英语短语"put sth. at risk"的核心含义是“使某事物面临危险/风险;危及某事物”,即通过某种行为或决定让原本安全/稳定的人、事、物陷入可能受损、失去或遭遇负面结果的境地。
put:使处于(某种状态);
sth.:面临风险的对象(可具体,如“生命、健康”;可抽象,如“声誉、关系、机会”);
at risk:处于风险中(介词短语作补语,说明“sth.”的状态)。
该短语的结构为“主语 + put + 宾语(风险承受者)+ at risk (+ 修饰语/原因)”,重点在于“主语的行为导致宾语陷入风险”。
具体事物:生命(life)、健康(health)、安全(safety)、财产(property)等;
抽象事物:关系(relationship)、声誉(reputation)、信任(trust)、项目(project)、机会(chance)等。
可在“at risk”前加程度副词(如great/serious/high),表示“极大/严重/高风险”:
put sth. at great risk(使…处于极大风险);
put sth. at serious risk(使…处于严重风险)。
通过不同场景的例子,更直观理解用法:
He put his life at risk to rescue the hiker trapped in the avalanche.
(他冒着生命危险营救被困在雪崩中的徒步者。)
Smoking puts your lungs at serious risk of disease.
(吸烟会使你的肺部面临严重的患病风险。)
Lying to your friends will put your friendship at risk.
(对朋友撒谎会危及你们的友谊。)
The celebrity’s scandal put his career at great risk.
(这位名人的丑闻使其事业陷入极大风险。)
Cutting corners on quality control puts the entire project at risk.
(在质量控制上偷工减料会危及整个项目。)
The company’s poor financial decisions put its survival at risk.
(公司糟糕的财务决策使其生存面临风险。)
Our planet’s ecosystem is put at risk by human activities like deforestation.
(人类的砍伐等活动使地球生态系统面临风险。)
put sth. at risk:“使…面临风险”(焦点是“宾语”的风险,主语是“风险的制造者”);
risk doing sth.:“冒险做某事”(焦点是“主语自己”承担风险去做某事)。
例如:
He risked losing his job by arguing with his boss.(他和老板吵架,冒了丢工作的风险。)
He put his job at risk by arguing with his boss.(他和老板吵架,使他的工作面临风险。)