【有声英语文学名著】CHAPTER FOUR（3）

In the empty staff room, Emma glared at the plate of steaming cheese and corn chips as if it was an enemy that must be defeated. 

Standing¹  suddenly,  she  crossed  to  Ian‘s  locker  and  plunged  her  hand  into  the  densely packed denim² until she found some cigarettes. She took one, lit it, then lifted her spectacles and inspected her eyes in the cracked mirror, licking her finger to remove the tell-tale smears³. Her hair was long these days, styleless in a colour that she thought of as ‗Lank Mouse‘. She pulled a strand⁴ from the scrunchie that held it in place and  ran finger and thumb along its length, knowing that when she washed it she would turn the shampoo grey. City  hair. She was  pale  from  too  many  late  shifts,  and  plump  too;  for  some  months  now  she  had  been putting skirts on over her head. She blamed all those refried beans; fried then fried again. ‗Fat girl,‘ she thought, ‗stupid fat girl‘ this being one of the slogans currently playing in her head, along with ‗A Third of Your Life Gone‘ and ‗What‘s the Point of Anything?‘

Emma‘s  mid-twenties  had  brought  a  second  adolescence  even  more  self-absorbed  and doom-laden than the first one. ‗Why don‘t you come home, sweetheart?‘ her mum had said on the phone last night, using her quavering, concerned voice, as if her daughter had been abducted⁵. ‗Your room‘s still here. There‘s jobs at Debenhams‘ and for the first time she had been tempted⁶.

Once, she had thought she could conquer London. She had imagined a whirl of literary salons⁷,  political  engagement,  larky  parties,  bittersweet  romances  conducted  on  Thames embankments. She had intended to form a band, make short films, write novels, but two years on the slim volume of verse was no fatter, and nothing really good had happened to her since she‘d been baton-charged at the Poll Tax Riots.

The city had defeated her, just like they said it would. Like some overcrowded party, noone had noticed her arrival, and no-one would notice if she left.

It wasn‘t that she hadn‘t tried. The idea of a career in publishing had floated itself. Her friend Stephanie Shaw had got a job on graduation, and it had transformed her. No more pints⁸ of lager and black for Stephanie Shaw. These days she drank white wine, wore neat little suits from Jigsaw⁹ and handed out Kettle Chips at dinner parties.

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 denim   

n.斜纹棉布；斜纹棉布裤，牛仔裤

参考例句：

• She wore pale blue denim shorts and a white denim work shirt.她穿着一条淡蓝色的斜纹粗棉布短裤，一件白粗布工作服上衣。
• Dennis was dressed in denim jeans.丹尼斯穿了一条牛仔裤。

3 smears   

污迹( smear的名词复数 )； 污斑； （显微镜的）涂片； 诽谤

参考例句：

• His evidence was a blend of smears, half truths and downright lies. 他的证词里掺杂着诽谤、部份的事实和彻头彻尾的谎言。
• Anything written with a soft pencil smears easily. 用软铅笔写成的东西容易污成一片。

4 strand   

vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地）

参考例句：

• She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ears.她把一缕散发夹到了耳后。
• The climbers had been stranded by a storm.登山者被暴风雨困住了。

5 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

6 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。

7 salons   

n.（营业性质的）店( salon的名词复数 )；厅；沙龙（旧时在上流社会女主人家的例行聚会或聚会场所）；（大宅中的）客厅

参考例句：

• He used to attend to his literary salons. 他过去常常去参加他的文学沙龙。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Conspiracy theories about Jewish financiers were the talk of Paris salons. 犹太金融家阴谋论成为巴黎沙龙的话题。 来自互联网

8 pints   

n.品脱( pint的名词复数 )；一品脱啤酒

参考例句：

• I drew off three pints of beer from the barrel. 我从酒桶里抽出三品脱啤酒。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Two pints today, please. 今天请来两品脱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 jigsaw   

n.缕花锯，竖锯，拼图游戏；vt.用竖锯锯，使互相交错搭接

参考例句：

• A jigsaw puzzle can keep me absorbed for hours.一副拼图就能让我沉醉几个小时。
• Tom likes to work on jigsaw puzzles,too.汤姆也喜欢玩拼图游戏。