故事 Story

      有一个人喝醉了，到了家门口以后，怎么都不能把钥匙插进锁孔。
      他的邻居看到后，问他："你怎么了？又喝醉了？"
      他说："你来得正好。快帮我把房子稳住，它老是摇摇晃晃的，我钥匙插不进去！"

A man was so drunk when he got home that he had a trouble in getting his key into the keyhole.
His neighbor saw this and asked:" What's wrong with you? Are you drunk?"
He replied:" You are here just at the right time! Come and help me to hold the house. It keeps staggering that I can't insert my key into the hole!"

词语注释 Note

钥匙：(yàochí) n.  key
插：(chā) v.  to insert
锁：(suǒ) n.  lock
稳：(wěn) v.  to steady
摇摇晃晃 ：(yáoyáohuànghuàng) adj.  rocky; staggering

语言点Language Point

住
      作为一个动词单独使用时，"住"可以表示"停止"的意思，也可以放在动词的后面做补语，表示"使......停止"、"使......牢固、稳当"的意思，如：
When used as a single verb, "住" has the meaning of stop. You can also put it behind another verb as a complement, which means making something stop or stabilizing something. For example:"

      你的车挡住我的路了。 
      Nǐ de chē dǎngzhù wǒ de lù le. 
      Your car has blocked my way. 

      把他抓住，别让他跑了！ 
      Bǎ tā zhuāzhù, bié ràngtā pǎole! 
      Catch the man and don't let him run away!

      在文章中，那个醉汉让他的邻居"把房子稳住"，意思就是把房子扶稳，让它停止晃动。
      像其他的动补结构一样，"动词+住"这一结构的中间还可以加上"得"和"不"字：
In the joke, the drunkard asks his neighbor to "把房子稳住", which means to hold the house and make it stable.
Like the other "verb + complement" patterns, you can put "得" and "不" between the verb and "住": 

      客人留得住吗？ 
      Kèrén liú de zhù ma? 
      Can we retain the guest?

      我总是记不住别人的名字。 
      Wǒ zǒngshì jì bú zhù biéren de míngzi. 
      I always can't remember people's names.

• stable [´steibəl]   n.马棚 a.稳固的   (初中英语单词)
• retain [ri´tein]   vt.保持；保留；留住   (初中英语单词)
• insert [in´sə:t, ´insə:t]   vt.插入；夹入 n.插入物   (高中英语单词)
• drunkard [´drʌŋkəd]   n.醉汉；酒鬼   (英语六级单词)