A Winter to Remember
难忘的冬天
Robert Best
罗伯特.贝斯特
①According to the weather men last winter was one of the worst in living memory.
①气象员说，去年冬天是记忆中最冷的一个冬天。
①We live in the depths of the country, and my whole family agree that it was certainly a winter we shall never forget. ②Snow began to fall at round about the
beginning of the New Year and
①我们生活在偏远地区；我们全家人都认为去年冬天肯定是我们永远无法忘记的。②雪在年初开始下，断断续续下了十来天。
①At first we were all thrilled to see it.②It fell silently and relentlessly in large soft flakes until every ugly patch and corner of our rather rambling garden was smoothed over and had become a spotless white canopy.③The children soon spoilt
leaving their footprints all over it.④Hungry
on its surface.⑤It was now, when the garden was all churned up and of a dirty grey colour, that a severe frost set in, hardening the snow into ugly lumps of grimy concrete.⑥For the next three months the whole countryside lay in a grip of iron.
①看见这样的情形，我们一开始都很兴奋。②雪花很大很软，悄无声息，下个不停，最后我们家的那个布局很不规则的花园的每片土地上都蒙上了厚厚的一层雪，就像是一席洁白无瑕的罩蓬。③但是，孩子们打雪仗，雪地上满是脚印，很快就破坏了这种美景。④觅食的小鸟在雪地上也留下了纤细的爪痕。⑤只有在花园被彻底翻腾过，呈现出肮脏的灰色后，严寒才会到来，把雪硬化成块，就像灰色的混凝土一样难看。⑥在接下来的三个月里，整个乡村都陷入了冰天雪地。
①Every day the birds grew tamer, often waiting hopefully almost on our backdoor step.②We fed them with bits of cheese, chopped up meat and any leftovers we had.③We also put out bowls of water, which unfortunately within an hour had frozen solid.
①小鸟变得更加驯服，常常在我们家后门的台阶上满怀希望地等待。②我们用碎奶酪喂它们，我们还把肉和其他剩余食物切碎喂它们。③还端出几碗水给它们喝，只可惜不到一个小时，就冻得结结实实。
of the rooms. ④As a result the water pipes froze so that for several weeks our water supply had to be brought in buckets from a nearby farm. ⑤We tried to buy a number of oil-stoves to keep these rooms warm, but other people had thought of doing this
too —when
spring —which, of course, was a great comfort.
①室内也非常冷。②我们的中央供热系统很糟糕，很“不合作”：之所以说很糟糕，部分原因是系统需要全面检修，部分原因是门窗状况很糟，使得风嗖嗖地往室内钻；之所以说很“不合作”，是因为系统偶尔会“罢工”。③更糟的是，许多房间的砖结构上有很多小孔，结果水管冻住了，以至于有几个星期我们的供水就是靠从附近的一家农场一桶又一桶地往家里提水。④为了给房间取暖，我们想法设法去买一些油炉，但是别人也想到了这一点——我们到村里的商店买油炉时，店主告诉我们已经卖完了，虽然也有订货，但是要等到明年春天才能送到———很显然，这也是一个很大的“安慰”。
①Throughout January and February and much of March we sat about in our
overcoats and
of water.
①在整个一月和二月，以及三月的很长时间里，我们的取暖方式就是坐着的时候穿着棉大衣；另外的就是拖着沉重的脚步，来往于农场和屋舍之间，一桶接一桶地提水。
①On one occasion the water actually froze before it reached the house, and our
youngest son — not the most intelligent of youth —
①有一次，水还没有到家就已经冻住了，而我最小的儿子——他在同龄人中不是最聪明的——居然又原路返回把水送回了农场。
①However, one good thing did happen. ②One of the children dropped a container with a dozen eggs in it. ③I stooped down furiously to pick up what I thought would be the messy remains only to discover the eggs had come to no harm — they were as solid as if they had been hard-boiled.
①不管怎样，还是发生了一件让人高兴的事。②我的一个孩子把一个装有一打鸡蛋的容器掉在地上。③我原以为那些鸡蛋已经摔成了稀烂，很生气，但是蹲下去捡时，却发现鸡蛋完好无损——原来那些鸡蛋已经冻得非常结实，像煮熟了一样。
①Late in March, it finally thawed. ②Water squirted from pipes in at least half a dozen places. ③Instead of carting buckets of water into the kitchen from the farm we now brought them in from different parts of the house. ④Eventually we found a plumber. ⑤The plumber undoubtedly saved us from drowning. ⑥I have been devoted to plumbers ever since.
①三月底的时候，冰雪终于融化了（或译为：天终于回暖了）。②我们家的水管至少有六个地方漏水，我们只能在漏水的地方接水，再也不用一桶接一桶地从农场往厨房里提水了。③最后，我们找到一个管子工，他帮助我们免除了被淹死的危险，所以从那以后，我都一直都非常感激管子工。
结束
Unit 13 [见教材P157]
Christmas
圣诞节
Floyd Dell (the U.S.)
弗洛依德. 戴尔（美国）
①That fall, before it was discovered that the soles of both my shoes were worn clear through, I still went to Sunday school. ②And one time the Sunday-school superintendent made a speech to all the classes. ③He said that these were hard times, and that many poor children weren’t getting enough to eat. ④It was the first time
