I was laid to rest on a Monday. After the funeral, all the residents of Wisteria Lane came to pay their respects. And as people do in this situation, they brought food. Lynette Scavo brought fried chicken. Lynette had a great family recipe for fried chicken. Of course, she didn’t cook much as she was moving up the corporate ladder. She didn’t have the time. But when her doctor announced Lynette was pregnant, her husband Tom had an idea. Why not quit your job? Kids do much better with stay at home mums; it was so much less stressful. But this was not the case. In fact, Lynette’s life had become so hectic she was now forced to get her chicken from a fast food restaurant. Lynette would have appreciated the irony of it if she stopped to think about it, but she couldn’t. She didn’t have the time.

1.【be laid to rest】安息，死的委婉說(shuō)法-I was laid to rest on a Monday.

2.【as sb do sth in the situation+一般現(xiàn)在時(shí)的瞬時(shí)動(dòng)作】，表示在某種情形之下的常規(guī)行為as是一個(gè)詞性較多，用法繁多并且意義容易混淆的詞，作連詞的時(shí)候的用法有a．???????? 描述同時(shí)發(fā)生的事 As she grew older she gained in confidence.
b．描述途徑 They did as I had asked.
c．表示原因As you were out, I left a message.
d．引導(dǎo)評(píng)論 As you know, Julia is leaving soon.
e．引導(dǎo)補(bǔ)充說(shuō)明She is very tall, as is her mother.
f．就算某事的真實(shí)性成立，接下來(lái)發(fā)生的事情也成立。Happy as they were, there was something missing.（就算他們?cè)?jīng)快樂(lè)，也是有損失的）

3.【a recipe for sth】菜譜-Lynette had a great family recipe for fried chicken.

4.【move over/up】 使提升-Of course, she didn’t cook much as she was moving up the corporate ladder. 為了晉升而忙碌，所以她很少做飯。

5. 動(dòng)詞短語(yǔ)做名詞性定語(yǔ)【stay-at-home mum】全職主婦-Why not quit your job? Kids do much better with stay-at-home mums.

6. 事實(shí)并非如此-But【this was not the case】. In fact, Lynette’s life had become so hectic. 丈夫提議讓妻子辭去工作，可以過(guò)上沒(méi)有壓力的日子，而事實(shí)并非如此，因?yàn)槠拮右蚍泵Χd奮。

7. She was now forced to get her chicken from a fast food restaurant. Lynette would have appreciated the irony of it if she stopped to think about it, but she couldn’t. She didn’t have the time. 雖然她懂得如何做出令人稱贊的炸雞，但她不得不去餐廳買一只做好的。如果她能夠停下來(lái)思考一下這件諷刺的事情的話，她應(yīng)該感謝這件事，可惜她沒(méi)有機(jī)會(huì)去感謝，因?yàn)樗龥](méi)有時(shí)間去考慮這個(gè)諷刺。

注釋——該句中的諸多賓語(yǔ)的省略或替代會(huì)引起理解困難。另外，此處的虛擬語(yǔ)氣 would have done +if did 是混合虛擬，主句用would have done表示和過(guò)去事實(shí)相反，表示她過(guò)去應(yīng)該感謝這種諷刺，而事實(shí)上她沒(méi)有過(guò)；從句用一般過(guò)去時(shí)，表示對(duì)現(xiàn)在或者未來(lái)事實(shí)假設(shè)，如果現(xiàn)在或者將來(lái)她能夠停下來(lái)思考。