英语中有许多单词看似相似,但它们的含义和用法却有显著不同,甚至有些词语还是反义词。比如,“bread”和“breadth”这两个单词,它们在发音上接近,但在拼写和含义上却存在很大的差异。那么这两个词到底是什么意思呢?
“bread” 是一个名词,指的是“面包”。它通常是由面粉、水、酵母等原料混合后发酵而成,之后烘烤制成的食物,形态可以是圆形或长条形,吃的时候通常切成片或块。例如:
I bought some bread and cheese for lunch.(我买了一些面包和奶酪作为午餐。)
He likes to eat bread with butter and jam.(他喜欢吃抹了黄油和果酱的面包。)
She baked a loaf of bread for her family.(她为家人烤了一条面包。)
“bread”还可以用来指代“生计”或“金钱”,有时也泛指财富。例如:
Bread is the staff of life.(面包是生命的支柱。)
He earns his bread by working hard.(他靠辛勤工作赚取生计。)
She has more bread than she can spend.(她有更多的钱,花也花不完。)
“breadth” 则是另一个名词,表示“宽度”或“广度”。它指的是物体的横向尺度,或某一事物的范围和程度。例如:
The breadth of the river is about 100 meters.(这条河的宽度大约是100米。)
He has a breadth of knowledge and experience.(他有广博的知识和经验。)
We need to increase the breadth of our curriculum.(我们需要扩大课程的范围。)
除了这些常见的用法,breadth 还可以表示“宽阔”或“自由”,例如:
She enjoys the breadth of the countryside.(她喜欢乡村的开阔景象。)
He values the breadth of his artistic expression.(他看重自己艺术表达的自由度。)
通过上述例子可以清楚地看出,“bread”和“breadth”不仅在拼写上有明显区别,且它们的含义和使用场合也完全不同。在拼写上,"breadth"多了一个字母“t”,而这个“t”恰好能提醒我们,它指的是物体的宽度或范围——“t”就代表了"two"(两个方向,横向的扩展)。
例如:
The bread was stale and hard.(这个面包发霉且很硬。)
The breadth of his smile showed his happiness.(他笑容的宽度表达了他的喜悦。)
She sliced the bread and put it in the toaster.(她把面包切片,放进了烤面包机。)
He measured the breadth of the table with a ruler.(他用尺子量了桌子的宽度。)
He donated some bread to the homeless people.(他向无家可归的人捐赠了一些面包。)
She was impressed by the breadth of his vocabulary.(她对他丰富的词汇量感到惊讶。)
虽然“bread”和“breadth”在发音上非常相似,但它们分别指的是不同的事物:一个是食物,另一个则是用来描述尺寸或范围的词语。在学习英语时,我们要特别注意这类容易混淆的单词,避免混淆和误用。