【英语原著】哈利·波特与魔法石 （6）

Mr Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn’t, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. He didn’t see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. Most of them had never seen an owl even at night-time. Mr Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more. He was in a very good mood until lunch-time, when he thought he’d stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the baker’s opposite.

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

Knowledge Point

• "Mr Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. "
  ⇒ ...sat with his back to the window...
  背对着窗坐着。（为什么呢？因为不这样做就无法集中精神。）

• "If he hadn’t, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning."
  ⇒ （因为）如果他不这样做（背窗而坐），他觉得那个早上很难把注意力集中在钻机上。

• "He didn’t see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead."
  ⇒ in broad daylight adv.
  在光天化日之下；在大庭广众之下；大白天
  ⇒ swoop verb
  to move very quickly and easily through the air, especialy down from a height in order to attack
  ⇒ ...though people (down in the street) did...
  He didn’t 但是在大街上的 people did。（这样看是不是就能理解了呢！）

• "...they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead."
  ⇒ 除了“fly”，speed的动词用法也能描写飞禽在头顶上“飞”过，而且强调的是“快速飞过”。
  ⇒ 这句描写在我脑海中真的可以浮现出这样一个画面：突然一大群猫头鹰居然在大白天活动，还一个接着一个（owl after owl）快速飞过行人的头顶，我猜想这数量应该很多吧。人们抬头看到如此罕见的奇怪景象，纷纷指着天空、目不转睛地（gaze）张大嘴巴，瞠目结舌的一幕。

• "Most of them had never seen an owl even at night-time."
  ⇒ 即便是在晚上，大多数人也没有看见过一直猫头鹰。

• "Mr Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning."
  ⇒ owl-free （这里的free可以理解成without）
  由名词加上形容词的复合形容词：
  interest-free 免息的
  toll-free （电话）免费的

• "He yelled at five different people."
  ⇒ yell verb.
  to shout something or make a loud noise, usually when you are angry, in pain, or excited

• "He was in a very good mood until lunch-time, when he thought he’d stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the baker’s opposite."
  ⇒ ...stretch his legs...
  （尤其指久坐以后）散散步，活动腿脚
  ⇒ bun noun.
  a small, sweet, usually round cake

  
  【英语原著】哈利·波特与魔法石 （6）