一直以来，外刊都是我们研究语言现象的一个绝好的素材，今天沈阳环球教育（原环球教育）龙珠老师就来跟大家分享其中的一段。

　　这是《经济学人》今年4月份的一篇文章，主题关于转基因食物：

　　AFTER years of fierce debate in China about whether to allow widespread growing of genetically modified (GM) food crops, a strong signal emerged in 2013 that the leadership wanted to push ahead. It was given in a speech on agricultural policy by President Xi Jinping. In it he recounted his own experience of hunger during China's great famine in the early 1960s. He also recalled lean times later that decade during the Cultural Revolution when he went months without "seeing the tiniest drop of oil" or "knowing the taste of meat". He said that guaranteeing China's "food security" was still a serious worry. Hinting at what he saw as a possible remedy, he said China must "occupy the commanding heights of transgenic technology" and not yield that ground to "big foreign firms".

　　其中生词的部分为：

　　1）recount：to describe how something happened; to tell a story 讲述；叙述

　　2）lean：a lean period is a very difficult time because there is not enough money, business etc. 不景气的

　　e.g. His wife was a source of constant support during the lean years. 在不景气的那些年里，妻子一直是他的依靠。

　　3）transgenic：having one or more genes from a different type of animal or plant转基因的

　　除此之外，这个段落里面每一句都有很精彩的表达。

　　比如，第一句话AFTER years of fierce debate in China about whether to allow widespread growing of genetically modified (GM) food crops, a strong signal emerged in 2013 that the leadership wanted to push ahead.这一句表达有争议，而“……一直是人们争论的话题”这个开头在TE的文章中很常见，在我们的日常写作中也很常用。

　　要表达“话题、争论焦点”还有很多说法，例子：

　　（1）The growth of genetically modified (GM) food crops in China has always been a topic in the limelight. (limelight:聚光灯)

　　（2）When it comes to the growth of genetically modified (GM) food crops in China, opinions vary.

　　所以，未来当我们想文章开头，就可以用到这样的结构来开始论证。

　　而第二个想和大家分享的句子是：He also recalled lean times later that decade during the Cultural Revolution when he went months without "seeing the tiniest drop of oil" or "knowing the taste of meat".

　　lean times: 这个lean用的很巧妙，让人很容易联想到“青黄不接的岁月”。这种独具匠心的搭配大家要注意仔细推敲，以后写作时可以使用；When 这里是定语从句的部分，接的很恰当；go months without …经历时间却未遇到或者做到某事，暗含一种无奈，如果我们想表达某种行业不流行了，可以用这样的表达。

　　E.g. In the current age , a post officer may go years without getting any job  owing to the fact that the days of the industry are numbered .

　　第三个句子要分享的是：He said China must "occupy the commanding heights of transgenic technology" and not yield that ground to "big foreign firms".

　　这个句子中有很多很好的表达，比如occupy the commanding heights of: 占据……的高地，如果我们在表达时想要表现职业精神的时候，可以这样说：Any athletes who want to make a difference must occupy the commanding heights of the sports field.

　　英文学习的路程很长，我们要做的还有很多，希望大家可以在有时间的情况下多观察多做积累，希望今天沈阳环球教育龙珠老师的分享对大家有帮助。