So how do you like it so far?” Brenda asked.

It was Monday, and Brenda and Sarah were sitting at the picnic table outside, the same one that Miles and Sarah had visited a month earlier. Brenda had picked up lunch from the Pollock Street Deli, which in Brenda’s opinion, made the best sandwiches in town. “It’ll give us a chance to visit,” she’d said with a wink¹, before running out to the deli.

Though this wasn’t the first time they’d had the chance to “visit,” as Brenda put it, their conversations had usually been relatively² short and impersonal³: where supplies were stored, whom she needed to talk to to get a couple of new desks, things like that. Of course, Brenda had also been the one whom Sarah had first asked about Jonah and Miles, and because she knew Brenda was close to them, she also understood that this lunch was Brenda’s attempt to find out what, if anything, was going on.

“You mean working at the school? It’s different from the classes I had in Baltimore, but I like it.”

“You worked in the inner city, right?”

“I worked in downtown Baltimore for four years.”

“How was that?”

Sarah unwrapped her sandwich. “Not as bad as you probably think. Kids are kids, no matter where they’re from, especially when they’re young. The neighborhood might have been rough, but you kind of get used to it and you learn to be careful. I never had any trouble at all. And the people I worked with were great. It’s easy to look at test scores and think the teachers don’t care, but that’s not the way it is. There were a lot of people I really looked up to.” “How did you decide to work there? Was your ex-husband a teacher, too?”

“No,” she said simply.

Brenda saw the pain in Sarah’s eyes for a moment, but almost as quickly as she noticed it, it was gone.

Sarah opened her can of Diet Pepsi. “He’s an investment banker. Or was . . . I don’t know what he does these days. Our divorce wasn’t exactly amicable⁴, if you know what I mean.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” she said, “and I’m sorrier I brought it up.” “Don’t be. You didn’t know.” She paused before forming a lazy smile. “Or did you?” she asked.

点击收听单词发音  

1 wink
n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁
参考例句：
He tipped me the wink not to buy at that price.他眨眼暗示我按那个价格就不要买。 The satellite disappeared in a wink.瞬息之间，那颗卫星就消失了。

2 relatively
adv.比较...地，相对地
参考例句：
The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。 The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

3 impersonal
adj.无个人感情的，与个人无关的，非人称的
参考例句：
Even his children found him strangely distant and impersonal.他的孩子们也认为他跟其他人很疏远，没有人情味。 His manner seemed rather stiff and impersonal.他的态度似乎很生硬冷淡。

4 amicable
adj.和平的，友好的；友善的
参考例句：
The two nations reached an amicable agreement.两国达成了一项友好协议。 The two nations settled their quarrel in an amicable way.两国以和睦友好的方式解决了他们的争端。

5 feigning
假装，伪装( feign的现在分词 )； 捏造（借口、理由等）
参考例句：
He survived the massacre by feigning death. 他装死才在大屠杀中死里逃生。 She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。

6 dire
adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的
参考例句：
There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。 We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

7 blurt
vt.突然说出，脱口说出
参考例句：
If you can blurt out 300 sentences,you can make a living in America.如果你能脱口而出300句英语，你可以在美国工作。 I will blurt out one passage every week.我每星期要脱口而出一篇短文！

8 syllable
n.音节；vt.分音节
参考例句：
You put too much emphasis on the last syllable.你把最后一个音节读得太重。 The stress on the last syllable is light.最后一个音节是轻音节。

9 prodded
v.刺，戳( prod的过去式和过去分词 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳
参考例句：
She prodded him in the ribs to wake him up. 她用手指杵他的肋部把他叫醒。 He prodded at the plate of fish with his fork. 他拿叉子戳弄着那盘鱼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 subtlety
n.微妙，敏锐，精巧；微妙之处，细微的区别
参考例句：
He has shown enormous strength,great intelligence and great subtlety.他表现出充沛的精力、极大的智慧和高度的灵活性。 The subtlety of his remarks was unnoticed by most of his audience.大多数听众都没有觉察到他讲话的微妙之处。

11 jaw
n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训
参考例句：
He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。 A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。

12 janitor
n.看门人，管门人
参考例句：
The janitor wiped on the windows with his rags.看门人用褴褛的衣服擦着窗户。 The janitor swept the floors and locked up the building every night.那个看门人每天晚上负责打扫大楼的地板和锁门。

13 winked
v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮
参考例句：
He winked at her and she knew he was thinking the same thing that she was. 他冲她眨了眨眼，她便知道他的想法和她一样。 He winked his eyes at her and left the classroom. 他向她眨巴一下眼睛走出了教室。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 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》

15 flirted
v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
She flirted her fan. 她急速挥动着扇子。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》 During his four months in Egypt he flirted with religious emotions. 在埃及逗留的这四个月期间，他又玩弄起宗教情绪来了。 来自辞典例句

16 giggled
v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
The girls giggled at the joke. 女孩子们让这笑话逗得咯咯笑。 The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 standing
n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的
参考例句：
After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。 They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

18 preoccupied
adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式)
参考例句：
He was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to notice anything wrong. 他只顾想着心事，没注意到有什么不对。 The question of going to the Mount Tai preoccupied his mind. 去游泰山的问题盘踞在他心头。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 helping
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的
参考例句：
The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。 By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

20 twitch
v.急拉，抽动，痉挛，抽搐；n.扯，阵痛，痉挛
参考例句：
The smell made my dog's nose twitch.那股气味使我的狗的鼻子抽动着。 I felt a twitch at my sleeve.我觉得有人扯了一下我的袖子。

21 anticipation
n.预期，预料，期望
参考例句：
We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。 The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。