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VOA日常语法2023--The Language of International Conflicts

时间:2023-11-15 01:27来源:互联网 提供网友:nan   字体: [ ]
    (单词翻译:双击或拖选)

The Language of International Conflicts

The war between Israel and Hamas has drawn1 a lot of international attention this week. News reports, videos, and social media posts have informed people about the latest events in the conflict.

What kinds of language do reporters, journalists, or even citizens use during these conflicts?

That will be the subject of this week's Everyday Grammar.

International conflicts

Conflict is not a happy subject. But learning how to understand the language surrounding such events is important.

When we look at the language used to describe conflicts, verbs have special importance. Violent conflicts are about actions – one group doing something to another group. Verbs are the words we use to describe actions.

We can break apart the verbs into two general groups: active and passive forms.

When we say the term active verb, we mean the relationship between the verb and the subject of the sentence. We call a verb an active verb when the subject of the sentence performs the action. Consider this example:

Tom kicked the ball.

In the sentence, the subject, Tom, does the action – kicking. The action is done to the object – the ball.

In other words, we have this structure: subject – verb – object.

Passive verbs tell us when something is done to someone or something. In other words, the subject is being acted upon. The subject is not acting2.

We make a verb passive by introducing the auxiliary3 verb "be," putting the verb in its past participial form, and sometimes by introducing a prepositional phrase.

Let's take an example.

Here is our active sentence:

Tom kicked the ball.

A passive sentence might be this:

The ball was kicked by Tom.

So far, we have explored active and passive verbs at the sentence level. But the same ideas hold true at the level of a clause4 as well. A clause has a subject and a predicate. When a clause stands on its own, we say it is a sentence. But sometimes two or more clauses5 make up a sentence.

Why does this matter?

So, why are these ideas important?

The language surrounding international conflicts often contains a mixture of active and passive structures. Some reports or social media posts might contain a little more of the passive voice or a little more of the active voice. But most reports will have some kind of mix.

Let's explore one example from the Voice of America.

Linda Gradstein describes some events in the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Here is some information about events in Gaza:

Palestinian health officials said several dozen Palestinians including women and children were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Jabaliya refugee6 camp Monday in Gaza.

In our example, we have an active form (health officials said....) as well as a passive form (were killed).

The same idea – the mixing of active and passive forms – holds true in many other places in the report.

For example, here is some information about events in Israel.

The bodies of more than 260 young music festival goers were discovered Sunday. Hamas gunman kidnapped more than 130 Israelis – many from the festival – and took them to Gaza.

Homework

Let's use this final example for a homework assignment. You just heard a mixture of active and passive structures. Can you identify the active and passive forms?

Words in This Story

auxiliary verb – n. a verb (such as have or be) that is used with another verb to show the verb's tense, to form a question, etc.

past participle – n. the form of the verb that is used with "be" in passive constructions

prepositional phrase – n. a phrase that begins with a preposition and ends in a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase

predicate – n. the part of a sentence that expresses what is said about the subject


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 drawn MuXzIi     
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的
参考例句:
  • All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
  • Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
2 acting czRzoc     
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
参考例句:
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
3 auxiliary RuKzm     
adj.辅助的,备用的
参考例句:
  • I work in an auxiliary unit.我在一家附属单位工作。
  • The hospital has an auxiliary power system in case of blackout.这家医院装有备用发电系统以防灯火管制。
4 clause QVuyO     
n.(正式文件或法律文件的)条款,从句,分句
参考例句:
  • The sentence consists of a main clause and a subordinate clause.这句中有一个主句和一个从句。
  • What clause do you require in the contract?你要求在合同中订上什么条款?
5 clauses 3d77f6277deb3abd1d274bedeade6932     
从句( clause的名词复数 ); (法律文件等的)条款
参考例句:
  • Relative pronouns and adverbs introduce attributive clauses. 关系代词和关系副词引导定语从句。
  • Please underline the noun clauses in the passage. 请用线画出短文中的名词性从句。
6 refugee lCEyL     
n.难民,流亡者
参考例句:
  • The refugee was condemned to a life of wandering.这个难民注定要过流浪的生活。
  • The refugee is suffering for want of food and medical supplies.难民苦于缺少食物和医药用品。
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