浙江大学编著《新编大学英语》 Book 2 Unit 1的课内阅读文章有如下一句话:

　　Many other people would probably be sick if they had to eat termites. 对于许多其他人来说,如果非得吃白蚁,他们很可能会呕吐.

　　在学习该课文时,对于sick在上面句子中的含义和用法,一部分学生只是一知半解.在收集了有关资料以后,笔者将sick和ill进行对比,把它作形容词时的含义和用法归纳整理如下:

　　1. 意为"患病的"时,既可作表语,也可作定语.例如:

　　1) My father has been sick for a long time. 我父亲已病了很久.

　　2) He's not at work today because he's looking after his sick child. 他今天没有上班,因为他在照顾生病的孩子.

　　而ill作此义时,通常用作表语,如sick mother才是"生病的母亲",而ill mother就意为"坏的母亲".但是,如果ill前有一副词修饰它时则另当别论,如:a terminally ill patient为"晚期病人".

　　2. 意为"恶心的,想吐的"时,用作表语或补足语.例如:

　　3) He began to feel sick as soon as the ship started to move. 船一开动他就觉得要吐.

　　4) The smell made him sick. 这种气味叫他恶心.

　　而ill无此义,但它能表示"身体不适"和"受伤".例如:

　　5) The color makes me feel quite ill. 这颜色使我感到很不舒服.

　　6) One week after the fighting, the two policemen were still seriously ill in hospital. 打斗后一周,两位警察仍然伤势严重,住在医院.

　　feel sick与be sick的含义有所不同,feel sick作"恶心"解,而be sick却作"呕吐"解.例如:

　　7) He suddenly felt sick, and was sick twice before he could even get into bed. 他突然恶心,而且连床都没上就吐了两次.

　　8) I feel sick but I can't be sick. 我恶心,可又吐不出来.

　　3. sick的比喻用法表示如下的一些含义:

　　a) 厌倦的,如:

　　9) I'm sick of winter; why doesn't spring come?我讨厌冬天,春天怎么还不来?

　　b) 渴望的,如:

　　10) The overseas Chinese are sick for their motherland. 海外华侨怀念祖国.

　　c) 不愉快的,懊丧的,如:

　　11) She was sick at failing to pass the examination. 她考试不及格感到很懊丧.

　　d) 苍白的,病态的,如:

　　a sick skin苍白的皮肤

　　a sick look病容

　　a sick expression苍白的脸色

　　a sick mind病态的心理

　　sick thoughts不健康的思想

　　而ill的比喻用法则表示如下的一些含义:

　　a) 坏的,恶意的,拙劣的,如:

　　12) The war had many ill consequences. 这场战争造成了许多不良后果.

　　13) Ill news runs apace. 恶事传千里.

　　14) This is a district of ill repute on account of many robberies. 这一地区因为发生了许多抢劫案而名声很坏.

　　15) There is a lot of ill blood between them. 他们之间冤仇甚深.

　　16) The failure of the scheme was due to ill management. 造成该计划失败的原因是管理不善.

　　b) 不利的,不幸的,如:

　　17) The usually heavy rainfall was an ill omen for the travelers. 通常雨下得很大,对于旅游者来说,是个不祥之兆.

　　18) Ill fortune fell upon him. 不幸降落到他的身上.

　　c) 麻烦的,难以处理的,如:

　　19) It is ill to be defined. 很难对它下定义.

　　20) He is a person who is ill to please. 他是一个难以取悦的人.

　　请做以下练习:

　　Directions: Choose the one from A), B) and C) that can take the place of the underlined.

　　1. Your complaining makes me sick! Why can't you be quiet?

　　A) ill B) unhappy C) vomit

　　2. Anyone who could hurt a child like that must be sick.

　　A) greatly distressed B) physically ill C) mentally ill

　　3. A climber who fell 90 meters is critically ill with severe brain injures.

　　A) very badly hurt B) not healthy

　　C) on his death bed

　　4. The newspapers were full of stories about terminally ill husbands whose wives had released them from their pain.

　　A) bad-tempered husbands

　　B) husbands with a disease that is beyond cure

　　C) husbands who were ill for the time being

　　5. I'm getting sick of this ideal talk.

　　A) tired of B) used to C) keen on

　　6. He that is ill to himself will be good to nobody.

　　A) does not enjoy good health

　　B) is not kind and helpful

　　C) does not take good care of himself

　　7. Ill weeds grow apace.

　　A) Sick B) Harmful C) Diseased

　　8. I'm dreading moving to another country; it makes me ill just to think about it.

　　A) it is impossible for me

　　B) it is unpleasant

　　C) it makes me in bad health

　　Answers:

　　1.B 2. C 3. A 4. B 5. A 6. C 7. B 8. B

　　(文/姜建华　英语辅导报大学一年级版03~04学年第35期;版权归英语辅导报社所有，独家网络合作伙伴新浪教育，未经许可，不得以任何形式进行转载。)