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This week we answer a question we received in an email from Mohamad:
本周，我们将回答穆罕默德通过电子邮件提出的一个问题：
Could you explain more about the meaning of the word "alternative?" Thank you.
你能解释一下alternative这个词的一些意思吗？谢谢你！
Dear Mohamad:
亲爱的穆罕默德：
In general, the word "alternative" can be used to describe a choice between two or more things.
一般来说，“alternative”这个词可以用来描述在两个或两个以上事物之间做选择。
Sometimes one alternative is not better or worse than another.
有时一种选择并不比另一种更好或更差。
Here, it is used as a noun and means the same as "choice."
在这里，这个词用作名词，意思与“choice”相同。
At U.S. restaurants, more customers now order alternatives to meat.
在美国餐馆，越来越多的顾客现在点的是肉类替代品。（替代选择）
But sometimes you hear the word "alternative" when the speaker means one choice is better than the other.
但是有时候你听到alternative这个词的时候，说话者所表达意思是一个选择比另一个更好。
For example, some people now want to choose a fuel that is cleaner than oil to make electricity.
例如，现在有些人想选择一种比石油更清洁的燃料来发电。
Power companies are looking for alternative sources of energy.
电力公司正在寻找替代能源。
In that sentence "alternative" is used as an adjective; it modifies the noun "sources."
在那个句子中，alternative用作形容词；它修饰名词“sources”。
You may also hear the word "alternative" when people talk about music.
当人们谈论音乐时，你可能也会听到alternative这个词。
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, a number of independent artists decided they did not want large music corporations to control their music.
在20世纪70年代末和80年代初，一些独立艺术家决定，他们不希望大型音乐公司操控他们的音乐。
They began making songs for smaller audiences.
他们开始为小众制作歌曲。
The band called ‘Nirvana' was one of the most famous alternative rock bands of the 1990s.
“涅盘”乐队是20世纪90年代最著名的另类摇滚乐队之一。
Here, "alternative" means something that is attractive to a few people, instead of to a large, general audience.
在这里，“alternative”指的是对少数人有吸引力的东西，而不是对广大普通观众有吸引力的东西。
It can be used the same way to describe fashion.
它也可以用来描述时尚。
Young people who like hip-hop musicians wear their alternative fashion of loose-fitting pants and shirts.
喜欢嘻哈音乐的年轻人身着他们另类的时尚——宽松的裤子和衬衫。
Another common use for "alternative" relates to medical care.
“alternative”的另一个常见用法与医疗保健有关。
Alternative treatments are outside of the usual medicines and surgeries that doctors recommend.
替代疗法是指医生推荐的常规药物和手术之外的治疗方法。
People with stress-related diseases often try alternative treatments, such as meditation and yoga.
患有压力相关疾病的人经常尝试替代疗法，比如冥想和瑜伽。
As you can see, any time you have a choice between something that is normally accepted and a new and different thing, you can say there is an "alternative" to think about.
正如你所看到的，当你要在被通常接受的事物和一个新的、不同的事物之间做出选择时，你可以说有一个“alternative”可以考虑。
And that's Ask a Teacher!
以上就是名师答疑的全部内容。
I'm Jill Robbins.
我是吉尔·罗宾斯。
