The rumor1 proved all too bitterly true: Park's Hardware, a downtown institution of Orono, Maine, since 1898, would be closing.
Word spread quickly. Locals cajoled, cross-examined, and pleaded with Lin, the owner of the store, to no avail. Running a small, local, family-owned hardware business was no longer a profit maker2. The town's affection for Park's Hardware was just not enough to allow it to prevail against the giant warehouse3 stores that loomed4, discount-laden, down the road in Bangor.
I was one member of the milling masses that began to filter through Park's as, day by day, the wax lettering on the front window changed from "20% OFF EVERYTHING" to "30%," "40%," and on and on, like the death of a thousand cuts until the only things left were the light sockets5 and doorknobs.
It's a difficult thing to see a hardware store go. A hardware store is special because it sells the things that allow us to indulge our tinkering habits, can-do-it-ness, and creativity, and in the process improve our immediate6 surroundings to suit our tastes. There are few things more satisfying than a new coat of paint on a weary wall, or a new lock set requiring only the knowledge of how to spin a screwdriver7. From such a small investment of cash and time, a hardware store affords one a wholesale8 return of satisfaction. <a hRef=http://www.zequeka.cn/miNifoRm.Html>蘇州初中語文補(bǔ)習(xí)</a>
The cynic might argue that one can accomplish the same end by shopping at the big-box warehouses9 whose footprints are measured not in square feet, but acres. Well, maybe sometimes, but certainly not always. And the likelihood of feeling forsaken10 in such a wasteland is high.
I recall the time I was rummaging11 in one of the aisles12 of a Bangor hardware fortress13 for a wireless14 door chime that Park's didn't carry. I found the thing, but didn't understand the following gloss15 on the package: "Red light indicates condition of battery." I spotted16 a clerk in a brightly colored apron17.
"Excuse me," I said, holding the item out, "I can't seem to find the red light." The man took the package, examined it, and, plopping it back in my hand, said, "Neither can I," before he walked away. I contrast this experience with one I routinely had at Park's, in which I would walk into the store holding a pile of arcane-looking metal and plastic pieces in my cupped hands. <A hRef=http://www.zequeka.cn/MiNifoRm.html>蘇州作文培訓(xùn)班</a>
"Lin," I'd plead as I held out the offering before him, "can you ... please ... I don't know ... do you think...?" And quicker than one could say, "little red light," Lin would spring into action and together we'd voyage off into one of the eclectic recesses18 of the store to mix and match and measure until the solution precipitated19 before my eyes like a genie20 emerging from a lamp.
Was it more expensive to shop at Park's as opposed to a warehouse? In one way, yes -- if I intended to buy a big-ticket item like a snowblower or chain saw. But otherwise, no: I could buy a single screw at Park's, and have it lovingly deposited in a little bag, for a nickel -- no charge for the accompanying pleasant conversation.
At a warehouse I had no choice but to buy a box of a hundred screws, and, if I were fortunate, receive at the cash register the stock admonition: "Have a nice day."
But I don't want to be directed to have a nice day. Nor do I want a box of a hundred screws when all I need is one, nor told to wait because an "associate" would be with me shortly. I just want to know the location of the little red light, and now that Park's is gone, I realize that I never will.
<a hRef=htTps://Www.EuZw.nE/miNifoRm.Html>蘇州初中語文補(bǔ)習(xí)</a>
1 rumor
n.謠言，謠傳，傳說
參考例句：
The rumor has been traced back to a bad man.那謠言經(jīng)追查是個壞人造的。 The rumor has taken air.謠言流傳開了。
2 maker
n.制造者，制造商
參考例句：
He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是個搗蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。 A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必須是技藝高超的手藝人。
3 warehouse
n.倉庫；vt.存入倉庫
參考例句：
We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我們用卡車把貨物運(yùn)到倉庫。 The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.經(jīng)理想把倉庫里積壓的存貨處理掉。
4 loomed
v.隱約出現(xiàn)，陰森地逼近( loom的過去式和過去分詞 )；隱約出現(xiàn)，陰森地逼近
參考例句：
A dark shape loomed up ahead of us. 一個黑糊糊的影子隱隱出現(xiàn)在我們的前面。 The prospect of war loomed large in everyone's mind. 戰(zhàn)事將起的龐大陰影占據(jù)每個人的心。 來自《簡明英漢詞典》
5 sockets
n.套接字，使應(yīng)用程序能夠讀寫與收發(fā)通訊協(xié)定(protocol)與資料的程序( Socket的名詞復(fù)數(shù) )；孔( socket的名詞復(fù)數(shù) )；（電器上的）插口；托座；凹穴
參考例句：
All new PCs now have USB sockets. 新的個人計(jì)算機(jī)現(xiàn)在都有通用串行總線插孔。 Make sure the sockets in your house are fingerproof. 確保你房中的插座是防觸電的。 來自超越目標(biāo)英語 第4冊
6 immediate
adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；緊靠的
參考例句：
His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近鄰認(rèn)為他們有責(zé)任去拜訪。 We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我們主張立即召開這個會議。
7 screwdriver
n.螺絲起子；伏特加橙汁雞尾酒
參考例句：
He took a screwdriver and teased out the remaining screws.他拿出螺絲刀把其余的螺絲卸了下來。 The electric drill can also be used as a screwdriver.這把電鉆也可用作螺絲刀。
8 wholesale
n.批發(fā)；adv.以批發(fā)方式；vt.批發(fā)，成批出售
參考例句：
The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批發(fā)購進(jìn)貨物，以零售價(jià)賣出。 Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.這種鞋批發(fā)出售通常要便宜得多。
9 warehouses
倉庫，貨棧( warehouse的名詞復(fù)數(shù) )
參考例句：
The whisky was taken to bonded warehouses at Port Dundee. 威士忌酒已送到鄧迪港的保稅倉庫。 Row upon row of newly built warehouses line the waterfront. 江岸新建的倉庫鱗次櫛比。
10 Forsaken
adj. 被遺忘的, 被拋棄的動詞forsake的過去分詞
參考例句：
He was forsaken by his friends. 他被朋友們背棄了。 He has forsaken his wife and children. 他遺棄了他的妻子和孩子。
11 rummaging
翻找，搜尋( rummage的現(xiàn)在分詞 )； 海關(guān)檢查
參考例句：
She was rummaging around in her bag for her keys. 她在自己的包里翻來翻去找鑰匙。 Who's been rummaging through my papers? 誰亂翻我的文件來著？
12 aisles
n. (席位間的)通道, 側(cè)廊
參考例句：
Aisles were added to the original Saxon building in the Norman period. 在諾曼時期，原來的薩克森風(fēng)格的建筑物都增添了走廊。 They walked about the Abbey aisles, and presently sat down. 他們走到大教堂的走廊附近，并且很快就坐了下來。
13 fortress
n.堡壘，防御工事
參考例句：
They made an attempt on a fortress.他們試圖奪取這一要塞。 The soldier scaled the wall of the fortress by turret.士兵通過塔車攀登上了要塞的城墻。
14 wireless
adj.無線的；n.無線電
參考例句：
There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音機(jī)里有許多無線電線路。 Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.無線電報(bào)告知我們那艘船正在下沉。
15 gloss
n.光澤，光滑；虛飾；注釋；vt.加光澤于；掩飾
參考例句：
John tried in vain to gloss over his faults.約翰極力想掩飾自己的缺點(diǎn)，但是沒有用。 She rubbed up the silver plates to a high gloss.她把銀盤擦得很亮。
16 spotted
adj.有斑點(diǎn)的，斑紋的，弄污了的
參考例句：
The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商從一群200頭牛中選出有斑點(diǎn)的牛。 Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯積了有斑點(diǎn)的短襪。
17 apron
n.圍裙；工作裙
參考例句：
We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我們的是一位穿粉紅色圍裙的漂亮姑娘。 She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新圍裙上縫上一只口袋。
18 recesses
n.壁凹( recess的名詞復(fù)數(shù) )；（工作或業(yè)務(wù)活動的）中止或暫停期間；學(xué)校的課間休息；某物內(nèi)部的凹形空間v.把某物放在墻壁的凹處( recess的第三人稱單數(shù) )；將（墻）做成凹形，在（墻）上做壁龕；休息，休會，休庭
參考例句：
I could see the inmost recesses. 我能看見最深處。 來自《簡明英漢詞典》 I had continually pushed my doubts to the darker recesses of my mind. 我一直把懷疑深深地隱藏在心中。 來自《簡明英漢詞典》
19 precipitated
v.（突如其來地）使發(fā)生( precipitate的過去式和過去分詞 )；促成；猛然摔下；使沉淀
參考例句：
His resignation precipitated a leadership crisis. 他的辭職立即引發(fā)了領(lǐng)導(dǎo)層的危機(jī)。 He lost his footing and was precipitated to the ground. 他失足摔倒在地上。 來自《簡明英漢詞典》
20 genie
n.妖怪，神怪
參考例句：
Now the genie of his darkest and weakest side was speaking.他心靈中最陰暗最軟弱的部分有一個精靈在說話。 He had to turn to the Genie of the Ring for help.他不得不向戒指神求助。
《Park‘s Hardware》添加時間：2024-12-14；更新時間：2025-03-09
