Chapter 23

His feet stink¹, thought Jason.

For the rest of the day, Miss Nogard kept accidentally-on-purpose calling Jason "Justin."

One by one, she made every child in the class feel miserable². She called Calvin to her desk and asked in a whisper if he had to use the restroom. Whenever she passed D. J., she hummed the song stuck in his head. Whenever Bebe finally stopped thinking about her itch³, Miss Nogard would walk by and scratch her own leg.

"It looks like it might rain," she said as she stared out the window at the bright blue sky.

Darn, I'll never get to go horseback riding! thought Jenny.
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"I have a nephew who went horseback riding on a day like this," said Miss Nogard. "There wasn't a cloud in the sky. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, it started thundering and lightning. It spooked the horse terribly."

"What happened to your nephew?" asked Jenny.

"Oh, he's fine," said Miss Nogard. "He just broke both his arms and legs. He'll be in a cast for a year. But he has a very positive attitude; that's the important thing. Remember, always keep a positive attitude."

By the end of the day, nobody had a positive attitude. The whole class was glum⁴ and blah.

The children walked out of the school building, heads down. Except Jenny, who looked up at the sky, worrying about the weather, although she didn't know if she was more worried about rain or sunshine.

Even D. J. was frowning⁵.

"What's the matter?" asked Louis, the yard teacher.

"Nothing," muttered⁶ D. J. "I guess I just had a bad day."

"Don't you like your new teacher?" asked Louis.

"She's real nice," said Dana. It's not her fault I'm the ugliest girl in the world!

"I like her a lot," said Jason. It's my brother I hate.

"Me too," said Benjamin. I hate myself.

Louis rubbed his upper lip. His mustache was beginning to grow back. "What's her name?" he asked.

"Miss Nogard," said Bebe as she scratched the back of her leg raw.

"Are you sure?" asked Louis.

"Huh?" asked Bebe.

"I mean," said Louis, "are you sure it's Miss Nogard? Not Mrs. Nogard?"

"I think," said Bebe. "Why?"

Louis just shrugged⁷.

1 stink   

vi.发出恶臭；糟透，招人厌恶；n.恶臭

参考例句：

• The stink of the rotten fish turned my stomach.腐烂的鱼臭味使我恶心。
• The room has awful stink.那个房间散发着难闻的臭气。

2 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

3 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。

4 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。

5 frowning   

n. 皱眉, 不悦 v. 皱眉头, 不同意

参考例句：

• What are you frowning at me for? 你为什么朝我皱眉头？
• Why are you frowning at me? 你为什么对我皱眉头？

6 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。

7 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》