Wonders by R.J. Palacio

Expressions

1. The first time I meet Olivia's little brother, I have to admit I'm totally taken by surprise.

take/ catch sb by surprise: to happen unexpectedly

The question took her on surprise.

take sb/ sth by surprise 另一个不太熟悉的意思是：to suddenly attack a place or an opponent when they are not ready

The guerrillas were killed when army troops took them by surprise.

2. Her room is immaculate.

immaculate: 1. very clean and tidy

an immaculate kitchen

2. exactly correct or perfect in every detail, flawless

her immaculate stage performance

maculate:(n.) 斑点

3. I'm definitely stressing about meeting her folks.

It adds an extra-folksy element to have the stage manager plucking on a fiddle.

folks: [plural] 1. your parents and family

Is it OK if I call my folks?

2. used when talking to a group of people in a friendly way

That's all for now folks.

folky: 1. （音乐）乡村风的 -- 例句里的folksy即是此意；2. friendly and informal

The town had a certain folksy charm.

4. The mom interjects as she cleans the floor, to see if I'm okay with his bringing home some homeless guy's dogs.

interject: to interrupt what someone else is saying with a sudden remark

"That's absolute rubbish!" he interjected.

interjection: (n.) 1. an interruption, or the act of interruption; 2. 感叹词 = exclamation

5. She's a happy dog, like she knows she lucked out that day finding this family.

luck out: (v.) informal, to be lucky

We really lucked out and got a parking space right in front.

补充一个luck的词组：wish sb (the best of) luck

She wished me luck in the exam, and then left.

with any luck/ with a bit of luck: spoken, if things happen in the way that you want. SYN hopefully

With a bit of luck, you might get a flight tomorrow.

6. I have a half brother who's five years old than me and barely knows I exist.

half brother/ sister: 同父异母/同母异父兄弟（姐妹）

half brother VS step brother: 后者没有血缘关系，是继父/继母带过来的兄弟

7. I heard through the grapevine that he'd been planning on doing the elephant man but changed it to our town at the last minute.

grapevine：葡萄藤

hear sth on the grapevine： to hear about something because the information has been passed from one person to another in conversation

I heard about his resignation on the grapevine.

8. I fish a dollar out of my pocket.

She starts fishing through her bad and pulls out of her wallet.

fish: informal, to search for sth in a bag, pocket etc

fish about/ around, fish for sth

She fished around in her purse and pulled out a photo.

Chris fished in his pocket for a coin.

复习: The Gay Genius 里的 fish for fame 沽名钓誉

补充 fish for compliments: 故意先贬低自己来使对方说好话赞美你

It's sickening the way he's always fishing for compliments.

9. I walk over to them, my face scrunched up, mean-looking.

scrunch sth up: (v.) 把...揉成小团

I scrunched up the letter and threw it in the bin.

scrunch up one's face/ eyes: 扭曲面部

He scrunched up his eyes and grinned.

类似表达: distort one's face

10. Maybe it is a lottery, but the universe makes it all even out in the end.

even out:(v.) if things even out, or if you even them out, the differences between them become smaller

The differences in their income should even out over time.

Use a brush to even out the variations in color.

类似表达: level out

Thoughts

今天是我的生日，刚刚过完年马上又收到一轮生日红包，下午去蛋糕店拿了蛋糕，我突然想给自己送一个礼物。我想送给自己一颗坚强乐观的心，送给自己一个博学善学的大脑，送给自己一份善良谦逊的品性。我告诉自己，在未来的这一年里要不断提升自己，并且无论遇到多大的困境都要感恩生活保持乐观的心态。最近看奇迹男孩看入迷了，我喜欢书里的August, Jack, Summer, Via和Justin。一个人外表的美丑会随着他（她）内心的美丑而改变的，一个善良的朋友相处越久越会觉得他（她）漂亮，一个内心狭隘的人即使外表帅气或靓丽也会让人渐渐感到面目可憎。另一个从这本书里获得的感悟是，这个世界不会永远善意对待你，总会有Julian那样的人，总会遭遇冷眼、嘲讽、甚至暗强冷箭，然而永远不要因此否定自己，真正能打败我们的、真正能让我感到痛苦的其实是自己的心魔。Wonder这本书的August和美剧This is us里的 Kate Pierson，他们对自己的妈妈（Kate --爸爸）说我只有在你眼里是漂亮的，但这个世界并不以你看我的眼光来看我。然而即使这个世界不会对我们温柔以待，我们仍可以选择对自己温柔以待，看到自己内心的美好和强大，不要因为外界的负面声音而失去爱自己、信任自己的能力。