听播客学英语 205 机器坏了

 　　In our lives we have lots of machines and electrical equipment – things like cars and washing machines, video recorders and mobile¹ phones. Most of the time they work OK. But sometimes they do not. Today’s podcast is about the words we use when something does not work. No, not those sorts of words!. I mean the vocabulary we need to talk about things that don’t work.

　　So, imagine that you have a washing machine and it doesn’t work. There is water all over the floor and a smell of burnt rubber. What might you say?

　　The washing machine has broken

　　it has broken down

　　it is not working properly

　　it is not working at all

　　it won’t work

　　it won’t go

　　or, as people say in America, the washing machine is bust²

　　.

　　So what do we do? The first step is :

　　to diagnose³ the problem

　　or, in more normal speech, we find out what is wrong

　　Then we need to get the washing machine working again. We:

　　fix it

　　mend it

　　repair it

　　And if we cannot mend it ourselves:

　　we get someone to mend it for us

　　or, we get the washing machine repaired

　　OK? Everything clear?

　　Kevin and Joanne get into the car. They plan to drive to a nice pub⁴ in the country for lunch. Kevin puts the key in the ignition and turns it. But the engine will not start. The car has broken down. It will not go. Kevin and Joanne get out. They look under the bonnet⁵.

　　“It could be the carburettor,” says Kevin, “over here.”

　　“Kevin, that’s not the carburettor. Its the bottle with water for washing the windscreen,” says Joanne. “The carburettor is here.”

　　“Right”, says Kevin. “The trouble is, I don’t know how to repair it. What can we do?”

　　They get back into the car. “I know”, says Kevin. “I’ll get the AA man to come and fix it”.

　　“Kevin,” says Joanne, “are you sure there is petrol in the tank?”

　　“Of course I am sure, “says Kevin, looking at the fuel guage. “Oh no. Where’s the petrol can?”

　　Here is Miss Melissa Forbes. She has a friend with broken wings. Can you fix broken wings? No, I can’t fix broken wings either. Sorry, Melissa.

1 mobile   

adj.可移动的，易变的，机动的；n.运动物体

参考例句：

• The old lady sits on a mobile chair every morning.那位老妇人每天上午坐在一把可携带使用的椅子上。
• She's much more mobile now that she's bought a car.自从她买了汽车后，活动量就大多了。

2 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

3 diagnose   

vt.诊断，判断

参考例句：

• It provides a new method for early diagnose of breast cancer.为临床早期诊断乳腺癌提供一个新的检查手段。
• What more will you want to know to diagnose this problem?要弄清这个问题，你还需要知道些什么？

4 pub   

n.[英]旅馆，小店，酒馆

参考例句：

• He is the landlord of this pub.他是这家酒店的店主。
• They saw that four large men marched into the pub.他们看到四个彪形大汉走进了酒吧。

5 bonnet   

n.无边女帽；童帽

参考例句：

• The baby's bonnet keeps the sun out of her eyes.婴孩的帽子遮住阳光，使之不刺眼。
• She wore a faded black bonnet garnished with faded artificial flowers.她戴着一顶褪了色的黑色无边帽，帽上缀着褪了色的假花。