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

——Sherlock

一切都很有意思,夏洛克,但恐怖袭击预警等级已达到"危急“。

——《神探夏洛克》

一、关于critical,你应该知道的用法有

adj.

1.紧要的,关键性的,决定性的 extremely important because a future situation will be affected by it

We are at a critical time in our history.

我们正处于历史的紧要关头。

 

2.评判性的,审慎的 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.

他最近在牛津大学出版社出版了一本评论著作。

 

3.批评的,挑剔的 inclined to criticize severely and unfavorably

The director is always very critical of employees' work.

主任总是对员工的工作提出批评。

 

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

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

其日常财务状况十分糟糕。

 

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

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

农药一旦超过控制的临界期,就会导致残留问题。

 

二、词义辨析:哪些词汇能表示“紧急的”

critical, acute, urgent

这些形容词均有“紧急的”或“严重的”之意。

critical指极为危急或缺乏的状况,而这种状况标志一种转折点。

acute通常指需要和缺乏的紧急程度。也指病情的严重。

urgent指情况紧急,急需解决问题。

 

三、下面我们来学习一下含有critical的常见短语

critical point

临界点

 

critical angle

n.[物][空]临界角

 

critical mass

群聚效应 

 

四、最后,做个填词游戏吧

The first 24 hours after the operation are the most ________.
病人手术后头 24 小时是最危险的。