《英语流行话题阅读:语境识词4500》15 The Midnight Visitor (I)

　　Unit 15
The Midnight Visitor (I)
James did not fit the description of any secret agent Fowler had ever read about. Following him down the corridor of the gloomy French hotel where James had a room, Fowler felt disappointed. It was a small room, on the sixth and top floor, and scarcely a setting for a romantic figure.
James was, for one thing, fat. And then there as his accent. Though he spoke¹ French and German passably, he had never altogether lost the New England accent he had brought to Paris from Boston 20 years ago.
"You are disappointed," James said wheezily over his shoulder. "You were told that I was a spy, dealing² in espionage³ and danger. You wished to meet me because you are a writer, young and romantic. You imagined mysterious figures in the night, the crack of pistols, drugs in the wine."
"Instead, you have spent a dull evening in a French music hall with a fat man who, instead of having mysterious messages slipped into his hand by dark-eyed beauties, gets only an ordinary phone call making an appointment in his room. You have been bored!" the fat man chuckled⁴ to himself as he unlocked th door of his room and stood aside to let his frustrated⁵ guest enter.
"you are disillusioned," James said. "But take cheer. Presently you'll see a paper, a quite important paper for which several people have risked their lives, come to me in the next-to-last step of its journey into official hands. Someday soon that paper may well affect the course of history. In that thought is drama, is there not?" as he spoke, James closed the door behind him. Then he switched on the light.
And as the light came on, Fowler had his first thrill of the day. For halfway⁶ across the room, a small pistol in his hand, stood a man. James blinked a few times.
"Max," he wheezed⁷, "you gave me quite a start. I thought you were in Berlin. What are you doing in my room?" Max was slender, not tall, and with a face that suggested the look of a fox. Except for the gun, he did not look very dangerous.
"The report," he murmured, "the report that is about some new missiles. I thought I would take it from you. It will be safer in my hands than in yours."
James moved to an armchair and sat down heavily. "I'm going to raise the devil with management this time; I'm angry," he said grimly, "This is the second time in a month that somebody has got into my room off that balcony!" Fowler's eyes went to the single window of the room. It was an ordinary window, against which now the night was pushing blackly.
"Balcony?" Max asked curiously⁸, "No, I had a passkey. I didn't know about the balcony. It might have saved me some trouble had I known about it."

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

3 espionage   

n.间谍行为，谍报活动

参考例句：

• The authorities have arrested several people suspected of espionage.官方已经逮捕了几个涉嫌从事间谍活动的人。
• Neither was there any hint of espionage in Hanley's early life.汉利的早期生活也毫无进行间谍活动的迹象。

4 chuckled   

轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
• She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情，她就轻轻地暗自发笑。

5 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

7 wheezed   

v.喘息，发出呼哧呼哧的喘息声( wheeze的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The old organ wheezed out a tune. 那架老风琴呜呜地奏出曲子。 来自辞典例句
• He wheezed out a curse. 他喘着气诅咒。 来自辞典例句

8 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。