We started down stream again at six o'clock in the morning, intending, if possible, to reach Tupper's Lake before encamping for the night. It would make for us a busy day to accomplish so much; but going down stream and down hill are very different things from going up, as any gentleman may satisfy himself by rowing against a current of two miles the hour, or toiling1 up an ascent3 of three or four hundred feet to the mile, and then retracing4 his steps. We accomplished5 more than half the distance, and that over the worst of the journey, by twelve o'clock, and we halted for dinner and a siesta6. If there is one thing in life which can lay any claim to being considered a positive luxury, it is a nap on a mossy bank, in the deep shadows of the forest trees, after a hearty7 meal, of a warm summer day. There should be, in order to its full appreciation8, a mixture of weariness with a due proportion of laziness. Too much of either detracts from the enjoyment9 of its beatitudes. To feel the sensation of resting, that weariness is leaving you, and that the process of recuperation is an active, living agency, going on all through the system, while the natural love of repose10 is being gratified as an independent emotion, constitute the very perfection of mere11 animal enjoyment. The musquitoes at midday have gone to their rest, or if a straggler comes buzzing and singing about your ears, you are lulled12 rather than disturbed by his song. If he takes his drop of blood from your veins13, the tickling14 of his tiny lance is but a pleasant titilation, and you let him feed on, almost grateful for his kindness in keeping you from sleeping too soundly, or losing in utter oblivion the full extent of the luxury of perfect repose.
After an hour's rest, we launched our little fleet upon the river again, and while the sun was yet above the western highlands, we stood upon the broad flat rock at the mouth of Bog15 River, looking out over Tupper's Lake, one of the most beautiful sheets of water that the sun or the stars ever looked upon. Our sea-biscuit was getting low, and our egress16 from the wilderness17 was therefore becoming, in some sort, a necessity. There was no lack of venison, or fish, but these are rather luxuries than actual necessaries, and they were becoming somewhat stale to as. The staff of life is bread, and of this we had but two days' supply. It is entirely18 true that our jerked venison, now dry and hard as chips, could, if necessary, be made to furnish, to some extent, a substitute; still, while "it is written that man shall not live by bread alone," it is equally the law that he cannot very well get along without it.
We launched our boats upon the lake and rowed to the head of Long Island, where we put up our tents for the night. I have spoken so often of the loveliness of the evenings on these beautiful lakes, that to attempt a description of the one we enjoyed on this romantic island, would be only a tiresome19 repetition. But there was a splendor20 about the heavens above, and their counterpart in the depths below, which I have scarcely ever seen equalled. There was no moon in the early evening, and so pure and clear was the atmosphere, so moveless and still the waters, that the stars seemed to come out in vaster numbers, and with an intenser glow, and to be reflected back from away down in the lake with a brighter refulgence21; the hills along the shore seemed to stand up in bolder outline; the bays to lay in deeper shadow; while the tall peaks stood in grim solemnity, like pillars supporting the mighty22 arches of the sky.
"I was asking myself," said Smith, as we sat looking out over the water, in the evening, or gazing down into the glowing depths, and listening to the night voices, faint and far off in the old forests, as they came floating over the lake, "I was asking myself, as we journeyed around the falls to-day, and as we stood on the rock where the river comes leaping down and plunging23 into the lake, whether the march of improvement would ever spread a Lowell around those falls, or subject those wild waters to the uses of civilization. Whether progress would ever invade those mountain regions; or the ingenuity24 of man ever discover uses for these rocks and boulders25, or coin wealth from the sterile26 and sandy soil of this old wilderness? Hitherto a country like this has been regarded of no value, save for the timber which it grows; and when that is exhausted27, as fit only to be abandoned to sterility28 and desolation. But who can tell whether there may not be in these boulders, these rocks, this sandy and unproductive soil, unknown wealth, held in reserve to reward the researches of science in its utilitarian29 explorations. I am not now speaking of gold, or silver, or any other dross30, which men have hitherto wasted their toil2 to accumulate; but of new discoveries, and new purposes to which these now useless things may be applied31; discoveries which may send the tide of emigration surging up from the valleys to mountain regions like these. May it not be that science, while delving32 among the wrecks33 of vanished ages, may stumble upon some new principle, or combination of the elements of which these old rocks are composed, that shall give them a value beyond that of the richest lowlands, and make them the centre of a dense34 and cultivated population?"
"Your question," answered Spalding, "is suggestive. Did you ever think what gigantic strides the world has made within the memory of men now living, and who are yet unwilling35 to be counted as old? Look back for only fifty years, and note what a stupendous leap it has taken! Where then were the iron roads over which the locomotive goes thundering on its mission of civilization? where the telegraph, that mocks at time and annihilates36 space? Hark! there is a new sound breaking the stillness of midnight, and startling the mountain echoes from their sleep of ages! It is the scream of the steam-whistle, the snort of the iron horse, the thunder of his hoofs37 of steel, rushing forward with the speed of the wind, shaking the ground like an earthquake as he moves. A new motor has been harnessed into the service of man, and made to fly with his messages swifter than sound? It is the winged lightning; and as it flashes along the wires stretched from city to city, and across continents, carries with unerring certainty every word committed to its charge. Ocean steamers have made but a ferriage of seas. The photographic art has made even the light of the sun a substitute for the pencil of the artist. Everywhere, in all the departments of science, in every branch of the arts, improvement, progress, has been going on with a sublimity38 of achievement unknown in any age of the past. These things are mighty motors which push along civilization, throwing a wonderful energy into the forward impulse of the world. But remember, that though these results are brought about by the advance in the mechanic arts, yet that advance is based upon a deeper philosophy, a profounder wisdom, than mere perfectability in those arts. Take the steam-engine—it is a great contrivance, a wonderful invention; but the greatest of all was the discovery of the principle and operation, the practical phenomena39 of steam itself. The telegraphic machine was a great invention; but the great thing was the development of the science of electricity, the discovery of the secret agency which sent forward the thought entrusted40 to it swifter than light. The daguerrian instruments, the metallic41 plates, the prepared paper, were great inventions; but vastly greater was the discovery and development of the phenomena and affinities42 of light, the mystery of solar influences.
"There is hope for the world in all this mighty progress, for with it will one day come the development of the true nature and theory of government, the true solution of the great theory of the social compact, the proper adjustment of the relations of man to man, a right appreciation of the nature and value of human rights. It is bringing forward the masses, elevating the millions who work. It will rouse into activity their innate43 energies, and bring forth44 their inward might. It creates THOUGHT to guide the hands that set all this vast machinery45 in motion. It diffuses46 and strengthens intellectuality, and the pride of intellectuality, making of the men who work something more than mere machines themselves. It is developing and perfecting a mightier47 engine than any of man's invention; one that tyrants48 cannot always control, that kings cannot always manage. That engine is the human mind. Like the steam-engine, it is gathering49 power, and capability50 for the exercise of power, and the time will come when it will go crashing, with resistless energy, among thrones, overturning despotisms, upheaving dynasties, sweeping51 away those false theories of governmental institutions, which guarantee to one class of people a life of luxurious52 idleness, coupled with a prerogative53 to rule; and which dooms55 another class to an hereditary56 servitude, changeless as fate, and relentless57 as the grave. It will vindicate58 the rights, and ennoble the destiny of the masses of the people who work.
"But where is this career of progress to end? Is there a limit to this onward59 movement? We know that the world has made greater advancement60 in the present century, than it did in the five thousand years preceding it, and that new discoveries in the sciences and the arts are being made every day. Nature has been compelled, and is still being compelled, to yield up secrets which have been for centuries regarded as beyond the power of human capacity to penetrate61. How is this? Is the world to go on thus, always? Is this rush of progress to remain unchecked, always? If so, what mystery, even of Omnipotent62 wisdom, will remain unsolved at last? What results will not human energy be able to accomplish? Is the time to come when man shall be able to shape out of clay, fashion from wood, or stone, an image of himself, and, breathing upon it, command it to walk forth a thing of life, and be obeyed? Will he be able to search out a universal antidote63 to disease? Will he discover the means of supplying the human frame with such recuperative power as will nullify the law that prescribes to all flesh the dilapidation64 and decay of age, of weakness and of death? Will he search out some secret agency which will hold his body in perpetual youth, defying alike the attritions of age, and the ravages65 of disease? Will he discover how it is that time saps the strength, and steals away the vigor66 of the human system, and a remedy for exhausted and wasted energies? It is not my purpose to advance a theory based upon an affirmative answer to these inquiries67, but when we contemplate68 the stupendous pace at which the world is moving forward, who will venture to assert where the limit to this progress is to be found? You tell me that man cannot create; that he can only combine into new shapes elements which God has furnished to his hands. I do not know this. That he has not created I admit; but that he has not capabilities69, as yet undeveloped, as a creator, I do not KNOW. I will not venture the assertion that the time will ever come when he will have discovered wherein lies the mystery of life; that he will ever find an antidote to disease; that he will search out some recuperative agency stronger than the law of decay, and that will hold the human system in the perpetual vigor, and bloom, and beauty of maturity70. I will not assert that science will, at last, be carried to such perfection, that there shall be no more infirmities of age; that the pestilence71 will be stayed from walking in the darkness, and destruction from wasting at noonday; that men will cease to grow old, save in years, or that death will be compelled to seek its victims only through the channel of accidents, against which forecast will not, and science has no opportunity to guard. What I mean to say is, that I do not KNOW that just such results are beyond the capabilities of human progress. Measuring the future by the past, I cannot demonstrate that such results may not one day be attained72."
"The good time of which you speak," said the Doctor, "when there shall be no more infirmity of age, no growing old, save in years; when there shall be no wasting by disease, through the perfectability of the curative science, or the discovery of some recuperative agency, stronger than the law of decay, will never come. When it is granted, as an abstract proposition, that the capabilities of science are sufficient to counteract73 the mere wasting influence of time upon the human system, you are met by a great practical fact which will overturn your theory. The excesses of the world are a much more fruitful source of disease and death than the attritions of age. There is a constant struggle on the part of nature to build up and beautify, to strengthen and recuperate74, against the results of human excesses. Not one in a million of those who pass away every year, die from the effects of age, as a primary cause. Hence, you must not only perfect science, but you must perfect the morals and the habits of the human family, before you can exempt75 them from decay and death. The instincts of men, the appetencies which they possess in common with the whole animal creation, are each made the source of disease, and premature76 decay. Some men eat too much; some drink too much; some sleep too much; some waste their vital energies in sensual indulgence, while all have some vicious habit (I mean with reference to the preservation77 of life), known or unknown to the world, which, sooner or later, undermines the constitution, and helps on the work of dilapidation. These excesses will always exist; they are inherent in the human constitution, resulting from the very nature of man; they are an inevitable78 sequence of his physical structure, and his intellectual life. To avoid them implies absolute perfectability in every attribute, and that makes him a god. Until man shall have become infinite in wisdom, as well as immaculate in purity, he will continue to indulge, to a greater or less extent, in excesses of some sort, and those excesses will always be an overmatch, when superadded to the natural law of decay, for the recuperative efforts of science. You must create a radical79 reform in every department of life; in business, in social habits, in the fashions, in the mode of living, in everything, before you can hope to reach the Utopia of which you speak. The outrages80 perpetrated upon nature by the conventionalities of the world alone, would be an insurmountable barrier to the realization81 of your idea. The necessity for excessive labor82 to satisfy artificial wants hews83 away at one end of society, and the indulgence of idleness and ease, at the other. Exposure to the elements, to heat and cold, buries its millions; and too great seclusion84, in pursuit of comfort in heated rooms, and a confined and corrupted85 atmosphere, buries its millions also. Lack of wholesome86 food fills thousands of graves, and the results of abundance fill other thousands. Lack of appropriate clothing, fitted for the constitution and the seasons, engenders87 disease and death; and an excess of the same article, fashioned as stupendous folly88 only can fashion it, engenders vastly more disease and death. There are elements of decay and death furnished to men and women, tempting89 their weakness, and forced upon their adoption90 by the conventionalities of life, every day, every hour, and everywhere. It is a part of our civilization, an offshoot of the very progress of which you speak, a sort of necessity in practical results, at least, that men shall so live as to wage war against nature, and against themselves; that they shall hurry themselves, or be hurried by inevitable circumstances, into the grave at the earliest possible moment. You may, therefore, dismiss from your mind, my friend, the fanciful idea, that science will ever enable the world to dispense91 with the cemeteries92, or that the cities of the dead will, through its agency, cease to flourish. You will find that as science closes up one avenue to the grave, men will force a way to it through another. We shall have to live as our fathers lived, be subject to disease as they were, grow old as they grew old, and die as they died. We must submit to the law which has written the doom54 of decay upon all things, which has made us mortal, and when our time comes we must be content to pass away as the countless93 millions who preceded us have done."
"Well," said Spalding, as he knocked the ashes from his pipe, and rose to retire, under the cover of the tent, for the night, "be it as you say, what matters it? 'I would not live always.' Give to us the hope of an hereafter, a faith that looks through the valley of the shadow of death, and sees immortality94, a world of glory beyond, and what matters it how soon the hour of our departure shall come?"
点击收听单词发音
1 toiling | |
长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 ); 艰难缓慢地移动,跋涉 | |
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2 toil | |
vi.辛劳工作,艰难地行动;n.苦工,难事 | |
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3 ascent | |
n.(声望或地位)提高;上升,升高;登高 | |
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4 retracing | |
v.折回( retrace的现在分词 );回忆;回顾;追溯 | |
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5 accomplished | |
adj.有才艺的;有造诣的;达到了的 | |
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6 siesta | |
n.午睡 | |
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7 hearty | |
adj.热情友好的;衷心的;尽情的,纵情的 | |
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8 appreciation | |
n.评价;欣赏;感谢;领会,理解;价格上涨 | |
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9 enjoyment | |
n.乐趣;享有;享用 | |
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10 repose | |
v.(使)休息;n.安息 | |
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11 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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12 lulled | |
vt.使镇静,使安静(lull的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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13 veins | |
n.纹理;矿脉( vein的名词复数 );静脉;叶脉;纹理 | |
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14 tickling | |
反馈,回授,自旋挠痒法 | |
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15 bog | |
n.沼泽;室...陷入泥淖 | |
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16 egress | |
n.出去;出口 | |
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17 wilderness | |
n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等,荒漠 | |
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18 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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19 tiresome | |
adj.令人疲劳的,令人厌倦的 | |
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20 splendor | |
n.光彩;壮丽,华丽;显赫,辉煌 | |
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21 refulgence | |
n.辉煌,光亮 | |
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22 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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23 plunging | |
adj.跳进的,突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降 | |
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24 ingenuity | |
n.别出心裁;善于发明创造 | |
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25 boulders | |
n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 );巨砾;(受水或天气侵蚀而成的)巨石;漂砾 | |
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26 sterile | |
adj.不毛的,不孕的,无菌的,枯燥的,贫瘠的 | |
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27 exhausted | |
adj.极其疲惫的,精疲力尽的 | |
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28 sterility | |
n.不生育,不结果,贫瘠,消毒,无菌 | |
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29 utilitarian | |
adj.实用的,功利的 | |
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30 dross | |
n.渣滓;无用之物 | |
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31 applied | |
adj.应用的;v.应用,适用 | |
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32 delving | |
v.深入探究,钻研( delve的现在分词 ) | |
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33 wrecks | |
n.沉船( wreck的名词复数 );(事故中)遭严重毁坏的汽车(或飞机等);(身体或精神上)受到严重损伤的人;状况非常糟糕的车辆(或建筑物等)v.毁坏[毁灭]某物( wreck的第三人称单数 );使(船舶)失事,使遇难,使下沉 | |
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34 dense | |
a.密集的,稠密的,浓密的;密度大的 | |
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35 unwilling | |
adj.不情愿的 | |
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36 annihilates | |
n.(彻底)消灭( annihilate的名词复数 );使无效;废止;彻底击溃v.(彻底)消灭( annihilate的第三人称单数 );使无效;废止;彻底击溃 | |
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37 hoofs | |
n.(兽的)蹄,马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.(兽的)蹄,马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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38 sublimity | |
崇高,庄严,气质高尚 | |
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39 phenomena | |
n.现象 | |
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40 entrusted | |
v.委托,托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41 metallic | |
adj.金属的;金属制的;含金属的;产金属的;像金属的 | |
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42 affinities | |
n.密切关系( affinity的名词复数 );亲近;(生性)喜爱;类同 | |
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43 innate | |
adj.天生的,固有的,天赋的 | |
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44 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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45 machinery | |
n.(总称)机械,机器;机构 | |
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46 diffuses | |
(使光)模糊,漫射,漫散( diffuse的第三人称单数 ); (使)扩散; (使)弥漫; (使)传播 | |
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47 mightier | |
adj. 强有力的,强大的,巨大的 adv. 很,极其 | |
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48 tyrants | |
专制统治者( tyrant的名词复数 ); 暴君似的人; (古希腊的)僭主; 严酷的事物 | |
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49 gathering | |
n.集会,聚会,聚集 | |
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50 capability | |
n.能力;才能;(pl)可发展的能力或特性等 | |
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51 sweeping | |
adj.范围广大的,一扫无遗的 | |
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52 luxurious | |
adj.精美而昂贵的;豪华的 | |
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53 prerogative | |
n.特权 | |
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54 doom | |
n.厄运,劫数;v.注定,命定 | |
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55 dooms | |
v.注定( doom的第三人称单数 );判定;使…的失败(或灭亡、毁灭、坏结局)成为必然;宣判 | |
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56 hereditary | |
adj.遗传的,遗传性的,可继承的,世袭的 | |
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57 relentless | |
adj.残酷的,不留情的,无怜悯心的 | |
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58 vindicate | |
v.为…辩护或辩解,辩明;证明…正确 | |
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59 onward | |
adj.向前的,前进的;adv.向前,前进,在先 | |
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60 advancement | |
n.前进,促进,提升 | |
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61 penetrate | |
v.透(渗)入;刺入,刺穿;洞察,了解 | |
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62 omnipotent | |
adj.全能的,万能的 | |
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63 antidote | |
n.解毒药,解毒剂 | |
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64 dilapidation | |
n.倒塌;毁坏 | |
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65 ravages | |
劫掠后的残迹,破坏的结果,毁坏后的残迹 | |
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66 vigor | |
n.活力,精力,元气 | |
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67 inquiries | |
n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 );疑问;探究;打听 | |
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68 contemplate | |
vt.盘算,计议;周密考虑;注视,凝视 | |
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69 capabilities | |
n.能力( capability的名词复数 );可能;容量;[复数]潜在能力 | |
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70 maturity | |
n.成熟;完成;(支票、债券等)到期 | |
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71 pestilence | |
n.瘟疫 | |
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72 attained | |
(通常经过努力)实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 ); 达到; 获得; 达到(某年龄、水平、状况) | |
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73 counteract | |
vt.对…起反作用,对抗,抵消 | |
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74 recuperate | |
v.恢复 | |
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75 exempt | |
adj.免除的;v.使免除;n.免税者,被免除义务者 | |
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76 premature | |
adj.比预期时间早的;不成熟的,仓促的 | |
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77 preservation | |
n.保护,维护,保存,保留,保持 | |
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78 inevitable | |
adj.不可避免的,必然发生的 | |
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79 radical | |
n.激进份子,原子团,根号;adj.根本的,激进的,彻底的 | |
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80 outrages | |
引起…的义愤,激怒( outrage的第三人称单数 ) | |
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81 realization | |
n.实现;认识到,深刻了解 | |
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82 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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83 hews | |
v.(用斧、刀等)砍、劈( hew的第三人称单数 );砍成;劈出;开辟 | |
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84 seclusion | |
n.隐遁,隔离 | |
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85 corrupted | |
(使)败坏( corrupt的过去式和过去分词 ); (使)腐化; 引起(计算机文件等的)错误; 破坏 | |
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86 wholesome | |
adj.适合;卫生的;有益健康的;显示身心健康的 | |
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87 engenders | |
v.产生(某形势或状况),造成,引起( engender的第三人称单数 ) | |
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88 folly | |
n.愚笨,愚蠢,蠢事,蠢行,傻话 | |
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89 tempting | |
a.诱人的, 吸引人的 | |
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90 adoption | |
n.采用,采纳,通过;收养 | |
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91 dispense | |
vt.分配,分发;配(药),发(药);实施 | |
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92 cemeteries | |
n.(非教堂的)墓地,公墓( cemetery的名词复数 ) | |
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93 countless | |
adj.无数的,多得不计其数的 | |
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94 immortality | |
n.不死,不朽 | |
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