小说搜索     点击排行榜   最新入库
首页 » 英文短篇小说 » A Texas Blue Bonnet » CHAPTER XV A DARE
选择底色: 选择字号:【大】【中】【小】
CHAPTER XV A DARE
关注小说网官方公众号(noveltingroom),原版名著免费领。
Monday morning, Mr. Ashe left for the West; and the next day, the new term began.

“It’ll seem odd, not going to Miss Rankin’s room,” Blue Bonnet1 said, overtaking Debby on the way to school. “I wonder if she’ll miss us.”

“Some of us,” Debby suggested.

“Alec says, Miss Fellows is ever so jolly.”

“She hasn’t been at it so long,” Debby commented. “Are you taking French, Blue Bonnet?”

Blue Bonnet nodded. “It has to be that, or German, hasn’t it? Aunt Lucinda thought I’d better choose French this year. I’ve studied it some; one of the tutors instituted an hour’s conversation every day, just after dinner; there used to be—interruptions.”

Blue Bonnet came home that afternoon most enthusiastic; Miss Fellows was all she ought to be, she shouldn’t have a bit of trouble with her.

“And does the lady in question feel confident regarding you?” Mrs. Clyde asked.

Blue Bonnet laughed. “She hasn’t said—yet. It’s ever so big a class, Grandmother; there were a lot of left-overs. French is three times a week—Mondays,269 Wednesdays, and Fridays—Mademoiselle looks awfully2 nice! Sarah and Amanda are taking German—isn’t it just like Sarah to choose the hardest? All the rest of us club members are taking French—Kitty says she wants to learn how to take ‘French leave’ and, oh, me, I promised not to be five minutes—they’re all waiting down at the back gate for me.”

Blue Bonnet dropped her strap3 of books, ran for her skates, paid a visit to the cookie jar in the pantry, patted Solomon, and with a “Good-bye, Grandmother,” was off, leaving Mrs. Clyde feeling as if a small whirlwind had swept through the quiet house.

What with school, her afternoons on the pond, her evenings of study, broken by occasional neighborhood gatherings5, Blue Bonnet found the time slipping by very fast. While she missed her uncle greatly, she was learning more and more how much can be done by letter-writing, and those were far from doleful letters that traveled every week from Woodford to the far-away Texas ranch6.

The weather held wonderfully; never had the pond been in better condition than during those January days.

“But the thaw’s bound to come before long,” Debby predicted one afternoon.

“The snow’s coming first!” Susy pointed7 to the270 clouds banking8 themselves up above the low line of hills—“Coming before to-morrow morning, too.”

“Let’s not go in just yet!” Blue Bonnet pleaded, as Susy bent9 to unfasten her straps10.

“But it’s time!”

“You’re such a prompt-to-the-minute girl, Susy Doyle!” Blue Bonnet objected. “I’m not ready to go—are you, Kitty?”

“You never are ready,” Debby protested. They four were the only club members out that afternoon; as Debby insisted later, if only Sarah had been there it would never have happened.

“I’d like to start right off now and skate and skate without stopping, until I got to the end of the pond!” Blue Bonnet declared.

“But no one ever does skate up at the upper end of the pond,” Susy explained; “the ice is always rough up there; besides, it isn’t safe in ever so many spots.”

“Anyhow, I’d like to try it.” Blue Bonnet was in the mood for adventure; wasn’t it Friday afternoon? “I mean to ask Alec to go with me.”

“He’s playing hockey!” Kitty said, looking at a group of boys down beyond. “He wouldn’t take you if he wasn’t—nor let you go,” she added mischievously11.

“I don’t see how he could very well help that,” Blue Bonnet retorted. “I believe I’ll try it alone.”

271 “Blue Bonnet!” Susy gasped12.

“I’d like awfully well to see you!” Kitty teased, in what Amanda called her “aggravating tone.”

“Is that a dare?” Blue Bonnet demanded.

“If you like to call it one.”

Blue Bonnet bent to tighten13 her skates.

“Blue Bonnet Ashe!” Debby exclaimed. “Are you clean daft! Start up there at this time of the evening—when you ought to be going home?”

“You don’t know how far it is,” Susy urged.

“No—but I’m going to find out,” Blue Bonnet said.

“Don’t worry, Susy,” Kitty remarked; “she won’t go very far.”

Blue Bonnet’s eyes flashed. “I’ll go as far as you will, Kitty Clark!”

“‘Is that a dare?’” Kitty quoted; she, too, bent to tighten her skates. “Come on!” she said; and before Debby or Susy realized it the two were off.

“Of all the—” Debby took a few steps, then came back to where Susy still stood, her skates in her hand. “Kitty, or Blue Bonnet, alone, one might manage to do something with—but together! Come on, Susy—it’s no use our standing14 here in the cold; perhaps they’ll turn around presently. Kitty knows she’s no right letting Blue Bonnet go up there after dark.”

“Shall we go tell some of the boys?” Susy asked.

272 But the boys were far down at the other end by now, fighting an exciting game to a finish. The pond had been thinning rapidly the last half hour, for, with the coming of night, a cold wind had sprung up.

Debby shivered. “It wouldn’t be much use; by the time we got them those two foolish girls would be out of call. It’s all that Kitty’s fault! She just dared Blue Bonnet on.”

At first, Blue Bonnet thoroughly15 enjoyed that swift rush along through the gathering4 dusk; they had the wind at their back, and ahead of them the pond to themselves. Then the two hours or more already spent in skating that afternoon began to tell on her, and with the sense of fast-growing fatigue16 came equally rapid misgivings17. She glanced sideways at her companion; why wouldn’t Kitty speak! If only she would admit the foolishness of the undertaking18, Blue Bonnet would give in too, but until Kitty gave in—she would not.

Kitty was thinking the same; she knew, as Blue Bonnet did not, not only the foolishness, but the risk of what they had undertaken. What had possessed19 her to start such a ball rolling? Once started, it went without saying that she could not be the first to throw up the game. Blue Bonnet was getting tired already, one could see that, though she was trying not to show it; and then—

But Kitty reckoned without knowledge.

273 The pond was growing narrower now, with sharp twists and turns that made Blue Bonnet think of the brook20 she and Alec had followed that August afternoon. The thought of the brook reminded her of Aunt Lucinda.

For just a moment, Blue Bonnet wavered; Aunt Lucinda had gone into town and would not be back until the nine o’clock train—Grandmother was alone, and would be worried.

Kitty saw the sudden slackening on Blue Bonnet’s part, and took comfort from it. “Ready to go back?” she asked, more than a hint of “I told you how it would be” in her voice.

Blue Bonnet wavered no longer; it was impossible to give in to Kitty—of all people; Kitty had started it, and it was her place to make the first move towards turning back.

“I am ready whenever you are,” she answered; “you have only to say the word.”

“I thought you wanted to go to the very end?”

Blue Bonnet made no answer. Kitty was the—Sarah would never be so horrid21; and then the mere22 thought of Sarah in connection with such a foolish performance as this, made Blue Bonnet laugh.

So the two pushed doggedly23 on through the fast-deepening dusk, stumbling more than once against snags; tired, cold, hungry, and miserable24, and with the discouraging knowledge that every moment was taking them further from home.

274 It seemed to Blue Bonnet as if the pond had no end, but was like some dreary25, enchanted26 lake in the fairy stories; that she and Kitty, like the brook, must go on and on forever. It did not seem possible that it could be the same pond she and the others had skated on so gaily27 that afternoon—if it really was that afternoon.

It was quite dark by now. Far away, across the fields, a solitary28 light showed in some lonely farmhouse29 window, and now and then they caught the sound of a dog barking.

It wouldn’t have been so unbearable30, Blue Bonnet thought, if only Kitty would speak.

And then Kitty did speak—“We shall have to keep close to the bank from now on—the ice isn’t safe further out—that is, unless you want to go back?” No one should say that she had not given Blue Bonnet every opportunity to behave like a reasonable being.

“Do you?” Blue Bonnet asked.

In her heart, Kitty knew herself more than ready, but the little demon31 that had seemed hovering32 near her all the afternoon, prompted her to say, “We haven’t got to the end yet. I thought—”

On they went again, both too tired to skate at all fast. Kitty told herself that she would never dare anyone like Blue Bonnet Ashe again; it had proved a veritable boomerang of a dare. Blue Bonnet felt that once she had got her skates off, she275 should never want to see them again. While the realization33 that ahead of them both waited a probable very bad quarter of an hour, did not serve to make things any brighter.

And then a little group of bare trees loomed34 tall and shadowy almost in front of them, and, a moment later, the end of the pond was reached.

“I know now,” Blue Bonnet dropped wearily down on the snowy bank, “how Miss Rankin’s beloved Pilgrim Fathers felt when they landed on Plymouth Rock!”

“You mustn’t do that!” Kitty commanded. “Get up this moment.”

“I simply can’t—just yet. Only I don’t suppose our motive35 and theirs for setting out were precisely36 similar, do you, Kitty?”

“I’m not supposing anything about it! Will you get up? Or do you want to catch the worst cold you’ve ever had—and have everyone saying it was my fault?”

“I don’t see how they could say that,” Blue Bonnet got up reluctantly. “I suppose our next move—is to go back.”

“We can’t go back on the ice—it’s too dark and the wind would be dead against us all the way.”

Blue Bonnet began working at her skates. “I’m mighty37 glad of that!”

“Going ’cross lots through the snow won’t be exactly what you might call fun,” Kitty remarked.276 “Come on—I don’t know what time we’ll get home, as it is.”

“Let’s not have ‘Quaker meeting’ going home, Kitty,” Blue Bonnet begged.

“It won’t be ‘Quaker meeting’—once we do get home, I’m thinking,” Kitty answered; “and I just know mamma will be worried to death.”

“Kitty, why did we do it?” Blue Bonnet asked.

“Maybe we’d better not go into that at present,” Kitty suggested. “There—it’s beginning to snow!”

It certainly was, in a thorough-going, determined39 fashion that promised to last through the night, at the least.

Walking ’cross lots after dark through ankle-deep snow, with the storm beating in one’s face, was not a particularly pleasant way of passing the time, Blue Bonnet decided40. “Kitty Clark!” she burst out. “If ever you dare dare me again!”

Kitty laughed. “You didn’t have to take it!”

“You knew I would!”

Kitty pulled off her mittens41, blowing on her numbed42 fingers. “Well, I got paid in kind, didn’t I? Blue Bonnet, you mustn’t!” For Blue Bonnet had slipped her muff off, throwing the chain over Kitty’s head.

“Turn and turn about!” she insisted.

“Are you—too utterly43 fagged out?” Kitty277 asked presently, real concern in her voice, as Blue Bonnet stumbled, just saving herself from falling.

“I’m—a bit tired,” Blue Bonnet confessed. “I suppose it’s because I’m not so used to this sort of thing!” She wondered if Kitty really did know her way through the dark and storm; to all outward seeming, they were struggling aimlessly on across fields that had apparently44 no boundaries. They had left the friendly little light behind long since; it seemed as if she and Kitty were quite alone in a world of wind and snow.

All at once, she came to an abrupt45 stop. “Kitty, I’ve got to rest!” She dropped down on the snow in a forlorn little heap.

Kitty longed to follow suit; instead, she gave Blue Bonnet a little shake. “Blue Bonnet, get up immediately! We’re nearly to the road now; it won’t be half as hard walking then.”

“I don’t think I care very much whether we are near the road or not,” Blue Bonnet said wearily; “all I want is to sit still for a while.”

“Blue Bonnet, please! Haven’t you and I both had enough of doing what we want for one day?”

“I’ve had more than enough,” Blue Bonnet conceded readily, but she did not get up.

Kitty gave her a second shake, and a harder one. “Blue Bonnet! I got you into this, and I’ve got to get you out of it! Get up this moment!278 Think how worried they must be at home about us!”

“Grandmother will be worried,” Blue Bonnet agreed. “Aunt Lucinda isn’t at home; but I don’t seem to mind about that, either, now—I’m so tired.”

“Then I’ll sit down too!” Kitty dropped down beside Blue Bonnet. “I might as well sit as stand.”

Blue Bonnet roused herself impatiently. “What a provoking girl you are! Come on, then! Only you might let me rest.”

Kitty drew a deep sigh of thankfulness when, a few yards further on, they stumbled against the last fence, over which the snow was drifting fast. “It won’t be nearly so hard now,” she repeated, as they managed to scramble46 over it into the road.

A moment or so later, Kitty cried eagerly—“Blue Bonnet, listen!”

From down the road came the jingling47 of bells, coming nearer every moment; then a voice called, “Halloa! Halloa, there! Anyone about?”

“It’s Jim Parker!” Kitty cried joyously48. “Here we are!” she called back.

“Well of all the tom-fool scrapes!” Jim drew his horse up with a jerk. “What do you mean by this, Kitty Clark! Setting the whole place by the ears!”

“It was just as much my fault!” Blue Bonnet protested.

279 “Well, we won’t stand here scrapping49 about that!” Jim bundled the two into the bottom of the box sleigh most unceremoniously, piling buffalo50 robes thick about them. “There’s blame enough to go shares on and have some left over.”

“Please don’t scold!” Kitty pleaded. “We’re dreadfully sorry, and if you knew how tired and hungry we were!”

Jim took up the reins—“And so you ought to be!” He was a big, hearty51 fellow of twenty, who had been pulling Kitty out of scrapes ever since she had been big enough to get into them,—and Kitty had begun early.

“How did you know where we were,—did Debby tell?” Kitty asked. Blue Bonnet cared neither to ask, nor answer questions.

“Why,” Jim explained, “when you didn’t come home your mother sent over to our place, thinking you must be there. Amanda hadn’t seen you since school; then Mrs. Clyde sent her Delia down to your place, in search of Blue Bonnet. Debby’d gone out to supper with Susy, and by the time we’d got ’round to the Doyles and found out where you had started for, it was getting pretty late, and some of the seniors were more or less anxious. Your father hadn’t got in yet. Some of the boys started up the pond with lanterns, and I came this way, thinking it barely possible you might have developed enough sense not to try to come back on the ice.”

280 “Is everyone dreadfully worried?” Kitty asked.

“Worried enough! That end of the pond isn’t the safest place, particularly after dark.”

Kitty subsided52. When Jim, who was her staunch ally, used that tone towards her, matters must be pretty serious.

Never had the lights of the village, blinking at them through the snow, seemed more friendly or more welcome to the two nestled under the buffalo robes in the bottom of the Parker box sleigh.

Jim was blowing the horn he had brought, three good blasts.

“That means we’re found!” Kitty’s voice was trembling; some realization of what those blasts meant to those here at home had come to her.

Blue Bonnet roused herself. “Kitty, didn’t it almost seem—out there—in the snow—”

“Don’t!” Kitty dropped her face on Blue Bonnet’s shoulder.

It was not at all the sort of welcome they should have received, Dr. Clark declared afterwards; but then, as Kitty pointed out, he was the first to reach the sleigh—having heard the news on his way home—taking her into his own cutter, and on home to an exceedingly anxious mother, while Jim turned into the Clyde drive.

There Solomon met them, scrambling53 into the sleigh, and diving in among the robes, licking his mistress’ face, her ears—only stopping, momentarily,281 to bark in most ungrateful manner at Jim in his great fur coat.

“Here we are! All safe and sound!” Jim said, cheerily, as Mrs. Clyde came forward from the open doorway54, just within which, Delia and Katie hovered55 excitedly. It was Delia’s and Katie’s firm conviction that “that Kitty” was to blame for the whole affair, it being “just like her.”

The next thing Blue Bonnet knew, Jim was carrying her indoors, robes and all, depositing her in the big armchair Grandmother drew forward. “There!” he said. “You’re home now and it’s up to someone to keep you here for one while!”

Blue Bonnet tried to say thank you, but made rather a failure of it; it was all she could do just then to fight back a sudden desire to cry. It was so good to be at home again—where it was warm and light and there were people about.

Grandmother seemed to understand, for she asked no questions; and before many minutes Blue Bonnet found herself in bed, with hot water bottles everywhere.

And then, quite unexpectedly, the doctor appeared; explaining that he thought he would look in and see how this second member of the exploring party was getting on.

“I’m all right!” Blue Bonnet told him, as he took her hand in his. “Please, Dr. Clark, it was my fault—not Kitty’s!”

282 “Time enough to-morrow to discuss that side of the question,” the doctor said. “What you’ve got to do now is to get in all the sleep you can.”

Blue Bonnet looked up at him with troubled eyes. “But every time I shut my eyes, I keep seeing—” she broke, abruptly56.

“We’ll soon remedy that!” the doctor answered, taking out his medicine case.

“You are all so good to me!” Blue Bonnet told Grandmother, when the doctor had gone. “And you shouldn’t be, because—”

“We won’t go into that ‘because’ to-night, dear,” Mrs. Clyde bent to kiss the flushed face. “You must go to sleep now, as the doctor said.”

It was still snowing when Blue Bonnet woke the next morning. Down below, the hall clock was striking nine. It was a good thing that it was Saturday, Blue Bonnet thought; she felt stiff and tired. She wondered if Aunt Lucinda had been kept in town by the storm. Aunt Lucinda would have the right to be vexed57 with her this time; Blue Bonnet moved restlessly—she didn’t want to think about last night. Why, someone must have slept over there on her lounge! Surely, Grandmother hadn’t—Aunt Lucinda was coming upstairs now.

“Have you been awake long, Blue Bonnet?” Miss Lucinda asked. She sat down on the side of the bed, laying a hand over the one Blue Bonnet283 held out to her; she looked grave, but not at all—lectury, Blue Bonnet decided.

“I only just woke up, I’ll get right up,” the girl said.

Miss Lucinda shook her head. “Breakfast first, and then—if the doctor says you may—we’ll talk about the getting up.”

“But I don’t need the doctor!” Blue Bonnet protested.

She had little appetite for the daintily prepared breakfast Miss Lucinda brought her presently. “I ought not to have these dishes this morning,” she insisted, touching58 the pretty sprigged cup and saucer,—“I ought not to have anything nice.”

Miss Lucinda smiled. “Dr. Clark has been known to give very unpleasant doses; it is possible that he may give you something very far from nice.”

“I hope he says I may get up,” Blue Bonnet said. “I hate lying in bed.”

“Then it should prove excellent discipline,” Miss Lucinda suggested, shaking out her pillow and making her comfortable in a way Blue Bonnet found very pleasant.

“Did you sleep in here on the lounge last night, Aunt Lucinda?” she asked.

“Yes,” Miss Lucinda answered; she was putting the room to rights now. Blue Bonnet watched her interestedly. “How easily you do things—so284 quickly and without a bit of fuss,” she said. “There comes the doctor—I know he’ll say I’m foolish—lying here.”

What the doctor said, among other things, was that, in his opinion, Woodford had the unenviable distinction at that moment of containing two as headstrong and foolish young persons as it had ever been his lot to run across. And he ended by prescribing a day’s quiet in bed for Blue Bonnet; after which, he and Aunt Lucinda went downstairs together.

“A little cold, a good deal of fatigue, and considerable nervous excitement,” the doctor told Mrs. Clyde and Miss Lucinda. “She isn’t as rugged59 as some of our Woodford girls,” he added, “and this is her first New England winter. Quiet and coddling will bring her around all right.”

“And Kitty?” Mrs. Clyde inquired.

“Tired, and I trust—penitent,” Kitty’s father answered.

Blue Bonnet slept most of the day, Solomon mounting guard on the rug beside her bed. According to calculation, it should have been Saturday, but never had Solomon known his mistress to spend Saturday in such peculiar60 fashion before.

When Blue Bonnet finally awoke, towards late afternoon, feeling wonderfully rested, she found Grandmother sitting before the fire, her sewing lying idly in her lap. She looked tired and troubled,285 Blue Bonnet told herself, and it was all her fault.

“Grandmother,”—Blue Bonnet sat up in bed, shaking her hair back from her face—“please, I am ever and ever so sorry! About last night—it was just a foolish dare that I took up—and was too obstinate61 to let drop. I don’t believe, in the beginning, Kitty really meant it for a dare; she was only teasing. And I might have gone, even if she hadn’t gone too, but she wouldn’t have gone without me. So it was a good deal more my fault than hers. Once we’d got started, neither of us would give in. And then—afterwards, all the way home through the dark—I kept thinking of what happened last summer—out on the ranch; and seeing it all over again; and remembering what Uncle Joe said—how it need never have happened, if the poor, foolish fellow had had the grit62 enough not to take a dare. You see, one of the other cowboys dared him to ride that horse, and he would do it—though Uncle Joe warned him not to.”

“It should not have taken much ‘grit’ not to take Kitty’s dare last night, Blue Bonnet,” Mrs. Clyde said, gravely. “A moment’s thought should have been enough to deter38 you.”

“Somehow, I never do seem to do my thinking until afterwards,” Blue Bonnet mourned.

“But ‘afterwards,’ when there had been plenty of time for thought, you still went on.”

286 “Y—yes,” Blue Bonnet admitted, “but it didn’t seem as if I could give in before Kitty did, Grandmother.”

“It is not so many years ago, Blue Bonnet,” Grandmother said, “that a party of young people went skating up at that end of the pond, against orders, and that one of them did not come back with the rest.”

“Grandmother! And you had that to think about—all last evening!”

“Yes, Blue Bonnet.”

“I—hate myself! I’ll never take such a silly dare as that was last night again!”

“It is my experience,” Grandmother observed, “that most dares come under that description.”

When Aunt Lucinda came up just before supper, bringing messages from various friends, and a little knot of lemon verbena and heliotrope63 from Sarah’s window garden, she found Blue Bonnet looking very sober.

“We shall not have to keep you prisoner to-morrow, my dear,” Miss Lucinda said. “I expect we shall have numerous callers, even if it is Sunday.”

Blue Bonnet laid Sarah’s flowers against her face. “I’m sorry the club couldn’t meet—it’s the first time we’ve missed since starting.” For a moment or two, she lay looking across at her aunt in the low chair before the fire; then she asked,287 suddenly, “Aunt Lucinda, aren’t you going to—say anything to me?”

“Say anything, Blue Bonnet?”

“About—last night?”

“Haven’t you and your grandmother talked things over, Blue Bonnet?”

“Yes,” Blue Bonnet answered, “but Grandmother was just—dear, and I thought—I don’t mean that you’re not—” Blue Bonnet colored, “only it does seem as if someone ought to—scold me. It was so horrid of me.”

Miss Lucinda half smiled. “And you consider that my especial prerogative64? No, Blue Bonnet, I am not going to ‘say anything,’ as you express it, to you. I am going to ask that another time you will give a little thought to the worry and anxiety your heedlessness is likely to cause other people. I do not think you realize how troubled your grandmother was last evening.”

“Oh, I will try,” Blue Bonnet’s voice trembled. “I will, I truly will, Aunt Lucinda!”

“Solomon,” she confided65 to him later, as they two were alone in the firelight, “Solomon, Aunt Lucinda can be such a dear!”

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 bonnet AtSzQ     
n.无边女帽;童帽
参考例句:
  • The baby's bonnet keeps the sun out of her eyes.婴孩的帽子遮住阳光,使之不刺眼。
  • She wore a faded black bonnet garnished with faded artificial flowers.她戴着一顶褪了色的黑色无边帽,帽上缀着褪了色的假花。
2 awfully MPkym     
adv.可怕地,非常地,极端地
参考例句:
  • Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
  • I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。
3 strap 5GhzK     
n.皮带,带子;v.用带扣住,束牢;用绷带包扎
参考例句:
  • She held onto a strap to steady herself.她抓住拉手吊带以便站稳。
  • The nurse will strap up your wound.护士会绑扎你的伤口。
4 gathering ChmxZ     
n.集会,聚会,聚集
参考例句:
  • He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
  • He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。
5 gatherings 400b026348cc2270e0046708acff2352     
聚集( gathering的名词复数 ); 收集; 采集; 搜集
参考例句:
  • His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
  • During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次,其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。
6 ranch dAUzk     
n.大牧场,大农场
参考例句:
  • He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
  • The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。
7 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
8 banking aySz20     
n.银行业,银行学,金融业
参考例句:
  • John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
  • He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。
9 bent QQ8yD     
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的
参考例句:
  • He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
  • We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
10 straps 1412cf4c15adaea5261be8ae3e7edf8e     
n.带子( strap的名词复数 );挎带;肩带;背带v.用皮带捆扎( strap的第三人称单数 );用皮带抽打;包扎;给…打绷带
参考例句:
  • the shoulder straps of her dress 她连衣裙上的肩带
  • The straps can be adjusted to suit the wearer. 这些背带可进行调整以适合使用者。
11 mischievously 23cd35e8c65a34bd7a6d7ecbff03b336     
adv.有害地;淘气地
参考例句:
  • He mischievously looked for a chance to embarrass his sister. 他淘气地寻找机会让他的姐姐难堪。 来自互联网
  • Also has many a dream kindheartedness, is loves mischievously small lovable. 又有着多啦a梦的好心肠,是爱调皮的小可爱。 来自互联网
12 gasped e6af294d8a7477229d6749fa9e8f5b80     
v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要
参考例句:
  • She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
  • People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
13 tighten 9oYwI     
v.(使)变紧;(使)绷紧
参考例句:
  • Turn the screw to the right to tighten it.向右转动螺钉把它拧紧。
  • Some countries tighten monetary policy to avoid inflation.一些国家实行紧缩银根的货币政策,以避免通货膨胀。
14 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
15 thoroughly sgmz0J     
adv.完全地,彻底地,十足地
参考例句:
  • The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
  • The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。
16 fatigue PhVzV     
n.疲劳,劳累
参考例句:
  • The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
  • I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。
17 misgivings 0nIzyS     
n.疑虑,担忧,害怕;疑虑,担心,恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 );疑惧
参考例句:
  • I had grave misgivings about making the trip. 对于这次旅行我有过极大的顾虑。
  • Don't be overtaken by misgivings and fear. Just go full stream ahead! 不要瞻前顾后, 畏首畏尾。甩开膀子干吧! 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
18 undertaking Mfkz7S     
n.保证,许诺,事业
参考例句:
  • He gave her an undertaking that he would pay the money back with in a year.他向她做了一年内还钱的保证。
  • He is too timid to venture upon an undertaking.他太胆小,不敢从事任何事业。
19 possessed xuyyQ     
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的
参考例句:
  • He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
  • He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。
20 brook PSIyg     
n.小河,溪;v.忍受,容让
参考例句:
  • In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
  • The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。
21 horrid arozZj     
adj.可怕的;令人惊恐的;恐怖的;极讨厌的
参考例句:
  • I'm not going to the horrid dinner party.我不打算去参加这次讨厌的宴会。
  • The medicine is horrid and she couldn't get it down.这种药很难吃,她咽不下去。
22 mere rC1xE     
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过
参考例句:
  • That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
  • It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。
23 doggedly 6upzAY     
adv.顽强地,固执地
参考例句:
  • He was still doggedly pursuing his studies.他仍然顽强地进行着自己的研究。
  • He trudged doggedly on until he reached the flat.他顽强地、步履艰难地走着,一直走回了公寓。
24 miserable g18yk     
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的
参考例句:
  • It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他,这是可耻的。
  • Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。
25 dreary sk1z6     
adj.令人沮丧的,沉闷的,单调乏味的
参考例句:
  • They live such dreary lives.他们的生活如此乏味。
  • She was tired of hearing the same dreary tale of drunkenness and violence.她听够了那些关于酗酒和暴力的乏味故事。
26 enchanted enchanted     
adj. 被施魔法的,陶醉的,入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • She was enchanted by the flowers you sent her. 她非常喜欢你送给她的花。
  • He was enchanted by the idea. 他为这个主意而欣喜若狂。
27 gaily lfPzC     
adv.欢乐地,高兴地
参考例句:
  • The children sing gaily.孩子们欢唱着。
  • She waved goodbye very gaily.她欢快地挥手告别。
28 solitary 7FUyx     
adj.孤独的,独立的,荒凉的;n.隐士
参考例句:
  • I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
  • The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际,显得十分壮美。
29 farmhouse kt1zIk     
n.农场住宅(尤指主要住房)
参考例句:
  • We fell for the farmhouse as soon as we saw it.我们对那所农舍一见倾心。
  • We put up for the night at a farmhouse.我们在一间农舍投宿了一夜。
30 unbearable alCwB     
adj.不能容忍的;忍受不住的
参考例句:
  • It is unbearable to be always on thorns.老是处于焦虑不安的情况中是受不了的。
  • The more he thought of it the more unbearable it became.他越想越觉得无法忍受。
31 demon Wmdyj     
n.魔鬼,恶魔
参考例句:
  • The demon of greed ruined the miser's happiness.贪得无厌的恶习毁掉了那个守财奴的幸福。
  • He has been possessed by the demon of disease for years.他多年来病魔缠身。
32 hovering 99fdb695db3c202536060470c79b067f     
鸟( hover的现在分词 ); 靠近(某事物); (人)徘徊; 犹豫
参考例句:
  • The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
  • I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。
33 realization nTwxS     
n.实现;认识到,深刻了解
参考例句:
  • We shall gladly lend every effort in our power toward its realization.我们将乐意为它的实现而竭尽全力。
  • He came to the realization that he would never make a good teacher.他逐渐认识到自己永远不会成为好老师。
34 loomed 9423e616fe6b658c9a341ebc71833279     
v.隐约出现,阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 );隐约出现,阴森地逼近
参考例句:
  • A dark shape loomed up ahead of us. 一个黑糊糊的影子隐隐出现在我们的前面。
  • The prospect of war loomed large in everyone's mind. 战事将起的庞大阴影占据每个人的心。 来自《简明英汉词典》
35 motive GFzxz     
n.动机,目的;adv.发动的,运动的
参考例句:
  • The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
  • He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。
36 precisely zlWzUb     
adv.恰好,正好,精确地,细致地
参考例句:
  • It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
  • The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。
37 mighty YDWxl     
adj.强有力的;巨大的
参考例句:
  • A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
  • The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。
38 deter DmZzU     
vt.阻止,使不敢,吓住
参考例句:
  • Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
  • Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。
39 determined duszmP     
adj.坚定的;有决心的
参考例句:
  • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
  • He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
40 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
41 mittens 258752c6b0652a69c52ceed3c65dbf00     
不分指手套
参考例句:
  • Cotton mittens will prevent the baby from scratching his own face. 棉的连指手套使婴儿不会抓伤自己的脸。
  • I'd fisted my hands inside their mittens to keep the fingers warm. 我在手套中握拳头来保暖手指。
42 numbed f49681fad452b31c559c5f54ee8220f4     
v.使麻木,使麻痹( numb的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • His mind has been numbed. 他已麻木不仁。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He was numbed with grief. 他因悲伤而昏迷了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
43 utterly ZfpzM1     
adv.完全地,绝对地
参考例句:
  • Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民,把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
  • I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。
44 apparently tMmyQ     
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎
参考例句:
  • An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽,豁然开朗。
  • He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。
45 abrupt 2fdyh     
adj.突然的,意外的;唐突的,鲁莽的
参考例句:
  • The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
  • His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。
46 scramble JDwzg     
v.爬行,攀爬,杂乱蔓延,碎片,片段,废料
参考例句:
  • He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
  • It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。
47 jingling 966ec027d693bb9739d1c4843be19b9f     
叮当声
参考例句:
  • A carriage went jingling by with some reclining figure in it. 一辆马车叮当驶过,车上斜倚着一个人。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
  • Melanie did not seem to know, or care, that life was riding by with jingling spurs. 媚兰好像并不知道,或者不关心,生活正马刺丁当地一路驶过去了呢。
48 joyously 1p4zu0     
ad.快乐地, 高兴地
参考例句:
  • She opened the door for me and threw herself in my arms, screaming joyously and demanding that we decorate the tree immediately. 她打开门,直扑我的怀抱,欣喜地喊叫着要马上装饰圣诞树。
  • They came running, crying out joyously in trilling girlish voices. 她们边跑边喊,那少女的颤音好不欢快。 来自名作英译部分
49 scrapping 6327b12f2e69f7c7fd6f72afe416a20a     
刮,切除坯体余泥
参考例句:
  • He was always scrapping at school. 他在学校总打架。
  • These two dogs are always scrapping. 这两条狗总是打架。
50 buffalo 1Sby4     
n.(北美)野牛;(亚洲)水牛
参考例句:
  • Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
  • The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。
51 hearty Od1zn     
adj.热情友好的;衷心的;尽情的,纵情的
参考例句:
  • After work they made a hearty meal in the worker's canteen.工作完了,他们在工人食堂饱餐了一顿。
  • We accorded him a hearty welcome.我们给他热忱的欢迎。
52 subsided 1bda21cef31764468020a8c83598cc0d     
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
参考例句:
  • After the heavy rains part of the road subsided. 大雨过后,部分公路塌陷了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • By evening the storm had subsided and all was quiet again. 傍晚, 暴风雨已经过去,四周开始沉寂下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
53 scrambling cfea7454c3a8813b07de2178a1025138     
v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 );攀登;争夺;(军事飞机)紧急起飞
参考例句:
  • Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发,冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》
54 doorway 2s0xK     
n.门口,(喻)入门;门路,途径
参考例句:
  • They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
  • Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。
55 hovered d194b7e43467f867f4b4380809ba6b19     
鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 ); 靠近(某事物); (人)徘徊; 犹豫
参考例句:
  • A hawk hovered over the hill. 一只鹰在小山的上空翱翔。
  • A hawk hovered in the blue sky. 一只老鹰在蓝色的天空中翱翔。
56 abruptly iINyJ     
adv.突然地,出其不意地
参考例句:
  • He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
  • I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。
57 vexed fd1a5654154eed3c0a0820ab54fb90a7     
adj.争论不休的;(指问题等)棘手的;争论不休的问题;烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 );使苦恼;使生气;详细讨论
参考例句:
  • The conference spent days discussing the vexed question of border controls. 会议花了几天的时间讨论边境关卡这个难题。
  • He was vexed at his failure. 他因失败而懊恼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
58 touching sg6zQ9     
adj.动人的,使人感伤的
参考例句:
  • It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
  • His letter was touching.他的信很感人。
59 rugged yXVxX     
adj.高低不平的,粗糙的,粗壮的,强健的
参考例句:
  • Football players must be rugged.足球运动员必须健壮。
  • The Rocky Mountains have rugged mountains and roads.落基山脉有崇山峻岭和崎岖不平的道路。
60 peculiar cinyo     
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的
参考例句:
  • He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
  • He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。
61 obstinate m0dy6     
adj.顽固的,倔强的,不易屈服的,较难治愈的
参考例句:
  • She's too obstinate to let anyone help her.她太倔强了,不会让任何人帮她的。
  • The trader was obstinate in the negotiation.这个商人在谈判中拗强固执。
62 grit LlMyH     
n.沙粒,决心,勇气;v.下定决心,咬紧牙关
参考例句:
  • The soldiers showed that they had plenty of grit. 士兵们表现得很有勇气。
  • I've got some grit in my shoe.我的鞋子里弄进了一些砂子。
63 heliotrope adbxf     
n.天芥菜;淡紫色
参考例句:
  • So Laurie played and Jo listened,with her nose luxuriously buried in heliotrope and tea roses.这样劳瑞便弹了起来,裘把自己的鼻子惬意地埋在无芥菜和庚申蔷薇花簇中倾听着。
  • The dragon of eternity sustains the faceted heliotrope crystal of life.永恒不朽的飞龙支撑着寓意着生命的淡紫色多面水晶。
64 prerogative 810z1     
n.特权
参考例句:
  • It is within his prerogative to do so.他是有权这样做的。
  • Making such decisions is not the sole prerogative of managers.作这类决定并不是管理者的专有特权。
65 confided 724f3f12e93e38bec4dda1e47c06c3b1     
v.吐露(秘密,心事等)( confide的过去式和过去分词 );(向某人)吐露(隐私、秘密等)
参考例句:
  • She confided all her secrets to her best friend. 她向她最要好的朋友倾吐了自己所有的秘密。
  • He confided to me that he had spent five years in prison. 他私下向我透露,他蹲过五年监狱。 来自《简明英汉词典》


欢迎访问英文小说网

©英文小说网 2005-2010

有任何问题,请给我们留言,管理员邮箱:[email protected]  站长QQ :点击发送消息和我们联系56065533