The grand nut harvest is over, as far as the Indians are concerned, though perhaps less than one bushel in a thousand of the whole crop has been gathered. But the squirrels and birds are still busily engaged, and by the time that Nature's ends are accomplished6, every nut will doubtless have been put to use.
All of the nine Nevada conifers mentioned in my last letter are also found in California, excepting only the Rocky Mountain spruce, which I have not observed westward7 of the Snake Range. So greatly, however, have they been made to vary by differences of soil and climate, that most of them appear as distinct species. Without seeming in any way dwarfed8 or repressed in habit, they nowhere develop to anything like California dimensions. A height of fifty feet and diameter of twelve or fourteen inches would probably be found to be above the average size of those cut for lumber9. On the margin10 of the Carson and Humboldt Sink the larger sage11 bushes are called "heavy timber"; and to the settlers here any tree seems large enough for saw-logs.
Mills have been built in the most accessible canyons12 of the higher ranges, and sufficient lumber of an inferior kind is made to supply most of the local demand. The principal lumber trees of Nevada are the white pine (Pinus flexilis), foxtail pine, and Douglas spruce, or "red pine," as it is called here. Of these the first named is most generally distributed, being found on all the higher ranges throughout the State. In botanical characters it is nearly allied13 to the Weymouth, or white, pine of the Eastern States, and to the sugar and mountain pines of the Sierra. In open situations it branches near the ground and tosses out long down-curving limbs all around, often gaining in this way a very strikingly picturesque14 habit. It is seldom found lower than nine thousand feet above the level of the sea, but from this height it pushes upward over the roughest ledges15 to the extreme limit of tree growth—about eleven thousand feet.
On the Hot Creek16, White Pine, and Golden Gate ranges we find a still hardier17 and more picturesque species, called the foxtail pine, from its long dense18 leaf-tassels19. About a foot or eighteen inches of the ends of the branches are densely20 packed with stiff outstanding needles, which radiate all around like an electric fox- or squirrel-tail. The needles are about an inch and a half long, slightly curved, elastic22, and glossily23 polished, so that the sunshine sifting24 through them makes them burn with a fine silvery luster25, while their number and elastic temper tell delightfully26 in the singing winds.
This tree is pre-eminently picturesque, far surpassing not only its companion species of the mountains in this respect, but also the most noted27 of the lowland oaks and elms. Some stand firmly erect28, feathered with radiant tail tassels down to the ground, forming slender, tapering29 towers of shining verdure; others with two or three specialized30 branches pushed out at right angles to the trunk and densely clad with the tasseled31 sprays, take the form of beautiful ornamental32 crosses. Again, in the same woods you find trees that are made up of several boles united near the ground, and spreading in easy curves at the sides in a plane parallel to the axis33 of the mountain, with the elegant tassels hung in charming order between them the whole making a perfect harp34, ranged across the main wind-lines just where they may be most effective in the grand storm harmonies. And then there is an infinite variety of arching forms, standing21 free or in groups, leaning away from or toward each other in curious architectural structures,—innumerable tassels drooping35 under the arches and radiating above them, the outside glowing in the light, masses of deep shade beneath, giving rise to effects marvelously beautiful,—while on the roughest ledges of crumbling36 limestone37 are lowly old giants, five or six feet in diameter, that have braved the storms of more than a thousand years. But, whether old or young, sheltered or exposed to the wildest gales38, this tree is ever found to be irrepressibly and extravagantly39 picturesque, offering a richer and more varied40 series of forms to the artist than any other species I have yet seen.
One of the most interesting mountain excursions I have made in the State was up through a thick spicy41 forest of these trees to the top of the highest summit of the Troy Range, about ninety miles to the south of Hamilton. The day was full of perfect Indian-summer sunshine, calm and bracing42. Jays and Clarke crows made a pleasant stir in the foothill pines and junipers; grasshoppers43 danced in the hazy44 light, and rattled45 on the wing in pure glee, reviving suddenly from the torpor46 of a frosty October night to exuberant47 summer joy. The squirrels were working industriously48 among the falling nuts; ripe willows49 and aspens made gorgeous masses of color on the russet hillsides and along the edges of the small streams that threaded the higher ravines; and on the smooth sloping uplands, beneath the foxtail pines and firs, the ground was covered with brown grasses, enriched with sunflowers, columbines, and larkspurs and patches of linosyris, mostly frost-nipped and gone to seed, yet making fine bits of yellow and purple in the general brown.
At a height of about ninety-five hundred feet we passed through a magnificent grove50 of aspens, about a hundred acres in extent, through which the mellow51 sunshine sifted52 in ravishing splendor53, showing every leaf to be as beautiful in color as the wing of a butterfly, and making them tell gloriously against the evergreens54. These extensive groves55 of aspen are a marked feature of the Nevada woods. Some of the lower mountains are covered with them, giving rise to remarkably56 beautiful masses of pale, translucent57 green in spring and summer, yellow and orange in autumn, while in winter, after every leaf has fallen, the white bark of the boles and branches seen in mass seems like a cloud of mist that has settled close down on the mountain, conforming to all its hollows and ridges59 like a mantle60, yet roughened on the surface with innumerable ascending61 spires62.
Just above the aspens we entered a fine, close growth of foxtail pine, the tallest and most evenly planted I had yet seen. It extended along a waving ridge58 tending north and south and down both sides with but little interruption for a distance of about five miles. The trees were mostly straight in the bole, and their shade covered the ground in the densest64 places, leaving only small openings to the sun. A few of the tallest specimens65 measured over eighty feet, with a diameter of eighteen inches; but many of the younger trees, growing in tufts, were nearly fifty feet high, with a diameter of only five or six inches, while their slender shafts67 were hidden from top to bottom by a close, fringy growth of tasseled branchlets. A few white pines and balsam firs occur here and there, mostly around the edges of sunny openings, where they enrich the air with their rosiny fragrance68, and bring out the peculiar69 beauties of the predominating foxtails by contrast.
Birds find grateful homes here—grouse70, chickadees, and linnets, of which we saw large flocks that had a delightfully enlivening effect. But the woodpeckers are remarkably rare. Thus far I have noticed only one species, the golden-winged; and but few of the streams are large enough or long enough to attract the blessed ousel, so common in the Sierra.
On Wheeler's Peak, the dominating summit of the Snake Mountains, I found all the conifers I had seen on the other ranges of the State, excepting the foxtail pine, which I have not observed further east than the White Pine range, but in its stead the beautiful Rocky Mountain spruce. First, as in the other ranges, we find the juniper and nut pine; then, higher, the white pine and balsam fir; then the Douglas spruce and this new Rocky Mountain spruce, which is common eastward71 from here, though this range is, as far as I have observed, its western limit. It is one of the largest and most important of Nevada conifers, attaining72 a height of from sixty to eighty feet and a diameter of nearly two feet, while now and then an exceptional specimen66 may be found in shady dells a hundred feet high or more.
The foliage73 is bright yellowish and bluish green, according to exposure and age, growing all around the branchlets, though inclined to turn upward from the undersides, like that of the plushy firs of California, making remarkably handsome fernlike plumes74. While yet only mere75 saplings five or six inches thick at the ground, they measure fifty or sixty feet in height and are beautifully clothed with broad, level, fronded76 plumes down to the base, preserving a strict arrowy outline, though a few of the larger branches shoot out in free exuberance77, relieving the spire63 from any unpicturesque stiffness of aspect, while the conical summit is crowded with thousands of rich brown cones78 to complete its beauty.
We made the ascent80 of the peak just after the first storm had whitened its summit and brightened the atmosphere. The foot-slopes are like those of the Troy range, only more evenly clad with grasses. After tracing a long, rugged81 ridge of exceedingly hard quartzite, said to be veined here and there with gold, we came to the North Dome82, a noble summit rising about a thousand feet above the timberline, its slopes heavily tree-clad all around, but most perfectly on the north. Here the Rocky Mountain spruce forms the bulk of the forest. The cones were ripe; most of them had shed their winged seeds, and the shell-like scales were conspicuously83 spread, making rich masses of brown from the tops of the fertile trees down halfway84 to the ground, cone79 touching85 cone in lavish86 clusters. A single branch that might be carried in the hand would be found to bear a hundred or more.
Some portions of the wood were almost impenetrable, but in general we found no difficulty in mazing87 comfortably on over fallen logs and under the spreading boughs88, while here and there we came to an opening sufficiently89 spacious90 for standpoints, where the trees around their margins91 might be seen from top to bottom. The winter sunshine streamed through the clustered spires, glinting and breaking into a fine dust of spangles on the spiky92 leaves and beads93 of amber94 gum, and bringing out the reds and grays and yellows of the lichened95 boles which had been freshened by the late storm; while the tip of every spire looking up through the shadows was dipped in deepest blue.
The ground was strewn with burs and needles and fallen trees; and, down in the dells, on the north side of the dome, where strips of aspen are imbedded in the spruces, every breeze sent the ripe leaves flying, some lodging96 in the spruce boughs, making them bloom again, while the fresh snow beneath looked like a fine painting.
Around the dome and well up toward the summit of the main peak, the snow-shed was well marked with tracks of the mule97 deer and the pretty stitching and embroidery98 of field mice, squirrels, and grouse; and on the way back to camp I came across a strange track, somewhat like that of a small bear, but more spreading at the toes. It proved to be that of a wolverine. In my conversations with hunters, both Indians and white men assure me that there are no bears in Nevada, notwithstanding the abundance of pine-nuts, of which they are so fond, and the accessibility of these basin ranges from their favorite haunts in the Sierra Nevada and Wahsatch Mountains. The mule deer, antelope99, wild sheep, wolverine, and two species of wolves are all of the larger animals that I have seen or heard of in the State.
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1 refreshing | |
adj.使精神振作的,使人清爽的,使人喜欢的 | |
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2 fiery | |
adj.燃烧着的,火红的;暴躁的;激烈的 | |
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3 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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4 possessed | |
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的 | |
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5 blessings | |
n.(上帝的)祝福( blessing的名词复数 );好事;福分;因祸得福 | |
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6 accomplished | |
adj.有才艺的;有造诣的;达到了的 | |
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7 westward | |
n.西方,西部;adj.西方的,向西的;adv.向西 | |
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8 dwarfed | |
vt.(使)显得矮小(dwarf的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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9 lumber | |
n.木材,木料;v.以破旧东西堆满;伐木;笨重移动 | |
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10 margin | |
n.页边空白;差额;余地,余裕;边,边缘 | |
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11 sage | |
n.圣人,哲人;adj.贤明的,明智的 | |
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12 canyons | |
n.峡谷( canyon的名词复数 ) | |
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13 allied | |
adj.协约国的;同盟国的 | |
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14 picturesque | |
adj.美丽如画的,(语言)生动的,绘声绘色的 | |
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15 ledges | |
n.(墙壁,悬崖等)突出的狭长部分( ledge的名词复数 );(平窄的)壁架;横档;(尤指)窗台 | |
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16 creek | |
n.小溪,小河,小湾 | |
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17 hardier | |
能吃苦耐劳的,坚强的( hardy的比较级 ); (植物等)耐寒的 | |
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18 dense | |
a.密集的,稠密的,浓密的;密度大的 | |
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19 tassels | |
n.穗( tassel的名词复数 );流苏状物;(植物的)穗;玉蜀黍的穗状雄花v.抽穗, (玉米)长穗须( tassel的第三人称单数 );使抽穗, (为了使作物茁壮生长)摘去穗状雄花;用流苏装饰 | |
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20 densely | |
ad.密集地;浓厚地 | |
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21 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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22 elastic | |
n.橡皮圈,松紧带;adj.有弹性的;灵活的 | |
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23 glossily | |
光滑地 | |
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24 sifting | |
n.筛,过滤v.筛( sift的现在分词 );筛滤;细查;详审 | |
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25 luster | |
n.光辉;光泽,光亮;荣誉 | |
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26 delightfully | |
大喜,欣然 | |
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27 noted | |
adj.著名的,知名的 | |
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28 erect | |
n./v.树立,建立,使竖立;adj.直立的,垂直的 | |
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29 tapering | |
adj.尖端细的 | |
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30 specialized | |
adj.专门的,专业化的 | |
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31 tasseled | |
v.抽穗, (玉米)长穗须( tassel的过去式和过去分词 );使抽穗, (为了使作物茁壮生长)摘去穗状雄花;用流苏装饰 | |
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32 ornamental | |
adj.装饰的;作装饰用的;n.装饰品;观赏植物 | |
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33 axis | |
n.轴,轴线,中心线;坐标轴,基准线 | |
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34 harp | |
n.竖琴;天琴座 | |
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35 drooping | |
adj. 下垂的,无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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36 crumbling | |
adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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37 limestone | |
n.石灰石 | |
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38 gales | |
龙猫 | |
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39 extravagantly | |
adv.挥霍无度地 | |
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40 varied | |
adj.多样的,多变化的 | |
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41 spicy | |
adj.加香料的;辛辣的,有风味的 | |
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42 bracing | |
adj.令人振奋的 | |
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43 grasshoppers | |
n.蚱蜢( grasshopper的名词复数 );蝗虫;蚂蚱;(孩子)矮小的 | |
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44 hazy | |
adj.有薄雾的,朦胧的;不肯定的,模糊的 | |
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45 rattled | |
慌乱的,恼火的 | |
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46 torpor | |
n.迟钝;麻木;(动物的)冬眠 | |
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47 exuberant | |
adj.充满活力的;(植物)繁茂的 | |
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48 industriously | |
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49 willows | |
n.柳树( willow的名词复数 );柳木 | |
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50 grove | |
n.林子,小树林,园林 | |
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51 mellow | |
adj.柔和的;熟透的;v.变柔和;(使)成熟 | |
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52 sifted | |
v.筛( sift的过去式和过去分词 );筛滤;细查;详审 | |
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53 splendor | |
n.光彩;壮丽,华丽;显赫,辉煌 | |
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54 evergreens | |
n.常青树,常绿植物,万年青( evergreen的名词复数 ) | |
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55 groves | |
树丛,小树林( grove的名词复数 ) | |
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56 remarkably | |
ad.不同寻常地,相当地 | |
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57 translucent | |
adj.半透明的;透明的 | |
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58 ridge | |
n.山脊;鼻梁;分水岭 | |
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59 ridges | |
n.脊( ridge的名词复数 );山脊;脊状突起;大气层的)高压脊 | |
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60 mantle | |
n.斗篷,覆罩之物,罩子;v.罩住,覆盖,脸红 | |
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61 ascending | |
adj.上升的,向上的 | |
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62 spires | |
n.(教堂的) 塔尖,尖顶( spire的名词复数 ) | |
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63 spire | |
n.(教堂)尖顶,尖塔,高点 | |
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64 densest | |
密集的( dense的最高级 ); 密度大的; 愚笨的; (信息量大得)难理解的 | |
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65 specimens | |
n.样品( specimen的名词复数 );范例;(化验的)抽样;某种类型的人 | |
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66 specimen | |
n.样本,标本 | |
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67 shafts | |
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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68 fragrance | |
n.芬芳,香味,香气 | |
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69 peculiar | |
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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70 grouse | |
n.松鸡;v.牢骚,诉苦 | |
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71 eastward | |
adv.向东;adj.向东的;n.东方,东部 | |
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72 attaining | |
(通常经过努力)实现( attain的现在分词 ); 达到; 获得; 达到(某年龄、水平、状况) | |
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73 foliage | |
n.叶子,树叶,簇叶 | |
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74 plumes | |
羽毛( plume的名词复数 ); 羽毛饰; 羽毛状物; 升上空中的羽状物 | |
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75 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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76 fronded | |
前移的 | |
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77 exuberance | |
n.丰富;繁荣 | |
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78 cones | |
n.(人眼)圆锥细胞;圆锥体( cone的名词复数 );球果;圆锥形东西;(盛冰淇淋的)锥形蛋卷筒 | |
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79 cone | |
n.圆锥体,圆锥形东西,球果 | |
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80 ascent | |
n.(声望或地位)提高;上升,升高;登高 | |
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81 rugged | |
adj.高低不平的,粗糙的,粗壮的,强健的 | |
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82 dome | |
n.圆屋顶,拱顶 | |
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83 conspicuously | |
ad.明显地,惹人注目地 | |
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84 halfway | |
adj.中途的,不彻底的,部分的;adv.半路地,在中途,在半途 | |
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85 touching | |
adj.动人的,使人感伤的 | |
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86 lavish | |
adj.无节制的;浪费的;vt.慷慨地给予,挥霍 | |
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87 mazing | |
使困惑(maze的现在分词形式) | |
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88 boughs | |
大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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89 sufficiently | |
adv.足够地,充分地 | |
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90 spacious | |
adj.广阔的,宽敞的 | |
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91 margins | |
边( margin的名词复数 ); 利润; 页边空白; 差数 | |
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92 spiky | |
adj.长而尖的,大钉似的 | |
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93 beads | |
n.(空心)小珠子( bead的名词复数 );水珠;珠子项链 | |
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94 amber | |
n.琥珀;琥珀色;adj.琥珀制的 | |
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95 lichened | |
adj.长满地衣的,长青苔的 | |
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96 lodging | |
n.寄宿,住所;(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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97 mule | |
n.骡子,杂种,执拗的人 | |
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98 embroidery | |
n.绣花,刺绣;绣制品 | |
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99 antelope | |
n.羚羊;羚羊皮 | |
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