【有声英语文学名著】CHAPTER THREE(14)

She resolved to ask at the reception of the hostel¹ over the road. This was, after all, the best that she could do.

Heidi  Schindler  is  Heidi  Klauss  now.  Forty-one  years  old,  she  lives  in  a  suburb  of Frankfurt with a husband and four children, and is reasonably happy, certainly happier than she expected to be at twenty-three. The paperback² copy of  Howards End  is still on the shelf in the spare bedroom, forgotten and unread, with the letter tucked neatly³ just inside the cover, next to an inscription⁴ in small, careful handwriting that reads:

To dear Dexter. A great novel for your great journey. Travel well and return safely with no tattoos⁵. Be good, or as good as you are able. Bloody⁶ hell, I’ll miss you.

All my love, your good friend Emma Morley, Clapton, London, April 1990 

CHAPTER FOUR

Opportunities

MONDAY 15 JULY 1991

Camden Town and Primrose⁷ Hill

ATTENTION PLEASE! Can I have your attention?   Attention everyone? Stop talking, stop talking,  stop  talking.  Please?  Please?  Thank  you.  Right  I  just  want  to  go  through  today‘s menu if  I may.  First of  all the so　called ―specials‖. We‘ve  got a sweetcorn chowder  and a turkey chimi-changa.‘

Turkey? In July?‘ said Ian Whitehead from the bar, where he was cutting lime wedges to jam into the necks of bottles of beer.

Now it‘s Monday today,‘ continued Scott. Should be nice and quiet, so I want this place spotless. I‘ve checked the rota, and Ian, you‘re on toilets.‘

The other staff scoffed⁸. Why is it always me?‘ moaned Ian.

Because  you do it so  beautifully,‘ said his best friend Emma Morley, and Ian took the opportunity to throw an arm around her hunched⁹ shoulders, jokily wielding¹⁰ a knife in a lighthearted downwards¹¹ stabbing motion.

And when you two have finished, Emma, can you come and see me in my office please?‘ said Scott.

The other staff sniggered insinuatingly¹², Emma disentangled herself from Ian, and Rashid the  bartender  pressed  play  on  the  greasy  tape  deck  behind  the  bar,  La  Cucaracha‘,  the cockroach¹³, a joke that wasn‘t funny anymore, repeated until the end of time.

1 hostel   

n.（学生）宿舍，招待所

参考例句：

• I lived in a hostel while I was a student.我求学期间住在青年招待所里。
• He says he's staying at a Youth Hostel.他说他现住在一家青年招待所。

2 paperback   

n.平装本，简装本

参考例句：

• A paperback edition is now available at bookshops.平装本现在在书店可以买到。
• Many books that are out of print are reissued in paperback form.许多绝版的书籍又以平装本形式重新出现。

3 neatly   

adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地

参考例句：

• Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
• The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

4 inscription   

n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文

参考例句：

• The inscription has worn away and can no longer be read.铭文已磨损，无法辨认了。
• He chiselled an inscription on the marble.他在大理石上刻碑文。

5 tattoos   

n.文身( tattoo的名词复数 )；归营鼓；军队夜间表演操；连续有节奏的敲击声v.刺青，文身( tattoo的第三人称单数 )；连续有节奏地敲击；作连续有节奏的敲击

参考例句：

• His arms were covered in tattoos. 他的胳膊上刺满了花纹。
• His arms were covered in tattoos. 他的双臂刺满了纹身。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。

7 primrose   

n.樱草，最佳部分，

参考例句：

• She is in the primrose of her life.她正处在她一生的最盛期。
• The primrose is set off by its nest of green.一窝绿叶衬托着一朵樱草花。

8 scoffed   

嘲笑，嘲弄( scoff的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He scoffed at our amateurish attempts. 他对我们不在行的尝试嗤之以鼻。
• A hundred years ago people scoffed at the idea. 一百年前人们曾嘲笑过这种想法。

9 hunched   

（常指因寒冷、生病或愁苦）耸肩弓身的，伏首前倾的

参考例句：

• He sat with his shoulders hunched up. 他耸起双肩坐着。
• Stephen hunched down to light a cigarette. 斯蒂芬弓着身子点燃一支烟。

10 wielding   

手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的现在分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响）

参考例句：

• The rebels were wielding sticks of dynamite. 叛乱分子舞动着棒状炸药。
• He is wielding a knife. 他在挥舞着一把刀。

11 downwards   

adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地）

参考例句：

• He lay face downwards on his bed.他脸向下伏在床上。
• As the river flows downwards,it widens.这条河愈到下游愈宽。

12 insinuatingly   

参考例句：

• Corell said insinuatingly,"Are you afraid, Colonel?" 科雷尔很婉转地说：“你害怕了吗，上校？” 来自辞典例句

13 cockroach   

n.蟑螂

参考例句：

• A cockroach can live several weeks with its head off.蟑螂在头被切掉后仍能活好几个星期。
• She screamed when she found a cockroach in her bed.她在床上找到一只蟑螂时大声尖叫。