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Take a heavy toll

發佈時間: 2020/04/24

Take a heavy toll

新冠肺炎疫情久久不退,除了奪去多條人命,在很多方面亦造成重大損失(take a heavy toll)。小朋友的學習進度、社交發展,以至家長的工作穩定及國家經濟都不能倖免。

名詞toll本義指「(過路、橋等的)通行費、長途電話費」。例如,The operator has no plan to increase the tunnel toll this year.(運營商今年沒有計劃增加隧道費。)I have stopped making long-distance toll calls ever since I can make calls using the Internet.(自從我可以使用互聯網打電話以來,我就不再使用長途電話了。)

Toll可以引伸指「傷亡人數」,意思是為人類生命付出代價--take a toll in human lives。例句︰The death toll rose by 120 to 2,300 in the past 24 hours.(在過去的24小時內,死亡人數上升了120,達到2,300人。)The death toll has almost reached 50,000 in the USA.(美國的死亡人數幾乎達到50,000人。)

常用句式take a toll或者take its toll指「造成損失」。例句︰The COVID-19 pandemic is taking a heavy toll on many people emotionally.(新冠肺炎大流行對許多人造成沉重的情感打擊。)The pandemic continues to take its toll on the economy.(大流行繼續對經濟造成損失。)

(本欄逢周一、三、五刊登)

撰文: Ally Dean's List級英文老師
欄名: WordDiscovery