考研英语词汇辨析（72）suppose、assume、presume、postulate的区别

 　　suppose

　　assume

　　presume

　　postulate

　　这组词可表示“假设”、“假定”的意思。

　　suppose 普通用词，指对事物进行假设、设想，所假设的事可能是真实的，也可能是虚构的

　　（从句需用虚拟语气）。

　　1) Suppose he is absent, what shall we do?

　　(假设缺席了，我们该怎么办？)

　　2) Let’s suppose that they had not helped us. What would have happened?

　　（假定他们不曾帮助我们，会发生什么情况呢?）

　　3）Soppose that one day scientists pick up a transmission which they think is generated by aliens.

　　(假设有一天科学家收到了他们认为是外星人发射的信号。)

　　4) Myths are accounts of important events that are supposed to have occurred some time during a culture’s

　　formative years.

　　（神话是描述那些据说是发生的时间在某一个文化的形成年的代重要事件。）

　　assume 指主观上毫无根据的武断推测或不合逻辑的推理。

　　1) It is entirely wrong to assume that your wealth entitles you to special respect.

　　（你认为财富能使你享特特殊礼遇，那就大错特错了。）

　　2) I assumed that he would not come to attend the funeral.

　　(我猜想他不会来参加葬礼。)

　　3) Some people assume that there is life on the other planets when they see UFOs.

　　（有些人看到了不明飞行物就想当然地推测其他的行星上有生命。）

　　presume 与assume一样，指对事物进行推测，不同的是侧重指以过去的经验或根据现实的情况作出合乎逻揖的推测和设想。

　　1) John didn’t say when he would return, but I presume that he’ll be back for dinner.

　　(约翰没有说他什么时候回来,但我推测他将回来吃晚饭的。)

　　2) One is presumed to be innocent before the judge makes the final decision that he is guilty of the crime.

　　(在法官作出最终的判决一个人有罪之前，他是被假定无罪的)

　　postulate 多用于指证实某一说法或理论而进行的假设。

　　1) Scientists don't know why dinosaurs were extinct, but some theroies postulate that changes in geography,climate, and sea levels were responsible.

　　(科学家不知道恐龙为何绝种,有些理论推测是地理变化、气候和海平面的变化造成的。)

　　2) Even if we postulate that he had a motive for the murder, that still doesn’t mean he did it.

　　(即使我们假设他有谋杀的动机，那也并不意味着是他干的。)

　　assumption

　　hypothesis

　　这两个名词都是“假设”的意思。

　　assumption 指主观上的具体事物的。hypothesis 指对理论、学说方面的假设、推测。

　　1) Your assumption that your history teacher gives you low marks because she dislikes you is unjustified.

　　（你的历史老师因为她不喜欢你给你低分，你这种假设是没有理由的。）

　　2) Contrary to the popular assumption, the price in the market does not drop but rather rise a bit.

　　（与普遍的猜测相反, 市场的价格没有降而是上升了一点。

　　3）A scientific hypothesis can only be confirmed by indisputable facts, i.e. by empirical evidence.

　　（一个科学假说要经过无可能辨驳事实的证实,即经过践实的证据证实。

　　4) There are a number of hypotheses proposed to speculate about the origin of the universe.

　　(有一些假设提出来推测宇宙的起源。)