2019-01-01 desirable

1. 这是什么词？

词：desirable

英英释义：worth having and wanted by most people

例句：Hainan is a desirable place for many northeasterners to visit during the winter months.

2. 为什么选这个词？

“desirable”是“desire”的形容词形式，意思是“值得拥有的” “理想的”，是一个口语和写作中都能用到的高频词汇。我们想表示“一份好工作”“一个好结果”时，除了可以用最常见的 good 外，还可以用 desirable，比如“a desirable job/outcome”。

每年要过年的时候，许多东北人都会去海南省避冬，我就可以说：

Hainan is a desirable place for many northeasterners to visit during the winter months.

美国畅销书作者马尔科姆•格拉德威尔在 David and Goliath 中提到过一个概念，叫“desirable difficulty”，有些困难和障碍其实是可以帮助我们成长的，正如孟子所说：“天将降大任于斯人也，必先苦其心志，饿其体肤……”我们可以总结书中的话来解释这个概念，比如：

The idea of “desirable difficulty” suggests that not all difficulties are negative. Some difficulties turn out to be desirable.

《经济学人》在 2018 圣诞特刊中就有这样一段话用到了 desirable：

The mainstream view is that desirable men are gao-fu-shuai—tall, rich and handsome. And the ideal woman is bai-fu-mei—pale-skinned, rich and beautiful.

desirbale 和 ideal 在这里意思相近，都可以理解为“理想的”，可以放在一起记忆。

3. 怎样学会使用这个词？

1）使用《牛津英语搭配词典》查“desirable”，了解它作为形容词时的常用搭配。

2）翻译下面的句子：

这个解决方案理论上来说非常可取，不过实际操作起来困难重重。

The solution is highly desirable in theory but problematic in reality.

（参考翻译：The solution is highly desirable in theory but problematic in reality.）

3）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：南极

场景 ：Although human made great achievements in the age of Antarctic discovery, the modern political rivalry over the continent can be quite intense. Antarctica’s future as a  natural reserve is by no means assured. Whereas the Antarctic Treaty designed to protect it has certainly preserved peace and served as an example of co-operation between nations, the prospect of desirable mineral and oil deposits under Antarctica’s ice cap is attracting the attention of resource-starved countries and big business alike. For centuries, the Antarctic defied man’s approach. Now its dangers and its terrors have been largely conquered. Only its future remains unknown.