这是“读外刊，学英文句型”栏目的第二十四期，关于该栏目第一期的说明可以见如何通过阅读外刊积累英文写作句型？
1.一个举例句型
下面节选的句子来自The Economist关于印度互联网的报道India’s new Jiography
For a glimpse of how the internet is taking hold in India, catch one of Mumbai’s double-decker buses. Even at rush hour, when people pack so tightly into the ancient vehicles that it is difficult for the conductors to collect fares, and stragglers hang out of the open door, commuters still find space to get out their mobile phones.
这段话的大意是：要想感受互联网如何在印度发展壮大，只需要坐上孟买一辆双层巴士就可以了，看看乘客们都在干什么。尽管车上非常拥挤，但很多乘客还是想办法掏出了手机。
第一句话有一个值得关注的句式：For a glimpse of A, do B 含义是：要想看看……只需要…… 这是一个举例句式，可以通过B来对A进行说明。举个例子，目前全球变暖对环境造成了影响，要想看看这些影响有多大，去北极感受一下就行：
For a glimpse of how global warming changes the environment, go to the Arctic, a region that has seen the rapid melting of ice caps in the past 20 years.
2.替换掉take…for example
考场作文中一想到举例很多人会写 take…for example，比如take China for example/take my friend for example，但实际上for example这一部分可以删掉，直接写take something就可以，而且这一写法在地道英文中更为常见。例如：
Lots of couples have problems in the first year of marriage. Take Ann and Paul.
除此之外，还可以使用下面的举例句式：
The concentration of reams of personal data in one place makes serious leaks more likely. One example is the recent scandal at Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy that acquired data on 87m Facebook users in underhand ways (and as a result went out of business).
这段话的背景是目前大平台聚集了大量的用户数据，这会增加信息严重泄露的概率，比如之前闹得沸沸扬扬的脸书数据泄露事件。这里作者在举例时用的句式是：One example is…a political consultancy that... 这一句式很简单，但很少见到考生使用。下次在举例时可以用该句式来代替take…for example，例如：
The best way to deal with traffic problems in the city is through congestion charge. Take London for example. It charges motorists a certain amount of money for driving a vehicle within the charging zone during the rush hour, thereby discouraging driving and reducing the number of cars on the road.
可以改为：
The best way to deal with traffic problems in the city is through congestion charge. One example is London, which charges motorists a certain amount of money for driving a vehicle within the charging zone during the rush hour, thereby discouraging driving and reducing the number of cars on the road.
3.以小见大
下面的句子选自The Guardian文章Babies and jobs: no easy choices
Women trying to juggle family responsibilities and their working lives are suffering from "role strain" despite improved childcare and more positive attitudes towards working mothers over the past decade. The finding comes from a report by the National Family & Parenting Institute, which offers a snapshot of family life in Britain today, and charts how families and the parents' roles have changed since 1994.
这段话的大意是英国国家家庭与教育研究机构的研究结果表明很多女性很难平衡家庭和职场。第二句有这样的说法：...which offers a snapshot of family life in Britain today… 即“……提供了当前英国家庭生活的一个剪影”。其中snapshot原本是指“快照，抓拍的照片”，它可以引申为“（某事物的）大致情况”。
我们可以用XX offers a snapshot of… 来说明我们可以通过某个比较小的事物来了解事情的总体情况，即“以小见大”。例如：
(1) A tour into downtown Shanghai gives you a snapshot of the life of China's middle class citizens.
(2) The Great Gatsby gives us a snapshot of America's Gilded Age, a period of great economic expansion and gross materialism.
4.逐渐演变成……
下面的句子选自The Economist文章Saltires and smears
What started as an investigation into Mr Salmond’s conduct has snowballed into a political scandal that threatens to undermine Nicola Sturgeon, his successor as first minister, and to damage the cause of Scottish independence.
上面这句话的意思是：一场本来只是针对萨尔蒙德先生行为的调查已经演变成一场政治丑闻，这场丑闻可能会危及他的首席大臣继任者尼古拉·斯特金，以及损害苏格兰独立大业。
句子中snowball 的动词用法很形象，它原本是指“雪球”，这里引申为“（规模、程度等像滚雪球般）不断扩大”。同时还有一个值得注意的句式：What started as…has snowballed into… （本来只是……后面演变成……）。这一句型在地道英文中经常可以见到，例如外媒在报道加州森林大火时用了这样的说法：What started as a tiny brush fire became the state’s deadliest wildfire.
值得注意的一点是，该句型一般用于描述事物向坏的方向发展。例如一些科学发明在一开始是好的，但在后面可能会往意想不到的方向发展，我们可以说：
Technology is a two-edged weapon. What starts as a useful invention may turn into an agent for brutality and destruction. The nuclear bomb is a case in point.
总结：
本期一共介绍了以下几个表达：
(1) For a glimpse of A, do B
(2) One example is…
(3) XX offers a snapshot of…
(4) What started as…has snowballed into…
点击文末“阅读原文”可以查看这一系列的往期文章。
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