大学英语精读第二册 Unit Seven

       My  mind  went  numb when  I saw  the gun  pointing   against  the car
      window as  we pulled out  of the  garage: This  can't  be happening  to me. 
     Then I felt the gun, cold, against  my head,  and I heard  my friend  Jeremy 
    saying, "What  do you want?  Take  my wallet, " but  at  the time I  thought
5  of nothing.  
         I remember  being  vaguely  annoyed when the  gunman pulled me from
     the car by the hair. I  remember  the  walk  to the house - Jeremy,   me, the 
     two  men with  two guns. I rernember  the fear and anger  in  the  gunmen's 
     voices because Jeremy was being slow, and I remember wondering why he
10 was being slow. I did not realize that Jeremy had  thrown  the keys  into the
     shrubbery. But I remember  the sound  of the gun hitting Jeremy's head and 
     the feeling as the man who had hold of my hair released me.And I remember
     the  split second when I realized he  was looking at Jeremy, and I remember
     wondering  how far  I could run  before  he  pulled  the  trigger.    But I was 
15 already  running,  and  upon  reaching   the  car  across  the  street, I  didn't 
    crouch behind it but screamed instead.
         I remember thinking there  was  something  absurdly melodramatic about 
    screaming "Help, help! " at eight o'clock on a Tuesday evening in December 
    and changing  my  plea  to the more specific "Help;  let me in,  please let me
20 in! " But the  houses were  cold, closed, unfriendly, and I ran on until I 
     heard Jeremy's  screams behind  me announcing that our attackers had fled. 
         The  neighbors  who had  not  opened  their doors  to us came  out with
    baseball bats and helped Jeremy find his glasses and  keys. In a group  they 
    were very  brave. We waited  for the cops  to come  until  someone  said to 
25 someone  else  that  the   noodles  were  getting  cold,  and  I  said politely, 
    "Please go and eat: We're O.K. "
         I was happy to see them go. They had been  talking of  stiffer  sentences
     for criminals, of bringing back the death penalty and how  the  President  is 
     going  to clean up the country. I was  thinking,  they could be saying  all of
30 this over  my dead  body, and  I  still  feel  that  stiffer  sentences  wouldn't 
    change a thing. In a rush all  the rage I should  have  felt  for  my   attackers
    was  directed  against  these  oontented  people  standing  in  front  of  their 
    warm, cozy  homes talking about all the  guns they were going to buy. What 
    good would guns have been to Jeremy and me?
35      People all over the neighborhood had called  to  report our screams, and 
    the  police turned out in force  twenty minutes  later.They  were  ill-tempered 
    about  what  was,  to them, much ado  about  nothing. After  all, Jeremy was 
    hardly  hurt, and we were hopeless when it came  to identification. "Typical," 
    said one cop when  we couldn't  even agree  on how tall the men were. Both 
40 of us  were  able  to describe  the  guns  in  hornfying  detail,  but   the  two
    policemen  who stayed  to make the report  didn't think that would be much 
    help.
         The cops were matter-of-fact about the  whole thing. The  thin one  said,
    "That was a  stupid thing to do, throwing away the keys: When a man has a 
45 gun against your,  head you do what you're told. " Jeremy looked properly 
     sheepish.
         Then  the  fat cop  came up and  the thin one went  to look  around  the 
     outside of the house "That was the best thing you could have done, throw-
     ing  away the keys, " he said. " If you had gone  into the  house  with them 
50 . . . " His voice  trailed off. "They  would  have  hurt  her" - he   jerked  his
    head toward me - "and killed you both. " Jeremy  looked happier. "Look, " 
    said the  fat cop kindly,  "there's   no  right  or wrong  in the  situation.
    There's just luck. "
         All that sleepless  night I replayed  the moment  those black gloves came
55 up to the car window. How long  did the  whole  thing  last?  Three  minutes, 
    five, eight?  No matter. how many  hours  of  my life I may spend  reliving  it, 
    I  know  there  is no way  to   prepare   for   the   next   time - no   intelligent 
    response to a gun. The fat cop was  right: There's  only  luck. The next  time 
    I might end up dead.
60       And I'm sure there will be a next time. It can  happen  anywhere, anytime, 
    to  anyone.  Security is  an   illusion;  there  is  no  safety  in  locks or in guns. 
    Guns make some people feel  safe and  some people  feel strong, but  they're 
    fooling themselves.

                            New Words

   numb / a.                          having  lost  the power of feeling or 
                                               moving 失去感觉的，麻木的
  garage / n.                         building in which a car is kept 汽车库
  wallet / n.                          leather pocket-case for paper money, 
                                               cards, etc. 皮夹
 vaguely / ad.                      not clearly 模糊地
   vague a.
  annoy / vt.                         make rather angry 使恼怒
 guntnan n.                          a man armed with a gun,esp.a criminal 
                                               or terrorist 持枪歹徒
 shrubbery  n                       low  bushes  forming a mass  or  group 灌木丛
 release / vt .                        set free 松开;释放
 split /split/vt.                       divide into partS 劈开 
     split    second               very brief moment of time; instant 
                                                瞬间 , 一刹那
 trigger / n.                            扳机 
 crouch / vi.                          lower the body to the ground 蹲伏
 absurdly / ad.                       foolishly;ridiculously 愚蠢地, 荒唐可笑地
 absurd a.	
  melodramatic                       exciting in effect, often too much so  
             a.                              to be thought real 感情夸张的;闹剧式的
 plea / n.                                asking for sth. with strong feelings
                                                恳求 
 specific / a.	                     definite; not general 明确的;具体的
 flee /fli:/  v.	                     run away (from) 逃走;逃离
 baseball n.                           棒球(运动) ' 
  bat n.                                  球棒，球拍
 cop n.                                  ( informal ) policeman 
  noodle / n.                           (usu. pl. ) 面条 		
 stiff / a.                                severe 严厉的
 criminal / n.                          someone who has broken the law 罪犯
 penalty / n.                           punishment 惩罚
 rage / n.                               great anger 狂怒
 contented / a.                       satisfied; happy 满足的
 cozy / a.                               warm and comfortable 暖和舒适的
  ill-tempered / a.                   (often) angry  or  annoyed 脾气坏的;
                                                易怒的
 ado / n.                               trouble and excitement 忙乱
 hopeless a.                          giving no cause for hope; very bad or 
                                              unskilled 没有希望的;无能的
 identification / n.                  鉴别
   identify vt. 
  horrlfy / vt.                         frighten;shock very much 使恐怖;使震惊
 detail / n.                             small, particular fact 细节
 matter-of-fact / a.                 concerned with the facts; practical 
                                                  注重事实的；讲究实际的		
 sheepish / a.                         foolish or embarrassed by awareness of 
                                                a fault 局促不安的
 trail / vi.                               grow gradually weaker, dimmer, etc. 
  jerk / vt.                               pull or lift suddenly 猛拉, 猛抬
 replay vt                              play (match,recording,etc.) over again
                                                重放
 glove / n.                             手套 
 last vi.                                 go on
  relive vt.                              experience again,esp.in the imagination
  intelligent / a.                       clever; rational 聪明的 ; 明智的
 response / n.                        action done in answer;answer 反应;回答 
   respond vi.
  security / n.                         safety, freedom from danger or fear 
                                                 安全, 平安
   secure a.
  illusion /n.                           false perception;( the seeing of) sth.
                                               that does not really exist 错觉;幻觉

                              Phrases & Expressions

  pull out (of)                             move out (of) (车,船等)驶出
 have ( get, catch ) hold of         抓住
 bring back                               restore, reintroduce 恢复
 clean up                                  clean thoroughly and remove anything 
                                                    unwanted 彻底打扫；整肃
 turn out                                   appear; come or go out to see or do sth. 
                                                    出来 , 出动
 in force                                   in large numbers 大批地 , 人数众多地  
 much ado about nothing          a  lot  of  unnecessary  expression  of 
                                                excitement about things not serious or 
                                                    unimportant 无事生非; 小题大作
 come to                                   reach ( a particular point) in explaining,
                                                    etc. 谈到 ( 某一点 )
 agree on                                   have the same opinion on 
 in detail                                    giving a lot of facts 详细地 
 trail off                                    (voice, etc.)become gradually weal~er and 
                                                     fade into silence (声音等)逐渐变弱　
 no way                                    不可能
 preparer for                             get ready for 
 end up                                     finish 结束, 告终

	                     Proper Names

 Ruth Reichl /                         露丝·赖克尔
 Jeremy /                               杰里米（男子名）