1. 这是个什么词？
词：variant
英英释义：something that is slightly different from the usual form of something
例句：Meituan, Pinduoduo, and similar products are simply a number of variants of the same idea.
2. 为什么选这个词？
“variant”是可数名词，意思是“变体、变种”。虽然这个词最常出现在科学类文章中，很多其他主题的文章中也可以碰到。当我们想表示一个事物和另一个事物本质上是一样的，但略有差异，就可以说 A is a variant of B。我们还可以在给别人介绍一个比较新的事物或概念时使用 variant，便于对方联想和理解。variant 后面接介词 of 或 on，意思一样。这个词可以体现使用者对英文词汇的掌握程度，在口语和写作中都可以使用。我们来看几个例子。
color 是 colour 的一种变体，我们就可以说：
"Color" is a variant of "colour".
或
"Color" is a spelling variant of "colour".
微软有 Word 文字处理器，Apple 有 Pages，它们都是文字处理器，就可以说：
Pages, an app by Apple, is a variant of/on Word, a widely used word processor by Microsoft.
好几年前就有拼团这个概念了，现在很火的拼多多和一些类似的拼团产品本质上其实是一样的，我们就可以说：
Meituan, Pinduoduo, and similar products are simply a number of variants of the same idea.
一些扑克游戏大致规则差不多，但还是会有些细微差别。比如同样是“升级”游戏，有的人会将 2 作为常主，有的人不把 2 作为常主，但除此之外并没有太大的差别，我们就可以说：
This card game is just a variant on Shengji.
来读读下面这段《经济学人》，选自分析新西兰枪击案的文章：
Yet he was part of something much bigger. The names and slogans scrawled on his weapons were familiar to extreme white nationalists all around the world—but hardly anyone else. His ranting internet manifesto, “The Great Replacement”, repeated a staple far-right conspiracy theory: that non-white and Muslim immigrants in Western countries are invaders, ushered in by scheming elites to replace ethnic-European populations. Variants of that once-fringe idea are now common, not just in social-media posts by anonymous wackos but in the speeches of elected politicians from Hungary to Iowa.
最后一句中的 once-fringe 意思是“一度非主流的、曾经边缘化的”。简单来说，variants of that once-fringe idea 就可以理解成是 similar ideas。
3. 怎样学会使用这个词？
1）翻译下面的句子：
市场上有很多种可乐，都是可口可乐的变种。
There are many colas on the market, all variants on the original drink.
There are many colas on the market, all variants of the original Coca Cola drink
（参考翻译：There are many colas on the market, all variants on the original drink. 或 There are many colas on the market, all variants of the original Coca Cola drink. ）
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： 商业
场景 ：In late December, in an article that went viral, the website took aim at Quanjian, a variant on illegal pyramid scheme, which it said had been taking in billions of yuan from annual sales. It had investments in football and equestrian clubs, cosmetics, banking, insurance and hotels.
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