读英文 | The Naked Face 01

The Naked Face is the first novel (1970) written by Sidney Sheldon. It was nominated by the Mystery Writers of America for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel by an American Author.
——Wikipedia

▍Chapter One & Two

Ⅰ. 词汇、表达：

He had a massive head with deep-set steely blue eyes and a weary, humorless mouth.

• deep-set [adj.] (formal) eyes that are deep-set seem to be quite far back in a person's face （眼睛）深陷的
• steely /ˈstiːli/ [adj.] like steel in colour （色泽）似钢的
  e.g. steely blue eyes 灰蓝色的眼睛
• weary [adj.] very tired, especially after you have been working hard or doing sth for a long time（尤指长时间努力工作后）疲劳的，疲倦的，疲惫的

His features were clean-cut, sensitive. His eyes were brown and alert.

• clean-cut [adj.] (especially of a young man 尤指年轻男子) looking neat and clean and therefore socially acceptable 外表整洁的

It took an instant for his words to sink in.

• sink in 终于被充分理解；终于被完全领悟 When a statement or fact sinks in, you finally understand or realize it fully.
  e.g. The implication took a while to sink in. 其中的含意要花点时间才能完全领会。

“I need a receptionist. I think you’d be marvelous at the job.”
She looked at him unbelievingly. “You’re putting me on. I can’t take shorthand or type.”

• put on [Slang] To tease or mislead (another) [俚语] 戏弄或使（别人）误入歧途
  e.g. You're putting me on! 你在开我的玩笑
• shorthand (NAmE also stenography) [un] a quick way of writing using special signs or abbreviations, used especially to record what sb is saying 速记（法）

“This is the first psychiatrist’s office I’ve ever been in,” Angeli said, openly impressed. “I wish my house looked like this.”
“It relaxes my patients,” Judd said easily. “And by the way, I’m a psychoanalyst.”

• psychiatrist /saiˈkaiətrist/ [cn] 精神科医生；精神病学家
• psychoanalyst /ˌsaikəuˈænəlist/ (also analyst) [cn] 精神分析学家

“What’s happened to him?”
“Happened to who?” McGreavy asked.
“My patient—John Hanson.”
“Check,” Angeli said gently. “You hit the bull’s-eye. The reason Mr. Hanson couldn’t return the coat himself is that he’s dead.”

• bull's-eye [cn]（做事、说话命中的）要害 If something that you do or say hits the bull's eye, it has exactly the effect that you intended it to have.

Ⅱ. 段落摘录：

▏AT TEN MINUTES before eleven in the morning, the sky exploded into a carnival of white confetti that instantly blanketed the city. The soft snow turned the already frozen streets of Manhattan to gray slush and the icy December wind herded the Christmas shoppers toward the comfort of their apartments and homes.

▏They talked of things she had never heard of, and about subjects in which she considered herself the world’s greatest living expert. Months afterward she used to lie awake, trying to recall the word, the idea, the magic phrase that had changed her. She had never been able to because she finally realized there had been no magic word. What Dr.Stevens had done was simple. He had talked to her. Really talked to her. No one had ever done that before. He had treated her like a human being, an equal, whose opinions and feelings he cared about.

— END —