bear down on: 逼近

据悉，飓风丽塔预计将在美国得克萨斯登陆，美国国土安全部宣布飓风"丽塔"为"全国性重大事件"，并正式启动全国性应急机制，墨西哥湾沿岸130万人受命疏散。请看报道：

Thousands of Mexicans live and work in Texas, but still have family - or even second homes - in Mexico. With Rita bearing down on the Gulf coast, many felt it was time to go home, at least for a week or so.

文中bear down on的意思是"逼近，袭击"。 请看例句：The enemy warship tried to bear down on our small airboat.（敌舰企图逼近我们的小汽艇。）此外，bear down on 还有"重重落于……之上"的意思。如：Responsibility for his family bears down on a young man.（养家的重任对于年轻人是重担。）