一日一词：深不可测FATHOM

自现象级英语

FATHOM

1. 英英释义：to understand something complicated or mysterious

例句：Girls’ behaviors/intentions are often hard to fathom.

2. 体会这个词 （进阶篇）

“fathom“既是名词也是动词。作为名词，fathom 表示测量水深的单位“英寻”；作为动词，它表示“透彻理解”“深入了解”，今天我们要学习的是它的动词用法。和表示“理解”的常见词（比如 understand，comprehend，figure out）相比，fathom 有“深不可测”“绞尽脑汁也没有想透”的意味，在一些语境下使用 fathom 会更准确，在写作和口语中都可以使用。  

比如，有首老歌叫《女孩的心思你别猜》，说的也就是有些女孩的行为叫人难以看透，我们可以用 fathom 造句：  

Girls’ behaviors/intentions are often hard to fathom.

在口语表达中，难以看透某人或某事也可以直接说“I can’t fathom him/her/it”。再比如我们常说“问世间情为何物，直教人生死相许”，是不是也可以解读为：  

It’s hard to fathom why people fall in love and how some of them would die for the one they love.

《经济学人》中也常出现 fathom，最后来看两个例子：  

a) Higher barriers to trade will add to inflation and hurt GDP, but to an extent that is hard to fathom.

b) Of all the Trump administration’s many regulatory cuts, the unrolling of these modest improvements to school food is among the hardest to fathom.

3. 从认识到会用（作业） 

1）翻译下面的句子：    

我们难以理解“无条件的爱”意味着什么。(重点：句型的变化)

We can hardly fathom what "unconditional love" means.

What "unconditional love" truly means is hard to fathom.

It's hard to fathom what it means to love someone unconditionally.

造句：

例1：The mysterious woman is a closed book. To fathom her motives is a mission impossible. 这个神秘女人是不解之谜。要猜出她的心思，是不可能完成的任务。

例2：The unrolling of football matches is among the hardest to fathom. That's why football betting has gone viral across the globe. 足球比赛的走势最难猜度。所以赌球风靡全球。

例3：The scars of mistreatment in childhood persist. Subsequently, misbehaviour in adulthood is the least diffcult to fathom. 童年受虐待的创伤持续。因此，成年行为不端就不难理解了。

个人拓展：

搭配：fathom one's motives/ intentions/ behaviours/ sb/ the problem

用法：常用于否定句

背诵：

fathom （out）， understand，comprehend，figure out, get to the bottom of

I can’t fathom him/her/it.

Higher barriers to trade will add to inflation and hurt GDP, but to an extent that is hard to fathom.