Every summer, Penny travels to a family reunion barbeque. Penny is never excited, and this year is no different. She dreads the drive.
She does not like talking to her relatives. And she does not like the smell of hamburgers. (Penny is a vegetarian.)
When Penny arrives, she sees lots of familiar faces. It is July and Uncle Vernon is wearing a sweater. Uncle Vernon is always cold. It’s very mysterious.
She sees her cousin Polly. Polly has six children. The youngest one screams. Then the oldest one screams. Polly’s children are always screaming.
She sees many of her other cousins in the field playing softball. They play a softball game every year, and it always ends in a big argument. Penny wonders, again, why they never solve it.
Then Penny sees an incredibly handsome man. She stares at him. He catches her staring. He smiles and walks over to her. Penny is very nervous. She is nervous because a handsome man is walking up to her and she is nervous because this handsome man might be her cousin.
The man sticks out his hand and says, "Hi, I’m Paul."
"Hi, I’m Penny," Penny says. "Are we related?"
Paul laughs. "No, we are not related. I am Vernon's nurse. He is sick and needs to keep me close by. But he did not want to miss this barbeque!"
"Oh, thank goodness," Penny says and then blushes. Penny always blushes when she is nervous, embarrassed, or hot, and right now she is all three.
Handsome Paul laughs and says, "Would you like to go get a hamburger with me? They smell delicious."
Penny smiles, "Sure. I love hamburgers!"
THE END
【关键词】
1、 barbeque （n.） 烤肉；野餐
2、 dread （vt.） 惧怕
3、 vegetarian （n.） 素食者
4、 sweater （n.） 毛衣
5、 scream （vi.） 尖叫
6、 softball （n.） 垒球
7、 argument （n.） 争论
8、 incredibly （adv.） 难以置信地
9、 stick out（phr.）伸出
10、 blush （vi.） 泛红
【译文】爱在户外
每年夏天，彭妮都会前往“家庭团聚野外烧烤”会。彭妮从来就没有兴奋过，今年也不例外。她惧怕开车。
她不喜欢和亲戚们说话。而且她不喜欢汉堡包的味道。（彭妮是素食主义者。）
当彭妮到来时，她看到了很多熟悉的面孔。现在是七月，弗农姨父还穿着毛衣。弗农姨父总是很冷。这很神秘。
她看到表姐波莉。波莉有六个孩子。先是最小的一个尖叫。然后是最大的一个尖叫。波莉的孩子总是在尖叫。
她看到好多表兄弟都在田野里打垒球。他们每年都打垒球，而且比赛总是在面红耳赤的争吵中结束。彭妮就是搞不懂他们为什么永远无法解决它。
随后彭妮看到一个帅呆了的男士。她盯着他看。他觉察到了她的目光。他微笑着走向她来。彭妮非常紧张。她很紧张，因为一个帅哥正向她走来。她很紧张，因为这个帅哥可能是她的堂兄。
那个男人伸出手，说：“嗨，我是保罗。”
“嗨，我是彭妮，” 彭妮说。 “我们是亲戚吗？”
保罗笑了。 “不，我们不是亲戚。我是弗农的护士。他病了，需要我贴身照顾。可他不想错过这个烧烤聚会！”
“哦，谢天谢地，” 彭妮说，然后面颊绯红了。 彭妮在内心紧张，遭遇尴尬或天气闷热时总爱脸红，她现在的处境是三者合一。
帅气的保罗笑着说道：“你想和我一起去吃汉堡吗？它们香味扑鼻。”
彭妮微笑着说，“当然。我喜欢汉堡包！”
（完）
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