今天我们来回复迈赫迪提出的问题。
Question:
提问：
What is the difference between close and near?
请问close和near这两个单词有什么区别？
Answer:
回答：
Dear Mehdi,
亲爱的迈赫迪，
Thank you for writing. You ask a good question.
感谢您的留言。你提出了一个很棒的问题。
"Close" and "near" are commonly used as adjectives. When you are talking about physical distances, you can use either word. Like this:
Close和near这两个单词通常都用作形容词。当我们在谈论物理上的距离时，这两个单词都能用。例如：
The subway station is close.
地铁站就在附近。
The subway station is near.
地铁站就在附近。
Both these sentences are correct and mean the same thing.
这两个句子都是正确的，并且含义相同。
But if you are talking about something that deals with abstract ideas or qualities, like relationships, you use "close" instead of "near."
但是如果我们说的是抽象思想或品质时，例如说到关系时，我们使用close而不是near。
As in this example:
如下例所示：
My friend and I live in different countries, but we are very close.
我的朋友跟我住在不同的国家，但是我们非常亲密。
Here, I am saying that my friend and I are not in the same physical area, but we are emotionally connected. We are good friends.
我在这句话中表达的是我和朋友不住在同一个物理地域，但是我们情感相连。我们是好朋友。
However, if I say, "My neighbor and I live in the same apartment building, but we are not close," I mean we occupy the same physical area, but we are not emotionally connected. My dog tried to bite his dog once, and he has never spoken to me again!
然而，如果我说，“我和我的邻居住在同一栋楼里，但是我们关系并不密切。”我说的是我们居住在同一物理地域，但是我们在情感上并无交集。我家的狗曾经想要咬他家的狗，他就再也不理我了。
Thanks for writing, Mehdi. Reading comments from our listeners is the best part of the job – it makes us feel close to our audience.
迈赫迪，感谢您的留言。阅读听众们的留言是我们这项工作中最棒的一部分，这让我们感觉跟听众们很亲密。
For now, that's Ask a Teacher!
这里是名师答疑节目。
I'm Anne Ball.
我是安妮·鲍尔。(51VOA.COM原创翻译，禁止转载，违者必究！)