【課文】
We have all experienced days when everything goes wrong. A day may begin well enough, but suddenly everything seems to get out of control. What invariably happens is that a great number of things choose to go wrong at precisely the same moment. It is as if a single unimportant event set up a chain of reactions. Let us suppose that you are preparing a meal and keeping an eye on the baby at the same time. The telephone rings and this marks the prelude to an unforeseen series of catastrophes. While you are on the phone, the baby pulls the tablecloth off the table smashing half your best crockery and cutting himself in the process. You hang up hurriedly and attend to baby, crockery, etc. Meanwhile, the meal gets burnt. As if this were not enough to reduce you to tears, your husband arrives, unexpectedly bringing three guests to dinner.
Things can go wrong on a big scale as a number of people recently discovered in Parramatta, a suburb of Sydney. During the rush hour one evening two cars collided and both drivers began to argue. The woman immediately behind the two cars happened to be a learner. She suddenly got into a panic and stopped her car. This made the driver following her brake hard. His wife was sitting beside him holding a large cake. As she was thrown forward, the cake went right through the windscreen and landed on the road. Seeing a cake flying through the air, a lorry driver who was drawing up alongside the car, pulled up all of a sudden. The lorry was loaded with empty beer bottles and hundreds of them slid off the back of the vehicle and on to the road. This led to yet another angry argument. Meanwhile, the traffic piled up behind. It took the police nearly an hour to get the traffic on the move again. In the meantime, the lorry driver had to sweep up hundreds of broken bottles. Only two stray dogs benefited from all this confusion, for they greedily devoured what was left of the cake. It was just one of those days!
【課文翻譯】
我們大家都有過(guò)事事不順心的日子。一天開(kāi)始時(shí)，可能還不錯(cuò)，但突然間似乎一切都失去了控制。情況經(jīng)常是這樣的，許許多多的事情都偏偏趕在同一時(shí)刻出問(wèn)題，好像是一件無(wú)關(guān)緊要的小事引起了一連串的連鎖反應(yīng)。假設(shè)你在做飯，同時(shí)又在照看孩子。這時(shí)電話鈴響了。它預(yù)示著一連串意想不到的災(zāi)難的來(lái)臨。就在你接電話時(shí)，孩子把桌布從桌子上扯下來(lái)，將家中好的陶瓷餐具半數(shù)摔碎，同時(shí)也弄傷了他自己。你急急忙忙掛上電話，趕去照看孩子和餐具。這時(shí)，飯又燒糊了。好像這一切還不足以使你急得掉淚，你的丈夫接著回來(lái)了，事先沒(méi)打招呼就帶來(lái)3個(gè)客人吃飯。
就像許多人近在悉尼郊區(qū)帕拉馬塔發(fā)現(xiàn)的那樣，有時(shí)亂子會(huì)鬧得很大。一天傍晚交通擁擠時(shí)，一輛汽車撞上前面一輛汽車，兩個(gè)司機(jī)爭(zhēng)吵起來(lái)。緊跟其后的一輛車上的司機(jī)碰巧是個(gè)初學(xué)者，她一驚之下突然把車停了下來(lái)。她這一停使得跟在后頭的司機(jī)也來(lái)個(gè)急剎車。司機(jī)妻子正坐在他身邊，手里托著塊大蛋糕。她往前一沖，蛋糕從擋風(fēng)玻璃飛了出去掉到馬路上。此時(shí)，一輛卡車正好從后邊開(kāi)到那輛汽車邊上，司機(jī)看見(jiàn)一塊蛋糕從天而降，緊急剎車?？ㄜ嚿涎b著空啤酒瓶。成百只瓶子順勢(shì)從卡車后面滑出車外落在馬路上。這又引起一場(chǎng)唇槍舌劍的爭(zhēng)吵。與此同時(shí)，后面的車輛排成了長(zhǎng)龍，警察花了將近一個(gè)小時(shí)才使車輛又開(kāi)起來(lái)。在這段時(shí)間里，卡車司機(jī)不得不清掃那幾百只破瓶子。只有兩只野狗從這一片混亂中得到好處，它們貪婪地吃掉了剩下的蛋糕。這就是事事不順心的那么一天!
【生詞和短語(yǔ)】
prelude n. 序幕，前奏
unforeseen adj. 意料之外
series n. 系列
catastrophe n. 大禍，災(zāi)難
crockery n. 陶器，瓦器
suburb n. 郊區(qū)
collide v. 猛撞
learner n. 初學(xué)者
panic n. 驚慌，恐慌
windscreen n. (汽車的)擋風(fēng)玻璃
alongside prep. 在……的旁邊，與……并排
slide v. 滑
stray adj. 離群的
confusion n. 混亂
greedily adv. 貪婪地
devour v. 狼吞虎咽地吃
【知識(shí)點(diǎn)】
詞匯
【unforeseen】
構(gòu)詞：foresee→foreseen→unforeseen
例句：
1.This turn of fortune was unforeseen.
這時(shí)來(lái)運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)是沒(méi)有預(yù)見(jiàn)到的。
2. You must make a liberal allowance for unforeseen circumstances.
你必須充分考慮到預(yù)料不到的情況。
【collide】
英英：crash together with violent impact
例句：
1. If the aims of two countries collide , there may be war.
如果兩國(guó)的目的沖突，就可能發(fā)生戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)。
2. The jade accouterments on her collide with each other, and give out a tinkling sound.
她身上的玉石飾物互相碰撞發(fā)出玲玎的響聲。
3. When a meddlesome mother enrolls in university with her son, old and new worlds collide.
當(dāng)一個(gè)愛(ài)管閑事的母親和兒子注冊(cè)同一間大學(xué)后，新世界和舊世界兩種價(jià)值觀就開(kāi)始碰撞了。
【alongside】
例句：
1. Alongside the mathematical story is an equally fascinating personal one.
除了數(shù)學(xué)還有一個(gè)引人入勝的個(gè)人的故事。
2. Local languages still exist alongside the Caribbean English dialect, too, but they are mostly the patois of the marketplace and home.
當(dāng)?shù)氐恼Z(yǔ)言也仍然和加勒比海式英語(yǔ)方言并存著，但它們大都是在市場(chǎng)和家里所用的土話。
【slide】
英英：move obliquely or sideways, usually in an uncontrolled manner
例句：
1.He felt some of the snow slide in, penetrate his shirt.
他感到有些雪片溜進(jìn)大衣，透過(guò)襯衫。
2. Our assumption at this stage is the demand and yield will continue to slide in the coming months.
目前階段我們的設(shè)想是，未來(lái)幾個(gè)月市場(chǎng)需求和收益將繼續(xù)下滑。
3. The stock market crash started America's slide into despair.
從股票市場(chǎng)崩潰開(kāi)始，美國(guó)不知不覺(jué)陷入了絕望的境地。
【stray】
例句：
1.Don't tell me about any more stray animals, ok?
不要再跟我說(shuō)什么流浪動(dòng)物了，好嗎?
2. Find your special purpose in this world so full of choices and help lead those who stray.
在充滿機(jī)會(huì)的世界中尋找你的特殊才華，幫助迷路的人領(lǐng)航。
【confusion】
例句：
1. They would prefer certainty to the current confusion.
他們寧愿確定性而不是當(dāng)前的混亂。
2. Women suffrage will not, to say the truth. add to the political confusion.
說(shuō)真的，婦女擁有選舉權(quán)并不會(huì)增加政治上的混亂。
【devour】
英英：eat immoderately and greedily
例句：
1. We watched the flames devour the entire building.
我們看著火苗吞噬整座大樓。
2. Or you can choose to accelerate your growth and intentionally devour life and all it offers.
或者你可以選擇加速自己的成長(zhǎng)，主動(dòng)地消化生活以及它帶來(lái)的一切。
3. Foreigners devour American cultural exports, from "Desperate Housewives" to the Harvard Business Review.
外國(guó)人貪婪地吸收著美國(guó)的文化輸出，從《絕望的主婦》到《哈佛商業(yè)評(píng)論》。
搭配
【out of control】
【a chain of reactions】
【keep an eye on】
【on the phone】
【in the process】
【attend to】
【reduce to tears】
【all of a sudden】
We have all experienced days when everything goes wrong. A day may begin well enough, but suddenly everything seems to get out of control. What invariably happens is that a great number of things choose to go wrong at precisely the same moment. It is as if a single unimportant event set up a chain of reactions. Let us suppose that you are preparing a meal and keeping an eye on the baby at the same time. The telephone rings and this marks the prelude to an unforeseen series of catastrophes. While you are on the phone, the baby pulls the tablecloth off the table smashing half your best crockery and cutting himself in the process. You hang up hurriedly and attend to baby, crockery, etc. Meanwhile, the meal gets burnt. As if this were not enough to reduce you to tears, your husband arrives, unexpectedly bringing three guests to dinner.
Things can go wrong on a big scale as a number of people recently discovered in Parramatta, a suburb of Sydney. During the rush hour one evening two cars collided and both drivers began to argue. The woman immediately behind the two cars happened to be a learner. She suddenly got into a panic and stopped her car. This made the driver following her brake hard. His wife was sitting beside him holding a large cake. As she was thrown forward, the cake went right through the windscreen and landed on the road. Seeing a cake flying through the air, a lorry driver who was drawing up alongside the car, pulled up all of a sudden. The lorry was loaded with empty beer bottles and hundreds of them slid off the back of the vehicle and on to the road. This led to yet another angry argument. Meanwhile, the traffic piled up behind. It took the police nearly an hour to get the traffic on the move again. In the meantime, the lorry driver had to sweep up hundreds of broken bottles. Only two stray dogs benefited from all this confusion, for they greedily devoured what was left of the cake. It was just one of those days!
【課文翻譯】
我們大家都有過(guò)事事不順心的日子。一天開(kāi)始時(shí)，可能還不錯(cuò)，但突然間似乎一切都失去了控制。情況經(jīng)常是這樣的，許許多多的事情都偏偏趕在同一時(shí)刻出問(wèn)題，好像是一件無(wú)關(guān)緊要的小事引起了一連串的連鎖反應(yīng)。假設(shè)你在做飯，同時(shí)又在照看孩子。這時(shí)電話鈴響了。它預(yù)示著一連串意想不到的災(zāi)難的來(lái)臨。就在你接電話時(shí)，孩子把桌布從桌子上扯下來(lái)，將家中好的陶瓷餐具半數(shù)摔碎，同時(shí)也弄傷了他自己。你急急忙忙掛上電話，趕去照看孩子和餐具。這時(shí)，飯又燒糊了。好像這一切還不足以使你急得掉淚，你的丈夫接著回來(lái)了，事先沒(méi)打招呼就帶來(lái)3個(gè)客人吃飯。
就像許多人近在悉尼郊區(qū)帕拉馬塔發(fā)現(xiàn)的那樣，有時(shí)亂子會(huì)鬧得很大。一天傍晚交通擁擠時(shí)，一輛汽車撞上前面一輛汽車，兩個(gè)司機(jī)爭(zhēng)吵起來(lái)。緊跟其后的一輛車上的司機(jī)碰巧是個(gè)初學(xué)者，她一驚之下突然把車停了下來(lái)。她這一停使得跟在后頭的司機(jī)也來(lái)個(gè)急剎車。司機(jī)妻子正坐在他身邊，手里托著塊大蛋糕。她往前一沖，蛋糕從擋風(fēng)玻璃飛了出去掉到馬路上。此時(shí)，一輛卡車正好從后邊開(kāi)到那輛汽車邊上，司機(jī)看見(jiàn)一塊蛋糕從天而降，緊急剎車?？ㄜ嚿涎b著空啤酒瓶。成百只瓶子順勢(shì)從卡車后面滑出車外落在馬路上。這又引起一場(chǎng)唇槍舌劍的爭(zhēng)吵。與此同時(shí)，后面的車輛排成了長(zhǎng)龍，警察花了將近一個(gè)小時(shí)才使車輛又開(kāi)起來(lái)。在這段時(shí)間里，卡車司機(jī)不得不清掃那幾百只破瓶子。只有兩只野狗從這一片混亂中得到好處，它們貪婪地吃掉了剩下的蛋糕。這就是事事不順心的那么一天!
【生詞和短語(yǔ)】
prelude n. 序幕，前奏
unforeseen adj. 意料之外
series n. 系列
catastrophe n. 大禍，災(zāi)難
crockery n. 陶器，瓦器
suburb n. 郊區(qū)
collide v. 猛撞
learner n. 初學(xué)者
panic n. 驚慌，恐慌
windscreen n. (汽車的)擋風(fēng)玻璃
alongside prep. 在……的旁邊，與……并排
slide v. 滑
stray adj. 離群的
confusion n. 混亂
greedily adv. 貪婪地
devour v. 狼吞虎咽地吃
【知識(shí)點(diǎn)】
詞匯
【unforeseen】
構(gòu)詞：foresee→foreseen→unforeseen
例句：
1.This turn of fortune was unforeseen.
這時(shí)來(lái)運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)是沒(méi)有預(yù)見(jiàn)到的。
2. You must make a liberal allowance for unforeseen circumstances.
你必須充分考慮到預(yù)料不到的情況。
【collide】
英英：crash together with violent impact
例句：
1. If the aims of two countries collide , there may be war.
如果兩國(guó)的目的沖突，就可能發(fā)生戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)。
2. The jade accouterments on her collide with each other, and give out a tinkling sound.
她身上的玉石飾物互相碰撞發(fā)出玲玎的響聲。
3. When a meddlesome mother enrolls in university with her son, old and new worlds collide.
當(dāng)一個(gè)愛(ài)管閑事的母親和兒子注冊(cè)同一間大學(xué)后，新世界和舊世界兩種價(jià)值觀就開(kāi)始碰撞了。
【alongside】
例句：
1. Alongside the mathematical story is an equally fascinating personal one.
除了數(shù)學(xué)還有一個(gè)引人入勝的個(gè)人的故事。
2. Local languages still exist alongside the Caribbean English dialect, too, but they are mostly the patois of the marketplace and home.
當(dāng)?shù)氐恼Z(yǔ)言也仍然和加勒比海式英語(yǔ)方言并存著，但它們大都是在市場(chǎng)和家里所用的土話。
【slide】
英英：move obliquely or sideways, usually in an uncontrolled manner
例句：
1.He felt some of the snow slide in, penetrate his shirt.
他感到有些雪片溜進(jìn)大衣，透過(guò)襯衫。
2. Our assumption at this stage is the demand and yield will continue to slide in the coming months.
目前階段我們的設(shè)想是，未來(lái)幾個(gè)月市場(chǎng)需求和收益將繼續(xù)下滑。
3. The stock market crash started America's slide into despair.
從股票市場(chǎng)崩潰開(kāi)始，美國(guó)不知不覺(jué)陷入了絕望的境地。
【stray】
例句：
1.Don't tell me about any more stray animals, ok?
不要再跟我說(shuō)什么流浪動(dòng)物了，好嗎?
2. Find your special purpose in this world so full of choices and help lead those who stray.
在充滿機(jī)會(huì)的世界中尋找你的特殊才華，幫助迷路的人領(lǐng)航。
【confusion】
例句：
1. They would prefer certainty to the current confusion.
他們寧愿確定性而不是當(dāng)前的混亂。
2. Women suffrage will not, to say the truth. add to the political confusion.
說(shuō)真的，婦女擁有選舉權(quán)并不會(huì)增加政治上的混亂。
【devour】
英英：eat immoderately and greedily
例句：
1. We watched the flames devour the entire building.
我們看著火苗吞噬整座大樓。
2. Or you can choose to accelerate your growth and intentionally devour life and all it offers.
或者你可以選擇加速自己的成長(zhǎng)，主動(dòng)地消化生活以及它帶來(lái)的一切。
3. Foreigners devour American cultural exports, from "Desperate Housewives" to the Harvard Business Review.
外國(guó)人貪婪地吸收著美國(guó)的文化輸出，從《絕望的主婦》到《哈佛商業(yè)評(píng)論》。
搭配
【out of control】
【a chain of reactions】
【keep an eye on】
【on the phone】
【in the process】
【attend to】
【reduce to tears】
【all of a sudden】