Notes on the text
课文注释
1 So great is our passion for doing…, 这句话的基本句型是 so…that…引导的结果状语从句，为了强调great 这个词，把so great提到句首，因此主谓语要倒装。
2 embark on, 开始干。
3 lay out, 布置。
4 go so far as to(do), 竟到了……的程度。
5 cater for, 迎合。
6 get round to, 抽出时间，腾空。
7 I would not hear, 我不愿意听。
8 jigsaw puzzle, 拼板玩具。
参考译文
现在我们自己动手做事的热情很高，结果对于专业工人的依赖越来越少了。由于出版了不计其数的教人自己动手做事的书报杂志，没有人再能说对某事一无所知。新婚夫妇找来合适的工具和材料，喜气洋洋地开始布置新房。特别是男人，常利用空闲时间安装壁炉、布置花园、建造车库、制作家具。有些热衷于自己动手的人甚至自己组装电脑。为了满足自己动手势的需要，商店不仅为初学者提供专门的咨询服务，而且为顾客准备了各种零件，供他们买回家去安装。这些东西为人们潜在的创造力提供了一个绝妙的用武之地。但不幸的是，我们并非人人都是能工巧匠。
妻子常常认为她们的丈夫无比聪明能干。甚至那些连一枚钉子都钉不直的男人都被认为是天生的电工、木匠、水管工和机械师。每当电灯保险丝烧断、家具榫头松动、管道堵塞、吸尘器不动时，有些妻子认为丈夫总有办法。自己动手的例子中最糟糕的是，有时甚至是男人尽管接连失败却还误以为自己什么都行，原因就是要面子。
今年春天，妻子让我请人检查一下我家的割草机。那台割草机去年夏天就环了，尽管我答应修，但一直没抽出时间。我不愿听妻子的建议，说我自己会修。一个星期六的下午，我把割草机拉到了花园里，仔细检查了一番。在我看来，只需稍加调整即可。这儿紧紧螺丝，那儿固定一下，再加几滴油，就会像新的一样了。事实上，修理工作远不是那么简单。修完后割草机还是纹丝不动。于是，我决定把它拆开。一会儿工夫，割草机便被拆成一个个金属零件，乱七八糟地堆在花园里。但我却非常高兴，因为我找到了毛病所在。驱动轮子的链条断了一节。我买来一根新链条后，面临的就是如何把这些令人眼花缭乱的拼板重新组装起来。等我装完后，那台割草机仍然一动不动，对此我倒并不感到吃惊。原因很简单，因为还剩下几个形状奇特的零件似乎哪里也装不上去。我无可奈何，只好罢休。几个星期过去了，草长了起来。妻子喋喋不休地让我想点办法。我告诉她，要么买一台新割草机，要么让草长下去。不用说，我家现在已被丛林包围。深草丛中的某个地方有一台正在生锈的割草机，那就是我曾答应某日要修理的割草机。
Multiple choice questions多项选择题
Choose the correct answers to the following questions.
Comprehension
理解
1 Why did the writer's wife suggest calling in a man to look at the mower?
a．To get her husband to mend it, believing him to be a born carpenter.
b．She had forgotten that her husband had promised to mend it.
c．She suspected it would otherwise remain unrepaired and the grass uncut.
d．Her husband had repeatedly tried mending it already without success.
2 The writer decided to dismantle the mower because ______ .
a．it was a Saturday and he had the time to spare
b．he had discovered the cause of the trouble
c．he thought it was a sure way of proving it would not work
d．what repairs he had already carried out had not proved adequate
3 The writer's house is now surrounded by a jungle because
a．he lost several pieces of the mower in the process of dismantling it
b．by now the lawn mower is too rusty to cut the grass with
c．besides not having cut the grass, he has failed to cut down the trees
d．his wife was not prepared to let him buy a new lawn mower