陳國詩的英文分享平台

關鍵字彙：

affluent/ annuity/ appropriate/ deposit / destitute/ impoverished/ indigent/ lucrative/ mercenary/ mint/ opulence/ pauper/ pecuniary/ pension/ penury/ pittance/ refund/ reimburse/ remit/ restitution/ revenue/ stipend/ upstart

1. 「和錢有關的」、「財務方面的」，用pecuniary。它是比較正式的用字：

•We should not look upon pecuniary reward as our single goal in life.

•The family was involved in pecuniary difficulties.

2. 「薪水」可用stipend；「收入」或「所得」可用revenue；「訂金」或「押金」叫deposit。這個字也用作動詞：

•There is a nominal stipend attached to this position.

•The retired man holds property that yields a good revenue.

•We've put down a deposit on a new house.

•When we moved in, we had to deposit $20,000 with the landlord in case we broke any of his things.

3. 「退休金」、「養老金」或「撫卹金」用pension，若強調一年發一次，且將發到領取人死亡或某約定的年限，則用annuity。另外，因造成傷害或損失而必須付的賠償金叫restitution。

•The retired mailman is living on his pension.

•The gentleman has a good annuity income.

•She receives a small annuity.

•Those who damaged public property should make restitution.

4. 「少量或不夠用的錢」要用pittance：

•The retired man could not live on the pittance he received as a pension and had to look for an additional source of income.

5. 錢幣的「鑄造」，用動詞mint：

•The silver will be minted into coins.

6. 因顧客對產品不滿等因素而「退款」，用refund；「償還」人家先墊的錢用reimburse。另外，「撥款」叫appropriate；為付款或贈予而「匯款」給人，用remit：

•If you are not satisfied with the book, the bookstore will refund your money.

•Expenses made for the company will be reimbursed.

•The government appropriated a large sum of money for building a new university.

•The filial young man remitted money to his parents every month.

7. 「富有的」可用affluent，「財富」可用opulence。不過，這個字有時暗含豪奢和炫耀的意味。另外，「暴發戶」叫upstart：

•The affluent businessman spent money in much the same way as he used paper.

•The young man got a large bequest from his affluent grandfather.

•Visitors from all over the world are amazed at the opulence of the United States.

•She said that her suitor was an upstart lacking all breeding and culture.

8. 在正式用法中，「貧窮的」用indigent。另外，形容某地區（例如國家）人民的普遍貧窮，用impoverished；強調很窮很窮，窮到連基本的食衣住行都發生問題，也可能幾乎沒有謀生工具或管道，用destitute：

•Because the old man was indigent, he was sent to the welfare office.

•Their country was impoverished by war.

•Thanks to advances in agriculture and medicine, more poor people survive in the impoverished countries where population growth is fastest.

•The father's death left the family destitute.

9. 「窮光蛋」叫pauper。在正式用法上，「一貧如洗」或「赤貧」叫penury：

•The rich businessman died a pauper.

•The social workers found much penury and suffering in this slum area.

10. 「有利潤的」、「有利可圖的」叫lucrative；「唯利是圖的」叫mercenary：

•He inherited a lucrative business from his father.

•He turned his hobby of collecting stamps into a lucrative business.

•The politician's action was apparently prompted by mercenary motives.