最近幾天，如果翻翻世界各地的英文報紙，或瀏覽英文新聞網站，頭版標題和報道中最熱門的詞匯莫過于“duck”一詞了。你可千萬不要以為是“鴨子”出了什么新鮮事了。

　　我們不妨先來讀幾個新聞標題

　　Bush legacy Lame…duck!

　　Not so lame duck as 'dog' Bush evades Iraqi journo's shoes

　　Lame (Duck) Iraq Visit Guarantees Bush Shoe-In As Worst President Ever

　　Bush Ducks Flying Shoes in Iraq

　　Bush ducks shoes on farewell trip to war zones

　　President Bush ducks shoes thrown by Iraqi journalist

　　“duck”該如何解釋呢？你還可以借助下面兩個沒有“duck”的標題想一想：

　　George Bush Attacked By Shoes

　　Bush on farewell visit to Iraq dodges flying shoes

　　原來，報道把布什總統說成是“lame duck”，同時又用“duck(動詞)”描述布什總統躲“飛鞋”的尷尬樣子。

　　在林林總總的標題中，筆者覺得，讓人感到最“有才”的是下面一條：

　　Lame Duck Ducks Shoes

　　跛鴨總統躲(飛)鞋

　　非常有趣的描述吧？

　　不過，你一定會問，為什么要將布什總統稱作“lame duck”呢？

　　英文lame duck的釋義是：

　　(1)a person, business etc that is having problems and needs help；

　　跛足鴨(遇到困難需要幫助的人或企業等)，常帶貶義，指不能有效地做事的人或機構。

　　(2)president/governor/legislature：(informal)a president, governor etc with no real power because his or her period in office will soon end

　　美國非正式英語，指任期即將結束的總統、政府等。lame duck常用來形容在美國政界，任期將滿的政界人物所面臨的窘境，尤其是第二個任期即將結束，手中大權即將旁落的總統。因為此時，人們的注意力都集中到候任總統及其未來的政策。這也難怪時下布什總統的“救市”方案為何一再被否，頗有點“樹倒猢猻散”的味道！

　　不過，可能讓大家最感新鮮的，還是duck用成了動詞。

　　duck用作動詞，有多個含義。

　　(1)duck，也常常用成duck down，含義是“to lower your head or body very quickly, especially to avoid being seen or hit”，躲閃，迅速低下身(頭)。

　　在報道布什躲閃飛鞋時，就有下面的描述：

　　Throwing shoes at somebody is a supreme insult in the Middle East. One of the shoes sailed over the president's head and slammed into the wall behind him and he had to duck to miss the other one. Maliki tried to block the second shoe with his arm.

　　(2)duck還指“to move somewhere very quickly, especially to avoid being seen or to get away from someone”，快速躲到某處(特別是避免被人看見或逃脫某人)。例如：

　　The two suspected attackers ducked into a crowded street and soon disappeared.

　　(3)duck還可以表示“to avoid something, especially a difficult or unpleasant duty”，躲避，推諉，例如：

　　The CEO of the company ducked a question from a reporter about the revenue of the company last year.

　　(4) duck還可以表示“to push someone under water for a short time as a joke”，把某人猛地按入水中，例如：

　　Tom grabbed him from behind to duck him under the surface.

　　(5)duck out of something是個短語動詞，表示“to avoid doing something that you have to do or have promised to do”，逃避承諾或該做的事情。例如：

　　Some college students always duck out of lessons that do not interest them much.

　　duck用做動詞，不由得讓人想起鴨子在水中的各種姿態，有很形象的意義，用到語句和語段中，讓人產生豐富的聯想。

　　其實，英語里很多表示動物的名詞，本身又都可以用成動詞。請你來仔細咀嚼下面十個句子中的“動物”用詞，體味它們用作動詞時所傳遞的豐富含義：

　　(1)Mr. Johnson cocked his head and considered the offer that he would be given twice as much as the previous one.

　　(2)Julia fished around in her purse and pulled out a photo of her lovely daughter.

　　(3)On hearing that a fire broke out, all the boys quickly ran to the scene to help put it out，but David chickened out.

　　(4) Jim never comes up with his own ideas. Instead, he just parroted the majority's opinions.

　　(5) I found Sam in front of the TV, pigging out on pizza and fries.

　　(6) It’s not just people who dog you. Pets can cheat on their owners too, leaving them for people they like better.

　　(7) A 26-year-old German art student temporarily foxed police on Saturday by disguising himself as a terracotta warrior and taking up position in the world-famous terracotta army.

　　(8)Yang Chang could easily wolf down half a kg of rice and 1.5 kg meat at a time before he started to lose weight.

　　(9)The twins have been monkeying about in the attic again.

　　(10)Snaking 6,300 km between western China's Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the East China Sea, the Yangtze River is often said to be the dividing line between North and South China.

　　在書面表達中使用轉化詞, 是增強文章表現力的一個重要方法。同學們要在平時的閱讀中,加強積累,爭取能夠做到靈活和恰當使用,使自己的書面表達不斷提高得分檔次。