本文经授权转载自微信公众号：田间小站
TEM8 GRE
外刊例句
- When the music and newspaper industries were ravaged by the internet over a decade ago people feared the same fate would befall publishing.
十多年前音乐和报纸产业遭到互联网的劫掠时，人们害怕同样的命运将降临于出版业。
——《经济学人》 - With a nation on edge, ravaged by disease, hammered by economic collapse, divided over lockdowns and even face masks and now convulsed once again by race, President Trump’s first instinct has been to look for someone to fight.
在一个饱受疾病蹂躏和经济崩溃重创，因封锁甚至是口罩而分裂，如今又因种族问题而再次动荡的处于紧张状态的国家，特朗普总统的第一反应是找个人来斗一斗。
——《纽约时报》
基本释义
[verb] cause severe and extensive damage to
[动词] 造成严重和广泛的损害
深入解读
Ravage 一词与小站（微信公众号：田间小站）上个月推送的 savage 十分形似， 该词源自古法语 ravage （尤指洪水造成的破坏），17世纪10年代经法语 ravager （破坏、毁坏、蹂躏；使荒芜、使成为废墟）进入英语，也是用来表示“损坏、毁坏、蹂躏、劫掠”或“使荒芜”，强调暴力的严重破坏或彻底毁灭，多指由掠夺、入侵、袭击、风暴或洪水等造成的累计破坏，常用被动语态，比如：
- 在一个遭受内战重创的国家，他们不得不同一切困境做斗争。
In a country ravaged by civil war, they had to struggle against all kinds of adversity.
用作名词时， ravage 则常作复数相应表示“损坏、毁坏、蹂躏、劫掠”或“荒废、灾害、灾难”等严重破坏的后果、痕迹或行为，比如：
- 他们不得不默默忍受通货膨胀的恶果。
They had to grin and bear the ravages of inflation. - 他们敢于胜利的气魄经受住了时间的考验。
Their mettle to win has withstood the ravages of time.
值得注意的是， ravage 还很容易与 ravish 相混淆，其中后者在 小词详解 | enthrall 的名人用例中就有出现，主要作书面用语表示“使狂喜、使陶醉、使销魂”，过去或书面用语中也指男子“强暴、强奸”。
权威用例
1840年鸦片战争以后，中国逐步成为半殖民地半封建社会，国家蒙辱、人民蒙难、文明蒙尘，中华民族遭受了前所未有的劫难。
After the Opium War of 1840, however, China was gradually reduced to a semi-colonial, semi-feudal society and suffered greater ravages than ever before. The country endured intense humiliation, the people were subjected to great pain, and the Chinese civilization was plunged into darkness.
出自习总书记在庆祝中国共产党成立100周年大会上的讲话（双语全文）。
同近义词
- plunder: steal goods from a place or person, typically using force and in a time of war or civil disorder
- devastate: destroy or ruin
- raze: completely destroy (a building, town, or other settlement)
