听播客学英语 211 如何打造家具

 　　In this podcast, we meet the expression “the trouble is that…” (which means¹ “the problem is that….”). We also discover several different ways of getting things wrong – upside² down, back to front and inside out.

　　Kevin and Joanne sat on their sofa and looked around their flat. It was a mess. There were books and clothes and bits of hi-fi equipment all over the floor.

　　“The trouble is,” said Joanne, “that you never put things away.”

　　“No, the trouble is that we have nowhere to put things, ” said Kevin. And Kevin was right. They needed more cupboards or shelves to put things on.

　　So they went to IKEA. IKEA is a huge home-furnishing store. You can find IKEA stores in many big cities in Britain, and most European countries and nowdays in lots of places outside Europe. Nearly all English people say “eye-key-a”. But I know that in Sweden people say “ee-kay-a”, and since IKEA is a Swedish³ company, that is the way I pronounce their name. Actually, IKEA is very Swedish. All their ranges of furniture have Swedish names, and some of these sound funny (or even rude) in English. And the cafe at IKEA serves Swedish dishes like herring and Swedish meat-balls. IKEA furniture is “flat-pack” furniture. That means that you buy it in a pack containing all the parts you need, and when you get it home you assemble⁴ it yourself. And sometimes you find that not all the pieces are there and you have to go back to the store to get the missing⁵ bits.

　　But to return to our story. Kevin and Joanne walked around the huge store for about an hour, and found what they needed – a cupboard and some bookshelves⁶. The fun started when they got it all home and started to assemble it. Kevin set to work. Joanne wisely went to sit in the kitchen. About two hours later, Kevin said, “It’s finished.” “Mmm,” said Joanne, looking at the cupboard and the bookshelf⁷. “The trouble is that this bit is back to front. And you have put the doors on upside down.”

　　So Kevin had to dismantle⁸ the furniture and start again. He cut his finger, and hit his thumb with a hammer. Shortly⁹ before midnight, it was finished. Joanne brought him a cup of tea and admired his work. “It is perfect now,” said Kevin. “Nothing back to front. Nothing upside down.” “No,” said Joanne, “but Kevin – your jumper – look, it’s inside out!”

1 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

2 upside   

n.上侧，上段，上部

参考例句：

• The children hung the picture upside down.小孩把画挂倒了。
• If you turn the envelope upside down, the key will fall out.你如果把信封倒过来，钥匙就会掉出。

3 Swedish   

n.瑞典人，瑞典语；adj.瑞典的，瑞典人的，瑞典语的

参考例句：

• From his looks I'd say he was Swedish.从他的相貌上看，我敢说他是瑞典人。
• He is going after that pretty Swedish girl.他正在追求那位美丽的瑞典女郎。

4 assemble   

vt.集合，召集；装配；收集；vi.集合，聚集

参考例句：

• Assemble your papers and put them in the file.把你的文件归拢放在这个文件夹内。
• The students assemble for class at 8 o'clock in the morning.学生早上八时聚集在一起上课。

5 missing   

adj.遗失的，缺少的，失踪的

参考例句：

• Check the tools and see if anything is missing.检点一下工具，看有无丢失。
• All the others are here;he's the only one missing.别人都来了，就短他一个。

6 bookshelves   

n.书架；书架( bookshelf的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The room was fitted up with bookshelves. 房间备有书架。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In the alcoves on either side of the fire were bookshelves. 火炉两边的凹室里是书架。 来自辞典例句

7 bookshelf   

n.书架

参考例句：

• Please take the bookshelf away.把书架搬开。
• He put the books all together on the bookshelf.他把每本书都放在书架上。

8 dismantle   

vt.拆开，拆卸；废除，取消

参考例句：

• He asked for immediate help from the United States to dismantle the warheads.他请求美国立即提供援助，拆除这批弹头。
• The mower firmly refused to mow,so I decided to dismantle it.修完后割草机还是纹丝不动，于是，我决定把它拆开。

9 shortly   

adv.立即，不久；简略地，简言之

参考例句：

• You go along with him. I'll come shortly.你陪陪他，我马上就来。
• He answered my questions rather shortly.他相当简慢地回答我的问题。