英文短篇故事（纽约）511 Voted Most Popular at Picnics

 　　Ellie was in the ninth grade. Occasionally, a particular group of girls invited Ellie to their gatherings¹. Ellie's best friend, Suzanne, was puzzled. She said, "You have nothing in common with those girls. Why do they invite you to their get-togethers? They're using you. I just can't figure out why." Ellie said, "What's there to figure out? You're just being too suspicious². I think they really do like me." Suzanne said, "No, those girls don't like people. They just like to use people. Have you noticed a pattern to their invitations?" Ellie said, "They never invite me to their pajama parties, if that's what you mean. They always invite me to parks and picnics. And I hate being outdoors in warm weather. I have high blood sugar. The bugs³ and mosquitoes eat me alive." Suzanne said, “See? I knew it! That's why you're there. So the bugs can eat you!"

1 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

2 suspicious   

adj.可疑的，容易引起怀疑的，猜疑的，疑心的

参考例句：

• A man was hanging about the house in a suspicious manner.一个男人在房子周围可疑地荡来荡去。
• He's so suspicious he would distrust his own mother.他这个人疑心太重，连自己的母亲也不相信。

3 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》