8 A Bad Time For Zerelda
During the first two or three weeks of term poor Zerelda had a very bad time. Although she was older even than the fourth-formers, and should therefore have found the work easy, she found, to her dismay, that she was far behind them in their standard of work!
It was a blow to Zerelda. After all her posing, and grown-up ways, and her manner of appearing to look down on the others as young and silly, it was very humiliating to find that her maths, for instance, were nowhere near the standard of maths in the fourth form!
“Have you never done these sums before?” asked Miss Williams, in astonishment¹. “And what about algebra² and geometry? You don’t appear to understand the first thing about them, Zerelda.”
“We—we don’t seem to do our lessons in America the same way as you do them here,” said Zerelda. “We don’t bother so much. I never liked algebra or geometry, so I didn’t worry about them.”
Miss Williams looked most disapproving³. Was America really so slack in its teaching of children, or was it just that Zerelda was stupid?
“It isn’t only your maths,” she said at last. “It’s almost everything, Zerelda. Didn’t you ever study grammar in your school?”
Zerelda thought hard. “Maybe we did,” she said at last. “But I guess we didn’t pay much attention to the teacher who taught grammar. I guess we played about in her lessons.”
“And didn’t you do any history?” said Miss Williams. “I realize, of course, that the history you would take would not be quite the same as ours—but Miss Carton, the history mistress, tells me that you don’t know a single thing even about the history of your own country. America is a great country. It seems a pity to know nothing of its wonderful history.”
Zerelda looked troubled. She tried to think of something her school had really worked at. What had she taken real interest in? Ah—there was the dramatic class!
“We did a lot of Shakespeare, Miss Williams,” she said. “Gee⁴! I just loved your Shakespeare. He’s wunnerful. I did Lady Macbeth. You should have seen me trying to wash the guilt

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1 astonishment
n.惊奇，惊异
参考例句：
They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。 I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

2 algebra
n.代数学
参考例句：
He was not good at algebra in middle school.他中学时不擅长代数。 The boy can't figure out the algebra problems.这个男孩做不出这道代数题。

3 disapproving
adj.不满的，反对的v.不赞成( disapprove的现在分词 )
参考例句：
Mother gave me a disapproving look. 母亲的眼神告诉我她是不赞成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》 Her father threw a disapproving glance at her. 她父亲不满地瞥了她一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 gee
n.马；int.向右！前进！，惊讶时所发声音；v.向右转
参考例句：
Their success last week will gee the team up.上星期的胜利将激励这支队伍继续前进。 Gee,We're going to make a lot of money.哇！我们会赚好多钱啦！

5 guilt
n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责
参考例句：
She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。 Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

6 distress
n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛
参考例句：
Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。 Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

7 distressed
痛苦的
参考例句：
He was too distressed and confused to answer their questions. 他非常苦恼而困惑，无法回答他们的问题。 The news of his death distressed us greatly. 他逝世的消息使我们极为悲痛。

8 spoke
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。

9 withheld
withhold过去式及过去分词
参考例句：
I withheld payment until they had fulfilled the contract. 他们履行合同后，我才付款。 来自《简明英汉词典》 There was no school play because the principal withheld his consent. 由于校长没同意，学校里没有举行比赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 complexion
n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格
参考例句：
Red does not suit with her complexion.红色与她的肤色不协调。 Her resignation puts a different complexion on things.她一辞职局面就全变了。

11 acting
n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的
参考例句：
Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。 During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

12 alas
int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)
参考例句：
Alas!The window is broken!哎呀！窗子破了！ Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而，真理很少带有浪漫色彩。

13 brass
n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器
参考例句：
Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。 Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。

14 apparently
adv.显然地；表面上，似乎
参考例句：
An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。 He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

15 humiliation
n.羞辱
参考例句：
He suffered the humiliation of being forced to ask for his cards.他蒙受了被迫要求辞职的羞辱。 He will wish to revenge his humiliation in last Season's Final.他会为在上个季度的决赛中所受的耻辱而报复的。

16 erase
v.擦掉；消除某事物的痕迹
参考例句：
He tried to erase the idea from his mind.他试图从头脑中抹掉这个想法。 Please erase my name from the list.请把我的名字从名单上擦去。

17 thumping
adj.重大的，巨大的；重击的；尺码大的；极好的adv.极端地；非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词)；狠打；怦怦地跳；全力支持
参考例句：
Her heart was thumping with emotion. 她激动得心怦怦直跳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》 He was thumping the keys of the piano. 他用力弹钢琴。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

18 neatly
adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地
参考例句：
Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。 The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

19 kindly
adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地
参考例句：
Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。 A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

20 scarlet
n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的
参考例句：
The scarlet leaves of the maples contrast well with the dark green of the pines.深红的枫叶和暗绿的松树形成了明显的对比。 The glowing clouds are growing slowly pale,scarlet,bright red,and then light red.天空的霞光渐渐地淡下去了，深红的颜色变成了绯红，绯红又变为浅红。

21 Undid
v. 解开, 复原
参考例句：
The officer undid the flap of his holster and drew his gun. 军官打开枪套盖拔出了手枪。 He did wrong, and in the end his wrongs undid him. 行恶者终以其恶毁其身。

22 liking
n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢
参考例句：
The word palate also means taste or liking.Palate这个词也有“口味”或“嗜好”的意思。 I must admit I have no liking for exaggeration.我必须承认我不喜欢夸大其词。

23 gracefully
ad.大大方方地；优美地
参考例句：
She sank gracefully down onto a cushion at his feet. 她优雅地坐到他脚旁的垫子上。 The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line. 新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

24 promising
adj.有希望的，有前途的
参考例句：
The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。 We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。