to elicitfacts

使谈出事实

Illicit

违法的，违禁的；非法的，不合法的；不正当的，不适当的

When it comes to this confusing pair, the crucial thing to remember is that elicit is a verb and illicit is an adjective. Elicit means ‘to evoke or draw out a response’ and illicit refers to something that is ‘forbidden by law, rules, or custom’. One trick to remembering the distinction is by remembering that ill –another adjective – is part of illicit, also an adjective.

3-4. hoard or horde

He told me to horde/hoard my books.

hoard

n.

隐藏，贮藏

贮藏物；秘藏物

vt.

聚藏，隐藏：

How many curios do you hoard in your study?

你在你书房里聚藏了多少古玩?

to hoard one's real goal

隐藏真实目的

Horde

一大群人

This attracts hordes of tourists to Las Vegas.

这吸引了一群群的旅客来到拉斯维加斯

Hoard refers to a ‘stock of money or valued objects, typically one that is secret or carefully guarded’ and is also a verb that means ‘to amass (money or valued objects) and hide or store away’ or ‘reserve in the mind for future use’. The word horde refers to a ‘large group of people’, usually in a derogatory sense. Given that horde only applies to people, hoard should be used in the example sentence above.

5-6. farther or further

Are we going much further or farther?

The difference between further and farther is an ongoing debate in the language world. Some say that the distinction has to do with figurative and literal distances, meaning that you would walk farther to the school but think further about something. In practice, though, further can be used to describe both figurative and literal distances, while farther is typically used to describe just literal ones. For further language arguments, see 5 language arguments you can stop having.

7-8. flaunt or flout

flaunting your wealth

Do you flaunt your wealth or flout your wealth?

Flaunt

炫耀

They drove around in Rolls-Royces, openly flaunting their wealth.

他们开着劳斯莱斯车四处转，公开炫耀他们的财富。

flout

无视

...illegal campers who persist in flouting the law.

…一向无视法律的非法露营者。

Flaunt means ‘to display ostentatiously’ whereas flout means ‘to openly disregard arule or convention’. This means that you would ‘flaunt your wealth’ (display ostentatiously) but ‘flout the laws’ (disregard them).

9-10. historic or historical

The opening was a historic/historical event.

historic

有重大历史意义的

...the historic changes in Eastern Europe.

…东欧有历史性意义的变化。

historical

历史上的，与历史有关的

...an important historical figure.

…一位重要的历史人物。

...the historical impact of Western capitalism on the world.

…西方资本主义对全世界的历史影响。

You might have thought that these two words meant the same thing, but they convey two separate ideas about how something relates to history. The word historic means ‘famous or important in history’, whereas historical means ‘concerning historyor historical events’. Hence, something that simply has happened in history is ‘historical’, but something important or momentous to history is ‘historic’.

11-12. diffuse or defuse

defuse or diffuse the bomb?

Do you defuse or diffuse a situation?

Diffuse

传播; 散布

Overtime, however, the technology is diffused and adopted by other countries.

然而，随着时间的推移，这项技术在其它国家得以传播并使用。

...to diffuse new ideas obtained from elsewhere.

…传播从别处获得的新思想。

Defuse

1. 缓和

Police administrators credited the organization with helping defuse potentially violent situations.

警方赞扬该组织帮助缓和潜在的暴力情势。

2. 拆除引信

Police have defused a bomb found in a downtown building.

警察已拆除了在市中心一幢大楼里发现的一枚炸弹的引信。

The word defuse means either ‘to remove the fuse (from an explosive device) in order toprevent it from exploding’ or ‘to reduce the danger or tension in a difficult situation’. Diffuse usually means ‘to spread or cause to spread over a widearea or among a large number of people’. Given this, you would defuse (reducethe danger in) a situation. However, it’s common to see diffuse used in thissense, as in ‘only peaceful dialogue between the two countries can diffuse thetension’, with diffuse referring to the dispersal of that tension. You wouldnot, however, ‘diffuse a situation’.

13-14. pour or pore

Did sweat pour out of his pores?

Pour

流出，溢出(信息等) 大量涌至

It was still pouring outside.

外面依旧大雨倾盆。

Any day now, the Northern forces may pour across the new border.

如今任何一天，北方军队都可能大量涌过新边界。

Pore

毛孔

The sizeof your pores is determined by the amount of oil they produce.

毛孔的大小取决于毛孔分泌油脂的多少。

仔细研究

We spent hours poring over travel brochures.

我们花了几个小时仔细研究旅游宣传册。

Pourmeans ‘to flow rapidly in a steady stream’ or to cause something to do this, and ‘to come and go in a steady stream and in large numbers’. On the other hand, a pore is one of the minute openings you’d find on your skin, while theverb pore means ‘to be absorbed in the reading or study of’, usually with the prepositions over or through, as in ‘he pored over the dictionary’.

15-16. adverse or averse

Was he averse or adverse to the idea of getting ice cream?

adverse

不利的

The police said Mr. Hadfield's decision would have no adverse effect on the progress of the investigation.

警方说哈德菲尔德先生的决定对于调查进展不会有任何不利的影响。

averse

不喜欢的

He's notaverse to publicity, of the right kind.

他不反对宣传，只要是正当的。

Averse means ‘having a strong dislike of or opposition to something’, whereas adverse means ‘preventing success or development’, ‘harmful’, or ‘unfavourable’. Averse is usually used to describe a person’s attitude, whereas adverse is used to describe situations, conditions, or events. The person above would (sadly) be ‘averse’ to having that dessert.

17-18. flair or flare

Shedressed with flair/flare,wearing a blouse with a stylish flair/flare at the ends of her sleeves.

flair

1.天赋

...a friend who has a flair for languages.

…一位有语言天赋的朋友。

2.才华

Their work has all the usual punch, panache and flair you'd expect.

如你所料，他们的作品像往常一样拥有活力、神韵和才华。

flare

1.信号弹

...a shipwhich had fired a distress flare.

…一艘发出了遇险信号弹的船。

2. (火) 突然烧旺

Campfires flared like beacons in the dark.

篝火突然熊熊燃烧起来，像黑暗中的灯塔。

3.突然烧旺

Don't spill too much fat on the barbecue as it could flare up.

不要在烤肉上浇太多的油，因为它可能会突然烧起来。

4. V-I  爆发; 激化

Even as the president appealed for calm, trouble flared in several American cities.

即使在总统呼吁大家保持冷静时，美国几座城市里仍在爆发骚乱。

5.爆发; 激化

Dozens of people were injured as fighting flared up.

数十人由于战斗激化而负伤。

6. V-I发怒

Tempersflared and harsh words were exchanged.

人们大动肝火，对骂起来。

The word flare refers to a ‘sudden burst of bright flame or light’ or ‘a burst of emotion’, as well as to ‘a gradual widening, especially of a skirt or pants’. Flair, on the other hand, refers to ‘a special or instinctive aptitude or ability for doing something well’ or ‘stylishness and originality’. That means that you would dress ‘with flair’ but wear a skirt that has ‘a stylish flare’.

19-20. discreet or discrete

discreet or discrete voice?

Did you mean a discrete voice or a discreet voice?

discreet

1. (言行) 谨慎的

They were gossipy and not always discreet.

他们爱说闲话，而且不总是言语谨慎。

discrete  

ADJ分立的

...instruction manuals that break down jobs into scores of discrete steps.

…将这些工作分解为多个分立步骤的说明书。

Discrete refers to something that is ‘individually separate and distinct’ where as discreet refers to someone who is ‘careful in one’s speech or actions’ or to something that is ‘intentionally unobtrusive’. A helpful way to remember which is which is that the ‘e’s are separate from each other in discrete.

21-23. cite, site, or sight

He caught sight/site of the page he had sighted/cited in his report.

cite

1. V-T引用

She cites a favourite poem by George Herbert.

她引用了一首她所喜爱的乔治·赫伯特的诗。

Domestic interest rates are often cited as a major factor affecting exchange rates.

国内利率常常被援引为影响汇率的一个主要因素。

2. V-T引证

Site

1.场地; 场所

sight

1. 视力

My sightis failing, and I can't see to read any more.

我的视力正在下降，不能再看书了。

2.看见

I faint at the sight of blood.

我一看见血就晕。

3. 景象

The practice of hanging clothes across the street is a common sight in many partsof the city.

在大街上晾晒衣服在该市的许多地区是很常见的景象。

4. V-T (在一瞬间) 突然看见

Thesecurity forces sighted a group of young men that had crossed the border.

安全部队在一瞬间突然看见了一群越过了边境的年轻人。

5. N-PLURALThe sights are the places that are interesting to see and that are often visited by tourists. 名胜; 风景

We'd toured the sights of Paris.

我们已游览了巴黎的名胜。

These three words are pronounced the same, which lends them to mix-ups. Cite means ‘to refer to (a passage, book, author, or source) as evidence’, and tends toget confused less frequently than the other two homophones, site and sight. Site refers to ‘an area of ground on which a town, building, or monument is constructed’ or ‘a place where a particular event or activity is occurring orhas occurred’. The noun form of sight refers to ‘the action or faculty ofseeing’ or ‘a thing that one sees or that can be seen’.

24-25. cereal or serial

bowl of cereal or serial?

She ate serial/cereal while listening to the radio serial/cereal.

Cereal

1.麦片

I have abowl of cereal every morning.

我每天早上吃一碗麦片粥。

2. (小麦、高粱、米等) 谷类植物

Serial

1连续剧; 连载

...one of television's most popular serials.

…最受欢迎的电视连续剧之一。

2.连续的; 一系列的

...serialmurders.

…系列谋杀案。

This confusion is pretty easy to avoid. Cereal refers to grains such as wheat orrye, or to breakfast food made from roasted grains, whereas serial refers to something that is ‘taking place in a series or sequence’ or a person who is ‘repeatedly following a behavior pattern’, as in ‘a serial offender’.

26-27. breach or breech

Did the army breach or breech the castle walls?

breach

1. V-T违反

The newspaper breached the code of conduct on privacy.

这家报纸违反了隐私保护行为准则。

2. N-VAR违反

The congressman was accused of a breach of secrecy rules.

这个国会议员被指控违反保密条例。

3. N-COUNT(关系中的) 裂痕

Their actions threatened a serious breach in relations between the two countries.

他们的行动有威胁两国关系分裂的危险。

4.V-T使破开

The limestone is sufficiently fissured for tree roots to have breached the roof ofthe cave.

石灰岩裂开了足以让树根突破洞顶。

5. V-T攻破 (某人的防范)

The bomber had breached security by hurling his dynamite from a roof overlooking the building.

爆破手从一个俯瞰这幢楼房的屋顶上投掷了炸药,攻破了安全防卫。

6. N-COUNT攻破

...serious breaches of security at Camp Delta.

…三角洲军营安全防御的严重破坏。

breech

1.

N-COUNTThe breech of a gun is the part of the barrel at the back into which you loadthe bullets. (枪的)后膛(事物的)下部，尾部，后部

In its noun form breach refers to ‘an act of breaking or failing to observe a law,agreement, or code of conduct’, and in verb form it means ‘to make a gap in andbreak through (a wall, barrier, or defence)’. Breech usually refers to the backpart of something, such as that of a rifle or gun, and in its plural formbreeches refers to short trousers fastened just below the knee.

28-29. appraise or apprise

He was apprised/appraised of the situation.

appraise

vt.估价(财产)；为…定价；评定…的质量；估量，估计；

We had an expert appraise the house before we bought it.

我们在买房之前让一名专家对房子进行了估价。

She appraised the diamond ring at$450.

她估价钻石戒指值450美元。

评价，鉴定，品定：

They tried to appraise the poet-ry of John Milton.

他们试图评价弥尔顿的诗。

apprise

vt. (正式)通知，通告，报告，告知(of):

to be apprised of the death of an old friend

被告知一位老朋友的死讯[亦作apprize]

to be apprised of the situation by a friend

由友人告诉局势的种种情况[亦作apprize]

Appraisemeans ‘to assess the value or quality of’ or ‘set a price on; value’. On the other hand, apprise means ‘to inform or tell (someone)’. This means that youwould ‘apprise someone of the appraisal’.

30-31. tortuous or torturous

Are you talking about the tortuous or torturous scenes?

tortuous

1.ADJ A tortuousroad is full of bends and twists. 弯弯曲曲的

The only road access is a tortuous mountain route.

惟一的通路是一条弯弯曲曲的山路。

2. ADJ A tortuous process or piece of writing is very long and complicated. 冗长复杂的

...these long and tortuous negotiations aimed at ending the conflict.

…这些漫长曲折的谈判旨在结束冲突。

Torturous

1.

ADJ Something is extremely painful and causes great suffering. 折磨人的

This is a torturous, agonizing way to kill someone.

这是个折磨人、让人痛苦难当的杀人方法。

If warfilm was ‘full of twists and turns’, then it was probably tortuous. But if itwas also ‘involving or causing torture’, you should be wary about what aspectof the film you’re actually commenting on.

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