新概念英語第三冊
Lesson 46 Do it yourself
1 . The weeks passed and the grass grew.幾個星期過去了，草長了起來。
2 . but unfortunately not all of us are born handymen.但不幸的是，我們並非人人都是能工巧匠。
3 . Even men who can hardly drive a nail in straight are supposed to be born electricians, carpenters, plumbers and mechanics.甚至那些連一枚釘子都釘不直的男人都被認為是天生的電工、木匠、水管工和機械師。
4 . It had broken down the previous summer, and though I promised to repair it, I had never got round to it.那台割草機去年夏天就壞了，儘管我答應修，但一直沒抽出時間，
5 . When my wife nagged me to do something about it,妻子喋喋不休讓我想點辦法。
6 . 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.每當電燈保險絲燒斷、傢俱榫頭鬆動、管道堵塞、吸塵器不動時，有些妻子認為丈夫總有辦法。
7 . I would not hear of the suggestion and said that I would fix it myself.我不願聽妻子的建議，說我自己會修。
8 . One of links in the chain that drives the wheels had snapped.驅動輪子的鏈條斷了一節。
9 . Shops cater for the do-it-yourself craze not only by running special advisory services for novices, but by offering consumers bits and pieces which they can assemble at home.為了滿足自己動手熱的需要，商店不僅為初學者提供專門的咨詢服務，而且為顧客準備了各種零件，供他們買回家去安裝。
10 . I had traced the cause of the trouble.因為我找到了毛病所在。
11 . Buried somewhere in deep grass there is a rusting lawn mower which I have promised to repair one day.深草叢中的某個地方有一台正在生銹的割草機，那就是我曾答應某日要修理的割草機。
12 . I gave up in despair.我無可奈何，只好罷休。
13 . The garden was soon littered with chunks of metal which had once made up a lawn mower.一會兒工夫，割草機便被拆成一個個金屬零件，亂七八糟地堆在花園裡。
14 . 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.自己動手的例子中最糟糕的是，有時甚至是男人儘管接連失敗卻還誤以為自己什麼都行，
15 . Some wives tend to believe that their husbands are infinitely resourceful and can fix anything.妻子常常認為她們的丈夫無比聰明能幹。
16 . One Saturday afternoon, I hauled the machine into the garden and had a close look at it.一個星期六的下午，我把割草機拉到了花園裡，仔細檢查了一番。
17 . Last spring my wife suggested that I call in a man to look at our lawn mower.今年春天，妻子讓我請人檢查一下我家的割草機。
18 . But I was extremely pleased with myself.但我卻非常高興，
19 . Armed with the right tools and materials, newlyweds gaily embark on the task of decorating their own homes.新婚夫婦找來合適的工具和材料，喜氣洋洋地開始佈置新房。
20 . for the simple reason that I was left with several curiously shaped bits of metal which did not seem to fit anywhere.原因很簡單，因為還剩下幾個形狀奇特的零件似乎哪裡也裝不上去。
21 . I told her that either I would have to buy a new mower or let the grass grow.我告訴她，要麼買一台新割草機，要麼讓草長下去。
22 . No one can plead ignorance of a subject any longer, for these are countless do-it-yourself publications.由於出版了不計其數的教人自己動手做事的書報雜誌，沒有人再能說對某事一無所知。
23 . Needless to say our house is now surrounded by a jungle.不用說，我家現在已被叢林包圍。
24 . It is a question of pride as much as anything else.原因就是要面子。
25 . Some really keen enthusiasts go so far as to build their own computers.有些熱衷於自己動手的人甚至自己組裝電腦。
26 . The mower firmly refused to mow, so I decided to dismantle it.修完後割草機還是紋絲不動。於是，我決定把它拆開。
27 . I was not surprised to find that the machine still refused to work after I had reassembled it,等我裝完後，那台割草機仍然一動不動，對此我倒並不感到吃驚。
28 . So great is our passion for doing things for ourselves, that we are becoming increasingly less dependent on specialized labour.現在我們自己動手做事的熱情很高，結果對於專業工人的依賴越來越少了。
29 . 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.在我看來，只需稍加調整即可。這兒緊緊螺絲，那兒固定一下，再加幾滴油，就會像新的一樣了。
30 . After buying a new chain I was faced with the insurmountable task of putting the confusing jigsaw puzzle together again.我買來一根新鏈條後，面臨的就是如何把這些令人眼花繚亂的拼板重新組裝起來。
31 . Inevitably the repair job was not quite so simple.事實上，修理工作遠不是那麼簡單。
32 . Men, particularly, spend hours of their leisure time installing their own fireplaces, laying out their own gardens; building garages and making furniture.特別是男人，常利用空閒時間安裝壁爐、佈置花園、建造車庫、製作傢俱。
33 . Such things provide an excellent outlet for pent up creative energy,這些東西為人們潛在的創造力提供了一個絕妙的用武之地。