33_A_Day_to_Remember

33 A Day to Remember

原文译文

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!

我们大家都有过事事不顺心的日子。一天开始时，可能还不错，但突然间似乎一切都失去了控制。情况经常是这样的，许许多多的事情都偏偏赶在同一时刻出问题，好像是一件无关紧要的小事引起了一连串的连锁反应。假设你在做饭，同时又在照看孩子。这时电话铃响了。它预示着一连串意想不到的灾难的降临。就在你接电话时，孩子把桌布从桌子上扯下来，将家中最好的陶瓷餐具半数摔碎，同时也弄伤了他自己。你急急忙忙挂上电话，赶去照看孩子和餐具。这时，饭又烧糊了。好像这一切还不足以使你急得掉泪，你的丈夫接着回来了，事先没打招呼就带来3个客人吃饭。

就像许多人最近在悉尼郊区帕拉马塔所发现的那样，有时乱子会闹得很大。一天傍晚交通最拥挤时，一辆汽车撞上前面一辆汽车，两个司机争吵起来。紧跟其后的一辆车上的司机碰巧是个初学者，她一惊之下突然把车停了下来。她这一停使得跟在后头的司机也来个急刹车。司机妻子正坐在他身边，手里托着块大蛋糕。她往前一冲，蛋糕从挡风玻璃飞了出去，落在马路上。此时，一辆卡车正好从后边开到那辆汽车边上，司机看见一块蛋糕从天而降，紧急刹车。卡车上装着空啤酒瓶。成百只瓶子顺势从卡车后面滑出车外落在马路上。这又引起一场唇枪舌剑的争吵。与此同时，后面的车辆排成了长龙，警察花了将近一个小时才使车辆又开起来。在这段时间里，卡车司机不得不清扫那几百只破瓶子。只有两只野狗从这一片混乱中得到好处，它们贪婪地吃掉了剩下的蛋糕。这就是那种不顺心的日子！

Words

• prelude /ˈpreˌlud/ n. 序幕
  1. You can describe an event as a prelude to another event or activity when it happens before it and acts as an
  2. They suspected that this was just a prelude to a larger attack.
  3. The dark clouds in the sky were a prelude to the storm.
• unforeseen /ˌənfɔrˈsin/ adj. 意料之外
  1. Despite the unforeseen problems, they can still make progress.
  2. Because of unforeseen circumstances, we have to close the parking lot.
  3. Due to unforeseen changes in the schedule, I find it impossible to attend the meeting tomorrow.
• catastrophes /kəˈtæstrəfiz/ n. 灾难
• crockery /ˈkrɑkəri/ un. 陶器
  1. There was a time when crockery was made by hand.
  2. I can't conceal the fact that I accidentally broke one of the crockery plates while washing the dishes.
• suburb /ˈsʌbɚb/ n. 郊区
  1. In the suburbs, I often have the impulse to start a small garden and grow my own vegetables.
• rush /rʌʃ/ hour /ˈaʊɚ/ 高峰时间
• collided /kəˈlaɪdɪd/ v. 猛撞
  1. The student collided with another student in the hallway and the teacher reprimanded them both for running.
• happened /ˈhæpənd/ to /tu/ be /bi/ 碰巧是
• learner /ˈlɝnɚ/ n. 初学者
  1. Instead of speaking of learner drivers with contempt, we should offer them support.
• panic /ˈpænɪk/ n. 恐慌
  1. The hiker lost his way in the forest and got into a panic as the sun started to set.
  2. She got into a panic when she couldn’t find the tickets.
• lorry /ˈlɔri/ 卡车
• stray /stre/ adj. 离群的
  1. When I saw the stray dog shaking in the cold, I had the impulse to bring it home.
• greedily /ˈɡridəli/ adv. v. 贪婪得
  1. If a person or animal devours something, they eat it quickly and eagerly.
  2. It is estimated that the stray dog greedily devoured the steak.
  3. Tom was astonished to find that his little sister greedily devoured all of his favorite ice cream.
  4. The child greedily ate all the cookies. On the other hand, he refused to touch his vegetables.
• devoured /dɪˈvaʊɚd/ 狼吞虎咽地吃

Expressions

• a prelude to something 某事的前奏
• unforeseen + changes/problems/circumstances 未预见的变化/问题/情况
• a series of 一系列
• be a catastrophe for sb. 对某人来说是个灾难。
• in the suburbs / a suburb of city 在郊区
• collide with=run into 与……相撞
• get into a panic 陷入恐慌
• draw up alongside 停在……旁边
• slide off/open 滑落/滑开
• stray dogs 流浪狗
• There is some confusion about sth. 对某事有些困惑
• get out of control 失控
  1. If you are impatient to do something, wait and think and avoid letting it get out of control.
  2. It comes as a surprise to learn that the plane got out of control and crashed.
  3. What invariably happens is that+句子
  4. What invariably happens is that he could make everybody laugh to tears at the party.
  5. What invariably happens is that walking in the open air could make you happy.
  6. What invariably happens is that + get something for nothing
• What invariably happens is that+句子 总是发生的情况是……
• set up a chain of reactions 引发一连串反应
• keep an eye on sb. 照看；留意某人
  1. We've asked the neighbours to keep an eye on the house for us while we are away.
  2. Will you keep an eye on my daughter for a while?
• be/speak/talk on the phone 打电话
  1. We spoke earlier on the phone.
  2. My wife was talking to someone on the phone when I entered the room.
  3. We talked on the phone for over an hour, and found it impossible to help our friend.
• hang up (on sb.) 挂断电话
• attend to sb./sth. 照料；处理
  1. If you attend to someone who is hurt or injured, you care for them.
  2. The teacher quickly attended to the student who fell and hurt their legs.
  3. Are you conscious that I have some urgent business to attend to.
• reduce sb. to tears 使某人落泪
  1. If I reduced her to tears, I would apologize to her.
  2. They were amazed to find that the letter reduced her to tears.
  3. The movie had an influence on her, and reduced her to tears.
• on a big/large/small scale 大/小规模地
  1. What works on a small scale can be a disaster on a large scale.
  2. Behaviors [that are safe on a small scale] can become a series of catastrophes on a big scale.
  3. They are under the impression that the work will be done on a big scale.
• rush hour 高峰时间
  1. The rush hour is one of the periods of the day when most people are traveling to or from work.
  2. Do you realize the rush hour starts in an hour?
  3. During rush hour, I invited my friend to join me for a cup of coffee after work.
  4. She finds it hard to find a parking spot during the busy rush hour.
• pull up 停车；停下
• all of a sudden = suddenly 突然
  1. I was walking down the street, and all of a sudden, I saw a cat climbing a tree. Oddly enough, it was wearing a tiny hat.
  2. On her way to the grocery store, all of a sudden, she ran into an old friend [she hadn't seen in years].
• pile up 堆积
• get the traffic on the move 让交通动起来
  1. Technically speaking, it is Leo who got the traffic on the move, not you.
  2. It looked as if/though he would get the traffic on the move.
  3. This was designed to get the traffic on the move.
• sweep up 打扫；卷起
  1. Whether you sweep up those broken bottles or not, we will call the police.
  2. He thought it his duty to sweep up all these broken bottles.
  3. It is outrageous that they refused to sweep up the glasses.
• benefit from sth. 从某事中受益
  1. If you had listened to your mother’s advice, you would have benefited from that.
  2. He benefited from his friend's sense of humor, as they always knew how to make him laugh to tears.
  3. I bet you benefited from my mother's advice.