原版英文小故事 41. English Only

Blair needed a break from the indoor life. Sometimes it seemed like he was in his apartment 24/7. He had recently found a perfect outdoor cure. It was a new coffeehouse which served 45 kinds of coffee and tea. He liked it because the coffee was good and the place was never overcrowded.

The coffeehouse was only a 10-minute walk, which Blair now took. There were three female¹ customers in the coffeehouse. None of them were young and pretty. Blair was a little disappointed. He’d prefer to see good-looking women while he was drinking good coffee, but you can’t have everything.

He ordered a large “coffee of the day,” which was $1.70. He gave the clerk two dollars. He put the change in the tip jar and took his coffee outside. Blair preferred to drink outside. That way he could watch the traffic on the street. He liked to try to spot British motorcycles and 1960 station wagons².

He sat at a table under an umbrella, opened his book, and began reading. The book was a self-improvement³ book. Blair had been reading it on and off for about two years. He hadn’t noticed any improvement. A woman was approaching the patio⁴. Blair looked up to see if she was attractive. She was. And she was by herself. He returned to the book as she passed by him. Blair kept looking at the pages, but his mind was on the woman.

A few minutes later, she came outside holding a cup of coffee and sat at the table right next to Blair’s. Her chair was so close to his that he could have reached over and touched her on her right shoulder. There were four other empty tables on the patio. Why had she sat at this one, so close to him? Was she telling him that she was available? Was she hoping that he would make a move?

Blair went back to his book. But he wasn’t reading the words; he was thinking about the woman. What could he say to her? How could he break the ice? What was a good line? “What blend⁵ are you drinking?” “Your perfume⁶ smells nice.” “Weren’t we in the same art class?”

But maybe she wasn’t interested in him at all. Maybe she just wanted to sit and drink in peace. Yet why would she sit right here? His head was spinning. He must say something.

Just then, her cell phone rang. She answered it, then laughed, then started talking animatedly⁷. That’s got to be her boyfriend, Blair thought.

But from the moment she answered the phone, it didn’t matter if she had a boyfriend or not, because she was speaking another language. Blair was not interested in a girl who didn't speak English. He went back to his book and his coffee. It tasted good.

 

1 female   

adj.雌的，女(性)的；n.雌性的动物，女子

参考例句：

• We only employ female workers.我们只雇用女工。
• The animal in the picture was a female elephant.照片上的动物是头母象。

2 wagons   

n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车

参考例句：

• The wagons were hauled by horses. 那些货车是马拉的。
• They drew their wagons into a laager and set up camp. 他们把马车围成一圈扎起营地。

3 improvement   

n.改进，增进；改进之处，改善的地方

参考例句：

• The doctor noticed a gradual improvement in his patient.医生注意到病人在逐渐恢复健康。
• I can detect signs of improvement in your thinking.我可以察觉出你思考问题方面的进步。

4 patio   

n.庭院，平台

参考例句：

• Suddenly, the thought of my beautiful patio came to mind. I can be quiet out there,I thought.我又忽然想到家里漂亮的院子，我能够在这里宁静地呆会。
• They had a barbecue on their patio on Sunday.星期天他们在院子里进行烧烤。

5 blend   

v.(使)混和，(使)混杂；n.混合物；混和

参考例句：

• Do you think these two colours will blend together?你认为这两种颜色和谐吗？
• These houses seem to blend into the surrounding scenery.这些房屋似乎与周围的景色融为一体了。

6 perfume   

n.香水(料，气)；vt.使充满芳香；洒香水

参考例句：

• The air was heavy with the perfume of the flower.空气中充满了花香。
• Those roses perfume the whole garden.那些玫瑰花使满园飘香。

7 animatedly   

adv.栩栩如生地，活跃地

参考例句：

• Tanya Livingston was talking animatedly with a group of passengers. 坦妮亚·利文斯顿谈笑风生地和一群旅客在一起说着话。 来自辞典例句
• Then, man-hour case became the tool that the political party struggles animatedly. 于是，工时案就活生生地成了政党斗争的工具。 来自互联网