Never had any of her difficulties been adjusted in a manner more satisfactory to Joan. She rose at once from an abyss of discouragement to sunlit peaks of happiness. Installing a rented type-writing machine in the room adjoining her own (temporarily without a tenant1 and willingly loaned by Madame Duprat) she tapped away industriously2 from early morning till late at night, sedulously3 transcribing4 into clean type-script the mangled5 manuscripts given her by Matthias. By no means a rapid worker, after renewing acquaintance with the machine she made up for slowness by diligence and long hours. And the work interested her: she thought the plays magnificent; and a novel which Matthias gave her when his stock of old plays ran low she considered superb. It was his first and only book, and had not as yet been submitted to the mercies of a publisher. But to Joan it was something more than a book; it was a revelation, her primal6 introduction to the world of the intellect. From poring over its pages, she grew hungry for more, thrilled by the discovery that she could find interest and pleasure in reading.
She began to borrow extensively from the circulation branch of the Public Library in Forty-second Street, and to read late into the night, defying the prejudices of Madame Duprat on the question of gas consumption....
Refusing an offer of public stenographer7 rates, she had asked for ten dollars a week. This Matthias paid her, under protest that the work was worth more to him. The arrangement was, however, a fortunate one; for though at first Joan earned more than she received, after rehearsals9 of "The Jade10 God" had started she was seldom able to give more than two or three hours a day to the copying.
These rehearsals furnished her with impressions vastly different from those garnered11 through her experience with "The Convict's Return."
The company assembled for the first time on a mid-August morning, in the author's study. There were present eight men, aside from Matthias and the manager, his producing director and his press agent, and four women, including Joan. After brief introductions, the gathering12 disposed itself to attention, and Matthias, rocking nervously13 in his revolving14 desk-chair, read the play aloud. To most of those present the work was new and unfamiliar15; they listened with intense interest, keenly alive to the possibilities of the various parts for which they had been cast.
But Joan was not of these; she had typed all the parts and knew not only the story but her own slight though significant r?le (as she would have said) "backwards16." Sitting in a shadowed corner, she devoted17 herself to studying those with whom her lines were to be cast.
The leading lady was an actress who, after several attempts to star at the head of her own company, was reduced to playing second to the young and handsome matinée hero of several seasons ago, planning to return in triumph to the stage after an unsuccessful effort to retire from it into the contented18 estate of well-financed matrimony. Through their widely published photographs Joan was familiar with the features of both.
She thought the star charming; good-humoured, good-looking, well-mannered, slight and graceful19, he had all the assurance of a Charlie Quard and none of his vain swagger.
But Joan decided20 on sight to detest21 the leading woman. She was a pale, ashen22 blonde, with a skin as colourless as snow, level dark brows, sharp blue eyes set close to the bridge of her pointed23 nose, and a thin-lipped, violent mouth. The first impression she conveyed was one of dangerous temper; the second, that she had been happy in her choice of photographers. Throughout the reading, she sat negligently24 on the arm of a chair, swinging a foot and staring out of the window with an air of immitigable disdain25.
Of the other women, one was a grey-haired, sweet-faced lady of perhaps fifty years, whose eyes softened26 winningly whenever they encountered Joan's, the other an unlovely creature of middle-age and long stage experience, who seemed to have no interest in life aside from her unfolding part. The remainder of the company, of a caste hall-marked by the theatre, offered nothing novel to Joan's eyes—aside from a fat, red-faced lump of a youth who was to act a thick-witted, sentimental27 office-boy, in love with the stenographer (Joan). This one she decided to tolerate on suspicion; he resembled a type which she had found difficult, apt to impertinence and annoying attentions.
Rideout, the man financially responsible for the production, was an English actor of reputation and considerable ability. Carrying his stoutish28 body with an ease that almost suggested slenderness: with his plump, blowsy face, twinkling eyes and fat nose of a comedian29: the insuppressible staginess of his gesture would have betrayed his calling anywhere. Now and again Joan surprised an anxious expression lurking30 beneath his humorous smile; she had inferred from some casual remark made by Matthias that Rideout was staking all he possessed31 on the success of this play.
The producing manager, Wilbrow, was a short, lean-bodied American, with lantern jaws32, large intent eyes, and a nervous frown. Joan was impressed with the aloof33 pleasantness of his manner: she was to know him better.
The reading over, the company was dismissed with instructions to report at ten the next morning at an obscure dance-hall masquerading under the name of an opera house, situate in the immediate34 neighbourhood, between Eighth and Ninth Avenues. Several lingered to affix35 signatures to contracts—Joan of their number; and when these were gone, there remained in conference the star, the leading woman, Matthias, Rideout, and Wilbrow.
Going out to dinner that night, Joan passed Matthias bidding good-bye to the leading woman in the hallway. He seemed tired and wore a harassed36 look; and later, when the girl delivered the outcome of her day's copying, he had a manner new to her, of weary brusqueness.
The first rehearsal8 proper was held in a stuffy37 and ill-ventilated room, so dark that it was necessary to use the electric lights even at high noon. The day was fortunately cool, otherwise the place had been insufferable. There was little attempt at acting38; the company devoted itself, under Wilbrow's patient direction, to blocking in the action. They had no stage—simply that bare, four-square room. Half a dozen chairs and a few long benches were dragged about to indicate entrances and properties. Nobody pretended to know his part—not even Joan, who knew hers perfectly39. The example of the others, who merely mumbled41 from the manuscripts in their hands, made the girl fear to betray amateurishness42 by discovering too great an initial familiarity with her lines. So she, too, carried her "'script," and read from it. When not thus engaged, she sat watching and noting down what was going on with eager attention.
But she took away with her a depressing sense of having engaged in something formless and incoherent.
But succeeding rehearsals—beginning with the second—corrected this misapprehension. That afternoon developed Wilbrow suddenly into a mild-mannered, semi-apologetic, and humorous tyrant43. He discovered an individual comprehension of what was required for the right development of the play, and an invincible44 determination to get it. He never lost either temper or patience, neither swore nor lifted his voice; but having indicated his desire, wrought45 patiently with its subject, sometimes for as long as an hour, until he had succeeded in satisfying it. He worked coatless, with his long black hair straggling down over his forehead and across his glasses: an incredibly thin, energetic, and efficient figure, dominated by a penetrating46 and masterful intelligence. Not infrequently, taking the typed part from the hands of one of his puppets, he would himself give a vivid sketch47 of its requirements through the medium of intonation48, gesture, and action. And to Joan, at least, the effects he created by these means were as striking in the feminine r?les as in the masculine. Utterly49 devoid50 of self-consciousness, he had the faculty51 of seeming for the moment actually to be what he sought to suggest: one forgot the man, saw only what he had in mind.
Another thing that surprised the girl more than a little was the docility52 with which her associates submitted to his dictation and even invited it. She had heard of actors "creating" r?les; but in this company no one but the producer seemed to be creating anything. The others came to rehearsals with minds so open that they seemed vacuous53; not one, whether the star, his leading woman, or any of their supporting players, indicated the least comprehension of what they were required to portray54 or the slightest symptom of original conception. What Wilbrow told them and then showed them how to do, they performed with varying degrees of success. So that Joan at last came to believe the best actors those most susceptible55 to domination, least capable of independent thought. As he gradually became acquainted with his lines and the business Wilbrow mapped out for him, the star began to give more compelling impersonations at each rehearsal; but to the girl he never seemed more than a carbon filament56 of a man, burning bright with incandescence58 only when impregnated with the fluid genius of a superior mentality59. So, likewise, with the leading woman....
As for herself, Joan was hardly happy in her endeavour to please. Having unwisely formed her own premature60 conception of her part, and lacking totally the technical ability to express it, she ran constantly afoul of Wilbrow's notions. She was called upon first to erase61 her own personality, next to forget the personality which she had meant to delineate, and finally to substitute for both these one which Wilbrow alone seemed able to see and understand. She strove patiently and without complaint, but in a stupefying welter of confusion. While on the pretended stage she was constantly terrified by Wilbrow's mild but predominant regard, which rendered her only awkward, witless, and ill-at-ease. Then, too, her attempts to imitate his brilliant and colourful acting were received with amusement, not always wholly silent, by the rest of the company. She seemed quite unable to follow his lead; and toward the end of the first week, throughout the whole of which (she was aware from the calm resignation of Wilbrow's attitude) she had improved not one whit62, she began to despair.
Inasmuch as she appeared only in the first act, she was customarily excused from attendance at the rest of each rehearsal, and spent this extra time at home, over her typewriter; thus maintaining the fiction of earning her weekly stipend63.
On Saturday afternoon, however, as soon as her "bit" had been rehearsed, there occurred one of those quiet, aloof conferences between Wilbrow, Rideout, and Matthias, which she had learned to recognize as presaging64 a change in the cast. Twice before, such consultations65 had resulted in the release of subordinate actors who had proved unequal to their parts. Now from the author's uneasy and distressed66 eye, which alternately sought and avoided her, Joan divined that her own fate was being weighed in the balance. And her heart grew heavy with misgivings67. None the less, she was permitted to leave with no other advice than that the rehearsals would resume on the following Monday, at nine in the morning, on the stage of a Broadway theatre.
She hurried home in a mood of wretched anxiety and creeping despair. Wilbrow had indisputable excuse for dissatisfaction with her; Rideout was quite humanly bent68 on getting the best material his money could purchase—and she was far from that; while Matthias couldn't reasonably protest against her dismissal for manifest incompetency69. And dismissal now meant more to Joan than the loss of her coveted70 chance to appear in a first-class production; it meant not only the loss of the living she earned as typist—and she had been engaged with the understanding, implicit71 if not explicit72, that Matthias had only enough extra work to occupy her until the opening of his play; dismissal from the cast of "The Jade God," in short, meant the loss to her of Matthias.
There was no longer in her heart any doubt that she loved him. The admiration73 conceived in her that first night, when he had turned himself out to afford her shelter, had needed only this brief period of propinquity to ripen74 into something infinitely75 more deep and strong. And from the first she had been ready and willing to adore his very shadow upon an excuse far less encouraging than his kindly76 though detached interest in her welfare. In her cosmos77 Matthias was a being as exotic as a Martian, his intelligence of an order that passed understanding. His thoughts and ways of speech, his interests and amusements (as far as she could divine them) the delicacy78 of his perceptions, and the very refinements79 of his mode of life, all new and strange to her, invested him with a mystery as compelling to her imagination as the reticences of a strange and beautiful woman have for the mind of a young man. She worshipped him with a hopeless and inarticulate longing80, and was content with this for the present; but hourly she dreamed of a day when through his aid she should have lifted herself to a position in which she would seem something more to him than a mere40, forlorn shop-girl out of work and scratching for a living. If only she might hope to become an actress of recognized ability!...
It was a truism in her conception of life that the estate of actress was a loadstone for the hearts of men.
If success were to be denied her!...
In her bedroom, behind a locked door, she hurried to her pillow and to tears. She had known many an hour darkened by the fugitive81 despairs of youth; but never until this day had she been so despondently82 sorry for herself.
Later, the banal83 ticking of her tin alarm-clock penetrated84 her consciousness, and she remembered that she had work to do—to be finished before evening, if her promise to Matthias were to be kept. She rose, splashed face and eyes with cold water, and went to her typewriter in the adjoining room.
She had really very little to do in order to complete her task—only a few pages of scored and interlined manuscript to reduce to clean copy; but her mind was not with her work. Time and again she found herself sitting with idle hands, thoughts far errant; and now and then she had to dry her eyes before she could proceed: so stubbornly did she cling to the sorry indulgence of self-pity! Once, even, she was so overcome by contemplation of her sufferings that she bowed her head upon the table where the manuscript lay, and wept without restraint for several minutes—without restraint and, toward the last, with kindling85 interest in the discovery that her tears were bedewing a freshly typed page.
If Matthias were to notice, would he understand? And, understanding, what would he think?...
With shame-faced reluctance86 she destroyed the blotched page and typed it anew.
It was dark before she finished; and she was glad of this when she gathered up the manuscript to take to her employer. With no light in his room other than that of the reading-lamp with the green shade, her stained and flushed cheeks and swollen87 eyes would escape detection. It was not that she wouldn't have welcomed sympathetic interest, but a glance in the mirror showed her she had wept too unrestrainedly not to have depreciated88 the chiefest asset of her charm—her prettiness.
However, she could not well avoid the meeting: the work must be delivered; but if she were lucky she would find him in one of his frequent moods of abstraction, and their interview need only be of the briefest. Nevertheless, she would have sent the work to him by the chambermaid if her week's wage had not been due that night.
She waited a moment, listening at the door to the back-parlour; but there was no sound of voices within; and reassured89, she knocked.
His response—"Come in!"—followed with unexpected promptness. She obeyed, though with misgivings amply justified90 as soon as she found herself in the room, which was for once well-lighted, two gas-jets on the chandelier supplementing the green-shaded lamp.
Matthias was bending over a kit-bag on the couch, hastily packing enough clothing to tide him over Sunday. He threw her an indifferent glance and greeting over his shoulder.
"Hello, Miss Thursday! I was beginning to wonder whether you'd forgotten me. I'm going to run down to Port Madison until Monday morning—last chance I'll have for a day in the country for some time, probably. Chances are, Wilbrow will keep us at work next Sunday. Got that 'script all ready?"
Joan, depositing it on the table, murmured an affirmative in a voice uncontrollably unsteady. Before entering she had been quite sure of her ability to carry off the short interview without betraying her harrowed emotions. But to find the man about whom they centred packing to leave town—to leave her!—added the final touch of misery91 to her mood. And the inflection of her response could not have failed to strike oddly on his hearing.
Uttering a wondering "Hello!" he straightened up and swung round to look at her. And a glance sufficed: his smile faded, was replaced by a pucker92 of sympathy between his brows.
"Why, what's the trouble?"
Joan averted93 her face. "N-nothing," she faltered94. Her lip trembled, her eyes filled anew. She dabbed95 at them with a wadded handkerchief.
Matthias hesitated. He drew down the corners of his mouth, elevated his brows, and scratched a temple slowly with a meditative96 forefinger97. Then he nodded sharply and, crossing to the door, closed it.
"Tell me about it," he said, coming back to the girl. "Things not going to suit you, eh?"
She shook her head, looking away. "I—I—!" she stammered—"I can't act!"
"O nonsense!" he interrupted with kindly impatience98. "You mustn't get discouraged so easily. Naturally it comes hard at first, but you'll catch on. Everything of this sort takes time. I was saying the same thing to Wilbrow today."
"Yes," she mumbled, gulping—"I—I know. I was watching you. H-he and Mr. Rideout wanted to fire me, didn't they?"
"What? Oh, no, no!" Matthias lied unconvincingly. "They—they were just wondering.... I assured them—"
"But you hadn't any right to!" the girl broke in passionately99. "I can't act and—and I know it, and you know it, as well as they do. I can't—I just can't! It's no use.... I'm no good...."
Of a sudden she flopped100 into a chair, rested her head on arms folded on the table, and sobbed101 aloud.
Matthias shook his head and (since she could not see him) permitted himself a gesture of impotent exasperation103. This was really the devil of a note! Women were incomprehensible: you couldn't bank on 'em, ever. Here was he preparing to catch a train, and not too much time at that....
But a glance at the clock reassured him slightly; he had still a little leeway. All the same, he didn't much relish104 the prospect105 of being compelled to invest his spare minutes in attempting to comfort a silly, emotional girl. And, besides, somebody in the hallway might hear her sobbing106....
This last consideration took him somewhat reluctantly to her side. "There, there!" he pleaded, intensely irritated by that feeling of helplessness which always afflicts107 man in the presence of a weeping woman, whether or not he has the right to comfort her. "There—don't cry, please, Miss—ah—Thursday. You're all right—really, you are. You—you're—ah—doing all this quite needlessly, I give you my word."
He might as well have attempted to stem a mountain torrent108.
"I wish I could make you understand this is all quite unnecessary," he groaned109.
"I—I'm so mis'able!" came a wail110 from the huddled111 figure.
"I'm sorry," he said uncomfortably—"awfully sorry, truly. But you—I'm not afraid you won't make good, and I don't intend to let you go until you've had every chance in the world. That's a promise."
He ventured to give her quaking shoulder a light, encouraging pat or two, and rested his hand upon the corner of the table.
"Come, now—brace up—please. I—"
With a strangled sob102 Joan sat up, caught his hand and carried it to her lips. Before he could recover from his astonishment112 it was damp with her tears and kisses.
Instantly he snatched it away.
"You—you're so good to me!" she cried.
Matthias, horrified113, stepped back a pace or two, as if to insure himself against a repetition of her offence, and quite mechanically dried his hand with a handkerchief. And then, in a flash, he lost his temper.
"What the devil do you mean by doing that to me?" he demanded harshly. "Look here—you stop this nonsense. I won't have it. I—why—it's outrageous114! What right have you got to—to do anything like that?"
The shock of his anger brought the girl to her senses. Her tears ceased in an instant, as if automatically. She rose, mopping her face with her handkerchief, swallowed one last sob, and moved sullenly115 toward the door.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I—you've been very kind to me—I forgot myself. I'm sorry."
"Well ..." he said grudgingly116, in his irritation117. "But don't let it happen again."
"There's no chance of that," the girl retorted with a brief-lived flash of spirit. "Good night."
"Good night," he returned.
She was gone before he recovered; and then compunction smote118 him, and he followed her as far as the hallway.
In the half-light of the flickering119 gas-jet, he saw her only as a shadow slowly mounting the staircase. And a glance toward the front door discovered indistinct shapes of lodgers120 on the stoop.
"Miss Thursday!" he called in a guarded voice.
She heard, hesitated a single instant, then with quickened steps resumed the ascent121.
He called once again, but she refused to listen, and he returned to his study in a state of insensate rage; which, however, had this time himself for its sole object—Joan's transgression122 quite lost sight of in remorse123 for his brutality124. He could not remember ever having spoken to any woman in such wise: no man had any right to speak to any woman in such a manner, for any cause, however exasperating125.
Tremendously disgusted with himself, and ashamed, he tramped the floor so long, trying to quiet his conscience, and made so many futile126 attempts to apologize to the girl by word of hand—one and all either too abject127 or too constrained—that he had lost his train before he produced the lame57 and halting effort with which he was at length fain to be content.
A later train was bearing him under the East River to Long Island when Joan read his message.
A servant had taken it to the girl's room and, knocking without receiving an answer, concluded that Joan was out and slipped it under the door.
When the descending128 footsteps were no longer audible, Joan rose from the bed, lighted the gas, and with blurred129 vision deciphered the lines:
"Dear Miss Thursday:—Please forgive me for my unmannerly exhibition of temper. I regret exceedingly my inability to make you understand how sorry I am to have hurt your feelings.
"And do please understand that there is no grave dissatisfaction with your work at rehearsals. Remember that you have two weeks more in which to show what you can do.
"I shall hope that you are not too deeply offended to overlook my loss of temper and to continue typing my book; if possible I'd like to have another chapter by Monday night.
"Sincerely yours,
"John Matthias."
"P. S.—I enclose—what I'd completely forgotten—the regular weekly amount—$10."
She fell asleep, at length, with this note crushed between her pillow and her cheek.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
tenant
|
|
| n.承租人；房客；佃户；v.租借，租用 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
industriously
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
sedulously
|
|
| ad.孜孜不倦地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
transcribing
|
|
| （用不同的录音手段）转录( transcribe的现在分词 )； 改编（乐曲）（以适应他种乐器或声部）； 抄写； 用音标标出（声音） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
mangled
|
|
| vt.乱砍（mangle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
primal
|
|
| adj.原始的；最重要的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
stenographer
|
|
| n.速记员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
rehearsal
|
|
| n.排练，排演；练习 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
rehearsals
|
|
| n.练习( rehearsal的名词复数 )；排练；复述；重复 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
jade
|
|
| n.玉石；碧玉；翡翠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
garnered
|
|
| v.收集并（通常）贮藏（某物），取得，获得( garner的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
gathering
|
|
| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
nervously
|
|
| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
revolving
|
|
| adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
unfamiliar
|
|
| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
backwards
|
|
| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
devoted
|
|
| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
contented
|
|
| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
graceful
|
|
| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
detest
|
|
| vt.痛恨，憎恶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
ashen
|
|
| adj.灰的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
negligently
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
disdain
|
|
| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
softened
|
|
| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
sentimental
|
|
| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
stoutish
|
|
| 略胖的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
comedian
|
|
| n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
lurking
|
|
| 潜在 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
possessed
|
|
| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
jaws
|
|
| n.口部；嘴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
aloof
|
|
| adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
immediate
|
|
| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
affix
|
|
| n.附件，附录 vt.附贴，盖(章)，签署 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
harassed
|
|
| adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
stuffy
|
|
| adj.不透气的，闷热的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
acting
|
|
| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
mumbled
|
|
| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
amateurishness
|
|
| n.amateurish（业余的）的变形 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
tyrant
|
|
| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
invincible
|
|
| adj.不可征服的，难以制服的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
wrought
|
|
| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
penetrating
|
|
| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
sketch
|
|
| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
intonation
|
|
| n.语调，声调；发声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
utterly
|
|
| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
devoid
|
|
| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
faculty
|
|
| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
docility
|
|
| n.容易教，易驾驶，驯服 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
vacuous
|
|
| adj.空的，漫散的，无聊的，愚蠢的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
portray
|
|
| v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
susceptible
|
|
| adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
filament
|
|
| n.细丝；长丝；灯丝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
lame
|
|
| adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
incandescence
|
|
| n.白热，炽热；白炽 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
mentality
|
|
| n.心理，思想，脑力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
premature
|
|
| adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
erase
|
|
| v.擦掉；消除某事物的痕迹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
whit
|
|
| n.一点，丝毫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
stipend
|
|
| n.薪贴；奖学金；养老金 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
presaging
|
|
| v.预示，预兆( presage的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
consultations
|
|
| n.磋商（会议）( consultation的名词复数 )；商讨会；协商会；查找 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
distressed
|
|
| 痛苦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
misgivings
|
|
| 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： |
|
|
|
|
68
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
incompetency
|
|
| n.无能力，不适当 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
coveted
|
|
| adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
implicit
|
|
| a.暗示的，含蓄的，不明晰的，绝对的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
explicit
|
|
| adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
admiration
|
|
| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
ripen
|
|
| vt.使成熟；vi.成熟 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
infinitely
|
|
| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
kindly
|
|
| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
cosmos
|
|
| n.宇宙；秩序，和谐 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
delicacy
|
|
| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
refinements
|
|
| n.（生活）风雅；精炼( refinement的名词复数 )；改良品；细微的改良；优雅或高贵的动作 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
longing
|
|
| n.（for）渴望 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
fugitive
|
|
| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
despondently
|
|
| adv.沮丧地，意志消沉地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
banal
|
|
| adj.陈腐的，平庸的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
penetrated
|
|
| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
kindling
|
|
| n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
reluctance
|
|
| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
swollen
|
|
| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
depreciated
|
|
| v.贬值，跌价，减价( depreciate的过去式和过去分词 )；贬低，蔑视，轻视 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
reassured
|
|
| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
justified
|
|
| a.正当的，有理的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
misery
|
|
| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
pucker
|
|
| v.撅起，使起皱；n.（衣服上的）皱纹，褶子 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
averted
|
|
| 防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
faltered
|
|
| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
dabbed
|
|
| （用某物）轻触( dab的过去式和过去分词 )； 轻而快地擦掉（或抹掉）； 快速擦拭； （用某物）轻而快地涂上（或点上）… | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
meditative
|
|
| adj.沉思的，冥想的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
forefinger
|
|
| n.食指 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
impatience
|
|
| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
passionately
|
|
| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
flopped
|
|
| v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的过去式和过去分词 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
sobbed
|
|
| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
sob
|
|
| n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
exasperation
|
|
| n.愤慨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
relish
|
|
| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
prospect
|
|
| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
sobbing
|
|
| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
afflicts
|
|
| 使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
torrent
|
|
| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
groaned
|
|
| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
wail
|
|
| vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
huddled
|
|
| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
112
astonishment
|
|
| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
113
horrified
|
|
| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
114
outrageous
|
|
| adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
115
sullenly
|
|
| 不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
116
grudgingly
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
117
irritation
|
|
| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
118
smote
|
|
| v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去式 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
119
flickering
|
|
| adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
120
lodgers
|
|
| n.房客，租住者( lodger的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
121
ascent
|
|
| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
122
transgression
|
|
| n.违背；犯规；罪过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
123
remorse
|
|
| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
124
brutality
|
|
| n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
125
exasperating
|
|
| adj. 激怒的 动词exasperate的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
126
futile
|
|
| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
127
abject
|
|
| adj.极可怜的，卑屈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
128
descending
|
|
| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
129
blurred
|
|
| v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |