英語趣味考題連載(03)

一、先測測你是否會想當然

1. 請先觀察以下短語，這幾組短語至少在表示某一意思時它們是反義詞：

(1) up 與 down 是一對反義詞，前者表示“向上”，后者表示“向下”。如：

He continued to jump up and down like a boy at a football match. 他不停地上躥下跳，活像個足球賽中的男孩。

Aircraft can avoid each other by going up and down, as well as by altering course to left or right. 飛機可以通過上下升降和左右移動改變航線來避免相撞。

(2) upstairs 與 downstairs是一對反義詞，前者表示“樓上”，后者表示“樓下”。如：

The bedrooms are upstairs and the dining-room is downstairs. 寢室在樓上，餐廳在樓下。

(3) go up 與 go down 是一對反義詞，前者表示“上升”，后者表示“下降”。如：

The incomes of skilled workers went up. Meanwhile, unskilled workers saw their earnings go down. 熟練工的收入上升了，而與此同時，不熟練工發現他們的收入下降了。

(4) turn up 與 turn down 是一對反義詞，前者表示“開大音量”，后者表示“關小音量”。如：

The baby fell asleep, so I asked him to turn the TV down, but a few minutes later he turned it up again. 寶寶睡著了，所以我叫他把電視機音量調小些，但是沒過幾分鐘他又把音量調大了。

▲請從所給的四個選項中選擇一個最佳答案填空：

slow up 與 slow down 是一對 ________。

A. 同義詞             B. 反義詞              C. 無關詞              D. 互補詞

【測試結果】如果你選擇的答案是“反義詞”，你就錯了，正確答案是填“同義詞”。盡管up和down是一對反義詞，并且確實也有不少含有up和down的短語也是反義詞，但是，slow up和slow down卻是一對同義詞。

二、相關詞和短語的用法說明

slow up和slow down均表示“變緩”“變慢”“減速”等，從使用的廣泛性來看，slow down比slow up用得更多、更廣泛。兩者的具體用法如下：

1. 表示“（使）慢下來”“（使）減速”

(1) slow down的用例：

I put on the brakes and slowed the car down. 我踩下剎車降低車速。

The train slowed down as it went around the bend. 火車在轉彎處減速了。

She slowed down her pace so I could keep up with her. 她放慢腳步好讓我跟上她。

The train slowed down to a crawl as it approached the station. 火車進站時慢了下來。

You see drivers speeding up when they should be slowing down. 你可以看到有些司機在應該減速時卻加速。

(2) slow up的用例：

The bus slowed up as it approached the junction. 公共汽車在駛近交叉路口時放慢了速度。

The roadworks are slowing the traffic up in the mornings. 道路施工使早上的交通遲緩下來。

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