20190728 ostensible

1. 认识这个词（基础篇）

词：ostensible

英英释义：seeming or stated to be real or true, when this is perhaps not the case

例句：His ostensible purpose was charity, but his real goal was popularity.

2. 体会这个词 （进阶篇）

“ostensible”是形容词，意思是“表面上的”“貌似真实的”，是一个口语和写作中都很高频的高水平词汇。当我们想表示“xx seems to be”和“名义上是…“时，很多时候都可以用 ostensible 表示，它后面常接 goal/purpose/reason/cause 等名词。我们通过几个例子掌握它的用法。

我们常说”醉翁之意不在酒“，也就是说表面上做得事情和真实目的不同，有别有用心之意，这时我们就可以用到 ostensible。比如某人表面是做慈善，其实是想博得关注，就可以说成：

His ostensible purpose was charity, but his real goal was popularity.

再比如你不想参加某个活动，但是不想告诉对方真实原因，于是便找个借口，这时也可以用 ostensible：

The ostensible reason for his absence was illness, but in fact he was just rather shy.

《经济学人》中也经常用到 ostensible，比如：

1）The ostensible purpose of such rules is to prevent electoral fraud.

2）The ostensible cause of popular discontent is a decline in law and order.

3）Michael Bowling says that although the ostensible goal was to build a winning poker program, the real aim was to “study how to build computers to make decisions in difficult circumstances, especially where there is missing information”.

3. 从认识到会用（作业）

1）翻译下面的句子： 他辞职的表面理由是身体不好。

The ostensible reason for his resignation was ill health.

（参考翻译：The ostensible reason for his resignation was ill health.）

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。

他不去旅游的表面理由是家中有事

The ostensible reason why he does not travel is that there is something in the house.