核心畫面
Start with the maths picture: take several numbers, add them up, share the total out evenly, and you get one 'middle' number that stands for the whole bunch — the average. Hold that idea of a single number sitting in the middle of a group. Everything else grows from it: as an adjective it means 'sitting in the middle, neither big nor small, neither great nor bad — just typical'; as a verb it means 'to work out that middle number, or to come out at that middle level over time'.
先抓住數學的畫面:拿幾個數字加起來,再平均地分回去,就得到一個落在中間、能代表這整群的數字——這就是 average…更多收起
先抓住數學的畫面:拿幾個數字加起來,再平均地分回去,就得到一個落在中間、能代表這整群的數字——這就是 average(平均)。抓住「一個坐在群體正中間的數字」這個概念。其餘意思都從它長出來:當形容詞,是「落在中間——不大不小、不好不壞,就是一般般」;當動詞,是「把那個中間的數字算出來,或長期下來剛好落在那個中間的水準」。原始詞典資料15 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法,原文照列,我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的;有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
averagenoun詞源 1/ˈæv.(ə.)ɹɪd͡ʒ/
- 1
mathematicssciencesstatisticsAny measure of central tendency, especially any mean, the median, or the mode.
- You need to show some averages in an executive summary, show some samples of raw data in the document body, and move the full raw data to an appendix.
- In conclusion, it may savour of anticlimax to mention that from May 22 the famous "Sud Express," over the same route, has been covering the 359.7 miles from Paris Austerlitz to Bordeaux in 4 hr. 59 min. daily, at a start-to-stop average of 72.2 m.p.h., and that the northbound train has been taking 5 hr. 7 min. for an average of 70.3.
- 2
mathematicssciencesstatisticsAny measure of central tendency, especially any mean, the median, or the mode.
- The average of 10, 20 and 24 is (10 + 20 + 24)/3 = 18.
- But poverty’s scourge is fiercest below $1.25 (the average of the 15 poorest countries’ own poverty lines, measured in 2005 dollars and adjusted for differences in purchasing power): people below that level live lives that are poor, nasty, brutish and short.
- 3
lawnauticaltransportA financial loss due to damage to transported goods; compensation for damage or loss.
- Historically, the courts have allowed a general average claim only where the loss occurred as a result of the ship being in immediate peril.[…]The court awarded the carrier the general average claim. It noted that “a ship′s master should not be discouraged from taking timely action to avert a disaster,” and need not be in actual peril to claim general average.
- 4
datedlawnauticaltransportA financial loss due to damage to transported goods; compensation for damage or loss.
- 5
obsoletelawnauticaltransportA financial loss due to damage to transported goods; compensation for damage or loss.
- 6
hobbieslifestylesportsAn indication of a player's ability calculated from his scoring record, etc.
- batting average
averageadj詞源 1/ˈæv.(ə.)ɹɪd͡ʒ/
- 1
Constituting or relating to the average.
- The average age of the participants was 18.5.
- 2
Neither very good nor very bad; rated somewhere in the middle of all others in the same category.
- I soon found I was only an average chess player.
- 3
Typical.
- The average family will not need the more expensive features of this product.
- We tend to think that exceptionally attractive men and women are outstanding but the fact is that they are more average than most.
- 4
informalNot outstanding, not good, banal; bad or poor.
- The graphics, sound, and most everything else are all very average. However, the main thing that brings this game down are the controls - they feel very clumsy and awkward at times.
- But what the vast majority of the populace doesn′t realise is the fact that he′s only on TV because he became famous from one case, Winona Ryder's, which, by the way, he lost because he′s only a very average attorney.
averageverb詞源 1/ˈæv.(ə.)ɹɪd͡ʒ/
- 1
To compute the average of, especially the arithmetic mean.
- If you average 10, 20, and 24, you get 18.
- 2
Over a period of time or across members of a population, to have or generate a mean value of.
- The daily high temperature last month averaged 15°C.
- I averaged 75% in my examinations this year.
- 3
To divide among a number, according to a given proportion.
- to average a loss
- 4
To be, generally or on average.
- Gulls average much larger than terns, with stouter build […]
averagenoun詞源 2
- 1
obsoletelawThe feudal service that a tenant owed his lord, to be done by the animals of the tenant, such as the transportation of wheat, turf, etc.
資料來源:英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary(CC BY-SA 4.0)。 原文照列,未經改寫。