每日一词76|problematic
1. 这是什么词?
词:problematic
英英释义:involving problems and difficult to deal with
例句:Driving in Beijing can be quite problematic.
2. 为什么选这个词?
我们都熟悉“problem”是“问题”的意思,它的形容词形式 problematic 其实也很常见。Problematic 的字面意思是“有问题的”,不过常常可以在不同场景中灵活翻译,比如“困难重重” “难以处理”,是一个我们熟悉但是想不起来用的小词。
在北京开车很容易出现各种各样的问题,比如交通堵塞、停车等,我们这时就可以用 problematic 来吐槽:
Driving in Beijing can be quite problematic.
对许多学习者来说,最大的语言问题是词汇量不足。这时我们就可以说:
Acquiring an adequate vocabulary has been highly problematic for most learners.
某个问题依然存在,我们除了用“remain a problem”外,还可以用 remain problematic,比如共享出行依然有许多问题:
Ride-sharing services remain problematic.
《经济学人》中也会经常出现 problematic,比如在提到中国的人口政策时,它说:
A population-planning document released last year acknowledged that the low birth rate was problematic.
在提到美国对科技公司的监管时也用到了 problematic:
For firms with free products, such as Facebook and Google, such regulation could prove problematic.
3. 怎样学会使用这个词?
1)翻译下面的句子:
对中国学生来说,英语中的双元音(diphthong)很难掌握。
(参考翻译:English diphthongs are particularly problematic for Chinese students to master.)
我的翻译:
The divowel (diphthong) in English is problematic for Chinese students to master.
造句:
Towards the end of the year, the daughter's problem of failing to score high points persisted.
Near the end of the period, failing to score high points remain problematic for my daughter.