Words

1. Their mother’s absence gnawed at them quietly, a dull and spreading hurt.”

gnaw,注意这个词的发音，g不音

这个词的本意是咬；啃；啮；If people or animals gnaw something or gnaw at it, they bite it repeatedly. 想想啃猪啼的动作，是不是得使劲反复在一个地方啃，比较烦，所以这个词的比喻意是If a feeling or thought gnaws at you, it causes you to keep worrying. 让你一直不得安心，一直让你烦心, 折磨

说说我的烦心事，The window rails of my neighborhood downstairs gnawed at me.

2. One morning in early June, when Lydia nodded off during a commercial break, he tiptoed toward the front door.

nod off (尤指不打算入睡时)打瞌睡，打盹；If younod off, you fall asleep, especially when you had not intended to.

He was nodding off to sleep in the sofa, holding his iPad, when I got up at midnight.

3. He would remember only the anger itself, which smoldered as if it had always been there.

smolder: 怒、仇恨等)郁积，憋在心里；If a feeling such as anger or hatred smolders inside you, you continue to feel it but do not show it.

I smoldered during the meeting with my boss yesterday.

Expressions

今天总结几个量词的使用。

1. Under the heel of Lydia’s shoe, a wad of bubble gum stuck her to the concrete like glue.

a wad of gum: 一团口香糖

这个量词我不会用，只会用a piece of gum,但这个意思表达可能是一块包装完好的口香糖，a wad of gum 就很清楚得知道它的状态。

2. ...there was nothing in the bag but a quart of milk, two jars of Jif, and a loaf of bread.

这三个比较简单

3. A trickle of syrupy spit nearly choked him, and he spat the half-chewed candy into the grass.

嘴里吃着糖，唾液变成粘粘的混着糖浆的状态，所以这里用了trickle 这个量词

4.  ...he would never again think of astronauts, of space, without recoiling, as if shielding his eyes from shards of glass.

shards of glass: 玻璃碎片， shards of china：陶瓷碎片

感悟：

James属于典型的高智商低情商的典范，最致命的弱点是不表达自己内心的真实感受，不沟通；对Marilyn如此，对孩子们也如此。

妈妈离家出走，爸爸也忽视两个孩子，忽视孩子们对妈妈、对家庭，对美好食物的渴望。James无疑是个不合格的爸爸，孩子细微的情绪变化他完全不在意，一头扎在自己的世界里。不解释，不关心，不许问问题。

原本就内向的两个孩子性格，在妈妈失踪之谜后的日子有了不一样却类似的轨迹：

Nath误解了Jack的的好意；他的对航空的兴趣分散了对妈妈离家的注意力，却被老爹的巴掌打蒙了，只好默默独自一个人沉迷在自己的兴趣中。

Lydia却没有哥哥那么幸运，她发现了妈妈从姥姥那里带回来的那本菜谱书。在似懂非懂的状态下，躲在桌子下面，任凭自己的泪水打湿了书，留个一个一个鼓包。她觉得妈妈也是伤心的，因为他们做错了什么。只要能妈妈回来，她愿意做一切妈妈要求的事情。

Marilyn离家，饱受分离之痛，但心里的医生梦支撑着她。但是怀孕的身体变化，导致了一场意外受伤，不得不去医院急诊。她碰到女医生为她手术，与James 重聚回家后，完全变了。她把自己的梦想延续到女儿Lydia身上，女儿会成为另一个自己，成为一个女医生。她不再为家人精心准备早餐，饮食，把全部经历放在了女儿的学业上。

让人意外的是，Marilyn失踪近三个月回家后，没有跟James解释，没有跟孩子们解释。但这个事件却成了家里永远解不开的结。

因此当Marilyn把自己的梦想加在Lydia身上的时候，Lydia全盘接受，只为讨好妈妈，不让她失望。Marilyn以为Lydia象自己一样热爱医学，喜欢读医学相关书籍，甚至送女儿真的听诊器当礼物。这一切不过是Marilyn的幻觉。

Marilyn对Lydia的过分关注甚至忽视了在她肚子里生长的小女儿。