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A lack of narrative drive leaves the reader with piecemeal vignettes.

述缺乏吸引力，的只是一些支离破碎的片段。

Have you read any humour recently?

近来过什么幽默的东西吗?

Well, fingers crossed and hearts crescented that the Grim Reaper or Azrael do not read the Guardian.

好吧，食指和中指交叉（译注：一种祈求好运的手势），祈祷那个狞的持镰收割（译注：指死神）或死亡天使不要卫吧。

When I read how many people had died, I stopped short and stared in disbelief at the newspaper.

死了那么多人，我突然停了下来，难以置信地盯着那份。