1、 Karen has just had her house redecorated.
　　翻譯為：凱瑞剛讓人把房子重新裝修。
　　注意這里的用法，had sth done — 強(qiáng)調(diào)的是讓別人做了什么
　　例：I had my clothes washed.(我讓人把衣服洗了)

　　2、 The architect and Tom put there heads together to discuss what we wanted what was possible.
　　注意的詞語：put heads together：共同商量、集思廣益。
　　翻譯為：建筑師和提姆共同商討以可行的方式來滿足我們的需求。

　　3、 After a few meetings, they came up with some super idea that everybody agreed with.
　　注意的詞語：come up with：提出、拿出。
　　翻譯為：經(jīng)過一會兒的交談，他們拿出了一些大家都同意的好點(diǎn)子。

　　4、 But the rest of it was surprisingly expensive.
　　注意的詞語：the rest：其余者。It：代指裝修所用的材料。
　　翻譯為：但是其余的材料簡直便宜得讓人吃驚。

　　5、 We were able to make do with the materials we already have.
　　注意的詞語：make do with：設(shè)法應(yīng)付。
　　翻譯為：我們設(shè)法將我們已經(jīng)擁有的材料都用上了。

　　6、 I made up some of the curtains and pillows on the couch form mere sheets.
　　注意的詞語：make up ：在這里指做縫制.編織.
　　翻譯為：我縫制了一些窗簾和睡椅靠墊，僅僅是用一些床單做的.

　　7、 It’s funny how people can find solution afer they kick something around for a while.
　　注意的詞語：kick something around：直譯——將什么東西踢來踢去。引申意——討論。
　　翻譯為：人們怎樣通過暫時的討論之后，就能找到解決方法是件有趣的事情。

　　8、 You’re on your own.
　　注意的詞語：on one's own：獨(dú)立地、獨(dú)自地。
　　翻譯為：你自己玩吧!

　　9、 I’d like to concentrate on getting the best score ever on this game.
　　注意的詞語：concentrate on：精中(精力)、全神貫注于
　　翻譯為：我將集中精力在這個游戲上取得最好的分?jǐn)?shù)。注意even在這里的用法。

　　10、No matter how busy you are, always take time out to check that your child hasn't gotten hold of something that could hurt him.
　　注意的詞語：take time out to：暫停下來。Get hold of：抓住、得到。

　　11、But quit my job and took up housekeeping the year after my marriage. Daily household chores keep me on my toes; I’m delighted all day long.
　　注意的詞語：take up：開始從事。 on one’s toe ：準(zhǔn)備行動。 all day long：一整天。
　　keep me on my toes：讓我保持活力的狀態(tài)，結(jié)合句意就：一刻也閑不著，樂此不疲。
　　翻譯為：但是自從我結(jié)婚以后，便放棄了工作，開始打理家務(wù)。每天的家務(wù)瑣事讓我樂此不疲。我一整天都眉天眼笑的。

　　12、“in a moment”與 “or so”
　　一個表示“立刻”，一個表示“大約”。都是形容時間的。

　　13、That's the “tremendous business” for me out of the three meals a day, for, except for the weekends,we have only this meal together. Besides, he always has his lunch in a neglected way at his workplace.
　　翻譯為：那對于我來說，是除了三頓飯以外，最為重大的事情。因?yàn)�，除了周末，我們只能在一起吃一頓正餐。此外，他總是在他的工作場所，很輕率的打發(fā)他的午餐。

    練習(xí):

　　Mrs. Chambers sits comfortably in her armchair, enjoying a cup of coffee. She has had athe right to relax. She has had a long and very busy life.

　　Mrs. Chambers has retired now to a small house in Bangor, a popular seaside town not far from Belfast. But for most of her life she lived in the country. Her husband’s farm was on an island in the middle of Strangford Lake. There, Mrs. Chambers baked bread twice a week, made jam every summer, and put her husband’s dinner on the table at twelve 0’clock exactly every day. The island farm had been owned by the Chambers family for may years, passing on from father to son. It was a quiet and beautiful place to live. They grew potatoes and vegetables, and kept hens and cows. When Mr. Chambers died, his son took on the farm, Mrs. Chambers moved away.

　　She takes another sip of coffee, and smiles as she remembers people from the past. “The old lady down the road thought she had a ghost in the house,” she says, “but it was only old Tom MaAleer, frightening her for fun.” The memories come fast. “Twenty men, they had, only tem years ago, to bring in the potato crop. Young Hugh has a machine now. He only needs five.”

　　It’s time for the news on TV. Mrs. Chambers wants to see the racing results. She won quite a lot of money last week. Next month she’s going down to Tipperary in the Republic of Ireland. The horse-racing there is wonderful. She finds it hard to stay away. But before the racing results there’s another item of news. A bomb has exploded in Belfast. Several people have been killed. Mrs. Chambers shakes her head. “They’re all crazy,” she says. “It’s just a few who make all the trouble. The rest of us want to live in peace. We’ve all got life long friends from both sides. And most of the time we never talk about the trouble.”

　　The racing results come on. She leans forward to watch. For her, ordinary everyday life is the most important thing.

    參考譯文:

　　喬柏斯太太舒服地坐在扶手椅里，享受著一杯咖啡。她有權(quán)利放松，她已經(jīng)過了很長時間的忙碌生活了。

　　現(xiàn)在喬柏斯太太已經(jīng)退休了，住在班戈區(qū)的一所小房子里。班戈區(qū)是貝爾法斯特附近一個廣受喜愛的海邊小城。但是在生命中的大部分時間里，她都住在農(nóng)村。她丈夫在斯福德湖中間的一座島上有一個農(nóng)場。喬柏斯太太每周都烤兩次面包，每個夏天都要做果醬，每天12點(diǎn)準(zhǔn)時把丈夫的午飯擺在桌上。島上的那個農(nóng)場屬于喬柏斯家族已經(jīng)很多年了，是從父輩傳下來的。那是個安靜美麗的地方。他們自己種土豆和蔬菜，還養(yǎng)母雞和奶牛。喬柏斯先生去世后，他的兒子接管了農(nóng)場，喬柏斯太太搬離了那里。

　　她喝了口咖啡。想起以前那些人的時候，她笑了�！白≡诼繁M頭的那個老太太以為自己房子里有鬼，”她說，“其實(shí)那只是老湯姆.麥艾里爾唬她逗她玩的�！庇洃洷豢焖俚膯拘��！皟H僅在十年前，他們請了二十個人來挖土豆。年輕的休現(xiàn)在有了自己的機(jī)器，他只需要五個人�！�

　　現(xiàn)在到電視新聞時間了。喬柏斯太太想看看跑馬比賽的結(jié)果。她上個禮拜贏了一大筆錢。她下個月要去愛爾蘭的蒂帕雷里，那里的跑馬比賽很精彩，她發(fā)現(xiàn)自己很難不參與進(jìn)去。但是在比賽結(jié)果公布之前還有另外一則新聞：貝爾法斯特發(fā)生一起爆炸，幾個人被炸死了。喬柏斯太太搖了搖頭�！八麄儻偭恕彼�說，“制造麻煩的只是少數(shù)人，我們其余的人都想過平靜的生活。我們都有來自雙方的終身朋友(雙方指天主教徒和新教徒)，多數(shù)時候我們從不談?wù)摕┬氖隆！?/p>

　　比賽結(jié)果出來了。她傾著身子去看。對她來說，普通平凡的日常生活才是最重要的。