Last spring my wife suggested that I call in a man to look at our lawn mower.

call sb. ⇔ in ^{to ask sb. to come and help you with a difficult situation 叫某人来帮忙}

• Your father is very sick. You’d better call in a doctor at once. 

look at … = examine … ^{检查（看看怎么回事）}

• have a look at … ^{（看一下怎么回事）}
• have a close look at …  ^{(仔细的看一下)}

It had broken down the previous summer, and though I promised to repair it, I had never got round to it.

get round / around to sth. / doing ^{有时间（找到时间）做某事}

• I finally got around to cleaning the garage this weekend.^{我终于在这个周末抽出时间打扫了车库。}

I would not hear of the suggestion and said that I would fix it myself.

not hear of sth. ^{不同意某事}

• I wanted to pay but she wouldn't hear of it.

I would not hear of the suggestion that I call in a man to look at our lawn mower. ^完整版

One Saturday afternoon, I hauled the machine into the garden and had a close look at it. 

had a close look at it = … and examined it carefully ^{仔细的检查}

• Let's have a close look at the above example.^{让我们仔细查看一下上面的这个例子。}
• Have a close look at the design, it is in depth and with a strong spatial sense.^{这个图案仔细看进去，它有深度的，空间感很强。}
• Jane has a close look at the flier.^{简仔细地看着宣传页。}

As far as I could see, it needed only a minor adjustment: a turn of a screw here, a little tightening up there, a drop of oil and it would be as good as new.

as far as I can see ^在我看来

• That's the problem as far as I can see.^{在我看来，那就是问题所在。}
• As far as I can see, you've done nothing wrong.^{依我看，你没有做错任何事。}
• As far as I can see, it is a perfect plan.^{在我看来，这是个完美的计划。}
• As far as I can see, he says much the same as they do.^{在我看来，他谈的就跟他们那套差不多。}

as good as ...  ^{almost / nearly  很新的差不多}

• The injured man is as good as dead. 
• Everything is as good as settled.

as good as…^{像…一样好}

• Thirteen is not as good as one, but it's better than nothing. 

Inevitably the repair job was not quite so simple.

not quite so simple ^{没那么简单}

• But the story is not quite so simple.^{但是故事远没有这么简单。}
• Unfortunately, things are not quite so simple.^{不幸的是，事情并非那么简单。}
• All of that is the good news. But things are not quite so simple, because galaxies-like solar systems-have habitability zones of their own.^{虽然好消息有很多，但事情也没那么简单，因为银河和太阳系一样，也有他自己的可居住带。}

The mower firmly refused to mow, so I decided to dismantle it.

The mower mow ^加强对比

• The waiter refused to wait on us. 
• The waiter refused to serve us. ^不对比
• If we see the unutterable, it is unwise to try to utter it, …
• We only help those who really need help.

dismantle it ^{拆卸（较正式）}

…, so I decided to take it apart.  ^替换

The garden was soon littered with chunks of metal which had once made up a lawn mower.

be littered / cluttered with …^{（杂乱的）堆满了}

• The floor was littered / cluttered with broken glass.
• Even though the road was littered with boulders and pitted with holes, Bruce was not in the least perturbed.

There is always hope that in its labyrinth of musty, dark, disordered rooms a real rarity will be found amongst the piles of assorted junk that litter the floors.

But I was extremely pleased with myself.

be pleased with ...^{既开心又满意}

• Robert was delighted to see me and equally pleased with my little gift.
• I felt especially pleased with my wonderful bargain―until I got back to the ship.
• The examiner must have been pleased with my performance, for he smiled and said, 'Just one more thing, Mr. Eames.'

I had traced the cause of the trouble.

trace ^{track down 找到}

• The president vowed to trace / track down those responsible for the bombing. 

One of the links in the chain that drives the wheels had snapped.

snap^{（用词形象）啪的一声绷断了}

• She closed her purse with a snap. ^{她啪嗒一声合上了钱包。}
• He shut the book with a snap and stood up. ^{他啪的一声合上书，站了起来。}
• I could obtain with the snap of my fingers anything I chose. ^{只要打一下响指，我就可以得到我选中的任何东西。}

After buying a new chain I was faced with the insurmountable task of putting the confusing jigsaw puzzle together again.

be faced with ... ^面临着

• We are faced with a difficult choice.^{我们面临着困难的抉择。}
• They are faced with a mountain of bureaucracy.^{他们面临着一大堆的官僚制度。}
• He was faced with a barrage of angry questions from the floor.^{他面临着听众一连串的愤怒质问。}

I was not surprised to find that the machine still refused to work after I had reassembled it, for the simple reason that I was left with several curiously shaped bits of metal which did not seem to fit anywhere.

for the simple reason that … = simply because ... ^{只不过是因为}

• People who work in offices are frequently referred to as ‘white collar workers’ for the simple reason that they usually wear a collar and tie to go to work.

leave sb. with sth. ^{把某事留给某人}

• The movie left me with a sense of hope and inspiration.^{这部电影给我留下了一种希望和启发的感觉。}
• They left me with all the clearing up.^{他们把什么都留给我来收拾。}
• She left me with the impression that she was unhappy with her job.^{她给我的印象是她不满意自己的工作。}

shaped ^{某种形状的}

• Oddly shaped forms that are suspended from the ceiling and move in response to a gust of wind are quite familiar to everybody.

fit ^{go 放进去（大小刚刚合适）}

• The key won’t fit / go in the lock. 

I gave up in despair.

in despair ^绝望地

• He killed himself in despair.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.  ^{我有一个梦想}

The weeks passed and the grass grew.

pass ^{go by / elapse 时间的流逝}

• He couldn't imagine why he had let so much time pass without contacting her. ^{他想像不出为什么他这么长时间没跟她联系。}
• As the years passed he felt trapped by certain realities of marriage. ^{随着岁月的流逝，他感到受困于某些婚姻的现实情况。}
• The children passed the time playing in the streets. ^{孩子们在街上玩耍消磨时间。}

… passed and the grass grew. ^{(音韵和谐)}

• An idle youth, a needy age. ^{少壮不努力老大徒伤悲(音节对齐)}
• It's running across the grass.

When my wife nagged me to do something about it, I told her that either I would have to buy a new mower or let the grass grow.

nagged (at) sb. to do sth. ^{唠叨着某人去做某事}

• My girlfriend nagged me to cut my hair.^{我女朋友唠叨着催我去理发。}
• The children have nagged me into taking them to the cinema.^{孩子们对我纠缠不休，使我终于带他们去看了电影。}
• But you nag me or tell me I'm supposed to spend time with the kids. ^{而你，却要么是来烦我，要么是说让我同孩子们去耍。}

Needless to say our house is now surrounded by a jungle.

Needless to say = As you can imagine, … ^{不用说你也知道}

• Needless to say, the bigger the risk an insurance company takes, the higher the premium you will have to pay.
• As you can imagine, the trip is no piece of cake.^{如你所想，这次旅行绝非易事。}

Buried somewhere in deep grass there is a rusting lawn mower which I have promised to repair one day.

promise to do ^{承诺做某事}

•  He reneged on a promise to leave his wife. ^{他背弃了诺言，离开了他的妻子。}
• Claire had made me promise to tell her the truth. ^{克莱尔已经逼我答应了告诉她真相。}
• We promise to deliver to your door within 48 hours of you ordering. ^{我们承诺在接到订单后48小时内送货上门。}