【有声英语文学名著】CHAPTER THREE(7)

 I just don’t worry about the dole¹ and housing benefit and the future of the Labour Party and where I’m going to be in twenty years’ time and how Mr Mandela is adjusting to freedom.

So time for another breather before the next paragraph because I’ve barely got started. This letter builds to a life-changing climax². I wonder if you’re ready for it yet.

Somewhere between the staff toilets and the kitchen, Ian Whitehead slipped into his stand-up act.

Have you ever been in, like, a super market, and you‘re in the six items or less queue, and there‘s  an  old  lady  in  front  of  you,  and  she‘s  got,  like  seven  items?  And  you  stand  there counting them, and you‘re like, soooo angry . . .

Ay caramba,‘ mumbled³ Emma under her breath before kicking open the swing doors to the kitchen where they were met by a wall of hot air that stung their eyes, acrid⁴ and infused with  jalapeno  peppers  and  warm  bleach.  Loud  acid  house  played  on  the  battered  radio cassette as a Somalian, an Algerian and a Brazilian prised the lids off white plastic catering⁵ tubs.

Morning,  Benoit,  Kemal.  Hiya,  Jesus,‘  said  Emma  cheerfully  and  they  smiled  and nodded  cheerfully  back.  Emma  and  Ian  crossed  to  a  noticeboard  where  she  pointed  out  a laminated sign that showed what to do if someone choked on their food, as well they might‘. Next  to  this  was  pinned  a  larg document,  ragged  at  the  edges,  a  parchment  map  of  the Texas–Mexico border. Emma tapped it with her finger.

This thing that looks like a treasure map? Well don‘t get your hopes up, because it‘s just the  menu.  No  gold  here,  compadre,  just  forty-eight  items,  all  the  different  permutations  of your  five  key  Tex-Mex  food  groups  –  minced  beef and  beans,  cheese,  chicken  and guacamole.‘ She traced her finger across the map. So, moving east–west, we‘ve got chicken on  beans  under  cheese,  cheese  on  top  of  chicken  under  guacamole,  guacamole  on  top  of mince⁶ on top of chicken under cheese . . .‘

Right, I see . . .‘

 . . . occasionally for the thrill of it we‘ll throw some rice or a raw onion in, but where it gets really exciting is what you put it in. It‘s all to do with wheat or corn.‘

Wheat or corn, right . . .‘

Tacos are corn, burritos are wheat. Basically if it shatters and burns your hand it‘s a taco, if it flops⁷ around and leaks red lard down your arm it‘s a burrito. Here‘s one

1 dole   

n.救济，（失业）救济金；vt.（out）发放，发给

参考例句：

• It's not easy living on the dole.靠领取失业救济金生活并不容易。
• Many families are living on the dole since the strike.罢工以来，许多家庭靠失业救济金度日。

2 climax   

n.顶点；高潮；v.(使)达到顶点

参考例句：

• The fifth scene was the climax of the play.第五场是全剧的高潮。
• His quarrel with his father brought matters to a climax.他与他父亲的争吵使得事态发展到了顶点。

3 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。

4 acrid   

adj.辛辣的，尖刻的，刻薄的

参考例句：

• There is an acrid tone to your remarks.你说这些话的口气带有讥刺意味。
• The room was filled with acrid smoke.房里充满刺鼻的烟。

5 catering   

n. 给养

参考例句：

• Most of our work now involves catering for weddings. 我们现在的工作多半是承办婚宴。
• Who did the catering for your son's wedding? 你儿子的婚宴是由谁承办的？

6 mince   

n.切碎物；v.切碎，矫揉做作地说

参考例句：

• Would you like me to mince the meat for you?你要我替你把肉切碎吗？
• Don't mince matters,but speak plainly.不要含糊其词，有话就直说吧。

7 flops   

n.失败( flop的名词复数 )v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的第三人称单数 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅

参考例句：

• a pair of flip-flops 一双人字拖鞋
• HPC environments are often measured in terms of FLoating point Operations Per Second (FLOPS) . HPC环境通常以每秒浮点运算次数(FLOPS)加以度量。 来自互联网