PETS－2语法讲解(118)

　　I love your tea cozy.
　　对话
　　Corey: May I pour you another cup of tea?
　　Stella: Thank you, that's very kind. I must say I love your tea cozy. The design is very attractive.
　　Corey: I'm glad you like it. It's one my mother made.
　　Stella: Well, she was clearly very skilled with the needle.
　　Corey: Yes, she was; needlework was her favorite hobby.
　　科里：我再给你倒杯茶好吗？
　　史黛拉：谢谢，麻烦你了。我实在很喜欢你的茶壶保温袋，那设计很漂亮。
　　科里：谢谢你的欣赏。那是我母亲做的。
　　史黛拉：看来，你母亲很擅长编织。
　　科里：没错，缝纫是她最喜欢的嗜好。
　　史黛拉在科里家里喝茶，说I love your tea cozy。Cozy的英式拼法是cosy，作名词，指茶壶或食物的保暖罩，例如：(1) He kept each boiled egg warm with an egg cozy shaped like a hen（每个熟蛋，他都用一个母鸡状保暖罩保温）。(2) She knitted me a tea cozy that fitted the teapot perfectly（她给我织了个茶壶保暖罩，大小正合那个茶壶）。Cozy一字，其实较常用作形容词，指‘温暖舒适’，例如：With the rain beating against our tent, we made ourselves cozy in our sleeping bags（我们躺在睡袋里，温暖舒适，任雨敲打帐篷）。‘保暖罩’当然就是‘温暖舒适’意思的引申。史黛拉称赞科里的母亲：She was clearly very skilled with the needle。Skilled即‘有技巧的’，和同样是形容词的skillful有什么分别？Skillful和skilled往往可以通用，例如史黛拉大可以说She was clearly very skillful with the needle。要说‘他是个巧手木匠’，你也可以说He is a very skilled/skillful carpenter。不过，skillful强调天赋的技巧，凭熟练可以更进一步；skilled则着重熟练而生的技巧。所以，‘熟练劳工’、‘非熟练劳工’英文叫skilled labor、unskilled labor，不用skillful、unskillful二字。至于须有技巧然后胜任的工作，也只能用skilled一字形容，不用skillful，例如：Repairing watches is a skilled job（修理手表，是须有技巧的工作）。