中英文本

Twenty Nine Save That House!
第二十九课 那房子不能拆！
When the big old house on Main Street was slated for destruction, Missy Wheeler was the last person people thught would care.
当主街上那座很大的旧房子被选定要拆除时，米西惠勒是人们以为最不在乎的人。
She lived in the perfectly groomed house next door.
她住在隔壁一幢装修的很漂亮的房子里。
She was supposed to want it torn down.
她应该希望把它拆掉。

Instead, she claimed that the old house was relevant to the history of the town!
可她却说那做房子与城市的历史有关。
When she took it upon herself to be responsible for its protection, some neighbors thought she was a little out of line!
当她承担起责任保护这座房子的责任时，一些邻居认为她有点儿不对劲！
"Just let the building the torn down, " they thought。"Who wants to live next that old thing?"
"拆了它算了," 他们想。"谁愿意住在那么个破房子旁边呢？"
But Missy Whether was just being herself.
可是米西惠勒显得很自然。
And she was onto something.
我倒是有点儿经验。
She was soon overwhelmed with support from other people to preserve the old home!
很快她就被其他人的支持包围了，他们要保护这座老房子！
They were glad that someone was sensitive to cultural preservation and they were sick of standing by doing nothing while their history was lost.
他们很高兴有人对保护文化这么敏感，他们讨厌眼看历史被丢弃掉却袖手旁观。
Missy soon had a team of people ready to take the issue to court if that were the case!
米西很快就聚集了一批人，他们准备把问题提交法庭--如果发生这种情况！
They were even emotionally prepared for a lengthy court battle.
他们甚至从感情上做好了准备，要在法庭上打一场持久仗。
They needn't have become so agitated.
他们其实没有必要这么激动。
At the first sign of protest, the City Council knew that the decision had been out of order.
一看到有抗议的迹象，市政府就知道他们的决定不合适。
They immediately issue a retraction of the contract to tear down the house.
所以他们赶紧发出了撤销拆房合同的通知。
When they called the demolishion company to cancel the contract, however, they were surprised to hear that their line was out of service.
但是，当他们打电话给拆放公司取消合同的时候，他们吃惊地发现他们的电话线打不通。
Apparently Missy and others had already called so many times, that the company had disconneted their phones.
很显然，米西和她那帮人打了很多电话，拆房公司把他们电话掐了。
As everyone came together, all agreed that the house was suitable for restoration.
大家聚到一起时都认为那座房子适合做翻修。
When the demolition company was hired to do the work at a greater fee than they had been offered to destroy the house, even they agreed!
拆房公司被请来做修复工作，给他们的报酬比拆除费还高，因为就连他们也没了意见。

重点讲解

1.be out of service 已经停止使用
例句：What is the probability that exactly 3 machines will be out of service on the same day?
那么同一天恰有三台失灵的概率是多少？
2.be overwhelmed with 被...覆盖（或淹没），因...而不知所措
例句：Still, she worries that she might be overwhelmed with the work and sometimes struggles with mixed emotions about the future.
尽管如此，玛格达勒诺还是担心自己的工作可能会很忙，而且有时会对未来感到茫然，有一种复杂的心情。
3.be prepared for 做好了...的准备
例句：You must be prepared for disillusionment.
你一定要做好失望的准备。
4.be relevant to 和...有关
例句：he Judaic-Christian religious tradition, for example, claims to be relevant to life in many ways.
例如，犹太教一基督教传统自认为在许多方面与人们的生活相关联。
5.be responsible for 对...负责任
例句：You'll be responsible for anything wrong.
出了事唯你是问。
6.be sensitive to 对...敏感
例句：While you cannot know the customs of every country you visit,you can be sensitive to basic cultural preferences and taboos.
虽然你不可能了解你所到访的每个国家的风俗习惯，但是你对基本的文化偏爱和禁忌要敏感。