哈利波特与魔法石08-Chapter 3 (continued)

　　Chapter 3 (continued)

       "Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?" Dudley asked Aunt Petunia¹ dullylate that afternoon. Uncle Vernon had parked at the coast, lockedthem all inside the car, and disappeared.
It started to rain. Great drops beat on the roof of the car. Dudley sniveled.
"It's Monday," he told his mother. "The Great Humberto's ontonight. I want to stay somewhere with a television. "Monday. This reminded Harry² of something. If it was Monday --and you could usually count on Dudley to know the days the week,because of television -- then tomorrow, Tuesday, was Harry's eleventhbirthday. Of course, his birthdays were never exactly fun -- lastyear, the Dursleys had given him a coat hanger³ and a pair of UncleVernon's old socks. Still, you weren't eleven every day.
Uncle Vernon was back and he was smiling. He was also carryinga long, thin package and didn't answer Aunt Petunia when she askedwhat he'd bought.
"Found the perfect place!" he said. "Come on! Everyone out!"It was very cold outside the car. Uncle Vernon was pointingat what looked like a large rock way out at sea. Perched on top ofthe rock was the most miserable⁴ little shack⁵ you could imagine. Onething was certain, there was no television in there.
"Storm forecast for tonight!" said Uncle Vernon gleefully,clapping his hands together. "And this gentleman's kindly⁶ agreedto lend us his boat!"A toothless old man came ambling⁷ up to them, pointing, witha rather wicked grin, at an old rowboat bobbing in the iron-graywater below them.
"I've already got us some rations⁸," said Uncle Vernon, "soall aboard!"It was freezing in the boat. Icy sea spray and rain crept downtheir necks and a chilly⁹ wind whipped their faces. After what seemedlike hours they reached the rock, where Uncle Vernon, slipping andsliding, led the way to the broken-down house.
The inside was horrible; it smelled strongly of seaweed,the wind whistled through the gaps in the wooden walls, and thefireplace was damp and empty. There were only two rooms.
Uncle Vernon's rations turned out to be a bag of chips each andfour bananas. He tried to start a fire but the empty chip bags justsmoked and shriveled up.
"Could do with some of those letters now, eh?" he saidcheerfully.
He was in a very good mood. Obviously he thought nobody stooda chance of reaching them here in a storm to deliver mail. Harryprivately agreed, though the thought didn't cheer him up at all.
As night fell, the promised storm blew up around them. Sprayfrom the high waves splattered the walls of the hut and a fiercewind rattled¹⁰ the filthy¹¹ windows. Aunt Petunia found a few moldyblankets in the second room and made up a bed for Dudley on themoth-eaten sofa. She and Uncle Vernon went off to the lumpy bednext door, and Harry was left to find the softest bit of floor hecould and to curl up under the thinnest, most ragged¹² blanket.
The storm raged more and more ferociously¹³ as the night wenton. Harry couldn't sleep. He shivered and turned over, trying to getcomfortable, his stomach rumbling¹⁴ with hunger. Dudley's snores weredrowned by the low rolls of thunder that started near midnight. Thelighted dial of Dudley's watch, which was dangling¹⁵ over the edge ofthe sofa on his fat wrist, told Harry he'd be eleven in ten minutes'
time. He lay and watched his birthday tick nearer, wondering if theDursleys would remember at all, wondering where the letter writerwas now.
Five minutes to go. Harry heard something creak outside. He hopedthe roof wasn't going to fall in, although he might be warmer ifit did. Four minutes to go. Maybe the house in Privet Drive wouldbe so full of letters when they got back that he'd be able to stealone somehow.
Three minutes to go. Was that the sea, slapping hard on the rocklike that? And (two minutes to go) what was that funny crunchingnoise? Was the rock crumbling¹⁶ into the sea?
One minute to go and he'd be eleven. Thirty seconds... twenty... ten... nine -- maybe he'd wake Dudley up, just to annoy him --three... two... one...
BOOM.
The whole shack shivered and Harry sat bolt upright, staringat the door. Someone was outside, knocking to come in.

1 petunia   

n.矮牵牛花

参考例句：

• Height,breadth and diameter of corolla are the important ornamental characters of petunia.株高、冠幅、花径是矮牵牛的重要观赏性状。
• His favourite flower is petunia.他最喜欢的花是矮牵牛花。

2 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

3 hanger   

n.吊架，吊轴承；挂钩

参考例句：

• I hung my coat up on a hanger.我把外衣挂在挂钩上。
• The ship is fitted with a large helicopter hanger and flight deck.这艘船配备有一个较大的直升飞机悬挂装置和飞行甲板。

4 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

5 shack   

adj.简陋的小屋，窝棚

参考例句：

• He had to sit down five times before he reached his shack.在走到他的茅棚以前，他不得不坐在地上歇了五次。
• The boys made a shack out of the old boards in the backyard.男孩们在后院用旧木板盖起一间小木屋。

6 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

7 ambling   

v.（马）缓行( amble的现在分词 )；从容地走，漫步

参考例句：

• At that moment the tiger commenced ambling towards his victim. 就在这时，老虎开始缓步向它的猎物走去。 来自辞典例句
• Implied meaning: drinking, ambling, the people who make golf all relatively succeed. 寓意：喝酒，赌博，打高尔夫的人都比较成功。 来自互联网

8 rations   

定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量

参考例句：

• They are provisioned with seven days' rations. 他们得到了7天的给养。
• The soldiers complained that they were getting short rations. 士兵们抱怨他们得到的配给不够数。

9 chilly   

adj.凉快的，寒冷的

参考例句：

• I feel chilly without a coat.我由于没有穿大衣而感到凉飕飕的。
• I grew chilly when the fire went out.炉火熄灭后，寒气逼人。

10 rattled   

慌乱的，恼火的

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。

11 filthy   

adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories.整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。
• You really should throw out that filthy old sofa and get a new one.你真的应该扔掉那张肮脏的旧沙发，然后再去买张新的。

12 ragged   

adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的

参考例句：

• A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。
• Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。

13 ferociously   

野蛮地，残忍地

参考例句：

• The buck shook his antlers ferociously. 那雄鹿猛烈地摇动他的鹿角。
• At intervals, he gritted his teeth ferociously. 他不时狠狠的轧平。

14 rumbling   

n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词

参考例句：

• The earthquake began with a deep [low] rumbling sound. 地震开始时发出低沉的隆隆声。
• The crane made rumbling sound. 吊车发出隆隆的响声。

15 dangling   

悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口

参考例句：

• The tooth hung dangling by the bedpost, now. 结果，那颗牙就晃来晃去吊在床柱上了。
• The children sat on the high wall,their legs dangling. 孩子们坐在一堵高墙上，摇晃着他们的双腿。

16 crumbling   

adj.摇摇欲坠的

参考例句：

• an old house with crumbling plaster and a leaking roof 一所灰泥剥落、屋顶漏水的老房子
• The boat was tied up alongside a crumbling limestone jetty. 这条船停泊在一个摇摇欲坠的石灰岩码头边。