【饥饿游戏】21

Cinna plans to light them on fire just before our chariot rolls 

into the streets.

“It’s not real flame, of course, just a little synthetic¹ fire Portia

and I came up with. You’ll be perfectly² safe,” he says. But

I’m not convinced I won’t be perfectly barbecued by the time

we reach the city’s center.

My face is relatively³ clear of makeup⁴, just a bit of highlighting

here and there. My hair has been brushed out and then

braided down my back in my usual style. “I want the audience

to recognize you when you’re in the arena⁵,” says Cinna dreamily.

“Katniss, the girl who was on fire.”

It crosses my mind that Cinna’s calm and normal demeanor⁶

masks a complete madman.

Despite this morning’s revelation about Peeta’s character,

I’m actually relieved when he shows up, dressed in an identical

costume. He should know about fire, being a baker’s son

and all. His stylist, Portia, and her team accompany him in,

and everyone is absolutely giddy with excitement over what a

splash we’ll make. Except Cinna. He just seems a bit weary as

he accepts congratulations.

We’re whisked down to the bottom level of the Remake

Center, which is essentially⁷ a gigantic stable. The opening 

ceremonies are about to start. Pairs of tributes are being 

loaded into chariots pulled by teams of four horses. Ours are 

coal black. The animals are so well trained, no one even needs 

to guide their reins⁸. Cinna and Portia direct us into the chariot

and carefully arrange our body positions, the drape of our

capes¹⁰, before moving off to consult with each other.

“What do you think?” I whisper to Peeta. “About the fire?”

“I’ll rip off your cape⁹ if you’ll rip off mine,” he says through

gritted¹¹ teeth.

“Deal,” I say. Maybe, if we can get them off soon enough,

we’ll avoid the worst burns. It’s bad though. They’ll throw us

into the arena no matter what condition we’re in. “I know we

promised Haymitch we’d do exactly what they said, but I don’t

think he considered this angle.”

“Where is Haymitch, anyway? Isn’t he supposed to protect

us from this sort of thing?” says Peeta.

“With all that alcohol in him, it’s probably not advisable to

have him around an open flame,” I say.

And suddenly we’re both laughing. I guess we’re both so

nervous about the Games and more pressingly, petrified¹² of being

turned into human torches, we’re not acting¹³ sensibly.

The opening music begins. It’s easy to hear, blasted around

the Capitol. Massive doors slide open revealing the crowdlined

streets. The ride lasts about twenty minutes and ends up

at the City Circle, where they will welcome us, play the anthem¹⁴,

and escort us into the Training Center, which will be our

home/prison until the Games begin.

The tributes from District 1 ride out in a chariot pulled by

snow-white horses. They look so beautiful, spray-painted silver,

in tasteful tunics¹⁵ glittering with jewels. District 1 makes

luxury items for the Capitol. You can hear the roar of the

crowd. They are always favorites.

District 2 gets into position to follow them. In no time at all,

we are approaching the door and I can see that between the

overcast¹⁶ sky and evening hour the light is turning gray. The

tributes from District 11 are just rolling out when Cinna appears

with a lighted torch. “Here we go then,” he says, and before

we can react he sets our capes on fire. I gasp¹⁷, waiting for

the heat, but there is only a faint tickling¹⁸ sensation. Cinna

climbs up before us and ignites our headdresses. He lets out a

sign of relief. “It works.” Then he gently tucks a hand under

my chin. “Remember, heads high. Smiles. They’re going to love

you!”

Cinna jumps off the chariot and has one last idea. He shouts

something up at us, but the music drowns him out. He shouts

again and gestures.

“What’s he saying?” I ask Peeta. For the first time, I look at

him and realize that ablaze¹⁹ with the fake flames, he is dazzling.

And I must be, too.

“I think he said for us to hold hands,” says Peeta. He grabs

my right hand in his left, and we look to Cinna for confirmation²⁰.

He nods and gives a thumbs-up, and that’s the last thing I

see before we enter the city.

The crowd’s initial alarm at our appearance quickly

changes to cheers and shouts of “District Twelve!” Every head

is turned our way, pulling the focus from the three chariots

ahead of us. At first, I’m frozen, but then I catch sight of us on

a large television screen and am floored by how breathtaking

we look.

1 synthetic   

adj.合成的，人工的；综合的；n.人工制品

参考例句：

• We felt the salesman's synthetic friendliness.我们感觉到那位销售员的虚情假意。
• It's a synthetic diamond.这是人造钻石。

2 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

3 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

4 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

5 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

6 demeanor   

n.行为；风度

参考例句：

• She is quiet in her demeanor.她举止文静。
• The old soldier never lost his military demeanor.那个老军人从来没有失去军人风度。

7 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

8 reins   

感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带

参考例句：

• She pulled gently on the reins. 她轻轻地拉着缰绳。
• The government has imposed strict reins on the import of luxury goods. 政府对奢侈品的进口有严格的控制手段。

9 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

10 capes   

碎谷； 斗篷( cape的名词复数 )； 披肩； 海角； 岬

参考例句：

• It was cool and they were putting on their capes. 夜里阴冷，他们都穿上了披风。
• The pastor smiled to give son's two Capes five cents money. 牧师微笑着给了儿子二角五分钱。

11 gritted   

v.以沙砾覆盖（某物），撒沙砾于( grit的过去式和过去分词 )；咬紧牙关

参考例句：

• He gritted his teeth and plunged into the cold weather. 他咬咬牙，冲向寒冷的天气。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The young policeman gritted his teeth and walked slowly towards the armed criminal. 年轻警官强忍住怒火，朝武装歹徒慢慢走过去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 petrified   

adj.惊呆的；目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆，使惊呆；变僵硬；使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• I'm petrified of snakes. 我特别怕蛇。
• The poor child was petrified with fear. 这可怜的孩子被吓呆了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

14 anthem   

n.圣歌，赞美诗，颂歌

参考例句：

• All those present were standing solemnly when the national anthem was played.奏国歌时全场肃立。
• As he stood on the winner's rostrum,he sang the words of the national anthem.他站在冠军领奖台上，唱起了国歌。

15 tunics   

n.（动植物的）膜皮( tunic的名词复数 )；束腰宽松外衣；一套制服的短上衣；（天主教主教等穿的）短祭袍

参考例句：

• After work colourful clothes replace the blue tunics. 下班后，蓝制服都换成了色彩鲜艳的衣服。 来自辞典例句
• The ancient Greeks fastened their tunics with Buttons and loops. 古希腊人在肩部用钮扣与环圈将束腰外衣扣紧。 来自互联网

16 overcast   

adj.阴天的，阴暗的，愁闷的；v.遮盖，（使）变暗，包边缝；n.覆盖，阴天

参考例句：

• The overcast and rainy weather found out his arthritis.阴雨天使他的关节炎发作了。
• The sky is overcast with dark clouds.乌云满天。

17 gasp   

n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说

参考例句：

• She gave a gasp of surprise.她吃惊得大口喘气。
• The enemy are at their last gasp.敌人在做垂死的挣扎。

18 tickling   

反馈，回授，自旋挠痒法

参考例句：

• Was It'spring tickling her senses? 是不是春意撩人呢？
• Its origin is in tickling and rough-and-tumble play, he says. 他说，笑的起源来自于挠痒痒以及杂乱无章的游戏。

19 ablaze   

adj.着火的，燃烧的；闪耀的，灯火辉煌的

参考例句：

• The main street was ablaze with lights in the evening.晚上，那条主要街道灯火辉煌。
• Forests are sometimes set ablaze by lightning.森林有时因雷击而起火。

20 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。