TPS News

Correct best answer: Replace “rousted” with “roused.”

“When the colonies roused themselves and began to agitate for independence, the colonial authorities misread the depth of their agitation and dismissed it as insignificant.”

What a difference a single letter can make in a word. In this case, a “t” inserted in “roused” subtly alters the meaning of the word. Both “rousted” and “roused” imply an awakening, a stirring, yet the two words are commonly used for opposite purposes. Rousting always is done by one person to another; rousing can be, and often is, done to oneself. People in the colonies, in this example, were “aroused” by frustration with their political condition and began to incite revolt. The words sometimes are used interchangeably, but only in an ironic sense. Examining words carefully as they are spilled onto a paper leads to cleaner and more vigorous exposition.
只差一個字母，詞彙的意思就大不相同。例句中，將 “t” 插入 “roused” 一詞，詞意就有了微妙的轉變。“Rousted” 和 “roused” 都有喚起、鼓動的意思，但兩者多半用於不同的情況，一個人會 “rousting”（鼓吹、激勵）另一個人，但通常只會 “rousing” （激發、喚醒）自己。本句中，殖民地人民對自身的政治狀況不滿，受到 “aroused”（引發），因而鼓動革命。這兩個詞有時可以互換使用，但會產生諷刺的效果。寫論文時應該仔細檢視用字措辭，論述方能更清晰有力。