20190824 spell

1. 这是个什么词？

词：spell

英英释义：a period of a particular kind of activity, weather, illness etc, usually a short period

例句：He has been going through a bad spell lately.

2. 为什么选这个词？

“spell”除了动词“拼写”的意思外，还有个常见、好用的意思：“一小段时间、一阵子”。我们可以用它来替换 a short period of time，让表达更简洁、更地道。

需要注意的是，虽然 spell 本身有短时间的意思，但它前面也可以用 short 或 brief 来修饰。这个词在《经济学人》中出现的频次非常高，值得我们掌握，自如地用在口语和写作中。下面我们通过几个例子掌握它的用法。

如果某个人最近运气很糟糕，做什么事情什么事情不顺，我们就可以说：

He has been going through a bad spell lately.

我们经常会说隐隐作痛，比如不是连续的头晕，而是一阵一阵的，就可以说：

Unaccustomed to train rides, she suffers from dizzy spells.

前段时间天气太热，很多人非常受不了，可以说：

People have found it hard to cope with the hot spells.

下面来看《经济学人》中的几个例子：

1）Under Mr Juncker’s new rules, this cooling-off period has been extended to two years for commissioners and three for the president. This is still a short spell by the standards of some countries.

2）Charles Handy has been through a lot of challenges in a long career as a manager at Royal Dutch Shell, an oil giant, followed by a spell in academia and acclaim as a business writer championing more flexible, less hierarchical organisations.

3）Floods, storms and cold spells also carry a climatic fingerprint. When Hurricane Harvey hit America in August 2017, it stalled over Texas, delivering huge quantities of rain, which caused heavy flooding and more than 80 deaths.

4）Not only does he expect to get through the current dry spell—Chennai’s worst since 2004—he also insists that, for the city, water scarcity will soon be a thing of the past.

3. 怎样学会使用这个词？

1）翻译下面的句子：

这几个小学生因为饥饿，感到阵阵头晕。

Hungary, the pupils begin having dizzy spells.

（参考翻译：The pupils begin having dizzy spells from hungry. 或 Hungry, the pupils begin having dizzy spells.)

2）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： 他蹲得时间太久了以至于站起来时感到一阵头晕。

场景：He squatted so long that he suffered from dizzy spells when standing up.