surprise,astonish,astound,amaze 一般含义是“使吃惊”.
surprise 是通用词,它的含义是使人一愣.这种吃惊可能包含着高兴也可能包含害怕或忧虑.
In spite of this,some people including myself were surprised by a recent exhibition of modern sculpture.
尽管如此,最近举办的现代雕塑展览会却使一些人——包括我在内——吃了一惊.
I rang the bell and was not surprised to see that Herbert was as fat as ever.
我按响了门铃,毫不觉得奇怪地看到赫伯特仍然和以往一样胖.
astonish 在现代英语中通常表示某事使人震惊得难以置信.
The successful laying of the Atlantic cable astonished everybody:its later breaks astonished no one; but after it was finally in operation.many said that no future invention could surprise them.
在大西洋底下成功地铺设了电缆,这使得大家都感到骇然； 后来有几处电缆折断了,谁也不感到惊奇.不过在这些电缆终于投入工作之后,许多人都说,未来的任何发明再也不会使人吃惊了.
He was astonished at what he found.A man was lying in the box on top of a pile of woolen goods,
他所看到的使他大为震惊,箱子里的一堆毛织品上面躺着一个人.
astound 比 astonish 的词义强得多,常用于表示某件事你虽然认为有可能,但与你所发现的实际情况之间有很大差距.
The police were astounded when Mrs Ramsay told them what she had done.
当莱姆赛夫人把自己所做的事告诉了警察时,他们为之骇然.
amaze 所表示的吃惊中包含着使人迷惑不解、困窘或惊疑不定.
When the archaeologists reconstructed the fragments,they were amazed to find that the goddess turned out to be a very modern-looking woman
当考古学家把那些碎块拼起来的时候,他们惊诧地发现那女神原来是一个现代装束的妇女.
Scientists have been amazed to find that it can cut through the hardest rock with great ease,
科学家惊诧地发现,它可以轻而易举地钻穿最坚硬的岩石.