v turns down chance to film decomposing fish bodies!

Glad you could make it,? Ken¹ Mogul said on Wednesday afternoon when Vanessa joined him at a booth in Chippies, the new Williamsburg coffee shop down the street from where she lived. He pushed a steaming mug of cappuccino toward her. ?I ordered for both of us. Hope that?s cool by you.? Vanessa sat down with her black down parka on and clasped the mug with both hands, pursing her lips as she blew on the hot, milky² froth. ?Thanks for hooking me up with that whole fashion show gig,? she said. ?It was such a gas.? She winced³, hating the way she sounded when she talked to Ken Mogul. Like some brainless poser fool. Ken pushed his tortoise-shell Persol sunglasses up on top of his jauntily⁴ cut red hair and leaned across the table, ready to get down to business. ?I?d like you to join me at Cannes this spring. I?ll introduce you to some other brilliant independent filmmakers. We can trade energy, brainstorm⁵ together. Then I want you to hold off on college for a year or two to make some films with me. It?s going to be magical, I can feel it.? Enya was playing over the sound system. Vanessa unzipped her coat and then zipped it up again. She hated Enya. ?I?ve started working on a new project down in South America,? Ken Mogul continued. ?It opens with sea gulls⁶ feeding their young the flesh from decomposing⁷ fish bodies and then moves to gorillas⁸ in the rainforest abandoning their young. Then I?m going to cut to the streets of Rio, where kids are prostituting themselves for drugs. I haven⁹?t begun filming yet, but I was thinking you could get in there and meet some of the kids,befriend them, get theirstories . You don?t happen to know Portuguese¹⁰, do you?? Vanessa shook her head. Who was he kidding?
 ?Spanish?? She shook her head again. ?It doesn?t matter. We?ll get a translator, or find some kids who speak English. All your expenses will be paid for by Duke Productions. You remember Duke from the Better Than Naked party?? Vanessa nodded with an amused smile. How could she forget Duke, the dumbest guy on the planet? ?You?d have your own car, your own apartment, free equipment, and whatever else you need,? Ken added. ?Are you with me?? Vanessa noticed for the first time that Ken Mogul had very little definition in the chin area. In fact, he was practically chinless. ?I?ve always wanted to go to Cannes,? she replied, thoughtfully slurping¹¹ her cappuccino. ?And your new project sounds really . . . awesome¹². But I got accepted early to NYU. I?ve wanted to go there since I was eleven years old. There?s no way I?m deferring¹³.? ?But what about my film? Child prostitution! Animals abandoning their young! This is groundbreaking stuff!? Ken Mogul spluttered, spitting all over the counter. Vanessa thought that if he?d had more of a chin, the spit might not have gone so far. Over Ken?s shoulder Vanessa noticed a light blue flyer pinned to a bulletin board. Rivington Rover Poetry Club Open Mike featuring readings by Daniel Humphrey and Mystery Craze Thursday, 8P.M. No wonder Dan had been blowing her off all week. He was busy being famous. ?Vanessa? Are you still with me?? Ken demanded. ?First lesson you learn in this business is the clock never stops ticking.? Vanessa smiled her half-amused, half-pissed-off Mona Lisa smile. As flattered as she was that Ken had asked her to work with him, she had no intention of becoming a mini-Mogul. She wanted to develop herown voice and herown career, not put all her energy into someone else?s work, however brilliant. She shook her closely shaved dark head. ?I?m sorry.? Ken Mogul?s barely there chin disappeared altogether as he lost his cool completely. ?I?ve never offered to partner with anyone,? he said grimly. ?This is the opportunity of a lifetime. I?m giving you the chance to make a feature film before you turn twenty. It?s unheard of!? That old guy at the Culture of Humanity show had advised her not to take her talent too seriously. Ken obviously took his way,way too seriously. She stood up and yanked the light blue flyer off the bulletin board behind Ken?s head. She and Dan were supposed to be working on a filmtogether , but if she could slip into the club and film him reading without him even knowing she was there, that would be even better. Dan was always better when he didn?t know she was watching. ?Thank you,? she told Ken. ?I?m honored, I really am. But I?m working on something new, of my own. I think I?d like to finish it.? Ken Mogul pushed his sunglasses down on his nose and glared out the window. ?It?s your loss.? ?Thanks for the coffee,? Vanessa said, even though he was no longer looking at her. She folded up the blue flyer and tucked it into her pocket. ?Good luck at Cannes.? Ken Mogul zipped up his fur-trimmed Prada parka and pulled the hood¹⁴ up over his head as if to block her out completely. ??Bye.? Vanessa headed home to sort through her camera gear and figure out what she needed to bring to the reading at the Rivington Rover Poetry Club tomorrow night. When Dan was finished reading she?d pop up out of the crowd and surprise him with an enormous mug of Irish coffee, his favorite drink. Then they?d trade stories about all the feebleminded famous people they?d met in the past week. And then she?d bring him home and remind him of what he?d been missing. She?d show him how to lose his virginity again the way he?d written in that crazy poem. As if he needed showing.

1 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

2 milky   

adj.牛奶的，多奶的；乳白色的

参考例句：

• Alexander always has milky coffee at lunchtime.亚历山大总是在午餐时喝掺奶的咖啡。
• I like a hot milky drink at bedtime.我喜欢睡前喝杯热奶饮料。

3 winced   

赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He winced as the dog nipped his ankle. 狗咬了他的脚腕子，疼得他龇牙咧嘴。
• He winced as a sharp pain shot through his left leg. 他左腿一阵剧痛疼得他直龇牙咧嘴。

4 jauntily   

adv.心满意足地；洋洋得意地；高兴地；活泼地

参考例句：

• His straw hat stuck jauntily on the side of his head. 他那顶草帽时髦地斜扣在头上。 来自辞典例句
• He returned frowning, his face obstinate but whistling jauntily. 他回来时皱眉蹙额，板着脸，嘴上却快活地吹着口哨。 来自辞典例句

5 brainstorm   

vi.动脑筋，出主意，想办法，献计，献策

参考例句：

• The women meet twice a month to brainstorm and set business goals for each other.她们每个月聚会两次，在一起出谋献策，为各自制定生意目标。
• We can brainstorm a list of the most influential individuals in the company.我们可以集体讨论，列出该公司中最有影响的人员的名单。

6 gulls   

n.鸥( gull的名词复数 )v.欺骗某人( gull的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A flock of sea gulls are hovering over the deck. 一群海鸥在甲板上空飞翔。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The gulls which haunted the outlying rocks in a prodigious number. 数不清的海鸥在遥远的岩石上栖息。 来自辞典例句

7 decomposing   

腐烂( decompose的现在分词 )； （使）分解； 分解（某物质、光线等）

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the overpowering stench of decomposing vegetation. 空气中充满了令人难以忍受的腐烂植物的恶臭。
• Heat was obtained from decomposing manures and hot air flues. 靠肥料分解和烟道为植物提供热量。

8 gorillas   

n.大猩猩( gorilla的名词复数 )；暴徒，打手

参考例句：

• the similitude between humans and gorillas 人类和大猩猩的相像
• Each family of gorillas is led by a great silverbacked patriarch. 每个大星星家族都由一个魁梧的、长着银色被毛的族长带领着。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

10 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。

11 slurping   

v.啜食( slurp的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was slurping his tea. 他正咂着嘴喝茶。
• Although the downturn has not stopped consumers slurping ice-cream, it has affected the bottom line. 尽管经济低迷没有阻止消费者吃冰淇淋，但却影响了净利润。 来自互联网

12 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

13 deferring   

v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的现在分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从

参考例句：

• Recently, the Supreme Court has focused on an additional reason for deferring to administrative agencies. 最近，最高法院强调了尊重行政机构的另一种理由。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Think of it as deferring part of the compiler's job to runtime. 可以认为这是将编译器的部分工作延迟到了运行时。 来自互联网

14 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。