时间:2018-12-04 作者:英语课 分类:新视野大学英语读写教程词汇 第二册


英语课

  Rich Meeting His Future Mother-in-low

After much thought,I came up with a brilliant pian for Rich to meet my mother and win her over.In fact,I arranged it so my mother would want to cook a meal especially for him.

One day,my mother called me,to invite me to a birthday dinner for my father.My brother Vincentwas bringing his girlfriend,Lisa Lum.I could bring a friend,too.

I knew she would do this,because cooking was how my mother expressed her love,her pride,her power,and her proof that she knew more than anyone else."Just be sure to tell her later that her cooking was the best you ever tasted,"I told Rich."Blieve me."

The eve of the dinner,I sat in the kichen watching her cook,waiting for the right moment to teel her about our marriage plans,that we had decided 1 to get married next July,about seven months away.She was cubing darlic and slicing cabbage into small pieces and chatting at the same time about Auntie Suyuan:"She can only cook looking at directions.My instructions are in my fingers.I know what secret ingredients to put in just by using my nose!"And she was slicing so quickly,seemingly not paying attention to her sharp chopping knife,that I was afraid the tips of her fingers would become one of the ingredients of the purple vegetable and pork dish.

I was hoping she would saying something first concerning Rich.I had seen her expression when she opened the door,her forced smile as she surveyed him from head to toe,checking her judgment 2 of him against that already given to her by Autie Suyuan.I tried to anticipate what criticisms she would have.

Rich was not only not Chinese,he was also my j unior,a few years younger than I was.And unfortunately,he looked much younger with his curly red hair,smooyh pale skin,and the splash of orange freckles 3 across his nose.He was a bit on the short side,compactly built.In his dark business suits,he looked nice but easily forgettable,like somebody's nephew at a funeral.This was why I didn't notice him the first year we worked together at the firm.But,my mother noticed everything.

"So what do you think of Rich?"I finally asked,hoding my breath.

She tossed the garlic in the hot oil,which bubbled in a loud,angry sound."So many spots on his face,"she said.

I could feel the goose bumps rise on my back."They're freckles.Freckles are good luck,you know,"I felt compelled to defend on his behalf,a bit too heatedly as I raised my voice above the noise of the kitchen.

"Oh?"She said innocently.

"Yes,the more spots the better.Everybody knows that."

She considered this a moment and then smiled and spoke 4 in a Chinese dialect:"Maybe this is true.When you were young,you got the chicken pox.So many spots,you had to stay home for ten days.So licky,you thought."

I couldn't save Rich in the kitchen.And I couldn't save him later at the dinner table either.

He had brought a bottle of French wine,something he did not know my parents could not appreciate.My parents did not even own appropriate glasses for wine.And then he also made the mistake of drinking not one but two frosted glasses full,while everybody else had a half-inch"just for taste."

But the worst happened when Rich criticized my mother's cooking,and he didn't even have a clue about what he had done.As is the Chinese cook's custom,my mother always made negative remarks about her own cooking.That night she chose to direct it toward her famous steamed pork and preserved vegetable dish,which she always served with special pride.

"Ai!This dish not salty enough,no flaver,"she complained,after tasting a small bite."It is too bad to eat."

This was our family's cue to eat some and proclaim it the best she had ever made.But before we could be so diplomatic,Rich said,"You know,all it needs is a little soy sauce."And he proceeded to pour a riverful of the salty black stuff on the china plant,right before my mother's eyes.

And even though I was hopeful throughout the dinner that my mother would somehow see Rich's kindness,his sense of humor and charm,I knew he had failed miserably 5 in her eyes.

Rich obviously had had a different opinion on how the evening had gone.When we got home that night,after we put Shoshana to bed,he said modestly,"Well,I think we hit it off A-OK."



1 decided
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
2 judgment
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见
  • The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
  • He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。
3 freckles
n.雀斑,斑点( freckle的名词复数 )
  • She had a wonderful clear skin with an attractive sprinkling of freckles. 她光滑的皮肤上有几处可爱的小雀斑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • When she lies in the sun, her face gets covered in freckles. 她躺在阳光下时,脸上布满了斑点。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 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
  • 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。
5 miserably
adv.痛苦地;悲惨地;糟糕地;极度地
  • The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。
  • It was drizzling, and miserably cold and damp. 外面下着毛毛细雨,天气又冷又湿,令人难受。 来自《简明英汉词典》
学英语单词
acceptance supra-protest
advanced software environment
antifading antenna
Arabian Plate
arterio-dialysis
athyroid
attrition test
b. m. thyreohyoidei
balloon filter
benziodoxole
boil-eddy
bushites
cancrinite nordsjoite
ceramic-based
cercospora hyalospora
circumscribing square
clamshell brake
coaxial line oscillator
cockpit atmospheric pressure regulation system
collision stress
commutated doppler
couson
crurotarsans
decutient
delimiting period
dislocation formation
djp
e1
Edward River
erwinia tracheiphila (e.f.smith) holland
extension blocks
Fludara
foramina rotundum
foxtail grass
get around to sth
green revolution?
hackensack
hamonic mixer
hemispherical shell
home shopping
hydroxypetachloride
incrementals
indirectness
joistless
kosar
Kyburg paradox
language ability code
Lanlate
length-to-diameter(ratio)
low pressure flame
low priority traffic
mail virus
medical-student
mesophylic
method of calling
method of orthogonal projection
Meynet's nodes
microengine
mimeography
Mont Cenis, L.du
Neilston
nettle-leaved bellflower
oblique-swimming triplefin
package tours
party election
Pedomicrobium ferrugineum
perispermum
piezoelectric ceramic tuner
planetary monsoon
plastic art
power window
propaquizafop
qutab
radial route
RDPS
realismo
replugged
rondeaux
sales executive
script language
shore sth under the carpet
skift
source level interactive debugger
specialized foreign-trade corporation
spheric conductor
subqualities
sulfocarbamide
sweet flavo(u)r
taa-
telecounter
terminal assessment
tie-line interchange
total pressure of fan
tractor drive shaft
tral
trimerthadione
twifold
unaltered rock
uncapitalise
unmaximizes
wheelable
yn