Insurance companies are normally willing to insure anything. Insuring public or private property is a standard practice in most countries in the world. If, however, you were holding an open air garden party or a fete it would be equally possible to insure yourself in the event of bad weather.
    保险公司通常什么都想保一下。在世界上大多数国家，保公有财产和私有财产是标准做法。然而，如果你在一个露天的花园里开趴体或者开宴会，在恶劣环境下你也可以去投保。
    PS: public or private property, 公有财产和私有财产

    Needless to say, the bigger the risk an insurance company takes, the higher the premium you will have to pay. It is not uncommon to hear that a shipping company has made a claim for the cost of salvaging a sunken ship. But the claim made by a local authority to recover the cost of salvaging a sunken pie dish must surely be unique.
    保险公司冒的风险越大，你需要交的保费就越高，这是无需多言的道理。经常听说某海运公司对一艘沉船的捞取费用提出索赔。但是由当局提出的，收回打捞沉没的馅饼盘的索赔，就绝壁独一无二了。
    PS: needless to say, 无需多言
    PS++: The more… the more, 越…越…
    PS++++: make a claim for…, 提出一个提案、要求，这里理解为索赔

    Admittedly it was an unusual pie dish, for it was eighteen feet long and six feet wide. It had been purchased by a local authority so that an enormous pie could be baked for an annual fair. The pie committee decided that the best way to transport the dish would be by canal, so they insured it for the trip.
    固然，这不是一个普通的馅饼盘，因为它长十八英尺，宽六英尺。它已经由当局买下，并且会在每年的展会上焙烤一个大馅饼。馅饼协会认为运输这个馅饼盘最好的方法是通过运河，因此她们为这趟运输投了保。

    Shortly after it was launched, the pie committee went to a local inn to celebrate. At the same time, a number of teenagers climbed on to the dish and held a little party of their own. Dancing proved to be more than the dish could bear, for during the party it capsized and sank in seven feet of water.
    在船开出去之后，馅饼协会去了当地的小酒馆庆祝。同时，一帮小年轻也爬上了馅饼盘，搞他们自己的趴体。因为跳得太猛烈，超过了馅饼盘的承受范围，在趴体中馅饼倾覆并沉入了七英尺的水中。
    PS: Shortly after it was launched, 这里译为“船开出去之后”

    The pie committee telephoned a local garage owner who arrived in a recovery truck to salvage the pie dish. Shivering in their wet clothes, the teenagers looked on while three men dived repeatedly into the water to locate the dish. They had little difficulty in finding it, but hauling it out of the water proved to be a serious problem.
    馅饼委员会打电话找了一个开救援卡车的仓库主，让他去打捞馅饼盘。这些穿着湿衣服的少年们瑟瑟发抖，并且看着三个潜水员反复寻找馅饼盘下落。找到馅饼盘并不是难事，但是要把它拖出水面似乎会比较麻烦。
    PS: Shivering in their wet clothes, 伴随状语，修饰后边的teenagers，说她们穿着湿衣服、瑟瑟发抖
    PS++: haul … out of, 把…拖出

    The sides of the dish were so smooth that it was almost impossible to attach hawsers and chains to the rim without damaging it. Eventually chains were fixed to one end of the dish and a powerful winch was put into operation. The dish rose to the surface and was gently drawn towards the canal bank.
    盘子的边缘十分顺滑，所以在盘边拴上绳索或者链条并且不损坏盘子是几乎不可能的。最后他们把链条固定在盘子的边端，并投入了一台大功率的绞车。盘子慢慢浮出水面，并且被缓缓拖到了运河岸边。
    PS: put into operation, 使…运转

    For one agonizing moment, the dish was perched precariously on the bank of the canal, but it suddenly overbalanced and slid back into the water. The men were now obliged to try once more. This time they fixed heavy metal clamps to both sides of the dish so that they could fasten the chains.
    但令人痛苦的事发生了，盘子晃晃悠悠地上了岸，但它又突然失去平衡，掉回到了水中。没办法，工人们得再来一次。这次她们用沉重的金属夹子夹住盘子两侧，以便在盘子上安装铁链。
    PS: For one agonizing moment, 令人痛苦的事情

    The dish now had to be lifted vertically because one edge was resting against the side of the canal. The winch was again put into operation and one of the men started up the truck. Several minutes later, the dish was successfully hauled above the surface of the water.
    盘子现在必须被垂直吊出来，因为盘子的一端紧靠着运河岸边。绞车再次启动，一位工人发动了救援卡车的引擎。几分钟后，盘子被成功拖出水面。

    Water streamed in torrents over its sides with such force that it set up a huge wave in the canal. There was a danger that the wave would rebound off the other side of the bank and send the dish plunging into the water again. By working at tremendous speed, the men managed to get the dish on to dry land before the wave returned.
    湍流从盘子两侧急涌而出，在运河里掀起了一个巨大的浪。但是当波浪从对岸折回来时，就有再次讲盘子打回水下的危险。但工人们动作迅速，最终还是在波浪打回来之前把盘子捞上岸了。
    PS: water streamed in torrents, 湍流
    PS++: at tremendous speed, 迅速地，等同于fast