疫情过去了四年，但2020年的一个有趣现象至今仍值得回味——当全世界的人都开始通过Zoom、Teams这样的视频软件开会和社交，人们突然前所未有地关注起自己在镜头里的样子。英国《金融时报》2021年的一篇报道记录了这个有趣的社会现象：新冠疫情如何催生了一股整容咨询的”Zoom热潮”。
这不是一篇严肃的经济分析，但正是这种”轻话题”里藏着大量学生作文急需的实用词汇——描写数字变化、描述人群反应、表达情绪的词汇，这些在考试作文里随处可用。
先来看看原文的两个精彩段落：
“We were inundated with queries saying, ‘I’ve noticed that my frown line is terrible, that my lips need doing, or my nose is crooked’.”
“The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons… warned the public in October to be wary of unscrupulous providers seeking to cash in on the Zoom boom during lockdown. It reported a ‘massive upswing’ in demand by all its 350 members.”
中文对照：
“我们收到大量咨询，比如’我发现我的眉间纹很难看，我的嘴唇需要整一下，或者我的鼻子有点歪’。”
“英国美容整形外科医生协会向公众发出警告，表示要警惕那些在封锁期间利用这股视频会议热潮捞钱的不良机构。该行业组织称，其350个会员都面临需求的’大幅上升’。”
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下面从文章中挑选4个最实用的表达，逐个拆解。
1. inundated with 应接不暇 / 被淹没
原文：“We were inundated with queries saying…”
这个词本意是”被洪水淹没”，当你用它来形容被大量信息、请求、工作淹没时，画面感极强。学生在作文里想表达”收到了很多”的时候，90%的人只会写 received a lot of。
| 学生写法 | 升级写法 |
|---|---|
| The teacher received a lot of homework. | The teacher was inundated with homework. |
| The company got many job applications. | The company was inundated with job applications. |
例句：After the exam results were announced, the school’s helpline was inundated with calls from anxious parents.
2. a surge in 激增
原文：“there has been a surge in consultation requests”
surge 本义是”巨浪、汹涌”，用在数据变化上比 increase 强烈得多。考试作文写图表题、描述变化趋势时，surge 是比 increase, rise 高一个档次的选择。
| 学生写法 | 升级写法 |
|---|---|
| There was a big increase in sales. | There was a surge in sales. |
| The number of users increased quickly. | The number of users surged. |
例句：With the rapid development of AI technology, there has been a surge in demand for data scientists.
3. cash in on 趁机牟利 / 利用……赚钱
原文：“unscrupulous providers seeking to cash in on the Zoom boom”
Cash in on 是一个口语感较强的短语动词，表示”从某个趋势或事件中获利”，常常带有”投机”的意味。学生在写商业类、科技类作文时，这个表达比 make money from 地道得多。
| 学生写法 | 升级写法 |
|---|---|
| Many companies want to make money from this trend. | Many companies are trying to cash in on this trend. |
| Some people used the disaster to make money. | Some people cashed in on the disaster. |
例句：As soon as the new social media platform became popular, advertisers rushed to cash in on its growing user base.
4. stall 停滞不前
原文：“the market had stall[ed] over the previous five years as a result of slowing economic growth”
Stall 的原意是”引擎熄火”或”马停下来不走”，用来形容一个过程、趋势或市场突然停止或无法推进。比 stop 或 slow down 更精准，也更生动。
| 学生写法 | 升级写法 |
|---|---|
| The economy stopped growing. | The economy stalled. |
| The project slowed down due to a lack of funding. | The project stalled due to a lack of funding. |
例句：After the initial rapid growth, the company’s expansion stalled as competition increased.
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写作建议
这篇FT文章值得学生学习的不仅是个别词汇，更是一个写作思维：如何用精准的动词替代笼统的日常用词。
看看这篇文章的用词密度——不说 increase，说 surge；不说 stop，说 stall；不说 flooded，说 inundated；不说 make money from，用 cash in on。英语写作高分的秘密从来不是写长句、用大词，而是在正确的地方用一个精准的小词。
下次写作文时，不妨试着把你落笔的第一个动词划掉，换一个更具体的——你会发现文章质量瞬间不一样了。
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