(1) ①typical意为“典型的”。
- Botswana is not considered a typical African country.
人们认为博茨瓦纳不是一个典型的非洲国家。
②be typical of意为“是……的特点；……就是这样的”。
- It is typical of him to behave like that.
那样做就是他的特点。 - The inversion is more typical of literary style.
倒装更常用于书面体。 - Such bragging is typical of his behavior.
这种吹牛是他行为的特点。
(2) ①characteristic用作形容词时，意为“表现特点的，特有的”。
- He welcomed his guests with his characteristic enthusiasm.
他以他特有的热情欢迎客人的到来。 - He gave his reply to the question with his characteristic humor.
他以他特有的幽默回答了这个问题。
②be characteristic of 指“(表现了)……的特点”。
- Such boasting is characteristic of him.
如此吹牛正是他的特点。 - These small white houses are characteristic of the Greek Islands.
这些白色的小房子是希腊岛屿上的特色建筑。
(3) ①representative 可作形容词，意为“有代表性的”。
- He was sent to the conference in a representative capacity.
他作为代表被派去参加会议。 - We had opinions from a representative sample of people.
我们从有代表性的人群中收集了一些意见。
②be representative of意为“代表，表现”。
- These exhibits are quite representative of oriental civilization.
这些展品是东方文明的集中体现。 - They formed a government fully/truly representative of the people.
他们组建了一个真正代表人民利益的政府。 - This is not representative of the overwhelming opinion of the whole people.
这不能代表所有民众占压倒性人数的呼声。
(4) ①symbolic意为“象征性/派的”。
- His reaction to the matter is purely symbolic without real meaning.
他对此事的反应只是象征性的，无实质意义。
②be symbolic of意思是“象征”。
- In the Christian religion, bread and wine are symbolic of Christ's body and blood.
在基督教里，面包和酒象征着耶稣的身体和鲜血。
(5) symptomatic指“有症候的，有症状的，有代表性的，表明……的”，主要用在be symptomatic of短语中，意思是“表明、表现、是……的迹象、征兆”。
- Fever, chills, and repeated coughing may be symptomatic of pneumonia.
发烧、发冷和阵咳可能是肺炎的症状。 - His speech and acts are symptomatic of his world outlook.
他的言行是他的世界观的表现。 - The persistent protests of a small number of American college students can be seen as symptomatic of the deep undercurrent of moral uneasiness of sensitive young people.
少数美国大学生持续不断的抗议可以被视为是敏感的年轻人道德方面躁动不安这一深层暗潮的表现。
