英文短篇故事（纽约）144 A Colorful Front Yard

 　　He was tired of mowing¹ his green lawn. He was tired of looking at his green lawn. He was tired of green, period. He looked across the street. He saw a green lawn. All his neighbors had green lawns. Why, he wondered. Is there a law? Must all homes have green lawns? He decided² it was time for a change. He dug up his green lawn. He planted vegetables. He planted carrots. He planted tomatoes. He planted squash. He planted cabbage. A month later, he looked at his new lawn. The vegetables were beautiful. They were colorful. He saw orange, red, yellow, and purple. "Our new lawn not only looks good, but it will taste good," he told his wife. Then he got a letter from the city council. It said, "Your neighbors have complained. Your lawn doesn't meet city standards. You have 30 days to make it green again."

1 mowing   

n.割草，一次收割量，牧草地v.刈，割( mow的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The lawn needs mowing. 这草坪的草该割了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• "Do you use it for mowing?" “你是用它割草么？” 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。