"Then trot2 right over to him and get permission for the slave Mikah to join me in the work. You can explain that he comes from the same land that I do, and that your secrets are mere3 children's toys to him. And if dad wants any other reasons tell him that I need skilled aid, someone who knows how to handle tools and who can be trusted to follow directions exactly as given. You and your brothers have entirely4 too many ideas of your own about how things should be done, and a tendency to leave details up to the gods and have a good bash with the hammer if things don't work the way they should."
Narsisi retired5, seething6 and mumbling7 to himself while Jason huddled8 over the oil stove planning the next step. It had taken most of the day to lay down logs for rollers and to push the sealed engine out into the sandy valley, far from the well site; open space was needed for any experiments where a mistake could release a cloud of war gas. Even Edipon had finally seen the sense of this, though all of his tendencies were to conduct the experiments with great secretiveness behind locked doors. He had granted permission only after skin walls had been erected9 to form an enclosure that could be guarded; it was only incidental that they acted as a much-appreciated windbreak.
And after much argument the dangling10 chains and shackles11 had been removed from Jason's arms and light-weight leg-irons substituted. He had to shuffle12 when he walked but his arms were completely free, a great improvement over the chains, even though one of the brothers kept watch with a cocked crossbow as long as Jason wasn't fastened down. Now he had to get some tools and some idea of the technical knowledge of these people before he could proceed, which would necessarily entail13 one more battle over their precious secrets.
"Come on," he called to his guard, "let's find Edipon and give his ulcers14 another twinge."
After his first enthusiasm the leader of the D'zertanoj was getting very little pleasure out of his new project.
"You have quarters of your own," he grumbled15, "and the slave woman to cook for you, and I have just given permission for the other slave to help you. Now more requests—do you want to drain all the blood from my body?"
"Let's not dramatize too much. I simply want some tools to get on with my work, and a peek16 at your machine shop or wherever it is you do your mechanical work. I have to have some idea of the way you people solve mechanical problems before I can go to work on that box of tricks out there in the desert."
"Entrance is forbidden—"
"Regulations are snapping like straws today, so we might as well go on and finish off a few more. Will you lead the way?"
The guards were reluctant to open the refinery17 building gates to Jason, and there was much rattling18 of keys and worried looks. A brace19 of elderly D'zertanoj, stinking20 of oil fumes21, emerged from the interior and joined in a shouted argument with Edipon whose will finally prevailed. Chained again, and guarded like a murderer, Jason was begrudgingly22 led into the dark interior, the contents of which was depressingly anticlimactic23.
"Really from rubeville," Jason sneered24 and kicked at the boxful of hand-forged and clumsy tools. The work was of the crudest, the product of a sort of neolithic25 machine age. The distilling26 retort had been laboriously28 formed from sheet copper29 and clumsily riveted30 together. It leaked mightily31 as did the soldered32 seams on the hand-formed pipe. Most of the tools were blacksmith's tongs34 and hammers for heating and beating out shapes on the anvil35. The only things that gladdened Jason's heart were the massive drill press and lathe36 that worked off the slave-power drive belts. In the tool holder37 of the lathe was clamped a chip of some hard mineral that did a good enough job of cutting the forged iron and low-carbon steel. Even more cheering was the screw-thread advance on the cutting head that was used to produce the massive nuts and bolts that secured the caroj wheels to their shafts38. It could have been worse. Jason sorted out the smallest and handiest tools and put them aside for his own use in the morning. The light was almost gone and there would be no more work this day.
They left, in armed procession, as they came, and a brace of brothers showed him to the kennellike room that was to be his private quarters. The heavy bolt thudded shut in the door behind him and he winced40 at the thick fumes of half-burnt kerosene41 through which the light of the single-wick lamp barely penetrated42. Ijale crouched43 over the small oil stove cooking something in a pottery44 bowl. She looked up and smiled hesitatingly at Jason, then turned back to the stove. Jason walked over, sniffed45 and shuddered46.
"What a feast! Krenoj soup, and I suppose followed by fresh krenoj and krenoj salad. Tomorrow I see about getting a little variety into the diet."
"Ch'aka is great," she whispered without looking up. "Ch'aka is powerful...."
"Jason is the name, I lost the Ch'aka job when they took the uniform away."
"... Jason is powerful to work charms on the D'zertanoj and makes them do what he will. His slave thanks you."
He lifted her chin and the dumb obedience47 in her eyes made him wince39. "Can't we forget about the slavery bit? We are in this thing together and we'll get out of it together."
"We will escape, I knew it. You will kill all the D'zertanoj and release your slaves and lead us home again where we can march and find krenoj far from this terrible place."
"Some girls are sure easy to please. That is roughly what I had in mind, except when we get out of here we are going in the other direction, as far away from your krenoj crowd as I can get."
Ijale listened attentively48, stirring the soup with one hand and scratching inside her leather wrappings with the other. Jason found himself scratching as well, and realized from sore spots on his hide that he had been doing an awful lot of this since he had been dragged out of the ocean of this inhospitable planet.
"Enough is enough!" he exploded and went over and hammered on the door. "This place is a far cry from civilization as I know it, but that is no reason why we can't be as comfortable as possible." Chains and bolts rattled49 outside the door and Narsisi pushed his gloom-ridden face in.
"Why do you cry out? What is wrong?"
"I need some water, lots of it."
"But you have water," Narsisi said, puzzled, and pointed50 to a stone crock in the corner. "There is water there enough for days."
"By your standards, Nars old boy, not mine. I want at least ten times as much as that and I want it now. And some soap, if there is such stuff in this barbaric place."
There was a good deal of argument involved, but Jason finally got his way with the water by explaining it was needed for religious rites52 to make sure that he would not fail in the work tomorrow. It came in a varied53 collection of containers along with a shallow bowl full of powerful soft soap.
"We're in business," he chortled. "Take your clothes off, I have a surprise for you."
"Yes, Jason," Ijale said, smiling happily.
"You're going to get a bath. Do you know what a bath is?"
"No," she said, and shuddered. "It sounds evil."
"Over here and off with the clothes," he ordered, poking54 at a hole in the floor. "This should serve as a drain, at least the water went away when I poured some into it."
The water was warm from the stove, yet Ijale still crouched against the wall and shuddered when he poured it over her. She screamed when he rubbed the slippery soap into her hair, and he continued with his hand over her mouth so that she wouldn't bring in the guards. He rubbed the soap into his own head, too, and it tingled55 delightfully56 as it soaked through to his scalp. Some of it was in his ears, muffling57 them, so the first intimation he had that the door was opened was the sound of Mikah's hoarse58 shout. He was standing59 in the doorway60, finger pointed and shaking with wrath61. Narsisi was standing behind him, peering over his shoulder with fascination62 at this weird63 religious rite51.
"Degradation64!" Mikah thundered. "You force this poor creature to bend to your will, humiliate65 her, strip her clothes from her and gaze upon her though you are not united in lawful66 wedlock67." He shielded his eyes from sight with a raised arm. "You are evil, Jason, a demon68 of evil and must be brought to justice—"
"Out!" Jason roared, and spun69 Mikah about and started him through the door with one of his practiced Ch'aka kicks. "The only evil here is in your mind, you snooping scut. I'm giving the girl the first scrubbing of her life and you should be giving me a medal for bringing sanitation70 to the natives instead of howling like that." He pushed them both out the door and shouted at Narsisi. "I wanted this slave, but not now! Lock him up until morning then bring him back." He slammed the door and made a mental note to get hold of a bolt to be placed on this side as well.
There were more krenoj for breakfast but Jason was feeling too good physically71 to mind. He was scrubbed raw and clean and the itching72 was gone even from his sprouting73 beard. The metalcloth of his Pyrran coverall had dried almost as soon as it had been washed so he was wearing clean clothes as well. Ijale was still recovering from the traumatic effects of her bath, but she looked positively74 attractive with her skin cleaned and her hair washed and combed a bit. He would have to find some of the local cloth for her since it would be a shame to ruin the good work by letting her get back into the badly cured skins she was used to wearing. It was with a sensation of positive good feeling that he bellowed75 for the door to be opened and stamped through the cool morning to his place of labor27. Mikah was already there, looking scruffy76 and angry as he rattled his chains; Jason gave him the friendliest of smiles that only rubbed salt into the other's moral wounds.
"Leg-irons for him, too," Jason ordered, "And do it fast. We have a big job to do today." He turned back to the sealed engine, rubbing his hands together with anticipation77.
The concealing78 hood79 was made of thin metal that could not hide many secrets. He carefully scratched away some of the paint and discovered a crimped and soldered joint80 where the sides met, but no other revealing marks. After an hour spent tapping all over with his ear pressed to the metal he was sure that the hood was just what he had thought it was when he first examined the thing—a double-walled metal container filled with liquid. Puncture81 it and you were dead. It was there merely to hide the secrets of the engine, and served no other function. Yet it had to be passed to service the steam engine—or did it? The construction was roughly cubical, and the hood covered only five sides. What about the sixth, the base?
"Now you're thinking, Jason," he chortled to himself, and knelt down to examine it. A wide flange82, apparently83 of cast iron, projected all around, and was penetrated by four large bolt holes. The protective casing seemed to be soldered to the base, but there must be stronger concealed84 attachments85 because it would not move even after he carefully scratched away some of the solder33 at the base. Therefore the answer simply had to be on the sixth side.
"Over here, Mikah," he called, and the man detached himself reluctantly from the warmth of the stove and shuffled86 up. "Come close and look at this medieval motive-power while we talk, as if we are discussing business. Are you going to co-operate with me?"
"I do not want to, Jason. I am afraid that you will soil me with your touch, as you have others."
"Well you're not so clean now—"
"I do not mean physically."
"Well I do. You could certainly do with a bath and a deep shampoo. I'm not worried about the state of your soul, you can battle that out on your own time. But if you work with me I'll find a way to get us out of this place and to the city that made this engine, because if there is a way off this planet we'll find it only in the city."
"I know that, yet I still hesitate—"
"Small sacrifices now for the greater good later. Isn't the entire purpose of this trip to get me back to justice? You're not going to accomplish that by rotting out the rest of your life as a slave."
"You are the devil's advocate the way you twist my conscience—yet what you say is true. I will help you here so that we can escape."
"Fine. Now get to work. Take Narsisi and have him round up at least three good-sized poles, the kind we were chained to in the pumping gang. Bring them back here along with a couple of shovels87."
Slaves carried the poles only as far as the outside of the skin walls, since Edipon would not admit them inside, and it was up to Jason and Mikah to drag them laboriously to the site. The D'zertanoj, who never did physical labor, thought it was very funny when Jason suggested that they help. Once in position by the engine, Jason dug channels beneath it and forced the bars under. When this was done he took turns with Mikah in digging out the sand beneath until the engine stood over a pit supported only by the bars. Jason let himself down and examined the bottom of the machine. It was smooth and featureless.
Once more he scratched away the paint with careful precision, until it was cleared around the edges. Here the solid metal gave way to solder and he picked at this until he discovered that a piece of sheet metal had been soldered at the edges and fastened to the bedplate. "Very tricky88, these Appsalanoj," he chortled and attacked the solder with a knife blade. When one end was loose he slowly pulled the sheet of metal away, making positive that there was nothing attached to it, nor that it had been booby-trapped in any way. It came off easily enough and clanged down into the pit. The revealed surface was smooth metal, featureless and hard.
"Enough for one day," Jason said, climbing out of the pit and brushing off his hands. It was almost dark. "We've accomplished89 enough for now and I want to think a bit before I go ahead. So far luck has been on our side, but I don't think it should be this easy. I hope you brought your suitcase with you, Mikah, because you're moving in with me."
"Never! A sink of sin, depravity—"
Jason looked him coldly in the eye and with each word he spoke90 he stabbed him in the chest with his finger to drive home the point. "You are moving in with me because that is essential to our plans. And if you stop referring to my moral weaknesses I'll stop talking about yours. Now come on."
Living with Mikah Samon was trying, but barely possible. He made Ijale and Jason go to the far wall and turn their backs and promise not to look while he bathed behind a screen of skins. Jason did this but exacted a small revenge by telling Ijale jokes so that they tittered together and Mikah would be sure they were laughing at him. The screen of skins remained after the bath, and was reinforced, and Mikah retired behind it to sleep. Their food still consisted only of krenoj and Jason shuddered while he admitted that he was actually growing used to them.
The following morning, under the frightened gaze of his guards, Jason tackled the underside of the baseplate. He had been thinking about it a good part of the night and he put his theories to the test at once. By pressing hard on a knife he could make a good groove91 in the metal. It was not as soft as the solder, but seemed to be some simple alloy92 containing a good percentage of lead. What could it be concealing? Probing carefully with the point of the knife he covered the bottom in a regular pattern. The depth of the metal was uniformly deep except in two spots where he found irregularities, they were on the midline of the rectangular base, and equidistant from the ends and sides. Picking and scraping he uncovered two familiar looking shapes each as big as his head.
"Mikah. Get down in this hole and look at these things. Tell me what you think they are."
Mikah scratched his beard. "They're still covered with this metal, I can't be sure—"
"I'm not asking you to be sure of anything—just tell me what they make you think of."
"Why ... big nuts of course. Threaded on the ends of bolts. But they are so big—"
"They would have to be if they hold the entire metal case on. I think we are getting very close now to the mystery of how to open the engine—and this is the time to be careful. I still can't believe it is as easy as this to crack the secret. I'm going to whittle93 a wooden template of the nut, then have a wrench94 made. While I'm gone you stay down here and pick all the metal off the bolt and out of the screw threads. I can put off doing it while we think this thing through, but sooner or later I'm going to have to take a stab at turning one of those nuts. And I find it very hard to forget about that mustard gas."
Making the wrench put a small strain on the local technology and all of the old men who enjoyed the title of Masters of the Still went into consultation95 over it. One of them was a fair blacksmith and after a ritual sacrifice and a round of prayers he shoved a bar of iron into the charcoal96 and Jason pumped the bellows97 until it glowed white hot. With much hammering and cursing it was laboriously formed into a sturdy open-end wrench with an offset98 head to get at the countersunk nuts. Jason made sure that the opening was slightly undersized, then took the untempered wrench to the work site and filed the jaws99 to an exact fit. After being reheated and quenched100 in oil he had the tool that he hoped would do the job.
Edipon must have been keeping track of the work progress because he was waiting near the engine when Jason returned with the completed wrench.
"I have been under," he announced, "and have seen the nuts that the devilish Appsalanoj have concealed within solid metal. Who would have suspected! It still seems to me impossible that one metal could be hidden within another, how could that be done?"
"Easy enough. The base of the assembled engine was put into a form and the molten covering metal poured into it. It must have a much lower melting point than the steel of the engine so there would be no damage. They just have a better knowledge of metal technology in the city and counted on your ignorance."
"Ignorance! You insult—"
"I take it back. I just meant they thought they could get away with the trick, and since they didn't they are the stupid ones. Does that satisfy you?"
"What do you do next?"
"I take off the nuts and when I do there is a good chance that the poison-hood will be released and can simply be lifted off."
"It is too dangerous for you to do, the fiends may still have other traps ready when the nut is turned. I will send a strong slave to turn them while we watch from a distance, his death will not matter."
"I'm touched by your concern for my health, but as much as I would like to take advantage of the offer, I cannot. I've been over the same ground and reached the reluctant conclusion that this is one job of work that I have to do myself. Taking off those nuts looks entirely too easy, and that's what makes me suspicious. I'm going to do it and look out for any more trickery at the same time—and that is something that only I can do. Now I suggest you withdraw with the troops to a safer spot."
There was no hesitation101 about leaving, footsteps rustled102 quickly on the sand and Jason was alone. The leather walls flapped slackly in the wind and there was no other sound. Jason spat103 on his palms, controlled a slight shiver and slid into the pit. The wrench fitted neatly104 over the nut, he wrapped both hands around it and, bracing105 his leg against the pit wall, began to pull.
And stopped. Three turns of thread on the bolt projected below the nut, scraped clean of metal by the industrious106 Mikah. Something about them looked very wrong but he didn't know quite what.
"Mikah," he shouted, and had to call loudly two more times before his assistant poked107 his head tentatively around the screen. "Nip over to the petroleum108 works and get me one of their bolts threaded with a nut, any size, it doesn't matter."
Jason warmed his hands by the stove until Mikah returned with the oily bolt, then waved him out to rejoin the others. Back in the pit he held it up next to the protruding109 section of Appsalan bolt and chortled with joy. The threads on the angle bolt were canted at a slightly different angle: where one ran up, the other ran down. The Appsalan threads had been cut in reverse, with a lefthand thread.
Throughout the galaxy110 there existed as many technical and cultural differences as there were planets, yet one of the few things they all had in common, inherited from their terrestrial ancestors, was a uniformity of thread. Jason had never thought about it before, but when he mentally ran through his experiences on different planets he realized that they were all the same. Screws went into wood, bolts went into threaded holes and nuts all went onto bolts when you turned them with a clockwise motion. Counterclockwise removed them. In his hand was the crude D'zertano nut and bolt, and when he tried it it moved in the same manner. But the engine bolt did not work that way—it had to be turned clockwise to remove it.
Dropping the nut and bolt he placed the wrench on the massive engine bolt and slowly applied111 pressure in what felt like the completely wrong direction, as if he were tightening112 not loosening. It gave slowly, first a quarter then a half turn. And bit by bit the projection113 threads vanished until they were level with the surface of the nut. It turned easily now and within a minute it fell into the pit—he threw the wrench after it and scrambled114 out. Standing at the edge he carefully sniffed the air, ready to run at the slightest smell of gas. There was nothing.
The second nut came off as easily as the first and with no ill effects. Jason pushed a sharp chisel115 between the upper case and the baseplate where he had removed the solder, and when he leaned on it the case shifted slightly, held down only by its own weight.
From the entrance to the enclosure he shouted to the group huddled in the distance. "Come on back—this job is almost finished."
They all took turns at sliding into the pit and looking at the projecting bolts and made appreciative116 sounds when Jason leaned on the chisel and showed how the case was free.
"There is still the little matter of taking it off," he told them, "and I'm sure that grabbing and heaving is the wrong way. That was my first idea too, but the people who assembled that thing had some bad trouble in store for anyone who tightened117 those nuts instead of loosening them. Until we find out what that is we are going to tread very lightly. Do you have any big blocks of ice around here, Edipon? It is winter now, isn't it?"
"Ice? Winter?" Edipon mumbled118, caught off guard by the change of direction, rubbing abstractedly at the reddened tip of his prominent nose. "Of course it is winter. Ice, there must be ice at the higher lakes in the mountain, they are always frozen at this time of the year. But what do you want ice for?"
"You get it and I'll show you. Have it cut in nice flat blocks that I can stack. I'm not going to lift the hood—I'm going to drop the engine out from underneath119 it!"
By the time the slaves had brought the ice down from the distant lakes Jason had rigged a strong wooden frame flat on the ground around the engine and pushed sharpened metal wedges under the hood, then had secured the wedges to the frame. Now, if the engine was lowered into the pit, the hood would stay above supported by the wedges. The ice would take care of this. Jason built a foundation of ice under the engine then slipped out the supporting bars. Now as the ice slowly melted the engine would be gently lowered into the pit.
The weather remained cold and the ice refused to melt until Jason had the pit ringed with smoking oil stoves. Water began to run down into the pit and Mikah went to work bailing120 it out, while the gap between the hood and the baseplate widened. The melting continued for the rest of the day and almost all of the night. Red-eyed and exhausted121 Jason and Mikah supervised the soggy sinking and when the D'zertanoj returned at dawn the engine rested safely in a pool of mud on the bottom of the pit: the hood was off.
"They're tricky devils over there in Appsala, but Jason dinAlt wasn't born yesterday," he exulted122. "Do you see that crock sitting there on top of the engine," he pointed to a sealed container of thick glass the size of a small barrel, filled with an oily greenish liquid; it was clamped down tightly with padded supports. "That's the booby trap. The nuts I took off were on the threaded ends of two bars that held the hood on, but instead of being fastened directly to the hood they were connected by a crossbar that rested on top of that jug123. If either nut was tightened instead of being loosened, the bar would have bent124 and broken the glass. I'll give you exactly one guess as to what would have happened then."
"The poison liquid!"
"None other. And the double-walled hood is filled with it, too. I suggest that as soon as we have dug a deep hole in the desert the hood and container be buried and forgotten about. I doubt if the engine has many other surprises in store, but I'll be careful as I work on it."
"You can fix it? You know what is wrong with it?" Edipon was vibrating with joy.
"Not yet, I have barely looked at the thing. In fact one look was enough to convince that the job will be as easy as stealing krenoj from a blind man. The engine is as inefficient125 and clumsy in construction as your petroleum still. If you people put one tenth of the energy into research and improving your product as you do into hiding it from the competition, you would all be flying jets."
"I forgive your insult because you have done us a service. You will now fix this engine and the other engines. A new day is breaking for us!"
"Right now it is a new night that is breaking for me," Jason yawned. "I have two days sleep to make up. See if you can talk your sons into wiping the water off that engine before it rusts126 away, and when I get back I'll see what I can do about getting it into running condition."
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whined
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| v.哀号( whine的过去式和过去分词 )；哀诉，诉怨 | |
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trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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seething
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| 沸腾的，火热的 | |
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mumbling
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的现在分词 ) | |
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huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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shackles
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| 手铐( shackle的名词复数 )； 脚镣； 束缚； 羁绊 | |
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shuffle
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| n.拖著脚走，洗纸牌；v.拖曳，慢吞吞地走 | |
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entail
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| vt.使承担，使成为必要，需要 | |
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ulcers
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| n.溃疡( ulcer的名词复数 )；腐烂物；道德败坏；腐败 | |
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grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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peek
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| vi.偷看，窥视；n.偷偷的一看，一瞥 | |
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refinery
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| n.精炼厂，提炼厂 | |
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rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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brace
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| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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stinking
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| adj.臭的，烂醉的，讨厌的v.散发出恶臭( stink的现在分词 )；发臭味；名声臭；糟透 | |
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fumes
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| n.(强烈而刺激的)气味，气体 | |
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begrudgingly
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| 小气地，吝啬地 | |
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anticlimactic
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| adj. 渐降法的, 虎头蛇尾的 | |
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sneered
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| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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neolithic
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| adj.新石器时代的 | |
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distilling
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| n.蒸馏（作用）v.蒸馏( distil的过去式和过去分词 )( distilled的过去分词 )；从…提取精华 | |
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labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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laboriously
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| adv.艰苦地；费力地；辛勤地；（文体等）佶屈聱牙地 | |
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29
copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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30
riveted
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| 铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意 | |
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31
mightily
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| ad.强烈地；非常地 | |
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32
soldered
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| v.（使）焊接，焊合( solder的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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33
solder
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| v.焊接，焊在一起；n.焊料，焊锡 | |
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34
tongs
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| n.钳；夹子 | |
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35
anvil
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| n.铁钻 | |
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36
lathe
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| n.车床，陶器，镟床 | |
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37
holder
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| n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物 | |
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38
shafts
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| n.轴( shaft的名词复数 )；（箭、高尔夫球棒等的）杆；通风井；一阵（疼痛、害怕等） | |
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39
wince
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| n.畏缩，退避，（因痛苦，苦恼等)面部肌肉抽动；v.畏缩，退缩，退避 | |
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40
winced
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| 赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
kerosene
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| n.(kerosine)煤油，火油 | |
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42
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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43
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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44
pottery
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| n.陶器，陶器场 | |
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45
sniffed
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| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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46
shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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47
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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48
attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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49
rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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50
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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51
rite
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| n.典礼，惯例，习俗 | |
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52
rites
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| 仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
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53
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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54
poking
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| n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢 | |
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55
tingled
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| v.有刺痛感( tingle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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56
delightfully
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| 大喜，欣然 | |
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57
muffling
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| v.压抑，捂住( muffle的现在分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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58
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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59
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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60
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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61
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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62
fascination
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| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
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63
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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64
degradation
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| n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变 | |
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65
humiliate
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| v.使羞辱，使丢脸[同]disgrace | |
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66
lawful
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| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
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67
wedlock
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| n.婚姻，已婚状态 | |
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68
demon
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| n.魔鬼，恶魔 | |
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69
spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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70
sanitation
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| n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备 | |
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71
physically
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| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
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72
itching
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| adj.贪得的，痒的，渴望的v.发痒( itch的现在分词 ) | |
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73
sprouting
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| v.发芽( sprout的现在分词 )；抽芽；出现；（使）涌现出 | |
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74
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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75
bellowed
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| v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的过去式和过去分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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76
scruffy
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| adj.肮脏的，不洁的 | |
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77
anticipation
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| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
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78
concealing
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的现在分词 ) | |
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79
hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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80
joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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81
puncture
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| n.刺孔，穿孔；v.刺穿，刺破 | |
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82
flange
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| n.边缘，轮缘，凸缘，法兰 | |
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83
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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84
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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85
attachments
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| n.（用电子邮件发送的）附件( attachment的名词复数 )；附着；连接；附属物 | |
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86
shuffled
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| v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼 | |
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87
shovels
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| n.铲子( shovel的名词复数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份v.铲子( shovel的第三人称单数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份 | |
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88
tricky
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| adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的 | |
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89
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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90
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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91
groove
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| n.沟，槽；凹线，（刻出的）线条，习惯 | |
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92
alloy
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| n.合金，(金属的)成色 | |
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93
whittle
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| v.削（木头），削减；n.屠刀 | |
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94
wrench
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| v.猛拧；挣脱；使扭伤；n.扳手；痛苦，难受 | |
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95
consultation
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| n.咨询；商量；商议；会议 | |
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96
charcoal
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| n.炭，木炭，生物炭 | |
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97
bellows
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| n.风箱；发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的名词复数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的第三人称单数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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98
offset
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| n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿 | |
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99
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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100
quenched
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| 解（渴）( quench的过去式和过去分词 )； 终止（某事物）； （用水）扑灭（火焰等）； 将（热物体）放入水中急速冷却 | |
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101
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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102
rustled
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| v.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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103
spat
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| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
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104
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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105
bracing
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| adj.令人振奋的 | |
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106
industrious
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| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
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107
poked
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| v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交 | |
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108
petroleum
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| n.原油，石油 | |
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109
protruding
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| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的现在分词 )；凸 | |
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110
galaxy
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| n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物) | |
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111
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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112
tightening
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| 上紧，固定，紧密 | |
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113
projection
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| n.发射，计划，突出部分 | |
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114
scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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115
chisel
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| n.凿子；v.用凿子刻，雕，凿 | |
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116
appreciative
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| adj.有鉴赏力的，有眼力的；感激的 | |
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117
tightened
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| 收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧 | |
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118
mumbled
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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119
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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120
bailing
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| （凿井时用吊桶）排水 | |
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121
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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122
exulted
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| 狂喜，欢跃( exult的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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123
jug
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| n.(有柄，小口，可盛水等的)大壶，罐，盂 | |
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124
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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125
inefficient
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| adj.效率低的，无效的 | |
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126
rusts
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| n.铁锈( rust的名词复数 )；（植物的）锈病，锈菌v.（使）生锈( rust的第三人称单数 ) | |
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