第十一讲

    Learning to Love the Computer, Warts and All By Dave Barry
    Text Study
    Para. 1a At least once per day, without fail, my computer, like every computer I have ever owned, has some kind of emotional breakdown. It simply stops working—often when I’m not touching it—and it puts a message on the screen informing me that an error has occurred.

    Dave Barry
    戴夫·巴瑞(1947— ) 是美国著名的专栏作家，文字幽默风趣。1988 年其评论文章获得美国新闻界最高奖项——普利策奖。同时他也涉足小说写作。
"the funniest man in America." —The New York Times a father‘s ultimate sacrifice: accompanying his daughter to a Justin Bieber concert. a Pulitzer Prize winner, American author and columnist. He has also written numerous books of humor and parody, as well as comedic novels. The 2013 Fairfax Prize was awarded to Dave Barry on September 22, 2013.

    warts and all
    在英语中，这个短语表示“尽管有各种缺点和瑕疵”之意。在本文中，作者一方面写电脑带来的各种不快，另一方面指自己腿上长的疣(wart)，一语双关，诙谐幽默。

    without fail
    一定，必定; 没有失败的可能
    e.g.
    a. Be here at noon without fail.
    一定在正午时到这里。
    b. I’ll be there at two o’clock without fail.
    我两点钟一定到那里。

    breakdown
    n.故障；崩溃；（身体）衰弱
    e.g.
    a. Our car had a breakdown on the motorway.
    我们的汽车在高速公路上抛锚了。
    b. The strain of his job led to the complete breakdown of his health.
    他工作过度，累垮了身体。

    Para.1
    2. It simply stops working—often when I’m not touching it—and it puts a message on the screen informing me that an error has occurred. (Para. 1)
    它干脆停止工作——经常是在我根本没碰它的时候——并在屏幕上显示一条信息，告诉我发生了一个错误。
    1) informing..., 现在分词短语用以修饰message，相当于定语从句 which informed me...
    Para.1
    2) inform someone that…/ inform someone of (about ) something: 通知或告诉某人（某事）
    e.g.
    He informed the police that a large amount of money was missing.
    他向警方报案说一笔巨款不见了。
    Translation
    学会爱电脑，疣以及一切
    戴夫·巴瑞
    Para. 1a 我的电脑——就像以前我有过的所有电脑一样——每天至少会来上一次某种类型的情绪化故障，从无例外。它干脆停止工作了——经常是在我根本没碰它的时候——并在屏幕上显示一条信息，告诉我发生了一个错误。