【饥饿游戏】33

“What about my family?” I say. “Will they punish them?”

“Don’t think so. Wouldn’t make much sense. See they’d

have to reveal what happened in the Training Center for it to

have any worthwhile effect on the population. People would

need to know what you did. But they can’t since it’s secret, so

it’d be a waste of effort,” says Haymitch. “More likely they’ll

make your life hell in the arena¹.”

“Well, they’ve already promised to do that to us any way,”

says Peeta.

“Very true,” says Haymitch. And I realize the impossible has

happened. They have actually cheered me up. Haymitch picks

up a pork chop with his fingers, which makes Effie frown, and

dunks it in his wine. He rips off a hunk of meat and starts to

chuckle³. “What were their faces like?”

I can feel the edges of my mouth tilting⁴ up. “Shocked. Terrified.

Uh, ridiculous, some of them.” An image pops into my

mind. “One man tripped backward into a bowl of punch.”

Haymitch guffaws⁵ and we all start laughing except Effie, 

although even she is suppressing a smile. “Well, it serves them

right. It’s their job to pay attention to you. And just because

you come from District Twelve is no excuse to ignore you.”

Then her eyes dart⁶ around as if she’s said something totally

outrageous⁷. “I’m sorry, but that’s what I think,” she says to no

one in particular.

“I’ll get a very bad score,” I say.

“Scores only matter if they’re very good, no one pays much

attention to the bad or mediocre⁸ ones. For all they know, you

could be hiding your talents to get a low score on purpose.

People use that strategy,” said Portia.

“I hope that’s how people interpret the four I’ll probably

get,” says Peeta. “If that. Really, is anything less impressive

than watching a person pick up a heavy ball and throw it a

couple of yards. One almost landed on my foot.” I grin at him 

and realize that I’m starving. I cut off a piece of pork, dunk it 

in mashed⁹ potatoes, and start eating. It’s okay. My family is 

safe. And if they are safe, no real harm has been done.

After dinner, we go to sitting room to watch the scores 

announced on television. First they show a photo of the tribute,

then flash their score below it. The Career Tributes naturally

get in the eight-to-ten range. Most of the other players average

a five. Surprisingly, little Rue² comes up with a seven. I

don’t know what she showed the judges, but she’s so tiny it

must have been impressive.

District 12 comes up last, as usual. Peeta pulls an eight so at

least a couple of the Gamemakers must have been watching

him. I dig my fingernails into my palms as my face comes up,

expecting the worst. Then they’re flashing the number eleven

on the screen.

Eleven!

Effie Trinket lets out a squeal¹⁰, and everybody is slapping

me on the back and cheering and congratulating me. But it

doesn’t seem real.

“There must be a mistake. How . . . how could that happen?”

I ask Haymitch.

“Guess they liked your temper,” he says. “They’ve got a

show to put on. They need some players with some heat.”

“Katniss, the girl who was on fire,” says Cinna and gives me

a hug. “Oh, wait until you see your interview dress.” 

“More flames?” I ask. “Of a sort,” he says mischievously¹¹.

Peeta and I congratulate each other, another awkward

moment. We’ve both done well, but what does that mean for

the other? I escape to my room as quickly as possible and 

burrow¹² down under the covers. The stress of the day, 

particularly the crying, has worn me out. I drift off, reprieved, 

relieved, and with the number eleven still flashing behind my 

eyelids¹³. At dawn, I lie in bed for a while, watching the sun come 

up on a beautiful morning. It’s Sunday. A day off at home. I 

wonder if Gale¹⁴ is in the woods yet. Usually we devote all of 

Sunday to stocking up for the week. Rising early, hunting and 

gathering¹⁵, then trading at the Hob. I think of Gale without me. 

Both of us can hunt alone, but we’re better as a pair. Particularly 

if we’re trying for bigger game. But also in the littler things, 

having a partner lightened the load, could even make the arduous 

task of filling my family’s table enjoyable.

I had been struggling along on my own for about six months 

when I first ran into Gale in the woods. It was a Sunday in 

October, the air cool and pungent¹⁶ with dying things. I’d spent 

the morning competing with the squirrels for nuts and the slightly 

warmer afternoon wading¹⁷ in shallow ponds harvesting katniss. 

The only meat I’d shot was a squirrel that had practically run over 

my toes in its quest for acorns¹⁸, but the animals would still be 

afoot when the snow buried my other food sources. Having strayed 

farther afield than usual, I was hurrying back home, lugging¹⁹ my 

burlap sacks when I came across a dead rabbit. It was hanging by 

its neck in a thin wire a foot above my head. About fifteen yards 

away was another. I recognized the twitch-up snares²⁰ because my 

father had used them. When the prey²¹ is caught, it’s yanked into 

the air out of the reach of other hungry animals. I’d been trying 

to use snares all summer with no success, so I couldn’t help 

dropping my sacks to examine this one. 

1 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

2 rue   

n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔

参考例句：

• You'll rue having failed in the examination.你会悔恨考试失败。
• You're going to rue this the longest day that you live.你要终身悔恨不尽呢。

3 chuckle   

vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑

参考例句：

• He shook his head with a soft chuckle.他轻轻地笑着摇了摇头。
• I couldn't suppress a soft chuckle at the thought of it.想到这个，我忍不住轻轻地笑起来。

4 tilting   

倾斜，倾卸

参考例句：

• For some reason he thinks everyone is out to get him, but he's really just tilting at windmills. 不知为什么他觉得每个人都想害他，但其实他不过是在庸人自扰。
• So let us stop bickering within our ranks.Stop tilting at windmills. 所以，让我们结束内部间的争吵吧！再也不要去做同风车作战的蠢事了。

5 guffaws   

n.大笑，狂笑( guffaw的名词复数 )v.大笑，狂笑( guffaw的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Harry even had to cover his face duck out of view to hide his uncontrolled guffaws. 哈里王子更是一发不可收拾，捂住脸，狂笑起来。 来自互联网

6 dart   

v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲

参考例句：

• The child made a sudden dart across the road.那小孩突然冲过马路。
• Markov died after being struck by a poison dart.马尔科夫身中毒镖而亡。

7 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

8 mediocre   

adj.平常的，普通的

参考例句：

• The student tried hard,but his work is mediocre. 该生学习刻苦，但学业平庸。
• Only lazybones and mediocre persons could hanker after the days of messing together.只有懒汉庸才才会留恋那大锅饭的年代。

9 mashed   

a.捣烂的

参考例句：

• two scoops of mashed potato 两勺土豆泥
• Just one scoop of mashed potato for me, please. 请给我盛一勺土豆泥。

10 squeal   

v.发出长而尖的声音；n.长而尖的声音

参考例句：

• The children gave a squeal of fright.孩子们发出惊吓的尖叫声。
• There was a squeal of brakes as the car suddenly stopped.小汽车突然停下来时，车闸发出尖叫声。

11 mischievously   

adv.有害地；淘气地

参考例句：

• He mischievously looked for a chance to embarrass his sister. 他淘气地寻找机会让他的姐姐难堪。 来自互联网
• Also has many a dream kindheartedness, is loves mischievously small lovable. 又有着多啦a梦的好心肠，是爱调皮的小可爱。 来自互联网

12 burrow   

vt.挖掘(洞穴)；钻进；vi.挖洞；翻寻；n.地洞

参考例句：

• Earthworms burrow deep into the subsoil.蚯蚓深深地钻进底土。
• The dog had chased a rabbit into its burrow.狗把兔子追进了洞穴。

13 eyelids   

n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色

参考例句：

• She was so tired, her eyelids were beginning to droop. 她太疲倦了，眼睑开始往下垂。
• Her eyelids drooped as if she were on the verge of sleep. 她眼睑低垂好像快要睡着的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 gale   

n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等）

参考例句：

• We got our roof blown off in the gale last night.昨夜的大风把我们的房顶给掀掉了。
• According to the weather forecast,there will be a gale tomorrow.据气象台预报，明天有大风。

15 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

16 pungent   

adj.（气味、味道）刺激性的，辛辣的；尖锐的

参考例句：

• The article is written in a pungent style.文章写得泼辣。
• Its pungent smell can choke terrorists and force them out of their hideouts.它的刺激性气味会令恐怖分子窒息，迫使他们从藏身地点逃脱出来。

17 wading   

（从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The man tucked up his trousers for wading. 那人卷起裤子，准备涉水。
• The children were wading in the sea. 孩子们在海水中走着。

18 acorns   

n.橡子，栎实( acorn的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Great oaks from little acorns grow. 万丈高楼平地起。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Welcome to my new website!It may not look much at the moment, but great oaks from little acorns grow! 欢迎来到我的新网站。它现在可能微不足道，不过万丈高楼平地起嘛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 lugging   

超载运转能力

参考例句：

• I would smile when I saw him lugging his golf bags into the office. 看到他把高尔夫球袋拖进办公室，我就笑一笑。 来自辞典例句
• As a general guide, S＄1 should be adequate for baggage-lugging service. 一般的准则是，如有人帮你搬运行李，给一新元就够了。 来自互联网

20 snares   

n.陷阱( snare的名词复数 )；圈套；诱人遭受失败（丢脸、损失等）的东西；诱惑物v.用罗网捕捉，诱陷，陷害( snare的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He shoots rabbits and he sets snares for them. 他射杀兔子，也安放陷阱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am myself fallen unawares into the snares of death. 我自己不知不觉跌进了死神的陷阱。 来自辞典例句

21 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。