英文短篇故事（纽约）256 Little Stickers on Your Fruit

 　　He was standing¹ at the sink. He had a Fuji apple in his hand. He was digging at the apple with his fingernail. He was mumbling². "What is your problem?" his wife asked. He said, “What's my problem? Who invented these stupid stickers? Who decided³ to put stickers on fruit? Why are these stickers so hard to peel off? Eating fruit should be a pleasure. But these stickers ruin the pleasure. Fruit didn't use to have stickers, you know. Those were the days! We just washed an apple and ate it. Now we have to peel the sticker off before we can wash it. Why aren't Americans revolting? Who sticks these stickers on fruit? Is that a real job? Or have they modified all fruit so stickers grow on them 'naturally'?" His wife said, "Stop complaining. Be glad there isn't a sticker on each one of your red, seedless grapes."

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 mumbling   

含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I could hear him mumbling to himself. 我听到他在喃喃自语。
• He was still mumbling something about hospitals at the end of the party when he slipped on a piece of ice and broke his left leg. 宴会结束时，他仍在咕哝着医院里的事。说着说着，他在一块冰上滑倒，跌断了左腿。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。