影片对白
Mary Alice: Martha Huber waited her whole life for something to happen to her, something exciting. As a child, she hoped to be kidnapped by a band of pirates. As a teenager, she dreamt of being discovered by a Hollywood talent scout. As a young woman, she fantasized that a handsome millionaire would sweep her off her feet . But the years had flown by, and still, nothing exciting had ever happened to Martha Huber. Until the night she was murdered.
Paul: Hello, Mrs. Huber.
Martha: Paul!
Paul: Let me give you a hand.
Martha: That's really not necessary.
Paul: I insist.
Mary Alice: In those last moments, it occurred to her, in addition to being boring, life could also be very cruel. Luckily for Mrs. Huber, death was far more merciful.
Officer Jackson: What do you think?
Police chief: That's our missing woman, all right.
Police Chief: Aw, geez, it didn't take the media long to get wind of this. Make sure no one contaminates my crime scene.
Officer Jackson: Hey, little lady. A lot of people are looking for you, you know that? Your face is gonna be on the front page of every paper in this state. How's that for exciting?
Mary Alice: Officer Jackson couldn't be sure, but for a brief moment, he thought he saw the corpse of Martha Huber, smile.
Mary Alice: Word of the tragedy would soon spread throughout the neighborhood. But for now, people went about their lives as they always did, blissfully unaware.
Susan: Hello, anybody home?
Mike's voice: In the kitchen.
Susan: Good news. I finished my book, so I thought to celebrate, you could take me out to lunch.
Edie: Hey, Susan.
Mike: Uh, could we do a rain check? Edie and I are just looking over the plans to rebuild her house.
Edie: My insurance company is finally cutting my check next week, and there's only one plumber I want. So don't expect to see this guy for a few months. I'm gonna be riding him hard.
Susan: Well, if anyone can go the distance , he can. I should know.
Edie: Uh, Mike? Mike? We're on the clock . Hey Felicia, what's up?
Mike: Edie?
Edie: They found Martha.
妙语佳句，活学活用
1. talent scout
本意是“发觉天才的人”，这里意为“的星探”，例如：I wish that someday a Hollywood scout would discover me.
2. Sweep somebody off his/her feet
意思是“Overwhelm someone emotionally”，例如：With his little gifts and gallant behavior, he swept her off her feet. 同样意思的表达还有：carry / knock off someone's feet.
3. Geez
Jesus 的缩略形式，用来表示“惊讶，高兴，不满或者脑怒”。
4. Get wind of
“得到……的风声”，和汉语非常相似。例如：I don't want my boss to get wind of the fact that I'm leaving so I'm not telling many people.
5. Cut one's check
这里的意思是sign one's check，Edie是说保险公司终于要赔偿她的损失了。
6. Go the distance
这个片语起源于拳击比赛，本意是“打完所有计划的每一轮比赛”，这里的意思是“to work long and hard and do well”，例如：He said he's willing to go the distance with this project.
7. On the clock
意思是“工作时间”。 Edie 对 Mike 和Susan 的卿卿我我非常受不了，故而提醒Mike：现在是工作时间，我付了你钱的。例如：Stop playing that silly game, we're on the clock.
文化面面观
Police in U.S. 美国的警务
Police agencies in the United States are oriented toward local control. Their counterparts in other industrialized countries, by contrast, are usually part of a centralized national police force. As a result of the focus on independent local control, there are some 20,000 different police agencies in the U.S. , financed and managed by states, counties, and municipalities. The lack of a centralized national system has led to problems of jurisdiction, information sharing, and even basic ideology. But the overriding fear of a national force and the abuse of its power has long been a hallmark of the American system of law.
Metropolitan police agencies in the U.S. were originally organized on a military model, and their development in the second half of the nineteenth century was strongly influenced by Robert Peel's Metropolitan Police Force of London, founded in 1829. The British system used an organization of constables and watchmen who patrolled the streets and often charged fees for their services. Early law enforcement efforts in the U.S. were loosely organized, as there was no perceived need for full-time, professional forces, and watchmen were usually volunteers. By the middle of the eighteenth century, however, large metropolitan areas such as New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Chicago had created permanent fulltime police forces. Professional, fulltime state police forces were not commonplace in the U.S. until the twentieth century.
Because most U.S. police agencies have been created and funded by the local communities, and because they were created at different times, there are many variations in how the agencies are organized and financed. In general, city police are funded by the municipality and headed by a police chief, either appointed by the mayor or elected. Counties employ patrolmen and sheriffs, who usually answer to an elected county official. State police agencies, which have broader jurisdiction, assist in statewide investigations and are responsible for traffic law enforcement in areas outside municipalities. Local law enforcement agencies also have a variety of specialized units, including those for transit, parks, ports, housing, and schools.
Federal police agencies mostly developed later, although the United States Treasury established the U.S. Mint Police in 1792. The Treasury Department oversees other specialized police agencies as well, including the U.S. Customs Service, the Internal Revenue Service; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; and the Secret Service. The Justice Department law enforcement agency was established in 1870 and includes the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the U.S. Marshals . In addition, other federal agencies have been established for specific law enforcement. These include the U.S. Park Police, the Border Patrol, the National Security Agency, and the Federal Trade Commission. The executive branch directs most federal agencies, with oversight by the legislative and judicial branches.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 1996 there were 922,200 full-time, local police personnel, of whom 663,535 had arrest powers. Steady increases for the last two decades indicate a 2001 estimate of around 1,000,000 local law enforcement employees across the country, about a quarter of them women and minorities. Statistics from 1997 show that, on average, local police officers were required to have 1,100 hours of training , and, by 2000, more than thirty-seven percent of local police agencies were required to have some college education. In 2000, there were 88,496 federal officers, about thirty-one for every 100,000 people . The majority of federal officers are in Texas; California; Washington, D.C.; New York; and Florida.
我观之我见
人们总是期待生活中能有惊喜、飞来好运等等等等。现实的生活越乏味，对这种意外事件的憧憬就更加热烈，这也能说明为什么人们对邻居视而不见而对究竟有没有外星人却更加热衷。可惜惊喜和飞来好运总是难得，厄运却总是不期而至。比如影片中这个一生都在渴望something exciting 的 Martha Huber。
生活是乏味的，也是残酷的。虽然憧憬不一定能实现，总还能让人有份念想。不过，要是人们能把眼光从天上落到地上，实现憧憬和获得惊喜的机会可能会更多一点。
考考你
将下面的句子译成英语。
1. In those last moments, it occurred to her, in addition to being boring, life could also be very cruel.
2. Uh, could we do a rain check? Edie and I are just looking over the plans to rebuild her house.
Desperate Housewives 1《绝望主妇》1考考你 参考答案
1. Give it up, plumber. She's not budging.
别费劲了，水管工。她不会改变主意的。
2. Just tell you that the affair was one thing, I mean, I forgave you, because on some small level, I thought you were in love with her, and now I find out that you were just groping people at parties.
我告诉你，那次婚外情，我原谅你是因为我以为你多少还是爱她的；现在我才知道你不过是在聚会上乱搞。
3. As God as my witness, it will snow on the hills of hell, before I ever feel sorry for you again!
上帝作证，要我再同情你，除非地狱里的山上下雪/地狱变冷！
