英语听力 暮光之城•暮色 第44期:第四章 邀请(8)

 "Dad?" I asked when he was almost done. "爸？"他快吃完的时候我说道。

"Yeah, Bella?"  "贝拉，什么事儿？"

"Um, I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to Seattle for the day a week from Saturday… if that's okay?"  "唔，我只是想跟您说一声，下个周六我打算去西雅图……如果可以的话？"

I didn't want to ask permission — it set a bad precedent¹ — but I felt rude, so I tacked² it on at the end.  我没想征得他的同意——开了一个不好的头——可觉得又太不像话了，于是在后面补了那半句。

"Why?" He sounded surprised, as if he were unable to imagine something that Forks couldn't offer.  "去那儿干吗？"他好像很惊讶，似乎他想象不出来有什么东西是福克斯所买不到的。

"Well, I wanted to get few books — the library here is pretty limited — and maybe look at some clothes."  "噢，我想买几本新书——这儿的图书馆藏书很有限——也许还要看几件衣服。"

I had more money than I was used to having, since, thanks to Charlie, I hadn't had to pay for a car.  我手上的钱多得都有些不习惯了，因为，多亏了查理，我没有非得自己掏钱买车不可。

Not that the truck didn't cost me quite a bit in the gas department.  但这并不是说，这车加油少花了我的钱。

"That truck probably doesn't get very good gas mileage," he said, echoing my thoughts.  "那辆车油耗方面可能不是很好，"他跟我想到一块儿去了。

"I know, I'll stop in Montesano and Olympia — and Tacoma if I have to."  "我知道，我会在蒙特萨诺 和奥林匹亚 停一停——如果必要的话，还会在塔科马 停一下。"

"Are you going all by yourself?" he asked,  "你一个人去吗？"他问，

and I couldn't tell if he was suspicious I had a secret boyfriend or just worried about car trouble.  我说不上来他是怀疑我偷偷谈了男朋友呢，还是只是担心车子出问题。

"Yes."  "对。"

"Seattle is a big city — you could get lost," he fretted³.  "西雅图是个大城市——你弄不好会迷路的，"他有点儿发愁。

"Dad, Phoenix⁴ is five times the size of Seattle — and I can read a map, don't worry about it."  "爸，凤凰城有西雅图五个大——而且我会看地图，别担心那个。"

"Do you want me to come with you?"  "要不要我跟你一起去？"

I tried to be crafty⁵ as I hid my horror.  我一边掩饰我的恐惧，一边尽力花言巧语。

"That's all right, Dad, I'll probably just be in dressing⁶ rooms all day — very boring."  "好啊，爸，只是我很有可能整天袋在试衣间里哟——很没劲的。"

1 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

2 tacked   

用平头钉钉( tack的过去式和过去分词 )； 附加，增补； 帆船抢风行驶，用粗线脚缝

参考例句：

• He tacked the sheets of paper on as carefully as possible. 他尽量小心地把纸张钉上去。
• The seamstress tacked the two pieces of cloth. 女裁缝把那两块布粗缝了起来。

3 fretted   

焦躁的，附有弦马的，腐蚀的

参考例句：

• The wind whistled through the twigs and fretted the occasional, dirty-looking crocuses. 寒风穿过枯枝，有时把发脏的藏红花吹刮跑了。 来自英汉文学
• The lady's fame for hitting the mark fretted him. 这位太太看问题深刻的名声在折磨着他。

4 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

5 crafty   

adj.狡猾的，诡诈的

参考例句：

• He admired the old man for his crafty plan.他敬佩老者的神机妙算。
• He was an accomplished politician and a crafty autocrat.他是个有造诣的政治家，也是个狡黠的独裁者。

6 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。