surroundings 偏重于生活、居住的周围环境,
environment则指对人的成长、情感、观念、伦理、道德、品行等产生影响的环境。
优美的周边环境
beautiful surroundings;
幸福的家庭环境:happy home environment;
遗传和环境;发展与环境,其中的环境只能用 environment。
破坏环境,保护环境中的环境当然也是environment。
这词的使用范围比sorroundings宽泛得多,延伸到人类活动的各种领域,如
political/economic/cultural/demographic/natural/social/technological/legal/macroeconomic/microeconomic
marketing/investment/language/learning/Chinese
speaking/bilingual/multilingual/operating/global/international
environment etc.
Conditions
虽有"环境"的含义,不过更接近汉语“条件” ——
泛指改变、限制性因素,也指影响生活质量的种种因素。
circumstances则相当于“形势、情况”,往往指人力无法控制、驾驭的事件和事态的总和,
weather/working/living/housing/production/natural/financial
conditions, 其中有些条件人们可以创造、改变,但人们无法改变、创造circumstances。 Don't judge
the crime until you know the circumstances.
指时间、地点、条件、情况等细节,不能用conditions替换。circumstances还有一层意思,便是境遇、财力、经济状况,如经济宽余、生活安逸
(in good/easy/comfortable/flourishing circumstances),经济拮据、境遇不佳 (in
bad/reduced/distressed/straitened
circumstances)。两词有时也可通用,如
under present
conditions/circumstances;
national conditions/circumstances
(国情)。
在习语中,词的搭配是固定的,不可互换,如in/under the circumstances, in/under no
circumstances。中国政府在核武器问题上有句名言,不可不学:Time and again the Chinese
government has solemnly declared thatat no time and under no
circumstances will it be the first to use nuclear
weapons。
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