uphill adj.
释义:something that is very difficult to do and needs a lot of effort and determination
“uphill”可以作副词和形容词,作形容词本意是“上坡的”,可以引申为“艰难的、费力的”。
当我们说一项任务非常艰难的时候,除了使用 difficult, hard, tough, demanding 等之外,还可以使用 uphill 来替换,让表达更加贴切、形象。
uphill 经常修饰 struggle, battle, task, climb, fight 等词。
例① 当两个球队、两个竞争对手实力、体量等差距悬殊时,往往就可以使用 uphill。比如中国男足和欧洲球队比赛时胜率很小,就可以说:
Whenever the Chinese national football team plays a European team, it is going to be an uphill battle.
例② 阿里巴巴这个电商巨头的头部效应明显,新的电商玩家很难胜出,但拼多多终究还是成功了。
Alibaba has been widely regarded as an e-commerce giant. Although it seemed like an uphill task for Pinduoduo to stand out, it dealt tactfully with the hard realities and went public merely three years after its launch.
例③ 今年 10 月《经济学人》在一篇文章中分析了诺贝尔奖自成立以来获奖人数的男女比例差距过大,文章摘要是这样写的:
Gender parity in science is an uphill struggle.
uphill 的反义词 downhill。当我们想表达某某事情易如反掌的时候,就可以用它,一般的习惯表达是:be all downhill (from here) 或者 be downhill all the way (from here)。
例④ We have got the toughest part done, and it will be downhill all the way from here.
1. 翻译:要在两个月之内把雅思从 6 分提到 8 分对任何人来说都是一件非常难的事情.
It is an uphill task for whoever wants to improve IELTS from 6 to 8 within two months.
(参考翻译:To improve IELTS from Band 6 to Band 8 within two months is an uphill struggle/task to anyone.)
2. 造句练习
场景: 对于很多英语基础薄弱的高中生,在三个月之内背下3500个单词是一个巨大的困难。
造句: To memorize 3500 English words within three months is an uphill struggle to senior high students with a very low level of English foundation.