你知道當某些字加上一個顏色的形容詞,會變成另一個意思嗎?譬如alert有警告或提醒的意思,若加red(紅色),會有「緊急警報」的意思;若加yellow(黃色),就會解作「戒備警報」;若加white(白色),則是「解除警報」。這些和顏色有關的詞語,若對西方文化欠缺深入了解,是完全讓人摸不着頭腦的。但偏偏在DSE的閱讀卷中卻隨時會見到。考生若無廣泛的閱讀經驗,就要靠自己牢記重點了。再不然,可以看看以下有關不同顏色的詞語簡表,相信有所幫助。
Belt
.Black belt(黑帶)
.Green belt(綠化地帶)
Card
.Red card(紅牌)
.Yellow card(黃牌)
Chip
.Red chip(紅籌)
.Blue chip(藍籌)
Collar
.White collar
(白領,即辦公室工作者)
.Blue collar(藍領,即從事勞動工作者)
Economy
.Black economy(瞞稅的經濟)
.Pink economy(同性戀者的消費市場)
Elephant
.White elephant(大而無用之物)
.Pink elephant(幻覺)
Fever
.Gold fever(淘金熱)
.Yellow fever(黃熱病)
Horse
.Dark horse(黑馬,即冷門者)
Light
.Green light(批准)
.Red light(紅燈/妓院)
Practice
1. There are a lot of _________jobs available in the market as most people want to work in the office than in a factory.
2. There was a booming _________ in Brazil. The government has striven to combat it.
3. A _________ is an area of land where building is not allowed to protect fields and woods.
4. The unused piano is regarded as a _________ in our music room.
5. The school principal has given the _________ to the project.
6. The share prices of most _________ companies have surged recently.
7. _________ is a risky tropical disease which makes people's skin turn slightly yellow.
8. In the tennis championship, _________ Andre Owen defeated Michael Chang.
Answers
1. blue collar
2. black economy
3. green belt
4. white elephant
5. green light
6. blue chip/ red chip
7. Yellow fever
8. dark horse
■馬漪楠
作者簡介:馬漪楠,曾獲行政長官卓越教學獎(英國語文教育學習領域)(2009/2010) , 與岑皓軒合著暢銷書《Slang:屎爛英語1&2》。
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