Chapter 21

Miss Nogard entered the classroom on the thirtieth story. She looked at all the bright and chipper faces. She knew by the end of the day they would no longer be bright and chipper.

They would be glum¹ and blah.

She smiled at the class. "Good morning, everybody," she said. "My name is Miss Nogard."

She listened to their brains.

Calvin had spilled orange juice on his lap² during breakfast and worried that someone might
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think he had gone to the bathroom in his pants.

Dana had gotten her hair cut yesterday, and she thought it was too short. She was afraid it made her look like a boy. She was especially sensitive³ to this because Dana was sometimes a boy's name.

Jason was mad at his older brother, Justin. Justin was in high school. Justin always got good grades and was a star in everything he did. Compared to Justin, Jason felt like a loser. "What's so great about high school?" he had asked this morning. "My school is higher than yours!"

D. J. had heard a song on the radio on his way to school. He hated the song! But it kept playing over and over again in his head.

Bebe had an itch⁴ on her leg.

Miss Nogard smiled. The bad stuff⁵ always rose to the top of the brain.

Even if a person was very excited about something wonderful, the person still worried about what could go wrong.

Jenny was going horseback riding after school, if it didn't rain. She had never gone horseback riding before. She hoped she wouldn't fall off the horse.

Miss Nogard clapped her hands. "So, who would like to tell me what you've been working on?" she asked.

A few hands went up in the air.

"Oooh! Oooh!" said Mac.

"How about the boy in the orange and purple shirt?" said Miss Nogard.

Everyone looked around.

"The handsome young man sitting right there," said Miss Nogard.

Dana looked at her shirt. It was orange and purple. She pointed⁶ at herself and mouthed the word me?

"Yes, you," said Miss Nogard.

Dana's face turned red-hot. "I'm a girl," she said.

Everyone laughed.

"Oh, I am so embarrassed⁷!" said Miss Nogard, with her hand over her heart.

"It's not your fault," said Dana. "It's my stupid haircut⁸. I hate it!"

"Oh, no," said Miss Nogard. "You look adorable. I see now you're a very pretty girl."

"I'm ugly," muttered⁹ Dana. She buried her head under her arms.

"I'd better call on someone else," said Miss Nogard.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a brain screamed, Don't call on me! Whatever you do, please don't call on me!

1 glum   

adj.闷闷不乐的，阴郁的

参考例句：

• He was a charming mixture of glum and glee.他是一个很有魅力的人，时而忧伤时而欢笑。
• She laughed at his glum face.她嘲笑他闷闷不乐的脸。

2 lap   

n.(坐立时)大腿的前部，膝部；(跑道的)一圈

参考例句：

• She is still going strong on the last lap.她在跑最后一圈时仍然劲头很足。
• She was sitting with her hands on her lap.她坐着，把手放到膝上。

3 sensitive   

adj.敏感的，灵敏的，过敏的，感光的

参考例句：

• He's very sensitive about his ugly appearance.他对自己丑陋的外貌很敏感。
• It's difficult to avoid stepping on her sensitive feelings.很难不伤害她脆弱的情感。

4 itch   

n.痒，渴望，疥癣；vi.发痒，渴望

参考例句：

• Shylock has an itch for money.夏洛克渴望发财。
• He had an itch on his back.他背部发痒。

5 stuff   

n.原料，材料，东西；vt.填满；吃饱

参考例句：

• We could supply you with the stuff in the raw tomorrow.明天我们可以供应你原材料。
• He is not the stuff.他不是这个材料。

6 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。

7 embarrassed   

adj.尴尬的，不好意思的

参考例句：

• He was very embarrassed to hear people speak so highly of him.他听见别人这样夸他,感到很难为情。
• He is somewhat embarrassed.他稍微有点窘迫。

8 haircut   

n.理发，剪发的方式

参考例句：

• Get yourself a haircut!快去理个发吧！
• He is going to have a haircut.他要去理发。

9 muttered   

轻声低语，咕哝地抱怨( mutter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He muttered a curse at the other driver. 他低声咒骂另一位开车的人。
• She turned away and muttered something unintelligible. 她转向一旁，嘴里不知咕哝些什么。