请先看2003年高考英语第31题:

　　News reports say peace talks between the two countries ________ with no agreement reached.

　　A. have broken down

　　B. have broken out

　　C. have broken in

　　D. have broken up

　　析:答案是A。析语境可知,两国和平谈判失败,没有达成任何协议,因此该空应填have broken down,表"(和平谈判)失败"。

　　break 是中学英语中十分活跃的动词,可以构成很多短语,下面谈谈其热点短语的用法。

　　1. break down

　　(1)打破;毁掉;破除

　　Break down the door!把门砸开!

　　We must break down the old customs. 我们必须破除旧风俗。

　　(2)坍塌;坏掉

　　The car broke down on the way. 车子在路上抛锚了。

　　(3)(计划等)失败;不成功

　　His plan broke down at last.他的计划最终失败了。

　　2. break in

　　(1)破门而入

　　The thief broke in and took away the TV set. 小偷破门而入偷走了电视机。

　　(2)打断

　　Don't break in when we are talking.我们谈话时别打断我们。

　　3. break into

　　(1)破门而入

　　The robber broke into the bank, trying to take away money. 强盗闯进银行,试图抢钱。

　　(2)突然……起来

　　Hearing the news, he broke into tears. 一听到这消息他突然哭起来了。

　　4. break out

　　(1)战争爆发

　　The American Civil War broke out in 1861. 美国内战爆发于1861年。

　　(2)发生争吵

　　A quarrel broke out between them.他们之间发生了争吵。

　　(3)(火灾)发生

　　A fire broke out in his house last night.昨晚他家失火了。

　　5. break away from

　　(1)脱离政党

　　In Russia many people broke away from the Communist Party. 俄国有很多人脱离了共产党。

　　(2)打破陈规

　　Modern music has broken away from the nineteenth century rules.现代音乐打破了十九世纪的陈规陋习。

　　(3) 奋力挣脱

　　The thief broke away from the policeman and ran away. 小偷挣脱开警察逃跑了。

　　6. break through

　　(1)突围

　　The soldiers broke through the enemy's defence works. 战士们攻破了敌人的防御工事。

　　(2)突破;冲垮;克服

　　They broke through all kinds of hardships. 他们克服了各种困难。

　　7. break up

　　(1)打碎;拆散

　　They broke up the whole ship into parts. 他们将船拆开。

　　(2)分裂;分解

　　Please break up the word into syllables. 请把这单词分成音节。

　　8. break into pieces(使)成为碎片

　　The whole country broke into pieces. 整个国家四分五裂。

　　My glasses fell to the ground and broke into pieces. 我的眼镜掉到地上摔碎了。

　　9. break one's word/promise食言;说话不算数

　　You can't break your word/promise.你不能说话不算数。

　　It is wrong of you to break your word/promise. 你说话不算数是错误之举。

　　10. break the law/rule 违犯法律/违反规章制度

　　Whoever breaks the law should be punished. 凡是犯法的人都应受到惩罚。

　　No student can break the rules of our school.所有学生都不能违反我们学校的规章制度。

　　(文/丁楠；英语辅导报高三版2003-2004学年第50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。)