国际政治风云变幻，国与国之间的矛盾冲突难以避免。那么，外媒报道又常用哪些词表示“对立”呢？前几天跟大家分享了词根-tain，今天我们聊聊词缀counter-，contra-和contro-。

近日，特朗普政府宣布计划对包括工业机器人、铁路机车在内的1333种中国商品征收25%关税。对此中国回应，宣布对美国106项商品加征25%关税，清单内包括原产于美国的大豆、汽车、化工品等，实施日期将视美国对中国商品加征关税实施情况而定。

countermeasure

An action taken to counteract a danger or threat

应对危险或威胁所作出的行动

该词前缀counter-此处含义为“回击”，牛津词典在线网站oxforddictionaries.com对此的解释为“denoting opposition, retaliation, or rivalry（表示对立、反击或对抗）”。

下面，我们再来看看counter-的词源与发展。根据词根在线查询网站etymonline.com的释义：

counter-: word-forming element meaning "against, in opposition," from Latin adverb and preposition contra. The Latin word was used as a prefix in Late Latin. In Anglo-Norman French, it became contre- and passed into English as counter-. 

counter-为构词的元素，意思是“对立、反对”，源自拉丁语中的副词/介词contra。contra在后期拉丁语中用作前缀。在盎格鲁诺曼法语中，它变成了contre-, 传入英语后最终成为了counter-。

那么，counter-“回击” + measure“措施/行动” = countermeasure“回击行动”也就不难理解了。

事实上，经常看英文新闻的同学对counter-一定很眼熟，因为它出现的频率着实不低。比如：

counter-espionage：n. 反间谍活动

New counter-espionage powers will be considered by the Home Office, while the government will propose a Magnitsky-style clause to the sanctions bill, allowing measures against those involved in human rights abuses.

counteract：v. 抵消，抵抗

US President Donald Trump last weekend threatened to “apply a Tax” on cars made by European manufacturers, which he characterised as “freely pour[ing] into the US”. The warning came after European officials upped the ante in a transatlantic war of words over trade, saying they would counteract any US tariffs which penalise European goods.

美国总统唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)上周末威胁对欧洲制造商生产的汽车“征税”，他形容这些汽车“（正）不受限制地涌入美国”。此前，欧洲官员在一场跨大西洋贸易口水战中提高了调门，称将回击美国为惩罚欧洲商品而征收的任何关税。

常见带counter-的单词还有：

counter-源于拉丁语contra，而事实上contra-在当代英语中同样得以延用。在近期新闻社评中，我们也可以看到contra-及其变体contro-的身影：

From immigration, to tax policy, to internet regulation and environmental standards, a growing number of California policies confront or contradict federal policies — a test of states’ rights that will ultimately play out in court.

从移民和税收政策，到互联网监管和环境标准，加州越来越多的政策与联邦政策对抗或背道而驰——这是对州的权利的考验，最终将会发展到法庭上。

controversy: n. 争议，争论

Mr Trump did his best to quell the controversy, insisting the US was still committed to a strong dollar. But the confusion increased the anxiety among other major economies about the bellicose and unpredictable direction of the US’s international economic policy.

特朗普竭力平息这场争议，坚称美国仍致力于保持强势美元。但由此带来的困惑加剧了其他主要经济体对美国国际经济政策好斗性和未来方向无法预测的担忧。

常见带contra-/contro-的单词还有：