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CHAPTER XXV—THE LAND OF OPPORTUNITIES
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The enormous wealth of West Africa—The waste—The need of some settled scheme—Competitive examination for the West-African Civil Service—The men who come after the pioneers—One industry set against another—The climate—The need of women—The dark peoples we govern—The isolation2 of the cultivated black man—The missionaries3—The Roman Catholics—The Basel missionaries—West Africa the country of raw material—An answer to the question, “What shall I do with my son?”—The fascination4 of Africa.

And so I have visited 'the land I had dreamed about as a little child in far-away Australia. But no, I have never been to that land. It is a wonderful country that lies with the long, long thoughts of childhood, with the desires of youth, with the hopes that are in the heart of the bride when she draws the curtain on her marriage morning. Beautiful hopes, beautiful desires, never to be fulfilled. We know, as we grow older, that some of our longings5 will never be granted exactly in the way we have expected them to be granted, but that does not mean that good things will not come to us, though not in the guise6 in which we have looked for them. Therefore, though I have never visited Carlo's country, and never can visit it, still I have seen a very goodly land, a land flowing with milk and honey, a land worthy7 of a high place in the possessions of any nation, and yet, I think, a land that has been grievously misjudged.

Why does no one speak of the enormous wealth of West Africa? When America was but a faint dream of the adventurous8 voyager, when Australia was not on the maps, the west coast of Africa was exploited by the nations growing in civilisation9 for her wealth of gold, and slaves, and ivory, and the wealth that was there in those long-ago days is there to-day. There is gold as of yore, gold for the working; slaves, but we recognise the rights of man now and use them only as cheap labour; and there is surely raw material and vegetable products that should bring food and wealth to the struggling millions of the older world. The African peasant is passing rich on threepence a day, and within reach of his hand grow rubber and palm oil, groundnuts and cotton, cocoa and hemp10, and cocoa-nuts and all manner of tropical fruits. These things, I know, appertain to other lands, but here they are simply flung out with a tropical lavishness11, and till this century I doubt if they have been counted of any particular value. If the English colonies of West Africa were cultivated by men with knowledge and patience, bringing to the work but a fiftieth of the thought and attention that is given to such matters in France, the return would be simply amazing. I have seen 25 per cent, of an ignorant peasant community's cocoa harvest wasted because there were no roads; I have seen cocoa-nut plantations12 useless, “because the place isn't suitable,” when in all probability some parasite13 was killing14 the palms. I have seen lives and money lost in a futile15 endeavour to teach the native to grow cotton, when the climate and conditions cried out that cocoa was the proper product to be encouraged.



0593

What the portion of West Africa I know well wants is to be worked on some settled scheme, a scheme made by some far-seeing mind that shall embrace, not the conditions of five years hence, but of fifty years hence; the man who works there should be laying the foundations of a plan that shall come to fruition in the time of our children's children, that should be still in sound working order in their grandchildren's time. The wheat of the Canadian harvest-field may bring riches in a year, the wool of Australia's plains wealth in two or three, but the trees of the African forest have taken hundreds of years to their growth, and, when they are grown, are like no other trees in the world. With them none may compare. So may these tropical dependencies of England be when rightly used, they shall come to their full growth. But we must remember they are tropical dependencies. The ordinary Englishman, it seems to me, is apt to expect to gather apples from a cocoa-nut palm, potatoes from a groundnut vine, and to rail because he cannot find those apples and potatoes. He will never find them, and the man who expects them is the man in the wrong place.

I hope some day soon to find there is a competitive examination for positions in the West-African Civil Service. Does any man grumble16 who has won a place in the Indian Civil Service? I think not. A competitive examination may not be the ideal way of choosing your political staff, but as yet we have evolved none better. The man who passes high in a competitive examination must at least have the qualities of industry and self-denial, and who will deny that these are good qualities to bring to the governing of a subject people?

It is curious to watch English methods of colonisation, and whether we will or no we must sit in judgment17 upon them. The first men who go out are sometimes good, sometimes bad, but all have this saving grace—that strong spirit of adventure, that dash and go which made England a colonising nation and mistress of the seas. It would be like asking a great cricketer to play tiddly-winks to ask one of the men who fought for Ashanti to take part in a competitive examination. They have competed and passed in a far sterner school. But the men who follow in the footsteps of the pioneers are sometimes made of different stuff. They are often the restless, discontented ones of the nation, men who complain of the land they leave, complain of the land they come to, find no good in West Africa, seek for no good, exaggerate its drawbacks, are glad to regard themselves as martyrs18 and to give the country an evil name. Such men, I think, a competitive examination would weed out.

There must be continuity of service. That is a foregone conclusion. At present England thinks so little of the land that is hers that she puts a man in a place but for a year, and the political officer has no chance of learning the conditions and needs of the people over whom he rules; he is a rolling stone perpetually moving on. Then it is the height of folly19 to set one industry against another. All should surely, in a new country, be worked for the common good. For instance, there is a railway running between Kumasi and Sekondi, a Government railway, and behind Kumasi lies a vast extent of country unexplored and unexploited, with hardly a road in it. One would have thought that it would simply be wisdom and for the good of the whole community that the railway which is Government property should be used for the opening up of the country behind. Such is the plan in Canada; such is the practice in Australia. But in West Africa Government holds different views. Ashanti wants to build a road to the Northern Territories, a road such as the Germans have made all over Togo, but Government, instead of using the railway to further that project, charge such exorbitant20 freight on the road material, that the road-making has come to a standstill. It is typical of the country. Each department is pitted against the other, instead of one and all working for the good of the whole. The great mind that shall be at liberty to plan, that I fear sometimes lest the Germans and French have found, has yet to come.



0597

There are many prejudices to break down, and first and foremost is the prejudice against the climate. Now I am not going to say that West Africa is a health resort, though I went there ill and came away in the rudest health. Still I do recognise that a tropical climate is hard for a European, more especially, perhaps, for people of these northern isles21, to dwell in. A man cannot afford to burn the candle at both ends there, and if he would keep well he must of necessity live in all soberness and temperance. He does not always do that, but at present, whatever his illness is due to, it is always set down to the climate, and he is always sure of a full measure of pity.

Once I stayed for a short time next to a hospital, and the Europeans in the little town were much exercised because that hospital was so full. At last it occurred to me to ask what was the matter with the patients. I was not told what was the matter with them, but I found that the only one for whom anyone had much pity was the gentleman who had D.T. But even the worst of them you may be sure would have full measure of pity in England. “Poor fellow, that awful climate!”

Doctors tell me fever is rife22, and I feel they must know more about it than I do, but it has been discovered in England that a life in the open air is an almost certain preventive of phthisis, and I cannot help thinking that a sane23 and sober life in the open air day and night would be a more certain preventive against fever than all the quinine and mosquito-proof rooms that were ever dreamt of. Observe, I say, a sane and sober life; and a sane and sober life means most emphatically that a man does not rush at his work and live habitually24 at high pressure. For this is a temptation that the better-class of man is peculiarly liable to in West Africa. “Let us succeed, let us get on, and let us get home”; and who, in the present conditions, can blame him for such sentiments. They are such as do any man credit, but they very often, in a hot climate more especially, spell destruction as surely as the wild dissipation of the reckless man who does not care. And there is only one cure for that—the cure the French and Germans are providing. The women must be encouraged to go out. Every woman who goes and stays makes it easier for the woman who follows in her footsteps, and I can see no reason why a woman should not stand the climate of West Africa as well as she does that of India. Women are the crying need; quiet, brave, sensible women who are not daunted25 because the black cook spoils the soup, or the black laundryman ruins the tablecloth26, who will take an intelligent view of life, and will make what is so much needed—a home for their husbands. I know there are men who say that Africa is no place for a woman. I have met them again and again. Some of those men I respected very much; some I put in quite another category. The first evidently regarded a wife as a precious plaything, not as a creature who was helpmeet and friend, whose greatest joy must be to keep her marriage vows27 and share her husband's life for good or ill, whose life must of necessity be incomplete unless she were allowed to keep those marriage vows. The other sort, I am afraid, like the freedom that the absence of white women gives them, a freedom that is certainly not for the ultimate welfare of a colony, for the mingling28 of the European and the daughter of Ham should be unthinkable. It is good for neither people.



0601

And here we come to the great difficulty of a tropical dependency, the question that as yet is unanswered and unanswerable. What of the dark peoples we govern? They are a peasant people with a peasant people's faults and a peasant people's charm, but what of their future? The native untouched by the white man has a dignity and a charm that there is no denying; it seems a great pity he cannot be kept in that condition. The man on the first rung of civilisation has points about him, and on the whole one cannot help liking29 him, but the man who has gathered the rudiments30 of an education, as presented to men in an English school on the Coast, is, to my mind, about as disagreeable a specimen31 of humanity as it is possible to meet anywhere. He has lost the charming courtesy of the untutored savage32, and replaced it by a horrible veneer33 of civilisation that is blatant34 and pompous35; and it is only because I have met such men as Dr Blyden and Mr Olympia that I am prepared to admit that education can do something beyond spoiling a good thing. Between black and white there is that great, unbridgeable gulf36 fixed37, and no man may cross it. The black men who attain38 to the higher plane are as yet so few and scattered39 that each must lead a life of utter intolerable loneliness, men centuries before their time, men burdened with knowledge like Galileo, men who must suffer like Galileo, for none may understand them, and the white man stands and must stand—it is inevitable—too far off even for sympathy.

All honour to those men who go before the pioneers; but for them, as far as we can see, is only bitterness.

The curious thing is that most people who have visited West Africa or any other tropical dependency will recognise these facts, and yet England continues to pour into Africa a continuous stream of missionaries. Why? For years Christianity has been taught on the Coast, and it is now a well-recognised fact that on the Coast dishonesty and vice1 are to be found, while the man from the interior is at least honest, healthy, and free from vice. I am not saying that religion as taught by the missionary41 has taught vice, but I am declaring emphatically that it has failed to keep the negro from it. Why encourage missionaries? As civilisation advances the native must be taught. Very well, let him pay for his own teaching, he will value it a great deal more; or, since the merchants want clerks and the white rulers want artisans, let them pay for the native to be taught. But very, very strongly do I feel, when I look at the comfortable, well-fed native of West Africa and the wastrel42 of the English streets, that the English who subscribe43 to missions are taking the bread from the children's table and throwing it to the dogs.



0605

Hundreds and thousands of people are ready to give to missions, but I am very sure not a fraction of them have the very faintest conception of what they are giving to. Their idea is that they are giving to the poor heathen who are sunk in the deepest misery44. Now there is not in all the length and breadth of Africa, I will venture to swear, one-quarter of the unutterable misery and vice you may see any day in the streets of London or any great city of the British Isles. There is not a tribe that has not its own system of morals and sees that they are carried out; there is not the possibility of a man, woman, or child dying of starvation in all West Africa while there is any food among the community. Can we say that of any town in England? What then are we trying to teach the native? Christianity. But surely a man's god is only such as his mind can appreciate; a high-class mind has a high-class god, a kindly45 mind a kindly god, and an evil mind an evil god. No matter whether we call that god Christ, or by any other name, he will have the attributes the mind that conceives him gives him; wherefore why worry?

Of course I know that a large number of people feel that religion comes from without and not from within, and a larger number still say as long as a mission is industrial it is a good thing, and to both of these I can only point out the streets and alleys46 and tenement47 houses of the towns of England. It seems to me the most appalling48 presumption49 on the part of any nation with such ghastly festering sores at its own heart to try and impose on any other people a code of morals, a system of ethics50, a religion, if you will, until its own body is sweet and clean. An industrial mission is doubtless a good thing, but until there are no men clamouring for the post of sandwich-men in London, no women catering51 to a shameful52 traffic in Piccadilly, I think we should keep the money for our industrial missions at home.

Let us look the thing straight in the face. They talk of human sacrifices. Are there no human sacrifices in our own midst? We lie if we say there are none. Every day we who pride ourselves upon having been a Christian40 nation for the last thousand years condemn53 little children to a life of utter hopelessness, to a life the very thought of which, in connection with our own children, would make us hide our faces in shuddering54 horror. So if any man is appealed to to give to missions, I would have him look round and see that everyone in his immediate55 neighbourhood is beyond the need of help, that there are no ghastly creatures at his own gate that the heathen he is trying to convert would scorn to have at his side. Believe me, if Christianity is to justify56 itself there is not yet one crumb57 to spare from the children's table for the dogs that lie outside.

For the individual missionary I have—in many cases, I must have—a great respect. The trouble to my mind is that Christianity presented in so many guises58 must be a little confusing to the heathen. There are the Roman Catholics. They are pawns59 in the great game played by Rome; no individual counts. They have given themselves to the missionary service to teach the heathen, and they stay until they die or until they are too sick to be of further use in the land. Of course they are helpful, any life that is oblivious60 of self and is utterly61 devoted62 to others must needs be helpful, and they have my deepest respect, because never, never have I been called upon to sympathise with a Roman Catholic father or sister. They have given their lives, no man can do more, and all I can say is, I would prefer they gave it to the civilising of the submerged folks of their own nations than to civilising the black man.



0609

Then at the other end of the social scale are the Basel Missions. They combine business and religion very satisfactorily in a thoroughly63 efficient German spirit, and while the missionaries attend to the souls of the heathen and set up schools to teach them not only to read and write, but various useful trades as well, the Basel Mission Factories do a tremendous trade in all the necessaries of life. These Basel missionaries are most kindly, worthy people, and to their kindness I owe much. Occasionally I have come across a man of wide reading and with clever, observant eyes, but as a rule they are chosen from the lower middle classes among the Swiss and Germans; very often the missionary spirit runs in the families, and it passes on from father to son, from mother to daughter. These people, too, come out if not for life, like the Roman Catholics, at least for long periods of years. It is generally believed on the Coast, and I have never heard it contradicted, that when a man attains64 a certain standing65 he is allowed to marry, even though he is not due for a holiday in Europe. They have at headquarters photographs of all the eligible66 maidens67 in training for the mission field, and the candidate for matrimony may choose his wife, and she is duly forwarded to him, for the heads of the Basel Missions, like me, believe in matrimony for Africa. And most excellent wives do these Basel missionary women make. They bear their children here in West Africa where no English woman thinks she can stay more than six months, and their homes are truly homes in the best sense of the word. If example is good for the heathen, then he has it in the Basel Missions. Another thing, they must make the most excellent nucleus68 for German interests, for no one who has been in a Basel Mission Station or Factory can but respect these men and women and little children who make a home and a garden in the wilderness69. And what I have said about the Basel Missions applies to the Bremen Missions, except that these are more pronouncedly German. But better women may I never hope to meet in this wide world than those in the Bremen Missions. And in between these two extremes are missionaries of every class and description. Against the individuals I have nothing to say, save and except this—I want to discount the admiration70 given to the “poor missionary.” They are good men I doubt not, but they are earning a living just as I who write am earning a living, or you who read, and to my mind they are earning a living in the halo of sanctity very much more comfortably than the struggling doctor or the poor curate in an East-End parish. Whatever their troubles, they have never the bitterness of seeing the ghastly want that they cannot relieve, and if they do not live in England, they have always the joy of making a home in a new country, and that is a joy that those who talk so glibly71 about exile do not seem to realise.



0613

“But we must have the negroes taught reading and writing and trades,” said a man to me once when we were discussing the missionary question; and I agree it is necessary, but I do not see why I am to regard the teacher as on a higher plane than he who teaches the same in England. And as for the religion that is taught, the only comment I have to make upon it is that no man that ever I heard of would take a mission boy or a Christian for a servant when he could get a decent heathen. Finally, considering the amount of destitution72 and terrible want in the streets of England, if I had my way I would put a heavy tax on all money contributed for the conversion73 of the heathen. Before it was allowed to go out of the country I would if I could take heavy toll74, and with that toll give the luckless children of my own colour a start in life in the Colonies.

Finally, West Africa is the country of raw material. It should be England's duty so to work that country that it be complementary to England, the great manufacturing land. The peasant of the Gold Coast burning the bush to make his cocoa plantations is absolutely necessary to the girl fixing the labels on the finished product; her very livelihood75 depends upon him. The nearer these two are brought together in a commercial sense the better for both, and what we say of cocoa we may say of palm oil and groundnuts and other vegetable fats, of rubber, of hemp, of gold, of tin. This country which produces with tropical luxuriance should be, if properly worked, a source of immense wealth to the nation that possesses it.

And as we rise in the social scale, think of the openings this country, thickly populated, well cultivated, flourishing, would offer for the young men of the middle classes seeking a career. A political service like the Civil Service of India, officered by men who have won places there by strenuous76 work and high endeavour, who are proud of the positions they have won, and a busy mercantile community, serving side by side with these political officers, would go some way to answering the question on the lips of the middle-class father, “What shall I do with my son?” The work of women is widening every day, and I, who honestly believe that an ordinary woman may go where an ordinary man can, may with profit take up work even as a man may do, see scope for the women of the future there too, not only as wives and helpmeets to the men, but as heads of independent enterprises of their own.

I have finished my book, ended the task that I have set myself to do, and I hope I have been able to convey to my readers some of the fascination that Africa has always held for those who have once visited her shores. But hitherto it has been the fascination of the mistress, never of the wife. She held out no lure77, for she was no courtesan. A man came to her in his eager youth asking, praying that she would give him that which should make all life good; and she trusted and opened her arms. What she had to give she gave freely, generously; there was no stint78, no lack. And he took. Her charm he counted as a matter of course, her tenderness was his due, her passion was for his pleasure; but the fascination he barely admitted could not keep him. Though she had given all she had no rights, and when other desires called he left her, left her with words of pity that were an injury, of regret that were an insult.

 

But all this is changing. Africa holds. The man who has once known Africa longs for her. In the sordid79 city streets he remembers the might and loneliness of her forests, by the rippling80 brook81 he remembers the wide rivers rushing tumultuous to the sea, in the night when the rain is on the roof plashing drearily82 he remembers the gorgeous tropical nights, the sky of velvet83 far away, the stars like points of gold, the warm moonlight that with its deeper shadows made a fairer world. Even the languor84 and the heat he longs for, the white foam85 of the surf on the yellow sand of the beaches, the thick jungle growth densely86 matted, rankly luxuriant, pulsating87 with the irrepressible life of the Tropics. All other places are tame. The fascination that he has denied comes back calling to him in after years. Thus “the whirligig of time brings in his revenges.” This mistress he will have none of has spoiled him for all else. And here the analogy fails. Africa holds, and the man whom she holds may yield to the fascination not only without shame, but with pride. Before her lies a great future; to the man who knows how to use her gifts she offers wealth and prosperity. To be won easily? Well, no. These gifts lie there as certainly as there is a sky above us, as that the sun will rise to-morrow, but there lie difficulties in the way, obstacles to be overcome. Africa offers the opportunities—success is for the


“One who never turned his back but marched breast forward,

Never doubted clouds would break,

Never dreamed though right were worsted wrong would

triumph,

Held we fall to rise, are baffled to fight better,

Sleep to wake.

Now at noonday in the bustle88 of man's work-time

Greet the unseen with a cheer!

Bid him forward, breast and back as either should be,

'Strive and thrive!' cry 'Speed—fight on—'”

The End

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 vice NU0zQ     
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的
参考例句:
  • He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
  • They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。
2 isolation 7qMzTS     
n.隔离,孤立,分解,分离
参考例句:
  • The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
  • He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后,生活比较孤寂。
3 missionaries 478afcff2b692239c9647b106f4631ba     
n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Some missionaries came from England in the Qing Dynasty. 清朝时,从英国来了一些传教士。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The missionaries rebuked the natives for worshipping images. 传教士指责当地人崇拜偶像。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
4 fascination FlHxO     
n.令人着迷的事物,魅力,迷恋
参考例句:
  • He had a deep fascination with all forms of transport.他对所有的运输工具都很着迷。
  • His letters have been a source of fascination to a wide audience.广大观众一直迷恋于他的来信。
5 longings 093806503fd3e66647eab74915c055e7     
渴望,盼望( longing的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Ah, those foolish days of noble longings and of noble strivings! 啊,那些充满高贵憧憬和高尚奋斗的傻乎乎的时光!
  • I paint you and fashion you ever with my love longings. 我永远用爱恋的渴想来描画你。
6 guise JeizL     
n.外表,伪装的姿态
参考例句:
  • They got into the school in the guise of inspectors.他们假装成视察员进了学校。
  • The thief came into the house under the guise of a repairman.那小偷扮成个修理匠进了屋子。
7 worthy vftwB     
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的
参考例句:
  • I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
  • There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。
8 adventurous LKryn     
adj.爱冒险的;惊心动魄的,惊险的,刺激的 
参考例句:
  • I was filled with envy at their adventurous lifestyle.我很羨慕他们敢于冒险的生活方式。
  • He was predestined to lead an adventurous life.他注定要过冒险的生活。
9 civilisation civilisation     
n.文明,文化,开化,教化
参考例句:
  • Energy and ideas are the twin bases of our civilisation.能源和思想是我们文明的两大基石。
  • This opera is one of the cultural totems of Western civilisation.这部歌剧是西方文明的文化标志物之一。
10 hemp 5rvzFn     
n.大麻;纤维
参考例句:
  • The early Chinese built suspension bridges of hemp rope.古代的中国人建造过麻绳悬索桥。
  • The blanket was woven from hemp and embroidered with wool.毯子是由亚麻编织,羊毛镶边的。
11 lavishness ad7cdc96a27b24b734dca4f5af6e3464     
n.浪费,过度
参考例句:
12 plantations ee6ea2c72cc24bed200cd75cf6fbf861     
n.种植园,大农场( plantation的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Soon great plantations, supported by slave labor, made some families very wealthy. 不久之后出现了依靠奴隶劳动的大庄园,使一些家庭成了富豪。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
  • Winterborne's contract was completed, and the plantations were deserted. 维恩特波恩的合同完成后,那片林地变得荒废了。 来自辞典例句
13 parasite U4lzN     
n.寄生虫;寄生菌;食客
参考例句:
  • The lazy man was a parasite on his family.那懒汉是家里的寄生虫。
  • I don't want to be a parasite.I must earn my own way in life.我不想做寄生虫,我要自己养活自己。
14 killing kpBziQ     
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。
15 futile vfTz2     
adj.无效的,无用的,无希望的
参考例句:
  • They were killed,to the last man,in a futile attack.因为进攻失败,他们全部被杀,无一幸免。
  • Their efforts to revive him were futile.他们对他抢救无效。
16 grumble 6emzH     
vi.抱怨;咕哝;n.抱怨,牢骚;咕哝,隆隆声
参考例句:
  • I don't want to hear another grumble from you.我不愿再听到你的抱怨。
  • He could do nothing but grumble over the situation.他除了埋怨局势之外别无他法。
17 judgment e3xxC     
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见
参考例句:
  • The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
  • He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。
18 martyrs d8bbee63cb93081c5677dc671dc968fc     
n.martyr的复数形式;烈士( martyr的名词复数 );殉道者;殉教者;乞怜者(向人诉苦以博取同情)
参考例句:
  • the early Christian martyrs 早期基督教殉道者
  • They paid their respects to the revolutionary martyrs. 他们向革命烈士致哀。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
19 folly QgOzL     
n.愚笨,愚蠢,蠢事,蠢行,傻话
参考例句:
  • Learn wisdom by the folly of others.从别人的愚蠢行动中学到智慧。
  • Events proved the folly of such calculations.事情的进展证明了这种估计是愚蠢的。
20 exorbitant G7iyh     
adj.过分的;过度的
参考例句:
  • More competition should help to drive down exorbitant phone charges.更多的竞争有助于降低目前畸高的电话收费。
  • The price of food here is exorbitant. 这儿的食物价格太高。
21 isles 4c841d3b2d643e7e26f4a3932a4a886a     
岛( isle的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • the geology of the British Isles 不列颠群岛的地质
  • The boat left for the isles. 小船驶向那些小岛。
22 rife wXRxp     
adj.(指坏事情)充斥的,流行的,普遍的
参考例句:
  • Disease is rife in the area.疾病在这一区很流行。
  • Corruption was rife before the election.选举之前腐败盛行。
23 sane 9YZxB     
adj.心智健全的,神志清醒的,明智的,稳健的
参考例句:
  • He was sane at the time of the murder.在凶杀案发生时他的神志是清醒的。
  • He is a very sane person.他是一个很有头脑的人。
24 habitually 4rKzgk     
ad.习惯地,通常地
参考例句:
  • The pain of the disease caused him habitually to furrow his brow. 病痛使他习惯性地紧皱眉头。
  • Habitually obedient to John, I came up to his chair. 我已经习惯于服从约翰,我来到他的椅子跟前。
25 daunted 7ffb5e5ffb0aa17a7b2333d90b452257     
使(某人)气馁,威吓( daunt的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She was a brave woman but she felt daunted by the task ahead. 她是一个勇敢的女人,但对面前的任务却感到信心不足。
  • He was daunted by the high quality of work they expected. 他被他们对工作的高品质的要求吓倒了。
26 tablecloth lqSwh     
n.桌布,台布
参考例句:
  • He sat there ruminating and picking at the tablecloth.他坐在那儿沉思,轻轻地抚弄着桌布。
  • She smoothed down a wrinkled tablecloth.她把起皱的桌布熨平了。
27 vows c151b5e18ba22514580d36a5dcb013e5     
誓言( vow的名词复数 ); 郑重宣布,许愿
参考例句:
  • Matrimonial vows are to show the faithfulness of the new couple. 婚誓体现了新婚夫妇对婚姻的忠诚。
  • The nun took strait vows. 那位修女立下严格的誓愿。
28 mingling b387131b4ffa62204a89fca1610062f3     
adj.混合的
参考例句:
  • There was a spring of bitterness mingling with that fountain of sweets. 在这个甜蜜的源泉中间,已经掺和进苦涩的山水了。
  • The mingling of inconsequence belongs to us all. 这场矛盾混和物是我们大家所共有的。
29 liking mpXzQ5     
n.爱好;嗜好;喜欢
参考例句:
  • The word palate also means taste or liking.Palate这个词也有“口味”或“嗜好”的意思。
  • I must admit I have no liking for exaggeration.我必须承认我不喜欢夸大其词。
30 rudiments GjBzbg     
n.基础知识,入门
参考例句:
  • He has just learned the rudiments of Chinese. 他学汉语刚刚入门。
  • You do not seem to know the first rudiments of agriculture. 你似乎连农业上的一点最起码的常识也没有。
31 specimen Xvtwm     
n.样本,标本
参考例句:
  • You'll need tweezers to hold up the specimen.你要用镊子来夹这标本。
  • This specimen is richly variegated in colour.这件标本上有很多颜色。
32 savage ECxzR     
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。
33 veneer eLczw     
n.(墙上的)饰面,虚饰
参考例句:
  • For the first time her veneer of politeness began to crack.她温文尔雅的外表第一次露出破绽。
  • The panel had a veneer of gold and ivory.这木板上面镶饰了一层金和象牙。
34 blatant ENCzP     
adj.厚颜无耻的;显眼的;炫耀的
参考例句:
  • I cannot believe that so blatant a comedy can hoodwink anybody.我无法相信这么显眼的一出喜剧能够欺骗谁。
  • His treatment of his secretary was a blatant example of managerial arrogance.他管理的傲慢作风在他对待秘书的态度上表露无遗。
35 pompous 416zv     
adj.傲慢的,自大的;夸大的;豪华的
参考例句:
  • He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities.他有点自大,自视甚高。
  • He is a good man underneath his pompous appearance. 他的外表虽傲慢,其实是个好人。
36 gulf 1e0xp     
n.海湾;深渊,鸿沟;分歧,隔阂
参考例句:
  • The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
  • There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。
37 fixed JsKzzj     
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的
参考例句:
  • Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗?
  • Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定,我们就不应该随意改变。
38 attain HvYzX     
vt.达到,获得,完成
参考例句:
  • I used the scientific method to attain this end. 我用科学的方法来达到这一目的。
  • His painstaking to attain his goal in life is praiseworthy. 他为实现人生目标所下的苦功是值得称赞的。
39 scattered 7jgzKF     
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的
参考例句:
  • Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来,塞进文件夹里。
40 Christian KVByl     
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒
参考例句:
  • They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
  • His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。
41 missionary ID8xX     
adj.教会的,传教(士)的;n.传教士
参考例句:
  • She taught in a missionary school for a couple of years.她在一所教会学校教了两年书。
  • I hope every member understands the value of missionary work. 我希望教友都了解传教工作的价值。
42 wastrel 0gHwt     
n.浪费者;废物
参考例句:
  • Her father wouldn't let her marry a wastrel.她的父亲不会让她嫁给一个败家子。
  • He is a notorious wastrel in our company.他在我们单位是个有名的饭囊,啥活儿都干不好。
43 subscribe 6Hozu     
vi.(to)订阅,订购;同意;vt.捐助,赞助
参考例句:
  • I heartily subscribe to that sentiment.我十分赞同那个观点。
  • The magazine is trying to get more readers to subscribe.该杂志正大力发展新订户。
44 misery G10yi     
n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦
参考例句:
  • Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
  • He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。
45 kindly tpUzhQ     
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地
参考例句:
  • Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
  • A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。
46 alleys ed7f32602655381e85de6beb51238b46     
胡同,小巷( alley的名词复数 ); 小径
参考例句:
  • I followed him through a maze of narrow alleys. 我紧随他穿过一条条迂迴曲折的窄巷。
  • The children lead me through the maze of alleys to the edge of the city. 孩子们领我穿过迷宫一般的街巷,来到城边。
47 tenement Egqzd5     
n.公寓;房屋
参考例句:
  • They live in a tenement.他们住在廉价公寓里。
  • She felt very smug in a tenement yard like this.就是在个这样的杂院里,她觉得很得意。
48 appalling iNwz9     
adj.骇人听闻的,令人震惊的,可怕的
参考例句:
  • The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
  • Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。
49 presumption XQcxl     
n.推测,可能性,冒昧,放肆,[法律]推定
参考例句:
  • Please pardon my presumption in writing to you.请原谅我很冒昧地写信给你。
  • I don't think that's a false presumption.我认为那并不是错误的推测。
50 ethics Dt3zbI     
n.伦理学;伦理观,道德标准
参考例句:
  • The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
  • Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。
51 catering WwtztU     
n. 给养
参考例句:
  • Most of our work now involves catering for weddings. 我们现在的工作多半是承办婚宴。
  • Who did the catering for your son's wedding? 你儿子的婚宴是由谁承办的?
52 shameful DzzwR     
adj.可耻的,不道德的
参考例句:
  • It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己,真不害臊。
  • We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。
53 condemn zpxzp     
vt.谴责,指责;宣判(罪犯),判刑
参考例句:
  • Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他,而有些人谴责他。
  • We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。
54 shuddering 7cc81262357e0332a505af2c19a03b06     
v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 );发抖;(机器、车辆等)突然震动;颤动
参考例句:
  • 'I am afraid of it,'she answered, shuddering. “我害怕,”她发着抖,说。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
  • She drew a deep shuddering breath. 她不由得打了个寒噤,深深吸了口气。 来自飘(部分)
55 immediate aapxh     
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的
参考例句:
  • His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
  • We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。
56 justify j3DxR     
vt.证明…正当(或有理),为…辩护
参考例句:
  • He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
  • Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗?
57 crumb ynLzv     
n.饼屑,面包屑,小量
参考例句:
  • It was the only crumb of comfort he could salvage from the ordeal.这是他从这场磨难里能找到的唯一的少许安慰。
  • Ruth nearly choked on the last crumb of her pastry.鲁斯几乎被糕点的最后一块碎屑所噎住。
58 guises f96ca1876df94d3040457fde23970679     
n.外观,伪装( guise的名词复数 )v.外观,伪装( guise的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • She took pleasure in the various guises she could see. 她穿各种衣服都显得活泼可爱。 来自辞典例句
  • Traditional form or structure allows us to recognize corresponding bits of folklore in different guises. 了解民俗的传统形式或结构,可以使我门抛开事物的不同外表,从中去辨认出有关民俗的点点滴滴。 来自英汉非文学 - 民俗
59 pawns ce8a70b534dca7f188d5d4c44b4f7c50     
n.(国际象棋中的)兵( pawn的名词复数 );卒;被人利用的人;小卒v.典当,抵押( pawn的第三人称单数 );以(某事物)担保
参考例句:
  • The hostages are being used as political pawns. 人质正被用作政治卒子。
  • The allies would fear that they were pawns in a superpower condominium. 这个联盟担心他们会成为超级大国共管的牺牲品。 来自《简明英汉词典》
60 oblivious Y0Byc     
adj.易忘的,遗忘的,忘却的,健忘的
参考例句:
  • Mother has become quite oblivious after the illness.这次病后,妈妈变得特别健忘。
  • He was quite oblivious of the danger.他完全没有察觉到危险。
61 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。
62 devoted xu9zka     
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的
参考例句:
  • He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
  • We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
63 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。
64 attains 7244c7c9830392f8f3df1cb8d96b91df     
(通常经过努力)实现( attain的第三人称单数 ); 达到; 获得; 达到(某年龄、水平、状况)
参考例句:
  • This is the period at which the body attains maturity. 这是身体发育成熟的时期。
  • The temperature a star attains is determined by its mass. 恒星所达到的温度取决于它的质量。
65 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。
66 eligible Cq6xL     
adj.有条件被选中的;(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的
参考例句:
  • He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
  • Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。
67 maidens 85662561d697ae675e1f32743af22a69     
处女( maiden的名词复数 ); 少女; 未婚女子; (板球运动)未得分的一轮投球
参考例句:
  • stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
  • Transplantation is not always successful in the matter of flowers or maidens. 花儿移栽往往并不成功,少女们换了环境也是如此。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
68 nucleus avSyg     
n.核,核心,原子核
参考例句:
  • These young people formed the nucleus of the club.这些年轻人成了俱乐部的核心。
  • These councils would form the nucleus of a future regime.这些委员会将成为一个未来政权的核心。
69 wilderness SgrwS     
n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等,荒漠
参考例句:
  • She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
  • Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。
70 admiration afpyA     
n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕
参考例句:
  • He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
  • We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。
71 glibly glibly     
adv.流利地,流畅地;满口
参考例句:
  • He glibly professed his ignorance of the affair. 他口口声声表白不知道这件事。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • He put ashes on his head, apologized profusely, but then went glibly about his business. 他表示忏悔,满口道歉,但接着又故态复萌了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
72 destitution cf0b90abc1a56e3ce705eb0684c21332     
n.穷困,缺乏,贫穷
参考例句:
  • The people lived in destitution. 民生凋敝。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • His drinking led him to a life of destitution. 酗酒导致他生活贫穷。 来自辞典例句
73 conversion UZPyI     
n.转化,转换,转变
参考例句:
  • He underwent quite a conversion.他彻底变了。
  • Waste conversion is a part of the production process.废物处理是生产过程的一个组成部分。
74 toll LJpzo     
n.过路(桥)费;损失,伤亡人数;v.敲(钟)
参考例句:
  • The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
  • The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。
75 livelihood sppzWF     
n.生计,谋生之道
参考例句:
  • Appropriate arrangements will be made for their work and livelihood.他们的工作和生活会得到妥善安排。
  • My father gained a bare livelihood of family by his own hands.父亲靠自己的双手勉强维持家计。
76 strenuous 8GvzN     
adj.奋发的,使劲的;紧张的;热烈的,狂热的
参考例句:
  • He made strenuous efforts to improve his reading. 他奋发努力提高阅读能力。
  • You may run yourself down in this strenuous week.你可能会在这紧张的一周透支掉自己。
77 lure l8Gz2     
n.吸引人的东西,诱惑物;vt.引诱,吸引
参考例句:
  • Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
  • He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。
78 stint 9GAzB     
v.节省,限制,停止;n.舍不得化,节约,限制;连续不断的一段时间从事某件事
参考例句:
  • He lavished money on his children without stint.他在孩子们身上花钱毫不吝惜。
  • We hope that you will not stint your criticism.我们希望您不吝指教。
79 sordid PrLy9     
adj.肮脏的,不干净的,卑鄙的,暗淡的
参考例句:
  • He depicts the sordid and vulgar sides of life exclusively.他只描写人生肮脏和庸俗的一面。
  • They lived in a sordid apartment.他们住在肮脏的公寓房子里。
80 rippling b84b2d05914b2749622963c1ef058ed5     
起涟漪的,潺潺流水般声音的
参考例句:
  • I could see the dawn breeze rippling the shining water. 我能看见黎明的微风在波光粼粼的水面上吹出道道涟漪。
  • The pool rippling was caused by the waving of the reeds. 池塘里的潺潺声是芦苇摇动时引起的。
81 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。
82 drearily a9ac978ac6fcd40e1eeeffcdb1b717a2     
沉寂地,厌倦地,可怕地
参考例句:
  • "Oh, God," thought Scarlett drearily, "that's just the trouble. "啊,上帝!" 思嘉沮丧地想,"难就难在这里呀。
  • His voice was utterly and drearily expressionless. 他的声调,阴沉沉的,干巴巴的,完全没有感情。
83 velvet 5gqyO     
n.丝绒,天鹅绒;adj.丝绒制的,柔软的
参考例句:
  • This material feels like velvet.这料子摸起来像丝绒。
  • The new settlers wore the finest silk and velvet clothing.新来的移民穿着最华丽的丝绸和天鹅绒衣服。
84 languor V3wyb     
n.无精力,倦怠
参考例句:
  • It was hot,yet with a sweet languor about it.天气是炎热的,然而却有一种惬意的懒洋洋的感觉。
  • She,in her languor,had not troubled to eat much.她懒懒的,没吃多少东西。
85 foam LjOxI     
v./n.泡沫,起泡沫
参考例句:
  • The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
  • The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。
86 densely rutzrg     
ad.密集地;浓厚地
参考例句:
  • A grove of trees shadowed the house densely. 树丛把这幢房子遮蔽得很密实。
  • We passed through miles of densely wooded country. 我们穿过好几英里茂密的林地。
87 pulsating d9276d5eaa70da7d97b300b971f0d74b     
adj.搏动的,脉冲的v.有节奏地舒张及收缩( pulsate的现在分词 );跳动;脉动;受(激情)震动
参考例句:
  • Lights were pulsating in the sky. 天空有闪烁的光。
  • Spindles and fingers moved so quickly that the workshop seemed to be one great nervously-pulsating machine. 工作很紧张,全车间是一个飞快的转轮。 来自子夜部分
88 bustle esazC     
v.喧扰地忙乱,匆忙,奔忙;n.忙碌;喧闹
参考例句:
  • The bustle and din gradually faded to silence as night advanced.随着夜越来越深,喧闹声逐渐沉寂。
  • There is a lot of hustle and bustle in the railway station.火车站里非常拥挤。


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