重点讲解：

piercing adj. （眼神或眼睛）锐利的，逼人的
He has a pair of bright piercing eyes.
他的一双眼睛炯炯发光。

plain adj. 清楚的
It was plain to everyone that she was not happy.
她并不幸福,这是明摆着的事实。

press on 加紧
Let's press on with our work.
让我们加紧工作吧。

turn up 出现
For some reason she didn't turn up.
由于某种原因，她没有来。

bow v. 弯下（头或身体）
The cast bowed as the audience applauded.
演员们向鼓掌的观众鞠躬。

gasp v. （由于惊讶或疼痛等原因而）喘气，倒抽气
I gasped with surprise at the unexpected news.
听到意外的消息，我惊讶地吸了一口气。

pat v. 轻轻地拍
The mother patted the little girl to make her go to sleep.
母亲拍小女孩入睡。

tremble v. 颤抖，发抖
He was trembling with rage.
他气得发抖。

glum adj. 闷闷不乐的，阴郁的
When the opposition scores, he looks glum.
当对手进球的时候，他一脸忧郁。

falter v. （嗓音）颤抖，结结巴巴地说
Trembling with shock, she managed to falter out a few words of thanks.
他惊恐的发抖，结结巴巴地说了几句表示感谢的话。

astounding adj. 令人震惊的，使人大吃一惊的

It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now.

      我们来看一下这个长句。主干是"It seemed that... , ... , for ..." “看来……”for 后面跟的一个倒装句是解释，即从哪里判断出麦格教授现在说的是她真正的意图。前半句话还涉及到了定语从句"she was most anxious to discuss"，以及同位语从句" the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day"。