單字講座 156：inquire (v) / enquire (v) / require (v) / acquire (v)

美國收緊移民政策又一新舉措。26 日，川普政府宣布恢復停擺了 30 年的「鄰里查訪」，要求申請人提交來自「鄰居、雇主、同事以及商業夥伴」的推薦信。未來申請成為美國公民再添關卡！話說「要求」是 inquire、enquire、require 還是 acquire 呢？下方說分明。

▍inquire (v) 探問
▶ 例 1：Tom 穿著藍色西裝，親自拜訪當地大學，探問成為工程系教師的可能性。
Wearing his blue suit, Tom visited the local universities in person to inquire about the possibility of becoming an engineering instructor.

▍enquire (v) 探問 = inquire
▶ 例 1：我的導師打電話給我媽，探問我今天為何沒去上學。
My homeroom teacher telephoned my mom to enquire why I was absent from school.

▍require (v) 需要 / 要求
▶ 例1：看起來輕而易舉的事情實際上可能需要耗費很多心力。
Everything that looks effortless may actually require lots of effort.

▶ 例 2：在種族隔離盛行的南方，Jim Crow 法案要求黑人乘客使用和白人分隔開來的火車車廂和候車室。
In the segregated South, Jim Crow laws required black train passengers to use separate coaches and waiting rooms.

▍acquire (v) 學習 / 取得
▶ 例 1：移民美國三個月後，她學會了足夠的字彙，可以去購物以及和鄰居聊天。
Three months after immigrating to the US, she acquired enough vocabulary to be able to shop and to talk with the neighbors.

▶ 例 2：假如計畫開始前就能取得這些資訊，就能避免許多損害。
Had this information been acquired before the project was launched, a vast amount of damage could have been avoided.