[讀書會][單字] PRECIPITATE (v.)使…突然降臨；加速（壞事的發生）

在上一封信裡面已經有提到precipitate是GRE最常出現的12個字之一,非常重要,因此這篇文章要與大家分享precipitate的一般用法與在托福閱讀中結合背景知識的用法.

Precipitate的一般用法:

(v.) to make something serious happen suddenly or more quickly than was expected = hasten 使…突然降臨；加速（壞事的發生）

The riot was precipitated when four black men were arrested.(當四位黑人被捕之後,暴動更嚴重了.)

His resignation precipitated a leadership crisis. (他的辭職立即引發了領導層的危機。)

(phr v.) precipitate into to force someone or something into a particular state or condition 突然陷入（某種狀態）

The drug treatment precipitated him into a depression.(藥物的治療使他陷入憂鬱的狀態.)

The assassination of the president precipitated the country into war. (總統被暗殺使國家驟然陷入戰爭狀態。)

Precipitate的托福背景知識用法:

Precipitate的名詞形式precipitation是降雨,降雪的意思,屬於water cycle(水循環)的其中一部分.<讀出好英文:用美國中學課本學閱讀>一書p.178的主題即是水循環:

The Hydrologic Cycle (水循環)最主要分成五個部分:

1. condensation [‚kɒnden’seɪʃn] (n.)凝結

Condensation is the process by which water changes from a vapor to a liquid. (水氣在空氣中因遇冷而變為液態的過程。)

2. precipitation [prɪ‚sɪpɪ’teɪʃn] (n.)降雨,降雪

Precipitation is water being released from clouds as rain, sleet, snow, or hail. Precipitation begins after water vapor, which has condensed in the atmosphere, becomes too heavy to remain in atmospheric air currents and falls. (水以任何形式掉落至地表的過程，包含雨、雪、冰。)

3. infiltration /ˌɪnfɪlˈtreɪʃən/ (n.)滲透

A portion of the precipitation that reaches the Earth’s surface seeps into the ground through a process called infiltration. (水由地面流入地底。當水滲入泥土後，會令泥土變得濕潤或變成地下水。)

4. runoff [ˈrʌnˌɔf] (n.)逕流(未被地表吸收的雨水)

When there us a lot of precipitation, soils become saturated with water. Additional rainfall can no longer enter it. Runoff will eventually drain into creeks, streams and rivers, adding a large amount of water to the flow. (陸地上的水順著地表流入河、海或在地下流動的現象。)

5. evapotranspiration [ɪˌvæpoˌtrænspəˈreʃən] (n.)蒸散,蒸散量

Evapotranspiration means water evaporating from the ground and transpiring from plants. (指當水由地面或大量的水中轉變成氣態即水蒸氣返回大氣層，而此過程中需要的能量主要是來自太陽。蒸發往往涉及植物的蒸騰作用，但整體上仍然會把它們計算為蒸散量。)

英文版水循環圖片:

中文版水循環圖片:

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