英语小达人 243 My Wife Told Me to Do So

 　　My Wife Told Me to Do So

　　我妻子让我这样做的

　　Standing¹ at the Pearly Gates of Heaven, Martin noticed signs pointing to two paths. One was marked "Women" and the other marked "Men".

　　站在天国之门前，马丁注意到两块标牌分别指向两条路：一块上书“女人”，另一块上书“男人”。

　　He took the path assigned to men and then came upon two more gates.

　　马丁选择了男人的那条路，来到两扇门前。

　　The right-hand gate had a sign that read "Men Who Were Dominated by Their Spouses²"; the other gate read "Men Who Were Boss and Dominated Their Spouses".

　　右边的门上有一块牌子上写着“受妻子支配的男人”；左边的门上写着“支配妻子的男人”。

　　The first gate had an endless line of guys waiting, but only one little guy stood before the male domination gate.

　　右边的门前排了长长的一队，而左边的门前就只站着一个小个子。

　　Martin was undecided, so he walked up to the little guy standing all alone and asked, "Why are you standing at this gate?"

　　马丁拿不定主意，就走到孤零零站着的小个子跟前问道：“你为什么站在这扇门前？”

　　The smallish fellow replied, "I haven't a clue. My wife told me to do stand here."

　　小个子答道：“我也不知道。我妻子让我站这儿的。”

　　重点讲解：

　　1. point to

　　指向；朝向；

　　eg. You can go anywhere and still the compass points north or south.

　　无论走到哪里，罗盘仍然指向北或南。

　　eg. He controlled the car until it was pointing forwards again.

　　他稳住车子，直到它又朝前开去。

　　2. come upon

　　偶然碰到（或发现）；产生（某种态度或感觉）；

　　eg. I came upon an irresistible³ item at a yard sale.

　　在一次庭院拍卖会上，我偶然发现了一个忍不住想买的东西。

　　eg. A sense of impending⁴ doom⁵ came upon all of us.

　　我们所有人都有一种大难临头的感觉。

　　3. have sb. doing sth.

　　是指让某人一直做某事，强调动作的持续性、连续性或者动作的反复性；

　　eg. He had us laughing during the lunchtime.

　　他让我们在午饭期间一直笑个不停。

　　eg. You’d better have your car running slowly.

　　你最好把车子开慢点。

　　4. tell sb. to do sth.

　　叫；命令；吩咐；建议某人做某事；

　　eg. A passer-by told the driver to move his car so that it was not causing an obstruction⁶.

　　一个过路人叫那个司机把他的车挪一挪，免得挡道。

　　eg. She told me on the telephone to come help clean the house.

　　她在电话里叫我过去帮忙打扫屋子。

　　5. haven't a clue

　　不知道；一无所知；

　　eg. I haven't a clue what I'll give Carl for his birthday next year.

　　我不知道明年卡尔过生日我该送什么。

　　eg. Children today haven't a clue about nature.

　　今天的孩子对自然没有一点印象。

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 spouses   

n.配偶，夫或妻( spouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Jobs are available for spouses on campus and in the community. 校园里和社区里有配偶可做的工作。 来自辞典例句
• An astonishing number of spouses-most particularly in the upper-income brackets-have no close notion of their husbands'paychecks. 相当大一部分妇女——特别在高收入阶层——并不很了解他们丈夫的薪金。 来自辞典例句

3 irresistible   

adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的

参考例句：

• The wheel of history rolls forward with an irresistible force.历史车轮滚滚向前，势不可挡。
• She saw an irresistible skirt in the store window.她看见商店的橱窗里有一条叫人着迷的裙子。

4 impending   

a.imminent, about to come or happen

参考例句：

• Against a background of impending famine, heavy fighting took place. 即将发生饥荒之时，严重的战乱爆发了。
• The king convoke parliament to cope with the impending danger. 国王召开国会以应付迫近眉睫的危险。

5 doom   

n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定

参考例句：

• The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
• The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。

6 obstruction   

n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物

参考例句：

• She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
• The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。