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考研 SAT TEM8 GRE BEC
外刊例句
- It is meant as an interim measure, to be ditched once an international agreement is reached.
它原本就是个临时措施,一旦达成国际协议就会废止。
——《经济学人》 - In the interim, the political class has been flummoxed by stagnation, a hesitation that has opened the doors to populists of various stripes.
在此期间,政界被经济停滞搞得狼狈不堪,而这样的踯躅不前又为形形色色的民粹分子大开方便之门。
——《纽约时报》
基本释义
[noun] the intervening time
[名词] 介于中间的一段时间
深入解读
Interim 一词源自拉丁语 interim (同时),16世纪60年代进入英语后开始用来表示“间歇、过渡期间”,常用搭配 in the interim 表示“在此期间、在过渡期间、在间歇期”,多指两个事件之间的间隔期或某个特定事件发生之前的时期,比如:
- 但是,在过渡期间,我们得抱团取暖。
But, in the interim, we have to huddle together for warmth.
从过渡期间这个概念出发, interim 常用作形容词表示“暂时的、临时的、过渡期间的”,主要用来形容在某个永久性的事物完成或确立之前打算过渡使用的东西,比如:
- 反叛者打了五年的游击战争,最后总算推翻了过渡政府。
The rebels had waged a guerrilla war for five years and finally managed to oust the interim government from power.
而在英式英语中, interim 还常用在财务等领域表示“期中的”,即与不到一整年的商业活动相关的,比如期中股息(interim dividend)、期中利润(interim profits)、期中报告(interim report)等。
名著用例
When she entered the house she perceived in a moment from her mother's triumphant manner that something had occurred in the interim.
她进了家,立刻就从她母亲得意洋洋的脸色上看出,在她不在家这段时间里,已经发生了什么事。
出自英国小说家托马斯·哈代(Thomas Hardy)的长篇小说《德伯家的苔丝》(Tess of the d'Urbervilles)。
同近义词
- provisional: arranged or existing for the present, possibly to be changed later
- transitional: relating to or characteristic of a process or period of transition
- makeshift: serving as a temporary substitute; sufficient for the time being