“人民”是一個群體概念。漢語和英語都有不少表示“人民”概念的詞匯，其中有些細微區(qū)別。

people 的意思是 all the persons who live in belong to a particular country or area，即“人民”。例如：

1.Government officials should serve the people wholeheartedly and should not be divorced from the people.

政府官員應該全心全意為人民服務，不應該脫離人民。

2. There are many differences between the Chinese people and the American people. And yet, there are many similarities as well.

中國人民與美國人民之間有許多差異。但是，也有不少相似之處。

populace 的意思是all the ordinary people of a particular country or area，即“平民百姓”或 “普通民眾”。例如：

3. It is not surprising that there are different views among the US populace on ties with China.

毫不奇怪，美國普通民眾對與中國的聯(lián)系具有不同的看法。

4. In this area the Cantonese restaurants represented the high-end dining market, while the Sichuan eateries catered to the populace.

在這個地區(qū)，粵菜館代表高端餐飲市場，而川菜館是迎合平民百姓的。

5. The government should help to reduce the performance cost to make them more affordable to the populace.

政府應當幫助降低演出成本以使其能被平民百姓看得起。

folk 的意思是 people in general，即“百姓”。例如：

6. As a leader, he should understand the needs of the ordinary folk in his country.

作為領導人，他應該了解他的國家的普通百姓的需求。

7. The hero of the novel does what he can to protect the ordinary folk from tragedy.

這部小說的主人公盡其所為以保護普通百姓免遭悲劇。

the masses 的意思是 the ordinary people in society，即“群眾”或“大眾”。例如：

8. A good leader should always pay heed to the voice of the masses.

一位好的領導人應該總是注意傾聽群眾的呼聲。

9. The leader should often go among the masses and solicits opinions from them.領導人應該經(jīng)常到群眾中去，向他們征求意見。 ▲

（本欄目供稿：王逢鑫教授）