英文写作如何减少重复用词？

　　最近读到了一篇路透社关于国内限制未成年人游戏时间的报道，报道中关于“未成年人”的多样化表述很值得学习

　　

　　涉及到“未成年人”这一概念时，报道中出现了这几种表述：

　　(1) Chinese state media said loopholes allowing minors to bypass new rules aimed at curbing gaming play time to three hours per week should be removed to "prevent addiction."

　　(2) China introduced new rules in August limiting the amount of time under-18s can spend on video games to three hours a week, a move it said was necessary to combat gaming addiction, but causing young Chinese gamers to express outrage at the rules.

　　(3) This means that there are still loopholes for teenagers to enter online gaming, which is worthy of attention,"

　　作者使用了minors, under-18s, young Chinese gamers以及teenagers这几种不同的说法来指“未成年人”，这样可以避免用词重复问题。这种手法也称为“上义词/下义词法”。

　　所谓的上义词是指对事物的概括性、抽象性说明，而下义词是事物的具体表现形式或更为具体的说明。举个例子，fish, horse, snake, cat这些单词的上义词是animal，而animal的下义词则是fish, horse, snake, cat这些具体的例子。这篇报道中minors/under-18s的下义词是young Chinese gamers以及teenagers

　　在写作中我们可以灵活使用上下义词进行替换。举个例子，在写关于人口老龄化的作文中，要表达“老年人”这个概念，除了可以说elderly people/older people/senior citizens，还可以使用“老年人”的下义词retired people/retirees/pensioners等等。在描述交通拥堵问题时可以用traffic problems这一上义词来代替traffic congestion/traffic jams，在描述手机时可以用上义词digital devices/gadgets来代替mobile phones这一具体概念。

　　除了“上义词/下义词法”，我们还可以使用下面的方法来减少用词重复：

　　（1）同义词替换

　　这是最简单的一种替换方法，当句子或段落中一个词出现太多次时，我们可以用单词的同义词来替换。举两个《经济学人》的例子：

　　Just as drones can make up for poor roads, the theory goes, mobile phones can overcome a lack of well-functioning banks, portable solar panels can stand in for missing power stations and free learning apps can substitute for patchy education.

　　为了表达“弥补，替换”这一意思，作者用了make up for / stand in for / substitute for 这三个同义表达，这能够让句子更加变化多样。此外，a lack of / missing / patchy 都能表达“缺失，不完善”的意思。

　　As they vie for the next billion consumers to come online, Alibaba is taking on Amazon, Google is matched against Baidu and Tencent can prove its mettle against Facebook.

　　对于“与……竞争”这一意思，作者在一句话里面用了take on / be matched against / prove its mettle against 这几种不同说法，实现了用词多样。

　　我们可以通过查同义词典来寻找同义词替换（词典介绍可见市面上有哪些优秀的同义词辨析词典？），也可以使用同义词网站，比如https://www.thesaurus.com

　　网站上可以查到很多替换说法，比如搜索"complain"，可以找到同义表达fret / sound off / take exception to

　　

　　需要注意的一点是，我们不能在同义词典中找到一个词就生硬搬进来，因为有可能会用词不当。为了保险起见，我们可以在词典中反查这些替换表达，学习其例句用法，确保单词使用符合语境

　　（2）词性变换

　　写作中可以利用英语中同一个意思可能有名词、形容词和副词等形式来增加单词变化。举个例子：

　　Online shopping is becoming more and more popular among young people. The main reason why it is so popular is better and wider access to the Internet.

　　这里出现了两个popular，我们可以用popularity来对其中一个进行替换：

　　Online shopping is growing in popularity among young people. The main reason why it is so popular is better and wider access to the Internet.

　　或者：

　　Online shopping is becoming more and more popular among young people. The main reason why it enjoys great popularity is better and wider access to the Internet.

　　（3）代词

　　使用代词不仅能使句子之间的连接更加紧密，还可以减少用词的重复度。举个例子：

　　Young children can be negatively affected by too much time spent on the computer every day. This is partly because sitting in front of a screen for too long can be damaging to both their eyes and physical posture, regardless of what they are using the computer for.

　　这里使用their来代替young children's, 使用they来代替young children

　　我们还可以使用代词one来代替重复的单词，比如：

　　Many graduates have to choose between working for a large company or a small company.

　　句子可以修改为：

　　Many graduates have to choose between working for a large company or a small one.

　　另外，还有几个词也能起到代词的效果，比如former/latter/counterpart，举两个例子：

　　(1) Belgian officials are discussing this with French officials.

　　(2) Children in the city can enjoy better educational opportunities than children in rural areas.

　　句子可以改为：

　　(1) Belgian officials are discussing this with their French counterparts.

　　(2) Children in the city can enjoy better educational opportunities than their rural counterparts.

　　又比如：

　　Of these two options, the former is less expensive, while the latter is less risky.

　　（4）省略

　　省略可以减少不必要的用词，使句子结构更加紧凑。句子中可以省略的部分包括名词、动词和形容词等。例如培根关于读书的名言：

　　Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few are to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.

　　这里是省略了be动词，还原后是：

　　Some books are to be tasted, others (are) to be swallowed, and some few (are) to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others (are) to be read, but not curiously; and some few are to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.

　　在比较句中省略手法也被大量使用，例如：

　　Some argue that modern children grow up to be more independent and mature than in the past.

　　句子省略了children，相当于：

　　Some argue that modern children grow up to be more independent and mature than (children) in the past.

　　在写作中我们可以综合以上几种方法减少重复用词，除此之外，多读外刊和原版书，积累地道英文中的多样化表达也是提高写作技巧的重要方法。