Some Low-Tech Fixes for High-Tech Problems:
Dirty Dics

from March 10, 2009, The New York Times

You need to clean a skipping1 DVD or CD, but as a bachelor2 you don’t have any cleaning fluids3?  Soak a washcloth4 with vodka5 or mouthwash6.

Alcohol7 is a powerful solvent8, perfectly capable of9 dissolving10 fingerprints11 and grime12 on the surface13 of a disc.  A $5 bottle of mouthwash in your medicine cabinet14 may do the job as effectively15 as $75 bottle of DVD cleaning fluid.

Also, swabbing16 your copy of “Lost Weekend” with Stolichnaya vodka instead of fussing17 with a Discwasher kit18 is a lot more manly19.

Vocabulary:

1. skip (v) (輕巧地)跳來跳去,蹦蹦跳跳

2. bachelor (n) 單身男子,單身漢;鰥夫

3. fluid (n) 流體,流質;液體

4. washcloth (n) 毛巾;面巾;浴巾

5. vodka (n) 伏特加酒

6. mouthwash (n) 漱口藥,洗口藥

7. alcohol (n) 含酒精飲料;酒[U]

8. solvent (n) 溶媒,溶劑

9. capable of (adj-ph)有...能力的;有...本領的

10. dissolve (v) 使溶解;使融化;使液化

11. fingerprint (n) 指紋,指印

12. grime (n) 塵垢;污點

13. surface (n) 面,表面

14. cabinet (n) 櫥,櫃

15. effectively (adv) 有效地;生效地

16. swab (v) 打掃;擦拭

17. fuss (v) 忙亂;小題大作;大驚小怪

18. kit (n) 工具箱; 成套工具(或物件等);配套元件(供裝配成件)

19. manly (adj) 有男子氣概的; 適合男性的,男子的

Quiz:
True or False:

1. Alcohol is a powerful solvent.

2. Alcohol can get rid of the fingerprints on the surface of a disc.

3. Mouthwash may not be as effectively as DVD cleaning fluid.

4. We may also use the vodka to clean a disc.