Mother's Feet

    To prevent our dog, Lacy, from pestering² visitors to our house, my mother often massaged⁴ her as she lounged beneath the kitchen table, her favorite resting spot. One day a contractor⁵ came over to talk about a home-improvement project. As he and my mother sat across the table discussing the renovations, my mother slipped off her shoes and mindlessly soothed⁸ Lacy with her feet. My mother had been talking for about a half-hour when to her great embarrassment⁹ she heard Lacy bark outside the front door.
    Notes:
    (1) prevent （from）v.避免；阻止(2) pester¹ v.使苦恼；困扰(3) massage³ v.按摩；揉捏(4) lounge v.懒洋洋地坐着或站着(5) contractor n.承包商(6) improvement n.改进；改善(7) renovation⁶ n.修复；修理(8) slip off滑脱；掉(9) mindlessly adv.不注意地(10) soothe⁷ v.抚慰；使镇静(11) embarrassment n.局促；不安Exercises:
    根据短文回答问题：
    ① What kind of a dog was Lacy?
    ② What did the mother often do to make visitors feel at home?
    ③ Who came one day? What for?
    ④ How long had the mother been talking when she felt greatly embarrassed?
    ⑤ Why did she feel embarrassed?
    16.母亲的脚  为避免我们的狗，莱希，纠缠来访的客人，我母亲常在爱犬喜欢呆的地方，即餐桌下面，摩昵它。一天，一个建筑商来谈居室装潢工程。在这人和我母亲坐在餐桌边谈居室的修茸时，我母亲滑脱了她的鞋子，开始不经意地用脚摩蹭起莱希来。谈话进行了半个小时的时候，我母亲突然感到很不好意思起来，因为这时她听到了莱希在前门外的犬吠声。

1 pester   

v.纠缠，强求

参考例句：

• He told her not to pester him with trifles.他对她说不要为小事而烦扰他。
• Don't pester me.I've got something urgent to attend to.你别跟我蘑菇了，我还有急事呢。

2 pestering   

使烦恼，纠缠( pester的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He's always pestering me to help him with his homework. 他总是泡蘑菇要我帮他做作业。
• I'm telling you once and for all, if you don't stop pestering me you'll be sorry. 我这是最后一次警告你。如果你不停止纠缠我，你将来会后悔的。

3 massage   

n.按摩，揉；vt.按摩，揉，美化，奉承，篡改数据

参考例句：

• He is really quite skilled in doing massage.他的按摩技术确实不错。
• Massage helps relieve the tension in one's muscles.按摩可使僵硬的肌肉松弛。

4 massaged   

按摩，推拿( massage的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He massaged her back with scented oil. 他用芳香油按摩她的背部。
• The script is massaged into final form. 这篇稿子经过修改已定稿。

5 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

6 renovation   

n.革新，整修

参考例句：

• The cinema will reopen next week after the renovation.电影院修缮后，将于下星期开业。
• The building has undergone major renovation.这座大楼已进行大整修。

7 soothe   

v.安慰；使平静；使减轻；缓和；奉承

参考例句：

• I've managed to soothe him down a bit.我想方设法使他平静了一点。
• This medicine should soothe your sore throat.这种药会减轻你的喉痛。

8 soothed   

v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦

参考例句：

• The music soothed her for a while. 音乐让她稍微安静了一会儿。
• The soft modulation of her voice soothed the infant. 她柔和的声调使婴儿安静了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。