💬 新概念英语第三册

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

Such things provide an excellent outlet for pent up creative energy,

这些东西为人们潜在的创造力提供了一个绝妙的用武之地。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

but unfortunately not all of us are born handymen.

但不幸的是，我们并非人人都是能工巧匠。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

Some wives tend to believe that their husbands are infinitely resourceful and can fix anything.

妻子常常认为她们的丈夫无比聪明能干。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

Even men who can hardly drive a nail in straight are supposed to be born electricians, carpenters, plumbers and mechanics.

甚至那些连一枚钉子都钉不直的男人都被认为是天生的电工、木匠、水管工和机械师。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

When lights fuse, furniture gets rickety, pipes get clogged, or vacuum cleaners fail to operate, some woman assume that their husbands will somehow put things right.

每当电灯保险丝烧断、家具榫头松动、管道堵塞、吸尘器不动时，有些妻子认为丈夫总有办法。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

The worst thing about the do-it-yourself game is that sometimes even men live under the delusion that they can do anything, even when they have repeatedly been proved wrong.

自己动手的例子中最糟糕的是，有时甚至是男人尽管接连失败却还误以为自己什么都行，

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

It is a question of pride as much as anything else.

原因就是要面子。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

Last spring my wife suggested that I call in a man to look at our lawn mower.

今年春天，妻子让我请人检查一下我家的割草机。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

It had broken down the previous summer, and though I promised to repair it, I had never got round to it.

那台割草机去年夏天就坏了，尽管我答应修，但一直没抽出时间，

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

I would not hear of the suggestion and said that I would fix it myself.

我不愿听妻子的建议，说我自己会修。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

One Saturday afternoon, I hauled the machine into the garden and had a close look at it.

一个星期六的下午，我把割草机拉到了花园里，仔细检查了一番。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

As far as I could see, it needed only a minor adjustment: a turn of a screw here, a little tightening up there, a drop of oil and it would be as good as new.

在我看来，只需稍加调整即可。这儿紧紧螺丝，那儿固定一下，再加几滴油，就会像新的一样了。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

Inevitably the repair job was not quite so simple.

事实上，修理工作远不是那么简单。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

The mower firmly refused to mow, so I decided to dismantle it.

修完后割草机还是纹丝不动。于是，我决定把它拆开。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

The garden was soon littered with chunks of metal which had once made up a lawn mower.

一会儿工夫，割草机便被拆成一个个金属零件，乱七八糟地堆在花园里。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

But I was extremely pleased with myself.

但我却非常高兴，

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

I had traced the cause of the trouble.

因为我找到了毛病所在。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

One of links in the chain that drives the wheels had snapped.

驱动轮子的链条断了一节。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

After buying a new chain I was faced with the insurmountable task of putting the confusing jigsaw puzzle together again.

我买来一根新链条后，面临的就是如何把这些令人眼花缭乱的拼板重新组装起来。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

I was not surprised to find that the machine still refused to work after I had reassembled it,

等我装完后，那台割草机仍然一动不动，对此我倒并不感到吃惊。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

for the simple reason that I was left with several curiously shaped bits of metal which did not seem to fit anywhere.

原因很简单，因为还剩下几个形状奇特的零件似乎哪里也装不上去。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

I gave up in despair.

我无可奈何，只好罢休。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

The weeks passed and the grass grew.

几个星期过去了，草长了起来。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

When my wife nagged me to do something about it,

妻子喋喋不休让我想点办法。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

I told her that either I would have to buy a new mower or let the grass grow.

我告诉她，要么买一台新割草机，要么让草长下去。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

Needless to say our house is now surrounded by a jungle.

不用说，我家现在已被丛林包围。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

Buried somewhere in deep grass there is a rusting lawn mower which I have promised to repair one day.

深草丛中的某个地方有一台正在生锈的割草机，那就是我曾答应某日要修理的割草机。

Lesson 47 Too high a price

Pollution is the price we pay for an overpopulated, over industrialized planet.

污染就是我们为这个人口过密，过度工业化的星球所付出的代价。

Lesson 47 Too high a price

When you come to think about it, there are only four ways you can deal with rubbish: dump it, burn it, turn it into something you can use again, attempt to produce less of it.

倾倒、焚烧、把垃圾变成再生材料或试图少产生一些垃圾。

Lesson 47 Too high a price

We keep trying all four methods, but he sheer volume of rubbish we produce worldwide threatens to overwhelm us.

我们一直在试这4种方式，但是，我们在世界范围内仅产生的垃圾的量就有把我们覆盖的危险。