原文：The doctor held out much hope of his total recovery

误译：医生对他的康复没抱多少希望。

辩误：译文的错误在于对Hold out的理解上。Hold out有很多意思，其基本意思是“伸出”，如：She held out both hger hands to show her welcome.(她伸出双手表示欢迎).此外还有引申意"提出",如:The new managers held out a new promise to raise the workers wages.(新来的经理提出增加工人工资的承诺).再进一步,这个短语还有"表现出","显得"的意思.与之类似的就是原句中的用法,常常指"抱有","怀有".除了以上几个,Hold out还有其他的意思:

让我们通过几个练习来学习下：

1 Neither party of the talks held out much hope for a final peaceful settlement.

2 He was suspected of holding out information important to the case.

3 The strikers are still holding out for higher wages.