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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
It was a chill, rain-washed afternoon of a late August day, that indefinite season when partridges are still in security or cold storage, and there is nothing to hunt--unless one is bounded on the north by the Bristol Channel, in which case one may lawfully1 gallop2 after fat red stags. Lady Blemley's house-party was not bounded on the north by the Bristol Channel, hence there was a full gathering3 of her guests round the tea-table on this particular afternoon. And, in spite of the blankness of the season and the triteness4 of the occasion, there was no trace in the company of that fatigued5 restlessness which means a dread6 of the pianola and a subdued7 hankering for auction8 bridge. The undisguised openmouthed attention of the entire party was fixed9 on the homely10 negative personality of Mr. Cornelius Appin. Of all her guests, he was the one who had come to Lady Blemley with the vaguest reputation. Some one had said he was "clever," and he had got his invitation in the moderate expectation, on the part of his hostess, that some portion at least of his cleverness would be contributed to the general entertainment. Until tea-time that day she had been unable to discover in what direction, if any, his cleverness lay. He was neither a wit nor a croquet champion, a hypnotic force nor a begetter11 of amateur theatricals12. Neither did his exterior13 suggest the sort of man in whom women are willing to pardon a generous measure of mental deficiency. He had subsided14 into mere15 Mr. Appin, and the Cornelius seemed a piece of transparent16 baptismal bluff17. And now he was claiming to have launched on the world a discovery beside which the invention of gunpowder18, of the printing-press, and of steam locomotion19 were inconsiderable trifles. Science had made bewildering strides in many directions during recent decades, but this thing seemed to belong to the domain20 of miracle rather than to scientific achievement.
"And do you really ask us to believe," Sir Wilfrid was saying, "that you have discovered a means for instructing animals in the art of human speech, and that dear old Tobermory has proved your first successful pupil?"
"It is a problem at which I have worked for the last seventeen years," said Mr. Appin, " but only during the last eight or nine months have I been rewarded with glimmerings of success. Of course I have experimented with thousands of animals, but latterly only with cats, those wonderful creatures which have assimilated themselves so marvellously with our civilization while retaining all their highly developed feral instincts. Here and there among cats one comes across an outstanding superior intellect, just as one does among the ruck of human beings, and when I made the acquaintance of Tobermory a week ago I saw at once that I was in contact with a 'Beyond-cat' of extraordinary intelligence. I had gone far along the road to success in recent experiments; with Tobermory, as you call him, I have reached the goal."
Mr. Appin concluded his remarkable21 statement in a voice which he strove to divest22 of a triumphant23 inflection. No one said "Rats," though Clovis's lips moved in a monosyllabic contortion24 which probably invoked25 those rodents26 of disbelief.
"And do you mean to say," asked Miss Resker, after a slight pause, "that you have taught Tobermory to say and understand easy sentences of one syllable27?"
"My dear Miss Resker," said the wonderworker patiently, "one teaches little children and savages28 and backward adults in that piecemeal29 fashion; when one has once solved the problem of making a beginning with an animal of highly developed intelligence one has no need for those halting methods. Tobermory can speak our language with perfect correctness."
This time Clovis very distinctly said, " Beyond-rats!" Sir Wilfrid was more polite, but equally sceptical.
"Hadn't we better have the cat in and judge for ourselves?" suggested Lady Blemley.
Sir Wilfrid went in search of the animal, and the company settled themselves down to the languid expectation of witnessing some more or less adroit30 drawing-room ventriloquism.
In a minute Sir Wilfrid was back in the room, his face white beneath its tan and his eyes dilated31 with excitement.
His agitation33 was unmistakably genuine, and his hearers started forward in a thrill of awakened34 interest.
Collapsing35 into an armchair he continued breathlessly: "I found him dozing36 in the smoking-room, and called out to him to come for his tea. He blinked at me in his usual way, and I said, 'Come on, Toby; don't keep us waiting;' and, by Gad! he drawled out in a most horribly natural voice that he'd come when he dashed well pleased! I nearly jumped out of my skin!"
Appin had preached to absolutely incredulous hearers; Sir Wilfrid's statement carried instant conviction. A Babel-like chorus of startled exclamation37 arose, amid which the scientist sat mutely enjoying the first fruit of his stupendous discovery.
In tile midst of the clamour Tobermory entered the room and made his way with velvet38 tread and studied unconcern across to the group seated round the tea-table.
A sudden hush39 of awkwardness and constraint40 fell on the company. Somehow there seemed an element of embarrassment41 in addressing on equal terms a domestic cat of acknowledged dental ability.
"Will you have some milk, Tobermory?" asked Lady Blemley in a rather strained voice.
"I don't mind if I do," was the response, couched in a tone of even indifference42. A shiver of suppressed excitement went through the listeners, and Lady Blemley might be excused for pouring out the saucerful of milk rather unsteadily.
"I'm afraid I've spilt a good deal of it," she said apologetically.
"After all, it's not my Axminster," was Tobermory's rejoinder.
Another silence fell on the group, and then Miss Resker, in her best district-visitor manner, asked if the human language had been difficult to learn. Tobermory looked squarely at her for a moment and then fixed his gaze serenely44 on the middle distance. It was obvious that boring questions lay outside his scheme of life.
"Of whose intelligence in particular?" asked Tobermory coldly.
"Oh, well, mine for instance," said Mavis, with a feeble laugh.
"You put me in an embarrassing position," said Tobermory, whose tone and attitude certainly did not suggest a shred46 of embarrassment. "When your inclusion in this house-party was suggested Sir Wilfrid protested that you were the most brainless woman of his acquaintance, and that there was a wide distinction between hospitality and the care of the feeble-minded. Lady Blemley replied that your lack of brain-power was the precise quality which had earned you your invitation, as you were the only person she could think of who might be idiotic47 enough to buy their old car. You know, the one they call 'The Envy of Sisyphus,' because it goes quite nicely up-hill if you push it."
Lady Blemley's protestations would have had greater effect if she had not casually48 suggested to Mavis only that morning that the car in question would be just the thing for her down at her Devonshire home.
"How about your carryings-on with the tortoiseshell puss up at the stables, eh?"
The moment he had said it every one realized the blunder.
"One does not usually discuss these matters in public," said Tobermory frigidly51. "From a slight observation of your ways since you've been in this house I should imagine you'd find it inconvenient52 if I were to shift the conversation on to your own little affairs."
The panic which ensued was not confined to the Major.
"Would you like to go and see if cook has got your dinner ready?" suggested Lady Blemley hurriedly, affecting to ignore the fact that it wanted at least two hours to Tobermory's dinner-time.
"Thanks," said Tobermory, "not quite so soon after my tea. I don't want to die of indigestion."
"Possibly," answered Tobermory; "but only one liver."
"Adelaide!" said Mrs. Cornett, "do you mean to encourage that cat to go out and gossip about us in the servants' hall?"
The panic had indeed become general. A narrow ornamental54 balustrade ran in front of most of the bedroom windows at the Towers, and it was recalled with dismay that this had formed a favourite promenade55 for Tobermory at all hours, whence he could watch the pigeons--and heaven knew what else besides. If he intended to become reminiscent in his present outspoken56 strain the effect would be something more than disconcerting. Mrs. Cornett, who spent much time at her toilet table, and whose complexion57 was reputed to be of a nomadic58 though punctual disposition59, looked as ill at ease as the Major. Miss Scrawen, who wrote fiercely sensuous60 poetry and led a blameless life, merely displayed irritation61; if you are methodical and virtuous62 in private you don't necessarily want every one to know it. Bertie van Tahn, who was so depraved at seventeen that he had long ago given up trying to be any worse, turned a dull shade of gardenia63 white, but he did not commit the error of dashing out of the room like Odo Finsberry, a young gentleman who was understood to be reading for the Church and who was possibly disturbed at the thought of scandals he might hear concerning other people. Clovis had the presence of mind to maintain a composed exterior; privately64 he was calculating how long it would take to procure65 a box of fancy mice through the agency of the EXCHANGE AND MART as a species of hush- money.
Even in a delicate situation like the present, Agnes Resker could not endure to remain too long in the-background.
"Why did I ever come down here she asked dramatically.
Tobermory immediately accepted the opening.
"Judging by what you said to Mrs. Cornett on the croquet-lawn yesterday, you were out for food. You described the Blemleys as the dullest people to stay with that you knew, but said they were clever enough to employ a first-rate cook; otherwise they'd find it difficult to get anyone to come down a second time."
"There's not a word of truth in it! I appeal to Mrs. Cornett--" exclaimed the discomfited67 Agnes.
"Mrs. Cornett repeated your remark afterwards to Bertie van Tahn," continued Tobermory, "and said, 'That woman is a regular Hunger Marcher; she'd go anywhere for four square meals a day,' and Bertie van Tahn said--"
At this point the chronicle mercifully ceased. Tobermory had caught a glimpse of the big yellow Tom from the Rectory working his way through the shrubbery towards the stable wing. In a flash he had vanished through the open French window.
With the disappearance68 of his too brilliant pupil Cornelius Appin found himself beset69 by a hurricane of bitter upbraiding70, anxious inquiry71, and frightened entreaty72. The responsibility for the situation lay with him, and he must prevent matters from becoming worse. Could Tobermory impart his dangerous gift to other cats? was the first question he had to answer. It was possible, he replied, that he might have initiated73 his intimate friend the stable puss into his new accomplishment74, but it was unlikely that his teaching could have taken a wider range as yet.
"Then," said Mrs. Cornett, "Tobermory may be a valuable cat and a great pet; but I'm sure you'll agree, Adelaide, that both he and the stable cat must be done away with without delay."
"You don't suppose I've enjoyed the last quarter of an hour, do you?" said Lady Blemley bitterly. "My husband and I are very fond of Tobermory--at least, we were before this horrible accomplishment was infused into him; but now, of course, the only thing is to have him destroyed as soon as possible."
"We can put some strychnine in the scraps75 he always gets at dinner-time," said Sir Wilfrid, "and I will go and drown the stable cat myself. The coachman will be very sore at losing his pet, but I'll say a very catching76 form of mange has broken out in both cats and we're afraid of it spreading to the kennels77."
"But my great discovery!" expostulated Mr. Appin; "after all my years of research and experiment--"
"You can go and experiment on the shorthorns at the farm, who are under proper control," said Mrs. Cornett, "or the elephants at the Zoological Gardens. They're said to be highly intelligent, and they have this recommendation, that they don't come creeping about our bedrooms and under chairs, and so forth78."
An archangel ecstatically proclaiming the Millennium79, and then finding that it clashed unpardonably with Henley and would have to be indefinitely postponed80, could hardly have felt more crestfallen81 than Cornelius Appin at the reception of his wonderful achievement. Public opinion, however, was against him--in fact, had the general voice been consulted on the subject it is probable that a strong minority vote would have been in favour of including him in the strychnine diet.
Defective82 train arrangements and a nervous desire to see matters brought to a finish prevented an immediate66 dispersal of the party, but dinner that evening was not a social success. Sir Wilfrid had had rather a trying time with the stable cat and subsequently with the coachman. Agnes Resker ostentatiously limited her repast to a morsel83 of dry toast, which she bit as though it were a personal enemy; while Mavis Pellington maintained a vindictive84 silence throughout the meal. Lady Blemley kept up a flow of what she hoped was conversation, but her attention was fixed on the doorway85. A plateful of carefully dosed fish scraps was in readiness on the sideboard, but sweets and savoury and dessert went their way, and no Tobermory appeared either in the dining- room or kitchen.
The sepulchral86 dinner was cheerful compared with the subsequent vigil in the smoking-room. Eating and drinking had at least supplied a distraction87 and cloak to the prevailing88 embarrassment. Bridge was out of the question in the general tension of nerves and tempers, and after Odo Finsberry had given a lugubrious89 rendering90 of "Melisande in the Wood" to a frigid50 audience, music was tacitly avoided. At eleven the servants went to bed, announcing that the small window in the pantry had been left open as usual for Tobermory's private use. The guests read steadily43 through the current batch91 of magazines, and fell back gradually, on the "Badminton Library " and bound volumes of PUNCH. Lady Blemley made periodic visits to the pantry, returning each time with an expression of listless depression which forestalled92 questioning.
At two o'clock Clovis broke the dominating silence.
"He won't turn up to-night. He's probably in the local newspaper office at the present moment, dictating93 the first instalment of his reminiscences. Lady What's-her-name's book won't be in it. It will be the event of the day."
Having made this contribution to the general cheerfulness, Clovis went to bed. At long intervals94 the various members of the house- party followed his example.
The servants taking round the early tea made a uniform announcement in reply to a uniform question. Tobermory had not returned.
Breakfast was, if anything, a more unpleasant function than dinner had been, but before its conclusion the situation was relieved. Tobermory's corpse95 was brought in from the shrubbery, where a gardener had just discovered it. From the bites on his throat and the yellow fur which coated his claws it was evident that he had fallen in unequal combat with the big Tom from the Rectory.
By midday most of the guests had quitted the Towers, and after lunch Lady Blemley had sufficiently96 recovered her spirits to write an extremely nasty letter to the Rectory about the loss of her valuable pet.
Tobermory had been Appin's one successful pupil, and he was destined97 to have no successor. A few weeks later an elephant in the Dresden Zoological Garden, which had shown no previous signs of irritability98, broke loose and killed an Englishman who had apparently99 been teasing it. The victim's name was variously reported in the papers as Oppin and Eppelin, but his front name was faithfully rendered Cornelius.
"If he was trying German irregular verbs on the poor beast," said Clovis, "he deserved all he got."
点击收听单词发音
1 lawfully | |
adv.守法地,合法地;合理地 | |
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2 gallop | |
v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔;飞速发展 | |
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3 gathering | |
n.集会,聚会,聚集 | |
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4 triteness | |
n.平凡,陈腐 | |
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5 fatigued | |
adj. 疲乏的 | |
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6 dread | |
vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧 | |
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7 subdued | |
adj. 屈服的,柔和的,减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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8 auction | |
n.拍卖;拍卖会;vt.拍卖 | |
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9 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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10 homely | |
adj.家常的,简朴的;不漂亮的 | |
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11 begetter | |
n.生产者,父 | |
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12 theatricals | |
n.(业余性的)戏剧演出,舞台表演艺术;职业演员;戏剧的( theatrical的名词复数 );剧场的;炫耀的;戏剧性的 | |
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13 exterior | |
adj.外部的,外在的;表面的 | |
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14 subsided | |
v.(土地)下陷(因在地下采矿)( subside的过去式和过去分词 );减弱;下降至较低或正常水平;一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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15 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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16 transparent | |
adj.明显的,无疑的;透明的 | |
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17 bluff | |
v.虚张声势,用假象骗人;n.虚张声势,欺骗 | |
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18 gunpowder | |
n.火药 | |
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19 locomotion | |
n.运动,移动 | |
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20 domain | |
n.(活动等)领域,范围;领地,势力范围 | |
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21 remarkable | |
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
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22 divest | |
v.脱去,剥除 | |
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23 triumphant | |
adj.胜利的,成功的;狂欢的,喜悦的 | |
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24 contortion | |
n.扭弯,扭歪,曲解 | |
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25 invoked | |
v.援引( invoke的过去式和过去分词 );行使(权利等);祈求救助;恳求 | |
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26 rodents | |
n.啮齿目动物( rodent的名词复数 ) | |
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27 syllable | |
n.音节;vt.分音节 | |
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28 savages | |
未开化的人,野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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29 piecemeal | |
adj.零碎的;n.片,块;adv.逐渐地;v.弄成碎块 | |
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30 adroit | |
adj.熟练的,灵巧的 | |
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31 dilated | |
adj.加宽的,扩大的v.(使某物)扩大,膨胀,张大( dilate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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32 gad | |
n.闲逛;v.闲逛 | |
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33 agitation | |
n.搅动;搅拌;鼓动,煽动 | |
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34 awakened | |
v.(使)醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 );(使)觉醒;弄醒;(使)意识到 | |
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35 collapsing | |
压扁[平],毁坏,断裂 | |
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36 dozing | |
v.打瞌睡,假寐 n.瞌睡 | |
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37 exclamation | |
n.感叹号,惊呼,惊叹词 | |
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38 velvet | |
n.丝绒,天鹅绒;adj.丝绒制的,柔软的 | |
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39 hush | |
int.嘘,别出声;n.沉默,静寂;v.使安静 | |
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40 constraint | |
n.(on)约束,限制;限制(或约束)性的事物 | |
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41 embarrassment | |
n.尴尬;使人为难的人(事物);障碍;窘迫 | |
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42 indifference | |
n.不感兴趣,不关心,冷淡,不在乎 | |
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43 steadily | |
adv.稳定地;不变地;持续地 | |
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44 serenely | |
adv.安详地,宁静地,平静地 | |
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45 lamely | |
一瘸一拐地,不完全地 | |
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46 shred | |
v.撕成碎片,变成碎片;n.碎布条,细片,些少 | |
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47 idiotic | |
adj.白痴的 | |
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48 casually | |
adv.漠不关心地,无动于衷地,不负责任地 | |
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49 plunged | |
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降 | |
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50 frigid | |
adj.寒冷的,凛冽的;冷淡的;拘禁的 | |
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51 frigidly | |
adv.寒冷地;冷漠地;冷淡地;呆板地 | |
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52 inconvenient | |
adj.不方便的,令人感到麻烦的 | |
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53 heartily | |
adv.衷心地,诚恳地,十分,很 | |
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54 ornamental | |
adj.装饰的;作装饰用的;n.装饰品;观赏植物 | |
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55 promenade | |
n./v.散步 | |
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56 outspoken | |
adj.直言无讳的,坦率的,坦白无隐的 | |
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57 complexion | |
n.肤色;情况,局面;气质,性格 | |
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58 nomadic | |
adj.流浪的;游牧的 | |
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59 disposition | |
n.性情,性格;意向,倾向;排列,部署 | |
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60 sensuous | |
adj.激发美感的;感官的,感觉上的 | |
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61 irritation | |
n.激怒,恼怒,生气 | |
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62 virtuous | |
adj.有品德的,善良的,贞洁的,有效力的 | |
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63 gardenia | |
n.栀子花 | |
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64 privately | |
adv.以私人的身份,悄悄地,私下地 | |
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65 procure | |
vt.获得,取得,促成;vi.拉皮条 | |
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66 immediate | |
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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67 discomfited | |
v.使为难( discomfit的过去式和过去分词);使狼狈;使挫折;挫败 | |
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68 disappearance | |
n.消失,消散,失踪 | |
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69 beset | |
v.镶嵌;困扰,包围 | |
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70 upbraiding | |
adj.& n.谴责(的)v.责备,申斥,谴责( upbraid的现在分词 ) | |
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71 inquiry | |
n.打听,询问,调查,查问 | |
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72 entreaty | |
n.恳求,哀求 | |
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73 initiated | |
n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始,创始,启蒙,介绍加入 | |
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74 accomplishment | |
n.完成,成就,(pl.)造诣,技能 | |
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75 scraps | |
油渣 | |
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76 catching | |
adj.易传染的,有魅力的,迷人的,接住 | |
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77 kennels | |
n.主人外出时的小动物寄养处,养狗场;狗窝( kennel的名词复数 );养狗场 | |
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78 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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79 millennium | |
n.一千年,千禧年;太平盛世 | |
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80 postponed | |
vt.& vi.延期,缓办,(使)延迟vt.把…放在次要地位;[语]把…放在后面(或句尾)vi.(疟疾等)延缓发作(或复发) | |
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81 crestfallen | |
adj. 挫败的,失望的,沮丧的 | |
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82 defective | |
adj.有毛病的,有问题的,有瑕疵的 | |
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83 morsel | |
n.一口,一点点 | |
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84 vindictive | |
adj.有报仇心的,怀恨的,惩罚的 | |
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85 doorway | |
n.门口,(喻)入门;门路,途径 | |
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86 sepulchral | |
adj.坟墓的,阴深的 | |
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87 distraction | |
n.精神涣散,精神不集中,消遣,娱乐 | |
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88 prevailing | |
adj.盛行的;占优势的;主要的 | |
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89 lugubrious | |
adj.悲哀的,忧郁的 | |
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90 rendering | |
n.表现,描写 | |
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91 batch | |
n.一批(组,群);一批生产量 | |
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92 forestalled | |
v.先发制人,预先阻止( forestall的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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93 dictating | |
v.大声讲或读( dictate的现在分词 );口授;支配;摆布 | |
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94 intervals | |
n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 );间隔时间;[数学]区间;(戏剧、电影或音乐会的)幕间休息 | |
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95 corpse | |
n.尸体,死尸 | |
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96 sufficiently | |
adv.足够地,充分地 | |
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97 destined | |
adj.命中注定的;(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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98 irritability | |
n.易怒 | |
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99 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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