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Chapter 25
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‘Did I cause any embarrassment1?’
Rosie had been concerned that I might make inappropriatecomments during our tour of the World Trade Center site. Ourguide, a former firefighter named Frank, who had lost many ofhis colleagues in the attack, was incredibly interesting and Iasked a number of technical questions that he answeredintelligently and, it seemed to me, enthusiastically.
‘You may have changed the tone a bit,’ she said. ‘You sort ofmoved the attention away from the emotional impact.’ So, Ihad reduced the sadness. Good.
Monday was allocated2 to visiting popular tourist sights. We hadbreakfast at Katz’s Deli, where a scene for a film called WhenHarry Met Sally was shot. We went to the top of the EmpireState Building, famous as a location for An Affair toRemember. We visited MOMA and the Met, which wereexcellent.
We were back at the hotel early – 4.32 p.m.
‘Back here at 6.30,’ said Rosie.
205/290‘What are we having for dinner?’
‘Hot dogs. We’re going to the baseball.’
I never watch sport. Ever. The reasons are obvious – orshould be to anyone who values their time. But myreconfigured mind, sustained by huge doses of positivereinforcement, accepted the proposition. I spent the nexthundred and eighteen minutes on the internet, learning aboutthe rules and the players.
On the subway, Rosie had some news for me. Before she leftMelbourne, she had sent an email to Mary Keneally, aresearcher working in her field at Columbia University. She hadjust received a reply and Mary could see her tomorrow. Butshe wouldn’t be able to make it to the Museum of NaturalHistory. She could come Wednesday, but would I be okay bymyself tomorrow? Of course I would.
At Yankee Stadium we got beer and hot dogs. A man in acap, estimated age thirty-five, estimated BMI forty (i.e.
dangerously fat), sat beside me. He had three hot dogs! Thesource of the obesity3 was obvious.
The game started, and I had to explain to Rosie what washappening. It was fascinating to see how the rules worked in areal game.
Every time there was an event on the field, Fat Baseball Fanwould make an annotation4 in his book. There were runners onsecond and third when Curtis Granderson came to the plateand Fat Baseball Fan spoke5 to me. ‘If he bats in both of theseguys he’ll be heading the league on RBI. What are the odds6?’
I didn’t know what the odds were. All I could tell him was thatthey were somewhere between 9.9 and 27.2 per cent based onthe batting average and percentage of home runs listed in theprofile I had read. I had not had time to memorise7 thestatistics for doubles and triples.
Fat Baseball Fan nevertheless seemed impressed and we begana very interesting conversation. He showed me how to markthe programme with symbols to represent the various events,and how the more206/290sophisticated statistics worked. I had no idea sport could be sointellectually stimulating8.
Rosie got more beer and hot dogs and Fat Baseball Fanstarted to tell me about Joe DiMaggio’s ‘streak’ in 1941 whichhe claimed was a uniquely odds-defying achievement. I wasdoubtful, and the conversation was just getting interesting whenthe game ended, so he suggested we take the subway to a barin Midtown. As Rosie was in charge of the schedule, I askedfor her opinion, and she agreed.
The bar was noisy and there was more baseball playing on alarge television screen. Some other men, who did not appear tohave previously9 met Fat Baseball Fan, joined our discussion.
We drank a lot of beer, and talked about baseball statistics.
Rosie sat on a stool with her drink and observed. It was latewhen Fat Baseball Fan, whose actual name was Dave, said hehad to go home. We exchanged email addresses and Iconsidered that I had made a new friend.
Walking back to the hotel, I realised that I had behaved instereotypical male fashion, drinking beer in a bar, watchingtelevision and talking about sport. It is generally known thatwomen have a negative attitude to such behaviour. I askedRosie if I had offended her.
‘Not at all. I had fun watching you being a guy – fitting in.’
I told her that this was a highly unusual response from afeminist, but that it would make her a very attractive partnerto conventional men.
‘If I was interested in conventional men.’
It seemed a good opportunity to ask a question about Rosie’spersonal life.
‘Do you have a boyfriend?’ I hoped I had used an appropriateterm.
‘Sure, I just haven’t unpacked11 him from my suitcase,’ she said,obviously making a joke. I laughed, then pointed12 out that shehadn’t actually answered my question.
207/290‘Don,’ she said, ‘don’t you think that if I had a boyfriend youmight have heard about him by now?’
It seemed to me entirely13 possible that I would not have heardabout him. I had asked Rosie very few personal questionsoutside the Father Project. I did not know any of her friends,except perhaps Stefan who I had concluded was not herboyfriend. Of course, it would have been traditional to bringany partner to the faculty14 ball, and not to offer me sexafterwards, but not everyone was bound by such conventions.
Gene10 was the perfect example. It seemed entirely possible thatRosie had a boyfriend who did not like dancing or socialisingwith academics, was out of town at the time, or was in anopen relationship with her. She had no reason to tell me. Inmy own life, I had rarely mentioned Daphne or my sister toGene and Claudia or vice15 versa. They belonged to differentparts of my life. I explained this to Rosie.
‘Short answer, no,’ she said. We walked a bit further. ‘Longanswer: you asked what I meant about being fucked-up by myfather. Psychology16 101 – our first relationship with a male iswith our fathers. It affects how we relate to men forever. So,lucky me, I get a choice of two.
Phil, who’s fucked in the head, or my real father who walkedaway from me and my mother. And I get this choice whenI’m twelve years old and Phil sits me down and has this “Iwish your mother could be here to tell you” talk with me. Youknow, just the standard stuff your dad tells you at twelve –I’m not your dad, your mum who died before you could knowher properly isn’t the perfect person you thought she was, andyou’re only here because of your mother being easy and Iwish you weren’t so I could go off and have a life.’
‘He said that to you?’
‘Not in those words. But that’s what he meant.’
I thought it highly unlikely that a twelve-year-old – even afemale future psychology student – could correctly deduce anadult male’s unspoken thoughts. Sometimes it is better to beaware of one’s208/290incompetence in these matters, as I am, than to have a falsesense of expertise17.
‘So, I don’t trust men. I don’t believe they’re what they saythey are.
I’m afraid they’re going to let me down. That’s my summaryfrom seven years of studying psychology.’
This seemed a very poor result for seven years of effort, but Iassumed she was omitting the more general knowledgeprovided by the course.
‘You want to meet tomorrow evening?’ said Rosie. ‘We can dowhatever you want to do.’
I had been thinking about my plans for the next day.
‘I know someone at Columbia,’ I said. ‘Maybe we could gothere together.’
‘What about the museum?’
‘I’ve already compressed four visits into two. I can compresstwo in-to one.’ There was no logic18 in this, but I had drunk alot of beer, and I just felt like going to Columbia. Go with theflow.
‘See you at eight – and don’t be late,’ said Rosie. Then shekissed me. It was not a passionate19 kiss; it was on the cheek,but it was disturbing. Neither positive nor negative, justdisturbing.
I emailed David Borenstein at Columbia then Skyped Claudiaand told her about the day, omitting the kiss.
‘Sounds like she’s made a big effort,’ said Claudia.
This was obviously true. Rosie had managed to select activitiesthat I would normally have avoided, but enjoyed immensely.
‘And you’re giving her the guided tour of the Museum ofNatural History on Wednesday?’
‘No, I’m going to look at the crustaceans20 and the Antarcticflora and fauna21.’
‘Try again,’ said Claudia.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 embarrassment fj9z8     
n.尴尬;使人为难的人(事物);障碍;窘迫
参考例句:
  • She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
  • Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。
2 allocated 01868918c8cec5bc8773e98ae11a0f54     
adj. 分配的 动词allocate的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • The Ford Foundation allocated millions of dollars for cancer research. 福特基金会拨款数百万美元用于癌症研究。
  • More funds will now be allocated to charitable organizations. 现在会拨更多的资金给慈善组织。
3 obesity Dv1ya     
n.肥胖,肥大
参考例句:
  • One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
  • Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。
4 annotation 0V5zA     
n.注解
参考例句:
  • She retained a number of copies for further annotation.她保留了许多副本以便作进一步的注解。
  • He supplied annotations to nearly 15,000 musical works.他给近1.5万部音乐作品作过注解。
5 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
6 odds n5czT     
n.让步,机率,可能性,比率;胜败优劣之别
参考例句:
  • The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
  • Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗?
7 memorise memorise     
vt.记住,熟记
参考例句:
  • An actor must be able to memorise his lines.演员须善于熟记台词。
  • I shall try to memorise all these phrases.我要熟记所有这些词组。
8 stimulating ShBz7A     
adj.有启发性的,能激发人思考的
参考例句:
  • shower gel containing plant extracts that have a stimulating effect on the skin 含有对皮肤有益的植物精华的沐浴凝胶
  • This is a drug for stimulating nerves. 这是一种兴奋剂。
9 previously bkzzzC     
adv.以前,先前(地)
参考例句:
  • The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
  • Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿,解释原先发生了什么。
10 gene WgKxx     
n.遗传因子,基因
参考例句:
  • A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
  • The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。
11 unpacked 78a068b187a564f21b93e72acffcebc3     
v.从(包裹等)中取出(所装的东西),打开行李取出( unpack的过去式和过去分词 );拆包;解除…的负担;吐露(心事等)
参考例句:
  • I unpacked my bags as soon as I arrived. 我一到达就打开行李,整理衣物。
  • Our guide unpacked a picnic of ham sandwiches and offered us tea. 我们的导游打开装着火腿三明治的野餐盒,并给我们倒了些茶水。 来自辞典例句
12 pointed Il8zB4     
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。
13 entirely entirely     
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
  • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
14 faculty HhkzK     
n.才能;学院,系;(学院或系的)全体教学人员
参考例句:
  • He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
  • He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。
15 vice NU0zQ     
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的
参考例句:
  • He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
  • They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。
16 psychology U0Wze     
n.心理,心理学,心理状态
参考例句:
  • She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
  • He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。
17 expertise fmTx0     
n.专门知识(或技能等),专长
参考例句:
  • We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
  • You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。
18 logic j0HxI     
n.逻辑(学);逻辑性
参考例句:
  • What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑?
  • I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。
19 passionate rLDxd     
adj.热情的,热烈的,激昂的,易动情的,易怒的,性情暴躁的
参考例句:
  • He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
  • He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。
20 crustaceans 37ad1a9eb8e9867969edd084ce8032d5     
n.甲壳纲动物(如蟹、龙虾)( crustacean的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • These crustaceans provide a valuable food source for some fish. 这些甲壳纲动物是某些鱼类重要的食物来源。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • When the tide ebbs it's a rock pool inhabited by crustaceans. 退潮时,它便成为甲壳动物居住的岩石区潮水潭。 来自辞典例句
21 fauna 9kExx     
n.(一个地区或时代的)所有动物,动物区系
参考例句:
  • This National Park is an area with unique fauna and flora.该国家公园区域内具有独特的动物种群和植物种群。
  • Fauna is a biological notion means all the animal life in a particular region or period. 动物群是一个生物学的概念,指的是一个特定时期或者地区的所有动物。


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