Properly used, figures of speech can add both vividness and brevity to your writing.The following is an introduction to several of the most commonly used figures of speech.
Ⅰ.Simile (明喻). A simile compares two things-A and B-by asserting that one is like the other.A simile usually contains the word like , just like , as , just as, as… as …, or as ifand is used to transfer to A the qualities or feelings associated with B.
(1) Life is very much like a mirror: If you smile upon it, it smiles upon you；but if you frown and look doubtful on it, you will get a similar look in return.
(2) Life'slike a play: It's not the length, but the excellence of the acting that matters.
(3) She was like a cat on hot bricks before her driving test.
(4) A divorce is like an amputation: you survive, but there's less of you. (離婚就像一次截肢手術: 你活下來了, 但也失去了什麽。)
(5) The chicken was as tasteless as a piece of cardboard (紙板).
(6) The message is clear: Just as tea and banana cannot go together, nor should the son in a low-class family expect to marry the daughter of a nobleman. (意思很明確: 就像茶和香蕉不搭配一樣, 一個出身卑微的小子不應該妄想娶一個貴族小姐為妻。)
(7) On May 3 that year I awoke to a green so startling as to be almost electric, as if spring were simply a matter of flipping (輕擊) a switch.
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The following well-written sentences containing similes were collected from Chinese students' writings.
(1) A mobile phone is like a pet you keep.It costs a lot of money when you use it.
(2) A person who lives without pressure is just like a car without an engine.
(3) Learning English is like boating on a long river.You can't reach the destination without constant efforts.
(4) A life without dreams is just like a spring without flowers.
(5) Sometimes, I feel as if I am a boat on the sea without compass.