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SAT TEM8 GRE
外刊例句
- Take in the view from atop Gatun dam and fathom what is missing.
从加通大坝的顶部俯瞰，看看到底哪里不对劲。
——《经济学人》 - I have met these rich kids who have so much that I can’t comprehend, doing things that I can’t fathom.
我遇到过这些有钱的孩子，他们有很多我无法理解的东西，做着我无法理解的事情。
——《纽约时报》
基本释义
[verb] understand (a difficult problem or an enigmatic person) after much thought
[动词] 经过深思熟虑后理解（某个难题或神秘人物）
深入解读
在词典里， fathom 通常是一个刚好排在小站之前推过的 fatigue 前面的单词。其本义是一种长度单位，中文译作“英寻”，等于6英尺（约等于1.83米），主要用于测量水深，这在《高级英语》教材中就有“Mark Twain-Mirror of America”一文用到：
He adopted his pen name from the cry heard in his steamboat days, signaling two fathoms (12 feet) of water - a navigable depth.
他的笔名取自他在蒸汽船上做工时听到的报告水深为两英寻（12英尺）——意即可以通航的信号语。
这个水深单位也可以用来比喻内心深处，比如：
- 她把感情深深地隐藏在心中。但我们都知道他在那间舒适小店的身影永远留在了她的记忆中。
She kept her feelings hidden fathoms deep. But we all knew that her abiding memory was of him in the snug little shop.
当用作动词时， fathom 即表示用测量绳“测量……的深度”。一个水体的大小不能光看其看得见的表面积，更要看其水下深度如何。
换句话说，通过测量其看不见的水下深度，就可以查明该水体的实际体量。后来 fathom 就被用来表示“弄清……的真相、深入理解”，多指通过穿透神秘难懂事物的晦涩面纱来揭示或理解其本质，比如：
- 多年来人们一直试图弄清双方可能会如何利用自己的影响力。
For years people have been trying to fathom (out) how both sides might use their clout. - 我真搞不懂斯坦纳在说些什么。他谈话中使用的晦涩行话对我是一团迷雾。
I really couldn't fathom what Steiner was talking about. The arcane jargon in his talk was opaque to me.
而其衍生词 fathomless 自然表示“深不可测的、神秘莫测的”，比如：
- 罗莎陷入失望的无底深渊中去了。她总是重复的一句话就是她没有舒坦的生活。
Rosa sunk into the fathomless depths of despair. Her constant refrain was that she didn't have a snug life.
名著用例
Interesting to fathom, it seemed to him, from a motive of curiosity pure and simple, was whether it was the traffic that created the route or vice-versa or the two sides in fact.
出于纯粹质朴的好奇心，他饶有兴趣地猜测着：究竟是交通造成路的呢，还是路造成交通的，抑或二者其实是相辅相成的呢？
出自爱尔兰现代主义作家詹姆斯·乔伊斯（James Joyce）于1922年出版的长篇小说《尤利西斯》（Ulysses）。下载本书请点击：原版名著下载 | 尤利西斯（Ulysses）
同近义词
- comprehend: grasp mentally; understand
- grasp: get mental hold of; comprehend fully
- interpret: understand (an action, mood, or way of behaving) as having a particular meaning or significance
