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Kindergarten queues

 

「可憐天下父母心」，隨著雙非學童踏入就學年齡，不少內地家長披星戴月，漏夜跨境在各區幼稚園排隊，只求一張報名表。為保孩子可以原區上學，香港家長也不敢怠慢，加入排隊大軍。有報道指：

 

Kindergartens in North District are under increasing pressure from an influx of cross-border children.

 

influx 潮、湧入

(noun 名詞)

 

無論是人或物湧入，都可以 an influx of (people/ things) 表達。

 

例子：Since eased border restrictions, there has been an increasing influx of mainland visitors.

 

不用 influx ，另有同義詞 flock。

 

flock 湧入

(noun 名詞)

 

► a flock of / flocks of people = a group of (a lot of)

 

例子： The flock of tourists caused a traffic jam as they loaded the bus.

 

flock 湧入

(verb 動詞)

 

► flock to + verb / noun  蜂湧去做某事/ 湧向某處

例子：People flock to see (verb 動詞) the movie.

例子：An increasing number of mainland parents flock to border schools (noun 名詞) in search of places for their children.

 

in search of 尋找

例子：Scientists are in search of cancer cures.

 

search 搜索(人或地)

(transitive verb 及物動詞)

 

沒有特定目標的搜查，英文會以及物動詞 search 表達，所以後面直接連上搜查對象便行！

 

例子：The police officer searched the suspicious man.（警員為嫌疑者搜身。）

例子：The policemen searched the house.（警方搜查該房子。）

 

search + for (+ the thing you want to get) 搜索

(intransitive verb 不及物動詞)

 

相反，如果有明確目標，則需用 search for，並在後面指出目標物，例如：

 

  • The policemen searched for some information related to the case.

（警方搜尋與案件相關的資料。）vs.

  • The policemen searched the house for some information related to the case.

（警方搜查該房子以取得與案件相關的資料。）

 

“Search me!” 我怎知道！

(spoken 口語)

 

語氣決定一切，究竟你是叫人搜身還是攤攤手說「我點知啫（我怎知道）！」，端看你用哪一種語氣了。不明白？聽聽 Crystal 的示範吧！

 

例子：“Do you know where the closest bank is?” “Search me!”

 

secure 確保得到

(verb 動詞)

 

例子：Parents flock to the kindergartens to secure a place.

 

secure 安全

(adjective 形容詞)

 

例子：She feels secure beside him. （在他身旁讓她感到安全。）

 

security 安全

(noun 名詞)

 

例子：a sense of security 安全感

 

outstrip 勝過 / 超過

(verb 動詞)

 

例子：The new hotel outstrips all other hotels in the area in size and luxury.

 

shortage 短缺

(noun 名詞)

 

例子：There is a shortage of kindergarten places in North District.

 

be short of something 不足

例子：I’m short of money. （我不夠錢了。）

 

something is (running) short 不足

例子：We must finish up the recording. We are running short on time.

 

be short with somebody 

不耐煩或者憤怒的時候，往往不欲多說，有一句沒一句的對人無禮，英文就是 be short with somebody。

 

例子：Don’t be so short with him. It's not his fault.

 

for short  (名字等的) 簡稱

例子：Did you know that Dick is the short name for Richard?

 

in short 總括而言

例子：In short, there just aren't enough spaces in the schools.

 

「人龍」英文裡也有兩種講法：

 

queue  vs.  line   人龍 / 隊

(英式)       (美式)

(noun 名詞)

 

例子：We could see long queues/ lines outside kindergartens.

例子：a queue/ line of people

 

queue  vs.  line up  排隊

(verb 動詞)

 

作動詞時，line後必須加 up，queue 則兩者皆可。

 

(英式) Hundreds of parents queued (up) outside kindergartens for application forms.

(美式) Hundreds of parents lined up outside kindergartens for application forms.

 

stem 杜絕

(noun 名詞)

 

例子：The government announced new policy to stem kindergarten queues.

 

stem from 源於

(verb 動詞)

 

例子：His spoiled manners are stemmed from the mother's lack of attention.

   
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