Hit the floor

    On a recent weekend in Atlantic City, a woman won a bucketful of quarters ata slot machine(老虎机，一种赌具）.  She took a break from the slots for dinner with her husband in the hotel dining room.  But first she wanted to stash¹ （贮藏，隐藏）the quarters in her room.
    "I'll be right back and we'll go to eat," she told her husband and she carried the coin-laden bucket to the elevator.  As she was about to walk into the elevator she noticed two men already aboard.  Both were black.  Oneof them was big ...  very big ...  an intimidating² figure.  The woman froze. Her first thought was: These two are going to rob me.  Her next thought was: Don't be a bigot（顽固者）, they look like perfectly³ nice gentlemen. But racial stereotypes⁴ （种族成见）are powerful, and fear immobilized （使固定不动）her.  She stood and stared at the two men.  She felt anxious, flustered（慌乱的，狼狈的）, and ashamed.  She hoped they didn't read her mind, but knew they surely did; her hesitation⁵ about joining them on the elevator was all too obvious.
    Her face was flushed.  She couldn't just stand there, so with a mighty⁶ effort of will she picked up one foot and stepped forward and followed with the other foot and was on the elevator.
    Avoiding eye contact, she turned around stiffly and faced the elevator doors as they closed.  A second passed, and then another second, and then another. Her fear increased!  The elevator didn't move.  Panic consumed her.  My God,she thought, I'm trapped and about to be robbed!  Her heart plummeted(垂直落下）. Perspiration⁷ （出汗，汗水）poured from every pore（毛孔）.
    Then....one of the men said, "Hit the floor."  Instinct （本能）told her: Do what they tell you.  The bucket of quarters flew upwards⁸ as she threw out her arms and collapsed⁹ on the elevator carpet.  A shower of coins rained down on her.
    Take my money and spare me, she prayed.  More seconds passed.  She heard one of the men say politely, "Ma'am, if you'll just tell us what floor you're going to, we'll push the button." The one who said it had a little trouble getting the words out.  He was trying mightily¹⁰ to hold in a belly¹¹ laugh. She lifted her head and looked up at the two men.  They reached down to help her up. Confused, she struggled to her feet.
    "When I told my man here to hit the floor," said the average sized one, "I meant that he should hit the elevator button for our floor.  I didn't mean for you to hit the floor, ma'am."He spoke¹² genially¹³.  He bit his lip.  It was obvious he was having a hard time not laughing. She thought: My God, what a spectacle I've made of myself.  She was too humiliated¹⁴ to speak.  She wanted to blurt¹⁵ out （脱口而出）an apology, but words failed her.  How do you apologize to two perfectly respectable gentlemen for behaving as though they were going to rob you? She didn't know what to say.
    The three of them gathered up the strewn （散落的）quarters and refilled her bucket. When the elevator arrived at her floor they insisted on walking her to her room.  She seemed a little unsteady on her feet, and they were afraid shemight not make it down the corridor.
    At her door they bid （祝愿）her a good evening.  As she slipped into her room she could hear them roaring with laughter while they walked back to the elevator. The woman brushed herself off.  She pulled herself together and went downstairs for dinner with her husband.
    The next morning flowers were delivered to her room - a dozen roses. Attached to EACH rose was a crisp （硬的，脆的）ten dollar bill.  The card said: "Thanks for the best laugh we've had in years."

1 stash   

v.藏或贮存于一秘密处所；n.隐藏处

参考例句：

• Stash away both what you lost and gained,for life continues on.将得失深藏心底吧，为了那未来的生活。
• That's supposed to be in our private stash.这是我的私人珍藏。

2 intimidating   

vt.恐吓，威胁( intimidate的现在分词)

参考例句：

• They were accused of intimidating people into voting for them. 他们被控胁迫选民投他们的票。
• This kind of questioning can be very intimidating to children. 这种问话的方式可能让孩子们非常害怕。

3 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

4 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 hesitation   

n.犹豫，踌躇

参考例句：

• After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天，他终于直说了。
• There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。

6 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

7 perspiration   

n.汗水；出汗

参考例句：

• It is so hot that my clothes are wet with perspiration.天太热了，我的衣服被汗水湿透了。
• The perspiration was running down my back.汗从我背上淌下来。

8 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

9 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

10 mightily   

ad.强烈地；非常地

参考例句：

• He hit the peg mightily on the top with a mallet. 他用木槌猛敲木栓顶。
• This seemed mightily to relieve him. 干完这件事后，他似乎轻松了许多。

11 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

12 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。

13 genially   

adv.亲切地，和蔼地；快活地

参考例句：

• The white church peeps out genially from behind the huts scattered on the river bank. 一座白色教堂从散布在岸上的那些小木房后面殷勤地探出头来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• "Well, It'seems strange to see you way up here,'said Mr. Kenny genially. “咳，真没想到会在这么远的地方见到你，"肯尼先生亲切地说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

14 humiliated   

感到羞愧的

参考例句：

• Parents are humiliated if their children behave badly when guests are present. 子女在客人面前举止失当，父母也失体面。
• He was ashamed and bitterly humiliated. 他感到羞耻，丢尽了面子。

15 blurt   

vt.突然说出，脱口说出

参考例句：

• If you can blurt out 300 sentences,you can make a living in America.如果你能脱口而出300句英语，你可以在美国工作。
• I will blurt out one passage every week.我每星期要脱口而出一篇短文！