A balcony with a view
Dr. Martin watched the preparation for thebanquetfrom thebalcony. His wife hadbanishedhim from helping because it was in his honor. He wiped the sweat from hisbaldhead in frustration, however, because he loved tobakeand run thebarbequehimself, even as he loved to manage the distribution ofbarrelsof beer to thebar.
As he leaned on thebarrierhe heard abarkand turned to look towards the river. Anotherbargewas floating by loaded up with old, discarded carbatteries. A recentballottobanputting the trash in a local garbage dump had failed and the barge was taking itsbaggageup the river to the next town. That city hadbaffledits own residents by offering to accept the trash at abargainrate. Apparently there was a large area ofbarrenland that they had not been able to use. Now people marching in protest beset that city. More people were jumping on thebandwagoneach day. The only winner was the barge company; the deal had saved them from goingbankrupt.
It was difficult tobalancethe needs of society with its desire to protect the environment, thought the Dr] as he frowned. We just have a way ofbatteringthis planet even as we feel we need to live more comfortably.
Dr. Martin was brought back quickly to his setting, however, when he heard a noise and looked down to see that his wife had fallen down thebasementsteps. He ran down to help. Hisbanishmentwas certainly over now.

觀景陽(yáng)臺(tái)
馬丁博士從陽(yáng)臺(tái)上看著人們?yōu)?/span>宴會(huì)做準(zhǔn)備。因?yàn)檫@是為他舉行的宴會(huì)，所以妻子把他驅(qū)逐到一邊，不讓他幫忙。可是他卻沮喪地擦掉他那光頭上的汗珠，因?yàn)樗矚g烘烤食品，喜歡親自燒烤，正如他喜歡把一桶桶啤酒分配到吧臺(tái)一樣。
馬丁博士倚靠在屏障上，忽然聽到一聲狗叫，于是轉(zhuǎn)過頭向河的方向望去。又一艘裝滿廢棄汽車電池的平底駁船緩緩駛過。最近舉行的禁止將此類垃圾倒入當(dāng)?shù)乩镜?/span>投票失敗了，駁船正將這些垃圾包袱運(yùn)往下一個(gè)城鎮(zhèn)。那座城市主動(dòng)要求以便宜的價(jià)格接受這些垃圾，這使當(dāng)?shù)氐木用?/span>大惑不解。顯然，他們有一大片他們還無法利用的貧瘠土地。現(xiàn)在游行抗議的人群包圍了城市，每天都有更多的人嚴(yán)厲批評(píng)這股潮流。惟一的贏家是運(yùn)輸公司，這筆生意使他們免于破產(chǎn)、起死回生。
博士皺著眉頭想道：在滿足社會(huì)需求與保護(hù)環(huán)境之間確實(shí)是很難找到平衡。恰恰在我們覺得有必要生活得更舒適的時(shí)候，我們就會(huì)用某種方式破壞地球。
不過，馬丁博士很快就被一陣喧鬧聲帶回到現(xiàn)實(shí)之中，他朝下一看，發(fā)現(xiàn)妻子從地下室的樓梯上跌了下去，他趕快跑下去幫忙。現(xiàn)在，妻子對(duì)他的驅(qū)逐當(dāng)然結(jié)束啦。

單詞詳解:

baffle v.1使困惑,難住;使受挫折;阻礙2用反射板控制(氣流等)
baggage n.行李;(喻)包袱
bake v.烤,烘,焙
balcony n.陽(yáng)臺(tái);(電影院等的)樓廳,樓座
bald a.禿頭的;光禿的;赤裸裸的
ballot n.選票,投票權(quán),投票記錄
ban v.禁止,取締,查禁
bandwagon n.1(馬戲團(tuán)等吹打過市的)樂隊(duì)彩車;宣傳車
2浪潮,時(shí)尚,聲勢(shì)浩大的運(yùn)動(dòng)
banish v.1流放,放逐,把...驅(qū)逐出境2.消除,排除
banishment n.放逐,驅(qū)逐
bankrupt n.破產(chǎn),破產(chǎn)者
banquet n.宴會(huì)v.盛宴款待
bar n.酒吧間,餐柜;(木,金屬等的)條,桿,棒,長(zhǎng)方形或長(zhǎng)橢圓形的)塊
v.關(guān),禁閉;阻攔;禁止,不準(zhǔn)
barbecue n.燒烤;戶外烤肉餐v.(尤指在戶外)烤(肉類)
bargain n.協(xié)定,協(xié)議;交易;物價(jià)商品,便宜的東西
v.講價(jià),討價(jià)還價(jià);講條件,談判
barge n.駁船
bark v./n.狗(狐)叫
barrel n.桶,一桶之量
barren a.(土地等)貧瘠,荒蕪的,不毛的;不生育的,不結(jié)果的
barrier n.1障礙物,屏障2障礙,隔閡,壁壘,妨礙因素
basement n.地下室;(建筑物的)墻根,墻腳
batter v.1搗毀,砸爛,撞擊2重創(chuàng),連續(xù)打擊3.(尤指不愛惜而)磨損,損壞
battery n.電池(組),蓄電池(組)