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Englishman's Home
英国人的家
Some people would say that the Englishman's home is no longer his castle; that it has become his workshop. This is partly because the average Englishman is keen on working with his hands and partly because he feels, for one reason or another, that he must do for himself many household jobs for which, some years ago, he would have hired professional help.
有人会说，英国人的家不再是他们的城堡了，而变成了他们的车间。这一方面是因为一般的英国人热衷于用自己的双手工作，另一方面是因为他觉得，不管什么原因，有许多家庭工作他必须自己动手去做，而这些工作在几年前都会由雇佣的专业人士帮忙完成。
The for this is a financial one: the high cost of labor has meant that builders' and decorators' costs have reached a level which makes them so high that the house-proud English people of modest means hang back. So, if they wish to keep their houses looking bright and smart, they have to deal with some of the repairs and decorating themselves. As a result, there has grown up in the post-war years what is sometimes referred to as the "Do-It-Yourself Movement".
这种现象的主要原因是经济因素：高成本的劳动力意味着建筑工人和装修工人的费用达到了非常高的水平，使得节俭的、讲究家里摆设的英国人退缩了。因此，如果他们想让他们的房子保持明亮整洁的话，他们不得不自己去做一些修理和装修工作。这样，在战后几年里，在英国形成了一种运动，有时被称为“自己动手运动”。
The "Do-It-Yourself Movement" began with home decorating but has since spread into a much wider field. Nowadays there seem to be very few things that cannot be made by the "do-it-yourself" method.
“自己动手运动”由家庭装修开始，但从那时候起到现在，已经扩展到了更多的领域。如今，似乎没有什么事情不能通过“自己动手”的方法来解决。
A number of magazines and handbooks exist to show hopeful handymen of ages just how easy it is to build anything from a coffee table to a fifteen-foot sailing boat. All you need, it seems, is a hammer and a few nails. You follow the simple instructions step-by-step and, before you know where you are, the finished article stands before you, complete in every detail.
有许多杂志和手册向不同年龄段的心灵手巧的人展示，制作从咖啡桌到15英尺（4.5米）的独栀小艇等一切东西是多么容易，只需一把榔头和几枚钉子就可以了。你只要一步一步地跟着简单明晰的指示做，还没等你反应过来，成品就会出现在你面前，所有的部分一应俱全。
