365个英语简短小故事-148. The Toilet Tank (1)

Stanley had just finished brushing his teeth. He noticed water flowing into the toilet bowl. That's strange, he thought. The water continued to seep¹ into the bowl. Stanley lifted the toilet tank top. The tank was half full, but the water was slowly rising. What in the world is going on, he wondered. He had not just flushed² the toilet. He continued to watch the water rise in the tank. The water got up to the Water Line mark in the tank, where it was supposed to stop rising. But it continued to rise.

Stanley was alarmed. Is this thing going to overflow³, he wondered. He went into his bedroom and grabbed⁴ some towels. When he returned to the bathroom, the toilet was silent. The water had stopped rising at one inch above the water line. But that was only about two inches below the top of the tank. That was too close for comfort. Stanley put two and two together. He had heard water running for more than a week now, but he had assumed it was his neighbor’s toilet. Now he knew it was his own.

He called Henry the handyman. Henry was a really nice guy. His rates were much cheaper than a regular plumber’s rates. Henry said he’d be over the next day. The next day, Henry arrived only 30 minutes late, which was “on time” for Henry. He tried to turn off the toilet tank shutoff valve⁵ on the bathroom wall, but the valve was “frozen.” “We don’t want to mess with that,” he told Stanley. “That valve is too easy to bust⁶, and it would take a lot of work to put a new one on.”

 

1 seep   

v.渗出，渗漏；n.渗漏，小泉，水（油）坑

参考例句：

• My anger began to seep away.我的怒火开始消下去了。
• If meteoric water does not evaporate or run overland,it may seep directly into the ground.如果雨水不从陆地蒸发和流走的话，就可能直接渗入地下。

2 flushed   

a.(～with sth.)兴奋的，充满喜悦的

参考例句：

• She flushed with anger. 她气得涨红了脸。
• Her face was flushed with anger. 她的脸气红了。

3 overflow   

v.(使)外溢，(使)溢出；溢出，流出，漫出

参考例句：

• The overflow from the bath ran on to the floor.浴缸里的水溢到了地板上。
• After a long period of rain,the river may overflow its banks.长时间的下雨天后，河水可能溢出岸来。

4 grabbed   

v.抢先，抢占( grab的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指匆忙地）取；攫取；（尤指自私、贪婪地）捞取

参考例句：

• He was grabbed by two men and frogmarched out of the hall. 他被两个男人紧抓双臂押出大厅。
• She grabbed the child's hand and ran. 她抓住孩子的手就跑。

5 valve   

n.阀，阀门，电子管

参考例句：

• The exhaust valve on my car has burnt out.我汽车上的排气阀烧掉了。
• The connecting rod may drive a valve stem directly.连杆可以直接带动阀门的把柄。

6 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。