【饥饿游戏】23

 The Training Center has a tower designed exclusively for

the tributes and their teams. This will be our home until the

actual Games begin. Each district has an entire floor. You

simply step onto an elevator and press the number of your

district. Easy enough to remember.

I’ve ridden the elevator a couple of times in the Justice

Building back in District 12. Once to receive the medal for my

father’s death and then yesterday to say my final goodbyes to

my friends and family. But that’s a dark and creaky thing that

moves like a snail¹ and smells of sour milk. The walls of this

elevator are made of crystal so that you can watch the people

on the ground floor shrink to ants as you shoot up into the air.

It’s exhilarating and I’m tempted² to ask Effie Trinket if we can

ride it again, but somehow that seems childish.

Apparently³, Effie Trinket’s duties did not conclude at the

station. She and Haymitch will be overseeing us right into the

arena⁴. In a way, that’s a plus because at least she can be

counted on to corral us around to places on time whereas we

haven’t seen Haymitch since he agreed to help us on the train.

Probably passed out somewhere. Effie Trinket, on the other

hand, seems to be flying high. We’re the first team she’s ever

chaperoned that made a splash at the opening ceremonies.

She’s complimentary⁵ about not just our costumes but how we

conducted ourselves. And, to hear her tell it, Effie knows 

everyone who’s anyone in the Capitol and has been talking us 

up all day, trying to win us sponsors.

“I’ve been very mysterious, though,” she says, her eyes

squint⁶ half shut. “Because, of course, Haymitch hasn’t bothered

to tell me your strategies. But I’ve done my best with

what I had to work with. How Katniss sacrificed herself for

her sister. How you’ve both successfully struggled to overcome

the barbarism of your district.”

Barbarism? That’s ironic⁷ coming from a woman helping⁸ to

prepare us for slaughter⁹. And what’s she basing our success

on? Our table manners?

“Everyone has their reservations, naturally. You being from

the coal district. But I said, and this was very clever of me, I

said, ‘Well, if you put enough pressure on coal it turns to

pearls!’“ Effie beams at us so brilliantly that we have no choice

but to respond enthusiastically to her cleverness even though

it’s wrong.

Coal doesn’t turn to pearls. They grow in shellfish. Possibly

she meant coal turns to diamonds, but that’s untrue, too. I’ve

heard they have some sort of machine in District 1 that can

turn graphite into diamonds. But we don’t mine graphite in

District 12. That was part of District 13’s job until they were

destroyed.

I wonder if the people she’s been plugging us to all day either

know or care.

“Unfortunately, I can’t seal the sponsor deals for you. Only

Haymitch can do that,” says Effie grimly. “But don’t worry, I’ll

get him to the table at gunpoint if necessary.”

Although lacking in many departments, Effie Trinket has a

certain determination I have to admire.

My quarters are larger than our entire house back home.

They are plush, like the train car, but also have so many automatic

gadgets¹⁰ that I’m sure I won’t have time to press all the

buttons. The shower alone has a panel with more than a hundred

options you can choose regulating water temperature,

pressure, soaps, shampoos, scents¹¹, oils, and massaging¹²

sponges. When you step out on a mat, heaters come on that

blow-dry your body. Instead of struggling with the knots in

my wet hair, I merely place my hand on a box that sends a

current through my scalp, untangling, parting, and drying my

hair almost instantly. It floats down around my shoulders in a

glossy¹³ curtain.

I program the closet for an outfit¹⁴ to my taste. The windows

zoom¹⁵ in and out on parts of the city at my command. You need

only whisper a type of food from a gigantic menu into a

mouthpiece and it appears, hot and steamy, before you in less

than a minute. I walk around the room eating goose liver and

puffy bread until there’s a knock on the door. Effie’s calling me

to dinner.

Good. I’m starving.

Peeta, Cinna, and Portia are standing¹⁶ out on a balcony that

overlooks the Capitol when we enter the dining room. I’m glad

to see the stylists, particularly after I hear that Haymitch will

be joining us. A meal presided over by just

Effie and Haymitch is bound to be a disaster. Besides, dinner

isn’t really about food, it’s about planning out our strategies,

and Cinna and Portia have already proven how valuable

they are.

A silent young man dressed in a white tunic¹⁷ offers us all

stemmed glasses of wine. I think about turning it down, but

I’ve never had wine, except the homemade stuff my mother

uses for coughs, and when will I get a chance to try it again? I

take a sip¹⁸ of the tart¹⁹, dry liquid and secretly think it could be

improved by a few spoonfuls of honey.

1 snail   

n.蜗牛

参考例句：

• Snail is a small plant-eating creature with a soft body.蜗牛是一种软体草食动物。
• Time moved at a snail's pace before the holidays.放假前的时间过得很慢。

2 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。

3 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

4 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。

5 complimentary   

adj.赠送的，免费的，赞美的，恭维的

参考例句：

• She made some highly complimentary remarks about their school.她对他们的学校给予高度的评价。
• The supermarket operates a complimentary shuttle service.这家超市提供免费购物班车。

6 squint   

v. 使变斜视眼, 斜视, 眯眼看, 偏移, 窥视; n. 斜视, 斜孔小窗; adj. 斜视的, 斜的

参考例句：

• A squint can sometimes be corrected by an eyepatch. 斜视有时候可以通过戴眼罩来纠正。
• The sun was shinning straight in her eyes which made her squint. 太阳直射着她的眼睛,使她眯起了眼睛。

7 ironic   

adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”，但他们是在挖苦我。

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

10 gadgets   

n.小机械，小器具（ gadget的名词复数 ）

参考例句：

• Certainly. The idea is not to have a house full of gadgets. 当然。设想是房屋不再充满小配件。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• This meant more gadgets and more experiments. 这意味着要设计出更多的装置，做更多的实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

11 scents   

n.香水( scent的名词复数 )；气味；（动物的）臭迹；（尤指狗的）嗅觉

参考例句：

• The air was fragrant with scents from the sea and the hills. 空气中荡漾着山和海的芬芳气息。
• The winds came down with scents of the grass and wild flowers. 微风送来阵阵青草和野花的香气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 massaging   

按摩，推拿( massage的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He watched the prisoner massaging his freed wrists. 他看着那个犯人不断揉搓着刚松开的两只手腕。
• Massaging your leg will ease the cramp. 推拿大腿可解除抽筋。

13 glossy   

adj.平滑的；有光泽的

参考例句：

• I like these glossy spots.我喜欢这些闪闪发光的花点。
• She had glossy black hair.她长着乌黑发亮的头发。

14 outfit   

n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装

参考例句：

• Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
• His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。

15 zoom   

n.急速上升；v.突然扩大，急速上升

参考例句：

• The airplane's zoom carried it above the clouds.飞机的陡直上升使它飞到云层之上。
• I live near an airport and the zoom of passing planes can be heard night and day.我住在一个飞机场附近，昼夜都能听到飞机飞过的嗡嗡声。

16 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。

17 tunic   

n.束腰外衣

参考例句：

• The light loose mantle was thrown over his tunic.一件轻质宽大的斗蓬披在上衣外面。
• Your tunic and hose match ill with that jewel,young man.你的外套和裤子跟你那首饰可不相称呢，年轻人。

18 sip   

v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量

参考例句：

• She took a sip of the cocktail.她啜饮一口鸡尾酒。
• Elizabeth took a sip of the hot coffee.伊丽莎白呷了一口热咖啡。

19 tart   

adj.酸的；尖酸的，刻薄的；n.果馅饼；淫妇

参考例句：

• She was learning how to make a fruit tart in class.她正在课上学习如何制作水果馅饼。
• She replied in her usual tart and offhand way.她开口回答了，用她平常那种尖酸刻薄的声调随口说道。