這幾組容易弄混的詞，你分得清楚嗎？（二）
9. Aloud or Allowed
Aloud 還是 Allowed
When you hear something, it is aloud, that is you can listen to it. Think of this word as the opposite of silent.
當你聽某事物時，它是大聲的，才能夠聽到。這個詞是silent的反義詞。
She prayed aloud to her God.
她大聲地向上帝禱告。
If something is permitted, it is allowed.
Allowed指某事是經過允許的。
They were allowed to go to the party.
他們被允許去參加聚會。
10. Altar or alter
Altar 還是Alter
An altar is the name of a raised table or platform for religious sacrifices to a God.
Altar指爲宗教祭祀的神而升起的桌子或者是平臺的名稱。
The priest walked towards the altar with the sacrifice.
牧師帶着祭品走向祭壇。
When you change something, you have altered it.
Alter指改變某事。
I would like to alter my booking for this weekend.
我想改一下這周的預定。
11. amaze or a maze
Amaze 還是a maze
Amaze is to be astonished, surprised, astounded.
Amaze指驚訝，驚奇。
I was amazed at how skilled that street artist was.
這位街頭藝術家嫺熟的技巧讓我感到很驚訝。
A maze is a type of game; it involves trying to get out of a very confusing area with many different passages and dead ends or starting from the outside of the maze and finding your way to the center.
A maze是一種遊戲。它指試圖走出一個非常混亂的區域，這片區域裏有許多不同的通道或者是死衚衕或者指從迷宮的外面找到通往中心的路。
It took us an hour to find our way out of that garden maze; it was a lot of fun though!
雖然很有趣，但是我們花了一個小時才找到走出那個花園迷宮的路。
12. Amoral or Immoral
Amoral 還是 Immoral
Amoral describes a person or thing that is not concerned with what is right or wrong, that is the moral values.
Amoral指某人不關心對錯，某事無關乎對錯，這是一種道德價值。
Because she acts so selfishly, I think she is amoral.
我認爲她不道德，因爲她表現得自私。
Immoral is when someone does something that is morally unacceptable to society.
Immoral指某人做了道德上能不能爲社會所接受的事情。
The buying and selling of people is an immoral practice and should be prevented around the world.
販賣人口是一種不道德的行爲，應該在全世界範圍內加以制止。
13. Appraise or Apprise
Appraise 還是 Apprise
To appraise something means to try and determine how much an item is worth.
Appraise指嘗試確定某一物品的價值。
The jeweler appraised the diamond ring I found at over ten thousand dollars!
珠寶商對我發現的價值一萬多美元的鑽戒表示讚賞。
Apprise means to let someone know about something or update them with information.
Apprise指讓某人知道某事或者用信息更新他們。
I will apprise the president that the meeting will be delayed for another hour.
我將通知總統會議推遲一個半小時。
14. Aspire or a Spire
Aspire 還是 a Spire
To aspire means to try and get something.
Aspire意爲嘗試着去得到某些東西。
The Football team aspires to win the World Cup.
這隻足球隊渴望贏得世界盃。
A spire is a noun and refers to the upper part of a stalk, grass, tree or even the pointy uppermost part of a roof.
Spire是一個名詞。指的是莖，草。樹的上部，甚至指屋子的尖頂。
The house was well built and had a spire pointing up in the center of its roof.
房子建地很好，屋頂的中央有一個尖頂。
15. Assent or Ascent or Ascend
Assent ，Ascent 還是Ascend
Assent is the same as agreeing or approving.
Assent與agree和approve含義相同。
My father will assent to our marriage if you ask him beforehand.
如果你事先問我父親，他會同意我們的婚事的。
Ascent is what climbers do on mountains; they move upwards as they climb.
Ascent是登山者登山時所做的事情；他們向上爬的同時不斷移動着。
The climber’s ascent was faster than what many expected.
攀登者的登山速度比許多人預計的要快。
Ascend. Similar to ascent it means to move upward but can be used to describe things differently.
Ascend與ascent含義相似，它意味着向上移動，但是可以以不同的方式來描述事物。
He will ascend to power very quickly.
他將很快上臺執政。
She ascended the staircase.
她爬樓梯。
16. Aural or Oral
Aural 還是Oral
Aural is specific to the ear or hearing.
Aural是耳朵或者聽覺所特有的。
Their whispering was aural during the movie.
播放電影時，他們的低語是能聽見的。
Oral refers to the mouth and the action of speaking.
Oral指嘴巴，或者說話的動作。
I have good oral habits because I brush my teeth twice a day.
我有良好的口腔習慣，因爲我每天都刷兩次牙。
The oral exam was the most challenging part of the English test.
口試是英語考試中最有挑戰性的部分。
It is most likely you will come across many other words that sound similar beginning with ‘a’ver, you will frequently find that the confusion comes simply from the fact that the article ‘a’ has been used to introduce the word following it, just as we saw with the words amaze and a maze. The key is to listen carefully and exam the context of the sentence.
你很可能還會遇到許多以a開頭，聽起來很像的詞。然而，你會經常發現，這種混淆來自於同一個事實，即文中的a 已經用來介紹後面的單詞，就像amaze和a maze 一樣。關鍵要仔細聽，確定句子的上下文。
