divert 和distract的区别

这两个词都有转移注意力的意思,但是具体的使用语境又有所区别.distract的主语通常都是一些自然的,客观的事物,导致某人的注意力分散.比如,Two birds singing in the tree outside the classroom distracted the students' attention while they were having a class.教室外面书上两只小鸟的叫声分散了正在上课的学生们的注意力.而divert除了有这种用法之外,还可以表示主动的去转移别人的注意力.比如：You should divert its attention when the baby is crying.婴儿哭的时候你应该去转移一下它的注意力.除此之外,divert还具distract不具有的一些意思,比如改变方向：The ship diverted its sailing direction after being informed of a possible tornado in its due course.这艘船在得知既定航线前方可能会发生龙卷风之后改变了它的航向.再比如河流改道：They diverted the river to supply water to the town. 他们使河流改道以便向城市供水.
再比如娱乐,I found a computer game to divert the children. 我发现了一种供孩子娱乐的电脑游戏.主要区别就是这些.用一个数学上的说法,可以理解为,distract的意思是divert意思的子集