第六十五讲

    Para. 6 She discovered that he was hopeless with money. He discovered that crowds gave her the creeps. She discovered that his tenderness could change to clumsiness sometimes. He discovered that she needed at least 16 hours sleep each night and was usually too tired to whisper sweet nothings in anyone’s ear.

    Para. 7 So much for birds of a feather! We didn’t know back then that this was normal—that most couples make the same discovery, somewhere between getting married and growing-up.

    Para. 8 We didn’t know back then that this was good—that those interesting and frustrating differences are really the spice of life and one of God’s best ideas.

    uptight
    adj. 紧张的, 心情焦躁的; 拮据的
    e.g.
    a. When she entered the house, she became uptight.
    每次当她走进那间屋子，她就紧张起来。
    b. These days he is uptight and eats only one meal a day.
    这些天他很拮据，每天只吃一顿饭。

    clumsy
    adj. 笨拙的，愚笨的
    e.g.
    a. You clumsy oaf!你这个笨蛋！
    b. How clumsy of me to step on your foot.
    我真笨，踩了你的脚。
    c. The clumsy boy tipped the jar of paint over.
    那个笨手笨脚的男孩把漆罐打翻了。

    She discovered that he was hopeless with money. He discovered that crowds gave her the creeps. (Para. 6)
    她发现他在理财方面不可救药。他则发现拥挤的人群使她毛骨悚然。
    1) be hopeless with (at) something: 在……方面不行；不抱希望的；无能的
    e.g.
    a. He is hopeless at German. I can’t teach him well.
    For More
    b. I am hopeless with housework, so my husband usually does it.
    我实在不会料理家务，所以一般都是我丈夫做 家务。
    2) give somebody the creeps: 使某人毛骨悚然，惊恐
    e.g.
    This horrible film gave me the creeps.
    这部恐怖片令我毛骨悚然。

    So much for birds of a feather! We didn’t know back then that this was normal. (Para. 7)
    什么志趣相投的鬼话，够了！然而那时我们并不知道这不过是很普通的现象。
    1) so much for: 至此为止，就是这么多
    e.g.
    a. So much for this lesson. The class is dismissed!
    这节课就上到这里，下课。
    b. So much for my presentation. Thank you!
    我的演讲就是这些，谢谢。
    2) birds of a feather: 志趣相投的人
    e.g.
    They two are considered as birds of a feather because they share similar interests.
    他们被认为是志趣相投的一对，因为他们有着相同的兴趣爱好。
    与bird相关的习语还有：
    early bird: 早起早到的人
    kill two birds with one stone: 一举两得，一箭双雕

    frustrating
    adj. 令人感到挫败的，令人沮丧的
    e.g.
    a. After three hours’ frustrating delay, the train at last arrived.
    经过三个小时令人厌烦的耽搁后，火车终于到 达了目的地。
    b. Learning is not fun. It’s actually quite frustrating.
    学习并不是好玩的事，实际上是很令人受挫的。

    the spice of life
    生活的调味品。这里作者用了暗喻的修辞手法(metaphor)。
    e.g.
    I finally realized that the difficulties I had during the past ten years were actually the spice of life and they gave me much life experience.
    我最后终于意识到过去十年中我所遇到的困难都是生活的调味品，这些困难给了我很多人生经验。
    spice n. 调味品, 香料；趣味，情趣
    e.g.
    a. Most of the year end gift I receive are spice.
    我收到的年礼大部分是调味品。
    b. There was a spice of malice in his words.
    他的话中带有几分恶意。

    Para. 6 她发现他在理财方面不可救药。他也发现拥挤的人群令她毛骨悚然。她发现他的温柔体贴有时笨拙不堪。他也发现她每晚至少要睡16 个小时，还通常因为太困了而不会再在任何人耳边呢喃细语。

    Para. 7 什么志趣相投的鬼话，够了！那时我们并不知道这不过是很普通的现象——大部分夫妻都会在结婚以后，真正成熟之前的某个时刻有同样的发现。

    Para. 8 我们那时也并不知道这是件好事——那些有趣但又恼人的差异其实正是生活的调味品，是上帝绝妙的主意之一。