outlived ... usefulness• Daniels said a number of programs that were being recommended for elimination had outlived their usefulness while others had never been successful.• In order to enhance his credibilityFedora was allowed to exposeJohn Vassall who by then had outlived his usefulness.• Even the message on the answering machine has outlived its usefulness, providing no current or future information.• It also includes discouragingculturaltraits that have outlived their usefulness and may be otherwise harmful to society.• And when they have outlived their usefulness, they are slaughtered or sold cheaply for labexperiments.• By contrast, the over-hyped Times Guide to 1992 now seems to have outlived its usefulness.• I question, personally, whether these inspectors have not outlived their usefulness.
ADJECTIVE | VERB + USEFULNESS | PREPOSITIONADJECTIVE➤limited, some有限的/一定的用途▸➤general一般用途▸➤practical實際用途▸➤potential潛在用途VERB + USEFULNESS➤have有用途▸➤increase增加用途▸➤diminish, limit, reduce減少用途;限制用途◇Badly written questions limit the usefulness of questionnaires.問題設計得不好,調查問卷的作用就會打折扣。➤lose失去實用性◇Many people claim that the word has lost its usefulness.許多人聲稱這個詞已經用不上了。➤assess, determine, evaluate, examine評估效用;確定效用;檢驗效果➤question懷疑效用▸➤demonstrate, prove展示/證明效用▸➤outlive再無效用◇The advisory group has outlived its usefulness.顧問小組已失去了它的作用。PREPOSITION➤of... usefulness⋯的作用◇The theory is of limited usefulness.這個理論用途有限。➤usefulness for⋯方面的效用◇the exam's usefulness for ranking students考試在為學生排名次方面的作用➤usefulness in在⋯方面的用途◇the drug's usefulness in the treatment of cancer這種藥在癌症治療中的功效➤usefulness to對⋯的作用◇The report is of potential usefulness to the government.這個報告可能對政府有用。