I drove Jamie home from the orphanage¹ later that night. At first I wasn’t sure whether I should pull the old yawn move and put my arm around her shoulder, but to be honest, I didn’t know exactly how she was feeling about me. Granted, she’d given me the most wonderful gift I’d ever received, and even though I’d probably never open it and read it like she did, I knew it was like giving a piece of herself away. But Jamie was the type of person who would donate a kidney to a stranger she met walking down the street, if he really needed one. So I wasn’t exactly sure what to make of it.

Jamie had told me once that she wasn’t a dimwit, and I guess I finally came to the conclusion that she wasn’t. She may have been . . . well, different . . .  but she’d figured out what I’d done for the orphans², and looking back, I think she knew even as we were sitting on the floor of her living room. When she’d called it a miracle, I guess she was talking specifically about me.  Hegbert, I remembered, came into the room as Jamie and I were talking about it, but he really didn’t have much to say. Old Hegbert hadn’t been himself lately, at least as far as I could tell. Oh, his sermons were still on the money, and he still talked about the fornicators, but lately his sermons were shorter than usual, and occasionally he’d pause right in the middle of one and this strange look would come over him, kind of like he was thinking of something else, something sad.

I didn’t know what to make of it, being that I really didn’t know him that well.

And Jamie, when she talked about him, seemed to describe someone else entirely³.  I could no more imagine Hegbert with a sense of humor than I could imagine two moons in the sky.

So anyway, he came into the room while we counted the money, and Jamie stood up with those tears in her eyes, and Hegbert didn’t even seem to realize I was there. He told her that he was proud of her and that he loved her, but then he shuffled⁴ back to the kitchen to continue working on his sermon. He didn’t even say hello. Now, I knew I hadn’t exactly been the most spiritual kid in the congregation, but I still found his behavior sort of odd.  As I was thinking about Hegbert, I glanced at Jamie sitting beside me. She was looking out the window with a peaceful look on her face, kind of smiling, but far away at the same time. I smiled. Maybe she was thinking about me. My hand started scooting across the seat closer to hers, but before I reached it, Jamie broke the silence.

点击收听单词发音  

1 orphanage
n.孤儿院
参考例句：
They dispensed new clothes to the children in the orphanage.他们把新衣服发给孤儿院的小孩们。 They gave the proceeds of the sale to the orphanage.他们把销售的收入给了这家孤儿院。

2 orphans
孤儿( orphan的名词复数 )
参考例句：
The poor orphans were kept on short commons. 贫苦的孤儿们吃不饱饭。 Their uncle was declared guardian to the orphans. 这些孤儿的叔父成为他们的监护人。

3 entirely
ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地
参考例句：
The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。 His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

4 shuffled
v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼
参考例句：
He shuffled across the room to the window. 他拖着脚走到房间那头的窗户跟前。 Simon shuffled awkwardly towards them. 西蒙笨拙地拖着脚朝他们走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 hovering
鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫
参考例句：
The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。 I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。

6 bluff
v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗
参考例句：
His threats are merely bluff.他的威胁仅仅是虚张声势。 John is a deep card.No one can bluff him easily.约翰是个机灵鬼。谁也不容易欺骗他。

7 casually
adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地
参考例句：
She remarked casually that she was changing her job.她当时漫不经心地说要换工作。 I casually mentioned that I might be interested in working abroad.我不经意地提到我可能会对出国工作感兴趣。

8 volition
n.意志；决意
参考例句：
We like to think that everything we do and everything we think is a product of our volition.我们常常认为我们所做和所想的一切都出自自己的意愿。 Makin said Mr Coombes had gone to the police of his own volition.梅金说库姆斯先生是主动去投案的。

9 peek
vi.偷看，窥视；n.偷偷的一看，一瞥
参考例句：
Larry takes a peek out of the window.赖瑞往窗外偷看了一下。 Cover your eyes and don't peek.捂上眼睛，别偷看。

10 eyebrow
n.眉毛，眉
参考例句：
Her eyebrow is well penciled.她的眉毛画得很好。 With an eyebrow raised,he seemed divided between surprise and amusement.他一只眉毛扬了扬，似乎既感到吃惊，又觉有趣。

11 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。

12 peeked
v.很快地看( peek的过去式和过去分词 )；偷看；窥视；微露出
参考例句：
She peeked over the top of her menu. 她从菜单上往外偷看。 来自《简明英汉词典》 On two occasions she had peeked at him through a crack in the wall. 她曾两次透过墙缝窥视他。 来自辞典例句

13 mashed
a.捣烂的
参考例句：
two scoops of mashed potato 两勺土豆泥 Just one scoop of mashed potato for me, please. 请给我盛一勺土豆泥。

14 bragging
v.自夸，吹嘘( brag的现在分词 )；大话
参考例句：
He's always bragging about his prowess as a cricketer. 他总是吹嘘自己板球水平高超。 来自辞典例句 Now you're bragging, darling. You know you don't need to brag. 这就是夸口，亲爱的。你明知道你不必吹。 来自辞典例句

15 legacy
n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西
参考例句：
They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。 He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

16 subsidies
n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )
参考例句：
European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。 Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 awed
adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
The audience was awed into silence by her stunning performance. 观众席上鸦雀无声，人们对他出色的表演感到惊叹。 来自《简明英汉词典》 I was awed by the huge gorilla. 那只大猩猩使我惊惧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 stuffy
adj.不透气的，闷热的
参考例句：
It's really hot and stuffy in here.这里实在太热太闷了。 It was so stuffy in the tent that we could sense the air was heavy with moisture.帐篷里很闷热，我们感到空气都是潮的。

19 puffs
n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧
参考例句：
We sat exchanging puffs from that wild pipe of his. 我们坐在那里，轮番抽着他那支野里野气的烟斗。 来自辞典例句 Puffs of steam and smoke came from the engine. 一股股蒸汽和烟雾从那火车头里冒出来。 来自辞典例句

20 blurted
v.突然说出，脱口而出( blurt的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
She blurted it out before I could stop her. 我还没来得及制止，她已脱口而出。 He blurted out the truth, that he committed the crime. 他不慎说出了真相，说是他犯了那个罪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 undo
vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销
参考例句：
His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。 I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。

22 flickering
adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的
参考例句：
The crisp autumn wind is flickering away. 清爽的秋风正在吹拂。 The lights keep flickering. 灯光忽明忽暗。

23 tilting
倾斜，倾卸
参考例句：
For some reason he thinks everyone is out to get him, but he's really just tilting at windmills. 不知为什么他觉得每个人都想害他，但其实他不过是在庸人自扰。 So let us stop bickering within our ranks.Stop tilting at windmills. 所以，让我们结束内部间的争吵吧！再也不要去做同风车作战的蠢事了。