新的一年，Bryce的外公来到家里，外公在Bryce眼中是个有点boring的人，整天要么坐在窗前，看着Juli家的草坪，要么就是看报纸。某一天，外公第一次叫住Bryce，小男孩还激动了一下，觉得外公终于开始关心他了（这里觉得他有点可爱）。可是没想到外公是因为看到Juli的报道，才叫住他的，不是想跟他沟通，而是想多了解Juli而已。所以我想，Bryce在这里说Juli不好，可能也有一部分原因是因为这个，毕竟还都是孩子，Bryce也需要长辈的关怀。

Words

1. weird   adj.不可思议的，怪诞的，奇怪的    n.命运，宿命，厄运

At first it was kind of weird because none of us really knew him.

2. distraction    消遣，娱乐，注意力分散

those things are all distraction.

3. maple  枫树，淡棕色         birch  桦树，桦木；抽打，鞭挞

Not that I could tell a sycamore from a maple or a birch for that matter......

4. gnarle  多节的，（树，树木）扭曲的       bend  （手）粗糙的

It was twisted and gnarled and bent, and I kept expecting the thing......

5. scourge  天灾，灾难，苦难的根源，鞭打，重惩

This from the girl who lives in a house that's the scourge of the neighborhood.

6. bug  折磨，烦恼，使痛苦

......but the Baker's mess bugged my dad big-time......

7. dude  花花公子，（俚）男人，家伙

And you'd think Juli's dad-- who's a big, strong, brick-laying dude -- would fix the place up......

8. aesthetic  审美的，美的      sensibilities  情感，敏感性，灵敏度      permanently  永久地，长期不变地      screw up  扭歪，拧紧，把.......搞糟

Maybe Juli's aesthetic sensibilities have been permanently screwed up by her father and none of this is her fault......

9. squeal  叫喊

......before Juli squealed my name for the world to hear.

10. foliage  树叶

It was the day after Juli had rescued my kite from its mutant toy-eating foliage.

11. hostage  人质，抵押品

She didn't hold my kite hostage and stick her lips out ......

12. weenie  蠢货，细小的，微小的

I was relieved, but I also felt like a weenie.

13. goner  无可救药的人，将死者，落魄的人，无望的人

I was sure it was a goner.

14. bungee  蹦极

It felt like I was on top of the Empire State Buliding without a bungee.

15. shatter  粉碎，使破碎，损坏

Then junior high started and my dream of a Juli-free existence shattered.

16. mortify  使受辱，伤害

......or talk to me, or in some other way mortify me.

17. pesky  讨厌的，烦人的      bossy  专横的，凸出的

The girl arguing with those men was Juli - the world's peskiest, bossiest......

18. chew 咀嚼，咬，深思

......smoking as they chewed through wood.

19. lopside  偏向一边

The tree looked lopsided and naked......

20. summon  召唤，传唤

Then that night, right before dinner, my grandfather summoned me into the front room.

21. acquaint  使熟悉，使认识

The  man's had a year and a half to get acquainted......

22. whisker  细须，连鬓胡子

.......and I've never seen a whisker on him.

23. amputate  截肢，切断，砍掉

Another few pounds and that ring's going to amputate his finger.

24. stalk   茎，偷偷接近

And she's been stalking me since the second grade.

25. flinch   退缩，畏惧

but he didn't flinch.

26. sulky  生气的，绷着脸的，生闷气的

At dinner my mother asked me why I was so sulky......

Prases

1. crossword puzzle   填字游戏

he also reads Tom Clancy novels and the newspapers and does crossword puzzles......

2. vacant lot   空地

this sycamore tree, was up the hill on a vacant lot on Collier Street.

3. blow over   吹过

I kept expecting the thing to blow over in the wind.

4. yak about   没完没了，喋喋不休，唠叨

One day last year I'd finally had enough of her yakking about that stupid tree.

5. visually challenged   视障

She said I was visually challenged.

6. scramble up   爬上，巴结

She scrambled up and got it down in no time.

7. buffer zone   缓冲地带       comfort zone    舒适区

......which created a buffer zone, but it was no comfort zone.

8. bail on   保释，放弃

But all of a sudden my stomach completely bailed on me. 

9. blow sb off   甩掉

But I couldn't exactly blow him off.

10. be miffed at sb  对...恼火，有点生气

Not that he had anything to be miffed at me about.

11. sneak a peek   先睹为快，快速前瞻，偷窥

And I completely avoided looking at him until about halfway through dinner, when I sneaked a peek.

@jour  整理完毕