On Monday afternoon Harris came round; he had a cycling paper in his hand.

 

I said: “If you take my advice, you will leave it alone.”

 

Harris said: “Leave what alone?”

 

I said: “That brand-new, patent, revolution in cycling, record-breaking, Tomfoolishness, whatever it may be, the advertisement of which you have there in your hand.”

 

He said: “Well, I don’t know; there will be some steep hills for us to negotiate; I guess we shall want a good brake.”

 

I said: “We shall want a brake, I agree; what we shall not want is a mechanical surprise that we don’t understand, and that never acts when it is wanted.”

 

“This thing,” he said, “acts automatically.”

 

“You needn’t tell me,” I said.  “I know exactly what it will do, by instinct.  Going uphill it will jamb the wheel so effectively that we shall have to carry the machine bodily.  The air at the top of the hill will do it good, and it will suddenly come right again.  Going downhill it will start reflecting what a nuisance it has been.  This will lead to remorse², and finally to despair.  It will say to itself: ‘I’m not fit to be a brake.  I don’t help these fellows; I only hinder them.  I’m a curse, that’s what I am;’ and, without a word of warning, it will ‘chuck’ the whole business.  That is what that brake will do.  Leave it alone.  You are a good fellow,” I continued, “but you have one fault.”

 

“What?” he asked, indignantly.

 

“You have too much faith,” I answered.  “If you read an advertisement, you go away and believe it.  Every experiment that every fool has thought of in connection with cycling you have tried.  Your guardian3

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1 overhaul
v./n.大修，仔细检查
参考例句：
Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。 It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

2 remorse
n.痛恨，悔恨，自责
参考例句：
She had no remorse about what she had said.她对所说的话不后悔。 He has shown no remorse for his actions.他对自己的行为没有任何悔恨之意。

3 guardian
n.监护人；守卫者，保护者
参考例句：
The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。 The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

4 conscientious
adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的
参考例句：
He is a conscientious man and knows his job.他很认真负责，也很懂行。 He is very conscientious in the performance of his duties.他非常认真地履行职责。

5 advancement
n.前进，促进，提升
参考例句：
His new contribution to the advancement of physiology was well appreciated.他对生理学发展的新贡献获得高度赞赏。 The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning.大学的目标应是促进学术。

6 mere
adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过
参考例句：
That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。 It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

7 mingled
混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系]
参考例句：
The sounds of laughter and singing mingled in the evening air. 笑声和歌声交织在夜空中。 The man and the woman mingled as everyone started to relax. 当大家开始放松的时候，这一男一女就开始交往了。

8 irritable
adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的
参考例句：
He gets irritable when he's got toothache.他牙一疼就很容易发脾气。 Our teacher is an irritable old lady.She gets angry easily.我们的老师是位脾气急躁的老太太。她很容易生气。

9 lobster
n.龙虾，龙虾肉
参考例句：
The lobster is a shellfish.龙虾是水生贝壳动物。 I like lobster but it does not like me.我喜欢吃龙虾，但它不适宜于我的健康。

10 folly
n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话
参考例句：
Learn wisdom by the folly of others.从别人的愚蠢行动中学到智慧。 Events proved the folly of such calculations.事情的进展证明了这种估计是愚蠢的。

11 harp
n.竖琴；天琴座
参考例句：
She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。 He played an Irish melody on the harp.他用竖琴演奏了一首爱尔兰曲调。

12 overhauled
v.彻底检查( overhaul的过去式和过去分词 )；大修；赶上；超越
参考例句：
Within a year the party had drastically overhauled its structure. 一年内这个政党已大刀阔斧地整顿了结构。 来自《简明英汉词典》 A mechanic overhauled the car's motor with some new parts. 一个修理工对那辆汽车的发动机进行了彻底的检修，换了一些新部件。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 whacking
adj.（用于强调）巨大的v.重击，使劲打( whack的现在分词 )
参考例句：
a whacking great hole in the roof 房顶上一个巨大的窟窿 His father found him a cushy job in the office, with almost nothing to do and a whacking great salary. 他父亲给他在事务所找到了一份轻松舒适的工作，几乎什么都不用做，工资还极高。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 gravel
n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石
参考例句：
We bought six bags of gravel for the garden path.我们购买了六袋碎石用来铺花园的小路。 More gravel is needed to fill the hollow in the drive.需要更多的砾石来填平车道上的坑洼。

15 satire
n.讽刺，讽刺文学，讽刺作品
参考例句：
The movie is a clever satire on the advertising industry.那部影片是关于广告业的一部巧妙的讽刺作品。 Satire is often a form of protest against injustice.讽刺往往是一种对不公正的抗议形式。

16 grovelled
v.卑躬屈节，奴颜婢膝( grovel的过去式和过去分词 )；趴
参考例句：
We grovelled around the club on our knees. 我们趴在俱乐部的地上四处找。 来自辞典例句 The dog grovelled before his master when he saw the whip. 那狗看到鞭子，便匍匐在主人面前。 来自辞典例句

17 affected
adj.不自然的，假装的
参考例句：
She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。 His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

18 grovelling
adj.卑下的，奴颜婢膝的v.卑躬屈节，奴颜婢膝( grovel的现在分词 )；趴
参考例句：
Can a policeman possibly enjoy grovelling in the dirty side of human behaivour? 一个警察成天和人类行为的丑恶面打交道，能感到津津有味吗？ 来自互联网

19 helping
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的
参考例句：
The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。 By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

20 heartily
adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很
参考例句：
He ate heartily and went out to look for his horse.他痛快地吃了一顿，就出去找他的马。 The host seized my hand and shook it heartily.主人抓住我的手，热情地和我握手。

21 standing
n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的
参考例句：
After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。 They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

22 mischief
n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹
参考例句：
Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。 He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。

23 ravages
劫掠后的残迹，破坏的结果，毁坏后的残迹
参考例句：
the ravages of war 战争造成的灾难 It is hard for anyone to escape from the ravages of time. 任何人都很难逃避时间的摧残。

24 muddle
n.困惑，混浊状态；vt.使混乱，使糊涂，使惊呆；vi.胡乱应付，混乱
参考例句：
Everything in the room was in a muddle.房间里每一件东西都是乱七八糟的。 Don't work in a rush and get into a muddle.克服忙乱现象。

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