Chapter Three Letters from No One 猫头鹰传书
语境词汇
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 [krʌtʃ]
n.拐杖；支柱；依靠；胯部
vt.用拐杖支撑；支持
Smeltings’ boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers, and flat straw hats called boaters.
maroon [mə'ruːn]
n.褐红色；逃亡黑人奴隶；孤立的人
v.使孤立；放逐到无人岛上adj.褐红色的
boater /ˈbəʊtə(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 ['grʌfli]
adv.粗暴地；粗声地；生硬地
The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink.
parch [pɑːtʃ]
vt.烤，烘；使干透
vi.焦干；烤干
parchment ['pɑːtʃm(ə)nt]
n.羊皮纸；羊皮纸文稿
Uncle Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust, and flipped over the postcard.
flip [flɪp]
vt.掷；轻击vi.用指轻弹；蹦跳
adj.无礼的；轻率的n.弹；筋斗
“Marge's ill,” he informed Aunt Petunia. “Ate a funny whelk…”
whelk [welk]
n.青春痘；[皮肤] 酒刺；峨螺
“That's mine!” said Harry, trying to snatch it back.
snatch [snætʃ]
n.抢夺；抓举；小量
vt.夺得；抽空做；及时救助vi.抢走；很快接受
“Get out, both of you,” croaked Uncle Vernon, stuffing the letter back inside its envelope.
croak [krəʊk]
vi.呱呱地叫；发牢骚；死 vt.用嘶哑的声音说；死亡
n.呱呱叫声；低沉沙哑的说话声
“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 [skrʌf]
n.颈背；后颈
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 /prɒmpt/
v. 提示，鼓励；促进；激起；导致；（给演员）提白
adj. 敏捷的，迅速的；立刻的，及时的；准时的；（商品）即期要送的
n. 提示，提词；（电脑屏幕上的）提示符；鼓励；催促；付款期限
adv. 准时地
dangle /ˈdæŋɡl/
v. （使）摇晃地悬挂着；提着；炫示；用……来诱惑（或激励）
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 [bɔːl]
vi.大叫；放声痛哭
vt.大声叫出；大声宣布；叫卖
n.叫骂声
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 [wæk]
vt.重打；猛击；击败；削减vi.重击
n.重击；尝试；份儿；机会
With a strangled cry, Uncle Vernon leapt from his seat and ran down the hall, Harry right behind him.
strangle ['stræŋg(ə)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 [wiːz]
vi.喘息；呼哧呼哧地响vt.喘息着说；喘息地发出
n.喘息；喘气声
Harry leapt into the air; he'd trodden on something big and squashy on the doormat — something alive!
tread /tred/
v. 踩，践踏；行走，沿着……走；交尾
n. 步态，脚步声；（轮胎的）胎面；梯面；钢轨踏面；鞋底
现在分词 treading过去式 trod或treaded过去分词 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 [ʃred]
n.碎片；少量剩余；最少量；破布
vt.切成条状；用碎纸机撕毁vi.撕碎
food processor
食品加工机；食物处理机
“No post on Sundays,” he reminded them cheerfully as he spread marmalade on his newspapers, “no damn letters today—”
marmalade ['mɑːməleɪd]
n.橘子或柠檬等水果制成的果酱
vt.涂橘子或柠檬酱于…adj.橘子酱色的
Something came whizzing down the kitchen chimney as he spoke and caught him sharply on the back of the head.
whiz [hwɪz]
n.飕飕声；奇才
vi.飕飕作声vt.使飕飕作声
Next moment, thirty or forty letters came pelting out of the fireplace like bullets.
pelt [pelt]
vt.攻击或投掷；剥皮vi.连续投掷；雨等急降
n.毛皮；打击
Ten minutes later they had wrenched their way through the boarded-up doors and were in the car, speeding toward the highway.
wrench /rentʃ/
n. 扳手，扳钳；扭伤；痛苦；歪曲；猛扭
vt. 扭伤；猛扭；曲解；折磨vi. 扭伤；猛扭；猛绞
Uncle Vernon stopped at last outside a gloomy-looking hotel on the outskirts of a big city.
gloomy ['gluːmɪ]
adj.黑暗的；沮丧的；阴郁的
They ate stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes on toast for breakfast the next day.
stale [steɪl]
adj.陈腐的；不新鲜的 n.尿
vi.变陈旧；撒尿；变得不新鲜vt.使变旧；变得不新鲜
It started to rain. Great drops beat on the roof of the car. Dudley sniveled.
snivel ['snɪv(ə)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 [pɜːtʃ]
n.鲈鱼; 高位；栖木；杆
vt.栖息；就位；位于；使坐落于
vi.栖息；就位；位于
shack [ʃæk]
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 /ˈæmbl/
vi. （马）缓行；从容漫步
n. （马的）缓行步态；漫步
“I've already got us some rations,” said Uncle Vernon, “so all aboard!”
ration ['ræʃ(ə)n]
vt.配给；定量供应
n.定量；口粮；配给量
Icy sea spray and rain crept down their necks and a chilly wind whipped their faces.
whip /wɪp/
n. 鞭子；鞭策者；纪律委员；投票指示；
搅拌器；蛋奶水果甜点心；抽打；车夫
v. 抽打；猛然移动；促使，煽动；搅打（蛋，奶油）；偷盗（非正式）；
彻底击败（非正式）；用细绳缠绕加固；急走；拍击
He tried to start a fire but the empty chip bags just smoked and shriveled up.
shrivel /ˈʃrɪvl/
vi. 枯萎；皱缩
vt. 使枯萎；使皱缩；使束手无策
Spray from the high waves splattered the walls of the hut and a fierce wind rattled the filthy windows.
hut [hʌt]
n.小屋；临时营房
vt.使住在小屋中；驻扎vi.住在小屋中；驻扎
Aunt Petunia found a few moldy blankets in the second room and made up a bed for Dudley on the moth-eaten sofa.
moldy ['məʊldɪ]
adj.发霉的；乏味的；陈腐的
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 ['lʌmpɪ]
adj.粗笨的；波浪起伏的；多块状物的
The storm raged more and more ferociously as the night went on.
ferocious /fəˈrəʊʃəs/
adj. 残忍的；惊人的
Five minutes to go. Harry heard something creak outside.
creak /kriːk/
v. （门、木地板等）嘎吱作响；（过劳或紧张）显得虚弱
n. 嘎吱声
Three minutes to go. Was that the sea, slapping hard on the rock like that?
slap /slæp/
v. 掌击，拍击；掴……的耳光；侮辱；（快速地、随意地或用力地）涂抹
n. 掴；掌击；拍打声；侮辱；（非正式，厚厚的或随意涂抹的）化妆品
adv. 直接地；猛然地；恰好
adj. 精力不足的；（食物）松软的，过于柔软的
Was the rock crumbling into the sea?
crumble /ˈkrʌmbl/
vi. 崩溃；破碎，粉碎vt. 崩溃；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.
读到后面，哈利波特与凤凰社，海格讲巨人那部分，不禁想起了这句对达力为什么成为头儿的解释。
“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.
机智又幽默的小哈利。后面我们会看到他的各种怼人金句，当然，主要用在了马尔福身上。
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.
弗农姨夫的脸色总是变得很快。