Lesson 46 Do it yourself

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。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

but unfortunately not all of us are born handymen.

但不幸的是，我們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.

妻子常常認為她們的丈夫無比聰明能干。

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。

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.

每當電燈保險絲燒斷、家具榫頭松動、管道堵塞、吸塵器不動時，有些妻子認為丈夫總有辦法。

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.

自己動手的例子中最糟糕的是，有時甚至是男人盡管接連失敗卻還誤以為自己什么都行，

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，妻子讓我請人檢查一下我家的割草機。

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.

那臺割草機去年夏天就壞了，盡管我答應修，但一直沒抽出時間，

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

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

我不愿聽妻子的建議，說我自己會修。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

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里，仔細檢查了一番。

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。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

Inevitably the repair job was not quite so simple.

事實上，修理工作遠不是那么簡單。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

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

修完后割草機還是紋絲不動。于是，我決定把它拆開。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

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里。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

But I was extremely pleased with myself.

但我卻非常高興，

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

I had traced the cause of the trouble.

因為我找到了毛病所在。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

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

驅動輪子的鏈條斷了一節。

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.

我買來一根新鏈條后，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。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

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

等我裝完后，那臺割草機仍然一動不動，對此我倒并不感到吃驚。

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.

原因很簡單，因為還剩下幾個形狀奇特的零件似乎哪里也裝不上去。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

I gave up in despair.

我無可奈何，只好罷休。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

The weeks passed and the grass grew.

幾個星期過去了，草長了起來。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

When my wife nagged me to do something about it,

妻子喋喋不休讓我想點辦法。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

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

我告訴她，要么買一臺新割草機，要么讓草長下去。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

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

不用說，我家現在已被叢林包圍。

Lesson 46 Do it yourself

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

深草叢中的某個地方有一臺正在生銹的割草機，那就是我曾答應某日要修理的割草機。

Lesson 47 Too high a price

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

污染就是我們為這個人口過密，過度工業化的星球所付出的代價。

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.

傾倒、焚燒、把垃圾變成再生材料或試圖少產生一些垃圾。

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.

我們一直在試這4種方式，但是，我們在世界范圍內僅產生的垃圾的量就有把我們覆蓋的危險。