PART 5 Justin 2018-02-17

Wonders by R.J. Palacio

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。

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