【有声英语文学名著】CHAPTER THREE(13)

Shortly after nine that night, Dexter left the bar with  Renee van Houten, a trainee¹ pharmacist from  Rotterdam  with  fading  henna  on  her  hands,  a  jar  of  temazepam  in  her  pocket  and  a poorly executed tattoo² of Woody Woodpecker at the base of her spine³. He could see the bird leering at him lewdly⁴ as he stumbled through the door.

In  their  eagerness  to  leave,  Dexter  and  his  new  friend  accidentally  jostled  Heidi Schindler, twenty-three years old, a chemical engineering student from Cologne. Heidi swore at  Dexter,  but  in  German,  and  quietly  enough  for  them  not  to  hear.  Pushing  through  the crowded bar, she shrugged⁵ off her immense backpack and searched the room for somewhere to collapse⁶. Heidi‘s features were red and round, like a series of overlapping⁷ circles, an effect exaggerated  by  her  round  spectacles,  now  steamy  in  the  hot  humid  bar.  Bad-tempered, bloated on Diocalm, angry with the friends who kept running off without her, she collapsed⁸ backwards⁹ on a decrepit¹⁰ rattan¹¹ sofa and absorbed the full scale of her misery¹². She removed her steamy spectacles,  wiped them on the  corner of her t-shirt, settled  on the sofa  and felt something hard jab into her hip¹³. Quietly, she swore again.

Tucked between the ragged¹⁴ foam¹⁵ cushions was a copy of  Howards End, a letter tucked into the opening pages. Even though it was intended for someone else, she felt an automatic thrill of anticipation¹⁶ at the red and white trim of the air-mail envelope. She tugged¹⁷ the letter out, read it to the end, then read it again.

Heidi‘s English wasn‘t particularly strong, and some words were unfamiliar¹⁸ – ‗discersion‘ for example, but she understood enough to recognise this as a letter of some importance, the kind of letter that she would like to receive herself one day. Not quite a love-letter, but near enough. She pictured this ‗Em‘ person reading it, then re-reading it, exasperated¹⁹ but a little pleased  too,  and  she  imagined  her  acting  upon  it,  walking  out  of  her  terrible  flat  and  the rotten  job  and  changing  her  life.  Heidi  imagined  Emma  Morley,  who  looked  not  unlike herself, waiting at the Taj Mahal as a handsome blond man approached. She imagined a kiss and Heidi began to feel a little happier. She decided²⁰ that, whatever happened, Emma Morley must receive this letter.

But there was no address on the envelope and no return address for ‗Dexter‘ either. She 

scanned  the  pages  for  clues,  the  name  of  the  restaurant  where  Emma  worked  perhaps,  but there was nothing of use. 

1 trainee   

n.受训练者

参考例句：

• The trainee checked out all right on his first flight.受训者第一次飞行完全合格。
• Few of the trainee footballers make it to the top.足球受训人员中没有几个能达到顶级水平。

2 tattoo   

n.纹身，(皮肤上的)刺花纹；vt.刺花纹于

参考例句：

• I've decided to get my tattoo removed.我已经决定去掉我身上的纹身。
• He had a tattoo on the back of his hand.他手背上刺有花纹。

3 spine   

n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊

参考例句：

• He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
• His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。

4 lewdly   

参考例句：

• He rubbed his forehead harshly with his knuckles, like stupor, and snickered lewdly. 他用指关节使劲擦了擦自己的额头，象个醉鬼一样，一面色迷迷地嘻嘻笑着。 来自互联网

5 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

7 overlapping   

adj./n.交迭（的）

参考例句：

• There is no overlapping question between the two courses. 这两门课程之间不存在重叠的问题。
• A trimetrogon strip is composed of three rows of overlapping. 三镜头摄影航线为三排重迭的象片所组成。

8 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

9 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

10 decrepit   

adj.衰老的，破旧的

参考例句：

• The film had been shot in a decrepit old police station.该影片是在一所破旧不堪的警察局里拍摄的。
• A decrepit old man sat on a park bench.一个衰弱的老人坐在公园的长凳上。

11 rattan   

n.藤条，藤杖

参考例句：

• When they reached a long bridge fastened with rattan strips,everyone got out and walked.走到那顶藤条扎的长桥，大家都下车步行。
• Rattan furniture,include rattan chair,rattan table,and so on.藤器家具包括藤椅藤桌等等。

12 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

13 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

14 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。

15 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

16 anticipation   

n.预期，预料，期望

参考例句：

• We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。
• The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。

17 tugged   

v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She tugged at his sleeve to get his attention. 她拽了拽他的袖子引起他的注意。
• A wry smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. 他的嘴角带一丝苦笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 unfamiliar   

adj.陌生的，不熟悉的

参考例句：

• I am unfamiliar with the place and the people here.我在这儿人地生疏。
• The man seemed unfamiliar to me.这人很面生。

19 exasperated   

adj.恼怒的

参考例句：

• We were exasperated at his ill behaviour. 我们对他的恶劣行为感到非常恼怒。
• Constant interruption of his work exasperated him. 对他工作不断的干扰使他恼怒。

20 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。