365个英语简短小故事-316. Laundry Day (1)

It was noon on Friday. Friday was wash day, Kerry’s least favorite day. Doing the wash was such a pain. He had to gather together all the dirty clothes. He had to turn the shirts and slacks¹ inside out to save wear and tear on the outside of the shirts and slacks. He had to empty all the junk out of all the pockets of his clothes.

Then he had to find quarters for each load of wash—four for the washer and three for the dryer². It’d be so nice to have a weekly maid, like his downstairs neighbor. Kerry piled all his clothes into the laundry basket and went downstairs. He was relieved³ to hear silence as he approached the laundry room; no one was using the machines. He put laundry soap and quarters into the washer, and set it at Warm Temperature and Regular Wash. A few minutes later, it was full of soapy water. He stuffed⁴ in half of the dirty clothes. This was going to be a two-load day.

He placed the half-full basket on top of the churning washer. He shut the laundry room door and walked back upstairs. He set his electronic timer to 35 minutes. When the washer was done, he’d reload it and put the first load into the dryer. He sat down and opened the newspaper to the California section: "Truck Runs Over Crossing Guard," said the headline.

 

1 slacks   

运动裤

参考例句：

• a pair of slacks 一条便裤
• I saw some slacks I like in the Sears catalogue. 我在西尔斯商品目录看中了几条便裤。

2 dryer   

n.干衣机，干燥剂

参考例句：

• He bought a dryer yesterday.他昨天买了一台干燥机。
• There is a washer and a dryer in the basement.地下室里有洗衣机和烘干机。

3 relieved   

a.如释重负的

参考例句：

• You'll be relieved to know your jobs are safe. 现在知道你们的工作保住了，可以放心了。
• Your coming relieved me of the bother of writing a long letter. 你来了，省去我写长信的麻烦了。

4 stuffed   

adj.充满的；饱的v.塞住( stuff的过去式和过去分词 )；把…装进；把…装满；（使）吃撑

参考例句：

• stuffed animals in glass cases 玻璃柜里的动物标本
• I was stuffed to the gills with chocolate cake. 我嘴里塞满了巧克力蛋糕。 来自《简明英汉词典》