8月25日应试班阅读课：人物性格分析《The loons》 3
2012-08-25 18:42阅读：
录音：http://bbs.ebigear.com/thread-293903-1-1.html
【Chapter
3】
Piquette
Tonnerre, the daughter of Lazarus, was in my class at school. She
was older than I, but she had failed several grades, perhaps
because her attendance had always been
sporadic（零星的，偶然的） and her interest in schoolwork
negligible（可忽视的，不被重视的）. Part of the reason she had missed a lot
of school was that she had had tuberculosis（结核病）
of the bone, and had once spent many months in hospital. I knew
this because my father was the doctor who had looked after her. Her
sickness was almost the only thing I knew about her, however.
①（Otherwise（apart from
that除此之外）, she existed for me only as a vaguely
embarrassing presence（每次见到她我都感觉不安）, with her hoarse voice and her clumsy
limping walk and her grimy（肮脏的） cotton dresses that were always miles too long. I
was neither friendly nor unfriendly towards
her.）
②（She dwelt（live） and moved somewhere within my scope
of vision, but I
did not actually notice her very much until that peculiar summer
when I was eleven.）
'I don't know what to do about
that kid.' my father said at dinner one evening. 'Piquette
Tonnerre, I mean. The damn bone's
flared up （复发）gain. I've had her in hospital for quite a while
now, and it's under control all right, but I hate like the
dickens（见鬼/该死）
to send her home
again.'
'Couldn't you explain to her mother that she has to rest a
lot?' my mother said.
'The mother's not there' my
father replied. 'She took off a few years back. Can't say I blame
her. Piquette cooks for them, and she says Lazarus would never do
anything for himself as long as she's there. Anyway, I don't think
she'd take much care of herself, once she got back. She's only
thirteen, after all. Beth, I was thinking—What about taking her up
to Diamond Lake with us this summer? A couple of months rest would
give that bone a much better chance.'
My mother looked
stunned（目瞪口呆）.
一、
生词：
【sporadic】：occurring irregularly
时有时无
Sporadic
shower 偶阵雨
It is
such a sporadic example. 这是个偶发的事例
Synonyms：irregular、infrequent、intermittent、occasional
【negligible】：too slight or unimportant to be worth any
attention/not worth considering 客观上可以忽视的/不足以注意的
A
negligible amount/error/effect微不足道的数字/错误/影响
◆Negligent：not giving proper attention to or care
主观上的不注意而…
He has
been negligent in not locking the door, as he was told
to.
He was
negligent of his duties. 他玩忽职守
◆neg-： to
deny
Negate否定、negative、neglectful不留心/不顾、negligence怠慢，不注意
Neglectful of one’s responsibility/family
不履行指责/不顾家
The
accident was due to her negligence.
【Otherwise】：apart from that
除了
The rent
is high, otherwise the house is fine.
租金贵，但房子还不错
【grimy】：dirty/messy/filthy
肮脏的，污浊的
（Dirt, esp. in a layer on a surface.）
指表面脏
【flare
up】：recur, happen again
1.
My back trouble has flare up again.
我的背痛又发作了
2.
The fire flared up as I put more faggots
in it. 加了柴火更旺了
【like the
dickens】：use in sentences esp. in questions/the
devil[口]见鬼/该死
Who/where/what the dickens is that?
We had
the dickens of a job finding the place.
费了九牛二虎之力才找到了这个地方
二、Paraphrase：
1.
Otherwise, she existed for
me only as …I was neither friendly nor unfriendly towards
her.
P：Besides, as long as I am concerned, her presence
would only make other people feel bleak, because her voice was
bumpy, her walk was crippled and her dress was dirty and
unsuitable. 用miles
too long来形容her cotton
dresses，这里使用夸张的手法，通过故意夸大或缩小事物的形象，用不符实际的方式来突出事物的特征或品格，可以使感情的表达鲜明而深刻。
