口語大師脫口成章成就篇Waiting for the Breeze-祈盼清風(fēng)
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Lie in bed, by an open window, and listen...
“No air conditioning? How can you sleep?” a friend asks, horrified. I’ve just revealed that my family has decided to shut the air conditioner off and [1] trim our electric bill.
On this first night of our cost-cutting adventure, it’s only 85 degrees. We’re not going to suffer, but the three kids grumble anyway.
“It’s too hot to sleep,” my 13-year-old daughter moans. “I’m about to die from this heat,” her brother hollers down the hall. “Just try it tonight,” I tell them. In truth I’m too tired to argue for long. My face is sweaty, but I lie quietly listening to the cricket choirs outside that remind me of childhood.
I think about Grandma, who lived to 92 and still supervised my mom’s gardening until just a few weeks before she died. And then, I’m back there at her house in the summer heat of my childhood. I move my pillow to the foot of Grandma’s bed and angle my face toward the open window. I [2] flip the pillow, hunting for the cooler side.
Grandma sees me [3] thrashing. “If you’ll just watch for the breeze,” she says, “you’ll cool off and fall asleep.” She cranks up the Venetian blinds. I stare at the filmy white curtain, willing it to flutter. Lying still, waiting, I suddenly notice the life outside the window. The bug choruses . Neighbors, porch-sitting late, speak in hazy words with sanded edges that soothe me.
“Mom, did you hear that?” my seven-year-old blurts. “I think it was an owl family.”
“Probably,” I tell him. “Just keep listening...”
Without the [4] droning air conditioner, the house is oddly peaceful, and the unfiltered night noises seem close enough to touch. I hope I’m awake tonight when the first breeze sneaks in.
crank // v. 轉(zhuǎn)動(dòng)（曲柄）
Venetian blind 軟百葉窗
filmy // adj. 朦朧的
flutter // v. 飄動(dòng)
chorus // n. 合唱
hazy // adj. 模糊的
soothe // v. （使）平靜
owl // n. 貓頭鷹
unfiltered // adj. 未過濾的
sneak // v. 偷偷摸摸地做（事）
窗邊靜躺，細(xì)心聆聽……
“不開空調(diào)？能睡得著嗎？” 聽說家人要為了節(jié)電而把家里的空調(diào)關(guān)掉時(shí)，我的朋友一臉驚愕。
在大膽嘗試節(jié)電的第一天晚上，氣溫不過華氏85度而已。我們不覺得難受，但三個(gè)孩子卻抱怨連天。
“太熱了！怎么睡??！”我那十三歲的女兒不停地嘀咕。“我快被熟死了，”她弟弟的牢騷也從客廳的另一頭傳了過來。我只好說：“今晚就試著忍一忍好嗎？”其實(shí)我根本沒有力氣再向他們多作解釋。臉上出汗了。我靜靜地躺著，聆聽著窗外蟋蟀的合奏曲，思緒被牽回到了童年的時(shí)光。
這時(shí)禁不住想起了外婆，她活到92歲，直到去世前的幾個(gè)星期，她一直都幫助媽媽護(hù)理著花園?；氐搅送暄谉岬南募荆氐搅送馄诺男∥?。我把枕頭移到奶奶的床尾，臉對(duì)著窗。于是我把枕頭翻過來，讓比較涼的一面朝上。
看到我翻來覆去地睡不著，外婆說：“只要用心去感受和祈盼，風(fēng)會(huì)來的，這樣你就可以一身清涼地進(jìn)入夢(mèng)鄉(xiāng)了。”她把百葉窗拉了起來，于是我便一直注視著朦朧的白窗簾，等待它的飄動(dòng)。靜靜地躺著，期盼著，這時(shí)我忽然感到了窗外世界的生命。小蟲的輕唱，門廊外坐著閑聊的鄰居，他們模糊不清的喋喋細(xì)語開始催我入眠。
“媽媽，你聽到了嗎？”我那七歲的孩子嚷嚷了起來，“我覺得那是貓頭鷹一家子在叫！”
“很有可能，再仔細(xì)聽……”
沒有了空調(diào)機(jī)的嗡嗡響，房間里飄溢著一種奇異的祥和氣氛，還有未經(jīng)過濾的，親近得伸手就可以觸摸到的夜聲。真的希望，當(dāng)?shù)谝豢|清風(fēng)悄然而至?xí)r，我還能夠醒著迎接她的到來。
增值英語
1.trim的本意是“修剪、整理”，如果你種了一棵小樹，就要經(jīng)常地 “trim dead branches off a tree”，“修剪樹上的枯枝”；此處的trim當(dāng)然是和“修剪”無關(guān)，而是表示“減少、壓縮”，比如說“I’ve trimmed my composition from 1000 words to 500”, 這就是說“我把作文從1000字壓縮到500字”。
2. 此處的flip向我們描述了“翻轉(zhuǎn)” 的動(dòng)作，如果你看見弟弟在煎魚，一面已經(jīng)要“糊”了，而另一面還沒熟，就要趕緊吩咐他：“Flip the fish on its back!”（把魚翻個(gè)身）；另外我們經(jīng)常會(huì)用投擲硬幣的方式，來決定什么事情，flip就可以表達(dá)“投擲、輕拋”的概念，比如說“Let’s flip a coin to see who goes first” (用投硬幣的方式?jīng)Q定誰先去)。
3.thrash：輾轉(zhuǎn)反側(cè)、睡不著覺的滋味很讓人難受，thrash就是用來形容這種滋味的，如果你心里惦記著心愛的姑娘是否會(huì)在第二天答應(yīng)你的求婚，就可能 “spent most of the night just thrashing around” (大半夜躺在床上輾轉(zhuǎn)反側(cè))，不過這種滋味是人人都有過?。?
4.此處的drone表示“（空調(diào)）嗡翁聲”，當(dāng)然“嗡嗡聲”不僅來自“空調(diào)”，我們還經(jīng)?？梢月牭?ldquo;Bees are droning among the flowers”(蜜蜂在花叢中嗡嗡叫)，“A plane droned overhead”(飛機(jī)在頭頂上嗡嗡飛過)。
