本文经授权转载自微信公众号：田间小站
考研 SAT TEM8 GMAT GRE
外刊例句
- China already has around 700 private institutions among its 3,000-or-so universities, but most are vocational colleges which do not aspire to compete with the research universities.
中国大概有3000所高校，其中民办大学已有约700所，但大部分都是高职院校，无意与全球顶尖的研究型大学一较高下。
——《经济学人》 - Mr. Dobson’s book, with luck, will find its way into the hands of people who aspire to be free.
幸运的话，多布森先生的书将会设法到达那些渴望自由的人们手中。
——《纽约时报》
基本释义
[verb] direct one's hopes or ambitions towards achieving something
[动词] 将某人的希望或抱负指向实现某事
深入解读
Aspire 一词源自拉丁语 aspirare （哈气、吹气、呼吸；有利于、协助；攀登、努力获得、达到、寻求达到；注入），15世纪经古法语 aspirer （渴望、激发；呼吸、哈气）进入英语，由前缀 a- （加强）+词根 spir （呼吸）+ e 构成，用来表示“渴望、向往、有志于”，常用搭配 aspire to sth ，侧重强调人的雄心壮志，有时候也意味着对目标的渴望非常迫切，甚至常常过于迫切而难以实现，比如：
- 他渴望成为他们的下一届领导人。但选民普遍的态度冷淡给他带来沉重的打击。
He aspired to be their next leader. But the widespread apathy among the electorate shattered him. - 对我们来说，那是可望而不可即的。
For us, it's something that we may aspire to but can never attain.
而与之同源的名词 aspiration 相应表示“渴望、抱负、志向”或“渴望达到的目标”，以及在语音学中指“发送气音；送气”。该词在今年国家主席的新年贺词译文中多次出现，参见下方权威用例。
权威用例
不忘初心，方得始终。
To accomplish our great mission, we must always remain true to our original aspiration.民之所忧，我必念之；民之所盼，我必行之。
The concerns of the people are what I always care about, and the aspirations of the people are what I always strive for.
中国人民不仅希望自己过得好，也希望各国人民过得好。
We Chinese not only aspire for good living for ourselves, but also hope people in other parts of the world lead a decent life.
同近义词
- aim: have the intention of achieving
- pursue: seek to attain or accomplish (a goal) over a long period
- pant: long for or to do something
