【英语原著】哈利·波特与魔法石 （19）

‘I know you haven’t,’ said Professor McGonagall, sounding half-exasperated, half-admiring. ‘But you’re different. Everyone knows you’re the only one You-Know – oh, all right, Voldemort – was frightened of.’
‘You flatter me,’ said Dumbledore calmly. ‘Voldemort had powers I will never have.’
‘Only because you’re too – well – noble to use them.’
‘It’s lucky it’s dark. I haven’t blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs.’
Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, ‘The owls are nothing to the rumours that are flying around. You know what everyone’s saying? About why he’s disappeared? About what finally stopped him?’
It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever ‘everyone’ was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another sherbet lemon and did not answer.

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Rowling, J.K.. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone . Bloomsbury. Kindle Edition.

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Knowledge Point

• ‘I know you haven’t,’ said Professor McGonagall, sounding half-exasperated, half-admiring.
  ⇒ exasperated [adjective]
  annoyed, especially because you can do nothing to solve a problem
  ⇒ sounding half-exasperated, half-admiring
  （听起来一半愤怒一半羡慕）

• ‘But you’re different. Everyone knows you’re the only one You-Know – oh, all right, Voldemort – was frightened of.’
  ⇒ 有半句有不少口语成分，要表达的意思是：
  Everyone knows you’re the only one that/which Voldemort was frightened of.
  “the only one”为先行词引导的定语从句

• ‘You flatter me,’ said Dumbledore calmly. ‘Voldemort had powers I will never have.’
  ⇒ flatter [verb]
  to praise someone in order to make them feel attractive or important, sometimes in a way that is not sincere
  ⇒ Voldemort had powers I will never have. （定语从句）

• ‘Only because you’re too – well – noble to use them.’
  ⇒ noble [adjective]
  moral in a honest, brave and kind way

• ‘It’s lucky it’s dark. I haven’t blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs.’
  ⇒ flush [verb]
  to become pink in the face, usually from embarrassment
  ⇒ earmuffs [noun] 耳套
  ⇒ “幸亏这里很黑，庞弗雷夫人说她喜欢我的新耳套以后，我还没有像现在这样脸红过呢。”

• Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, ‘The owls are nothing to the rumours that are flying around. You know what everyone’s saying? About why he’s disappeared? About what finally stopped him?’
  ⇒ be nothing to 对……无足轻重；不能与……相比
  ⇒ The owls are nothing to the rumours that are flying around.
  和漫天的谣言相比，这些猫头鹰又算得了什么？

• It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now.
  ⇒ “reach”用得很地道。
  ⇒ the point she was most anxious to discuss
  the real reason she had been waiting on a cold hard wall all day
  定语从句
  ⇒ “had she fixed Dumbledore”，倒装
  ⇒ a piercing stare
  used to describe the fact of a person looking very carefully at someone or something, especially when they are trying to discover something, often making people feel uncomfortable
  ⇒ ...for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now.
  因为无论是作为一只猫还是一位女士，她（Professor McGonagal）都没有用现在这样锐利的目光盯着Dumbledore。

• It was plain that whatever ‘everyone’ was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true.
  ⇒ plain [adjective]
  obvious and clear to understand
  ⇒ 很明显，无论“每个人”在说什么，直到Dumbledore告诉她那是真的她才肯相信。

• Dumbledore, however, was choosing another sherbet lemon and did not answer.
  ⇒ Dumbledore沉默吃糖不回答，看来Voldemort没有完全被干掉。

知识星球——读英语原著