THE PROBLEM OF THE SNAKES

　　When I called up① my mother in the countryside on the telephone she was very upset. "There are some snakes in our courtyard②，" she told me. "Snakes come near the house now and then③， and they seem to have made their home here, not far from④ the walnut⑤ tree. Can you get rid of⑥ them please？" I felt very proud. Here was a chance for me to distinguish⑦ myself by inventing something merciful⑧ that would catch snakes but not harm them⑨. I knew my parents would not like me to hurt these living creatures!

　　The first thing I did was to see if there were any products⑩ that might help me, but there only seemed to be powders⑪ designed to kill snakes. A new approach was clearly needed. I set about⑫ researching the habits of snakes to find the easiest way to trap them. Luckily these reptiles⑬ are small and that made the solution easier. 　　①call up给......打电话

　　②courtyard/'kɔːtjɑːd/n.院子；庭院；天井

　　③now and then偶尔；有时

　　④far from句中意为"离......远"。还可表示"远非；相差很远"，后接名词、动名词等。

　　⑤walnut/'wɔːlnʌt/n.胡桃；胡桃木

　　⑥get rid of除掉；摆脱

　　⑦distinguish/dIs'tIŋɡwIʃ/vi.& vt.显示......的差别；使......有所不同；辨别

　　⑧merciful/'mɜːsIfl/adj.宽大的；仁慈的；慈悲的

　　⑨本句的主干结构是Here was a chance，其后的to distinguish myself ...but not harm them作后置定语，修饰chance，句中的that would ...是定语从句，修饰先行词something。

　　⑩product/'prɒdʌkt/n.产品

　　⑪powder/'paʊdə/n.粉末；火药

　　⑫set about开始；着手

　　⑬reptile n．[C]爬行动物 　　

　　蛇的困扰

　　[第1～2段译文]

　　我给住在乡下的母亲打电话的时候，她感到很心烦。"我们院子里有几条蛇。"她告诉我，"蛇时不时地爬到屋子边上来，似乎是在屋子附近离胡桃树不远的地方安家了。你能不能把它们赶走？"我感到很自豪。这回我有机会来表现一下自己了。我要发明某种仁慈的东西，既可以把蛇捉住，又不会伤害它们。我知道我的父母是不会让我伤害这些生物的！

　　我所做的第一件事就是看看有没有现成的产品能帮助我。但是，看来只有毒死蛇的药粉。很明显，我得找一种新的方法了。于是我就着手研究蛇的习性，以便能找到最容易的方法捉住它们。好在这些爬行动物都很小，这使得问题比较容易解决。

　　Prepared with some research findings⑭， I decided on⑮ three possible approaches: firstly⑯， removing their habitat；secondly, attracting them into a trap using male or female perfume⑰ or food⑱； and thirdly cooling them so that they would become sleepy and could be easily caught. I decided to use the last one. I bought an ice­cream maker which was made of stainless⑲ steel. Between the outside and the inside walls of the bowl there is some jelly⑳， which freezes when cooled\s\up1(21(21). I put the bowl into the fridge and waited for 24 hours. At the same time I prepared some ice­cubes\s\up1(22(22).

　　The next morning I got up early before the sun was hot. I placed the frozen bowl over the snakes' habitat and the ice­cubes on top of the bowl to keep it cool\s\up1(23(23). Finally I covered the whole thing with a large bucket. Then I waited. After two hours I removed the bucket and the bowl. The snakes were less active but they were still to fast for me. They abruptly\s\up1(24(24) disappeared into a convenient\s\up1(25(25) hole in the wall. So I had to adjust my plan. 　　⑭过去分词短语Prepared with ...作时间状语。

　　⑮decide on决定；选定

　　⑯firstly ...，secondly ...，and thirdly ...(用于列举)第一......，第二......，第三......

　　⑰perfume/'pɜːfjuːm/n.香水；香味

　　⑱现在分词短语using male ...作方式状语。

　　⑲stainless/'steInləs/adj.无锈的；不锈的；没有污点的

　　⑳jelly/'dʒelI/n.果冻；果冻状物

　　\s\up1(21(21)which freezes when cooled是which引导的非限制性定语从句，补充说明jelly的作用。其中when cooled是时间状语从句的省略形式，补充完整为when it is cooled。

　　\s\up1(22(22)cube/kjuːb/n.立方体；立方　cubic/'kjuːbIk/adj.立方的

　　\s\up1(23(23)keep it cool是"keep＋宾语＋宾补"结构(cool在此作宾语补足语)。

　　\s\up1(24(24)abruptly/ə'brʌptlI/adv.突然地；唐突地

　　abrupt/ə'brʌpt/adj.突然的；意外的

　　\s\up1(25(25)convenient/kən'viːnIənt/adj.便利的；方便的；就近的