20190713 hobble

1. 这是个什么词？

词：hobble

英英释义：restrict the activity or development of

例句：The scarcity of talent hobbles the economy in many developing countries.

2. 为什么选这个词？

“hobble”是及物动词，本意是“跛行”，可以引申为“限制”“阻碍”，今天我们来学习它的引申义。hobble 是个非常高频的词，形象地道，也是《经济学人》中的常客，在口语和写作中可以用它来替换 restrict。下面通过几个具体例子来掌握它。

很多创业公司受制于资金不足，可以说：

Many start-ups are hobbled by a lack of capital.

很多发展中国家人才不足，极大地限制了它们的经济发展，就可以说：

The scarcity of talent hobbles the economy in many developing countries.

腐败、官僚和无能制约了这个非洲国家的土地改革，就可以说：

Corruption, red tape, and incompetence have hobbled the land reform in this African country.

《经济学人》最近在一篇介绍中国稀土元素的文章中就用到了 hobble:

America can hobble Chinese tech giants by stopping American firms from selling them components such as semiconductors. But China could, in return, cut off their supplies of rare-earth products.

另一篇写网络黑客的《经济学人》文章在摘要中也用到了 hobble:

A wave of internet attacks points to an attempt to hobble foreign websites.

《经济学人》在写印度经济政策的文章中再次用到了 hobble:

Planned changes to e-commerce rules could hobble foreign firms operating in the country, such as Amazon and Walmart.

3. 怎样学会使用这个词？

1）翻译下面的句子： 僵化的教育机制限制了学生的创造力。

The rigid education system has hobbled the creativity of students.

（参考翻译：The rigid education system has hobbled the creativity of students.）

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： 暴雨阻碍了营救行动。

场景：The heavy rain hobbled the rescue operation.