sector

sector — noun

1. one of the parts that a country's economy is divided into, such as industry, far

1.名詞B1
釋義

one of the parts that a country's economy is divided into, such as industry, farming, banking, or healthcare

例句

The technology sector has created thousands of new jobs across Taiwan this year.

collocation: technology sector / manufacturing sector / service sector

Mizuki's research focuses on the renewable energy sector in Southeast Asia.

determiner + sector + preposition: sector in [region]

同義詞
  • industry

    narrower — usually refers to a specific type of business activity (e.g. the car industry), while sector is broader

  • field

    less formal and can also mean a subject or profession rather than an economic division

  • branch

    emphasises a subdivision within a larger organisation or system

文法句型

the + ~

~ + noun

常見錯誤

❌I work in a sector of education.
✅I work in the education sector.
💡'sector' is normally used with a determiner that specifies which economic field, not introduced as 'a sector of + field'.

2. a stretch of territory, water, or sky that has been marked off from neighbouring

2.名詞B1
釋義

a stretch of territory, water, or sky that has been marked off from neighbouring zones and placed under the authority of a specific country, military unit, or organisation

例句

The army secured the northern sector of the city before dawn.

adjective + sector: northern/southern/eastern/western sector

Soraya's unit was responsible for patrolling the coastal sector south of the port.

同義詞
  • zone

    broader — can be used for any defined area, not necessarily under military control

  • region

    larger and less strictly demarcated; implies a natural rather than imposed division

  • district

    usually an administrative or residential division within a city or country

文法句型

the + adjective + ~

~ + of + place

用法筆記

Frequently used with a directional adjective (northern, southern, eastern, western) to specify which part of a larger region is meant. 'Sector' in this sense implies deliberate division, not a natural area.

常見錯誤

❌The sector of the forest is very beautiful.
✅The northern sector of the forest is very beautiful.
💡without a directional or controlling modifier, the geographic sense sounds vague.

3. a wedge-shaped portion of a flat circle, bounded on two sides by lines from the

3.名詞B2
釋義

a wedge-shaped portion of a flat circle, bounded on two sides by lines from the centre point to the edge and on the third side by the arc of the outer curve

例句

The student shaded the sector that lies between the two radii.

passive: the sector [that lies / is bounded] between...

Ezra calculated the area of a 60-degree sector for his geometry homework.

measurement: [number]-degree sector

同義詞
  • segment

    different shape — bounded by a chord (straight line across the circle) rather than two radii

  • slice

    everyday word for the same shape; less formal and not used in mathematical writing

文法句型

the ~ of a circle

~ + of + number + degrees

用法筆記

This is a technical term in geometry. Outside mathematics, people usually say 'slice' or 'section' instead. Extended to pie charts and similar circular diagrams.

常見錯誤

❌A sector is any part of a circle.
✅A sector is a part of a circle bounded by two radii and the arc between them.
💡any part of a circle could be a segment (bounded by a chord), not a sector.

4. a small storage unit on a rotating device such as a hard drive or CD, where a fi

4.名詞B2
釋義

a small storage unit on a rotating device such as a hard drive or CD, where a fixed amount of data can be written and read as one block

例句

The hard drive's read head failed when it tried to access sector 512.

verb + sector: access / read / write a sector

Niran used a disk utility to scan for and repair the damaged sectors.

同義詞
  • block

    often used interchangeably but technically refers to the operating system's unit, while sector is the hardware-level unit

  • cluster

    a group of sectors treated as one unit by the file system

文法句型

~ + number

bad + ~

~ + on + disk

用法筆記

Usually passive when describing recovery ('sectors are read'). Each sector on a typical disk stores 512 or 4096 bytes. 'Bad sector' is the most common collocation for non-technical users.

常見錯誤

❌My file is saved in sector 45.
✅My file is stored across several sectors on the disk.
💡a single file typically occupies multiple sectors; users do not normally choose which sector to use.

sector — verb