2015年ESL之日常生活 18 Assembling Furniture

Assembling Furniture 

Armand: Did you know that this nightstand required assembly when you bought it? 

Suzanne: The box said that it required simple assembly. I guess what’s simple to them isn’t simple to us. 

Armand: You can say that again. These instructions aren’t in English, there are no diagrams showing how the parts fit together, and we seem to be missing parts. I also question the quality. It’s mainly made of particleboard and plywood. Do you think we should return it? 

Suzanne: No, let’s just keep it and do the best we can. 

Armand: That’s hard to do when there seems to be a design flaw with the drawers. The pieces don’t fit together as they should. These nails are also bent¹ and these screws look defective². 

Suzanne: It’s not looking good, is it? I also bought this because I thought everything could be assembled using Allen wrenches³, but it looks like we’ll actually need a hammer, screwdriver⁴, and maybe a drill. 

Armand: Well, let’s see what we can do. If we don’t have the right tools or parts, I have a solution. 

Suzanne: What? 

Armand: Duct tape. 

 

Script by Dr. Lucy Tse 

1 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

2 defective   

adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的

参考例句：

• The firm had received bad publicity over a defective product. 该公司因为一件次品而受到媒体攻击。
• If the goods prove defective, the customer has the right to compensation. 如果货品证明有缺陷， 顾客有权索赔。

3 wrenches   

n.一拧( wrench的名词复数 )；（身体关节的）扭伤；扳手；（尤指离别的）悲痛v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的第三人称单数 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛

参考例句：

• NEVER use wrenches or other persuaders to operate the valve. 禁止使用扳手或其它强制性工具来操作阀门。 来自互联网
• Thus, torque wrenches should be used for tightening DISS connections. 因此，应该使用转矩扳手来上紧DISS接头。 来自互联网

4 screwdriver   

n.螺丝起子；伏特加橙汁鸡尾酒

参考例句：

• He took a screwdriver and teased out the remaining screws.他拿出螺丝刀把其余的螺丝卸了下来。
• The electric drill can also be used as a screwdriver.这把电钻也可用作螺丝刀。