Chapter Three Letters from No One 貓頭鷹傳書
語境詞匯
By the time he was allowed out of his cupboard again, the summer holidays had started and Dudley had already broken his new video camera, crashed his remote control airplane, and, first time out on his racing bike, knocked down old Mrs. Figg as she crossed Privet Drive on her crutches.
crutch [kr?t?]
n.拐杖；支柱；依靠；胯部
vt.用拐杖支撐；支持
Smeltings’ boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers, and flat straw hats called boaters.
maroon [m?'ru?n]
n.褐紅色；逃亡黑人奴隸；孤立的人
v.使孤立；放逐到無人島上adj.褐紅色的
boater /?b??t?(r)/
n. 硬草帽；乘船的人
As he looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, Uncle Vernon said gruffly that it was the proudest moment of his life.
gruffly ['gr?fli]
adv.粗暴地；粗聲地；生硬地
The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink.
parch [pɑ?t?]
vt.烤，烘；使干透
vi.焦干；烤干
parchment ['pɑ?t?m(?)nt]
n.羊皮紙；羊皮紙文稿
Uncle Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust, and flipped over the postcard.
flip [fl?p]
vt.擲；輕擊vi.用指輕彈；蹦跳
adj.無禮的；輕率的n.彈；筋斗
“Marge's ill,” he informed Aunt Petunia. “Ate a funny whelk…”
whelk [welk]
n.青春痘；[皮膚] 酒刺；峨螺
“That's mine!” said Harry, trying to snatch it back.
snatch [sn?t?]
n.搶奪；抓舉；小量
vt.奪得；抽空做；及時救助vi.搶走；很快接受
“Get out, both of you,” croaked Uncle Vernon, stuffing the letter back inside its envelope.
croak [kr??k]
vi.呱呱地叫；發(fā)牢騷；死 vt.用嘶啞的聲音說；死亡
n.呱呱叫聲；低沉沙啞的說話聲
“OUT!” roared Uncle Vernon, and he took both Harry and Dudley by the scruffs of their necks and threw them into the hall, slamming the kitchen door behind them.
scruff [skr?f]
n.頸背；后頸
Harry and Dudley promptly had a furious but silent fight over who would listen at the keyhole; Dudley won, so Harry, his glasses dangling from one ear, lay flat on his stomach to listen at the crack between door and floor.
prompt /pr?mpt/
v. 提示，鼓勵；促進；激起；導致；（給演員）提白
adj. 敏捷的，迅速的；立刻的，及時的；準時的；（商品）即期要送的
n. 提示，提詞；（電腦屏幕上的）提示符；鼓勵；催促；付款期限
adv. 準時地
dangle /?d??ɡl/
v. （使）搖晃地懸掛著；提著；炫示；用……來誘惑（或激勵）
From downstairs came the sound of Dudley bawling at his mother, I don't want him in there… I need that room… make him get out…”
bawl [b??l]
vi.大叫；放聲痛哭
vt.大聲叫出；大聲宣布；叫賣
n.叫罵聲
He'd screamed, whacked his father with his Smelting stick, been sick on purpose, kicked his mother, and thrown his tortoise through the greenhouse roof, and he still didn't have his room back.
whack [w?k]
vt.重打；猛擊；擊?。幌鳒pvi.重擊
n.重擊；嘗試；份兒；機會
With a strangled cry, Uncle Vernon leapt from his seat and ran down the hall, Harry right behind him.
strangle ['str??g(?)l]
vt.把…勒死；使…窒息
vi.窒息而死；被勒死
“Go to your cupboard — I mean, your bedroom,” he wheezed at Harry.
wheeze [wi?z]
vi.喘息；呼哧呼哧地響vt.喘息著說；喘息地發(fā)出
n.喘息；喘氣聲
Harry leapt into the air; he'd trodden on something big and squashy on the doormat — something alive!
tread /tred/
v. 踩，踐踏；行走，沿著……走；交尾
n. 步態(tài)，腳步聲；（輪胎的）胎面；梯面；鋼軌踏面；鞋底
現(xiàn)在分詞 treading過去式 trod或treaded過去分詞 trodden或trod
While Uncle Vernon made furious telephone calls to the post office and the dairy trying to find someone to complain to, Aunt Petunia shredded the letters in her food processor.
shred [?red]
n.碎片；少量剩余；最少量；破布
vt.切成條狀；用碎紙機撕毀vi.撕碎
food processor
食品加工機；食物處理機
“No post on Sundays,” he reminded them cheerfully as he spread marmalade on his newspapers, “no damn letters today—”
marmalade ['mɑ?m?le?d]
n.橘子或檸檬等水果制成的果醬
vt.涂橘子或檸檬醬于…adj.橘子醬色的
Something came whizzing down the kitchen chimney as he spoke and caught him sharply on the back of the head.
whiz [hw?z]
n.颼颼聲；奇才
vi.颼颼作聲vt.使颼颼作聲
Next moment, thirty or forty letters came pelting out of the fireplace like bullets.
pelt [pelt]
vt.攻擊或投擲；剝皮vi.連續(xù)投擲；雨等急降
n.毛皮；打擊
Ten minutes later they had wrenched their way through the boarded-up doors and were in the car, speeding toward the highway.
wrench /rent?/
n. 扳手，扳鉗；扭傷；痛苦；歪曲；猛扭
vt. 扭傷；猛扭；曲解；折磨vi. 扭傷；猛扭；猛絞
Uncle Vernon stopped at last outside a gloomy-looking hotel on the outskirts of a big city.
gloomy ['glu?m?]
adj.黑暗的；沮喪的；陰郁的
They ate stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes on toast for breakfast the next day.
stale [ste?l]
adj.陳腐的；不新鮮的 n.尿
vi.變陳舊；撒尿；變得不新鮮vt.使變舊；變得不新鮮
It started to rain. Great drops beat on the roof of the car. Dudley sniveled.
snivel ['sn?v(?)l]
n.流鼻涕；啜泣
vi.流鼻涕；哭泣
Perched on top of the rock was the most miserable little shack you could imagine.
perch [p??t?]
n.鱸魚; 高位；棲木；桿
vt.棲息；就位；位于；使坐落于
vi.棲息；就位；位于
shack [??k]
n.棚屋；小室
vi.居住
A toothless old man came ambling up to them, pointing, with a rather wicked grin, at an old rowboat bobbing in the iron-gray water below them.
amble /??mbl/
vi. （馬）緩行；從容漫步
n. （馬的）緩行步態(tài)；漫步
“I've already got us some rations,” said Uncle Vernon, “so all aboard!”
ration ['r??(?)n]
vt.配給；定量供應
n.定量；口糧；配給量
Icy sea spray and rain crept down their necks and a chilly wind whipped their faces.
whip /w?p/
n. 鞭子；鞭策者；紀律委員；投票指示；
攪拌器；蛋奶水果甜點心；抽打；車夫
v. 抽打；猛然移動；促使，煽動；攪打（蛋，奶油）；偷盜（非正式）；
徹底擊敗（非正式）；用細繩纏繞加固；急走；拍擊
He tried to start a fire but the empty chip bags just smoked and shriveled up.
shrivel /??r?vl/
vi. 枯萎；皺縮
vt. 使枯萎；使皺縮；使束手無策
Spray from the high waves splattered the walls of the hut and a fierce wind rattled the filthy windows.
hut [h?t]
n.小屋；臨時營房
vt.使住在小屋中；駐扎vi.住在小屋中；駐扎
Aunt Petunia found a few moldy blankets in the second room and made up a bed for Dudley on the moth-eaten sofa.
moldy ['m??ld?]
adj.發(fā)霉的；乏味的；陳腐的
She and Uncle Vernon went off to the lumpy bed next door, and Harry was left to find the softest bit of floor he could and to curl up under the thinnest, most ragged blanket.
lumpy ['l?mp?]
adj.粗笨的；波浪起伏的；多塊狀物的
The storm raged more and more ferociously as the night went on.
ferocious /f??r????s/
adj. 殘忍的；驚人的
Five minutes to go. Harry heard something creak outside.
creak /kri?k/
v. （門、木地板等）嘎吱作響；（過勞或緊張）顯得虛弱
n. 嘎吱聲
Three minutes to go. Was that the sea, slapping hard on the rock like that?
slap /sl?p/
v. 掌擊，拍擊；摑……的耳光；侮辱；（快速地、隨意地或用力地）涂抹
n. 摑；掌擊；拍打聲；侮辱；（非正式，厚厚的或隨意涂抹的）化妝品
adv. 直接地；猛然地；恰好
adj. 精力不足的；（食物）松軟的，過于柔軟的
Was the rock crumbling into the sea?
crumble /?kr?mbl/
vi. 崩潰；破碎，粉碎vt. 崩潰；弄碎，粉碎
n. 面包屑
精彩句型
Piers, Dennis, Malcolm, and Gordon were all big and stupid, but as Dudley was the biggest and stupidest of the lot, he was the leader.
讀到后面，哈利波特與鳳凰社，海格講巨人那部分，不禁想起了這句對達力為什么成為頭兒的解釋。
“They stuff people's heads down the toilet the first day at Stonewall,” he told Harry. “Want to come upstairs and practice?” “No, thanks,” said Harry. “The poor toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it — it might be sick.” Then he ran, before Dudley could work out what he'd said.
機智又幽默的小哈利。后面我們會看到他的各種懟人金句，當然，主要用在了馬爾福身上。
His face went from red to green faster than a set of traffic lights. And it didn't stop there. Within seconds it was the grayish white of old porridge.
弗農(nóng)姨夫的臉色總是變得很快。
