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一位听众想知道单词 “locate、position、orientate” 作动词时的区别。它们的意思都与 “位置，方位” 有关，但用法不同。动词 “locate” 可以表示 “确定人或物的位置”；动词 “position” 的意思是 “将事物小心地放在确切的位置上”；动词 “orientate” 的意思是 “使事物面朝特定的方向”。 本期节目将具体讲解这三个近义词的用法和区别。

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（关于台词的备注: 请注意这不是广播节目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能没有体现录制、编辑过程中对节目做出的改变。）

Jiaying
大家好，欢迎收听 BBC英语教学的 “你问我答” 节目。I'm Jiaying.

Phil
And I'm Phil, we've got a question from one of our listeners.

Question
Hello, I want to know the difference between 'locate', 'position' and 'orientate' as verbs.

Phil
It's a brilliant question because these words are very similar. So, we need to look at the ways that they are different.

Jiaying
动词 “locate”、“position” 和 “orientate” 都与一个事物的 “位置或方位” 有关，但具体的用法不同。先来看一看动词 “locate” 应该怎么用。

Phil
'Locate' can mean different things. One meaning is 'find'. You might need to 'locate a problem', or 'locate the right person to fix it'.

Jiaying
动词 “locate” 主要有两个和 “位置” 有关的用法。第一个是 “确定、发现…的位置”。比如：“locate the problem（发现问题所在）”、“locate the right person to fix the problem（找到解决这个问题的人）”。

Phil
We also use 'locate' to talk about deciding where to put a business, organisation or building. Because we're usually more interested in where these things are, rather than who put them there, it's really common to use this verb in the passive.

Jiaying
动词 “locate” 的第二个常见的用法是用来表示 “将企业、组织或建筑物设立、建立在某处”。由于这里想表达的重点信息是 “地点或地理位置”，而不是 “将其设立在某处的人”，所以这里动词 “locate” 多用作被动语态：“be located + 介词 + 地点”。

根据所描述的事物所在的周围环境和地理特征的不同，“be located” 后面跟的介词会相应地发生改变。比如：“be located in/near/next to/beside/on”。听三个例句。

Examples
We decided to locate our factory in this city because there is a large local workforce.
（我们决定把工厂设在这个城市，因为当地有大量的劳动力。）

Many company head offices are located in capital cities.
（许多公司的总部都设在首都城市。）

The house is located next to a river in a quiet and peaceful area.
（这座房子坐落在一个安静祥和的地区，毗邻一条河。）

Phil
Let's think about 'positioning' something somewhere. This often suggests that something needs to be placed in a particular way, or a particular location for a reason.

Jiaying
没错，动词 “position” 可以用来表示 “安放、放置” 某个物体，强调 “将其放在确切的位置上” 或 “放置的动作十分小心、谨慎”。

Phil
It could be that a component in a machine will only work properly if it's in exactly the right place, or there could be something that someone can only do if they're stood in the correct location.

Jiaying
比如，只有将一台机器中的某个部件 “position（放置）” 在特定的位置时，机器和部件才能正常工作。再如，只有当你 “position yourself（站在，坐在）” 特定的地方时，才能完成特定的事情。来听三个例句。

Examples
The sign needs to be positioned where everyone can see it.
（这个标志需要被放置在每个人都能看到的地方。）

The radio controls are positioned so that they are easy to reach while driving.
（收音机的控制装置被安装在了驾驶时易于够到的地方。）

During the game, the defender positioned himself between the attacker and the goal, stopping him scoring.
（在这场比赛中，防守队员处于进攻队员和球门之间，从而阻止了进攻队员得分。）

Phil
'Orientate' is the final word that we're looking at. It's often used to mean 'put something somewhere so that it's in line with or pointing towards something else'. If you orientate something towards something else, it faces it, if you orientate it away from something else, it faces in a different direction.

Jiaying
没错，问题中的最后一个词 “orientate” 常用来表示 “调整物体的方向，使其面向另一个事物或特定的方向”，也就是 “orientate something towards something else”。注意：当我们说 “orientate something away from something else” 的时候，意思则是 “调整物体的方向，使其不再面向另一个事物或特定的方向”。

此外，“orientate” 还有一个衍生出来的抽象含义，意思是 “使产品或服务面向、适应特定人群或以某个方向为目标”。听三个使用了动词 “orientate” 的例句。

Examples
If we orientate all the furniture towards the window, everyone will be able to enjoy the view.
（如果我们把所有的家具都朝向窗户摆放，所有人就都能欣赏到窗外的景色了。）

We need to orientate the antenna so that it picks up the strongest signals.
（我们需要调整天线的方向，使它能接收到最强的信号。）

We've decided to orientate our production towards the luxury fashion market.
（我们已决定将产品面向时尚奢侈品市场。）

Phil
So, we use 'locate' to mean 'find' or indicate where an organisation or a building is. 'Position' can mean to 'put things carefully in a particular place' and 'orientate' can mean to 'make things point towards other things'.

Jiaying
总结一下：动词 “locate” 可以表示 “确定、找到人或物的位置”；它还可以表示 “将企业、组织或建筑物设立、建立在某处”，在谈论事物 “位于某处” 时，多用作被动语态：“be located + 介词”。动词 “position” 表示 “安放、放置”，强调 “将事物放在确切的位置上” 或 “动作十分小心、谨慎”。动词 “orientate” 除了表示 “使物体面向另一个事物或特定的方向” 以外，还可以引申为 “使产品或服务面向、适应特定的人群或目标” 的意思。

Phil
We hope that we've answered your question. Remember that if you have a question you'd like us to answer, you can email us too at: questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk

Jiaying
你也可以通过微博将问题发送给我们。我们的微博账号是 “BBC英语教学”。Bye, everyone!

Phil
Bye.