人 民

“人民”是一个群体概念。汉语和英语都有不少表示“人民”概念的词汇，其中有些细微区别。

people 的意思是 all the persons who live in belong to a particular country or area，即“人民”。例如：

1.Government officials should serve the people wholeheartedly and should not be divorced from the people.

政府官员应该全心全意为人民服务，不应该脱离人民。

2. There are many differences between the Chinese people and the American people. And yet, there are many similarities as well.

中国人民与美国人民之间有许多差异。但是，也有不少相似之处。

populace 的意思是all the ordinary people of a particular country or area，即“平民百姓”或 “普通民众”。例如：

3. It is not surprising that there are different views among the US populace on ties with China.

毫不奇怪，美国普通民众对与中国的联系具有不同的看法。

4. In this area the Cantonese restaurants represented the high-end dining market, while the Sichuan eateries catered to the populace.

在这个地区，粤菜馆代表高端餐饮市场，而川菜馆是迎合平民百姓的。

5. The government should help to reduce the performance cost to make them more affordable to the populace.

政府应当帮助降低演出成本以使其能被平民百姓看得起。

folk 的意思是 people in general，即“百姓”。例如：

6. As a leader, he should understand the needs of the ordinary folk in his country.

作为领导人，他应该了解他的国家的普通百姓的需求。

7. The hero of the novel does what he can to protect the ordinary folk from tragedy.

这部小说的主人公尽其所为以保护普通百姓免遭悲剧。

the masses 的意思是 the ordinary people in society，即“群众”或“大众”。例如：

8. A good leader should always pay heed to the voice of the masses.

一位好的领导人应该总是注意倾听群众的呼声。

9. The leader should often go among the masses and solicits opinions from them.领导人应该经常到群众中去，向他们征求意见。 ▲

（本栏目供稿：王逢鑫教授）