自疫情爆發至今已超過兩年，全球逐漸邁向與疫情共存的方式，日本政府也將陸續鬆綁邊境管制，最快有機會六月就開放外國觀光客以團體旅遊方式入境。加上日圓近期狂貶，來到二十年來新低點，專家預估，日本將迎來新一波的旅遊熱潮。今天我們就從國外報導的日圓貶值現象，提前為旅日做好準備吧！
yen weakness 日圓疲軟
Yet economists see building pressure for a shift if persistent yen weakness exacerbates inflation by raising import costs, particularly for energy, and reckon that 125 is a key level.
Photo courtesy of photoAC / 照片：photoAC提供
（然而，若是日圓持續疲軟而提高進口成本，尤其在能源上，將加重通貨膨脹，經濟學家認為政策轉變的壓力很大，並預估貶破125是關鍵點。）
yen weakness是「日圓疲軟，weak (a.)意思是「虛弱的、疲弱的，加上「-ness」名詞字尾，代表「疲軟的概念；加上「-en」動詞變化則有「弱化、削弱」的意思。
The bill would seriously weaken environmental protections.
（這項法案將嚴重削弱對環境的保護。）
exacerbate (v.)「惡化、加劇、加重，英文的定義為to make something that is already bad even worse（使某件已經很糟的事情更糟）。文章中提到通膨（inflation）加劇，將會對經濟造成負面的影響，因此可以看出作者的態度是不樂觀的。
This attack will exacerbate the already tense relations between the two communities.（這次襲擊將令兩個原本已經處於緊張狀態的團體關係更加惡化。）
提高成本raise、rise怎麼用？
raise import cost是「提高進口成本，討論數據「上升、下降時，經常使用raise和rise這兩個動詞，但是特別注意兩者使用方式有所不同。raise是及物動詞(vt)，後方必須要接一個受詞（名詞），如raise your hand、raise the eyebrows；然而，rise是不及物動詞(vi)，不能直接加上受詞，而是要在中間穿插一個介系詞作為連結功能的用途，如常見的go (to) school、listen (to) music等，因此rise的用法就是inflation rises，常見的the sun rises in the east就是如此。
The government plans to raise taxes.
（政府計畫增稅。）
Inflation is rising by 2.1 percent a month.
（通貨膨脹一個月增長百分之二‧一。）
升值、貶值怎麼說？
Japanese yen depreciation is a big problem for the Japanese economy, because the economy — especially households — is facing rising inflation and yen depreciation could accelerate that. (Reuters)
（日圓貶值對於日本經濟是一大問題，因為經濟，尤其是家庭經濟，正面對高升的通膨，而日圓貶值可能加速這個現象。）
yen depreciation是「日圓貶值的意思，depreciation (n)來自於動詞depreciate，英文解釋為to lose value「失去價值、貶值」，「-ate」是動詞字尾，「-ation則是名詞字尾。
Our car depreciated (by) US$1,500 in the first year we owned it.
（我們買的車在第一年就貶值了一千五百美元。）
depreciate的反義詞是appreciate，英文解釋to increase in value「增值、升值」。除此之外，appreciate在國際職場與多益測驗中，還有「欣賞、感恩」這兩個衍生字義。
The value of our house has appreciated by 50 percent in the last two years.
（過去兩年內我們房子的價格上漲了百分之五十。）
There’s no point buying him expensive wines - he doesn’t appreciate them.
（給他買名貴的酒沒有意義——他不懂品酒。）
rising inflation「通膨上升」，當rise作現在分詞rising時，可當作形容詞使用，因此字面上的意思就是「正在上升的，用來修飾名詞inflation。
accelerate (v.)「加快，字尾「-ate」是動詞用法，而「-ation則是作為名詞變化，「-ator也作為名詞，代表「加速器、油門」的意思。
Inflation is likely to accelerate this year, adding further upward pressure on interest rates.
（今年通貨膨脹可能會加劇，迫使利率持續上升。）
【多益模擬試題】
1. Children who are two years old and younger are ________ free of charge to most concerts and films.
(A) admit
(B) admits
(C) admitted
(D) admitting
2. After discussing the terms of the new health-benefits contract, ________ management and employees were satisfied.
(A) both
(B) also
(C) either
(D) too
3. Although we have ________ not to offer you a position at this time , we will keep your resume on file for future openings.
(A) decided
(B) deciding
(C) decision
(D) decidedly
【解析】
1. 正解為(C)。語意為「任何兩歲及以下的孩童可以免費進入大部分的演唱會和電影。」本題要考的是被動態用法，在英語中，若要進場或是進入一個管控的場所，會用admit代表「允許…進入」的意思。本句主詞children為複數，要使用被動態be+p.p.「被允許進入」，故(C)為正確答案。
2. 正解為(A)。語意為「在討論過新的健保合約條款後，勞資雙方都很滿意。」本句要表達雙方都很滿意，both代表兩個立場，故(A)為正確答案。
3. 正解為(A)。語意為「儘管我們已經決定此時不向您提供職位，但是我們會將履歷入檔做為日後職缺參考。」因為完成式後面的動詞要變化成過去分詞，因此have後方只能接decided，故(A)為正確答案。
Source: https://www.englishok.com.tw/toeic/toeic-issue/yen-depreciation
文章由 English OK 授權使用: www.englishok.com.tw
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