在中学英语课堂上,我们会经常听到老师的讲解:当询问某人怎么了可以使用问句What’s the matter? 和What’s wrong?这样的句子,为了更明确的说出某人还可以这样来表达: What’s the matter with you? 从汉语的翻译来看,的确这样的表达是没有任何问题的,但是真的是一样的吗?我们先来看看matter一词的用法,matter 是中考英语的高频考查词汇,无论是在完型中还是在阅读中都会以各种意思反复出现的,所以正确的掌握理解matter一词的用法对于中考英语来讲还真的是matters a lot.
我们先来看看matter在近几年中考出现的情况:
1. Some primary schoolchildren have been raised in homes with more green space around. They are likely to come with larger volumes of white and grey matter in certain areas of the brain. (2018北京中考)
grey matter of the brain 大脑灰质
在必应词典上的解释:
matter 作为名词的意思:
What’s the matter? 这一问句中, matter使用的正是名词形式,意思是问题或情况,相当于problem, 这句话在日常对话中会经常用到: 当看到别人不开心时, 当看到别人身体不舒服时, 或者看到别人有麻烦时, 都可以关心的问道: What’s the matter? 这时使用这句话就是对他人的关心。
但如果我们说成What’s the matter with you? , 意思就会完全不一样的喔!这句话从表面意思看与what’s the matter 并没有太大的区别,实际上往往含有责备的意思在里面,也就是当别人弄砸了某件事情,你好像在说“怎么搞的你”,也可能是在嘲笑他人“stupid”。所以千万不要弄错啊!
2. He didn’t know whether his dad would be different, but it didn’t matter. He himself __40 changed__ . He expressed his feelings to the right person. (2015北京中考完型)
A growing number of American university students have found a way to make spring break matter. For them, joining or leading a group of volunteers to help solve problems such as homelessness or environmental damage makes spring break a special learning experience that university students can feel good about. (2016北京石景山一模)
Nowadays, smart machines give us access to most human knowledge. It seems that we no longer need to remember most things.Does it matter?
Researchers have recognized several problems that may happen. (2019北京中考)
在这三则例子中,matter 使用的则是动词的意思:
It didn’t matter. 这没关系.
Make spring break matter. 使春假有重要意义
在口语中我们还会经常说到 it doesn’t matter (没关系),it doesn’t matter to me (对我来说无所谓)。这句话在不同的场合也会有不同的意思,如果不注意就往往使自己很尴尬。如下面的场景:
- 朋友们在一起讨论周末的外出游玩计划, 基本的方案已经达成了一致, 这时礼貌地征求你还有什么意见,如果你说 it doesn’t matter to me , 那么意思就是我怎么都行,你们定好了就可以了, 给别人的感觉就是你你是个特随和的人。
- 但当朋友们都在祝贺某位朋友获得了某项荣誉,如果询问你的看法,你要是来上一句it doesn’t matter to me, 你就显得有点儿格格不入了。
除了应该注意matter的名词、动词以及日常用语外, 我们还应该掌握matter的一些固定短语和表达,如:
- But in real life there is a Santa in each one of us that shines through our personality at some point of time, no matter which month it is. (2014完型)
no matter which 无论哪一个
no matter 特殊疑问词 表示无论…
no matter what 无论什么, no matter where 无论哪里
as a matter of fact 事实上
Matter 一词我们就分享到这里~