许多同学的作文写得”平”，不是因为语法错，而是因为表达太”直”——一直在用最基础的词说最简单的话。今天我们从FT一篇有意思的文章入手：伦敦一家交易公司做实验，让失业的飞行员转行做交易员。结果怎么样？不重要。重要的是，这篇文章里藏着5个能让作文瞬间变高级的表达。

原文选段

Take five underemployed pilots. Give them intense markets training, add in an investment portfolio to experiment with, pit them against a control group from other backgrounds, and see what happens.

That is what a small London-based trading firm did in August, hoping to prove the “discipline, control, process and self-awareness” that pilots show in the cockpit would translate into above-average pay-offs from the financial markets.

找来五个赋闲在家的飞行员，对他们进行紧锣密鼓的市场培训，再弄一个投资组合进行试验，让他们与来自其他背景的对照组进行比较，看看会发生什么。

以上就是伦敦一家小型交易公司在今年8月做的一次实验，希望借此证明飞行员在驾驶舱中表现出来的”纪律、控制力、规范和自知”，能够在金融市场转化为高于平均水平的回报。

词汇解析

1. pit sb against sb — 让某人对抗/与某人较量

原文出处： “pit them against a control group” 中文解释： 安排某人去与另一组人或选手对抗、竞争。 为什么好： 很多学生写比较只会用 “compare with” 或 “different from”，而 pit against 带有强烈的对抗性和竞争感，用来描述”两组人被放在一起对比较量”时非常生动。

考场用法表：

学生写法升级写法
The teacher compared Group A with Group B.The teacher pitted Group A against Group B in a debate.
The competition made me compete with others.The contest pitted me against more experienced players.

例句： The final exam pitted students against a much tighter time limit than they had expected.

2. above-average pay-offs — 高于平均水平的回报

原文出处： “above-average pay-offs from the financial markets” 中文解释： 超出平均水平的收益/回报。 为什么好： 学生常写 “get good results” 或 “make more money”，语气太口语化。Pay-off 是一个极好的名词，表示”回报、成果”，尤其在描述努力后的结果时非常实用。加上 above-average 比 “better than others” 精确得多。

考场用法表：

学生写法升级写法
Hard work will get good results.Hard work will bring above-average pay-offs in the long run.
The project gave us a good return.The project offered a significant pay-off for everyone involved.

例句： Studying with a clear strategy yields a much higher pay-off than aimless memorization.

3. be flooded with — 充斥着/涌满了

原文出处： “the markets are hugely flooded with pilots” 中文解释： 某地被大量某物涌入或充斥。 为什么好： 写”很多”大部分学生只会用 “There are many…” 或 “a lot of”。Be flooded with 形象化地表达”多到泛滥”的程度，同样可以用来描述信息、申请、邮件等在任何题目中都能用到的万能表达。

考场用法表：

学生写法升级写法
There are many applicants for this job.The company was flooded with applications within hours.
Many students have this question.Teachers are flooded with the same question every exam season.

例句： During the college application season, my inbox is flooded with emails from admission officers.

4. a nagging doubt — 挥之不去的疑虑

原文出处： “any potential employer has a nagging doubt that ‘you’re only with me for as long as the aviation industry is in decline’” 中文解释： 一种持续不断、难以摆脱的怀疑。 为什么好： Nagging 本义是”唠叨的”，用来修饰 doubt 时精准地描述了一种”始终缠绕着你”的不安感。比 “have some doubt” 或 “feel unsure” 生动得多，在议论文中讨论信任、忠诚、选择等问题时非常好用。

考场用法表：

学生写法升级写法
I have some doubt about his plan.A nagging doubt about his plan kept me from agreeing.
She felt unsure about the decision.Despite the evidence, a nagging doubt remained in her mind.

例句： Even after passing the exam, a nagging doubt about my preparation never completely went away.

5. transferable skills — 可迁移的技能

原文出处： “The skills are definitely transferable,” Mr de Lucy says. 中文解释： 从一个领域习得、能够应用到另一个领域的跨领域技能。 为什么好： 这是英文议论文中的一个核心概念。学生喜欢写 “I learned many things from…” 但不够具体。Transferable skills 是一个学术表达，用在教育、职业发展、个人成长等话题中堪称”加分神器”。

考场用法表：

学生写法升级写法
What I learned in class can also be used in life.The transferable skills I gained from teamwork are valuable in any career.
Sports teach us things for the future.Sports equip students with transferable skills such as perseverance and leadership.

例句： Critical thinking is one of the most important transferable skills — once you have it, it works in any subject.

写作建议

这篇文章最值得学习的地方不在于写作技巧，而在于选题视角。FT记者用一个有趣的实验作为框架，把一个”飞行员能不能做交易”的小问题写成了引人入胜的故事。这提醒我们：英文写作中，好故事比好句子更值钱。

日常读FT时，不用每篇文章都通读。选出你最感兴趣的段落，像今天这样拆解3-5个表达就够了。坚持一个月，你会发现自己的措辞不再”学生腔”。

📌 系列推荐： 本系列另一篇文章 《读外刊学写作：避开写作中的”消失的飞行词汇”》 —— 两篇FT外刊词汇提取文章，帮你从不同角度积累地道表达。

📌 相关推荐： 如果想知道怎样把外刊学到的高级词汇灵活用到考场作文中，推荐阅读 《英语写作高级同义替换》 —— 从外刊地道输入到考场熟练输出的完整桥接方法。

📌 系列推荐： 本系列另一篇文章 《读外刊学写作：中国设计师国际奖项词汇》 —— 同样是FT外刊词汇提取系列，从”获奖”场景积累地道表达，与本文形成互补。

厦门灯塔 · 专业英语作文逐句批改 | 微信 linstudio799 专注中高考/雅思写作 · 逐句精批 + 逻辑重构 + 母语级升级