365个英语简短小故事-154. Get out of "Jail" (2)

On Monday and Tuesday, Archie got the same recording¹. He had now escaped jury² duty for three days, Monday through Wednesday. Only two days to go.

Wednesday afternoon, his friend Gil called, asking Archie if he wanted to play golf the next morning. Archie said he was on jury duty that week. Gil said, “Well, no problem! It’s already Wednesday. You’ve made it! There’s no way that they’re going to call you to jury duty this late in the week.” Archie couldn’t believe that Gil had said that. Archie knocked several times on his wooden bookcase, saying that he hoped that Gil was right.

At 5:05 that evening, still worried that Gil had jinxed him, Archie dialed the 800 number. Sure enough, the recording told him to call back Thursday between noon and 12:30, instead of the usual 5 p.m. Damn³ that Gil, Archie thought.

Thursday, he anxiously called at 12:28. The recording told him that his jury service was finished! All he had to do was mail in the affidavit⁴ that had come in the white envelope. Archie put the affidavit into an envelope, put a 41-cent first class stamp on the envelope, and drove⁵ to the post office. Whistling⁶ as he dropped the envelope into the mailbox, he happily washed his hands once again of the “privilege” of doing jury service.

 

 

1 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

2 jury   

n.陪审团，评委会；adj.临时用的；vt.挑选

参考例句：

• These twelve men are believed to compose the jury.据信，陪审团是由这12人组成的。
• The members of the jury were discharged from their duties.陪审员们被解除了职务。

3 damn   

int.该死，他妈的；vt.指责，贬斥，诅咒

参考例句：

• Damn this useless typewriter!这台破打字机真该死！
• I knew damn well what he was going to say.我非常清楚他要说什么。

4 affidavit   

n.宣誓书

参考例句：

• I gave an affidavit to the judge about the accident I witnessed.我向法官提交了一份关于我目击的事故的证词。
• The affidavit was formally read to the court.书面证词正式向出席法庭的人宣读了。

5 drove   

vbl.驾驶，drive的过去式；n.畜群

参考例句：

• He drove at a speed of sixty miles per hour.他以每小时60英里的速度开车。
• They drove foreign goods out of the market.他们把外国货驱逐出市场。

6 whistling   

n.吹笛，吹口哨，啸声v.吹口哨( whistle的现在分词 )；鸣笛；呼啸着前进；空指望

参考例句：

• The bomb exploded, sending shrapnel whistling through the trees. 炸弹爆炸了，弹片呼啸着穿过树林。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He came home for dinner whistling cheerfully. 他欢快地吹着口哨回家吃饭。 来自《简明英汉词典》