《怦然心动》｜单词注释｜Chapter 9
Looming Large and Smelly
1
Sunday I woke up feeling like I'd been sick with the
flu
.
flu /fluː/ n. 流行性感冒
2
Like I'd had one of those bad,
convoluted
, unexplainable
fever
dreams.
convoluted /ˈkɑːnvəluːtɪd/ adj. 费解的
fever /ˈfiːvər/ n. 发烧
3
And what I've
figured out
about bad, convoluted, unexplainable dreams of any kind is that you've just got to
shake them off
.
figure out 想通了
shake off 摆脱
4
Try to forget that they ever happened.
5
I shook it off, all right, and got out of bed early 'cause I had eaten almost nothing the night before and I was starving!
6
But as I was trucking into the kitchen, I glanced into the family room and noticed that my dad was
sacked out
on the couch.
sack out 睡觉
7
This was not good.
8
This was a sign of battles still
in progress
, and it made me feel like an
invader
in my own
territory
.
in progress 正在进行
invader /ɪn'vedɚ/ n. 入侵者
territory /ˈterətɔːri/ n. 领土
9
He
rolled over
and kind of groaned, then
curled up
tighter under his
skinny
little
quilt
and muttered some pretty unfriendly-sounding stuff into his pillow.
roll over 翻身
curl up 蜷缩
skinny /ˈskɪni/ adj. 极瘦的
quilt /kwɪlt/ n. 被子
10
I beat it into the kitchen and poured myself a killer bowl of
corn flakes
.
corn flake 玉米片
11
And I was about to drown it in milk when my mother comes
waltzing
in and
snags
it away from me.
waltz /wɔlts/ v. 轻快地走动
snag /snæɡ/ vt. 迅速抓到
12
“You are going to wait, young man,” she says. “This family is going to have Sunday breakfast together.”
13
“But I'm starving!”
14
“So are the rest of us. Now go! I'm making pancakes, and you're taking a shower. Go!”
15
Like a shower's going to prevent
imminent
starvation.
imminent /ˈɪmɪnənt/ adj. 迫近的
16
But I headed down to the bathroom, and on my way I noticed that the family room was empty.
17
The quilt was folded and back on the
armrest
, the pillow was gone…it was like I'd imagined the whole thing.
armrest /'ɑrm'rɛst/ n. 坐椅扶手
18
At breakfast my father didn't look like he'd spent the night on the couch.
19
No
bags
under his eyes, no whiskers on his chin. ”
bag /bæɡ/ n. 眼袋
20
He was
decked out
in tennis shorts and a lavender polo shirt, and his hair was all blown dry like it was a workday.
deck out 打扮
21
Personally I thought the shirt looked kind of girly, but my mom said, “You look very nice this morning, Rick.
22
My father just eyed her
suspiciously
.
suspiciously /sə'spɪʃəsli/ adv. 猜疑地
23
Then my grandfather came in, saying, “Patsy, the house smells wonderful! Good morning, Rick. Hi there, Bryce,” and winked at me as he sat down and put his napkin in his lap.
24
Then my grandfather came in, saying, “Patsy, the house smells wonderful! Good morning, Rick. Hi there, Bryce,” and winked at me as he sat down and put his napkin in his lap.
napkin /ˈnæpkɪn/ n. 餐巾
25
“Lyn-et-ta!” my mother sang out. “Break-fast!”
26
My sister appeared in a
triple-X
miniskirt
and
platform
shoes, with eyes that were definitely of the raccoon
variety
.
triplex /'traɪplɛks/ adj. 三重的
miniskirt /'mɪnɪ'skɝt/ n. 超短裙
platform shoes 厚底鞋
variety /vəˈraɪəti/ n. 种类
27
My mother gasped, but then took a deep breath and said, “Good morning, honey. You're… you're …I thought you were going to church this morning with your friends.”
28
“I am.” Lynetta scowled and sat down.
29
Mom brought pancakes, fried eggs, and
hash browns
to the table.
hash browns 土豆煎饼
30
My father just sat there
stiff
as a board for a minute, but finally he shook out his napkin and
tucked
it into his
collar
.
stiff /stɪf/ adv. 僵硬地
tuck /tʌk/ v. 把......塞入
collar /ˈkɑːlər/ n. 领子
31
“Well,” my mother said as she sat down, “I have come up with a solution to our
situation
.”
situation /ˌsɪtʃu'eʃən/ n. 形势
32
“Here it comes …,” my father muttered, but my mother gave him a glare that shut him down cold.
33
“The solution is …,” my mom said as she
served
herself some pancakes, “… we're going to invite the Bakers over for dinner.”
serve /sɜːrv/ vt. & vi. 端上(食物)
34
My father
blurts
out, “What?”; Lynetta asks, “All of them?”; I
put in
, “Are you serious?”; but my grandfather heaps on another fried egg and says, “That, Patsy, is a
marvelous
idea.”
blurt /blɝt/ vt. 脱口而出
put in vt. 插入
marvelous /ˈmɑrvələs/ adj. 非凡的
35
“Thanks, Dad,” she says with a smile, then tells Lynetta and me, “Of course I'm serious, and yes, if Juli and the boys want to come, they'll be invited.”
36
My sister starts
cracking up
. “Do you know what you're saying?”
crack up vt. 突然大笑起来
37
Mom
smooths
the napkin into her
lap
. “Maybe it's about time I found out.”
smooth /smuːð/ v. 抚平
lap /læp/ n. 膝盖
38
Lynetta turns to me and says, “She's inviting the
core
of Piss Poor over for dinner — oh, this is something I really woke up expecting!”
core /kɔːr/ n. 核心
39
My father shakes his head and says, “Patsy, what purpose does this serve? So I made some stupid
cracks
last night. Is this the next phase in my punishment?”
crack /kræk/ n. 粗鲁的话
40
“It is something we should have done years ago.”
41
“Patsy, please. I know you feel bad about what you found out, but an
awkward
dinner party isn't going to change anything!”
awkward /ˈɔːkwərd/ adj. 尴尬的
42
My mother ran
syrup
all over her pancakes,
popped
the top closed, licked her finger, then locked eyes with my dad. “We are having the Bakers over for dinner.”
syrup /'sɪrəp/ n. 糖浆
pop /pɑːp/ vt. （迅速或突然）放置
43
And that, she didn't have to tell him, was that.
44
Dad took a deep breath, then sighed and said, “Whatever you want, Patsy. Just don't say I didn't warn you.”
45
He took a bite of hash browns and mumbled, “A
barbecue
, I suppose?”
barbecue /ˈbɑːrbɪkjuː/ n. 吃烤肉的野宴
46
“No, Rick. A
sit-down
dinner. Like we have when your
clients
come over.”
sit-down dinner. 正式晚宴
client /ˈklaɪənt/ n. 顾客
47
He stopped chewing. “You're expecting them to dress up?”
48
Mom glared at him. “What I'm expecting is for you to behave like the gentleman I always thought you were.”
49
Dad went back to his potatoes. Definitely safer than arguing with Mom.
50
Lynetta wound up eating the entire
white
of a fried egg and almost a whole pancake besides.
white /waɪt/ n. 蛋白
51
Plain
, of course, but from the way she was
glutting
and
giggling
as she ate, it was obvious that at least she was in a good mood.
plain /pleɪn/ adj. 简单的
glut /ɡlʌt/ vt. 吃得过多
giggle /ˈɡɪɡl/ vt. 咯咯地笑着说
52
Granddad ate plenty, even for him, but I couldn't tell what he was thinking. He was back to looking more
granite
than human.
granite /'grænɪt/ n. 花岗岩
53
Me, I'd started
tuning in
to the fact that this dinner could be more than
awkward
— it could be trouble.
awkward /ˈɔːkwərd/ adj. 尴尬的
tune in v. 开始注意
54
Those
rotten
eggs were back from the grave,
looming
large and
smelly
right over my head.
rotten /ˈrɑːtn/ adj. 腐烂的
loom /luːm/ vi. 可怕地出现
smelly /'smɛli/ adj. 有臭味的
55
Sure, Granddad knew, but no one else in my family did.
56
What if it came up at dinner? I'd be dead, fried, cluck-faced meat.
57
Later, as I was brushing my teeth, I considered
bribing
Juli.
bribe /braɪb/ vt. & vi. 贿赂
58
Getting her on board
so that nobody brought up the subject of eggs.
get on board 入伙
59
Or maybe I could
sabotage
the dinner somehow. Make it not happen.
sabotage /ˈsæbətɑːʒ/ vt. 对…采取破坏行动
60
Yeah, I could — I stopped myself and looked in the mirror.
61
What kind of
wimp
was I,
anyway
? I
spit
and headed back to find my mom.
wimp /wɪmp/ n. 懦弱的人
anyway /ˈeniweɪ/ adv. 到底
spit /spɪt/ vt. & vi. 吐痰
62
“What is it, honey?” she asked me as she
wiped off
the
griddle
. “You look worried.”
wipe off 洗刷
griddle /'ɡrɪdl/ n. 煎饼用浅锅
63
I double-checked to make sure my dad or Lynetta wasn't
lurking
around somewhere, then whispered, “Will you swear to
secrecy
?”
lurk /lɜːrk/ vi. 潜伏
secrecy /'sikrəsi/ n. 保密
64
She laughed. “I don't know about that.”
65
I just waited.
66
“What can be …,” she said, then looked at me and stopped cleaning. “Oh, it is serious. Honey, what's wrong?”
67
It had been
ages
since I'd
voluntarily
fessed up
about something to my mom.
age /edʒ/ n. [非正式] 很长时间
voluntarily /ˌvɑlən'tɛrəli/ adv. 自发地
fess up 爽快地坦白
68
It just didn't seem necessary anymore; I'd learned to deal with things on my own.
69
At least, that's what I'd thought. Until now.
70
She touched my arm and said, “Bryce, tell me. What is it?”
71
I
hopped
up to sit on the
counter
, then took a deep breath and said, “It's about Juli's eggs.”
hop /hɑːp/ v. 快速前往
counter /ˈkaʊntər/ n. 柜台式长桌
72
“About her … eggs?”
73
“Yeah. Remember that whole chicken-hen-salmonella disaster?”
74
“That was quite a while ago, but sure….”
75
“Well, what you don't know is that Juli didn't bring eggs over just that once. She's been bringing them over every week…or about that, anyway.”
76
“She has? Why didn't I know about this?”
77
“Well, I was afraid Dad would get mad at me for not telling her we didn't want them, so I started
intercepting
them.
intercept /ˌɪntərˈsept/ vt. 拦截
78
I'd see her coming, get to her before she rang the bell, and then I'd toss them in the trash before anyone knew she'd been here.”
79
“Oh, Bryce!”
80
“Well, I kept thinking they'd stop! How long can a stupid chicken lay eggs?”
81
“But I take it they have stopped?”
82
“Yeah. As of last week. Because Juli caught me
chucking
a carton in the trash outside.”
chuck /tʃʌk/ vt. 丢弃
83
“Oh, dear.”
84
“Exactly.”
85
“So what did you tell her?”
86
I looked down and mumbled,
87
“I told her that we were afraid of salmonella poisoning because their yard was such a mess. She ran off crying, and the next thing I know, she's starting to fix up their yard.”
88
“Oh, Bryce!”
89
“Exactly.”
90
She was dead quiet for a minute; then very softly she said, “Thank you for your honesty, Bryce. It does help to explain a lot.”
91
She shook her head and said, “What that family must think of us,” and got back to cleaning the griddle. “All the more reason to have them over for dinner, if you ask me.”
92
I whispered, “You're sworn to secrecy on this whole egg thing, right? I mean, Juli told Granddad, so he knows, but I don't want this to spread to, you know, Dad.”
93
She studied me a minute, then said, “Tell me you've
learned your lesson
, honey.”
learn lesson 从中吸取教训
94
“I have, Mom.”
95
“Okay, then.”
96
I let out a big sigh of relief. “Thanks.”
97
“Oh, and Bryce?”
98
“Yeah?”
99
“I'm very glad you told me about it.” She kissed me on the cheek, then smiled and said, “Now, didn't I hear you promise you'd mow the lawn today?”
100
“Right,” I said, and headed outside to trim the
turf
.
turf /tɝf/ n. 草皮
101
That evening my mother announced that the Bakers would be over Friday night at six o'clock;
102
that the
menu
included
poached
salmon
,
crab
risotto
, and fresh
steamed
vegetables;
menu /'mɛnju/ n. 菜单
poached adj. 水煮的
salmon /ˈsæmən/ n. 三文鱼
crab /kræb/ n. 蟹
risotto /rɪ'sɔto/ n. 意大利调味饭
steamed /sti:md/ adj. 蒸熟的
103
and that none of us had better
weasel
out of being there.
weasel /'wizl/ v. 逃避
104
My dad muttered that if we were really going to do this, it would be a whole lot better to barbecue because at least that way he'd have something to do,
105
but my mom
positively
smoked
him with her eyes and he
dropped
it.
positively /'pɑzətɪvli/ adv. 坚定地
smoke /smok/ v. (战斗或竞赛中)彻底击败
drop /drɑːp/ v. 放弃
106
So. They were coming.
107
And it made seeing Juli at school even more uncomfortable than usual. Not because she
gushed
about it or even waved and winked or something.
gush /ɡʌʃ/ vi. 滔滔不绝地说话
108
No, she was back to avoiding me.
109
She'd say hi if we happened to
run into
each other, but instead of being, like,
right over my shoulder anytime I looked
, she was
nowhere
.
run into vt. 偶然遇见
look over someone's shoulder 从某人背后看过去
nowhere /ˈnoʊwer/ adj. [口]不存在的
110
She must have ducked out
back doors
and taken
roundabout
ways through
campus
.
back door 后门
roundabout /ˈraʊndəbaʊt/ adj. 绕道的
campus /ˈkæmpəs/ n. (大学)校园
111
She was, I don't know,
scarce
.
scarce /skers/ adj. 罕见的
112
I found myself looking at her in class.
113
The teacher'd be talking and all eyes would be up front … except mine.
114
They kept wandering over to Juli. It was weird. One minute I'd be listening to the teacher, and the next I'd
be completely tuned out
, looking at Juli.
be tune out 心不在焉
115
It wasn't until Wednesday in math that I
figured it out
. With the way her hair fell back over her shoulders and her head was
tilted
, she looked like the picture in the paper.
figure out 弄明白
tilt /tɪlt/ vt. 使倾斜
116
Not just like it — the angle was different, and the wind wasn't blowing through her hair — but she did look like the picture. A lot like the picture.
117
Making that connection sent a chill down my
spine
. And I wondered — what was she thinking? Could she really be that interested in
root
derivations
?
spine /spaɪn/ n. 脊柱
root /ruːt/ n. (数学)方根
derivation /ˌderɪˈveɪʃn/ n. 求导
118
Darla Tressler caught me watching, and man, she gave me the world's
wickedest
smile.
wicked /ˈwɪkɪd/ adj. 顽皮的
119
If I didn't do something fast, this was going to spread like wildfire, so I
squinted
at her and whispered, “There's a bee in her hair, stupid,” then pointed around in the air like, There it goes, see?
squint /skwɪnt/ vi. 斜视
120
Darla's neck whipped around searching for the bee, and I
straightened out
my focus for the rest of the day.
straightened out 改正
121
The last thing I needed was to be
scorched
by the likes of Darla Tressler.
scorch /skɔːrtʃ/ vt. 烤焦
122
That night I was doing my homework, and just to prove to myself that I'd been wrong, I pulled that newspaper article out of my trash can.
123
And as I'm
flipping it over
, I'm telling myself, It's a
distortion
of reality; it's my imagination; she doesn't really look like that….But there she was.
flip over 翻过来
distortion /dɪˈstɔːrʃn/ n. 扭曲
124
The girl in my math class, two rows over and one seat up, glowing through
newsprint
.
newsprint /'nuzprɪnt/ n. 新闻纸
125
Lynetta barged in. “I need your
sharpener
,” she said.
sharpener /'ʃɑrpənɚ/ n. 卷笔刀
126
I slammed my
binder
closed over
the paper and said, “You're supposed to knock!”
binder /'baɪndɚ/ n. 活页夹
close over 封盖
127
And then, since she was
zooming
in and the paper was still
sticking out
, I
crammed
the binder into my backpack as fast as I could.
zoom /zuːm/ v. 快速移动
stick out 醒目
cram /kræm/ vt. 塞入
128
“What are you trying to hide there, baby brother?”
129
“Nothing, and stop calling me that! And don't barge into my room anymore!”
130
“Give me your sharpener and
I'm history
,” she said with her hand out.
I'm history 我要离开了
131
I dug it out of my drawer and tossed it at her, and sure enough, she disappeared.
132
But two seconds later my mom was calling for me, and after that, well, I forgot that the paper was in my binder.
133
Until first
period
the next morning, that is.
period /'pɪrɪəd/ n. 课时
134
Man! What was I supposed to
do with
it?
do with 处理
135
I couldn't get up and throw it out; Garrett was right there. 137 Besides that, Darla Tressler's in that class, and I could tell — she was
keeping an eye out for
wayward
bees.
keep an eye out for 留心或注意到某人或某事物
wayward /'wewɚd/ adj. 不规则的
136
If she
caught wind of
this, I'd be the one
stung
.
catch wind of 听闻
sting /stɪŋ/ vi. 蜇
138
Then Garrett
reaches over
to
snag
a piece of paper like he does about fourteen times a day,
only
I have a complete mental
spaz
and
slam
down on his hand with mine.
reach over 越过某人拿某物
snag /snæɡ/ vt. 迅速抓到
only /'onli/ conj. 但是
spaz /spæz/ n. 怪人
slam /slæm/ vt. 突然(或猛然)采取行动
139
“Dude!” he says. “What's your problem?”
140
“Sorry,” I say, tuning in to the fact that he was only going for
lined paper
, not newspaper.
lined paper 横格纸
141
“Dude,” he says again.
142
“You know you've been really
spaced
lately? Anyone else tell you that?”
space /spes/ v. 瞪着眼发呆
143
He
rips
a piece of paper out of my binder, then notices the edges of the newspaper.
rip /rɪp/ vt. 撕
144
He eyes me, and before I can stop him, he
whips it out
.
whip out 突然拿出
145
I
pounce
on him and tear it out of his hands, but it's too late.
pounce /paʊns/ vi. 猛扑
146
He's seen her picture.
147
Before he can say a word, I get in his face and say, “You shut up, you hear me? This is not what you think.”
148
“Whoa,
kick back
, will ya? I wasn't thinking anything….”
kick back 轻松休息
149
But I could see the little
gears
go click-click-click in his brain.
gear /ɡɪr/ n. 齿轮
150
Then he smirks at me and says, “I'm sure you've got a perfectly
reasonable
explanation for why you're carrying a picture of Juli Baker around with you.”
reasonable /ˈriːznəbl/ adj. 合乎情理的
151
The way he said it scared me.
152
Like he was playing with the idea of
roasting
me in front of the whole class.
roast /roʊst/ vt. 嘲讽
153
I leaned over and said, “
Zip it
, would you?”
zip it 闭嘴
154
The teacher
hammered
on us to be quiet, but it didn't stop Garrett from smirking at me or doing the double-eyebrow
wiggle
in the direction of my binder.
hammer /ˈhæmər/ v. 反复强调
wiggle /ˈwɪɡl/ vt. 摆动
155
After class Darla tried to act all cool and preoccupied, but she had her
radar
up and
pointed
our way.
radar /ˈreɪdɑːr/ n. 雷达
point /pɔɪnt/ vt. 指向
156
She
shadowed
me
practically
all day, so there was no real
window
of opportunity to explain things to Garrett.
shadow /ˈʃædoʊ/ v. 暗地跟踪
practically /ˈpræktɪkli/ adv. 几乎
window /'wɪndo/ n. 一丝的机会
157
What was I going to tell him, anyway? That the paper was in my binder because I was trying to hide it from my sister? That would help.
158
Besides, I didn't want to make up some
lame
lie about it. I actually wanted to talk to Garrett.
lame /leɪm/ adj. 站不住脚的
159
I mean, he was my friend, and a lot had happened in the last couple of months that was
weighing on
me.
weigh on 使苦恼
160
I thought that if I talked to him, maybe he'd help get me back
on track
. Help me to stop thinking about everything.
on track 步入正轨
161
Garrett was real
reliable
in that
arena
.
reliable /rɪˈlaɪəbl/ adj. 可靠的
arena /əˈriːnə/ n. 舞台
162
Luckily, in
social studies
our class got library time to do
research
for our famous historical figure
report
.
social studies 社会学科
research /rɪˈsɜːrtʃ/ n. 研究
report /rɪ'pɔrt/ n. 调查报告
163
Darla and Juli were both in that class, but I managed to drag Garrett into a back corner of the library without either of them noticing.
164
And the minute we were
by ourselves
, I found myself
laying into
Garrett about chickens.
by ourselves 独自地
lay into v. 痛斥
165
He shakes his head at me and says, “Dude! What are you talking about?”
166
“Remember when we went and looked over her fence?”
167
“Back in the sixth grade?”
168
“Yeah. Remember how you were
down on
me for wondering what a hen was?”
down on 瞧不起
169
He rolled his eyes. “Not this again….”
170
“Man, you didn't know jack-
diddly-squat
about chickens. I put my life in your hands and you
dumped
me in a bucket of bull.”
diddly-squat (多用于否定句)一点点
dump /dʌmp/ vt. 倾倒
171
So I told him about my dad and the eggs and salmonella and how I'd been intercepting eggs for nearly two years.
172
He just shrugged and said, “
Makes sense
to me.”
make sense 情理之中
173
“Man, she caught me!”
174
“Who?”
175
“Juli!”
176
“Whoa, dude!”
177
I told him about what I'd said, and how almost right after that she was out playing weed
warrior
in her front yard.
warrior /ˈwɔːriər/ n. 战士
178
“Well, so? It's not your fault her yard's a mess.”
179
“But then I found out that they don't even own that house. They're all poor because her dad's got a retarded brother that they're, you know, paying for.”
180
Garrett gives me a real
chumpy
grin and says, “A retard? Well, that explains a lot, doesn't it?”
chump n. 傻瓜
181
I couldn't believe my ears. “What?”
182
“You know,” he says, still grinning, “about Juli.”
183
My heart started
pounding
and my hands
clenched up
.
pound /paʊnd/ v. (心脏)剧烈地跳动
clench up 握紧了
184
And for the first time since I'd learned to dive
away from
trouble, I wanted to
deck
somebody.
away from 远离
deck /dek/ v. [非正式] 用力击倒
185
But we were in the library.
186
And besides, it flashed through my mind that if I decked him for what he'd said, he'd turn around and tell everyone that I
was hot for
Juli Baker, and I was not hot for Juli Baker!
be hot for 热切得到
187
So I made myself laugh and say, “Oh, right,” and then came up with an excuse to put some distance between him and me.
188
After school Garrett asked me to come to his house and hang for a while, but I had zero interest in that. I still wanted to
slug
him.
slug /slʌɡ/ vt. 重击
189
I tried to talk myself down from feeling that way, but
in my gut
I was
flaming
mad at the guy.
in my gut 在我直觉
flame /fleɪm/ v. 焚烧
190
He'd crossed the line, man. He'd crossed it big-time.
191
And what made the whole thing so
stinking
hard to ignore was the fact that standing right next to him, on the other side of the line, was my father.
stinking /'stɪŋkɪŋ/ adj. 臭的
192
