What goes around comes around:

Your tennis racquet strikes back at you

Many people spend their time doing sporting exercises (chơi thể thao). Apart from the majority of people (đa số người) who 

play tennis to remain healthy (khoẻ mạnh),there are those who pose at playing tennis so much so that they become exhausted 

(mệt nhoài/mệt lả).

Such a story as this [From Thanh Nien Newspaper (Sunday Edition) in

Vietnam] concerns a wife who noticed (đã để ý thấy) that her husband took his racquet (vợt) out nearly every afternoon, and

 went off (ra khỏi nhà) to play tennis.  Sometimes (có đôi khi) he was out until very late into the night (rất khuya), and on his 

return he always looked haggard and drawn (hốc hác phờ phạc), and certainly not full of the sporting spirit (tinh thần thể thao).

She became suspicious of him, so one day she took his racquet, remodelled it somewhat, put it back in its cover, and then back into

 his sports bag.

That afternoon, the husband, as usual, took his racquet and off he went. When he came home later that night he boasted proudly

 (hãnh diện khoe) to his wife:

"I had a most exciting game today darling.  I won (thắng) in four straight sets (4 ván liền/không gỡ).

Everyone was in awe of (nể sợ) my efforts and so surprised!"

The wife asked: "Did you play with your own racquet?"

Her husband replied: "Why yes, of course.  It's the type of racquet that

all the professionals (những tay nhà nghề) use.  You know that."

Furious, his wife took the racquet out of the bag.  Imagine the husband's surprise when he saw his so-called professional racquet had 

had all the strings cut to pieces (dây vợt đã bị cắt vụn). 

Chú thích:

“Reo-li” =  rally (cú cù cưa; cú gò; đánh qua đánh lại); “Xoáy góc”  =  cross-court topspin; “Cú bỏ nhỏ” = drop shot; (có người gọi là ‘cú vắn’); “Cú thọc nách” = passing shot; “Ðơ phoa” =  deux fois [= hai lần (tiếng Pháp)]

 

Trịnh Nhật
Sydney, 5.9.2007

Kết hợp ngữ
(Collocations)

cause noun

 

1 nguyên nhân

• ADJ real, root, true, underlying thật sự, gốc rễ the root cause of the problem | deeper, greater sâu xa A greater cause for resentment is the discrepancy in pay- | biggest, chief, clear, fundamental, important, main, major, primary, prime, principal, significant quan trọng, chính yếu | common thông thường Smoking is a common cause of premature death. | likely, possible có thể | known được biết, unknown không được biết | direct, indirect | immediate, initial | long-term, short- term | reasonable There is no reasonable cause to suspect an unnatural death. | contributory | hidden | social the social causes of ill health
• VERB + CAUSE discover, find, identify khám phá, tìm thấy, nhận diện đuợc attempts to identify the immediate cause of the breakdown
• CAUSE + VERB be, lie in sth The real cause of the problem lies in the poor construction of the bridge.
• PHRASE cause and effect nguyên nhân và hậu quả, the cause of death nguyên nhân cái chết, due to/from/of natural causes do/bởi tự nhiên He died of natural causes.

 

2 lí lẽ, lí do

• ADJ good, great, real, reasonable đúng đắn, thật sự, hợp lí
• VERB + CAUSE have có We have good cause to believe that he was involved in the crime. | find The experts may find cause to disagree with the school's decision. | give (sb) cho (ai/người nào) Her health is giving us great cause for concern. | show cho thấy The onus is on government departments to show cause why information cannot be disclosed.
• PREP ~ for để mà There is no cause for alarm.
• PHRASE cause for concern lí do để mà lo âu, with/without good cause có/không có lý do xác đáng, without just cause không có lí do chính đáng

 

3 mục tiêu

• ADJ deserving, good, just chính đáng, noble cao quí, worthwhile, worthy xứng đáng The money she left went to various worthy causes. | bad, unjust xấu, không đúng | common thông thường, chung The different groups support a common cause. | hopeless, lost vô vọng, thất bại (= one that has failed or that cannot succeed) | humanitarian nhân đạo, social xã hội | communist cộng sản, socialist xã hội chủ nghĩa, etc.

• VERB + CAUSE be committed/sympathetic to thiện cảm với, champion, fight for tranh đấu cho, further, help giúp đỡ, promote cổ động, serve phục vụ, support yểm trợ young men willing to fight for the cause. She was keen to do anything that would further the cause. | take up She has taken up the cause of animal rights. | plead He pleaded the cause of the local fishermen.
• PREP in a/the ~ prominent figures in the socialist cause in the ~ of to disregard the strict letter of the law in the cause of true justice
• PHRASE a cause célèbre một trường hợp nổi tiếng, gây nhiều tranh cãi (= a controversial issue that attracts a great deal of public attention), (all) for/in a good cause The function took a lot of organizing, but was all a good cause.

 

effect noun

 

1       hiệu quả, hậu quả

 

• ADJ decisive quyết liệt, dramatic, far-reaching rộng lớn, important, marked đáng chú ý/đáng kể powerful mạnh mẽ, profound sâu xa, significant, strong mạnh mẽ, quan trọng | marginal, minimal, modest, negligible nhỏ, không đáng kể | chief, main, major, principal chính, to lớn | full toàn diện The full effects of the new tax have not yet been felt. | apparent, appreciable, detectable, discernible, measurable, noticeable, visible rõ ràng | likely, possible, potential có thể có/xẩy ra, predictable, tiên đoán được, probable | subtle tinh tế | disproportionate | residual | adverse bất lợi, catastrophic, crippling, damaging, debilitating, deleterious, destructive, detrimental, devastating, disastrous, harmful nguy hại, ill, negative tiêu cực, serious trầm trọng, traumatic, undesirable, unfortunate  bất hạnh the crippling effect of sanctions on the economy. He didn't seem to have suffered any ill effects from his fall. | beneficial, positive, salutary | the desired We had problems with mosquitoes, but this spray had the desired effect. | magical, remarkable kì lạ Giving up smoking had a magical effect on his stamina. | immediate tức thời, trước mắt | direct trực tiếp, indirect gián tiếp | short-term đoản kì, ngắn hạn | lasting, long-term, permanent lâu dài, trường kì, vĩnh viễn | domino, knock-on, ripple, spin-off Any delay in delivery of materials will have a knock-on effect throughout the production process. (see also side effect) | practical thực tiễn, thực tế | aggregate, combined, cumulative, net, overall | qualitative, quantitative | co­hesive | divisive | deterrent, disincentive The deterrent effect of the death penalty has long been questioned, Heavy taxation has a disincentive effect. | calming, hyp­notic, soothing, soporific | curative, restorative, thera­peutic | placebo | inflationary lạm phát | corrosive | greenhouse nhà kiếng policies to reduce emissions of gases which cause the greenhouse effect

• VERB + EFFECT bring about, exert, have, produce gây ra The drug exerts a powerful effect on the brain. | take có, mang lại The medicine started to take effect after a few minutes. | feel, experience, suffer (from) cảm thấy, trải nghiệm, bị/chịu Women feel the effects of alcohol more quickly than men. | recover from | observe | show | assess, determine, estimate, examine, measure, study | ameliorate, cushion, lessen, minimize, mitigate, reduce, soften to minimize the effects of economic change | cancel out | counter, counteract, offset | compound, magnify, maximize | avoid | aim at That is precisely the effect | was aiming at. | be worried about, fear | underestimate | ignore
• EFFECT + VERB spread | last | wear off How soon will the effects of the drug wear off?
• PREP in ~ The border closure meant, in effect, that no trade took place between the countries, to this/that~ They told us to go away, or words to that effect, with ... ~ The plague struck London again with devastating effect. | ~ on/upon The dry weather had an adverse effect on the po­tato crops.
• PHRASE cause and effect nguyên nhân và hậu quả key historical concepts such as cause and effect to little/no effect The air conditioning came on, to little effect.

 

2                    hiệu lực

• ADJ immediate ngay lâp tức, tức thì

• VERB + EFFECT come into The new regulations come into effect next month. | bring sth into, put sth into The recommendations will soon be put into effect.
• PREP in ~ Some laws from the eighteenth century are still in effect, with ~ The bank has cut interest rates with immediate effect.

 

3                    ấn tượng, cảm tưởng

• ADJ dramatic, startling, striking, stunning | maximum, optimum | the desired 1 found that by adding white I could achieve the desired effect. | overall The over­ all effect of the painting is overwhelming.

• VERB + EFFECT give (sth), have The stage lighting gives the effect of a moonlit scene. | achieve, create | en­hance, heighten The dramatic effect was heightened by her black dress and dead white face. | mar, spoil
• PREP. for... ~ 'You know why I’m here? Doug paused for maximum effect, to ... ~ She uses animal sounds to startling effect in her music.

 

4          kĩ thuật

• ADJ special | cinematic | audio, sound | optical, visual | lighting | elaborate | digital

Trịnh Nhật

Sydney, 5.9.2007