英语听力 暮光之城•暮色 第23期:打开的书(4)

 "Do you know the Cullen family?" I asked hesitantly. "您认识卡伦家的人吗？"我犹豫地问道

"Dr. Cullen's family? Sure. Dr. Cullen's a great man." "卡伦大夫的家人？当然认识。卡伦大夫是个很了不起的人。"

"They ...the kids ...are a little different. "他们……他家的那些孩子……有点儿不一样。

They do not seem to fit in very well at school." 他们在学校好像跟大家不太融洽。"

Charlie surprised me by looking angry. 查理显得很生气，令我大吃了一惊。

"People in this town," he muttered¹. "这个镇上的人啦，" 他咕哝道，

"Dr. Cullen is a brilliant surgeon who could probably work in any hospital in the world, "卡伦大夫是个杰出的外科医生，可以到世界上任何一家医院去工作的，

make ten times the salary he gets here,"he continued, getting louder. 可以挣他在这儿拿的那点儿工资的十倍，"他继续说道，声音更大了，

"We 're lucky to have him—lucky that his wife wanted to live in a small town. "有他这样的大夫是我们的福气，幸亏他太太想住在小城镇。

He's an asset² to the community, and all of those kids are well behaved and polite. 他是社会的宝贵财富，而且那些孩子个个都循规蹈矩，很懂礼貌。

I had my doubts, when they first moved in, with all those adopted teenagers. 他们刚搬来的时候，我也像对所有那些被人收养的十几岁的孩子一样，对他们产生过种种怀疑，

I thought we might have some problems with them. 满以为会给我们带来不少麻烦的。

But they're all very mature—I have not had one speck³ of trouble from any of them. 可是他们都非常成熟懂事——我还没看见他们中的任何一个惹过一点点麻烦。

That's more than I can say for the children of some folks who have lived in this town for generations. 有些几辈人都生活在这个镇上的人家的孩子，跟他们简直没法比。

And they stick together the way a family should—camping trips every other weekend ... 而且他们很团结，就像一家人应该的那样——每两个周末就进行一次露营旅行。……

Just because they're newcomers,people have to talk." 就因为他们是新来的，所以人们免不了嚼舌头。

It was the longest speech I'd ever heard Charlie make. "这是我有生以来听到查理一口气说的最长的话了。

He must feel strongly about whatever people were saying. 他肯定是听到了什么议论，反应才这么强烈。

I backpedaled. 我马上改了口。

"They seemed nice enough to me. I just noticed they kept to themselves. "他们在我眼里似乎够不错的了。我只是注意到他们就自己几个人在一块儿。

They're all very attractive, "I added, trying to be more complimentary⁴. 他们都很有魅力。"我补了一句，想多夸他们一些。

"You should see the doctor," Charlie said, laughing. "你应该去见见那个大夫，"查理大笑着说，

"It's a good thing he's happily married. "好的是他已经有了一个幸福的家庭啊。

A lot of the nurses at the hospital have a hard time concentrating on their work with him around." 医院里的许多护士，只要他在边上，精力都很难集中啊。"

We lapsed⁵ back into silence as we finished eating. 吃过晚饭后，我们又陷入了沉默。

He cleared the table while I started on the dishes. 我收拾碟子的时候，他擦完了桌子，

He went back to the TV, and after I finished washing the dishes by hand—no dishwasher—I went upstairs unwillingly⁶ to work on my math homework. 接着又去看电视去了。我用手——没有洗碗机——洗完了碟子后，不情愿地上了楼，去做数学家庭作业。

I could feel a tradition in the making. 我能感到一个传统正在形成。

That night it was finally quiet. 那天夜里，终于静下来了。

I fell asleep quickly, exhausted⁷. 我很快就睡着了，实在是精疲力竭了。

The rest of the week was uneventful. 这个星期其余的几天都平平淡淡。

I got used to the routine⁸ of my classes. 我已经习惯了上课的路线。

By Friday I was able to recognize, if not name, almost all the students at school. 到星期五的时候，我已经差不多认识全校所有的学生了，甚至可能连名字都叫得上来了。

In Gym, the kids on my team learned⁹ not to pass me the ball and to step quickly in front of me if the other team tried to take advantage of my weakness. 上体育课时，我所在队的同学已经吸取了教训，不给我传球了，而且要是对方企图利用我这个弱点占便宜的话，队友会迅速跑位，抢到我的前面去。

I happily stayed out of their way. 我会很高兴地给他们让出位置来，不挡他们的道。

Edward Cullen did not come back to school. 爱德华·卡伦没有回来上学。

Every day, I watched anxiously until the rest of the Cullens entered the cafeteria without him. 每天，我都会焦虑不安地注视着，直到看到他没跟他们其他几个进自助餐厅为止。

Then I could relax and join in the lunchtime conversation. 然后我才能放下心来，加入午饭时间的闲聊。

Mostly it centered around a trip to the La Push Ocean Park in two weeks that Mike was putting together. 多数情况下，聊天的中心内容都是两周后到拉普什海洋公园去旅游的事，这是迈克最近一直在张罗的一件事情。

I was invited, and I had agreed to go, more out of politeness than desire. 我受到了邀请，而且我也答应去了，更多地是出于礼貌，而不是真心想去。

Beaches should be hot and dry. 海滩应该很热很干爽。

By Friday I was perfectly¹⁰ comfortable entering my Biology class, no longer worried that Edward would be there. 到星期五那天，走进生物学教室时，我已经完全心安理得了，不再担心爱德华会在里面了。

For all I knew, he had dropped out of school. 因为据我所知，他已经退学了。

I tried not to think about him, but I could not totally suppress¹¹ the worry that I was responsible for his continued absence, ridiculous as it seemed. 我竭力不去想他，可我还是不能完全抑制住内心的担心，担心是因为我他才连续旷课的，虽然这听起来似乎很可笑。

1 muttered   

轻声低语，咕哝地抱怨( mutter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He muttered a curse at the other driver. 他低声咒骂另一位开车的人。
• She turned away and muttered something unintelligible. 她转向一旁，嘴里不知咕哝些什么。

2 asset   

n.有价值的资源，优点，长处；财产，资产

参考例句：

• Ability to get along with people is an asset in business.在商业界善跟别人相处是可贵的优点。
• Intelligence was her main asset.智力是她的主要财富。

3 speck   

n.微粒，小污点，小斑点

参考例句：

• I have not a speck of interest in it.我对它没有任何兴趣。
• The sky is clear and bright without a speck of cloud.天空晴朗，一星星云彩也没有。

4 complimentary   

adj.赠送的，免费的，赞美的，恭维的

参考例句：

• She made some highly complimentary remarks about their school.她对他们的学校给予高度的评价。
• The supermarket operates a complimentary shuttle service.这家超市提供免费购物班车。

5 lapsed   

adj.流失的，堕落的v.退步( lapse的过去式和过去分词 )；陷入；倒退；丧失

参考例句：

• He had lapsed into unconsciousness. 他陷入了昏迷状态。
• He soon lapsed into his previous bad habits. 他很快陷入以前的恶习中去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 unwillingly   

adv.不情愿地

参考例句：

• He submitted unwillingly to his mother. 他不情愿地屈服于他母亲。
• Even when I call, he receives unwillingly. 即使我登门拜访，他也是很不情愿地接待我。

7 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

8 routine   

n.例行公事，惯例；adj.例行的，常规的

参考例句：

• It is everyday routine.这是每天的例行公事。
• She found the hospital routine slightly dull.她感到医院的工作有点枯燥乏味。

9 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

10 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。

11 suppress   

vt.压制，镇压，查禁，抑制，阻止

参考例句：

• He continued to suppress the people and serve the imperialists.他继续镇压人民，为帝国主义效劳。
• She was struggling to suppress her sobs.她拼命不让自己哭出来。