英语听力 暮光之城•暮色 第24期:打开的书(5)

 My first weekend in Forks passed without incident. 我在福克斯的第一个周末过得很平淡。

Charlie, unused to spending time in the usually empty house, worked most of the weekend. 查理，不习惯袋在这平常空无一人的房子里，周末大部分时间都在加班。

I cleaned the house, got ahead on my homework, and wrote my mom more bogusly cheerful e-mail. 我打扫了房子，做完了作业，还给我妈写了一封电子邮件，这一次我装得更高兴。

I did drive to the library Saturday, but it was so poorly stocked that I did not bother to get a card; 我星期六的确开车去了图书馆，但是里面的藏书实在是少得太可怜了，我也就懒得废那个劲去办卡了；

I would have to make a date to visit Olympia or Seattle soon and find a good bookstore. 我可能得定个日子，过几天去参观参观奥林匹亚或西雅图并找一个好点儿的书店。

I wondered idly what kind of gas mileage¹ the truck got ...and shuddered² at the thought. 我闲得无聊，想到了那辆卡车的油耗有多大……这一想，想得我不寒而栗。

The rain stayed soft over the weekend, quiet, so I was able to sleep well. 周末雨一直不大，很安静，所以能够睡得很好。

People greeted me in the parking lot Monday morning. 星期一早上在停车场，人们纷纷跟我打招呼。

I did not know all their names, but I waved back and smiled at everyone. 我并不知道他们所有人的名字，但我还是微笑着冲每个人挥了挥手。

It was colder this morning, but happily not raining. 今天早上更冷了，但令人高兴的是没有下雨。

In English, Mike took his accustomed seat by my side. 上英语课时，迈克习惯地坐在了我旁边的座位上。

We had a pop quiz on Wuthering Heights. 老师搞了一次突然袭击，就《呼啸山庄》跟我们来了一次小测验。

It was straightforward³, very easy. 题目很简单，非常容易。

All in all, I was feeling a lot more comfortable than I had thought I would feel by this point. 总的说来，到目前为止，我感觉比我想象的要舒服多了。

More comfortable than I had ever expected to feel here. 在这儿的感觉，比我预料到的要舒服一些。

When we walked out of class, the air was full of swirling⁴ bits of white. 我们下课出来时，只见漫天飞舞着一些白色的点点。

I could hear people shouting excitedly to each other. 我听见人们在兴奋地相互大喊大叫。

The wind bit at my cheeks, my nose. 风吹打着我的脸颊和鼻子。

"Wow," Mike said. "It's snowing." "哇，"迈克叫道，"下雪喽。"

I looked at the little cotton fluffs that were building up along the sidewalk and swirling erratically⁵ past my face. 我看了看那些小小的棉花一样的雪团儿，它们在人行道上越积越厚，从我的脸前横扫而过，狂飞乱舞。

"Ew." Snow. "噫。"讨厌的雪，

There went my good day. 我的好日子就这么完了。

He looked surprised. "Do not you like snow?" 他显得很惊讶："你不喜欢下雪？"

"No. That means it's too cold for rain." "不喜欢。那意味着天冷得都不能下雨了。"

Obviously. 显而易见，

"Besides, I thought it was supposed to come down in flakes—you know, each one unique and all that. "而且，我还以为雪下下来的时候，应该是一片片的雪花呢——你知道的，每一朵都很独特，等等。

These just look like the ends of Q tips." 这些看上去就像棉签头儿似的。"

"Have not you ever seen snow fall before?" he asked incredulously. "你以前没见过雪？"他怀疑地问道。

"Sure I have." I paused. "On TV." Mike laughed. "当然见过啦。"我顿了一下，"在电视上见过。"迈克笑了起来。

And then a big, squishy ball of dripping snow smacked⁶ into the back of his head. 接着，一个湿漉漉的大雪球啪地一声砸在了他的后脑勺上。

We both turned to see where it came from. 我俩都扭过头去，看是从哪里扔过来的。

I had my suspicions about Eric, who was walking away, his back toward us—in the wrong direction for his next class. 我怀疑是埃里克干的，他正走开，背对着我们，方向与他下一节课的方向相反。

Mike apparently⁷ had the same notion. 迈克显然也持相同的看法。

He bent⁸ over and began scraping together a pile of the white mush. 他俯下身去，拢了一堆白色的雪块。

"I'll see you at lunch, okay?" I kept walking as I spoke⁹. "我们吃午饭的时候见怎么样？"我边走边说，

"Once people start throwing wet stuff, I go inside." "人们只要一开始扔湿东西，我就往屋里钻。"

He just nodded, his eyes on Eric's retreating figure. 他只是点了点头，眼睛盯着埃里克远去的背影。

Throughout the morning, everyone chattered¹⁰ excitedly about the snow; apparently it was the first snowfall of the new year. 整个一上午，每个人都在兴高采烈地谈论下雪的事；显然这还是新的一年里头的头一场雪。

I kept my mouth shut. 我没有开口。

Sure, it was drier than rain—until it melted in your socks. 无疑，雪是比雨干一些——在你的袜子里化成水之前。

I walked alertly to the cafeteria with Jessica after Spanish. 下了西班牙语课后，我和杰西卡一起去自助餐厅，一路上我都很警惕。

Mush balls were flying everywhere. 到处都飞舞着软乎乎的雪球。

I kept a binder¹¹ in my hands, ready to use it as a shield if necessary. 我手里拿着一个活页夹，准备遇上情况就拿它当挡箭牌。

Jessica thought I was hilarious¹², but something in my expression kept her from lobbing a snowball at me herself. 杰西卡认为我很搞笑，但看了我的表情后，她放弃了扔我个雪球的念头。

1 mileage   

n.里程，英里数；好处，利润

参考例句：

• He doesn't think there's any mileage in that type of advertising.他认为做那种广告毫无效益。
• What mileage has your car done?你的汽车跑了多少英里？

2 shuddered   

v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动

参考例句：

• He slammed on the brakes and the car shuddered to a halt. 他猛踩刹车，车颤抖着停住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I shuddered at the sight of the dead body. 我一看见那尸体就战栗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

4 swirling   

v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Snowflakes were swirling in the air. 天空飘洒着雪花。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• She smiled, swirling the wine in her glass. 她微笑着，旋动着杯子里的葡萄酒。 来自辞典例句

5 erratically   

adv.不规律地，不定地

参考例句：

• Police stopped him for driving erratically. 警察因其驾驶不循规则而把他拦下了。 来自辞典例句
• Magnetitite-bearing plugs are found erratically from the base of the Critical Zone. 含磁铁岩的岩栓不规则地分布于关键带的基底以上。 来自辞典例句

6 smacked   

拍，打，掴( smack的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He smacked his lips but did not utter a word. 他吧嗒两下嘴，一声也不言语。
• She smacked a child's bottom. 她打孩子的屁股。

7 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

8 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 chattered   

（人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤

参考例句：

• They chattered away happily for a while. 他们高兴地闲扯了一会儿。
• We chattered like two teenagers. 我们聊着天，像两个十多岁的孩子。

11 binder   

n.包扎物，包扎工具；[法]临时契约；粘合剂；装订工

参考例句：

• The cloth flower snaps on with a special binder.这布花是用一种特殊的粘合剂固定住的。
• Purified water was used as liquid binder.纯净水作为液体粘合剂。

12 hilarious   

adj.充满笑声的，欢闹的；[反]depressed

参考例句：

• The party got quite hilarious after they brought more wine.在他们又拿来更多的酒之后，派对变得更加热闹起来。
• We stop laughing because the show was so hilarious.我们笑个不停，因为那个节目太搞笑了。