Expressions
1. The first time I meet Olivia's little brother, I have to admit I'm totally taken by surprise.
take/ catch sb by surprise: to happen unexpectedly
The question took her on surprise.
take sb/ sth by surprise 另一个不太熟悉的意思是:to suddenly attack a place or an opponent when they are not ready
The guerrillas were killed when army troops took them by surprise.
2. Her room is immaculate.
immaculate: 1. very clean and tidy
an immaculate kitchen
2. exactly correct or perfect in every detail, flawless
her immaculate stage performance
maculate:(n.) 斑点
3. I'm definitely stressing about meeting her folks.
It adds an extra-folksy element to have the stage manager plucking on a fiddle.
folks: [plural] 1. your parents and family
Is it OK if I call my folks?
2. used when talking to a group of people in a friendly way
That's all for now folks.
folky: 1. (音乐)乡村风的 -- 例句里的folksy即是此意;2. friendly and informal
The town had a certain folksy charm.
4. The mom interjects as she cleans the floor, to see if I'm okay with his bringing home some homeless guy's dogs.
interject: to interrupt what someone else is saying with a sudden remark
"That's absolute rubbish!" he interjected.
interjection: (n.) 1. an interruption, or the act of interruption; 2. 感叹词 = exclamation
5. She's a happy dog, like she knows she lucked out that day finding this family.
luck out: (v.) informal, to be lucky
We really lucked out and got a parking space right in front.
补充一个luck的词组:wish sb (the best of) luck
She wished me luck in the exam, and then left.
with any luck/ with a bit of luck: spoken, if things happen in the way that you want. SYN hopefully
With a bit of luck, you might get a flight tomorrow.
6. I have a half brother who's five years old than me and barely knows I exist.
half brother/ sister: 同父异母/同母异父兄弟(姐妹)
half brother VS step brother: 后者没有血缘关系,是继父/继母带过来的兄弟
7. I heard through the grapevine that he'd been planning on doing the elephant man but changed it to our town at the last minute.
grapevine:葡萄藤
hear sth on the grapevine: to hear about something because the information has been passed from one person to another in conversation
I heard about his resignation on the grapevine.
8. I fish a dollar out of my pocket.
She starts fishing through her bad and pulls out of her wallet.
fish: informal, to search for sth in a bag, pocket etc
fish about/ around, fish for sth
She fished around in her purse and pulled out a photo.
Chris fished in his pocket for a coin.
复习: The Gay Genius 里的 fish for fame 沽名钓誉
补充 fish for compliments: 故意先贬低自己来使对方说好话赞美你
It's sickening the way he's always fishing for compliments.
9. I walk over to them, my face scrunched up, mean-looking.
scrunch sth up: (v.) 把...揉成小团
I scrunched up the letter and threw it in the bin.
scrunch up one's face/ eyes: 扭曲面部
He scrunched up his eyes and grinned.
类似表达: distort one's face
10. Maybe it is a lottery, but the universe makes it all even out in the end.
even out:(v.) if things even out, or if you even them out, the differences between them become smaller
The differences in their income should even out over time.
Use a brush to even out the variations in color.
类似表达: level out
Thoughts
今天是我的生日,刚刚过完年马上又收到一轮生日红包,下午去蛋糕店拿了蛋糕,我突然想给自己送一个礼物。我想送给自己一颗坚强乐观的心,送给自己一个博学善学的大脑,送给自己一份善良谦逊的品性。我告诉自己,在未来的这一年里要不断提升自己,并且无论遇到多大的困境都要感恩生活保持乐观的心态。最近看奇迹男孩看入迷了,我喜欢书里的August, Jack, Summer, Via和Justin。一个人外表的美丑会随着他(她)内心的美丑而改变的,一个善良的朋友相处越久越会觉得他(她)漂亮,一个内心狭隘的人即使外表帅气或靓丽也会让人渐渐感到面目可憎。另一个从这本书里获得的感悟是,这个世界不会永远善意对待你,总会有Julian那样的人,总会遭遇冷眼、嘲讽、甚至暗强冷箭,然而永远不要因此否定自己,真正能打败我们的、真正能让我感到痛苦的其实是自己的心魔。Wonder这本书的August和美剧This is us里的 Kate Pierson,他们对自己的妈妈(Kate --爸爸)说我只有在你眼里是漂亮的,但这个世界并不以你看我的眼光来看我。然而即使这个世界不会对我们温柔以待,我们仍可以选择对自己温柔以待,看到自己内心的美好和强大,不要因为外界的负面声音而失去爱自己、信任自己的能力。