Park's Hardware

时间:2015-09-23 05:14:53

(单词翻译:单击)

The rumor1 proved all too bitterly true: Park's Hardware, a downtown institution of Orono, Maine, since 1898, would be closing.
 
Word spread quickly. Locals cajoled, cross-examined, and pleaded with Lin, the owner of the store, to no avail. Running a small, local, family-owned hardware business was no longer a profit maker2. The town's affection for Park's Hardware was just not enough to allow it to prevail against the giant warehouse3 stores that loomed4, discount-laden, down the road in Bangor.
 
I was one member of the milling masses that began to filter through Park's as, day by day, the wax lettering on the front window changed from "20% OFF EVERYTHING" to "30%," "40%," and on and on, like the death of a thousand cuts until the only things left were the light sockets5 and doorknobs.
 
It's a difficult thing to see a hardware store go. A hardware store is special because it sells the things that allow us to indulge our tinkering habits, can-do-it-ness, and creativity, and in the process improve our immediate6 surroundings to suit our tastes. There are few things more satisfying than a new coat of paint on a weary wall, or a new lock set requiring only the knowledge of how to spin a screwdriver7. From such a small investment of cash and time, a hardware store affords one a wholesale8 return of satisfaction.
 
The cynic might argue that one can accomplish the same end by shopping at the big-box warehouses9 whose footprints are measured not in square feet, but acres. Well, maybe sometimes, but certainly not always. And the likelihood of feeling forsaken10 in such a wasteland is high.
 
I recall the time I was rummaging11 in one of the aisles12 of a Bangor hardware fortress13 for a wireless14 door chime that Park's didn't carry. I found the thing, but didn't understand the following gloss15 on the package: "Red light indicates condition of battery." I spotted16 a clerk in a brightly colored apron17.
 
"Excuse me," I said, holding the item out, "I can't seem to find the red light." The man took the package, examined it, and, plopping it back in my hand, said, "Neither can I," before he walked away. I contrast this experience with one I routinely had at Park's, in which I would walk into the store holding a pile of arcane-looking metal and plastic pieces in my cupped hands.
 
"Lin," I'd plead as I held out the offering before him, "can you ... please ... I don't know ... do you think...?" And quicker than one could say, "little red light," Lin would spring into action and together we'd voyage off into one of the eclectic recesses18 of the store to mix and match and measure until the solution precipitated19 before my eyes like a genie20 emerging from a lamp.
 
Was it more expensive to shop at Park's as opposed to a warehouse? In one way, yes -- if I intended to buy a big-ticket item like a snowblower or chain saw. But otherwise, no: I could buy a single screw at Park's, and have it lovingly deposited in a little bag, for a nickel -- no charge for the accompanying pleasant conversation.
 
At a warehouse I had no choice but to buy a box of a hundred screws, and, if I were fortunate, receive at the cash register the stock admonition: "Have a nice day."
 
But I don't want to be directed to have a nice day. Nor do I want a box of a hundred screws when all I need is one, nor told to wait because an "associate" would be with me shortly. I just want to know the location of the little red light, and now that Park's is gone, I realize that I never will.

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1 rumor qS0zZ     
n.谣言,谣传,传说
参考例句:
  • The rumor has been traced back to a bad man.那谣言经追查是个坏人造的。
  • The rumor has taken air.谣言流传开了。
2 maker DALxN     
n.制造者,制造商
参考例句:
  • He is a trouble maker,You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼,你不要跟他在一起。
  • A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。
3 warehouse 6h7wZ     
n.仓库;vt.存入仓库
参考例句:
  • We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
  • The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。
4 loomed 9423e616fe6b658c9a341ebc71833279     
v.隐约出现,阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 );隐约出现,阴森地逼近
参考例句:
  • A dark shape loomed up ahead of us. 一个黑糊糊的影子隐隐出现在我们的前面。
  • The prospect of war loomed large in everyone's mind. 战事将起的庞大阴影占据每个人的心。 来自《简明英汉词典》
5 sockets ffe33a3f6e35505faba01d17fd07d641     
n.套接字,使应用程序能够读写与收发通讯协定(protocol)与资料的程序( Socket的名词复数 );孔( socket的名词复数 );(电器上的)插口;托座;凹穴
参考例句:
  • All new PCs now have USB sockets. 新的个人计算机现在都有通用串行总线插孔。
  • Make sure the sockets in your house are fingerproof. 确保你房中的插座是防触电的。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
6 immediate aapxh     
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的
参考例句:
  • His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
  • We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。
7 screwdriver rDpza     
n.螺丝起子;伏特加橙汁鸡尾酒
参考例句:
  • He took a screwdriver and teased out the remaining screws.他拿出螺丝刀把其余的螺丝卸了下来。
  • The electric drill can also be used as a screwdriver.这把电钻也可用作螺丝刀。
8 wholesale Ig9wL     
n.批发;adv.以批发方式;vt.批发,成批出售
参考例句:
  • The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物,以零售价卖出。
  • Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。
9 warehouses 544959798565126142ca2820b4f56271     
仓库,货栈( warehouse的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The whisky was taken to bonded warehouses at Port Dundee. 威士忌酒已送到邓迪港的保稅仓库。
  • Row upon row of newly built warehouses line the waterfront. 江岸新建的仓库鳞次栉比。
10 Forsaken Forsaken     
adj. 被遗忘的, 被抛弃的 动词forsake的过去分词
参考例句:
  • He was forsaken by his friends. 他被朋友们背弃了。
  • He has forsaken his wife and children. 他遗弃了他的妻子和孩子。
11 rummaging e9756cfbffcc07d7dc85f4b9eea73897     
翻找,搜寻( rummage的现在分词 ); 海关检查
参考例句:
  • She was rummaging around in her bag for her keys. 她在自己的包里翻来翻去找钥匙。
  • Who's been rummaging through my papers? 谁乱翻我的文件来着?
12 aisles aisles     
n. (席位间的)通道, 侧廊
参考例句:
  • Aisles were added to the original Saxon building in the Norman period. 在诺曼时期,原来的萨克森风格的建筑物都增添了走廊。
  • They walked about the Abbey aisles, and presently sat down. 他们走到大教堂的走廊附近,并且很快就坐了下来。
13 fortress Mf2zz     
n.堡垒,防御工事
参考例句:
  • They made an attempt on a fortress.他们试图夺取这一要塞。
  • The soldier scaled the wall of the fortress by turret.士兵通过塔车攀登上了要塞的城墙。
14 wireless Rfwww     
adj.无线的;n.无线电
参考例句:
  • There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
  • Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。
15 gloss gloss     
n.光泽,光滑;虚饰;注释;vt.加光泽于;掩饰
参考例句:
  • John tried in vain to gloss over his faults.约翰极力想掩饰自己的缺点,但是没有用。
  • She rubbed up the silver plates to a high gloss.她把银盘擦得很亮。
16 spotted 7FEyj     
adj.有斑点的,斑纹的,弄污了的
参考例句:
  • The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
  • Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。
17 apron Lvzzo     
n.围裙;工作裙
参考例句:
  • We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。
  • She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。
18 recesses 617c7fa11fa356bfdf4893777e4e8e62     
n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 );(工作或业务活动的)中止或暂停期间;学校的课间休息;某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 );将(墙)做成凹形,在(墙)上做壁龛;休息,休会,休庭
参考例句:
  • I could see the inmost recesses. 我能看见最深处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I had continually pushed my doubts to the darker recesses of my mind. 我一直把怀疑深深地隐藏在心中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
19 precipitated cd4c3f83abff4eafc2a6792d14e3895b     
v.(突如其来地)使发生( precipitate的过去式和过去分词 );促成;猛然摔下;使沉淀
参考例句:
  • His resignation precipitated a leadership crisis. 他的辞职立即引发了领导层的危机。
  • He lost his footing and was precipitated to the ground. 他失足摔倒在地上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
20 genie xstzLd     
n.妖怪,神怪
参考例句:
  • Now the genie of his darkest and weakest side was speaking.他心灵中最阴暗最软弱的部分有一个精灵在说话。
  • He had to turn to the Genie of the Ring for help.他不得不向戒指神求助。

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