副词词类活用(小词活用drain)

drain作名词时,其原义为「下水道;排水管」

比如:I think the kitchen drain is blocked.我觉得厨房的排水管堵了。

go down the drain

这是一个特别有画面感的表达,字面意思是「...到下水道去了」,喻指「前功尽弃;泡汤;白白浪费掉」。英文释义为:to fail; to be ruined or destroyed; to be squandered or wastefully discarded. 我们来看一些例子:

《金融时报》一篇关于日本福岛核污水排放问题的文章,其中有这么一句话:

"We realise the handling of this water is a pressing and important national problem, but if this water is released into the ocean, it will have a severe impact and all the effort of fishermen (to recover from the Fukushima disaster) will go down the drain."

“我们知道核污水的处理十分紧急,是事关全国的大事。但如果把污水排进海洋,将会产生严重影响,渔民们的多年努力(从福岛核电泄露事件的影响中恢复)也将付诸东流”。

我们可以从这句话里提炼出一个句型:All the effort of sb goes down the drain. 表示「某人前功尽弃,某人所有的努力都白费了」。

《经济学人》一篇比较买房和租房的优劣的文章也用到了这个词:

The question hardly seems worth asking. Is it a better deal to rent a house or to buy one? Buying a house is a wise investment for the future, the argument goes, whereas renting one amounts to little more than throwing money down the drain.

这个问题似乎不值一问。买房或租房,哪个更划算?有观点认为,买房是对未来的明智投资之选,而租房则等同于钱打水漂。

throw money down the drain 太形象了,和中文里的「钱打水漂了」有异曲同工之妙。

总结:go down the strain → to be wasted / spoiled

2. drain作名词时,还可引申为抽象意义上的「消耗;耗费;流失」。惯用搭配为: be a drain on sb/sth

表示「对...的消耗;...方面的耗费」。我们来看2个例子:

Interns aren't supposed to be a drain on time, energy or resources.

实习生不应该成为雇主时间、精力或者资源上的负担。

Military spending is a huge drain on the country's resources.

军费开支是对国家资源的巨大耗费。

Fraud trials are often complex and have become an expensive drain on the public purse.

诈骗案通常错综复杂,会给公共资金造成巨大损失。

美剧《无耻之徒》里也出现过这个词:

副词词类活用(小词活用drain)(1)

(It is) nothing respectable about being a drain on the system.

再举个例子,雅思作文考试经常会考到要不要保护老建筑,当阐述反对一方的观点时,我们就可以这么说:Restoring old buildings is a drain on taxpayers' money.

brain drain

这是一个固定词组,表示「人才流失」。

这是个外刊的高频短语。比如,ABC一篇文章介绍新冠疫情对澳大利亚人才外流的影响,其标题为:

副词词类活用(小词活用drain)(2)

COVID-19 pandemic offers 'single greatest opportunity' to reverse Australia'sbrain drain. But there are catches.

新冠疫情是澳大利亚扭转人才流失的最好机会。但也存在不利因素。

再比如,今年9月,学术期刊《自然》一篇文章谈到美国政府各种骚操作可能会导致中国来的人才流失,文章标题是这样写的:

副词词类活用(小词活用drain)(3)

Us political crackdown spurs fears Chinese brain drain.

drained (adj.)

drained 形容词,表示「精疲力竭;无精打采」(very tired and without energy)。比如:Suddenly, she felt totally drained.她突然感觉筋疲力尽。

近义词还有tired, exhausted, fatigued, jaded, weary, worn out

draining 则表示「令人精疲力竭的」的意思,相当于very tiring。

emotionally draining 是一个很常见的搭配,可以用来表示我们平时说的「心力交瘁」。举个例子:

Days in the ICU are physically and emotionally draining.

再比如《纽约时报》采访到的一个失业者这样说道:

副词词类活用(小词活用drain)(4)

It’s been the most emotionally draining, scariest time in my life by far.”

这是我人生中最心力交瘁、最可怕的日子。

小结

我们简单总结一下讲到的重点表达:

make sb tired →drain sb

be wasted → go down the drain

tired, exhaused → drained

tiring, exhausting → draining

be a drain on sb/sth

drain sb of sth

drain away

brain drain

最后,我们再来看一下朗文双解里drain的完整用法,带大家更加全面地了解drain这个词。

副词词类活用(小词活用drain)(5)

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