"That story," said Spalding, "reminds me of a bear story. I shall do as the Doctor did, tell it as it was told to me. I did not see the bear, but I know the man who was the hero of it, and his brother told the story in his presence one day, and he made no denial. He at least is estopped from disputing it, and we lawyers call that prima facie evidence of its truth. It occurred a long time ago, when there were fewer green fields in Oswego county and especially in the town of Mexico, than there are now. The old woods stood there in all their primeval grandeur1. The waves of Ontario laved a wilderness2 shore, and their dull sound, as they came rolling in upon the rocky beach, died away in the solitudes3 of a gloomy and almost boundless4 forest. Here and there a 'clearing' let in the sunlight, and the woodman's axe5 broke the forest stillness as he battled against the brave old trees. The smoke of burning fallows was occasionally seen, wreathing in dense6 columns towards the sky. Civilization, enterprise, energy and new life were just starting on that career of progress which has moved onward7 till the wilderness, under the influence of their mighty8 power, has been made to blossom as the rose. Those were pleasant times, as we look upon them now, just fading into the dim and shadowy past, but they were times of toil9 and privation. The arms of the men of those times were nerved by the hope of the future, and the spirit that sustained them was that of faith in the fact that the promise of reward for their labor10 was sure.
"Do the men of the present day ever think what a gigantic labor that was of clearing away those old forests? Contemplate11 a wilderness, reaching from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, from the great lakes and the majestic12 St. Lawrence to the Gulf13 of Mexico, every acre of which was covered with tall trees which had to be cut away one by one, not with some great machine which mowed14 them down in broad swaths like the grass of a meadow, but by a single arm and a single axe. Talk about the Pyramids, the Chinese Wall, the great canals of the earth! They sink into utter insignificance15 when compared with the prodigious16 labor of clearing away the American forests, and spreading out green fields where our fathers found only a limitless wilderness of woods. The sons of these men who performed that labor, in my judgment17, have a better patent to preferment and honors than those who come from other lands to claim their inheritance after it has been thus perfected by such toil and hardships, and dangers as the history of the world cannot parallel."
"I think, if I remember rightly," said the Dr., "you set out to tell a bear story. You are now indulging in a sermon on progress. Allow me to call your attention to the bear."
"I appeal to the court," said Spalding, addressing Smith and myself, "against this interruption."
"The counsel will proceed," said Smith, with all the gravity of a judge; "we hope the interruption will not be repeated."
"Well," said Spalding, resuming his narrative18, "some fifty years ago, two enterprising men (brothers) marched into the woods in the town of Mexico, now in Oswego county, with their axes on their shoulders, and stout19 hearts beating in their bosoms20. They located a mile or more apart, and began a warfare21, such as civilization wages, against the old forest trees. Men talk about courage on the battle-field, the facing of danger amid the conflict of armed hosts, and the crash of battle. All that is well, but what is such courage, stimulated22 by excitement and braced23 by the ignominy which follows the laggard24 in such a strife25, to that calm, enduring, moral courage of him who encounters the toil and hardships incident to the settlement of a new country, and battles with the dangers, the long years of privation, which lie before the pioneer who goes into the forest to carve out a home for himself and his children? How much more noble is such courage, how infinitely26 superior is such a warfare, one which mows27 down forest trees instead of men, which creates green pastures, broad meadows, and fields of waving grain, instead of smouldering cities, and desolated28 homes! How much more pleasant is the sound of the woodman's axe, than that of the booming cannon29! How much more cheerful the smoke that goes up from the burning fallow, than that which hangs in darkness over the desolation of the battle field, beneath which lie the dead in their stillness, and the wounded in their agony! But I am losing sight of the bear."
"Exactly so," said the Doctor; "and we have not as yet had the pleasure of making his acquaintance. Suppose you give us an introduction to the gentleman."
"These interruptions are entirely30 out of order," gravely remarked
Smith; "they must not be repeated. The counsel will proceed."
"Well," resumed Spalding, bowing deferentially31 to the court, "one of these settlers started one day across the woods to visit his brother. There were few roads in those times, and these were laid out without much reference to distance; they went winding32 and crooking33 every way to avoid this hill, or that creek34, or water course, or any other impediment which nature may have thrown in the way, and a blind footpath35, or a line of marked trees, was more commonly travelled from one forest house to another. The forester was tramping cheerfully along, thinking doubtless of the good time coming, when his farm would be shorn of all its old woods, when flocks and herds36 would be grazing in luxurious37 pastures, tall grain waving in fields, the summer grass clothing in richness meadows reclaimed38 by his labor from the wilderness, and he should be at ease among his children. First settlers of a new country think of these things, and it is because they think of them, that their hearts are strong and buoyant with hope. They live in the future, enduring the darkness and privation of the present, in their faith in the brightness of the years to come. Thus they wait in patience for, while they command success, and the end of their toil is an old age of competence39, and in the closing years of life, quiet and repose40. Well, he was enjoying these pleasant visions when he saw, some thirty rods ahead of him, a huge bear, with her cubs41, 'travelling his way,' as the saying is, in other words coming directly towards him. He was no hunter, and had with him no weapon. He had heard strange stories of the ferocity of the bear when her cubs were by her side, and to say that he was not horribly frightened would be a departure from the strict requirements of truth. He had heard, too, that a bear could not climb a small, straight tree, and he could. The question then was between climbing and running. He was not much in a race, and he decided42 to climb; so selecting a smooth-barked, perpendicular43 ash sapling, he started with might and main towards the top. He went up, as he supposed, till he was out of the reach of the bear, and held on, all the time keeping his eye on the animal, and making as little noise as possible. The bear, doubtless seeing that he was beyond her reach, passed on out of sight, and after he remained till the danger was over, he concluded to come down. He was astonished to find that his efforts to descend44 were powerless. He seemed to have frozen to the tree. Upon looking around, to his utter amazement45, he found himself sitting on the ground, with both legs and arms locked fast around the, tree! He had not climbed an inch, and the bear had not been aware of his presence in the woods!
"That ash sapling was safe from that day. It stood then in the old forest. The woodman's axe spared it. It stands now in the open field, a majestic tree; its great trunk, eight feet in circumference46, its long arms covered with foliage47, casting a broad shadow over the pasture beneath, in which cattle and sheep seek for coolness and ruminate48 in the heat of the summer days. It is pointed49 out as the tree which the man who was frightened by a bear didn't climb, and is referred to as evidence of the truth of my story, as the Dutchman proved the authenticity50 of his Bible, 'by the pictures.'"
"And that," said I, "puts me in mind of a bear story, which has this merit over both of yours—it is true. I can speak of it as a thing of personal knowledge, occurring within my own personal experience. I began the study of law in Angelica, the county seat of Alleghany county, and as it was a good many years ago, it is fair to assume that I was a good many years younger than I am now, and that the country in that region was younger too. Everybody knows that Alleghany county is, or used to be, a great place for whirlwinds and tornadoes52. If they do not, they may understand and be assured of the fact now. A few years (less than twelve) ago, a black cloud came looming54 up in the northwest, and started on its career towards the southeast. As it swept along, it sent its fierce winds crashing, and howling, and roaring, through the old forests, uprooting55, hurling56 to the ground, and scattering57 everything that encountered its fury. Houses, barns, haystacks, fences, trees, everything were prostrated58, and to this day its track is visible in the swath it mowed through the old woods, from sixty to a hundred rods wide, plain and distinct still, for miles and miles. It was not of that tornado53, however, that I propose to speak. Others had preceded it, and in the country all about Angelica were what were called 'windfalls.' These windfalls were neither more nor less than the old tracks of these whirlwinds and tornadoes, that had swept down the forest trees. Fire had finished what the whirlwind begun. In time, blackberry-bushes had grown up among the charred59 trunks of the old pines, and other trees, bearing an immensity of fruit; and it was a pleasant resort for young people, one of those windfalls, when the blackberries were ripe and luscious60. These windfalls were great places, too, for rabbits, partridges, and 'such small deer,' and it was no great thing to boast of, to kill a dozen or two of the birds of an afternoon.
"I went out with a friend one day to one of these windfalls, partly after blackberries, and partly for partridges. We were both boys, younger than fifteen, then, and each possessing, probably, quite as much discretion61 as valor62. We had separated a short distance from each other, he to gather berries, and I, with a small fowling-piece, in pursuit of game. Presently I saw my friend crashing through the brush towards me, and also towards the fields, without his basket, and bare headed, his hair standing63 straight up, putting in his very best jumps, as if a thousand tigers were at his heels. Without heeding64 for a moment my anxious inquiries65 as to what was the matter, he kept right on, leaping the logs like a deer, looking neither to the right hand nor the left, but with his coat tail sticking out on a dead level behind, making a straight wake for home. Fear is said to be contagious67, and I believe in the doctrine68 that it is so. I caught it bad; and without knowing what I was afraid of, I started, and if any fourteen year old boy can make better time than I did on that occasion, I should like to see him run. I kept possession of my fowling-piece, and came out neck and neck with my friend. We scrambled69 over the outer fence, and ran some dozen rods or more in the open field, without either of us looking back. Then, however, we made the astounding70 discovery, that there was nothing after us, and we both paused to take breath, and, so far as I was concerned, to ascertain71, if possible, what had occasioned the race. I learned that my friend, after I left him, had gone into the windfall, and was standing upon the long trunk of a fallen tree, picking berries, when he saw, a few rods from him towards the other end of the log on which he was standing, a great black hand reach up and bend down a tall blackberry-bush that was loaded with berries. This alarmed him somewhat, for whoever the great black hand belonged to was concealed72 by the thick bushes and their foliage from his view. Presently, two great black hands were placed upon the log, and a huge black bear clambered lazily up, and, for a second, stood in utter amazement, face to face, and within fifty feet of my friend. Both broke at the same instant, in affright; my friend in one direction, and the bear in the other—my friend for the fields, and the bear for the deep woods—and each as anxious as fear could make him to put a 'broad belt of country' between them. My friend dropped his basket, as he leaped from the log; it was no time to stop for a basket; a limb caught his hat and pulled it off; he had not time to stop for his hat. The truth is, he was in a hurry, and something more than a hat or a basket was required to stay his progress towards home."
"The Squire's story," said Cullen, as he knocked the ashes from his pipe, and commenced shaving a fresh supply of tobacco with his jack-knife, and depositing it in the palm of his left hand, "the Squire's story reminds me of an adventer Crop and I met with, over towards St. Regis Lake, a good many year ago; and I'll state the circumstances of the case, as the Judge would say. It was an adventer that don't happen often—leastwise, not in the same way. It made me understand some things that I hadn't much idea of before. Let me tell you, Judge, if you don't want a fight with an animal that's got long claws and sharp teeth, don't come close upon him onawares, or may be there'll be trouble. Give him time to think, and ten to one he'll take to his heels. Most animals have more confidence in their legs than they have in their teeth and claws, and they'll be very likely to use 'em, if you'll give 'em time to consider. But if you find a painter, or a bear, takin' a nap in your path, and don't want to have a clinch73 with him, wake him up before you get right onto him, or he'll be very likely to think he's cornered, and them animals have onpleasant ways with 'em when they're in that fix.
"Wal, as I was sayin', Crop and I was over on St. Regis Lake, layin' in a store of jerked venison, and trappin' martin, and mink74, and muskrat75, and huntin' wolves, and sich other wild animals as came in our way. The scalp of a wolf was good for fifteen dollars in them days, and a backload of furs was worth a heap of money. We had a line of martin traps leadin' back to the hills, and over into a valley beyond, where the animal was plentier than they were on our side. In passin' along this line, we had to round the end of a hill that terminated in a sharp point of rocks. In a deep gully at its foot, a stream went surgin' over rapids; the bank on the side towards the hill was, may be, twenty feet high, and a right up and down ledge51. Above this ledge, and between it and the rocky point, was a narrow path, only three or four feet wide, that turned short around the end of the hill. On the left hand was the ledge, and at the bottom of it were broken rocks, and on the right was a bluff76 point of rocks, that made up the end of the hill, standin' straight up, may be, fifty feet. Around this point, the path turned sharp almost as your elbow.
"I was passin' quietly round this pint77, lookin' down into the gully, with Crop at my heels, when, on turnin' the short elbow, there I stood, face to face, and within ten feet of a mighty big bear, that was travellin' my way, as the Judge said. I had no idee that he was around, and I'm quite sartain he didn't expect to meet a human in such a place. Of course, we were naterally astonished at seein' one another just then, and the meetin' didn't seem to be altogether agreeable to either party. I ain't easily scared when I've time to prepare for a scrimmage, yet, I'm free to say, I'd have given a couple of wolf-scalps to've been on the other side of the gully, just at that time. The bear seemed to expect me to begin the fight, for, after gruntin' out in a very oncivil way his surprise at makin' my acquaintance, he reared himself up on eend, and, with a fierce growl78, showed a set of ivory that wasn't pleasant to look at. I should have been willin' myself, to've backed down, and apologized for my rudeness in crossin' his path, for I was carryin' my rifle carelessly in my left hand, and our meetin' was so sudden that I scarcely had time to bring it to bear upon the kritter. I rather think I should have dodged79 back, any how, but Crop seemed to think his master was in danger, and that he was obligated, live or die, to go in. So, quick as a flash, he rushed by me, and threw himself into the very face of the desperate brute80. Crop made a great mistake when he calculated he was a match for that bear, for, with one cuff81, the animal sent him eend over eend down the bank, upon the broken rocks below. But the little time that was so occupied saved me a deal of trouble and danger, for it lasted just long enough for me to bring my rifle into position, which I did about the quickest, you may bet your life on that. I run my eye along the barrel, sighted him between the eyes, and pulled. The bear keeled over onto his back with a jerk, gave a spiteful kick with both hind66 feet, and he, too, went over the ledge onto the sharp rocks below. I looked over, and saw Crop staggerin' to his feet, and lookin' about in a bewildered way, as if not quite understandin' how he came there. I went round a little way, and got down into the gully where the animals were. I found the bear stone dead, and Crop with two ribs82 broken and his shoulder out of joint83, whinin', and moanin' piteously with pain. I set his shoulder as well as I could, and, after takin' the skin off the bear, I backed him two miles to my shanty84. It was a fortnight before he 'left the house,' but he learned a little piece of wisdom by that cuff that sent him down the bank, and got a little insight into the nater of an angry bear."
[Illustration: Crop made a great mistake when he calculated he was a match for that bear, for, with one cuff, the animal sent him eend over eend down the bank, upon the broken rocks below. But the little time that was so occupied saved me a deal of trouble and danger, for it lasted just long enough for me to bring my rifle into position, which I did about the quickest, you may bet your life on that.]
点击收听单词发音
1 grandeur | |
n.伟大,崇高,宏伟,庄严,豪华 | |
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2 wilderness | |
n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等,荒漠 | |
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3 solitudes | |
n.独居( solitude的名词复数 );孤独;荒僻的地方;人迹罕至的地方 | |
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4 boundless | |
adj.无限的;无边无际的;巨大的 | |
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5 axe | |
n.斧子;v.用斧头砍,削减 | |
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6 dense | |
a.密集的,稠密的,浓密的;密度大的 | |
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7 onward | |
adj.向前的,前进的;adv.向前,前进,在先 | |
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8 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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9 toil | |
vi.辛劳工作,艰难地行动;n.苦工,难事 | |
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10 labor | |
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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11 contemplate | |
vt.盘算,计议;周密考虑;注视,凝视 | |
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12 majestic | |
adj.雄伟的,壮丽的,庄严的,威严的,崇高的 | |
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13 gulf | |
n.海湾;深渊,鸿沟;分歧,隔阂 | |
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14 mowed | |
v.刈,割( mow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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15 insignificance | |
n.不重要;无价值;无意义 | |
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16 prodigious | |
adj.惊人的,奇妙的;异常的;巨大的;庞大的 | |
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17 judgment | |
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见 | |
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18 narrative | |
n.叙述,故事;adj.叙事的,故事体的 | |
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20 bosoms | |
胸部( bosom的名词复数 ); 胸怀; 女衣胸部(或胸襟); 和爱护自己的人在一起的情形 | |
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21 warfare | |
n.战争(状态);斗争;冲突 | |
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22 stimulated | |
a.刺激的 | |
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23 braced | |
adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 );撑牢;使自己站稳;振作起来 | |
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24 laggard | |
n.落后者;adj.缓慢的,落后的 | |
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25 strife | |
n.争吵,冲突,倾轧,竞争 | |
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26 infinitely | |
adv.无限地,无穷地 | |
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27 mows | |
v.刈,割( mow的第三人称单数 ) | |
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28 desolated | |
adj.荒凉的,荒废的 | |
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29 cannon | |
n.大炮,火炮;飞机上的机关炮 | |
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30 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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31 deferentially | |
adv.表示敬意地,谦恭地 | |
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32 winding | |
n.绕,缠,绕组,线圈 | |
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33 crooking | |
n.弯曲(木材等的缺陷)v.弯成钩形( crook的现在分词 ) | |
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34 creek | |
n.小溪,小河,小湾 | |
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35 footpath | |
n.小路,人行道 | |
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36 herds | |
兽群( herd的名词复数 ); 牧群; 人群; 群众 | |
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37 luxurious | |
adj.精美而昂贵的;豪华的 | |
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38 reclaimed | |
adj.再生的;翻造的;收复的;回收的v.开拓( reclaim的过去式和过去分词 );要求收回;从废料中回收(有用的材料);挽救 | |
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39 competence | |
n.能力,胜任,称职 | |
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40 repose | |
v.(使)休息;n.安息 | |
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41 cubs | |
n.幼小的兽,不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 ) | |
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42 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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43 perpendicular | |
adj.垂直的,直立的;n.垂直线,垂直的位置 | |
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44 descend | |
vt./vi.传下来,下来,下降 | |
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45 amazement | |
n.惊奇,惊讶 | |
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46 circumference | |
n.圆周,周长,圆周线 | |
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47 foliage | |
n.叶子,树叶,簇叶 | |
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48 ruminate | |
v.反刍;沉思 | |
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49 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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50 authenticity | |
n.真实性 | |
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51 ledge | |
n.壁架,架状突出物;岩架,岩礁 | |
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52 tornadoes | |
n.龙卷风,旋风( tornado的名词复数 ) | |
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53 tornado | |
n.飓风,龙卷风 | |
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54 looming | |
n.上现蜃景(光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼)v.隐约出现,阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 );隐约出现,阴森地逼近 | |
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55 uprooting | |
n.倒根,挖除伐根v.把(某物)连根拔起( uproot的现在分词 );根除;赶走;把…赶出家园 | |
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56 hurling | |
n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投,用力掷( hurl的现在分词 );大声叫骂 | |
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57 scattering | |
n.[物]散射;散乱,分散;在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的;分散在不同范围的;广泛扩散的;(选票)数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式);散布;驱散 | |
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58 prostrated | |
v.使俯伏,使拜倒( prostrate的过去式和过去分词 );(指疾病、天气等)使某人无能为力 | |
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59 charred | |
v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式);烧焦 | |
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60 luscious | |
adj.美味的;芬芳的;肉感的,引与性欲的 | |
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61 discretion | |
n.谨慎;随意处理 | |
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62 valor | |
n.勇气,英勇 | |
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63 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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64 heeding | |
v.听某人的劝告,听从( heed的现在分词 ) | |
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65 inquiries | |
n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 );疑问;探究;打听 | |
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66 hind | |
adj.后面的,后部的 | |
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67 contagious | |
adj.传染性的,有感染力的 | |
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68 doctrine | |
n.教义;主义;学说 | |
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69 scrambled | |
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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70 astounding | |
adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊,使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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71 ascertain | |
vt.发现,确定,查明,弄清 | |
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72 concealed | |
a.隐藏的,隐蔽的 | |
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73 clinch | |
v.敲弯,钉牢;确定;扭住对方 [参]clench | |
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74 mink | |
n.貂,貂皮 | |
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75 muskrat | |
n.麝香鼠 | |
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76 bluff | |
v.虚张声势,用假象骗人;n.虚张声势,欺骗 | |
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77 pint | |
n.品脱 | |
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78 growl | |
v.(狗等)嗥叫,(炮等)轰鸣;n.嗥叫,轰鸣 | |
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79 dodged | |
v.闪躲( dodge的过去式和过去分词 );回避 | |
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80 brute | |
n.野兽,兽性 | |
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81 cuff | |
n.袖口;手铐;护腕;vt.用手铐铐;上袖口 | |
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82 ribs | |
n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 );(船或屋顶等的)肋拱;肋骨状的东西;(织物的)凸条花纹 | |
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83 joint | |
adj.联合的,共同的;n.关节,接合处;v.连接,贴合 | |
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84 shanty | |
n.小屋,棚屋;船工号子 | |
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