Chapter 11

show-and-tel l "This is Yale in the baby blanket I got her at Hermes. And this is her and Kitty Minky watching Breakfast at Tiffany's with me in the rocking chair. See, she even has on kitten socks with tiny ears and whiskers!" Friday senior homeroom was the sacred half hour during which the Constance Billard seniors sat on the floor in the senior lounge—a tiny, empty fifth-floor classroom—drinking cappuccinos, trading gossip, and exchanging personal opinions about their new clothing purchases. This Friday was Blair's first day back at school since The Baby, so the half hour was given over to show-and-tell. "And here she is sleeping in her little Moses basket." "Aw," thirty girls chorused together. "And where did she get that fantastic silver cow-jumping-over-the-moon mobile?" Laura Salmon³ demanded. "It's from Tiffany. It was a gift." From Nate, Serena added silently from where she sat on the outer edge of the group. Nate had even called her from Tiffany so she could help him pick something out. "The basket she's sleeping in is so precious," added Isabel Coates. "I love the way the pink ribbon is woven into the handles." Thanks, Serena thought to herself. She'd ordered tin basket from a baby boutique in southern France and had it flown over especially. "It was hand woven by Alsatian monks⁴ from the branches of willow⁵ trees," Serena blurted⁶ out. "It's supposed to stay in the family and become an heirloom." Meaning that it was a gift to Blair, too. Blair looked up from her digital camera. She and Serena hadn't spoken since their unfortunate college-acceptance-letter opening party, and it was pretty obvious that the generous baby gifts Serena and Nate had sent to her mom were meant as peace offerings. But Blair had never been one to forgive and forget easily. The first bell rang and the tightly packed group of girls moaned and began to dissipate, collecting their books and pens and gum and hairbrushes and whatever else they'd need to make it through the day, while still hanging around to listen to Serena and Blair face off. Serena stayed where she was, hugging her knees and watching Blair rearrange her school stuff in her too-small-for-hooks baby blue Fendi backpack. "She's beautiful," Serena told Blair earnestly. Blair allowed her a smug half-smile. Yes, Yale was beautiful. "How'd last weekend go?" she demanded. "Where do you think you want to go?" It was a trick question. If Serena said Yale, Blair would shoot fire out of her eyeballs and burn her to the ground. If she said another school, she'd be lying, since she still hadn't made up her mind. But Yale was closest to the city, and it had Lars and the Whiffenpoofs, and that uptight⁷ New Englandness that reminded her of home. Plus, how much fun would it be if she and Nate and Blair were friends again and all went there together? She scooted her butt⁸ across the plush red carpet towards I (lair and began to explain. "Actually I fell in love. With all of them. Every school." She blushed as she tucked a loose strand⁹ of hair behind her ear. "I fell in love with my tour guides. They were all boys and I hey were so— Blair held up her hand and rolled her eyes. Did anyone or anything ever change? "I don't want to know." Actually, she did, but she knew Serena would eventually tell her anyway. "And what about you?" Serena asked curiously¹⁰. "How'd it go at Georgetown?" Blair rolled her eyes again and touched her hair selfconsciously. "You don't want to know." Serena shrugged¹¹ her shoulders. "It doesn't matter. You're going to get into Yale anyway," she stated confidently. The second bell rang but the other girls dawdled¹², watching Serena and Blair out of the corners of their eyes as they pretended to drink out of empty cappuccino cups. "I heard Serena got a huge modeling contract for next year so she's going to give Blair her spot at Yale. Blair just has to pretend to be her," Kati Farkas whispered to Isabel Coates. Yale. Blair just has to pretend to be her," Kati Farkas whispered to Isabel Coates. "I heard she and Blair are going to take their babies to Yale with them and start a lesbos-with-babies support group," Isabel hissed¹³ back. "Oh my God. I totally saw Serena at my mom's gyno yesterday," Laura Salmon volunteered. "I'm waiting for my mom, and then I hear Serena telling him how she'd gotten all these diseases from the guys she slept with this weekend. Ew!" "Wait, I thought they were fighting," Kati pointed¹⁴ out. "Look, they're hugging." Each girl turned to gape¹⁵ over her shoulder as Serena and Blair took hold of each other. "Nate's been calling, like, ten times a day every day to ask about you," Serena murmured as she pressed her cheek against Blair's. Blair bit her lower lip. "He sent Yale some really cute stuff." "You know he loves you," Serena said, even though she didn't need to. "And we're all so much happier when we're not fighting." "Yeah," Blair admitted. But Nate was going to have in prove it to her on his own. Not that she'd be that hard to win over. glinda the good witch and her munchkin helper "Can I sit here?" Elise asked Jenny at lunchtime on Friday. "I don't know why you'd want to," Jenny grumbled¹⁶. Ever since her ghastly picture had appeared in that magazine, she'd been creeping around with her head down, avoiding public places at all costs. Just being in school at all was excruciating. But her father had forced her to go, and now she was parked at her usual beside-the-mirror table, glaring at her reflection. "I brought you an ice cream sandwich." Elise sat down across from her and pushed the ice cream toward Jenny. Jenny pushed it away. She was on a food strike. "I'm not hungry. Actually, I was about to leave," she added grouchily¹⁷. So Elise was making an effort to be friends again? Honestly— she wasn't in the mood. Elise drizzled¹⁸ honey from a plastic packet into a teacup, beginning the little tea ceremony she'd had with herself every day at lunchtime since she and Jenny started fighting. "Just sit with me a little while," she begged in a voice verging¹⁹ on desperate. Jenny knitted her eyebrows²⁰ together. "Why should I?" Elise stirred her tea and took a careful sip². "I don't know." She glanced around the room, as if looking for someone. "Because I asked you to?" Jenny sighed heavily and stood up. "Look, I'm going up to the computer lab, okay?" At least up there she could hide from everyone's vicious stares while she pretended to send e-mails to all the friends she didn't have. "See you later." Elise grabbed her arm. "Wait. Sit down. Just one more minute." Jenny pulled her arm away. "What's your problem?" Elise's freckled²¹ face turned beet²² red. "I just—" Then Serena plunked her beautiful ass¹ down at their table and Elise let out a huge sigh of relief. "I thought I was going to have to sit on her to keep her down here," she grumbled. "What's going on?" Jenny demanded. So now Elise and Serena were, like, working together to sabotage²³ her life even worse than it had already been sabotaged²⁴? That was just peachy. Serena pulled a stack of magazines from out of her bag, "Before you say anything, can I just show you the stuff Jonathan Joyce has done?" She rifled through the magazines, and started pointing out pictures. "There. And there. And how cool is this? Jenny stared glassy-eyed at the photos. Models frolicking on a bed wearing little or no makeup²⁵, old T-shirts, and baggy²⁶ men's trousers. A girl with her legs tucked up underneath²⁷ her, drinking a glass of milk. A man kissing his dog. A stewardess²⁸ asleep in an airport lounge with a pilot's coat draped over her. There was nothing provocative²⁹ about the pictures. They were just plain good. her. There was nothing provocative about the pictures. They were just plain good. Jenny didn't know what to say. Sure, it sounded exciting, and the keeping-the-clothes thing was definitely a plus, but how did she know it wasn't just another degrading look-at-the-girl-with-the-big-boobs stunt³⁰? "I have a birthday party to go to in Williamsburg on Saturday," she protested lamely³¹. "But that's not till nighttime," Elise countered. "I could come with you to the shoot, and I could shout or blow a whistle if I think your integrity is being compromised." Leave it to Elise to put it into the type of clinical terms she'd read in one of her mom's self-help books. Jenny crossed her arms over the part of her integrity that was most often compromised. "I made him promise not to shoot us in anything too revealing," Serena added. "He's really only interested in our faces anyway." Jenny examined her reflection in the mirrored wall in front of her. She had a good face, and this famous guy wanted to take a picture of it. What was the big deal? She took a deep breath. "Okay. I'll do it." "Yippee!" Serena hugged her tightly. "It's going to be awesome³², you'll see!" The other girls eating in the lunchroom looked on curiously. "Maybe Jenny's agreed to donate the fat tissue from her boobs for Serena's implants," Mary Goldberg hazarded. Or maybe Serena had found the perfect way to avoid the gang of Ivy³³ League suitors coming to the city to see her on Saturday! gossipgirl.co.uk topics previous next post a question reply Disclaimer: All the real names of places, people, and events have been altered or abbreviated³⁴ to protect the innocent. Namely, me. HEY, PEOPLE! What's this about a party? So it's in Brooklyn and the people throwing it are basically not the type of people we see socially, but there's not much else going on this weekend, and a party isn't made by the people who throw it: it's made by the people who go. So I say, let's go, and get everyone we know to go, and make it rock. You dig? Your e-mail Dear GG, I go to Georgetown and I heard that so many people used Georgetown as their safety this year that the school is doing all this stuff to get people to come there. Like they're sending this group of girls up to New York this weekend to recruit all the kids that got in. —gshock Dear gshock, Does this particular group of girls happen to have dyed blond hair and shaving scars on their legs? —GG Dear GG, I am in the ROTC program at Yale, which means my tenure³⁵ here is sponsored by the army, and I'm in basic training at the same time. The officer in charge of my program got a letter from this girl who said she was wait-listed at Yale, but she would join the program if they promised her a spot. So the program officer decides to send me down to NYC to meet her. She wrote on this weird³⁶ stationery³⁷ with shoes all over it and put a picture of her baby sister in the letter. Her baby sister's name is Yale. Sounds like a nutjob, huh? —armygurl Dear armygurl, You don't know what you're in for. My advice: Wear your helmet. —GG Sightings N in FAO Schwarz, trying to decide between a life-size stuffed horse and a crib entertainment center that plays DVDs and MP3s. It's nice that he's so generous and all, but this is getting ridiculous. S and J in Bendel's, shopping to their hearts' content while J's friend E dutifully schlepped the bags. B introducing her new baby sister to Barneys' shoe department, where everybody knows her name. Ten handsome boys on the New Haven³⁸ line singing a song from West Side Story. That ferret-toting friend of V's buying a duffel bag full of booze in a Williamsburg liquor store. Guess someone's getting ready to party hardy³⁹? D sitting alone in a Williamsburg diner late at night, writing. A birthday poem for V, perhaps? Don't forget, and don't forget to tell everyone you know not to forget—tomorrow night is all about behaving badly in Brooklyn. See you there! You know you love me, gossip girl

1 ass   

n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人

参考例句：

• He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。
• An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。

2 sip   

v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量

参考例句：

• She took a sip of the cocktail.她啜饮一口鸡尾酒。
• Elizabeth took a sip of the hot coffee.伊丽莎白呷了一口热咖啡。

3 salmon   

n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的

参考例句：

• We saw a salmon jumping in the waterfall there.我们看见一条大马哈鱼在那边瀑布中跳跃。
• Do you have any fresh salmon in at the moment?现在有新鲜大马哈鱼卖吗？

4 monks   

n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The monks lived a very ascetic life. 僧侣过着很清苦的生活。
• He had been trained rigorously by the monks. 他接受过修道士的严格训练。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 willow   

n.柳树

参考例句：

• The river was sparsely lined with willow trees.河边疏疏落落有几棵柳树。
• The willow's shadow falls on the lake.垂柳的影子倒映在湖面上。

6 blurted   

v.突然说出，脱口而出( blurt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She blurted it out before I could stop her. 我还没来得及制止，她已脱口而出。
• He blurted out the truth, that he committed the crime. 他不慎说出了真相，说是他犯了那个罪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 uptight   

adj.焦虑不安的，紧张的

参考例句：

• He's feeling a bit uptight about his exam tomorrow.他因明天的考试而感到有点紧张。
• Try to laugh at it instead of getting uptight.试着一笑了之，不要紧张。

8 butt   

n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶

参考例句：

• The water butt catches the overflow from this pipe.大水桶盛接管子里流出的东西。
• He was the butt of their jokes.他是他们的笑柄。

9 strand   

vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地）

参考例句：

• She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ears.她把一缕散发夹到了耳后。
• The climbers had been stranded by a storm.登山者被暴风雨困住了。

10 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

11 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 dawdled   

v.混（时间）( dawdle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Billy dawdled behind her all morning. 比利整个上午都跟在她后面闲混。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He dawdled away his time. 他在混日子。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

13 hissed   

发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对

参考例句：

• Have you ever been hissed at in the middle of a speech? 你在演讲中有没有被嘘过？
• The iron hissed as it pressed the wet cloth. 熨斗压在湿布上时发出了嘶嘶声。

14 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

15 gape   

v.张口，打呵欠，目瞪口呆地凝视

参考例句：

• His secretary stopped taking notes to gape at me.他的秘书停止了记录，目瞪口呆地望着我。
• He was not the type to wander round gaping at everything like a tourist.他不是那种像个游客似的四处闲逛、对什么都好奇张望的人。

16 grumbled   

抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声

参考例句：

• He grumbled at the low pay offered to him. 他抱怨给他的工资低。
• The heat was sweltering, and the men grumbled fiercely over their work. 天热得让人发昏，水手们边干活边发着牢骚。

17 grouchily   

adv.不高兴地，发牢骚地

参考例句：

18 drizzled   

下蒙蒙细雨，下毛毛雨( drizzle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The dew on the branches drizzled our hair and shoulders. 枝头上的露珠润湿了我们的头发和双肩。
• It drizzled throughout the night. 毛毛雨下了一夜。

19 verging   

接近，逼近（verge的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed understanding, verging on sympathy, for our approach. 他宣称对我们提出的做法很理解，而且近乎同情。
• He's verging on 80 now and needs constant attention. 他已近80岁，需要侍候左右。

20 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

21 freckled   

adj.雀斑；斑点；晒斑；（使）生雀斑v.雀斑，斑点( freckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her face was freckled all over. 她的脸长满雀斑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Her freckled skin glowed with health again. 她长有雀斑的皮肤又泛出了健康的红光。 来自辞典例句

22 beet   

n.甜菜；甜菜根

参考例句：

• He farmed his pickers to work in the beet fields. 他出租他的摘棉工去甜菜地里干活。
• The sugar beet is an entirely different kind of plant.糖用甜菜是一种完全不同的作物。

23 sabotage   

n.怠工，破坏活动，破坏；v.从事破坏活动，妨害，破坏

参考例句：

• They tried to sabotage my birthday party.他们企图破坏我的生日晚会。
• The fire at the factory was caused by sabotage.那家工厂的火灾是有人蓄意破坏引起的。

24 sabotaged   

阴谋破坏（某事物）( sabotage的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The main pipeline supplying water was sabotaged by rebels. 供水主管道被叛乱分子蓄意破坏了。
• They had no competition because competitors found their trucks burned and sabotaged. 他们之所以没有竞争对象，那是因为竞争对象老是发现自己的卡车遭火烧或被破坏。 来自教父部分

25 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

26 baggy   

adj.膨胀如袋的，宽松下垂的

参考例句：

• My T-shirt went all baggy in the wash.我的T恤越洗越大了。
• Baggy pants are meant to be stylish,not offensive.松松垮垮的裤子意味着时髦，而不是无礼。

27 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

28 stewardess   

n.空中小姐，女乘务员

参考例句：

• Please show your ticket to the stewardess when you board the plane.登机时请向空中小姐出示机票。
• The stewardess hurried the passengers onto the plane.空中小姐催乘客赶快登机。

29 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。

30 stunt   

n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长

参考例句：

• Lack of the right food may stunt growth.缺乏适当的食物会阻碍发育。
• Right up there is where the big stunt is taking place.那边将会有惊人的表演。

31 lamely   

一瘸一拐地，不完全地

参考例句：

• I replied lamely that I hope to justify his confidence. 我漫不经心地回答说，我希望我能不辜负他对我的信任。
• The wolf leaped lamely back, losing its footing and falling in its weakness. 那只狼一跛一跛地跳回去，它因为身体虚弱，一失足摔了一跤。

32 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.

33 ivy   

n.常青藤，常春藤

参考例句：

• Her wedding bouquet consisted of roses and ivy.她的婚礼花篮包括玫瑰和长春藤。
• The wall is covered all over with ivy.墙上爬满了常春藤。

34 abbreviated   

adj. 简短的，省略的 动词abbreviate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He abbreviated so much that it was hard to understand his article. 他的文章缩写词使用太多，令人费解。
• The United States of America is commonly abbreviated to U.S.A.. 美利坚合众国常被缩略为U.S.A.。

35 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

36 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

37 stationery   

n.文具；(配套的)信笺信封

参考例句：

• She works in the stationery department of a big store.她在一家大商店的文具部工作。
• There was something very comfortable in having plenty of stationery.文具一多，心里自会觉得踏实。

38 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。

39 hardy   

adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的

参考例句：

• The kind of plant is a hardy annual.这种植物是耐寒的一年生植物。
• He is a hardy person.他是一个能吃苦耐劳的人。