危急關頭：critical詞彙精講

All very interesting, Sherlock, but the terror alert has been raised to critical.

——Sherlock

一切都很有意思，夏洛克，但恐怖襲擊預警等級已達到"危急“。

——《神探夏洛克》

一、關於critical，你應該知道的用法有

adj.

1.緊要的，關鍵性的，決定性的 extremely important because a future situation will be affected by it

We are at a critical time in our history.

我們正處於歷史的緊要關頭。

2.評判性的，審慎的 involving making fair, careful judgements about the good and bad qualities of sb / sth

He has recently published a critical work with Oxford University Press.

他最近在牛津大學出版社出版了一本評論著作。

3.批評的，挑剔的 inclined to criticize severely and unfavorably

The director is always very critical of employees' work.

主任總是對員工的工作提出批評。

4.危急的，嚴重的 serious, uncertain and possibly dangerous

Its day-to-day finances are in a critical state.

其日常財務狀況十分糟糕。

5.臨界的 being in or approaching a state of crisis

Pesticide persistence beyond the critical period for control leads to residue problems.

農藥一旦超過控制的臨界期，就會導致殘留問題。

二、詞義辨析：哪些詞彙能表示“緊急的”

critical, acute, urgent

這些形容詞均有“緊急的”或“嚴重的”之意。

critical指極爲危急或缺乏的狀況，而這種狀況標誌一種轉折點。

acute通常指需要和缺乏的緊急程度。也指病情的嚴重。

urgent指情況緊急，急需解決問題。

三、下面我們來學習一下含有critical的常見短語

critical point

臨界點

critical angle

n.[物][空]臨界角

critical mass

羣聚效應 

四、最後，做個填詞遊戲吧

The first 24 hours after the operation are the most ________.
病人手術後頭 24 小時是最危險的。