VOA慢速英语2019--All About 'Develop'

 

Our question today on Ask A Teacher comes from Mohamad. He says:

Question:

Hi. Could you explain more about the meanings of the words "Develop" and "Alternative" by your examples. Thank you.

Answer:

Let’s start with develop. Develop is a verb, or action word. It means to grow. Here is an example sentence:

Andrew’s skill at basketball developed slowly, but now he is the best player on his team.

In other words, Andrew learned about basketball over time and became a good player. You could say:

Good coaching and a lot of practice helped Andrew develop his ability.

Develop can also mean create.

The teacher developed the new English teaching program and now his students understand prepositions.

Here is an example from a recent Learning English news story:

Countries in the area are trying to develop their own steel or aluminum¹ industries.

In other words, the countries do not have steel or aluminum industries now. They are working to create these industries.

Develop is also often used in the language of the medical world. A doctor might ask you:

When did your symptoms develop?

She is trying to find out when your sickness began. This can help her identify what disease or condition you have.

The noun form of develop is development. Let’s say you answered the doctor’s question about your symptoms. The doctor might write in her notes:

Patient began coughing four days ago. The development of fever is unknown.

Here is another example. Imagine your good friend got an award at his new job. You might say:

Congratulations! That is a promising² development. Maybe you will get a pay raise!

And in the business world, you will often hear:

The product is in development.

That means the product is in the process of creation. It is not ready to market yet.

There are also adjectival and adverbial forms of develop. For example, we often describe middle- to low-income countries as developing nations. “Developing” in that usage is an adjective.

The adverb for develop is made from the noun development. Listen:

The man is developmentally disabled.

Medical experts say this means a person is severely³ affected⁴ by a problem with mental ability, physical ability, or both.

That is all the time we have today. We will answer Mohamad’s “alternative” question next week!

I’m Caty Weaver⁵ with Ask A Teacher.

1 aluminum   

n.(aluminium)铝

参考例句：

• The aluminum sheets cannot be too much thicker than 0.04 inches.铝板厚度不能超过0.04英寸。
• During the launch phase,it would ride in a protective aluminum shell.在发射阶段，它盛在一只保护的铝壳里。

2 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

3 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。