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一位网友想知道形容词 “complicated、complex” 和 “sophisticated” 之间的区别。它们都可以形容由多个复杂部分构成的事物，但含义并不同。“Complicated” 表示 “繁复的，麻烦的”，带有负面的意味；“complex” 表示 “构造错综复杂的”；“sophisticated” 既可以形容事物，也可以形容人。听节目中两位主持人的对话，学习辨析这三个词的用法。

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Beth
Hello and welcome to Question and Answer of the Week. I'm Beth.

Jiaying
And I'm Jiaying. 在本期节目中，我们回答的问题来自一位网友，问题是这样的：

Question
想问 “complicated、complex” 和 “sophisticated” 有什么区别？求回复，谢谢。

Beth
Thank you for this great question! These are all adjectives but they can be confusing.

Jiaying
的确，形容词 “complicated、complex” 和 “sophisticated” 的意思相近，所以很容易混淆。

Beth
So, to explain the difference, we're going to hear a dialogue.

Jiaying
大家在听下面这个对话的同时，想一想对话中的两个人在做什么事情，遇到了什么问题？

Dialogue
A: This bookcase is so difficult to build! I can't understand the instructions at all. They're so unnecessarily complicated.
B: You're right! I know it has a highly complex design, but these instructions are terrible.
A: Well, it took five hours, but look how beautiful and sophisticated the bookcase is.
B: Especially with all the books on it. It makes the room look so sophisticated!

Jiaying
在刚刚这段对话中，A 和 B 两人在安装书架，但他们觉得 “安装说明书太复杂，让人看不懂”。

Beth
That's right. So, let's start with looking at the adjective 'complicated'.

Jiaying
在讲解 “complicated” 这个词之前，再听一遍对话中使用了这个词的句子。

Dialogue
A: This bookcase is so difficult to build! I can't understand the instructions at all. They're so unnecessarily complicated.

Beth
It sounds like this person isn't happy with these bookcase instructions – they are 'complicated'.

Jiaying
说得没错。形容词 “complicated” 的意思是 “复杂的”，强调 “事物由各种各样繁琐、难懂的部分组成，因此令人感到费解的”。有一点很重要：“complicated” 的用法带有消极的意味，一件 “complicated” 的事物通常是 “因过于复杂而需要重新考虑或规划的”。

Beth
Exactly. And that's why we often use it with adverbs that show the level or opinion someone has about the 'complicated' thing.

Jiaying
是这样没错。比如，在对话中，我们听到 A 对 B 说，书架的安装说明书是 “unnecessarily complicated（无须如此复杂的）”。

Beth
Yes. They were 'unnecessarily complicated'. But we could also use adverbs like 'extremely' or 'particularly'.

Jiaying
另外，形容词 “complicated” 可以放在名词前，作定语使用。

Beth
True. We can have a 'complicated relationship' or 'complicated idea'. In the dialogue, they were 'complicated instructions'.

Jiaying
Beth 刚刚说 “complicated relationship（复杂的人际关系）” 和 “complicated idea（复杂的想法）”，还有对话中的 “complicated instructions（复杂的说明书）”。

我们接着来看问题中的第二个词 “complex”。“Complex” 的意思是 “事物由许多相关的不同部分组成，因此可能会让人感到费解的”。

Beth
However, while 'complicated' is a negative thing, 'complex' doesn't have to be. Let's listen to the example again.

Dialogue
B: You're right. I know it has a highly complex design, but these instructions are terrible.

Jiaying
这样看来，对话中提到的书架有 “complex design”，这里 “complex” 其实像是在正面地形容书架的设计是 “错综复杂的”。这句话中 “complex” 的用法与 “complicated” 形容说明书 “过于复杂” 的用法不同。

Beth
Yes. Here, the 'complex' design might add to the appearance or use of the bookcase.

Jiaying
没错，书架的复杂设计 “complex design” 可能会让它更美观或更实用。

下面，我们来讲一讲形容词 “sophisticated”。在对话中，A 说道：

Dialogue
A: Well, it took five hours, but look how beautiful and sophisticated the bookcase is.

Beth
'Sophisticated' describes something that's made in a complicated way but with intelligence and great skill.

Jiaying
这里，“sophisticated” 用来形容书架的设计是 “精巧高雅的，有品位的”。

Beth
That's right. And we can use 'sophisticated' as an adjective to describe other nouns, like 'machine' and 'approach'.

Jiaying
其实，我们前面还听到了对话中的 B 还用 “sophisticated” 一词描述了两人所在的房间，再来听一遍这句话。

Dialogue
B: Especially with all the books on it. It makes the room look so sophisticated!

Jiaying
这里，用 “sophisticated” 来形容事物是 “精致的，彰显品位的”。

Beth
So, the 'complex' design of the bookcase makes the room look fashionable and fits in with the culture of the time and place.

Jiaying
我们还可以用 “sophisticated” 形容一个人，意思是 “品味高雅的，穿着时尚的”。这个人可能住在装修精致的房子里，而且通常见多识广。

Beth
So, remember, 'complicated' means something has lots of parts and is difficult to understand in a negative way.

Jiaying
形容词 “complicated” 的意思是 “过于复杂的，难懂的”，带有消极意味。形容词 “complex” 表示 “构造复杂的”，但它并不一定用来负面地形容一个事物。

Beth
And 'sophisticated' means complicated, but fashionable, and can show great skill.

Jiaying
形容词 “sophisticated” 用来形容 “高雅的，彰显品位和高超技艺的”。

好了，谢谢这位网友发来的问题。希望通过对话中的例句和我们的讲解，你对这三个近义词之间的区别有了进一步的理解。

欢迎大家向我们提问。你可以通过我们的微博账号 “BBC英语教学” 发送你的问题，也可以将问题发送至：questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk

Bye, everyone!

Beth
Bye!