【有声英语文学名著】CHAPTER ONE(7)

 That‘s  that,  he  thought.  Nothing  was  less  conducive  to  sexual  desire  than  a  long  black 

political t-shirt, except perhaps that Tracy Chapman album.

Resigned, he picked her degree certificate off the floor, rolled the elastic¹ band along the 

length of the scroll², and announced　"English and History, Joint³ Honours, 1st Class."

Read it and weep, two-two boy.‘ She grabbed for the scroll. ""Eh, careful with that.‘

"Getting it framed, are you?"

My mum and dad are having it  turned into wallpaper.‘ She rolled it tightly, tapping the 

ends. " Laminated place mats. My mum‘s having it tattooed⁴ across her back.‘

Where are your parents anyway?‘

Oh, they‘re just next door.‘

He flinched⁵. "God, really?"

She laughed. "Not really. They drove back to Leeds. Dad thinks hotels are for toffs.‘ The 

scroll was stashed⁶ beneath the bed. "Now budge⁷ up,‘ she said, nudging him to the cool side of 

the mattress⁸. He allowed her in, sliding one arm somewhat awkwardly beneath her shoulders, 

kissing her neck speculatively⁹. She turned to look at him, her chin tucked in.

 

Dex?‘

Hm.‘

Let‘s just cuddle, shall we?‘

Of course. If you want,‘ he said gallantly¹⁰, though in truth he had never really seen the 

point of cuddling. Cuddling was for great aunts and teddy bears. Cuddling gave him cramp¹¹. 

Best now to admit defeat and get home as soon as possible, but she was settling her head on 

his shoulder territorially¹², and they lay like this, rigid¹³ and self-conscious for some time before 

she said:

"Can‘t believe I used the word ―"cuddle". Bloody¹⁴ ‘ell – cuddle. Sorry about that.‘

He smiled."S‘alright. Least it wasn‘t snuggle.‘ 

Snuggle‘s pretty bad.‘

Or smooch.‘

Smooch is awful. Let‘s promise never, ever to smooch,‘ she said, regretting the remark at 

once.  What,  together?  There  seemed  little  chance  of  that.  They  lapsed  into  silence  again. 

They had been talking, and kissing, for the last eight hours, and both had that deep, whole 

body fatigue¹⁵ that arrives at dawn. Blackbirds were singing in the overgrown back garden.

I love that sound,‘ he mumbled¹⁶ into her hair. "Blackbirds at dawn.‘

I hate it. Makes me think I‘ve done something I‘ll regret.‘

That‘s  why  I  love  it,‘  he  said,  aiming  once  again  for  a  dark,  charismatic  effect.  A 

moment, then he added, "Why, have you?‘

What?‘

Done something you regret?‘

 

1 elastic   

n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的

参考例句：

• Rubber is an elastic material.橡胶是一种弹性材料。
• These regulations are elastic.这些规定是有弹性的。

2 scroll   

n.卷轴，纸卷；(石刻上的)漩涡

参考例句：

• As I opened the scroll,a panorama of the Yellow River unfolded.我打开卷轴时，黄河的景象展现在眼前。
• He was presented with a scroll commemorating his achievements.他被授予一幅卷轴，以表彰其所做出的成就。

3 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

4 tattooed   

v.刺青，文身( tattoo的过去式和过去分词 )；连续有节奏地敲击；作连续有节奏的敲击

参考例句：

• He had tattooed his wife's name on his upper arm. 他把妻子的名字刺在上臂上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sailor had a heart tattooed on his arm. 那水兵在手臂上刺上一颗心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 flinched   

v.（因危险和痛苦）退缩，畏惧( flinch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He flinched at the sight of the blood. 他一见到血就往后退。
• This tough Corsican never flinched or failed. 这个刚毅的科西嘉人从来没有任何畏缩或沮丧。 来自辞典例句

6 stashed   

v.贮藏( stash的过去式和过去分词 )；隐藏；藏匿；藏起

参考例句：

• She has a fortune stashed away in various bank accounts. 她有一大笔钱存在几个不同的银行账户下。
• She has a fortune stashed away in various bank accounts. 她在不同的银行账户上秘密储存了一大笔钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 budge   

v.移动一点儿；改变立场

参考例句：

• We tried to lift the rock but it wouldn't budge.我们试图把大石头抬起来，但它连动都没动一下。
• She wouldn't budge on the issue.她在这个问题上不肯让步。

8 mattress   

n.床垫，床褥

参考例句：

• The straw mattress needs to be aired.草垫子该晾一晾了。
• The new mattress I bought sags in the middle.我买的新床垫中间陷了下去。

9 speculatively   

adv.思考地，思索地；投机地

参考例句：

• He looked at her speculatively. 他若有所思的看着她。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She eyed It'speculatively as a cruel smile appeared on her black lips. 她若有所思地审视它，黑色的嘴角浮起一丝残酷的微笑。 来自互联网

10 gallantly   

adv. 漂亮地，勇敢地，献殷勤地

参考例句：

• He gallantly offered to carry her cases to the car. 他殷勤地要帮她把箱子拎到车子里去。
• The new fighters behave gallantly under fire. 新战士在炮火下表现得很勇敢。

11 cramp   

n.痉挛；[pl.](腹)绞痛；vt.限制，束缚

参考例句：

• Winston stopped writing,partly because he was suffering from cramp.温斯顿驻了笔，手指也写麻了。
• The swimmer was seized with a cramp and had to be helped out of the water.那个在游泳的人突然抽起筋来，让别人帮着上了岸。

12 territorially   

参考例句：

• Today, prescriptive jurisdiction (capacity to make law) can be based on nationality and exercised extra-territorially. 今日，指示性管辖权﹝制订法律的能力﹞能够基于国籍和于领土以外执行。 来自互联网
• As the seemingly endless ages passed, the night elves' civilization expanded both territorially and culturally. 很久很久之后，暗夜精灵的文明无论在疆域还是文化方面都有了巨大的进步。 来自互联网

13 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

14 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

15 fatigue   

n.疲劳，劳累

参考例句：

• The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
• I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。

16 mumbled   

含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He mumbled something to me which I did not quite catch. 他对我叽咕了几句话，可我没太听清楚。
• George mumbled incoherently to himself. 乔治语无伦次地喃喃自语。