① misfortune不幸,一般用語。
② disaster災(zāi)難,一般用語,指突然降臨,其嚴(yán)重后果大于 misfortune,天災(zāi)人禍各種因素都可導(dǎo)致。
③ calamity正式用語,后果嚴(yán)重,常指天災(zāi),自然災(zāi)害。
④ catastrophe語氣強(qiáng),指大禍,災(zāi)變,悲劇等,可以是自然因素,也可以是人為因素所致。
⑤ mishap小小的不幸,語氣輕。
Years before,her house was burnt down but that was a calamity they could make up for. This time the death of her husband,followed by her only son,in the same road accident,was a real catastrophe. And it was not a mishap but a disaster to the company who depended so much on the man's specialized technological knowledge. Considering her experience,one is reminded of the saying “Misfortunes never come alone.” 幾年前她家房子被焚毀,不過那場天災(zāi)他們可以彌補(bǔ)。這次她丈夫和獨(dú)生子相繼死于同一場車禍,確實是場大災(zāi)難。而且,對于如此依賴此人專業(yè)技術(shù)知識的公司來講,也不是小小的不幸,而是災(zāi)禍。想到她的經(jīng)歷,人們不禁想起“禍不單行”這句老話。