英文短篇故事（纽约）442 TV Ads—Up Close and Personal

 　　He was watching TV. The commercials started. One after another they came, like subway riders going through turnstiles. Five minutes later, the program resumed¹. Ten minutes later, a new cluster² of commercials started. Five minutes later, the program resumed. During this part of the program, he saw three new commercials at the bottom of his TV screen. Then, a new cluster of commercials began. He said, "This is getting ridiculous. It's bad enough that we already get one minute of commercials for every two minutes of programming. But now, they're sneaking³ in commercials during the program at the bottom of the screen." His son said, "That's the price you pay for free TV. But you ain't seen nothing yet. Guess what's around the corner? They're developing hologram TV. The pitchmen for commercials will come out of the TV. They'll sit next to you on your sofa to sell their products!"

1 resumed   

v.重新开始( resume的过去式和过去分词 )；重新获得；重新占用；恢复

参考例句：

• Play resumed quickly after the stoppage. 比赛中断后不久又继续进行。
• The violinist resumed playing after the intermission. 幕间休息之后，那小提琴手又重新开始演奏。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 cluster   

n.串，簇，群，组；vi.群集，丛生；vt.集中

参考例句：

• She held a cluster of flowers in her arms.她抱着一束鲜花。
• A cluster of tourists was surrounded in the hill.一群游客被困在了山中。

3 sneaking   

a.秘密的，不公开的

参考例句：

• She had always had a sneaking affection for him. 以前她一直暗暗倾心于他。
• She ducked the interviewers by sneaking out the back door. 她从后门偷偷溜走，躲开采访者。