英语听力 暮光之城•暮色 第99期:第七章 梦魇(4)

 I dressed slowly in my most comfy sweats and then made my bed — something I never did. 我慢慢地穿上自己最舒适的汗衫,把床铺好——我很少这样做的。

I couldn't put it off any longer. I went to my desk and switched on my old computer. 我再也不能把这事往后推了。我走到书桌前，打开了我的旧电脑。

I hated using the Internet here.  我讨厌在这里上网。

My modem¹ was sadly outdated², my free service substandard; 我的调制解调器相当过时了，我的免费上网服务完全在标准之下。

just dialing up took so long that I decided³ to go get myself a bowl of cereal while I waited. 光是拨号就得花上很长一段时间，所以在等待的时候，我决定先去给自己弄一碗麦片粥。

I ate slowly, chewing each bite with care.  我吃得很慢，每一口都细细咀嚼。

When I was done, I washed the bowl and spoon, dried them, and put them away.  吃完以后，我把碗和勺子洗好，擦干，然后放回去。

My feet dragged as I climbed the stairs.  上楼时我故意磨磨蹭蹭地拖着步子走路。

I went to my CD player first, picking it up off the floor  我先走向我的随身听，把它从地上捡起来，

and placing it precisely⁴ in the center of the table.  精确地放到桌子正中央。

I pulled out the headphones, and put them away in the desk drawer.  我把耳机拔下来，放回抽屉里。

Then I turned the same CD on, turning it down to the point where it was background noise. 然后我把原来那张CD公放，把声音调低到刚刚好能成为背景音乐的那个点上。

With another sigh, I turned to my computer. 我又叹了口气，这才转向我的电脑。

Naturally, the screen was covered in pop-up ads. 自然，屏幕上全是弹窗广告。

I sat in my hard folding chair and began closing all the little windows. 我坐到我那张硬邦邦的扶手椅上，开始把所有的小窗口关掉。

Eventually I made it to my favorite search engine.  最后，我打开了我最喜欢的搜索引擎。

I shot down a few more pop-ups and then typed in one word. 我又关掉了另外几个弹窗广告，然后键入了一个词。

Vampire⁵. 吸血鬼。 

It took an infuriatingly long time, of course.  当然，这花了简直让人气愤的相当长的时间。

When the results came up, there was a lot to sift⁶ through  当结果出来的时候，还有很多内容需要进行筛选

everything from movies and TV shows to role-playing games, 那些内容从电影电视节目到角色扮演游戏，

underground metal, and gothic cosmetic⁷ companies. 黑市金属，以及哥特妆伴游。

Then I found a promising⁸ site  然后，我发现了一个看上去比较可信的网址

Vampires⁹ A—Z. I waited impatiently for it to load, 吸血鬼A-Z。我迫不及待地等着它打开页面，

quickly clicking closed each ad that flashed across the screen. 飞快地关闭屏幕上一闪而过的每个广告。

Finally the screen was finished — simple white background with black text, academic-looking.  最后，整个屏幕都清空了——简洁的白色背景和黑色标题，看上去很有学术氛围。

Two quotes greeted me on the home page: 主页上的两段引述首先映入了我的眼帘。

Throughout the vast shadowy world of ghosts and demons¹¹ there is no figure so terrible,  “自始至终，那个属于幽灵与恶魔的浩瀚的黑暗世界根本没有那么可怕，

no figure so dreaded¹² and abhorred¹³, yet dight with such fearful fascination¹⁴,  根本没有那么令人畏惧和憎恶，只是经过了太多充满恐惧的幻想的修饰。

as the vampire, who is himself neither ghost nor demon¹⁰,  正如吸血鬼，他既不属于幽灵，也不属于恶魔，

but yet who partakes the dark natures and possesses the mysterious and terrible qualities of both.  但还是带着几份着黑暗的本质，兼有着那两者的神秘与恐怖的特质。

Rev¹⁵. Montague Summers 蒙塔古·萨默斯”

1 modem   

n.调制解调器

参考例句：

• Does your computer have a modem?你的电脑有调制解调器吗？
• Provides a connection to your computer via a modem.通过调制解调器连接到计算机上。

2 outdated   

adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时

参考例句：

• That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了，许多地址已经改了。
• Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。

3 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。

4 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

5 vampire   

n.吸血鬼

参考例句：

• It wasn't a wife waiting there for him but a blood sucking vampire!家里的不是个老婆，而是个吸人血的妖精！
• Children were afraid to go to sleep at night because of the many legends of vampire.由于听过许多有关吸血鬼的传说，孩子们晚上不敢去睡觉。

6 sift   

v.筛撒，纷落，详察

参考例句：

• Sift out the wheat from the chaff.把小麦的壳筛出来。
• Sift sugar on top of the cake.在蛋糕上面撒上糖。

7 cosmetic   

n.化妆品；adj.化妆用的；装门面的；装饰性的

参考例句：

• These changes are purely cosmetic.这些改变纯粹是装饰门面。
• Laughter is the best cosmetic,so grin and wear it!微笑是最好的化妆品，所以请尽情微笑吧！

8 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

9 vampires   

n.吸血鬼( vampire的名词复数 )；吸血蝠；高利贷者；（舞台上的）活板门

参考例句：

• The most effective weapon against the vampires is avampire itself. 对付吸血鬼最有效的武器就是吸血鬼自己。 来自电影对白
• If vampires existed, don`t you think we would`ve found them by now? 如果真有吸血鬼，那我们怎么还没有找到他们呢？ 来自电影对白

10 demon   

n.魔鬼，恶魔

参考例句：

• The demon of greed ruined the miser's happiness.贪得无厌的恶习毁掉了那个守财奴的幸福。
• He has been possessed by the demon of disease for years.他多年来病魔缠身。

11 demons   

n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念

参考例句：

• demons torturing the sinners in Hell 地狱里折磨罪人的魔鬼
• He is plagued by demons which go back to his traumatic childhood. 他为心魔所困扰，那可追溯至他饱受创伤的童年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 dreaded   

adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The dreaded moment had finally arrived. 可怕的时刻终于来到了。
• He dreaded having to spend Christmas in hospital. 他害怕非得在医院过圣诞节不可。 来自《用法词典》

13 abhorred   

v.憎恶( abhor的过去式和过去分词 )；（厌恶地）回避；拒绝；淘汰

参考例句：

• He abhorred the thoughts of stripping me and making me miserable. 他憎恶把我掠夺干净，使我受苦的那个念头。 来自辞典例句
• Each of these oracles hated a particular phrase. Liu the Sage abhorred "Not right for sowing". 二诸葛忌讳“不宜栽种”，三仙姑忌讳“米烂了”。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

14 fascination   

n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋

参考例句：

• He had a deep fascination with all forms of transport.他对所有的运输工具都很着迷。
• His letters have been a source of fascination to a wide audience.广大观众一直迷恋于他的来信。

15 rev   

v.发动机旋转，加快速度

参考例句：

• It's his job to rev up the audience before the show starts.他要负责在表演开始前鼓动观众的热情。
• Don't rev the engine so hard.别让发动机转得太快。