關鍵字彙：
afflict/ agonizing/ agony/ anguish/ excruciating/ groan/ harrow/ inflict/ moan/ pang/ prick/ scourge/ throes/ torment/ torturous/ tribulation
1. 「極大的痛苦」可用agony或anguish。無論是身體或精神方面的痛苦都可用agony，它是可數名詞；anguish則是不可數名詞，主要是指精神方面的痛苦：
•He lay in agony until the doctor arrived.
•He suffered agonies from his broken arm.
•She was in agonies of doubt.
•He was in anguish over his missing wife.
2. 個人生活中的「艱難」、「困苦」或社會群體的「大問題」、「大麻煩」可用tribulation，它經常以複數的形式出現在文中：
•Too many tribulations have left him a beaten man.
•We hope that she will soon get over her tribulations.
•Even close friends were unaware of the tribulations she faced.
•An artificial greenhouse effect could generate countless tribulations.
3. 在文言的敘述中，伴隨分娩、死亡或重大改變而來的「劇痛」叫throes，它尤其經常出現在in the throes of或in one's death throes（作垂死掙扎）片語中：
•The young mother was in the throes of labor when she reached the hospital.
•The soldier, fatally wounded, staggered down the lane in his death throes.
•The company/ factory/ government was in its death throes.
4. 身或心「一陣突如其來的劇痛」叫pang。另外，在比喻的用法中，良心的「刺痛」用prick：
•The pang of a toothache kept him awake all night.
•Pangs of hunger led the boy to stealing.
•She left her child with a pang of sadness.
•The boy immediately felt the prick of conscience after he had talked back to his mother.
5. 造成大痛苦、大麻煩的人、事、物叫scourge：
•In Middle Ages, the black plague was regarded as a deadly scourge.
•Eye diseases have always been a scourge in tropical countries.
•It seems not likely to keep the scourge of war off the earth.
•Definitely, a habitual gambler is a scourge of a family.
6. 「使痛苦」、「使苦惱」、「折磨」可用afflict、harrow或torment：
•The student was afflicted with his low grades.
•The country was afflicted by civil war for decades.
•It is an illness that afflicts women more than men.
•Do not harrow him at this time by asking him to recall the details of his unpleasant experience.
•The husband kept tormenting his wife by the questioning of her faithfulness.
•The old woman was tormented by a racking cough.
7. 「導致」痛苦、破壞等用inflict，它和項6那些字（自然包括拼法類似的afflict）有個根本的不同，項6那些字的焦點是受苦的對象，所以經常以被動語態呈現，藉以傳達受苦者的無奈和無助。至於inflict，它強調的是所造成的痛苦或不幸：
•A gentleman is one who never inflicts pain upon others.
•The storm inflicted heavy damage all over the country.
•These improved weapons are capable of inflicting massive injuries.
•The suffering inflicted on these refugees was unimaginable.
8. 「使人十分痛苦的」、「折磨人的」可用agonizing、excruciating或torturous：
•The dog died an agonizing death.
•He went through an agonizing few weeks waiting for the test results.
•She was faced with an agonizing choice/ decision/ dilemma.
•I had an excruciating stomachache last week.
•Red tape is often excruciating.
•The prisoner of war will never forget the torturous experience in the concentration camp.
9. 痛苦時的「呻吟」叫groan或moan：
•The old man who had been in the accident lay groaning beside the road.
•The sick child moaned a little and then fell asleep.
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