Yang Li:

大家好我是杨莉。Welcome to Question and Answer of the Week, an

interactive programme with questions from you and answers from us.

今天我要讲解的问题来自David, 他希望我们讲解以下三个词的区别和用法：

Question

What’s the difference between mishap, disaster and distress?

Yang Li:

这三个词 mishap, disaster and distress 主要作为名词使用，一般都和伤亡或事

故，以及由此而引起的焦虑，担心有关。这几个词在新闻时事报道中出现的频率较高，

其中 disaster 可能大家都知道，意思是灾难，指那些导致重大伤亡的天灾人祸 - a

sudden accident or a natural catastrophe that causes great damage or loss

of life. 比如, 洪灾 a flood, 地震 an earthquake, 龙卷风 a tornado, 飞机坠毁

plane crash 等等。这是它的第一个意思，另外 disaster 也可以表示重大失败 -a

complete failure. 请听例句：

Example

Lunch had turned out to be a total disaster.

Yang Li:

Lunch had turned out to be a total disaster.午饭完全搞糟了 a disaster.

好，为了加深记忆我将给大家我描述几个不同的场景，请大家判断应该使用哪个词，是

disaster, mishap 还是 distress：

第一个场景：我手里拿着一杯咖啡，突然一不小心，出了个小事故杯子一滑咖啡撒了，

幸亏水不太热，没烫伤。这里的“小事故”应该用什么词？请听：

Example

The mishap occurred when I was holding a cup of coffee. It just slipped out of my hand.

Luckily the coffee wasn’t too hot and it didn't burn me.

Yang Li:

你选对了吗？在以上这句话里 mishap 意思是小事故 - a small accident or

mistake.

 

 

Example

The mishap occurred when I was holding a cup of coffee. It just slipped out of my hand.

Luckily the coffee wasn’t too hot and it didn't burn me.

Yang Li:

第二个场景：周末我的洗衣机出了点儿毛病，洗衣机的水管子破裂，弄得厨房到处是

水，我不得不赶快叫水管工来修补。这句里的“毛病”用那个词？It is…mishap! 正

确！请听例句：

Example

I had a mishap over the weekend, the water pipe on the washing machine split, there

was water all over the kitchen floor. I had to call a plumber to repair the leak.

Yang Li:

第三个场景：《泰坦尼克号》首航撞上了冰山, 迅速开始下沉，船长马上发出紧急呼救

信号，但是没有收到什么回应，结果大部分乘客遇难。那一“事件”该用哪个词来形

容？Disaster? Yes, that’s correct. Listen:

Example

The disaster happened when the Titanic hit an iceberg on her first voyage and started to

sink. The captain immediately sent out a distress signal to get help from other ships.

Yang Li:

注意，这句话里除了使用disaster, 还用了distress signal 意思是遇难求救信号 - a

state of danger or desperate need. 我们再听一个例句：

Example

It’s rained so much lately that a huge area of land is now flooded. It's a complete

disaster - so many people have lost their homes and livelihoods. Everyone affected is

extremely distressed as they don’t know how they are going to cope with the situation.

Yang Li:

水灾造成许多人无家可归。让许多人感到非常痛苦 everyone is extremely

distressed 请大家注意 distress 在这里是动词 to be distressed. 也就是说，这个

词既可以作名词，也可以做动词。我们再听一遍：

Example

It’s rained so much lately that a huge area of land is now flooded. It's a complete

disaster - so many people have lost their homes and livelihoods. Everyone affected is

extremely distressed as they don’t know how they are going to cope with the situation.

Yang Li:

OK let’s recap the main meanings of each of the three words: ‘disaster’ is a

sudden accident or a natural catastrophe that causes great damage or loss

of life 灾难，or a complete failure of something or someone 彻底失败; a

‘mishap’ is a small but unlucky accident 小事故; ‘distress’ usually refers to

pain or suffering that affects the mind or body 痛苦，or a state of danger

or desperate need 危急状态。好希望今天的讲解对大家有帮助，谢谢David

 

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