英文短篇故事（纽约）514 Silent, but—Colorful

 　　Billy's father was a chemist. He often took Billy to the lab on weekends. He let Billy do his own experiments. One day at the lab, Billy showed his dad a handful¹ of pills. Billy said, "I made these last week. Guess what they do." Dad said, "Well, you hate taking showers. I guess they make your skin repel² dirt." Billy laughed. He said, "No. These are fart pills. They make farts look like rainbows. You know how Grandpa's always blaming the dog? Well, now he won't be able to. Everyone will see where the fart is really coming from." Dad said, "That's funny. But do they really work?" Billy said, "Yes. I've been testing them. Watch!" He farted loudly. A rainbow of colors escaped rapidly³ from the seat of his pants. They both laughed. Dad said, "You've got to promise me one thing. Don't slip⁴ any to your mom!"

1 handful   

n.一把；少量，少数，一小撮

参考例句：

• We invited 30 people, but only a handful came.我们邀请了30人，但是只到了几个人。
• He pulled out a handful of coins from his pocket.他从口袋里掏出一把硬币。

2 repel   

v.击退，抵制，拒绝，排斥

参考例句：

• A country must have the will to repel any invader.一个国家得有决心击退任何入侵者。
• Particles with similar electric charges repel each other.电荷同性的分子互相排斥。

3 rapidly   

adv.快地，迅速地

参考例句：

• The company has grown rapidly in the last five years.这家公司近五年来迅速地发展壮大。
• Ice changes into water rapidly on a hot day.天气炎热的时候，冰很快就化为水。

4 slip   

n.滑倒，事故，片，纸片；vi.滑动，滑倒，失足；减退；vt.使滑动，滑过，摆脱，闪开，塞入；adj.滑动的，活络的，有活结的

参考例句：

• One slip and you could fall off the building.脚下一滑就可能从建筑物上跌下去。
• I hope you will pardon me for that slip.我希望您原谅我那次失误。