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What does that mean? 你真的瞭解這個慣用語嗎?
【英文學習】
很多字詞並非表面所見的意思，字詞的組合會產生不同的解釋。這樣的慣用法，我們稱之為「比喻」。一個成功的比喻，作者本身必須相當瞭解字詞的源起。以下的句子為讀者介紹一個比喻及其來源。
Imagery buries itself in language and takes on new meaning. The transplanted and transformed sets of words are called “figures of speech.” For a figure of speech to be effective, however, a writer must first understand the original meaning of the phrase. The following sentence contains a common figure of speech. Its original meaning is explained.
“The enfeebled brain received the sensory information, fitfully analyzed it and, in a cloudburst of responses, flooded the body with conflicting commands.”
衰弱的大腦接收感官訊息，斷斷續續地分析，如驟雨般猛烈回應，帶給身體大量衝突的指令。
“In a cloudburst of responses” alludes to a copious, usually unexpected, downpour of rain. Cloudburst suggests that a cloud in the sky acted like a bag of water that, stressed by the weight of the pooled liquid, suddenly burst open and released its burden. The action is characterized by sudden release and high volume.
「如驟雨般猛烈回應 (In a cloudburst of responses)」暗指豐沛且通常無法預期的傾盆大雨。驟雨在此是形容，天空中的雲就像是集水袋，裝載著所有空氣中凝聚而成的液體，突然間承載不住，如同洩洪般爆發而傾倒而出。這樣的行為表示突然間釋放積聚已久的壓力與能量。
As used in an academic paper about a mental state, the metaphor denotes a surge of mental activity that overwhelms the physiology of a person. It implies that the sheer volume of responses to stimuli was too much for a system to handle. The normal channels of response were “flooded” and rendered dysfunctional.
在學術文章中，多應用於心理狀態，隱喻為心理的情緒起伏全面影響一個人的生理現象。這是在影射所有刺激引發的反應量已超載，導致系統無法負荷。正常的回應管道遭到大量湧入訊息，導致功能異常損壞的現象。
Imagery buries itself in language and takes on new meaning. The transplanted and transformed sets of words are called “figures of speech.” For a figure of speech to be effective, however, a writer must first understand the original meaning of the phrase. The following sentence contains a common figure of speech. Its original meaning is explained.
“The enfeebled brain received the sensory information, fitfully analyzed it and, in a cloudburst of responses, flooded the body with conflicting commands.”
衰弱的大腦接收感官訊息，斷斷續續地分析，如驟雨般猛烈回應，帶給身體大量衝突的指令。
“In a cloudburst of responses” alludes to a copious, usually unexpected, downpour of rain. Cloudburst suggests that a cloud in the sky acted like a bag of water that, stressed by the weight of the pooled liquid, suddenly burst open and released its burden. The action is characterized by sudden release and high volume.
「如驟雨般猛烈回應 (In a cloudburst of responses)」暗指豐沛且通常無法預期的傾盆大雨。驟雨在此是形容，天空中的雲就像是集水袋，裝載著所有空氣中凝聚而成的液體，突然間承載不住，如同洩洪般爆發而傾倒而出。這樣的行為表示突然間釋放積聚已久的壓力與能量。
As used in an academic paper about a mental state, the metaphor denotes a surge of mental activity that overwhelms the physiology of a person. It implies that the sheer volume of responses to stimuli was too much for a system to handle. The normal channels of response were “flooded” and rendered dysfunctional.
在學術文章中，多應用於心理狀態，隱喻為心理的情緒起伏全面影響一個人的生理現象。這是在影射所有刺激引發的反應量已超載，導致系統無法負荷。正常的回應管道遭到大量湧入訊息，導致功能異常損壞的現象。