以a-開頭的形容詞用法新探·afloat

江蘇豐縣   李 翔

一、afloat的用法

1. 在水中漂浮或在空中飄浮(floating in water or air) 相當于floating。

(1) 作表語。例如：

We'll have to bail the water out if the boat is to stay afloat.要使船浮著，我們得把船里的水舀出去。

(2) 作后置定語。例如：

The biggest ships afloat now are oil tanks. 眼下在水面航行的最大船舶是油輪。

(3) 作賓語補足語。例如：

He couldn't swim but a large piece of wood kept him afloat. 不會游泳，但一塊大木板使他漂浮起來。

2. 在海上，在船上 (at sea; on board ship)

(1) 作表語。例如：

All the ships are still afloat. 所有的船都在海上航行。

(2) 作后置定語。例如：

Which life do you prefer, life on land or life afloat? 你喜歡那種生活方式，陸地上的還是海上的？

(3) 作賓語補足語。例如：

The boat stuck on a sandbank but we soon got it afloat again. 小船在沙丘擱淺, 沒過多久我們就又使它航行自如了

3. 無債；無困難 (out of debt or difficulties) 

(1) 作表語。例如：

The firm managed to stay afloat during the recession. 在經濟衰退期間, 公司設法渡過了難關。

(2) 作賓語補足語。例句：

He kept the business afloat. 他努力使商行維持下去。

4. (指謠言)傳播；流傳(of rumours) being generally talked about；circulating

(1) 作表語。例如：

It's afloat that she is going to marry. 傳說她要結婚。

(2) 作后置定語。例如：

Credit, owing to the reports afloat, was no longer to be had. 借款吧，由于社會上所傳的那些消息，已借不到了。

(3) 作賓語補足語。例如：

There's a story afloat that he'll resign. 有個傳聞說他要辭職。

二、afloat的搭配

1. be afloat  例如：

Stories were afloat of a mysterious figure being occasionally seen in some old overgrown track way or other, remote from turnpike roads... 大家紛紛傳說離開康莊大道很遠的地方某處簇葉叢生的林中小徑上，偶爾有人見到一個神秘的人影……

2. keep /remain / stay afloat  例如：

The Boat took a lot of water But remained afloat. 那艘船進了大量的水，卻依然漂浮著。

The ship was listing badly but still kept afloat. 船傾側得很厲害, 但卻仍然漂浮不沉.

The Orpheum Wiener House stayed afloat all through the Great Depression.  從大蕭條開始到結束，俄爾甫香腸之家一直沒有垮。

3. set sth afloat  例如：

They set rumours afloat about her. 他們散布有關她的謠言。

The new ship was set afloat. 這條新船下水了。

4. leave sth afloat 例如：

Then power prices crashed; a state bail-out left the company just afloat, but its shares were almost worthless. 不幸的是隨后發生股市崩盤；國家對“英國能源”伸出的援助之手雖使其不致欠債，但彼時它所擁有的股份幾乎不值一錢。

5. get sth afloat 例如：

...and thus loading myself with every thing necessary, I went down to my boat, got the water out of her, and got her afloat, loaded all my cargo in her, and then went home again for more. ……我把一切必需品都背在身上，就走到我藏小船的地方。我先把船里的水淘干，讓船浮起來；然后把所有的東西都放進船里。接著，我又跑回家去取些其他東西。