Mother's Feet
To prevent our dog, Lacy, from pestering 2 visitors to our house, my mother often massaged 4 her as she lounged beneath the kitchen table, her favorite resting spot. One day a contractor 5 came over to talk about a home-improvement project. As he and my mother sat across the table discussing the renovations, my mother slipped off her shoes and mindlessly soothed 8 Lacy with her feet. My mother had been talking for about a half-hour when to her great embarrassment 9 she heard Lacy bark outside the front door.
Notes:
(1) prevent （from）v.避免；阻止(2) pester 1 v.使苦恼；困扰(3) massage 3 v.按摩；揉捏(4) lounge v.懒洋洋地坐着或站着(5) contractor n.承包商(6) improvement n.改进；改善(7) renovation 6 n.修复；修理(8) slip off滑脱；掉(9) mindlessly adv.不注意地(10) soothe 7 v.抚慰；使镇静(11) embarrassment n.局促；不安Exercises:
根据短文回答问题：
① What kind of a dog was Lacy?
② What did the mother often do to make visitors feel at home?
③ Who came one day? What for?
④ How long had the mother been talking when she felt greatly embarrassed?
⑤ Why did she feel embarrassed?
16.母亲的脚 为避免我们的狗，莱希，纠缠来访的客人，我母亲常在爱犬喜欢呆的地方，即餐桌下面，摩昵它。一天，一个建筑商来谈居室装潢工程。在这人和我母亲坐在餐桌边谈居室的修茸时，我母亲滑脱了她的鞋子，开始不经意地用脚摩蹭起莱希来。谈话进行了半个小时的时候，我母亲突然感到很不好意思起来，因为这时她听到了莱希在前门外的犬吠声。
- He told her not to pester him with trifles.他对她说不要为小事而烦扰他。
- Don't pester me.I've got something urgent to attend to.你别跟我蘑菇了，我还有急事呢。
- He's always pestering me to help him with his homework. 他总是泡蘑菇要我帮他做作业。
- I'm telling you once and for all, if you don't stop pestering me you'll be sorry. 我这是最后一次警告你。如果你不停止纠缠我，你将来会后悔的。
- He is really quite skilled in doing massage.他的按摩技术确实不错。
- Massage helps relieve the tension in one's muscles.按摩可使僵硬的肌肉松弛。
- He massaged her back with scented oil. 他用芳香油按摩她的背部。
- The script is massaged into final form. 这篇稿子经过修改已定稿。
- The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
- The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。
- The cinema will reopen next week after the renovation.电影院修缮后，将于下星期开业。
- The building has undergone major renovation.这座大楼已进行大整修。
- I've managed to soothe him down a bit.我想方设法使他平静了一点。
- This medicine should soothe your sore throat.这种药会减轻你的喉痛。
- The music soothed her for a while. 音乐让她稍微安静了一会儿。
- The soft modulation of her voice soothed the infant. 她柔和的声调使婴儿安静了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
- She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
- Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。