affliction
n
(fml 文)
1 [U] pain; suffering; distress 疼痛; 折磨; 悲痛
help people in affliction 帮助受苦的人.
2 [C] thing that causes suffering 造成痛苦的事物
Blindness can be a terrible affliction. 失明有时极为痛苦.
Libraries made education possible, and education in its turn added to libraries: the growth of knowledge followed a kind of compound interest law, which was greatly enhanced by the invention of printing.