经济学人59:爱的代价 The price of love

 　　Books and Arts; Book Review;Fiction from Argentina；The price of love；

　　文艺；书评；阿根廷小说；爱的代价；

　　The junta¹'s policy of eliminating its enemies still fascinates Argentina's novelists；

　　军政府清除异己的政策至今仍吸引着阿根廷小说家；

　　Purgatory². By Tomás Eloy Martínez. Translated by Frank Wynne.

　　《炼狱》，Tomás Eloy Martínez著，Frank Wynne译。

　　An Open Secret. By Carlos Gamerro. Translated by Ian Barnett.

　　《公开的秘密》，Carlos Gamerro著，Ian Barnett译。

　　Open Door. By Iosi Havilio. Translated by Beth Fowler.

　　《敞开的门》，Iosi Havilio著，Beth Fowler译。

　　7 Ways to Kill a Cat. By Matías Néspolo. Translated by Frank Wynne.

　　《杀死一只猫的7种方式》，Matías Néspolo著，Frank Wynne译。

　　It seems appropriate now that Argentina's investigation³ into the fate of its desaparecidos—the 8,960 people officially known to have “disappeared” under the military dictatorship of 1976-83—was headed by a writer. Ernesto Sábato, who died in April at the age of 99, described his task as a “slow descent into hell”. Ever since “Never Again”, his 1984 report on the “dirty war”, generations of Argentine novelists have followed Sábato into the inferno⁴.

　　1976-83年，在这段军事独裁时期阿根廷有8960人被官方确认为 “失踪”，对这些失踪者命运的调查，可以说走在最前沿的是一位作家。Ernesto Sábato，今年4月逝世，终年99岁，他将这项工作描述为“缓缓沉入地狱”。自从他对这场“肮脏战争”的报道《再也不会》（Never Again）于1984年发表后，一代代阿根廷小说家跟随Sábato走入这段地狱般的历史。

　　For Argentine society, the chapter never closes. Continuing revelations about hundreds of adopted children who were abducted⁵ with their parents, or born in custody⁶, have resulted in DNA⁷ tests and legal challenges by a campaigning group, “Grandmothers of the Plaza⁸ de Mayo”. Two of these fine recent novels revisit events during the junta. The others—both exceptional debuts—focus on a disturbing present, yet are haunted by unexplained disappearances¹¹.

　　对于阿根廷社会来说，这一篇章永不会结束。当年数百儿童随父母一同遭到绑架，有的或出生在拘留所中，这些儿童随后被他人收养。随着他们身世不断被揭开，一个名为“五月广场祖母协会”的人权组织呼吁进行DNA鉴定，并质疑法律的公正性。最近一批优秀小说中有两部回顾了军政府时期的事件。其余几部均是杰出的处女作小说，故事围绕现代生活展开，但人们同样被不明原因的失踪事件困扰，终日惶惶不安。

　　Tomás Eloy Martínez (pictured above), a prominent journalist, novelist and academic who spent years in exile and died in 2010, is known for his explorations of the psychology¹² of Peronism, among them “Santa Evita” (1995). In “Purgatory” (2008), his last novel, an Argentine cartographer in suburban¹³ New Jersey¹⁴ senses that her husband has returned to her, no older than when he disappeared 30 years earlier. After years of searching, she remains¹⁵ impervious¹⁶ to evidence of his death as it would confirm that her father, a cheerleading propagandist for the junta, connived¹⁷ in his killing¹⁸. The novel alludes¹⁹ to the mixture of hypocrisy²⁰ and collusion that characterised that period, and the banal²¹ sentimentality of its distractions—flying saucers, soap operas, fatherland and fútbol (the infamous²² 1978 World Cup hosted and won by Argentina). The heroine's state of denial and her ghostly and erotic delusions²³ mirror a country still struggling with reality.

　　托马斯·埃洛伊·马丁内斯（Tomás Eloy Martínez）（见上图）是一位杰出的新闻工作者、小说家和学者，曾度过数年流亡生活，在2010年去世。他以庇隆主义心理学研究著称，代表作《圣埃维塔》（Santa Evita）（1995）。《炼狱》（Purgatory）（2008）是马丁内斯的最后一部小说。家住新泽西郊区的阿根廷制图师终于与丈夫重聚，但她发觉丈夫和30年前失踪时一样年轻。这些年她不停寻找，虽有证据证明丈夫的死亡，但她始终不为所动，因为这也可能证实她的父亲，一名军政府高级参谋，参与了这起谋杀。小说影射了当时社会的伪善，人与人相互勾结，精神生活和日常消遣平庸乏味——飞碟、肥皂剧、谈论国事和足球（由阿根廷举办并夺冠的不甚光彩的1978年世界杯）。小说中的女主角拒绝接受现实，终日魂劳梦断，反应出一个国家仍在与现实抗争的社会现状。

　　Craven complicity is at the heart of Carlos Gamerro's “An Open Secret”, a literary thriller²⁴ first published in 2002 that has the makings of a classic. The perfect crime is “one committed in the sight of everyone—because then there are no witnesses, only accomplices²⁵.” A veteran of the war in the Falklands (or Malvinas as they are known in Argentina) returns in the 1990s to his hometown in the pampas to probe the disappearance¹⁰ in custody of a troublesome young journalist during the weekend of Diego Maradona's football debut⁹ 20 years earlier. He finds a “conspiracy of chattiness” rather than of silence, over a murder the whole town was in on.

　　懦弱的同谋是Carlos Gamerro小说《公开的秘密》（An Open Secret）的中心内容，该书最早出版于2002年，是一部有实力成为经典作品的惊悚小说。完美的犯罪是“众目睽睽之下的犯罪——因为这样没有目击者，只有同谋。”一位参加过福克兰群岛（阿根廷称之为马尔维纳斯群岛）战争的老兵上世纪90年代回到他在潘帕斯草原的家，对一起事件进行调查：20年前迭戈·马拉多纳首次登场比赛，就在那个周末，一个被拘留的麻烦缠身的年轻记者莫名失踪。他发现这并不是一场沉默的阴谋，而是“人人都在谈论的阴谋”，这起谋杀在全城人尽皆知。

　　Mr Gamerro, who was born in 1962, departs from a previous generation's reverence²⁶ for eyewitness²⁷ testimony²⁸ and memorialising the dead. The tone is hard-boiled, its cynicism alleviated²⁹ by rare lyrical flights, and the desaparecido emerges as a spoilt mama's boy and unsavoury womaniser. The “involuntary martyr” is no hero. The perspective is that of a generation seeking the unadulterated truth about their parents and grandparents during the “dirty war”—and hence their own identity. Amid the torrential self- justification³¹ of the townsfolk, from barbers to bankers, the subject becomes language itself, which is used to excuse and obfuscate³². The stark³³ epigraph is from William Burroughs: “To speak is to lie/To live is to collaborate³⁴.”

　　Gamerro出生于1962年，对于历史见证者的证言和对死者的纪念方式，他没有像上一代人那样完全表现出敬畏。小说语调冰冷，偶有的情感抒发使文章少了些愤世嫉俗之感。失踪者被塑造成受妈妈宠爱的男孩的形象，喜欢拈花惹草，令人反感。“非自愿的牺牲者”绝非英雄。作者将视角投向一代人追寻真相，探查“肮脏战争”期间父辈和祖父辈最真实的经历——同时这也是对自己身份的探寻。从理发师到银行家，市民们自我辩护的话语铺天盖地而来，人人自顾开脱，令真相扑朔迷离，而这部分语言也构成了小说的主体。书中令人警醒的题词源自威廉·柏洛兹（William Burroughs）的语句：“语言即谎言/生存即勾结。”

　　The bereaved³⁵ mother in “An Open Secret” appears mad, though the madness is all around her. In “Open Door” by Iosi Havilio, who was born only in 1974, Argentina resembles an asylum³⁶. A young veterinary assistant relates how her female lover went missing. She fears that she may have seen her commit suicide off a bridge in Buenos Aires's old port. Between trips to the morgue to identify corpses³⁷, she visits a pampas village named Open Door, after the psychiatric hospital that was founded there in 1898 as an “agricultural work colony”. In the countryside she moves between two partners: an ageing gaucho—whose name is the same as his ailing³⁸ horse, Jaime—and an amoral, druggie country girl with plaits.

　　《公开的秘密》中失去儿子的母亲显得有些精神失常，事实上这种荒诞不经充斥于她周边。《敞开的门》（Open Door）作者Iosi Havilio，是一位出生于1974年的年青作家。在阿根廷，open door被视为精神病院。故事中一个年轻的兽医助理在叙述她的女朋友失踪的情形。她似乎看到她从布宜诺斯艾利斯旧港口的一座桥上跳了下去，她很担心。在几次前往太平间辨认遗体的过程中，女主角拜访了一个潘帕斯小镇。小镇名叫敞开的门，是以1898年在此建成的精神病院得名，这里一直是“农业耕种殖民地”。在乡下她往返于两个情人之间：一个是老成的高楚牧人——名字和他的病马一样，Jaime；另一个是梳着辫子，不明事理、吸毒成瘾的乡下女孩。

　　As sexual encounters unfold in the woman's alienated³⁹ voice, the characters merge³⁰ with the village “loonies”. Events, like interchangeable lovers, have equal weight, from a stable fire to the brewing⁴⁰ of maté tea, in an ambiguous tale that verges⁴¹ on dark comedy. A suspected UFO turns out to be the spotlit film set for a commercial. In an asylum without walls, there is “nothing to limit the illusion of absolute liberty”; ultimate control is when people no longer feel they are being coerced⁴². With skill and subtlety⁴³, the novel hints that a whole society might labour under an illusion of liberty, manipulated by forces outside the frame.

　　故事在女主角迷茫的声音中继续上演，浪漫情事随之展开，书中人物逐渐加入到小镇“疯子”的行列。对于女主角和各位情人之间发生的各种故事，作者给予了同等的笔墨，从描写马厩的热火到冲泡马黛茶的情节，整个故事寓意隐晦，充满黑色喜剧味道。一个疑似UFO的物体原来是为商业广告设置的聚光灯。在没有围墙的精神病院，“可以无限幻想绝对自由”；当人民不再感到压迫，即是统治的最高境界。小说巧妙地暗示了整个社会都在一种自由的假象下劳作，而操纵这一切的是外围的势力。

　　What those malign⁴⁴ forces might be is more explicit⁴⁵ in “7 Ways to Kill a Cat” by Matías Néspolo, another debut novelist of Mr Havilio's generation. His shantytown tale from southern Buenos Aires, which recalls the “City of God” slum in the Rio favelas, is set during Argentina's 2001 financial crash, with protesters defying tear gas, from teachers to lorry drivers. It opens in a barrio at the “wolf's mouth”, where the asphalt and streetlights give out, with two peso-less youths butchering a cat for meat. As they become embroiled⁴⁶ in a lethal⁴⁷ turf war between drug lords, the narrator, Gringo, probes the mystery of his mother's disappearance, and that of his cousin—a reformed gangster⁴⁸ turned pavement hawker.

　　这些邪恶势力究竟是什么，《杀死一只猫的7种方式》（7 Ways to Kill a Cat）对此进行了详尽的记述。作者Matías Néspolo，与Havilio是同时代人，也是一位初次亮相的作家。小说以2001年阿根廷经济危机为时代背景，当时从教师到卡车司机，都参与到抗议者队伍中，公然反抗警察镇压。这部窝棚区故事取材于布宜诺斯艾利斯南部，让人想到位于里约贫民窟的“上帝之城”贫民区。故事在有着“狼口”之称的地区展开，这是柏油路和路灯的尽头，两个身无分文的青年为了填饱肚子正在宰杀一只猫。之后他们卷入与毒枭争夺地盘的致命斗争，故事的叙述者Gringo对两起神秘失踪事件展开调查，一位是他的母亲，另一位是他的表兄——曾是一个恶棍，改过自新后成了街边小贩。

　　Gringo, torn between moral scruples⁴⁹ and the need to “look after number one”, learns that there are only two ways to kill a cat: civilised or savage⁵⁰. A police crackdown on the marchers prompts him to retaliate⁵¹ in what he sees as a “seriously civilised fashion”. One of the characters in “An Open Secret” claims bitterly that in Argentina, “the winners make history and the losers write it.” To judge from these novels that scour⁵² the past and mourn the future, it seems nobody won.

　　Gringo在道德和“一己私欲”之间倍受折磨，他意识到杀死一只猫只有两种方式：文明的方式或野蛮的方式。警察对游行者的镇压迫使他以一种自认为“极度文明的方式”展开报复。《公开的秘密》中有人曾悲愤地说，在阿根廷“胜利者创造历史，失败者记录历史。”纵观这些追寻过去、忧心未来的小说，这里似乎并没有赢家。

1 junta   

n.团体；政务审议会

参考例句：

• The junta reacted violently to the perceived threat to its authority.军政府感到自身权力受威胁而进行了激烈反击。
• A military junta took control of the country.一个军政权控制了国家。

2 purgatory   

n.炼狱；苦难；adj.净化的，清洗的

参考例句：

• Every step of the last three miles was purgatory.最后3英里时每一步都像是受罪。
• Marriage,with peace,is this world's paradise;with strife,this world's purgatory.和谐的婚姻是尘世的乐园，不和谐的婚姻则是人生的炼狱。

3 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

4 inferno   

n.火海；地狱般的场所

参考例句：

• Rescue workers fought to get to victims inside the inferno.救援人员奋力营救大火中的受害者。
• The burning building became an inferno.燃烧着的大楼成了地狱般的地方。

5 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

6 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

7 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

8 plaza   

n.广场，市场

参考例句：

• They designated the new shopping centre York Plaza.他们给这个新购物中心定名为约克购物中心。
• The plaza is teeming with undercover policemen.这个广场上布满了便衣警察。

9 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

10 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

11 disappearances   

n.消失( disappearance的名词复数 )；丢失；失踪；失踪案

参考例句：

• Most disappearances are the result of the terrorist activity. 大多数的失踪案都是恐怖分子造成的。 来自辞典例句
• The espionage, the betrayals, the arrests, the tortures, the executions, the disappearances will never cease. 间谍活动、叛党卖国、逮捕拷打、处决灭迹，这种事情永远不会完。 来自英汉文学

12 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

13 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

14 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

15 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

16 impervious   

adj.不能渗透的，不能穿过的，不易伤害的

参考例句：

• He was completely impervious to criticism.他对批评毫不在乎。
• This material is impervious to gases and liquids.气体和液体都透不过这种物质。

17 connived   

v.密谋 ( connive的过去式和过去分词 )；搞阴谋；默许；纵容

参考例句：

• Her brother is believed to have connived at her murder. 据信她的哥哥没有制止对她的谋杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The jailer connived at the escape from prison. 狱吏纵容犯人的逃狱。 来自辞典例句

18 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

19 alludes   

提及，暗指( allude的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• In the vegetable kingdom Mr. Mivart only alludes to two cases. 在植物界中，密伐脱先生仅提出两点。
• Black-box testing alludes to test that are conducted at the software interface. 黑箱测试是指测试软件接口进行。

20 hypocrisy   

n.伪善，虚伪

参考例句：

• He railed against hypocrisy and greed.他痛斥伪善和贪婪的行为。
• He accused newspapers of hypocrisy in their treatment of the story.他指责了报纸在报道该新闻时的虚伪。

21 banal   

adj.陈腐的，平庸的

参考例句：

• Making banal remarks was one of his bad habits.他的坏习惯之一就是喜欢说些陈词滥调。
• The allegations ranged from the banal to the bizarre.从平淡无奇到离奇百怪的各种说法都有。

22 infamous   

adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的

参考例句：

• He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
• I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。

23 delusions   

n.欺骗( delusion的名词复数 )；谬见；错觉；妄想

参考例句：

• the delusions of the mentally ill 精神病患者的妄想
• She wants to travel first-class: she must have delusions of grandeur. 她想坐头等舱旅行，她一定自以为很了不起。 来自辞典例句

24 thriller   

n.惊险片，恐怖片

参考例句：

• He began by writing a thriller.That book sold a million copies.他是写惊险小说起家的。那本书卖了一百万册。
• I always take a thriller to read on the train.我乘火车时，总带一本惊险小说看。

25 accomplices   

从犯，帮凶，同谋( accomplice的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was given away by one of his accomplices. 他被一个同伙出卖了。
• The chief criminals shall be punished without fail, those who are accomplices under duress shall go unpunished and those who perform deeds of merIt'shall be rewarded. 首恶必办， 胁从不问，立功受奖。

26 reverence   

n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• We reverence tradition but will not be fettered by it.我们尊重传统，但不被传统所束缚。

27 eyewitness   

n.目击者，见证人

参考例句：

• The police questioned several eyewitness to the murder.警察询问了谋杀案的几位目击者。
• He was the only eyewitness of the robbery.他是那起抢劫案的唯一目击者。

28 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

29 alleviated   

减轻，缓解，缓和( alleviate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It is always completely alleviated by total gastrectomy. 全胃切除永远完全缓解症状。
• Toxicity problem in manufacturing and storage might be alleviated by coating beryllium with aluminum. 但如果用铝包覆铍，则可避免加工过程中及储存期间的中毒问题。

30 merge   

v.(使)结合，(使)合并，(使)合为一体

参考例句：

• I can merge my two small businesses into a large one.我可以将我的两家小商店合并为一家大商行。
• The directors have decided to merge the two small firms together.董事们已决定把这两家小商号归并起来。

31 justification   

n.正当的理由；辩解的理由

参考例句：

• There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。
• In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。

32 obfuscate   

v.使困惑，使迷乱

参考例句：

• He delighted in his ability to obfuscate.他对自己有本事把别人搞得晕头转向感到得意。
• This message might appear if you obfuscate the solution code.如果您对解决方案代码进行模糊处理，可能显示此消息。

33 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

34 collaborate   

vi.协作，合作；协调

参考例句：

• The work gets done more quickly when we collaborate.我们一旦合作，工作做起来就更快了。
• I would ask you to collaborate with us in this work.我们愿意请你们在这项工作中和我们合作。

35 bereaved   

adj.刚刚丧失亲人的v.使失去（希望、生命等）( bereave的过去式和过去分词)；（尤指死亡）使丧失（亲人、朋友等）；使孤寂；抢走（财物）

参考例句：

• The ceremony was an ordeal for those who had been recently bereaved. 这个仪式对于那些新近丧失亲友的人来说是一种折磨。
• an organization offering counselling for the bereaved 为死者亲友提供辅导的组织

36 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

37 corpses   

n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The living soldiers put corpses together and burned them. 活着的战士把尸体放在一起烧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Overhead, grayish-white clouds covered the sky, piling up heavily like decaying corpses. 天上罩满了灰白的薄云，同腐烂的尸体似的沉沉的盖在那里。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

38 ailing   

v.生病

参考例句：

• They discussed the problems ailing the steel industry. 他们讨论了困扰钢铁工业的问题。
• She looked after her ailing father. 她照顾有病的父亲。

39 alienated   

adj.感到孤独的，不合群的v.使疏远( alienate的过去式和过去分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• His comments have alienated a lot of young voters. 他的言论使许多年轻选民离他而去。
• The Prime Minister's policy alienated many of her followers. 首相的政策使很多拥护她的人疏远了她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

40 brewing   

n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• It was obvious that a big storm was brewing up. 很显然，一场暴风雨正在酝酿中。
• She set about brewing some herb tea. 她动手泡一些药茶。

41 verges   

边，边缘，界线( verge的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The small stream verges to the north. 这条小河向北延伸。
• The results ob-tained agree well with those given by Verges using random Bethe lattice model. 所得结果与Verges用非晶的Bethe晶格模型的计算结果相符。

42 coerced   

v.迫使做( coerce的过去式和过去分词 )；强迫；（以武力、惩罚、威胁等手段）控制；支配

参考例句：

• They were coerced into negotiating a settlement. 他们被迫通过谈判解决。
• He was coerced into making a confession. 他被迫招供。 来自《简明英汉词典》

43 subtlety   

n.微妙，敏锐，精巧；微妙之处，细微的区别

参考例句：

• He has shown enormous strength,great intelligence and great subtlety.他表现出充沛的精力、极大的智慧和高度的灵活性。
• The subtlety of his remarks was unnoticed by most of his audience.大多数听众都没有觉察到他讲话的微妙之处。

44 malign   

adj.有害的；恶性的；恶意的；v.诽谤，诬蔑

参考例句：

• It was easy to see why the cartoonists regularly portrayed him as a malign cherub.难怪漫画家总是把他画成一个邪恶的小天使。
• She likes to malign innocent persons.她爱诋毁那些清白的人。

45 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。

46 embroiled   

adj.卷入的；纠缠不清的

参考例句：

• He became embroiled in a dispute with his neighbours. 他与邻居们发生了争执。
• John and Peter were quarrelling, but Mary refused to get embroiled. 约翰和彼得在争吵，但玛丽不愿卷入。 来自《简明英汉词典》

47 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

48 gangster   

n.匪徒，歹徒，暴徒

参考例句：

• The gangster's friends bought off the police witness.那匪徒的朋友买通了警察方面的证人。
• He is obviously a gangster,but he pretends to be a saint.分明是强盗，却要装圣贤。

49 scruples   

n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• I overcame my moral scruples. 我抛开了道德方面的顾虑。
• I'm not ashamed of my scruples about your family. They were natural. 我并未因为对你家人的顾虑而感到羞耻。这种感觉是自然而然的。 来自疯狂英语突破英语语调

50 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

51 retaliate   

v.报复，反击

参考例句：

• He sought every opportunity to retaliate against his enemy.他找机会向他的敌人反击。
• It is strictly forbidden to retaliate against the quality inspectors.严禁对质量检验人员进行打击报复。

52 scour   

v.搜索；擦，洗，腹泻，冲刷

参考例句：

• Mother made me scour the family silver.母亲让我擦洗家里的银器。
• We scoured the telephone directory for clues.我们仔细查阅电话簿以寻找线索。