先看课文第一段：
I am back in Bracciano, a castellated(城堡式) town about 13 miles north of Rome, after a year in New Jersey. I find the Italian Government still unstable, gasoline more expensive than anywhere in the world, butchers and bank clerks and tobacconists ready to go on strike at the drop of a hat， neo-fascists at their dirty work, the hammer and sickle painted on the rumps of public statues, a thousand-lira note (officially worth about $1.63) shrunk to the slightness of a dollar bill.
这是文章开头一段。共有两句话，第一句讲我在新泽西州呆了一年之后，回到了布拉奇阿诺，这是一座位于罗马以北约13英里的城堡式的小城。这一句用词简单：
I am back in Bracciano, 回到了布拉奇阿诺。back in 很口语话的表达，欣赏几个例子：
The evening began well. The chandelier was now back in
place, with new ropes.这个夜晚到来时，一切还是令人满意的。那枝形吊灯换了新的绳 索又挂回了它原来的位置。
Back in his hotel, Nick sat on his bed and thought. 回到酒店，尼克坐在床上想着。
Ten minutes later he was back in his office, and Adam
came into his room. Adam was twenty-five, and usually worked with Felix on important jobs.
十分钟后，他回到了自己的办公室，亚当也走了进来。亚当25
岁，常常和费利克斯在重要的案件上合作。
He put the horse-shoe back in its box. 'That shoe is the second most interesting thing in the north of England,' he said.他把马蹄铁放回盒子里。“这马蹄铁是 英国北部第二有趣的东西。”他说。
Back in a flash马上回来
back in the saddle一段时间“缺勤”后重新开始做.例如：
I needed to take a break for a bit, but now, I’m back in the saddle.我需要休息一下，但现在，我又回到了。
Hey, long time no see! 嘿，好久不见！
Yeah, I was super busy.It’s good to see you exercising again. 是啊，一直在忙.很高兴看到你再次锻炼身体。
Yes! l'm back in the saddle!。是的，我又回来了！
第二句谓语find后面跟了一连串的宾语1 the Italian Government still unstable, 意大利政府仍不稳定2 gasoline more expensive than anywhere in the world汽油比世界任何地方都贵3 butchers and bank clerks and tobacconists ready to go on strike at the drop of a hat賣肉的、银行职员和烟店老板随时都准备罢工4 neo-fascists at their dirty work新法西斯分子在干着卑鄙肮脏的勾当5 the hammer and sickle painted on the rumps of public statues,公共场所雕像臀部画着锤子和镰刀6 a thousand-lira note (officially worth about $1.63) shrunk to the slightness of a dollar bill. 1000里拉（按官价折合1.63美元左右）的钞票贬值到只值一美元。
总之，回到意大利，看到的都是不好的东西，
本段有几个词语值得学习
at the drop of a hat不加思索地，一言不合就。。。，毫不犹豫地（ without hesitation ，to do something at a drop of a hat means to do something immediately without even thinking about it.，毫不犹豫地”做某事，意思就是说想都不用想，立即做某事）
这个俚语来源于美国西部过去的决斗和赛马之类的比赛，裁判会用扔帽子的形式宣布比赛开始，帽子一旦落地，比赛就正式开始了。这个规则延续了很久，后来才用发令枪代替，但这个说法从此流传下来，用来表示“立即”、“毫不犹豫”。比如：
I am so starving that I can eat these up at the drop of a hat!
我太饿了，甚至可以马上把这些食物通通吃掉！
My wife’s expecting a baby so I might have to rush to the hospital at the drop of a hat.
我妻子要生孩子了，所以我得立即赶往医院。
We’re all packed and ready to go;we can leave at the drop of a hat.
我们都收拾好了，准备出发了; 马上就可以走”。
课文后有一个练习用英语解释下边这句话：
tobacconists ready to go on strike at the drop of a hat，烟店老板随时都准备罢工
需要用英语解释的是ready to go on strike at the drop of a hat
课文中at the drop of a hat意义是at the slightest pretext.随便找个话题，借口就罢工，有一时冲动含义，这句话英语解释就是getting ready to on a strike on the slightest pretext
neo-fascists at their dirty work中的at用法在第二册第16课见过：
and found his mother at her supper看见妈妈在吃晚餐
在课文dirty work指的是卑鄙的勾当，dirty work是指做那些让人不愉快的，很讨厌的，或者是很不讨好的工作。有时候在一定的语境中dirty work，通常指非常繁琐的，甚至基础的但要耗费很多精力的枯燥工作。如：
To my surprise, she never complained her hard and dirty work.
令我惊讶的是，她从来没有抱怨过她又苦又脏的工作。
文章第二段：
Nevertheless, it's delightful to be back. People are underpaid but they go through an act of liking their work, the open markets are luscious with esculent color , the community is important than the state, the human condition is humorously accepted. The northern wind blows viciously today, and there's no central heating (中央暖氣)to turn on, but it will be pleasant when the wind drops. The two television channels are inadequate(不充分的), but next Wednesday's return of an old Western is something to look forward to. Manifold consumption(多樣化的消費) isn't important here. The quality of life has nothing to do with the quantity of brand names. What matters is talk, family, cheap wine in the open air, the wresting of minimal sweetness out of the long-known bitterness of living . I was spoiled inNew Jersey.
本段第二句People are underpaid but they go through an act of liking their work, the open markets are luscious with esculent color , the community is important than the state, the human condition is humorously accepted.人们得到的工资太低，但仍做出喜欢他们的工作的样子，露天市场里是香甜味美的色彩缤纷的食品，社区比国家更重要，人们怀着幽默感接受了这种人生状况。
underpaid给的报酬过低，如：
Overworked and underpaid钱少事多压力大，工作累，薪水低
underpaid teachers 教师报酬过低
Mary is always overworked and underpaid. 玛丽总是超负荷工作，且待遇低
go through an act of liking their work做出喜欢他们的工作的样子：try to liking their work，课文中用了一大堆词语go through an act of来修饰，评论liking their work，单独说liking their work就是喜欢他们的工作，但在这里用了go through an act of那就味道不一样了，就是try to liking their work做出喜欢他们的工作的样子。go through the motions（an act） of doing 做做样子，走走过场做样子也就是随便走个过场，做做动作就是了。
go through an act of liking their work用英语解释就是：pretend to liking their work或者try to liking their work，
the open markets are luscious with esculent color
.luscious /'lʌʃəs/香甜，甘美的(也可以形容人)，如：
He enjoyed the luscious fruit.
他很喜欢吃那种香甜的水果。
Ms Freckle started growing her hair in 2003 and appears to be very proud of her luscious brown locks.
弗雷克尔从2003年就开始蓄发，她看上去对自己那一头柔软的棕色头发感到非常自豪。
once these lands abounded with lakes, luscious greens and vigorous life, 曾经被群湖环绕、绿意盎然、生机勃勃
在平时说话时，一般用delicious，如：
Food always tasted delicious out of doors, 在户外吃东西总是很香甜的。
Howsweet the ice-creams looked on their little glass plates, andhow deliciously cold the spoons were!
课文对这句话的解释有一个mouth-watering ，用它解释esculent意思，就是令人垂涎的，形容闻到或看到就让人流口水想吃的感觉。如：
The bacon cheeseburger sounds mouth-watering.
培根奶酪汉堡听起来很馋人。
课文第三句：
The northern wind blows viciously today, and there's no central heating to turn on, but it will be pleasant when the wind drops. 今天刮着猛烈的干冷的北风，而且也没有中央暖气可供采暖，但风停了就会舒服了。
在这里用and把刮着猛烈的干冷的北风与没有中央暖气可供采暖连接起来，形成强烈对比，没有中央暖气可供采暖到底舒不舒服呢？肯定不舒服，后面用了it will be pleasant when the wind drops用的很有味道，风停了就会舒服了，风啥时停，不晓得，反正不舒服。
第四句：
The two television channels are inadequate, but next Wednesday's return of an old Western is something to look forward to. 两个电视频道太少了，但下个星期三重播一部老西部片，这给了大家一个盼头。
说两个电视频道太少了用的是inadequate：不充分的；不足的；不够的（not enough; not good enough）如：
Texas Governor Greg Abbott criticized the Trump administration's $44 billion disaster relief request to Congress as “completely inadequate.” 德克萨斯州州长阿伯特批评川普政府向国会提出的440亿美元的救灾拨款要求“根本不够”。
Inadequate sleep causes more than $400 billion in economic losses annually in the United States, researchers have found.
研究人员发现，睡眠不足导致美国每年经济损失超过4000亿美元。
当一个人感觉不够，不足，不充分，就意味着不胜任的；缺乏信心的（(of people人) not able, or not confident enough, to deal with a situation）如：
I felt totally inadequate as a parent.我觉得完全没有资格做父亲（或母亲）。
第五句和第六句：
Manifold consumption isn't important here. The quality of life has nothing to do with the quantity of brand names. 在这儿多样化的消费并不重要，生活的质量与商标名称的数量无关。
Manifold consumption：多样化的消费暗示在美国有多样化的消费，而意大利没有。Here the author is referring to all kinds of consumption in the American society.
quantity: 大量;大批;众多例句如下：
It’s cheaper to buy goods in quantity大宗购物比较便宜。
We’ve always put quality before quantity.我们总是认为质量比数量重要。
注意，作者写他回到自己的国家-意大利，一切都不尽人意。而开头一句的Nevertheless, it's delightful to be back.表面上写回来很高兴，其实The author feels unhappy to be back to his home country-Italy.作者花一定篇幅写意大利的不好，和要写美国有啥联系？
第七句：
What matters is talk, family, cheap wine in the open air, the wresting of minimal sweetness out of the long-known bitterness of living重要的是聊天，家庭，露天喝廉价酒，从久已熟知的痛苦生活中榨取最低限度的甜蜜。
作者用cheap wine，long-known bitterness描写意大利的生活没有美国好。
minimal：极少的；极小的，简朴的朴实无华，暗示美国奢华，拜金的（materialistic）热衷于购物（shopaholic）怪不得本段结尾一句I was spoiled inNew Jersey. 我在新泽西州被惯坏了。原来作者在美国过得是富有，消费多样化，有很多可供选择的（spoiled for choice）有中央暖气，奢华的，不会和廉价酒的甜蜜生活。
be spoiled:
But American cuisine has been making some great strides forwards, and you'll always be spoiled for choice.但是美国烹饪已经取得了很大的进步，你总会有许多选择。
I am back in Bracciano, a castellated(城堡式) town about 13 miles north of Rome, after a year in New Jersey. I find the Italian Government still unstable, gasoline more expensive than anywhere in the world, butchers and bank clerks and tobacconists ready to go on strike at the drop of a hat， neo-fascists at their dirty work, the hammer and sickle painted on the rumps of public statues, a thousand-lira note (officially worth about $1.63) shrunk to the slightness of a dollar bill.
这是文章开头一段。共有两句话，第一句讲我在新泽西州呆了一年之后，回到了布拉奇阿诺，这是一座位于罗马以北约13英里的城堡式的小城。这一句用词简单：
I am back in Bracciano, 回到了布拉奇阿诺。back in 很口语话的表达，欣赏几个例子：
The evening began well. The chandelier was now back in
place, with new ropes.这个夜晚到来时，一切还是令人满意的。那枝形吊灯换了新的绳 索又挂回了它原来的位置。
Back in his hotel, Nick sat on his bed and thought. 回到酒店，尼克坐在床上想着。
Ten minutes later he was back in his office, and Adam
came into his room. Adam was twenty-five, and usually worked with Felix on important jobs.
十分钟后，他回到了自己的办公室，亚当也走了进来。亚当25
岁，常常和费利克斯在重要的案件上合作。
He put the horse-shoe back in its box. 'That shoe is the second most interesting thing in the north of England,' he said.他把马蹄铁放回盒子里。“这马蹄铁是 英国北部第二有趣的东西。”他说。
Back in a flash马上回来
back in the saddle一段时间“缺勤”后重新开始做.例如：
I needed to take a break for a bit, but now, I’m back in the saddle.我需要休息一下，但现在，我又回到了。
Hey, long time no see! 嘿，好久不见！
Yeah, I was super busy.It’s good to see you exercising again. 是啊，一直在忙.很高兴看到你再次锻炼身体。
Yes! l'm back in the saddle!。是的，我又回来了！
第二句谓语find后面跟了一连串的宾语1 the Italian Government still unstable, 意大利政府仍不稳定2 gasoline more expensive than anywhere in the world汽油比世界任何地方都贵3 butchers and bank clerks and tobacconists ready to go on strike at the drop of a hat賣肉的、银行职员和烟店老板随时都准备罢工4 neo-fascists at their dirty work新法西斯分子在干着卑鄙肮脏的勾当5 the hammer and sickle painted on the rumps of public statues,公共场所雕像臀部画着锤子和镰刀6 a thousand-lira note (officially worth about $1.63) shrunk to the slightness of a dollar bill. 1000里拉（按官价折合1.63美元左右）的钞票贬值到只值一美元。
总之，回到意大利，看到的都是不好的东西，
本段有几个词语值得学习
at the drop of a hat不加思索地，一言不合就。。。，毫不犹豫地（ without hesitation ，to do something at a drop of a hat means to do something immediately without even thinking about it.，毫不犹豫地”做某事，意思就是说想都不用想，立即做某事）
这个俚语来源于美国西部过去的决斗和赛马之类的比赛，裁判会用扔帽子的形式宣布比赛开始，帽子一旦落地，比赛就正式开始了。这个规则延续了很久，后来才用发令枪代替，但这个说法从此流传下来，用来表示“立即”、“毫不犹豫”。比如：
I am so starving that I can eat these up at the drop of a hat!
我太饿了，甚至可以马上把这些食物通通吃掉！
My wife’s expecting a baby so I might have to rush to the hospital at the drop of a hat.
我妻子要生孩子了，所以我得立即赶往医院。
We’re all packed and ready to go;we can leave at the drop of a hat.
我们都收拾好了，准备出发了; 马上就可以走”。
课文后有一个练习用英语解释下边这句话：
tobacconists ready to go on strike at the drop of a hat，烟店老板随时都准备罢工
需要用英语解释的是ready to go on strike at the drop of a hat
课文中at the drop of a hat意义是at the slightest pretext.随便找个话题，借口就罢工，有一时冲动含义，这句话英语解释就是getting ready to on a strike on the slightest pretext
neo-fascists at their dirty work中的at用法在第二册第16课见过：
and found his mother at her supper看见妈妈在吃晚餐
在课文dirty work指的是卑鄙的勾当，dirty work是指做那些让人不愉快的，很讨厌的，或者是很不讨好的工作。有时候在一定的语境中dirty work，通常指非常繁琐的，甚至基础的但要耗费很多精力的枯燥工作。如：
To my surprise, she never complained her hard and dirty work.
令我惊讶的是，她从来没有抱怨过她又苦又脏的工作。
文章第二段：
Nevertheless, it's delightful to be back. People are underpaid but they go through an act of liking their work, the open markets are luscious with esculent color , the community is important than the state, the human condition is humorously accepted. The northern wind blows viciously today, and there's no central heating (中央暖氣)to turn on, but it will be pleasant when the wind drops. The two television channels are inadequate(不充分的), but next Wednesday's return of an old Western is something to look forward to. Manifold consumption(多樣化的消費) isn't important here. The quality of life has nothing to do with the quantity of brand names. What matters is talk, family, cheap wine in the open air, the wresting of minimal sweetness out of the long-known bitterness of living . I was spoiled inNew Jersey.
本段第二句People are underpaid but they go through an act of liking their work, the open markets are luscious with esculent color , the community is important than the state, the human condition is humorously accepted.人们得到的工资太低，但仍做出喜欢他们的工作的样子，露天市场里是香甜味美的色彩缤纷的食品，社区比国家更重要，人们怀着幽默感接受了这种人生状况。
underpaid给的报酬过低，如：
Overworked and underpaid钱少事多压力大，工作累，薪水低
underpaid teachers 教师报酬过低
Mary is always overworked and underpaid. 玛丽总是超负荷工作，且待遇低
go through an act of liking their work做出喜欢他们的工作的样子：try to liking their work，课文中用了一大堆词语go through an act of来修饰，评论liking their work，单独说liking their work就是喜欢他们的工作，但在这里用了go through an act of那就味道不一样了，就是try to liking their work做出喜欢他们的工作的样子。go through the motions（an act） of doing 做做样子，走走过场做样子也就是随便走个过场，做做动作就是了。
go through an act of liking their work用英语解释就是：pretend to liking their work或者try to liking their work，
the open markets are luscious with esculent color
.luscious /'lʌʃəs/香甜，甘美的(也可以形容人)，如：
He enjoyed the luscious fruit.
他很喜欢吃那种香甜的水果。
Ms Freckle started growing her hair in 2003 and appears to be very proud of her luscious brown locks.
弗雷克尔从2003年就开始蓄发，她看上去对自己那一头柔软的棕色头发感到非常自豪。
once these lands abounded with lakes, luscious greens and vigorous life, 曾经被群湖环绕、绿意盎然、生机勃勃
在平时说话时，一般用delicious，如：
Food always tasted delicious out of doors, 在户外吃东西总是很香甜的。
Howsweet the ice-creams looked on their little glass plates, andhow deliciously cold the spoons were!
课文对这句话的解释有一个mouth-watering ，用它解释esculent意思，就是令人垂涎的，形容闻到或看到就让人流口水想吃的感觉。如：
The bacon cheeseburger sounds mouth-watering.
培根奶酪汉堡听起来很馋人。
课文第三句：
The northern wind blows viciously today, and there's no central heating to turn on, but it will be pleasant when the wind drops. 今天刮着猛烈的干冷的北风，而且也没有中央暖气可供采暖，但风停了就会舒服了。
在这里用and把刮着猛烈的干冷的北风与没有中央暖气可供采暖连接起来，形成强烈对比，没有中央暖气可供采暖到底舒不舒服呢？肯定不舒服，后面用了it will be pleasant when the wind drops用的很有味道，风停了就会舒服了，风啥时停，不晓得，反正不舒服。
第四句：
The two television channels are inadequate, but next Wednesday's return of an old Western is something to look forward to. 两个电视频道太少了，但下个星期三重播一部老西部片，这给了大家一个盼头。
说两个电视频道太少了用的是inadequate：不充分的；不足的；不够的（not enough; not good enough）如：
Texas Governor Greg Abbott criticized the Trump administration's $44 billion disaster relief request to Congress as “completely inadequate.” 德克萨斯州州长阿伯特批评川普政府向国会提出的440亿美元的救灾拨款要求“根本不够”。
Inadequate sleep causes more than $400 billion in economic losses annually in the United States, researchers have found.
研究人员发现，睡眠不足导致美国每年经济损失超过4000亿美元。
当一个人感觉不够，不足，不充分，就意味着不胜任的；缺乏信心的（(of people人) not able, or not confident enough, to deal with a situation）如：
I felt totally inadequate as a parent.我觉得完全没有资格做父亲（或母亲）。
第五句和第六句：
Manifold consumption isn't important here. The quality of life has nothing to do with the quantity of brand names. 在这儿多样化的消费并不重要，生活的质量与商标名称的数量无关。
Manifold consumption：多样化的消费暗示在美国有多样化的消费，而意大利没有。Here the author is referring to all kinds of consumption in the American society.
quantity: 大量;大批;众多例句如下：
It’s cheaper to buy goods in quantity大宗购物比较便宜。
We’ve always put quality before quantity.我们总是认为质量比数量重要。
注意，作者写他回到自己的国家-意大利，一切都不尽人意。而开头一句的Nevertheless, it's delightful to be back.表面上写回来很高兴，其实The author feels unhappy to be back to his home country-Italy.作者花一定篇幅写意大利的不好，和要写美国有啥联系？
第七句：
What matters is talk, family, cheap wine in the open air, the wresting of minimal sweetness out of the long-known bitterness of living重要的是聊天，家庭，露天喝廉价酒，从久已熟知的痛苦生活中榨取最低限度的甜蜜。
作者用cheap wine，long-known bitterness描写意大利的生活没有美国好。
minimal：极少的；极小的，简朴的朴实无华，暗示美国奢华，拜金的（materialistic）热衷于购物（shopaholic）怪不得本段结尾一句I was spoiled inNew Jersey. 我在新泽西州被惯坏了。原来作者在美国过得是富有，消费多样化，有很多可供选择的（spoiled for choice）有中央暖气，奢华的，不会和廉价酒的甜蜜生活。
be spoiled:
But American cuisine has been making some great strides forwards, and you'll always be spoiled for choice.但是美国烹饪已经取得了很大的进步，你总会有许多选择。
