league、federation、union与alliance这些名词均含“联盟、同盟、联合会”之意。
league : 普通用词，指为了共同的利益而建立的地区性、全国性或国际性的联合组织，也指民间或半官方组织的联盟。
- Who do you think will win the league championship this year?
你认为谁会获得今年的联赛冠军？ - Liverpool were top of the Football League that year.
利物浦队是那一年的足球联赛冠军。 - They are currently bottom of the league.
他们目前在联赛中垫底。 - the League of Nations
国际联盟
federation : 泛指用条款固定下来的一切联合，尤指联邦政府。
- the Russian federation
俄罗斯联邦 - The federation of the six original Australian states took place in 1901.
1901年澳大利亚最初的6个州结成联邦。 - He's against European federation.
他反对欧洲联盟。
union : 普通用词，指由若干个体结成的一个统一的整体。强调其永久性。
- the Scottish Rugby Union
苏格兰橄榄球协会 - the former Soviet Union
前苏维埃联邦 - Meanwhile the debate on European political and monetary union continues.
同时，有关欧洲政治和货币联盟的争论还在继续。 - She believes that the union (= marriage) of man and woman in holy matrimony is for ever.
她相信男女之间的神圣结合是永久的。
alliance : 普通用词，指对双方均有利的任何联盟。
- a military alliance
军事同盟 - NATO is sometimes called the Atlantic Alliance.
北约有时被称作大西洋同盟。 - The three smaller parties have forged/formed an alliance against the government.
三个小政党结成反政府联盟。 - Some of us feel that the union is in alliance with management against us.
我们中一些人感到工会和资方联合起来对付我们。
