2019-03-13 pitfall

1. 这是个什么词？

词：pitfall

英英释义：a problem or difficulty that is likely to happen in a particular job, course of action, or activity

例句：A used car is indeed a bargain, but there can be many pitfalls associated with the purchase of one.

2. 为什么选这个词？

“pitfall”是可数名词，意思都是“陷阱、隐患、坑”。这个词由 pit 和 fall 两部分组成，pit 本身有“深坑”的意思，而 fall 有“落下”的意思，就像一个人不小心掉进坑里一样，非常有画面感，相信大家一下子就记住了。我们可以用 pitfall 来替换 danger 和 trap。下面通过生活中几个常见场景来掌握这个单词。

买二手车固然便宜，但其实里面有很多坑，就可以说：

A used car is indeed a bargain, but there can be many pitfalls associated with the purchase of one.

很多自由职业者喜欢在家办公，因为可以节省办公室租金，节省通勤时间，但其实这里面也有很多坑，比如难以形成一种高效的工作习惯、很容易被家里的事情分散注意力，就可以说：

Many freelancers favor working at home because it saves rent and reduces commute time. However, pitfalls of this practice abound.

我们经常会读到“认知缺陷”或“认知陷阱”，对应的英文就是 cognitive pitfalls。我们就可以这样提醒自己：

We should be wary of cognitive pitfalls.

我几年前开始写公众号是为了提醒其他人英语学习中一些常见的坑，就可以说：

I started to blog about English learning because I wanted to warn other English learners of common pitfalls.

3. 怎样学会使用这个词？

1）翻译下面的句子：

一个律师的任务就是用自己的专业技能帮助客户避开法律中的坑。

A lawyer's job is to use his expertise to help his clients to avoid legal pitfalls.

（参考翻译：A lawyer's job is to use his expertise to help his clients to avoid legal pitfalls. ）

2）结合自己的生活、学习、工作、兴趣等，想象在什么语境下会用到这个表达。先简要描述这个场景，再造句。

例子： 金融

场景 ：If a healthy banking system is dull, then Australia’s must be sick to the core. Australia’s must be sick to the core. A royal commission with a broad remit to investigate abuses by the country’s financial institutions has found many troubling practices. Hearings warned that there were many pitfalls in the banking system such as for years banks had hidden fees, charged money for non-existent services and docked charges from the dead. Financial advisers earned bonuses for channeling clients’cash towards underperforming funds.