Vocab Since so many of you have been asking, I’m going to answer the big question that’s been baffling you since you found out about the party for the peregrine falcons10. Okay. According to my handy unabridged dictionary: Falcon9, n. 1. any of several birds of prey11 of the family Falconidae, esp. of the genus Falco, usually distinguished12 by long, pointed13 wings, a hooked beak14 with a tooth-like notch15 on each side of the upper bill, and swift agile16 flight, typically diving to seize prey: some falcon species are close to extinction17. Peregrine falcon, a globally distributed falcon, Falco perigrinus, much used in falconry because of its swift flight. I’m sure I had you on the edge of your seat about that one. But I’m just trying to keep you in the know—that’s my job. See you in the park! You know you love me, “Well, it’s wonderful to have you back, dear,” Ms. Glos, Constance’s college advisor18, told Serena. She picked her glasses up from where they were hanging around her neck on a gold chain and slid them onto her nose so she could examine Serena’s schedule, which was lying on her desk. “Let’s see, now. Mmmm. Yes. Right,” she muttered, reading the schedule over. Serena sat in front of Ms. Glos, with her legs crossed, waiting patiently. There were no diplomas on Ms. Glos’s wall, no evidence of any accreditations at all, just pictures of her grandchildren. Serena wondered if Ms. Glos had even gone to college. You would have thought that if she were going to dish out advice on the subject, she could have at least tried it. Ms. Glos cleared her throat. “Yes, well, your schedule is perfectly19 acceptable. Not stellar, mind you, but adequate. I imagine you’re making up for it with extracurriculars, yes?” Serena shrugged20 her shoulders. If you can call drinking Pernod and dancing naked on a beach in Cannes an extracurricular. “Not really,” she said. “I mean, I’m not actually signed up for any extracurriculars at the moment.” Ms. Glos let her glasses drop. Her nostrils21 were turning very red and Serena wondered if she was about to have a bloody22 nose. Ms. Glos was famous for her bloody noses. Her skin was very pale, with a yellowish tinge23. All the girls thought she had some terrible contagious24 disease. “No extracurriculars? But what are you doing to improve yourself?” Serena gave Ms. Glos a polite, blank look. Who said she needed improving? “I see. Well, we’ll have to get you involved in something, won’t we?” Ms. Glos said. “I’m afraid the colleges aren’t going to even look at you without any extracurriculars.” She bent25 over and pulled a big looseleaf binder26 out of a drawer in her desk and began flipping27 through pages and pages of flyers printed on colored paper. “Here’s something that starts this week. ‘Feng Shui Flowers, the Art of Floral Design.’ ” She looked up at Serena, who was frowning doubtfully. “No, you’re right. That’s not going to get you into Harvard, is it?” Ms. Glos said with a little laugh. She pushed up the sleeves of her blouse and frowned at the binder as she flipped28 briskly through the pages. She wasn’t about to give up after only one try. She was very good at her job. Serena gnawed29 on her thumbnail. She hadn’t thought about this. That colleges would actually need her to be anything more than she already was. And she definitely wanted to go to college. A good one. Her parents certainly expected her to go to one of the best schools. Not that they put any pressure on her—but it went without saying. And the more Serena thought about it, the more she realized she really didn’t have anything going for her. She’d been kicked out of boarding school, her grades had fallen, she had no idea what was going on in any of her classes, and she had no hobbies or cool after-school activities. Her SAT scores sucked because her mind always wandered during those stupid fill-in-thebubble tests. And when she took them again, they would probably suck even worse. Basically, she was screwed. “What about drama? Your English grades are quite good, you must like drama,” Ms. Glos suggested. “They’ve only been rehearsing this one for a little over a week. It’s the Interschool Drama Club doing a modern version of Gone With the Wind.” She looked up again. “How ’bout it?” Serena jiggled her foot up and down and chewed on her pinky nail. She tried to imagine herself alone on stage playing Scarlett O’Hara. She would have to cry on cue, and pretend to faint, and wear huge dresses with corsets and hoop30 skirts. Maybe even a wig31. I’ll never go hungry again! she’d cry dramatically, in her best Southern-belle voice. It might be kind of fun. Serena took the flyer from Ms. Glos’s hand, careful not to touch the paper where Ms. Glos had touched it. “Sure, why not?” she said. “It sounds like fun.” Serena left Ms. Glos’s office as the final class of the day was getting out. Gone With the Wind rehearsal32 was in the auditorium33, but it didn’t begin until six so that the students who did sports right after school could still be in the play. Serena walked up Constance’s wide central stairwell to the fourth floor to retrieve34 her coat from her locker35 and see if anyone wanted to hang out until six. All around her, girls were flying past, a blur36 of end-of-the-day energy, rushing to their next meeting, practice, rehearsal, or club. Out of habit, they paused for half a second to say hello to Serena, because ever since they could remember, to be seen talking to Serena van der Woodsen was to be seen. “Hey Serena,” Laura Salmon37 yelled before diving down the stairs for Glee Club in the basement music room. “Later, Serena,” Rain Hoffstetter said, as she slipped past in her gym shorts, heading for soccer practice. “See you tomorrow, Serena,” Lily Reed said softly, blushing because she was wearing her riding breeches, which always embarrassed her. “Bye,” Carmen Fortier said, chewing gum in her leather jacket and jeans. She was one of the few scholarship girls in the junior class and lived in the Bronx. She claimed she couldn’t wear her uniform home or she’d get beaten up. Carmen was headed to the Art of Floral Design Club, although she always lied to her friends in her neighborhood and said she took karate38. Suddenly the hallway was empty. Serena opened her locker, pulled her Burberry coat off the hook, and put it on. Then she slammed her locker shut and trotted39 downstairs and out the school doors, turning left down Ninety-third Street toward Central Park. There was a box of orange Tic Tacs in her pocket with only one Tic Tac left.
点击收听单词发音
1 elite | |
n.精英阶层;实力集团;adj.杰出的,卓越的 | |
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2 dungeon | |
n.地牢,土牢 | |
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3 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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4 risky | |
adj.有风险的,冒险的 | |
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5 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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6 lotion | |
n.洗剂 | |
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7 pharmacy | |
n.药房,药剂学,制药业,配药业,一批备用药品 | |
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8 salon | |
n.[法]沙龙;客厅;营业性的高级服务室 | |
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9 falcon | |
n.隼,猎鹰 | |
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10 falcons | |
n.猎鹰( falcon的名词复数 ) | |
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11 prey | |
n.被掠食者,牺牲者,掠食;v.捕食,掠夺,折磨 | |
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12 distinguished | |
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
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13 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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14 beak | |
n.鸟嘴,茶壶嘴,钩形鼻 | |
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15 notch | |
n.(V字形)槽口,缺口,等级 | |
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16 agile | |
adj.敏捷的,灵活的 | |
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17 extinction | |
n.熄灭,消亡,消灭,灭绝,绝种 | |
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18 advisor | |
n.顾问,指导老师,劝告者 | |
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19 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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20 shrugged | |
vt.耸肩(shrug的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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21 nostrils | |
鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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22 bloody | |
adj.非常的的;流血的;残忍的;adv.很;vt.血染 | |
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23 tinge | |
vt.(较淡)着色于,染色;使带有…气息;n.淡淡色彩,些微的气息 | |
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24 contagious | |
adj.传染性的,有感染力的 | |
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25 bent | |
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的 | |
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26 binder | |
n.包扎物,包扎工具;[法]临时契约;粘合剂;装订工 | |
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27 flipping | |
讨厌之极的 | |
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28 flipped | |
轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 ); 按(开关); 快速翻转; 急挥 | |
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29 gnawed | |
咬( gnaw的过去式和过去分词 ); (长时间) 折磨某人; (使)苦恼; (长时间)危害某事物 | |
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30 hoop | |
n.(篮球)篮圈,篮 | |
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31 wig | |
n.假发 | |
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32 rehearsal | |
n.排练,排演;练习 | |
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33 auditorium | |
n.观众席,听众席;会堂,礼堂 | |
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34 retrieve | |
vt.重新得到,收回;挽回,补救;检索 | |
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35 locker | |
n.更衣箱,储物柜,冷藏室,上锁的人 | |
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36 blur | |
n.模糊不清的事物;vt.使模糊,使看不清楚 | |
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37 salmon | |
n.鲑,大马哈鱼,橙红色的 | |
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38 karate | |
n.空手道(日本的一种徒手武术) | |
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39 trotted | |
小跑,急走( trot的过去分词 ); 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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