365个英语简短小故事-322. The New Clothes (2)

Lorraine tried on each one of the tops. They all fit her well. “I’m getting fat,” she said, looking in the mirror. Quinn agreed, but told her that she could get as wide as the mirror itself and he would still love her. “I’ll never get that fat,” she swore.

One of the sweaters had a snag in it. The girl at the counter said she could give them a discount for the snag. If they wanted to fix it right, however, they should take the sweater to a dry cleaner and have them snip¹ the snag and retie it tightly. She said that if the sweater did unravel², just bring it back for a full refund³. They walked out with all three tops and the book. Lorraine told Quinn that she didn't need a book to know how to act like a lady. Quinn told her that a real lady would accept the book graciously with just a simple “thank you.” “Oh, I’m sorry,” Lorraine said, “I didn’t know I was speaking to the author.” Quinn laughed.

The next evening, Lorraine told Quinn that she had returned two of the tops to the store. When she had tried them on at home that morning, she noticed a smell. Sniffing⁴ the tops, she realized that two of them had a perfume odor. Some women had worn the tops long enough to transfer their own perfume to the tops. “It took me almost one hour to select those tops. I couldn’t smell the perfume on them last night because that whole store has a candle scent⁵. What a waste of time.”

 

1 snip   

n.便宜货，廉价货，剪，剪断

参考例句：

• He has now begun to snip away at the piece of paper.现在他已经开始剪这张纸。
• The beautifully made briefcase is a snip at £74.25.这个做工精美的公文包售价才74.25英镑，可谓物美价廉。

2 unravel   

v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开

参考例句：

• He was good with his hands and could unravel a knot or untangle yarn that others wouldn't even attempt.他的手很灵巧，其他人甚至都不敢尝试的一些难解的绳结或缠在一起的纱线，他都能解开。
• This is the attitude that led him to unravel a mystery that long puzzled Chinese historians.正是这种态度使他解决了长期以来使中国历史学家们大惑不解的谜。

3 refund   

v.退还，偿还；n.归还，偿还额，退款

参考例句：

• They demand a refund on unsatisfactory goods.他们对不满意的货品要求退款。
• We'll refund your money if you aren't satisfied.你若不满意，我们愿意退款给你。

4 sniffing   

n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• We all had colds and couldn't stop sniffing and sneezing. 我们都感冒了，一个劲地抽鼻子，打喷嚏。
• They all had colds and were sniffing and sneezing. 他们都伤风了，呼呼喘气而且打喷嚏。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。