Shape

Shape: to influence the way that a person, idea, or situation develops

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例句：

1) Phenomenal English is shaping how English learners approach the language.

2) Like it or not, our families shape our lives and make us what we are.

=influence/affect 和 have an impact/effect/influence on

2016 年《经济学人》圣诞特刊中，有一篇文章写的是经济学人集团所在的大楼对它的影响：

3) Over the years the building has shaped The Economist in several ways, some good, some less so.

On Writing Well 的作者 William Zinsser 在另一本著作 Writing Places 中，提到一份报纸对他童年的影响：

4) When I was a kid the Herald Tribune had  the values I would take through life as a writer.

“reshape”常出现，可和“shape”放一起学。

译：很多人认为，我们所讲的语言可以决定我们的思维方式。

我的版本：Many think the language we speak shapes the way we think.  (think重复，换成believe好。)

参考翻译：Many believe that the language we speak shapes the way we think.

场景1：经历的重要性

The places we visit, the books we read, and the people we meet shape who we are.

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Real, constructive mental power lies in the creative thought that shapes your destiny, and your hour-by-hour mental conduct produces power for change in your life. Develop a train of thought on which to ride. The nobility of your life as well as your happiness depends upon the direction in which that train of thought is going.

                                —Laurence J. Peter

            US educator & writer (1919-1988) 

It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.

    —Robert F. Kennedy, South Africa, 1966

      US Democratic politician (1925-1968)