The joy of gardening
園藝的樂趣
Planting cool-weather greens, as gardeners across the north-east of America are now doing, can seem nonsensical. Convenient, perpetually well-stocked supermarket shelves are available all week. But the same could be said of cooking: cheap and decent restaurants abound, so why bother to make your own meals?
正如美國東北部的園丁們現在所做的那樣,種植耐寒的蔬菜似乎是荒謬的。便利的、永遠存貨充足的超市貨架壹整周都有蔬菜供應。但同樣的道理也適用於烹飪:便宜又體面的餐館比比皆是,何必要麻煩自己做飯呢?
That attitude misconstrues the ultimate appeal of gardening: it mistakes the product for the purpose. It is true that a garden can yield peas that taste like the vibrant, green essence of spring; tomatoes and carrots of incomparable sweetness; and potatoes with the biscuity richness of earth itself.
這種態度誤解了園藝的終極魅力: 它錯把產出結果當成了目的。的確,菜園裏能種出吃起來如春天般生機勃勃、綠意盎然的豌豆,無比甜美的番茄和胡蘿蔔,還有像餅幹壹樣酥脆可口、散發著泥土芬芳的土豆。
On the other hand, a garden, especially in the early years, can also yield little but frustration. Novice gardeners may plant the wrong crops for their soil. Squirrels have an infuriating habit of taking single bites of cucumbers, beans and tomatoes, then leaving the rest on the vine to rot. And even expert gardeners can lose a season's harvest to unco-operative weather.
但另壹方面,菜園也可能顆粒無收,只讓人產生挫敗感,尤其是在早期的時候。新手園丁可能會種植不適合其土壤的作物。松鼠們有壹個令人惱火的習慣,就是只咬壹口黃瓜、豆子和西紅柿,然後把剩下的留在藤上任其腐爛。即便是專業的園丁也可能因為不配合的天氣而失去壹個季節的收成。
No matter. The real joy of gardening is the time spent doing it. The deepest pleasure — as with cooking, writing, bringing up children or almost anything worthwhile — is in the work itself.
沒關系。園藝的真正樂趣在於花時間去做這件事。最深層次的喜悅在於做的事情本身——就像烹飪、寫作、撫養孩子或幾乎任何有價值的事情壹樣。
A gardener's memories revolve not around the food produced, but around long summer afternoons with hands in the dirt, surrounded by family, if the garden is at home, or deepening acquaintances with friends and neighbours in an allotment or community garden.
壹個園丁的腦海裏不會總惦記著種植的食物,如果園子是在家裏的話,ta 們會想著在漫長的夏日午後,雙手在土地裏勞作,身邊是家人環繞;或者在壹小塊土地或社區的園子裏,與朋友和鄰居們相互認識,加深友誼。
To garden is to patiently, lovingly and diligently help life flourish, in the ground and above it.
園藝就是耐心地、充滿愛心地、勤勤懇懇地幫助生命蓬勃發展,無論是在土地裏還是在地面上。
主編:Maisie、阿翀
品控:Maisie
審核:Jack
重點詞匯
gardening
/?ɡɑ?r.d?n.?/
n. 園藝,園藝活
相關詞匯:garden(n. 花園)
詞性拓展:garden(v. 園藝活)
相關詞匯:gardener(n. 園丁)
詞根詞綴:-er(表示人)
nonsensical
/?nɑ?n?sen.s?.k?l/
adj. 荒謬的;無意義的
詞根詞綴:non-(表示否定)
詞根詞綴:-ical(表示形容詞)
搭配短語:a nonsensical argument
相關詞匯:nonsense(n. 胡說八道)
相關詞匯:sense(n. 理智)
perpetually
/p?pet?.u.?.li/
adv. 連續不斷地;永久的
詞根詞綴:-ly(表示副詞)
相關詞匯:perpetual(adj. 持續的;永恒的)
搭配短語:the perpetual noise of the machines
搭配短語:the perpetual snows of the mountaintops
近義詞:continuous
stock
/stɑ?k/
v. 儲存,存貨
搭配短語:to stock a lot of food
詞性拓展:stock(n. 庫存)
搭配短語:out of stock
搭配短語:in stock
decent
/?di?.s?nt//?dis(?)nt/
adj. 相當好的,體面的
搭配短語:a decent job
misconstrue
/?m?s.k?n?stru?/
v. 誤解,誤會
詞根詞綴:mis-(表示否定)
近義詞:misinterpret
相關詞匯:construe(v. 理解)
例句:The word can be construed in two different ways.
近義詞:interpret
ultimate
/?l.t?.m?t/
adj. 終極的,最後的
近義詞:final(adj. 最終的)
搭配短語:the ultimate goal
yield
/ji?ld/
v. 產出,產生
搭配短語:to yield results
詞性拓展:yield(n. 收益)
pea
/pi?/
n. 豌豆
搭配短語:roast chicken with peas and carrots
vibrant
/?va?.br?nt/
adj. 充滿活力的,生機勃勃的
相關詞匯:vibrate(v. 振動)
搭配短語:Hong Kong is a vibrant city.
essence
/?es.?ns/
n. 精油;本質,實質
英文釋義:the most basic and important quality of something
搭配短語:vanilla essence(香草味的精油)
搭配短語:in essence(實質上)
例句:In essence what he said was very simple.
biscuity
/?b?s.k?ti/
adj.(質地、香味、顏色等)像餅幹的
相關詞匯:biscuit(n. 餅幹)
相關詞匯:cookie(n. 曲奇餅)
文化補充:biscuit 在英國是餅幹的統稱,但在美國是指壹種趁熱吃的軟餅,類似英國人吃的 scone(司康餅),在美式英語中,餅幹的統稱是 cracker。
novice
/?nɑ?.v?s/
n. 初學者,新手
近義詞:beginner
例句:I'm still a complete novice at skiing.
infuriate
/?n?fj?r.i.e?t/
v. 使憤怒,使極為生氣
詞根詞綴:in-(使置於某種狀態)
詞根詞綴:-ate(表示動詞)
相關詞匯:fury(n. 憤怒)
vine
/va?n/
n. 葡萄藤;藤本植物,攀援植物
近義詞:grapevine
搭配短語:vine leaves
rot
/rɑ?t/
v. 腐敗,腐爛
例句:Too much sugar will rot your teeth.
harvest
/?hɑ?r.v?st/
n. 收獲,豐收
搭配短語:the grain harvest
搭配短語:harvest time
詞性拓展:harvest(v. 收割)
搭配短語:to harvest crops
unco-operative
/?n.ko?ɑ?.p?.?.t?v/
adj. 不願合作的,不配合的
詞根詞綴:un-(表示否定)
詞根詞綴:-ive(表示形容詞)
相關詞匯:cooperate(v. 合作)
詞根詞綴:co-(表示***同)
相關詞匯:operate(v. 運作)
revolve
/r?vɑ?lv/
v. 再次轉動,旋轉
詞根詞綴:re-(表示再次)
詞根詞綴:volve(表示卷動)
搭配短語:revolve around
例句:Children seem to think that the world revolves around them.
dirt
/d?t/
n. 泥土;汙垢
近義詞:soil(n. 泥土)
相關詞匯:dirty(adj. 骯臟的)
acquaintance
/?kwe?n.t?ns/
n. 認識的人;交情
詞根詞綴:-ance(表示名詞)
相關詞匯:acquaint(v. 使認識)
搭配短語:acquaint sb. with sth.
allotment
/?lɑ?t.m?nt/
n. 小塊土地;分配物
詞根詞綴:-ment(表示名詞)
相關詞匯:allot(v. 分配)
搭配短語:allot to
搭配短語:to allot 2 hours a day to revision
diligently
/?d?l.?.d?nt.li/
adv. 勤奮地,勤勉地
相關詞匯:diligent(adj. 勤奮的)
詞義辨析:diligent, industrious
這兩個詞都有“勤奮”的意思,但 industrious 多指由習慣養成或天性形成的勤奮,而 diligent 多指為某個追求而勤奮努力。