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CHAPTER V. Red, or Green?
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The inquest on those killed by the railway accident took place on the Tuesday morning. Numbers were attracted to the spot, impatient to hear the evidence. Reports had been busy as to the conflicting nature of the testimony1 expected to be given, and excitement was at its height. While one party openly asserted that Cooper, the driver, was falsely trying to "whiten" himself, and so avoid punishment for his carelessness; the stationmaster was less loudly accused of having been the one in fault, and with "taking away the man's character."

Amidst the crowd, meeting at Coombe Dalton, were Mr. Lake and Oliver Jupp: the one went from Guild2, the other from Katterley. Oliver Jupp, with his sisters, said adieu to Mrs. Chester on the Monday evening, and returned home: Mr. Lake and his wife stayed at Guild. Curiosity or interest in the proceedings3, or opposition4 in their own opinions, took them both. Mr. Lake felt certain that Cooper spoke5 truth in saying the green light was exhibited, not the red; would have been ready to stake his life upon it. Oliver Jupp, relying upon his own eyesight, upheld the side of the stationmaster. Each one had maintained tenaciously6 his own opinion when discussing the affair at Mrs. Chester's; and they would not have missed the inquest for the world.

In the largest room that the small inn at Coombe Dalton could afford, the coroner and jury assembled, and proceedings commenced. About the cause of death there could be no doubt; and it needed not the testimony of old Dr. Marlow, of Katterley, who had been the first doctor to arrive at the spot on the Sunday night, to prove it. However, the requirements of law must be obeyed, and he was there with sundry7 of his brethren. Next came the evidence as to the cause of the accident.

The stationmaster, one porter, and a "switchman," comprised the officials who had been at the station on the Sunday night. They all gave their testimony in a very positive and unequivocal manner: that the red lights were exhibited to give warning of danger, and that the train, in reckless defiance8 of the red, came dashing on, and so caused the catastrophe9.

"What was the danger?" officially inquired the coroner.

"Some trucks were on the line just beyond the station, and had to be shunted," replied the stationmaster. "Three minutes would have done it; and the train would not have been kept waiting longer than that, had it only stopped."

"What brought the trucks on the line just as the train was expected to pass?"

"They couldn't be shunted before, because the coal waggons10 were in the way."

"Why were the coal waggons there just then?"

"Because an engine had gone on and left them there."

And so on; and so on--engine, and coal waggons, and shunting, and trucks. It was like "the house that Jack11 built." Nobody had been in fault, apparently12, or done anything wrong, except the miserable13 train that had dashed on to its destruction, and its still more miserable driver, Matthew Cooper.

Cooper came forward and asked leave to give his evidence. The coroner cautioned him; he thought he had better not; it might be used against him. But Cooper persisted; and he stood there to say what he had to say, his pale face, surrounded by its bandages, earnest and anxious.

"I'll say nothing but the truth, sir. If that is to be used against me, why I can't help it. I'd not tell a lie even to screen myself."

He took his own course, and gave his evidence. It was to the effect that the green lights were exhibited as usual that night, not the red. The coroner felt a little staggered. He knew Cooper to be a steady, reliable, truth-telling man. One of the witnesses observed, as if in continuation of what Cooper had just said, that "Mat Cooper wouldn't tell a lie to screen himself from nothing." The coroner had hitherto believed the same.

"Did you look at the lights?" he asked of Cooper.

"I looked at both, sir. The lamp that was at the near end of the station, and the lamp on the signal-post beyond it."

"And you say they were the green lights?"

"That they were, sir. The same green lights that are always up. He had taken the light off the post, and was swaying it about, and I couldn't conceive what he was doing it for."

"But here are three witnesses, the stationmaster and the two men, who have sworn that the red signals were up, and not the green," persisted the coroner. "It is very strange that you should maintain the contrary."

"The three may be in a league together to say so, and hide their own negligence," audibly interposed the voice of some zealous14 partisan15 from the most crowded part of the room. Upon which the coroner threatened to commit anybody so interrupting, for contempt of himself and the court.

"All I can say is, sir, that there was no difference, that night, in the lights from those exhibited on other nights," returned Cooper. "They were the green lights, and not the red; and if I had to die next minute, I'd say it."

Which was altogether unsatisfactory to the coroner and puzzling to the jury. Most of them knew Cooper well, and would have trusted him; his voice and face, now as he spoke, bore their own testimony to his truth. On the other side, the three station people, who were not to be discredited16, gave him the lie direct.

"Did you see the red light swung about?" continued the coroner.

"No, sir. I saw the green; and I couldn't think what it was being swung about for."

Cooper held to this, and nothing more could be got from him--that is, nothing to a different effect. He would have descanted on its being the green light until night, had the coroner allowed him. When he was done with, a gentleman presented himself for examination. It was Colonel West.

"Can you state anything about this matter, Colonel?" asked the coroner, when he had exchanged bows with the voluntary witness.

"Yes, I can, if you will allow me to be sworn." And sworn he was.

"In anxiety to see justice done to the driver, I have come here to offer my testimony," began the colonel, addressing the coroner and jury. "I am enabled to state that the light exhibited on the signal-post, and which the man took down and swayed about, was green. When the driver asserts that it was not red, he speaks the truth."

Some excitement. The coroner drew in his lips, the jury put their heads together. Colonel West stood bolt upright, waiting to be questioned.

"Were you at the station?" inquired the coroner of the witness.

"No; I was in my garden, which is precisely17 opposite the signal-post on the other side of the line. I was walking about in it, smoking a cigar. I heard the train approaching, and I saw the man take the lamp off the post, lean forward, and swing it about, evidently to attract attention. A minute afterwards the accident happened."

"And you say this was not the red light?"

"It was not. It was the light that is generally up, the green."

The coroner gave an expressive18 look at the stationmaster, which spoke volumes, and the latter looked red and indignant. Colonel West reiterated19 his assertion, as if willing that all should be impressed with the truth, and with the injustice20 attempted to be dealt to Cooper. Then he stood down.

There ensued a commotion22: at least, if numerous tongues can constitute it. The coroner interposed to stop it and restore order. When the noise had subsided23, Oliver Jupp was standing24 by the table in Colonel West's place. One of the jury inquired of him why he was put forward.

"I don't know," returned Oliver. "Somebody pushed me up. I happened to mention that I saw the light in question exhibited and swayed about: I suppose it is for that."

"Oh, you saw it, did you," said the coroner. "Swear this witness."

Oliver Jupp took the oath accordingly, and the coroner began.

"Which light was it, the red or the green?"

"The red."

There was a pause. Perhaps more than one present thought of the old fable25 of the chameleon26. The room fixed27 its eyes on Oliver Jupp.

"From whence did you see it?" demanded the coroner.

"I was in the train returning from Guild. As we got to Coombe Dalton station I looked out at the window, and saw a red light being waved about. I remarked it to my sisters, who were in the carriage with me, and one of them observed that if it was the red light there must be danger. The accident occurred almost as she spoke."

"Are you sure it was the red light, sir?" inquired one of the jury, all of whom had been so particularly impressed with Colonel West's evidence.

"Certain."

"And of course he could have no motive28 in saying anything but the truth," remarked the juryman to another, who seemed in a state of perplexity.

"I a motive!" haughtily29 observed Oliver, taking up the words. "I am put here simply to state what I saw, I expect; neither more nor less. I am sorry to give evidence that may tell against Cooper, who is respected in Katterley, but I am bound to say that it was the red light."

"Don't you think you might have been mistaken, sir?" came the next query30; for Oliver Jupp's word, a young and little man, bore less weight than Colonel West's, who counted five-and-fifty years, and stood six feet two in his stockings.

"I was not mistaken. It was the red light."

Colonel West was recalled. What else could they do in the dilemma31? He stood forward, and Oliver Jupp hid his head amid the ignoble32 crowd close behind.

With an apology for the apparent doubt, the same question was put to him. Did he think he could have been mistaken in supposing the light was the green.

"Not a bit of it," the colonel answered, with good-humoured equanimity33. The lights exhibited that night were the same that always were exhibited--green. The light he saw swayed about was the green.

"Well," exclaimed the coroner, "there's hard swearing somewhere."

And hard swearing there certainly appeared to be. As a spectator audibly remarked, "one could not find an end out of it." The coroner got impatient.

"It is impossible at the present stage to come to any satisfactory conclusion, gentlemen of the jury," he observed; "and I think we had better adjourn34 the inquiry35, when other witnesses may be forthcoming."

Adjourned36 it was accordingly for a fortnight.

"But for Colonel West they'd have had it all against me," remarked Cooper, who was feeling himself wronged.

"But for Colonel West there'd have been no further bother," cried the aggrieved37 stationmaster, who thought Cooper ought to have been committed for trial on the spot.

It was certainly singular that the only two witnesses, apart from those interested, should testify so positively38 in exact opposition to each other. As the spectators poured out of the inquest-room, they formed into knots to discuss it. Neither the one nor the other had any interest to favour the station people or to screen Cooper; and, indeed, both were above suspicion of anything of the sort. Colonel West had never before heard of Cooper; Oliver Jupp knew him, and was evidently sorry to give evidence against him. On the other hand, Oliver Jupp did not know the stationmaster, while Colonel West was friendly with him.

"Will you go back with me to Guild, and stay the rest of the day?" asked Mr. Lake, putting his arm within Oliver Jupp's.

"Can't," returned Oliver. "Promised them at home to get back with the verdict as soon as it was over."

"But there is no verdict."

"All the same; they'll want to know the why and the wherefore."

"As if you could not keep the girls waiting for once!"

"It's not the girls, it's the old folks; and Guild has no charms for me today. Lydia Clapperton's gone."

Mr. Lake laughed. "I say, Jupp, how could you swear so hard about the lights?"

"They swore me. I didn't ask for it."

"I mean against Cooper."

"You would not have me say the light was green when it was red?"

"Colonel West says it was green; he was close to it."

"Moonshine," quietly repeated Oliver. "What on earth causes him to say it I can't make out. Look there"--holding out the end of the cigar he had lighted, and was smoking--"what colour do you call that?"

"Red. All the world could tell that."

"Why don't you say it's green?"

"Because it is not green."

"Just so. Neither was the red lamp."

"Cooper is a reliable man; I don't believe the poor fellow would tell a lie to save himself from hanging; and Colonel West is of known honour; both of them assert that the lights were green."

"I swear that the light exhibited and swung about was red," retorted Oliver Jupp. "There; let it drop. Are you and Mrs. Lake coming home to-night?"

"No. It was uncertain what time I might reach Guild after the inquest, and Mrs. Chester seized upon it as a plea for urging us to remain another night. She wants us to stay for the week, but I don't think we shall. Clara seems rather averse39 to it."

They parted at the station. Oliver Jupp taking the train for Katterley: and with him we have nothing more to do at present. Mr. Lake got into the train for Guild.

Upon arriving at Mrs. Chester's he found the house empty. Going from room to room in search of them, he at length came upon Anna Chester, mending socks and pinafores.

"Where are they all?"

"I think they have gone to see the late rose show," she said; "there's one in the town today."

He stood by while she folded some pinafores she had finished. Her hands were quick; her sweet face was full of patient gentleness.

"It is not the right thing for you, Anna."

"It is pleasant work. I have been obliged to be useful all my life, you know."

"I don't mean that. Why should you be left at home, while they all go to a flower-show?"

A bloom, bright as any rose in the famous show, shone in the girl's cheeks. She loved flowers, and looked up with a happy expression.

"Perhaps time will be found for me to go tomorrow; mamma said so. It will be only sixpence then."

"And today it's a shilling, I suppose?"

"Yes."

Mr. Lake nodded his head once or twice in a rather marked manner, but did not give utterance40 to his thoughts, whatever they might be. Anna resumed.

"I do all the work I can--of sewing and other kinds. It has cost mamma so much to get into this house, with the new things she has been obliged to buy, that she says she is nearly ruined. With Lady Ellis here, and only two servants, we could not get along at all but for my looking to everything."

Mr. Lake went off muttering something about Penelope's selfishness. That Anna was put upon quite like another Cinderella he had long known, and his sense of fairness rose up against it.

"If the girl was a tyrant41 she'd not have stood it for a day," he cried, as he flung himself down on a bench and raked the gravel42 with his cane43. "A meek44 temper is a misfortune."

A short while, and he heard the keys of the piano touched in the drawing-room; a soft, sweet, musical voice broke out gently in song. He knew it for Anna's. She had finished her work, and was snatching a moment for music, having come in to get the table ready for tea. The open piano tempted21 her. Mr. Lake listened through the song--an old one; and put his head in at the window as she was rising.

"Sing another for me, Anna."

She started round with a blush. To believe you are singing for yourself, and then to find you have an audience, is not agreeable.

"Oh, Mr. Lake! I did not know you were there."

"Just another, Anna."

"I cannot sing for you. I know only old songs."

"They are better than the new ones. The one you have just sung, 'Ye banks and braes,' is worth any ten that have been issued of late years."

"I feel quite ashamed to sing them before people; I am laughed at when I do. Lady Ellis stopped her ears this morning. Papa loved the old songs, and he did not care that I should sing new ones; so I never learnt any."

He took up a book of music much worn, "Old songs," as Anna called them. Her mother used to sing them in her youth, and the Reverend James Chester had learnt to love them. "Robin45 Adair," "The Banks of Allan Water," "Pray Goody," "The Baron46 of Mowbray," "She never blamed him," "The Minstrel-boy," and many others.

It was in his hand, and Anna stood looking over his shoulder, laughing at what Mrs. Chester sometimes called the "ancient bygones." On the table lay a drawing that Anna had done, betraying talent; the more especially when it was remembered that she could never sit to that, or anything else, for five minutes at a time. Up and down continually: called by Mrs. Chester, called by the children, called by the servants. She had never had a lesson in drawing in her life, she had never learnt to sing; what she did do was the result of native aptitude47 for it.

Mr. Lake had the drawing in his hand when the party entered, trooping in unceremoniously through the window, the children first. Lady Ellis's black-lace shawl was draped around her in its usual artistic48 fashion, and she wore a bonnet49 that could not by any stretch of imaginative politeness be construed50 into a widow's. Clara was with her, her refined face bright and radiant. The two were evidently on good terms with each other.

Mrs. Chester did not enter with them. Her household cares worried her, now that things must wear a good appearance for the new inmate51, Lady Ellis. She came in presently from the hall, a cross look on her face, and spoke sharply to Anna. Selfish naturally, made intensely so by her struggle to get along, Mrs. Chester appeared to think that for her step-daughter to be in the drawing-room and not in the kitchen, though it were but for a few minutes in the day, was a heinous52 crime.

"Robert," she said, addressing her brother, "I wish you'd come up to my room while I take my bonnet off. I have a letter to show you."

He followed her dutifully, just as he used when he was a little boy and she a woman grown. Mrs. Chester's room, which she shared with Fanny, was small and inconvenient53. Sweeping54 a host of things off a chair to the floor in her untidy way, she graciously told him he might sit there, but he preferred to perch55 himself on a corner of the dressing-table.

"I'm torn to pieces with indecision and uncertainty," she began, taking a letter from a drawer. "I begin to think now it might have been better had I adhered to my first thought--that of taking pupils. Only look at the thing I have missed!"

He held out his hand for the letter, which she struck as she spoke. In her dictatorial56 manner she preferred to read it to him, and waved his hand away.

"The Red Court Farm, Coastdown.

"MADAM,

"I have been advised to write to you by my friends here, Captain and Mrs. Copp. They think you are making arrangements to receive half-a-dozen first-class pupils to educate with your own daughter. I am in search of something of the sort for my daughter, Miss Thornycroft, and it is possible that your house may be found suitable. She will require the best advantages, for which I shall expect to pay accordingly.

"With your permission I will drive over one of these first days and see you.

"And I am, madam,

"Your obedient servant,

"Harry57 Thornycroft.

"Mrs. Chester."

"Who is Harry Thornycroft?" were Mr. Lake's first words when her voice ceased.

"I should have been as much at fault to know as you, but for a note Anna has had from Mr. Copp, giving a little explanation. Mr. Thornycroft is the great man of Coastdown, it seems; a county magistrate58, very influential59, and very rich. Mrs. Copp thinks he would pay quite two hundred a year with his daughter."

"And Mrs. Copp--who is she?" repeated Mr. Lake. "And where in the name of geography is Coastdown?"

"We shall never get on if you bother like this," returned Mrs. Chester, irascibly. "Mrs. Copp and Anna's mother were related, and Coastdown is a little place on the sea, about two-and-twenty miles from here. Only fancy--only think--two hundred a year with the first pupil! If I only got three others at the same terms there'd be eight hundred a year at once--a thousand with my own income. It would be quite delightful60."

"But that's reckoning your chickens before they are hatched."

"I might have known that you'd throw some mocking slight upon it," was the angry retort.

"No mocking slight at all, Penelope. I do not mean it as such. Of course, if you could get four or six pupils at two hundred a year each, it would be a jolly good thing. Only--I fancy pupils on those terms are not so readily picked up."

"One, at any rate, seems ready to drop into my hands. Should Miss Thornycroft not be placed with me after this, I shall look upon life as very hard."

"Can't you take her, should they offer her to you, and trust to good luck for finding others?"

"Then what am I to do about Lady Ellis?"

"Keep her also, if she will stay."

"But she would not. I sounded her this morning. Not as if I had a personal interest in the question. Anything like a school was her especial abhorrence61, she said. She'd not enter a house where teaching was carried on for the world."

"So that you have to choose between the young lady with her two hundred a year and Lady Ellis?"

"In a sense, yes. But I have a difficult game to play. It strikes me that at the very first mention of a probable pupil Lady Ellis would take fright and leave. Now, you know, Robert, I have not got Miss Thornycroft yet, or even the promise of her; and it might happen that the negotiation62 would drop through. Where should I be in that case, with Lady Ellis gone?"

"On the ground, fallen between two stools," was Mr. Robert Lake's irreverent answer.

It angered Mrs. Chester; but she had an end to serve, and let it pass.

"I want you and your wife to do me a favour, Robert. Stay here for a week or two with us, paying me, of course; you know what my circumstances are. My heart would be good to keep you, but my pocket is not. I am so afraid of Lady Ellis finding the place dull. She has come for a month to see how she likes it. I forget whether I told you this yesterday. On Monday, when we were talking together after her arrival, she said to me, 'You will allow me to stay a month to see if the place will suit me: if it does, we will then make our agreement.' What could I say?"

"And you fear it may not suit her?"

"I fear she will find it dull. She said this morning she thought the house would be triste but for the presence in it of Mr. and Mrs. Lake. Now, you do me a good turn, and stay a week or two."

"I'd stay fast enough, Penelope--there's the fishing; but I don't know about Clara. You must talk to her."

"You must talk to her," returned Mrs. Chester. "Nobody else has a tenth of the influence over her that you have."

"I'll see," said Mr. Lake, alighting from the dressing-table. "We'll stay a day or two longer, at any rate: I know I can promise that."

Mr. Lake went straight to his wife, and recounted to her, word for word as nearly as he could recollect63, what Mrs. Chester had said. There was nothing covert64 in his disposition65: his fault, if it was a fault, was undisguised openness. But he did not urge the matter one way or the other. Clara looked grave at the proposition, and he left it to her.

"I said we would remain a day or two longer, Clara. I thought you would not object to that, as it is to do her, as she fancies, good."

"I don't mind staying to the end of the week, Robert, now we are here. We will go home on Saturday, if you like."

"All right." And Mr. Lake strolled away in his careless lightness.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 testimony zpbwO     
n.证词;见证,证明
参考例句:
  • The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
  • He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。
2 guild 45qyy     
n.行会,同业公会,协会
参考例句:
  • He used to be a member of the Writers' Guild of America.他曾是美国作家协会的一员。
  • You had better incorporate the firm into your guild.你最好把这个公司并入你的行业协会。
3 proceedings Wk2zvX     
n.进程,过程,议程;诉讼(程序);公报
参考例句:
  • He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
  • to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼
4 opposition eIUxU     
n.反对,敌对
参考例句:
  • The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
  • The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。
5 spoke XryyC     
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
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
6 tenaciously lg3zdW     
坚持地
参考例句:
  • Though seriously ill, he still clings tenaciously to life. 他虽病得很重,但仍顽强地活下去。 来自辞典例句
  • It was apparently more tenaciously held to surface than fraction three. 它比级分三更顽强地保持在表面上。 来自辞典例句
7 sundry CswwL     
adj.各式各样的,种种的
参考例句:
  • This cream can be used to treat sundry minor injuries.这种药膏可用来治各种轻伤。
  • We can see the rich man on sundry occasions.我们能在各种场合见到那个富豪。
8 defiance RmSzx     
n.挑战,挑衅,蔑视,违抗
参考例句:
  • He climbed the ladder in defiance of the warning.他无视警告爬上了那架梯子。
  • He slammed the door in a spirit of defiance.他以挑衅性的态度把门砰地一下关上。
9 catastrophe WXHzr     
n.大灾难,大祸
参考例句:
  • I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
  • This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。
10 waggons 7f311524bb40ea4850e619136422fbc0     
四轮的运货马车( waggon的名词复数 ); 铁路货车; 小手推车
参考例句:
  • Most transport is done by electrified waggons. 大部分货物都用电瓶车运送。
11 jack 53Hxp     
n.插座,千斤顶,男人;v.抬起,提醒,扛举;n.(Jake)杰克
参考例句:
  • I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
  • He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。
12 apparently tMmyQ     
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎
参考例句:
  • An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽,豁然开朗。
  • He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。
13 miserable g18yk     
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的
参考例句:
  • It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他,这是可耻的。
  • Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。
14 zealous 0MOzS     
adj.狂热的,热心的
参考例句:
  • She made zealous efforts to clean up the classroom.她非常热心地努力清扫教室。
  • She is a zealous supporter of our cause.她是我们事业的热心支持者。
15 partisan w4ZzY     
adj.党派性的;游击队的;n.游击队员;党徒
参考例句:
  • In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中,他们忘掉一切党派之争。
  • The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。
16 discredited 94ada058d09abc9d4a3f8a5e1089019f     
不足信的,不名誉的
参考例句:
  • The reactionary authorities are between two fires and have been discredited. 反动当局弄得进退维谷,不得人心。
  • Her honour was discredited in the newspapers. 她的名声被报纸败坏了。
17 precisely zlWzUb     
adv.恰好,正好,精确地,细致地
参考例句:
  • It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
  • The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。
18 expressive shwz4     
adj.表现的,表达…的,富于表情的
参考例句:
  • Black English can be more expressive than standard English.黑人所使用的英语可能比正式英语更有表现力。
  • He had a mobile,expressive,animated face.他有一张多变的,富于表情的,生动活泼的脸。
19 reiterated d9580be532fe69f8451c32061126606b     
反复地说,重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯,我一定要知道你的休假日期,"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
  • Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后,波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。
20 injustice O45yL     
n.非正义,不公正,不公平,侵犯(别人的)权利
参考例句:
  • They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
  • All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。
21 tempted b0182e969d369add1b9ce2353d3c6ad6     
v.怂恿(某人)干不正当的事;冒…的险(tempt的过去分词)
参考例句:
  • I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚,但还是没开口。
  • I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。
22 commotion 3X3yo     
n.骚动,动乱
参考例句:
  • They made a commotion by yelling at each other in the theatre.他们在剧院里相互争吵,引起了一阵骚乱。
  • Suddenly the whole street was in commotion.突然间,整条街道变得一片混乱。
23 subsided 1bda21cef31764468020a8c83598cc0d     
v.(土地)下陷(因在地下采矿)( subside的过去式和过去分词 );减弱;下降至较低或正常水平;一下子坐在椅子等上
参考例句:
  • After the heavy rains part of the road subsided. 大雨过后,部分公路塌陷了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • By evening the storm had subsided and all was quiet again. 傍晚, 暴风雨已经过去,四周开始沉寂下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
24 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
25 fable CzRyn     
n.寓言;童话;神话
参考例句:
  • The fable is given on the next page. 这篇寓言登在下一页上。
  • He had some motive in telling this fable. 他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。
26 chameleon YUWy2     
n.变色龙,蜥蜴;善变之人
参考例句:
  • The chameleon changes colour to match its surroundings.变色龙变换颜色以适应环境。
  • The chameleon can take on the colour of its background.变色龙可呈现出与其背景相同的颜色。
27 fixed JsKzzj     
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的
参考例句:
  • Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗?
  • Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定,我们就不应该随意改变。
28 motive GFzxz     
n.动机,目的;adv.发动的,运动的
参考例句:
  • The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
  • He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。
29 haughtily haughtily     
adv. 傲慢地, 高傲地
参考例句:
  • She carries herself haughtily. 她举止傲慢。
  • Haughtily, he stalked out onto the second floor where I was standing. 他傲然跨出电梯,走到二楼,我刚好站在那儿。
30 query iS4xJ     
n.疑问,问号,质问;vt.询问,表示怀疑
参考例句:
  • I query very much whether it is wise to act so hastily.我真怀疑如此操之过急地行动是否明智。
  • They raised a query on his sincerity.他们对他是否真诚提出质疑。
31 dilemma Vlzzf     
n.困境,进退两难的局面
参考例句:
  • I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
  • He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。
32 ignoble HcUzb     
adj.不光彩的,卑鄙的;可耻的
参考例句:
  • There's something cowardly and ignoble about such an attitude.这种态度有点怯懦可鄙。
  • Some very great men have come from ignoble families.有些伟人出身低微。
33 equanimity Z7Vyz     
n.沉着,镇定
参考例句:
  • She went again,and in so doing temporarily recovered her equanimity.她又去看了戏,而且这样一来又暂时恢复了她的平静。
  • The defeat was taken with equanimity by the leadership.领导层坦然地接受了失败。
34 adjourn goRyc     
v.(使)休会,(使)休庭
参考例句:
  • The motion to adjourn was carried.休会的提议通过了。
  • I am afraid the court may not adjourn until three or even later.我担心法庭要到3点或更晚时才会休庭。
35 inquiry nbgzF     
n.打听,询问,调查,查问
参考例句:
  • Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
  • The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。
36 adjourned 1e5a5e61da11d317191a820abad1664d     
(使)休会, (使)休庭( adjourn的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The court adjourned for lunch. 午餐时间法庭休庭。
  • The trial was adjourned following the presentation of new evidence to the court. 新证据呈到庭上后,审讯就宣告暂停。
37 aggrieved mzyzc3     
adj.愤愤不平的,受委屈的;悲痛的;(在合法权利方面)受侵害的v.令委屈,令苦恼,侵害( aggrieve的过去式);令委屈,令苦恼,侵害( aggrieve的过去式和过去分词)
参考例句:
  • He felt aggrieved at not being chosen for the team. 他因没被选到队里感到愤愤不平。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She is the aggrieved person whose fiance&1& did not show up for their wedding. 她很委屈,她的未婚夫未出现在他们的婚礼上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
38 positively vPTxw     
adv.明确地,断然,坚决地;实在,确实
参考例句:
  • She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
  • The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。
39 averse 6u0zk     
adj.厌恶的;反对的,不乐意的
参考例句:
  • I don't smoke cigarettes,but I'm not averse to the occasional cigar.我不吸烟,但我不反对偶尔抽一支雪茄。
  • We are averse to such noisy surroundings.我们不喜欢这么吵闹的环境。
40 utterance dKczL     
n.用言语表达,话语,言语
参考例句:
  • This utterance of his was greeted with bursts of uproarious laughter.他的讲话引起阵阵哄然大笑。
  • My voice cleaves to my throat,and sob chokes my utterance.我的噪子哽咽,泣不成声。
41 tyrant vK9z9     
n.暴君,专制的君主,残暴的人
参考例句:
  • The country was ruled by a despotic tyrant.该国处在一个专制暴君的统治之下。
  • The tyrant was deaf to the entreaties of the slaves.暴君听不到奴隶们的哀鸣。
42 gravel s6hyT     
n.砂跞;砂砾层;结石
参考例句:
  • We bought six bags of gravel for the garden path.我们购买了六袋碎石用来铺花园的小路。
  • More gravel is needed to fill the hollow in the drive.需要更多的砾石来填平车道上的坑洼。
43 cane RsNzT     
n.手杖,细长的茎,藤条;v.以杖击,以藤编制的
参考例句:
  • This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。
  • English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。
44 meek x7qz9     
adj.温顺的,逆来顺受的
参考例句:
  • He expects his wife to be meek and submissive.他期望妻子温顺而且听他摆布。
  • The little girl is as meek as a lamb.那个小姑娘像羔羊一般温顺。
45 robin Oj7zme     
n.知更鸟,红襟鸟
参考例句:
  • The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
  • We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟,知道春天要到了。
46 baron XdSyp     
n.男爵;(商业界等)巨头,大王
参考例句:
  • Henry Ford was an automobile baron.亨利·福特是一位汽车业巨头。
  • The baron lived in a strong castle.男爵住在一座坚固的城堡中。
47 aptitude 0vPzn     
n.(学习方面的)才能,资质,天资
参考例句:
  • That student has an aptitude for mathematics.那个学生有数学方面的天赋。
  • As a child,he showed an aptitude for the piano.在孩提时代,他显露出对于钢琴的天赋。
48 artistic IeWyG     
adj.艺术(家)的,美术(家)的;善于艺术创作的
参考例句:
  • The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
  • These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。
49 bonnet AtSzQ     
n.无边女帽;童帽
参考例句:
  • The baby's bonnet keeps the sun out of her eyes.婴孩的帽子遮住阳光,使之不刺眼。
  • She wore a faded black bonnet garnished with faded artificial flowers.她戴着一顶褪了色的黑色无边帽,帽上缀着褪了色的假花。
50 construed b4b2252d3046746b8fae41b0e85dbc78     
v.解释(陈述、行为等)( construe的过去式和过去分词 );翻译,作句法分析
参考例句:
  • He considered how the remark was to be construed. 他考虑这话该如何理解。
  • They construed her silence as meaning that she agreed. 他们把她的沉默解释为表示赞同。 来自《简明英汉词典》
51 inmate l4cyN     
n.被收容者;(房屋等的)居住人;住院人
参考例句:
  • I am an inmate of that hospital.我住在那家医院。
  • The prisoner is his inmate.那个囚犯和他同住一起。
52 heinous 6QrzC     
adj.可憎的,十恶不赦的
参考例句:
  • They admitted to the most heinous crimes.他们承认了极其恶劣的罪行。
  • I do not want to meet that heinous person.我不想见那个十恶不赦的人。
53 inconvenient m4hy5     
adj.不方便的,令人感到麻烦的
参考例句:
  • You have come at a very inconvenient time.你来得最不适时。
  • Will it be inconvenient for him to attend that meeting?他参加那次会议会不方便吗?
54 sweeping ihCzZ4     
adj.范围广大的,一扫无遗的
参考例句:
  • The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
  • Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗?
55 perch 5u1yp     
n.栖木,高位,杆;v.栖息,就位,位于
参考例句:
  • The bird took its perch.鸟停歇在栖木上。
  • Little birds perch themselves on the branches.小鸟儿栖歇在树枝上。
56 dictatorial 3lAzp     
adj. 独裁的,专断的
参考例句:
  • Her father is very dictatorial.她父亲很专横。
  • For years the nation had been under the heel of a dictatorial regime.多年来这个国家一直在独裁政权的铁蹄下。
57 harry heBxS     
vt.掠夺,蹂躏,使苦恼
参考例句:
  • Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天,人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
  • Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。
58 magistrate e8vzN     
n.地方行政官,地方法官,治安官
参考例句:
  • The magistrate committed him to prison for a month.法官判处他一个月监禁。
  • John was fined 1000 dollars by the magistrate.约翰被地方法官罚款1000美元。
59 influential l7oxK     
adj.有影响的,有权势的
参考例句:
  • He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
  • He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。
60 delightful 6xzxT     
adj.令人高兴的,使人快乐的
参考例句:
  • We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
  • Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。
61 abhorrence Vyiz7     
n.憎恶;可憎恶的事
参考例句:
  • This nation has an abhorrence of terrrorism.这个民族憎恶恐怖主义。
  • It is an abhorrence to his feeling.这是他深恶痛绝的事。
62 negotiation FGWxc     
n.谈判,协商
参考例句:
  • They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判,他们的食糖生意成交了。
  • The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。
63 recollect eUOxl     
v.回忆,想起,记起,忆起,记得
参考例句:
  • He tried to recollect things and drown himself in them.他极力回想过去的事情而沉浸于回忆之中。
  • She could not recollect being there.她回想不起曾经到过那儿。
64 covert voxz0     
adj.隐藏的;暗地里的
参考例句:
  • We should learn to fight with enemy in an overt and covert way.我们应学会同敌人做公开和隐蔽的斗争。
  • The army carried out covert surveillance of the building for several months.军队对这座建筑物进行了数月的秘密监视。
65 disposition GljzO     
n.性情,性格;意向,倾向;排列,部署
参考例句:
  • He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
  • He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。


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