life /laɪf/ CET4 TEM4

• 1. 

  N-UNCOUNT Life is the quality which people, animals, and plants have when they are not dead, and which objects and substances do not have. 生命

  例：

  ...a baby's first minutes of life.

  …婴儿生命的头几分钟。

  例：

  Amnesty International opposes the death penalty as a violation of the right to life.

  大赦国际组织反对死刑，因其侵犯生存权。

• 2. 

  N-UNCOUNT You can use life to refer to things or groups of things which are alive. 生物; 生命

  例：

  Is there life on Mars?

  火星上有生命吗？

• 3. 

  N-COUNT If you refer to someone's life, you mean their state of being alive, especially when there is a risk or danger of them dying. 生存; 性命

  例：

  Your life is in danger.

  你有生命危险。

  例：

  A nurse began to try to save his life.

  一名护士开始设法抢救他。

• 4. 

  N-COUNT Someone's life is the period of time during which they are alive. 一生

  例：

  He spent the last fourteen years of his life in retirement.

  他生命的最后14年退休在家。

• 5. 

  N-COUNT You can use life to refer to a period of someone's life when they are in a particular situation or job. 人生阶段; 生涯

  例：

  Interior designers spend their working lives keeping up to date with the latest trends.

  室内设计者们把他们的职业生涯都花在追赶最新潮流上。

• 6. 

  N-COUNT You can use life to refer to particular activities which people regularly do during their lives. 生活

  例：

  My personal life has had to take second place to my career.

  我的个人生活不得不放在我的事业之后。

• 7. 

  N-UNCOUNT You can use life to refer to the things that people do and experience that are characteristic of a particular place, group, or activity. (特定的) 生活

  例：

  How did you adjust to college life?

  你是怎么适应大学生活的？

  例：

  He abhors the wheeling-and-dealing associated with conventional political life.

  他憎恶传统政治生活中的尔虞我诈。

• 8. 

  N-UNCOUNT A person, place, book, or film that is full of life gives an impression of excitement, energy, or cheerfulness. 活力 [表赞许]

  例：

  The town itself was full of life and character.

  这座城镇本身就充满了活力和个性。

• 9. 

  N-UNCOUNT If someone is sentenced to life, they are sentenced to stay in prison for the rest of their life or for a very long time. 终身监禁 [非正式]

  例：

  He could get life in prison, if convicted.

  他会遭终身监禁，如果罪名成立的话。

• 10. 

  N-COUNT The life of something such as a machine, organization, or project is the period of time that it lasts for. (机器、组织或项目的) 寿命

  例：

  The repairs did not increase the value or the life of the equipment.

  这些修理没有提高设备的价值，也没有延长它的寿命。

• 11. 

  PHRASE If you bring something to life or if it comes to life, it becomes interesting or exciting. 带来生机; 使变得生动

  例：

  The cold, hard cruelty of two young men is vividly brought to life in this true story.

  两个年轻人的冷漠和残忍在这个真实的故事里被生动地表现了出来。

• 12. 

  PHRASE If you say that someone is fighting for their life, you mean that they are in a very serious condition and may die as a result of an accident or illness. 挣扎在死亡线上 [journalism]

  例：

  ...a horrifying robbery that left a man fighting for his life.

  …一场恐怖的抢劫，导致一人生命垂危。

• 13. 

  PHRASE For life means for the rest of a person's life. 终身

  例：

  He was jailed for life in 1966 for the murder of three policemen.

  1966年，由于杀害了3名警察他被终身监禁。

  例：

  She may have been scarred for life.

  她可能已受到终身难以愈合的创伤。

• 14. 

  PHRASE If someone takes another person's life, they kill them. If someone takes their own life, they kill themselves. 杀死某人 [正式]

  例：

  Before execution, he admitted to taking the lives of at least 35 more women.

  在赴死刑前，他承认了还杀死过另外至少35名妇女。

• 15. 

  PHRASE You can use expressions such as to come to life, to spring to life, and to roar into life to indicate that a machine or vehicle suddenly starts working or moving. (机器或车辆) 突然开动 [文学性]

  例：

  To his great relief the engine came to life.

  让他松一口气的是，引擎发动起来了。

• 16. 

  a matter of life and death →see death