I read somewhere that we spend a full third of our lives waiting. But where are we doing all of this waiting, and what does it mean to an impatient society like ours? To understand the issue, let’s take a look at three types of “waits”.
The very purest form of waiting is the Watched-Pot Wait. It is without doubt the most annoying of all. Take filling up the kitchen sink as an example. There is absolutely nothing you can do while this is going on but keep both eyes fixed on the sink until it’s full. During these waits, the brain slips away from the body and wanders about until the water runs over the edge of the counter and onto your socks. This kind of wait makes the waiter helpless and mindless.
A cousin to the Watched-Pot Wait is the Forced Wait. This one requires a bit of discipline. Properly preparing packaged noodle soup requires a Forced Wait. Directions are very specific. “Bring three cups of water to boil, add mix, simmer three minutes, remove from heat, let stand five minutes.” I have my doubts that anyone has actually followed the procedures strictly. After all, Forced Waiting requires patience.
Perhaps the most powerful type of waiting is the Lucky-Break Wait. This type of wait is unusual in that it is for the most part voluntary. Unlike the Forced Wait, which is also voluntary, waiting for your lucky break does not necessarily mean that it will happen.
Turning one’s life into a waiting game requires faith and hope, and is strictly for the optimists among us. On the surface it seems as ridiculous as following the directions on soup mixes, but the Lucky-Break Wait well serves those who are willing to do it. As long as one doesn’t come to rely on it, wishing for a few good things to happen never hurts anybody.
We certainly do spend a good deal of our time waiting. The next time you’re standing at the sink waiting for it to fill while cooking noodle soup that you’ll have to eat until a large bag of cash falls out of the sky, don’t be desperate. You’re probably just as busy as the next guy.
分析版
I read somewhere（这里的意思是“我在某一个地方读到... ...”。据我的经验来看，凡是这么说话的，十有八九下面这事儿是自己编的... ...就类似与“我有一个朋友啊怎么怎么”... ...） that we spend a full third of our lives waiting（首先，a third of的意思是“三分之一”，那么a full third of的意思就是“整整三分之一”。好像有一种说法是，我们有三分之一的时间花在了睡觉上，那么里面又说三分之一的时间花在了等待上，突然觉得我们的一生似乎干不了什么正经事儿... ...）. But where are we doing all of this waiting, and what does it mean to an impatient society like ours? To understand the issue, let’s take a look at three types of “waits”（这是一个多么明显的总体句式，可以学习一下。当然咯，我没说这种句式有多好啊，这是基本款）.
The very purest form of waiting is the Watched-Pot Wait（说实话，这里的这个Watched-Pot Wait不好理解，我们得看看后面的文章意思再说）. It is without doubt（it is without doubt就是“毫无疑问的是”，这句话用在作文里，当然咯，也基本属于基本款） the most annoying of all. Take filling up the kitchen sink（kitchen是“厨房”，sink的本意是“沉下去”，作为名词呢，这里可以理解为“池子”） as an example. There is absolutely nothing you can do while this is going on but（but在这里不是转折哦，这里的意思是“除了”。比如说，I don’t like those young actresses but ZhouDongYu.） keep both eyes fixed on（这里表达太形象了，就是“瞪眼看着”） the sink until it’s full. During these waits, the brain slips away from the body and wanders about（首先，slip away的意思是“溜走了”；其次wander about的意思是“在周围溜达”。所以这里the brain slips away from the body and wanders about的意思简单而言就是“脑子不在家”或者“大脑一片空白”。需要说明一下的是，about如果放在句尾，往往是“在周围”的意思，是个副词，而不是“大概”，如果是“大概”的话，通常都是在名词前面。所以，There is a dog about.意思是“周围有一只狗”，而不是“这里有一只大概是狗的生物”... ...） until the water runs over（over作为方位词，意思是“越过”，所以这里run over就是“漫出来”） the edge of the counter and onto your socks. This kind of wait makes the waiter helpless and mindless.（现在大概明白什么是Watched-Pot Wait了吗？看字面意思是“看着锅等”，但这里显然不像人话，那么结合一下这段话的意思，我们就可以知道，Watched-Pot Wait的意思用最直白的话讲就是“傻等”）
A cousin to（什么玩意儿？cousin不是“表哥”、“堂哥”之类的意思吗？Watched-Pot Wait怎么还出了亲戚了？等一下，想一想第一段的那个three types of “waits”就差不多能明白了吧，这是一个比喻的用法，a cousin to的意思就是“与... ...相类似”） the Watched-Pot Wait is the Forced Wait（嗯，Forced Wait的意思依旧看不懂... ...别急，先往后看）. This one requires a bit of discipline（discipline的意思有“训练”，也有“惩罚”，但是这里似乎都说不通啊... ...）. Properly preparing packaged noodle soup requires a Forced Wait. Directions are very specific（我估计看到这里，不少人已经处于崩溃的边缘... ...）. “Bring three cups of water to boil, add mix（这个词这里的意思是“调料”）, simmer（这个词的意思是“炖”） three minutes, remove from heat, let stand five minutes.” I have my doubts that anyone has actually followed the procedures strictly. After all, Forced Waiting requires patience（Forced Wait需要“耐心”，前面说的又是一个一步步煮面的过程。大概懂了，所谓这个Forced Wait就是“不得不等呢，急不起来的意思”。那前面那个a bit of discipline的意思呢？我的理解是，既可以认为这种“不得不等”是需要练出来的，也可以认为在这样一个过程中，多多少少是受到“煎熬”的，因此可以理解为一种小小的像是“惩罚”的感觉）.
Perhaps the most powerful type of waiting is the Lucky-Break Wait（不出所料，Lucky-Break Wait的什么意思，依旧看不懂... ...）. This type of wait is unusual in that it is for the most part voluntary（voluntary是“自愿的”，这个part voluntary是“部分自愿的”）. Unlike the Forced Wait, which is also voluntary, waiting for your lucky break（从字面上看，lucky break就是“幸运的打破”，但是这也不像人话啊... ...） does not necessarily mean that it will happen. Turning one’s life into a waiting game requires faith and hope, and is strictly for the optimists（optimist是“乐观主义者”，那“悲观主义者”呢？pessimist） among us. On the surface it seems as ridiculous as following the directions on soup mixes（请注意，这里不是很好理解。首先明确，the directions是following的宾语，而这个on soup mixes是一个介宾结构的后置定语，用来修饰这个direction。请再结合一下上一段说到的跟这个soup mixes有关的内容，这样的话，就基本上清楚了，意思大概就是“表面上看啊，如果你按照调味料的说明来操作呢，是很荒谬的”，你看上一段不是说了吗， I have my doubts that anyone has actually followed the procedures strictly.，“我十分怀疑究竟能有谁会严格按照这些步骤来弄”）, but the Lucky-Break Wait well serves（serve的字面意思是“服务”，well serve就是“好好地服务”，说得文艺一点，可以理解为“幸运会眷顾那些愿意等待的人们”。那么结合上一句话，就懂了吧，也就是说：虽然呢，按照说明上的要求一步步弄看起来有点荒唐有点傻，但是啊，如果你真的这么做了，你就能尝到意想不到的好味道。这作者看起来挺容易满足的，一碗面条就打发了... ...） those who are willing to do it. As long as（千万不要理解为“和... ...一样长”啊，as long as的意思是“只要”） one doesn’t come to rely on（relay on的意思是“依赖”） it, wishing for a few good things to happen never hurts anybody.（总算是啃啃哧哧地把这段话读完了... ...让我们慢慢理解一下：首先啊，这个Lucky-Break Wait的意思估计就是指“突然而来的好事儿，你没有指望它一定来，但它不知道在什么时候，说来就来”；其次呢，只要你不是什么都不干，指望着幸运女神突然亲你一口，那么这种等待啊是没有什么坏处的）
We certainly do spend a good deal of（a good deal of就是“很多”，看看后面就知道，这个是接不可数名词，那么大家再想想，还知道哪些表示“很多”、“许多”的词，重点是这些词后面跟的是可数还是不可数名词。尤其对于有考试需求的小朋友而言，这是基本功哦） our time waiting. The next time you’re standing at the sink waiting for it to fill while cooking noodle soup that you’ll have to eat until a large bag of cash falls out of the sky（这里写得真是挺有趣，“你站在水池边上等着水池装满水，同时呢，你在煮面条，而且吃不到这面条估计就饿死了，这个时候啊，天上还掉下来一大包钱... ...”，哎呀呀，看着都觉得忙叨。当然，这里重点需要注意的地方时，其实这句话是对前面三个分段落内容的一个总结，并且，如果上文中有看不懂的表达，在这里，作者实际上是用最最直白的话把意思给说出来了，对吧？如果这样都理解不了，那就... ...先吃一碗面再说吧，说不定是饿懵圈了... ...）, don’t be desperate. You’re probably just as busy as the next guy.
