20 The Great Gum Machine

20 The Great Gum Machine
Mr Wonka led the party over to a gigantic machine that stood in the very centre of the
Inventing Room. It was a mountain of gleaming metal that towered high above the
children and their parents. Out of the very top of it there sprouted¹ hundreds and
hundreds of thin glass tubes, and the glass tubes all curled downwards² and came
together in a bunch and hung suspended over an enormous round tub as big as a bath.
‘Here we go!’ cried Mr Wonka, and he pressed three different buttons on the side of
the machine. A second later, a mighty³ rumbling⁴ sound came from inside it, and the
whole machine began to shake most frighteningly, and steam began hissing⁵ out of it all
over, and then suddenly the watchers noticed that runny stuff was pouring down the
insides of all the hundreds of little glass tubes and squirting out into the great tub below.
And in every single tube the runny stuff was of a different colour, so that all the colours
of the rainbow (and many others as well) came sloshing and splashing into the tub. It
was a lovely sight. And when the tub was nearly full, Mr Wonka pressed another button,
and immediately the runny stuff disappeared, and a whizzing whirring noise took its
place; and then a giant whizzer started whizzing round inside the enormous tub, mixing
up all the different coloured liquids like an ice-cream soda⁶. Gradually, the mixture began
to froth. It became frothier and frothier, and it turned from blue to white to green to
brown to yellow, then back to blue again.
‘Watch!’ said Mr Wonka.
Click went the machine, and the whizzer stopped whizzing. And now there came a
sort of sucking noise, and very quickly all the blue frothy mixture in the huge basin was
sucked back into the stomach of the machine. There was a moment of silence. Then a
few queer rumblings were heard. Then silence again. Then suddenly, the machine let out
a monstrous⁷ mighty groan⁸, and at the same moment a tiny drawer (no bigger than the
drawer in a slot machine) popped out of the side of the machine, and in the drawer
there lay something so small and thin and grey that everyone thought it must be a
mistake. The thing looked like a little strip of grey cardboard.
The children and their parents stared at the little grey strip lying in the drawer.
‘You mean that’s all?’ said Mike Teavee, disgusted.
‘That’s all,’ answered Mr Wonka, gazing proudly at the result. ‘Don’t you know what it
is?’
There was a pause. Then suddenly, Violet Beau-regarde, the silly gum-chewing girl, let
out a yell of excitement. ‘By gum, it’s gum!’ she shrieked⁹. ‘It’s a stick of chewing-gum!’
‘Right you are!’ cried Mr Wonka, slapping Violet hard on the back. ‘It’s a stick of gum!
It’s a stick of the most amazing and fabulous¹⁰ and sensational¹¹ gum in the world!’

1 sprouted   

v.发芽( sprout的过去式和过去分词 )；抽芽；出现；（使）涌现出

参考例句：

• We can't use these potatoes; they've all sprouted. 这些土豆儿不能吃了，都出芽了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The rice seeds have sprouted. 稻种已经出芽了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 downwards   

adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地）

参考例句：

• He lay face downwards on his bed.他脸向下伏在床上。
• As the river flows downwards,it widens.这条河愈到下游愈宽。

3 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

4 rumbling   

n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词

参考例句：

• The earthquake began with a deep [low] rumbling sound. 地震开始时发出低沉的隆隆声。
• The crane made rumbling sound. 吊车发出隆隆的响声。

5 hissing   

n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The steam escaped with a loud hissing noise. 蒸汽大声地嘶嘶冒了出来。
• His ears were still hissing with the rustle of the leaves. 他耳朵里还听得萨萨萨的声音和屑索屑索的怪声。 来自汉英文学 - 春蚕

6 soda   

n.苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
• I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。

7 monstrous   

adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的

参考例句：

• The smoke began to whirl and grew into a monstrous column.浓烟开始盘旋上升，形成了一个巨大的烟柱。
• Your behaviour in class is monstrous!你在课堂上的行为真是丢人！

8 groan   

vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音

参考例句：

• The wounded man uttered a groan.那个受伤的人发出呻吟。
• The people groan under the burden of taxes.人民在重税下痛苦呻吟。

9 shrieked   

v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She shrieked in fright. 她吓得尖叫起来。
• Li Mei-t'ing gave a shout, and Lu Tzu-hsiao shrieked, "Tell what? 李梅亭大声叫，陆子潇尖声叫：“告诉什么？ 来自汉英文学 - 围城

10 fabulous   

adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的

参考例句：

• We had a fabulous time at the party.我们在晚会上玩得很痛快。
• This is a fabulous sum of money.这是一笔巨款。

11 sensational   

adj.使人感动的，非常好的，轰动的，耸人听闻的

参考例句：

• Papers of this kind are full of sensational news reports.这类报纸满是耸人听闻的新闻报道。
• Their performance was sensational.他们的演出妙极了。