onset

英英釋義：the beginning of something, especially something bad

例句：Evidence shows that speaking a second language can help delay the onset of dementia.

2. 為什么選這個詞？

“onset”是個名詞，意思是“開始”，常常可以用來完美替換常見的“beginning”，是外刊中經(jīng)常出現(xiàn)的表達(dá)。onset 表示“開始”時，后面常接有負(fù)向含義的名詞，比如疾病、經(jīng)濟(jì)蕭條、戰(zhàn)爭等。

比如戰(zhàn)爭開始后，犯罪率激增，就可以說成：

Since the onset of the war, the crime rate has skyrocketed.

有證據(jù)表明，會說一門外語有助于推遲老年性癡呆（dementia）。我們就可以用 onset 造句：

Evidence shows that speaking a second language can help delay the onset of dementia.

最近的《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》中也出現(xiàn)了 onset：

The study adds substantial weight to the evidence linking cannabis to the onset of psychosis.（“the onset of psychosis”指“精神疾病的開端”，這句話是說研究表明吸食大麻很有可能導(dǎo)致患上精神疾病）

3. 練習(xí)

1）翻譯

經(jīng)濟(jì)危機(jī)爆發(fā)后，投資面貌發(fā)生了巨大變化。

The investment landscape has been changed tremendously since the onset of the financial crisis.

2）造句

This contributes to the onset of diseases such as type 2 diabetes.