Do it yourself

原文

So great is our passion for doing things for ourselves, that we are becoming increasingly less dependent on specialized labour. No one can plead ignorance of a subject any longer, for these are countless do-it-yourself publications. Armed with the right tools and materials, newlyweds gaily embark on the task of decorating their own homes. Men, particularly, spend hours of their leisure time installing their own fireplaces, laying out their own gardens; building garages and making furniture. Some really keen enthusiasts go so far as to build their own computers. 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. Such things provide an excellent outlet for pent up creative energy, but unfortunately not all of us are born handymen.

Some wives tend to believe that their husbands are infinitely resourceful and can fix anything. Even men who can hardly drive a nail in straight are supposed to be born electricians, carpenters, plumbers and mechanics. 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. 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. It is a question of pride as much as anything else.

Last spring my wife suggested that I call in a man to look at our lawn mower. It had broken down the previous summer, and though I promised to repair it, I had never got round to it. I would not hear of the suggestion and said that I would fix it myself. One Saturday afternoon, I hauled the machine into the garden and had a close look at it. 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. Inevitably the repair job was not quite so simple. The mower firmly refused to mow, so I decided to dismantle it. The garden was soon littered with chunks of metal which had once made up a lawn mower. But I was extremely pleased with myself. I had traced the cause of the trouble. One of links in the chain that drives the wheels had snapped. After buying a new chain I was faced with the insurmountable task of putting the confusing jigsaw puzzle together again. I was not surprised to find that the machine still refused to work after I had reassembled it, for the simple reason that I was left with several curiously shaped bits of metal which did not seem to fit anywhere. I gave up in despair. The weeks passed and the grass grew. When my wife nagged me to do something about it, I told her that either I would have to buy a new mower or let the grass grow. Needless to say our house is now surrounded by a jungle. Buried somewhere in deep grass there is a rusting lawn mower which I have promised to repair one day.

译文

我们自己动手做的热情是如此之大，以致我们越来越少依赖专门的劳动力。没有人能再以对某事一无所知为借口，因为有无数的“自己动手”出版物。新婚夫妇手持合适的工具和材料，兴高采烈地着手装饰自己的家园。男人尤其乐此不疲，在闲暇时间花上数小时安装壁炉，布置花园；建造车库和制作家具。有些真正的热心者甚至自己动手建造计算机。商店迎合这种“自己动手”热潮，不仅为新手提供特别的咨询服务，而且向消费者提供各种零件，让他们可以在家组装。这些东西为被压抑的创造性提供了极好的发泄渠道，但不幸的是，我们并非人人都是天生的能工巧匠。

有些妻子倾向于相信她们的丈夫资源无穷，什么都能修好。即使是那些连钉子都钉不直的男人，也被认为是天生的电工、木匠、水管工和机械师。当灯泡烧坏、家具摇晃、管道堵塞或吸尘器失灵时，有些妇女便假设她们的丈夫会设法修好。最糟糕的是，“自己动手”游戏有时甚至让男人自欺欺人，认为他们什么都能做，即使一再被证明是错的。这与其说是个问题，不如说是个骄傲的问题。

去年春天，我妻子建议我请人来检查我们的割草机。它在前一个夏天坏了，虽然我答应修好它，却一直没有动手。我不听她的建议，坚持说要自己修。一天星期六下午，我把机器拖到花园里仔细检查一番。在我看来，它只需要小小的调整：拧拧螺丝，这里紧一紧，那里滴点油，它就会像新的一样。不可避免地，修理工作没那么简单。割草机坚决不肯割草，于是我决定把它拆开。花园很快布满了曾是割草机部件的金属碎片。但我却洋洋自得，因为我已经找到了故障的原因。驱动车轮的链条中有一节断了。买了新的链条后，我面临着把这个乱七八糟的拼图重新拼起来的不可逾越的任务。我毫不奇怪地发现，重新组装后机器仍然不肯工作，原因很简单，我还剩下几块奇形怪状的金属片，似乎哪儿也放不进去。我绝望地放弃了。几个星期过去了，草越长越高。当我妻子唠叨我做点什么时，我告诉她要么买个新割草机，要么就让草长着。不用说，我们的房子现在被丛林包围了。埋在深草丛中的某处，有一台生锈的割草机，我答应总有一天要修好它。

词汇表

passion

名词

英:/ˈpæʃ(ə)n/

美:/ˈpæʃən/

定义

1. 热情 - A strong and barely controllable emotion, often enthusiasm or desire.

例子: His passion for cooking drives him to experiment with new recipes.

例子: She pursued her passion for art despite the challenges.

2. 激情 - An intense feeling of love or sexual desire.

例子: Their passion for each other was evident in every glance.

例子: The novel is filled with scenes of romantic passion.

近义词

enthusiasm: 强调积极的兴趣和活力，但不如 passion 强烈或情感化，常用于日常语境。

zeal: 更侧重于热心和奉献，常与事业或目标相关，而 passion 可能更个人化。

ardor: 类似 passion，但更正式，常用于文学或历史语境，强调持久的热情。

反义词:

apathy, indifference, disinterest

用法

常用于描述强烈的兴趣或情感，常搭配如 'have a passion for'（对...有热情），在非正式和正式语境中均适用，文化上强调个人动力。

形式:

复数: passions, 形容词形式: passionate

关键句型 "So + adjective + is/are + subject, that + clause"

定义

这个句型是一种强调倒装结构，用于突出形容词或副词的程度，从而加强句子表达的力度。基本结构为：So + adjective (形容词) + is/are + subject (主语) + , that + clause (从句)。例如，文章中的 "So great is our passion that..."。根据《剑桥英语语法手册》，这种句型属于倒装句 (inversion)，目的是将形容词置于句首以强调，通常用于正式或书面英语中。它简洁地连接两个部分：前半部分强调特征，后半部分说明结果。

这种结构帮助学习者表达强烈的情感或事实，类似于 "such + noun + that"，但更侧重于形容词。

用法

此句型常用于描述某种品质或状态的极端程度，并在语法体系中属于强调和倒装的范畴。使用场景包括文学、演讲或正式文章中，例如强调情感、成就或问题。规则是：当 "so" 后跟形容词时，主谓倒装发生 (如 "So great is" 而非 "Our passion is so great")，以突出形容词；"that" 引导结果状语从句。

横向比较：与普通句子 "Our passion is so great that..." 相比，这个句型更正式和强调，适合创建戏剧效果。与 "Such + noun + that" (如 "Such great passion is ours that...") 不同，它专门用于形容词，而非名词；与条件句的倒装 (如 "Had I known...") 相比，此句型更侧重于结果而非假设。跨语法联系：它与强调句型 (如 "It is... that") 相关联，都用于突出信息；学生可扩展到其他倒装形式，如以 "here" 或 "there" 开头的句子，进一步理解英语的语序灵活性。

在实际中，这个句型能让表达更有冲击力，例如在辩论或写作中。

注意事项

学生常犯的错误包括：忘记进行主谓倒装，导致句子不自然，如说 "So great our passion that..." (错误，应为 "So great is our passion that...")；或误用 "that" 从句，替换为其他连词如 "because"，从而改变句意。纠正建议：练习时先写出正常语序，然后再调整为倒装形式。同时，注意 "so" 后必须是形容词或副词，不能是名词。

另一个常见偏误是过度使用，导致语言过于正式而不适合口语。提供具体例句：

错误示例：So great our passion, we are becoming less dependent.
正确示例：So great is our passion that we are becoming less dependent.

通过比较，学生能学会如何保持句子的平衡。

练习

一个原创例子：假设你在描述朋友的热情，你可以说："So strong is his determination that he finished the marathon despite the rain." 这贴近实际生活场景，如体育或个人成就。学生可以替换关键词，例如将 "strong" 换成 "brave"，并修改主语和从句，如 "So dedicated is she to her work that she often stays late." 这种替换练习能帮助学生在日常对话或写作中灵活应用句型，增强对强调的理解。

通过多次练习，学生会发现这个句型如何使语言更有说服力。

额外内容

背景知识：这种句型源于英语的文学传统，常见于莎士比亚时代或现代诗歌中，用于增强节奏感。对比分析：与中文的强调句式（如 "如此伟大以至于..."）类似，但英语通过倒装实现，而中文依赖词汇；在法语中，类似结构如 "Si grand est... que..."，也使用倒装，突显了印欧语言的共同特征。这能丰富学生的跨文化理解，鼓励他们在学习中探索语言的演变历史。

关键句型 "Not only... but also..."

定义

这个句型用于并列和强调两种或多种事物，结构为：Not only + clause/element + but also + clause/element，表示不仅仅是A，而且还有B。文章中的例子是 "Shops cater for the do-it-yourself craze not only by running special advisory services for novices, but by offering consumers bits and pieces..."。根据《牛津现代英语语法》，它是一种平行结构 (parallelism)，强调对比和扩展，旨在突出事物的全面性或多样性。

此句型帮助学习者构建平衡的句子，增强表达的逻辑性。

用法

此句型常用于描述事物的多个方面、原因或结果，适用于正式写作、演讲或日常对话。规则："Not only" 和 "but also" 后跟相同的语法结构 (如名词、动词或从句)，以保持平行；例如，"Not only A but also B"。在语法体系中，它属于连接词和并列结构的一部分，强调平衡和对比。

横向比较：与简单并列 "and" (如 "A and B") 相比，"Not only... but also..." 更强调递进和重要性；与 "either... or..." 不同，它是非排他性的，而后者是选择性的。跨语法联系：它与其他连接结构如 "both... and..." 相关，学生可比较它们在强调方式上的差异；此外，与从句连接如 "not only... but also because..." 结合，能扩展到复杂句型中，建立更广泛的语法网络。

这个句型在实际场景中非常实用，例如在商业或描述中突出优势。

注意事项

学生易犯的错误包括：不保持平行结构，如 "Not only running services but also offering pieces" (错误，因为 "running" 是动名词，"offering" 是动名词，但需确保一致)；或遗漏 "also"，使句子不完整。纠正建议：总是检查前后部分的语法一致性，并练习口头表达以避免awkwardness。另一个偏误是过度使用，导致句子冗长；建议在写作中适度应用。

提供例句：

错误示例：Not only shops run services but also offer pieces.
正确示例：Not only do shops run services but also offer pieces.

通过这些例子，学生能学会避免常见陷阱。

练习

一个原创例子：谈论个人技能时，你可以说："Not only does he play the guitar well, but also he composes his own songs." 这贴近生活场景，如音乐或兴趣爱好。学生可以替换元素，例如将 "play the guitar" 换成 "speak English"，并调整为 "Not only does she speak English fluently, but also she writes poems in it." 这种替换能帮助学生在日常对话中应用句型，强化对并列的掌握。

练习后，学生会更自信地使用它来表达复杂想法。

额外内容

背景知识："Not only... but also..." 起源于拉丁语的修辞手法，在英语中用于增强说服力，常见于辩论和广告。对比分析：与西班牙语的 "no solo... sino también..." 类似，体现了罗曼语系的平行结构；相比中文的 "不但...而且..."，英语版本更依赖语法平衡而非词汇。这段知识能让学生欣赏语言的共通性，鼓励他们在跨文化交流中灵活运用句型。