The traveller setting out by road from Bideford to Appledore has a haunting feeling that he is making for some unconsidered part of the world: a loose end ravelling out to ineffectiveness. The map will help him in this impression, for it show’s a tongue of land that is to all intents a dead end, leading nowhere. Nor will the railway journey to Westward Ho!, now made possible by the Bideford and Westward Ho! Railway—an undertaking5 which belongs to the “light railway” order—help him to revise this opinion. You may see the terminus of it on Bideford quay6. There the rails run on to the roadway, and end without the formalities of a station, platforms, signals, or anything of the kind. And the weird-looking engine when it goes off, dragging the one or two carriages after it, glides7 away with the air of to-morrow being plenty of time to do the work of to-day. The road keeps well out of sight of the river Torridge, and is both hilly and uninteresting, coming at last to Northam. This is the very heart198 of what has been styled the “Kingsley Country,” rich in the scenes of his “Westward Ho!”, and it is therefore of peculiar8 appropriateness that a white marble statue of him should have been erected9 in 1906 on Bideford quay, whence this expedition starts. It is an aggressive-looking Kingsley—and therefore true to the appearance of the original—that stands there in clerical robes, with quill10 pen poised11 in hand, ready, as in life, with more honesty than discretion12, to do battle for any cause he had at heart. “The most generous-minded man I ever knew,” said Maurice of him: with the fervour of a schoolboy and qualities of heart better than those of head, as the unfortunate controversy13 with Newman, in which that crafty14 dialectician had the better of him in argument, sufficiently15 proved. But although worsted in sheer tactical marshalling of his forces, Kingsley was instinctively16 right, and the sympathy of honest men went with him, and continues.
Northam is a dusty, gritty village, standing17 on a ridge that looks one way towards the Torridge, and the other across to the great waste of Northam Burrows18, that repeat, on this side of the twin Taw and Torridge estuaries19, the features of Braunton Burrows. On the north side of the churchyard is a knoll20, known as “Bone Hill,” where a flagstaff has been planted on a cairn of sixty boulders21, brought by willing hands from the famed Pebble Ridge. The whole thing forms a homemade loyal and patriotic22 memorial of the second Jubilee23 of Queen Victoria, with additions suggested199 by later events, together with an aspiration24 that “these shores may never be without brave and pious25 mariners26, who will count their lives as worthless in the cause of their country, their Bible, and their Queen.” But other people beside the mariners must do their part also.
“BLOODY CORNER.”
There is little deserving notice in the neighbouring church, except the quaint27 inscription28 on200 the interior wall of the north aisle29: “This yele was made anno 1593.” Let us, then, press on to Appledore, passing Bloody Corner, so-called by reason of the defeat of the Danes here in A.D. 882 by King Alfred the Great, when the Danish chieftain, Hubba, was numbered among the slain30. Hubba’s Stone, where the landing of the invaders31 was effected, lies near the shore of the estuary32. A recently erected memorial by the wayside marks the Corner, and a row of even more recently erected cheap cottages, opposite, serves effectually to dilute33 any feelings of romance.
Appledore (whose name has really nothing to do with apples, but derives34 from two words meaning “water-pool”) stands at the very entrance to the Torridge estuary. On the opposite side is Instow.
Appledore is a decayed port; a fishing village long past its prime. Time was when its ship-owners waxed rich in what the natives still call the “Noofunlan’ Trade,” but that was long ago, and it is scarce possible even the hoariest inhabitant recollects35 those times. But the buildings, the quays37 are reminiscent; the whole place mumbles38, quite plainly in the imaginative ear, “Has Been.”
This is, however, by no means to hint that Appledore is poor, or moribund39. Vessels40 are repaired in its docks, a quarry41 is in full blast on the hillside, and the fishermen fare out to sea in pursuit of the salmon42 and cod43. The less adventurous44 gather the edible45 seaweed known to201 epicures46 as “laver,” or at low water ravish the tenacious47 cockle and mussel from their lairs48.
But, in general, Appledore has resignedly stood still since the “Noofunlan’” trade ceased, and remains49 very much what it was at the time of its ceasing: only something the worse for wear. Bideford may exchange cobbles for macadam, and even, in choice spots, wood-pavement, but Appledore’s lanes, which are of the dirtiest, the steepest and most rugged50 description, still retain their ancient knobbly character. In short Appledore is a curiosity, and one not in any immediate51 likelihood of being reformed out of that status, for it is at the very end of things. So its whitewashed52 cottages will long, no doubt, continue to give a specious53 and illusory character for cleanliness to it, as seen across the river from Instow; and “Factory Ope,” “Drang,” and other queerly named lanes will survive for generations yet to come.
Returning to Northam on the way to Westward Ho! I meet with a sad disillusion54: nothing less than a group of angelic-looking little girls belying55 their looks by shouting ribald things, of which no one, and least of all Charles Kingsley, could find it possible to approve. And this in the “Kingsley Country,” too!
Westward Ho! is all too soon disclosed to the disillusioned56 eye. You see it, as you come along the ridge road, occupying the flat lands and the sandy wastes beside the sea, with the famed Pebble Ridge extending towards the Burrows.202 The scene is a beautiful display of colour: the dark-blue sea, light-blue sky, yellow sands, blue-grey line of pebbles57 and green salt-marshes, with the Braunton lighthouse a dab58 of white on a distant shore.
But Westward Ho! is chiefly a sad collection of forlorn houses, dressed in penitential grey plaster. Kingsley wrote a romantic novel compact of patriotic fervour, love of Devon, of England, and of Elizabethan seafaring derring-do. He placed one of the most dramatic of his scenes—the interrupted duel—here, on “Bideford Sands.” You recollect36 the incident: Grenville intervening between the combatants, and his “Hold! Mr. Cary,” a fine moment; but it is Failure, not Romance that here meets the eye to-day.
The fame of the novel, “Westward Ho!” brought thousands of pilgrims into these parts, and aroused great enthusiasm. At that time these sands were lonely in the extreme. Not a single house stood upon them. But the astonishing success of that book led to the spot being “discovered” and duly exploited. Enterprising persons, finding that Bideford town was, after all, not a seaside resort, conceived the idea of founding a place which, with its sea-bathing advantages, should become in time as popular as, say, Weston-super-Mare. But they forget the fact—an enormous factor in the fortunes of such places—that, being on the way to nowhither, there was no railway here, and that there, consequently, never could be, by any chance, an easy and convenient approach from any large203 town whence holiday-makers come. Thus forgetful “Westward Ho!” was founded. A hotel designed on a scale large enough for the considerable town expected to develop was the first care, but the place has never prospered59, and failure is everywhere insistent60. Three-fourths of the houses are empty and the others are chiefly occupied by people who wonder why they ever came—and wish they hadn’t. These are those who by some cruel fate of necessity—choice or pleasure are surely out of the question—are anchored here.
But no thought of this fate crossed the minds of those projectors61. They saw a brilliant future awaiting Westward Ho! and impressed others with their confidence. A “Kingsley Memorial College” was built, and a “United Services College” followed. Both are now closed and add their own note of melancholy62 to the otherwise sufficiently dismal63 place.
The United Services College was founded in 1874 by the exertions64 of General Sir H. C. B. Daubeney and a number of officers of the services. The idea was to provide a public-school education for the children of officers in Army, Navy, and Civil Services, at a lower cost than usual. “Fear God and honour the King” was its motto, and mural and naval65 crowns, surmounting66 crossed swords and anchor, were its badges. Mr. Rudyard Kipling was educated here, and the College therefore figures in that story of peculiarly nasty schoolboys, “Stalky & Co.”
204 The “Pebble Ridge” is a good deal better to look at than to walk on. Conceive a raised beach, flung up out of the sea in the course of countless67 seasons, and forming, as it were, a natural embankment, fashioned by the waves against their own encroachment68 upon the salt-marshes. But do not imagine a ridge of pebbles like those that rattle69 up and down to the scour70 of the tides at Brighton. Those are like the stones found in gravel71; but what is in North Devon conceived to be a pebble is a monstrous72 thing, rather larger than a dinner-plate, and weighing anything from five to seven pounds. In the times before the wretched settlement of Westward Ho! arose, and when the rustics73 still talked broad Devon, these were “popples.”

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1
bloody
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adj.非常的的;流血的;残忍的;adv.很;vt.血染 | |
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westward
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n.西方,西部;adj.西方的,向西的;adv.向西 | |
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pebble
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n.卵石,小圆石 | |
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ridge
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n.山脊;鼻梁;分水岭 | |
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undertaking
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n.保证,许诺,事业 | |
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quay
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n.码头,靠岸处 | |
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glides
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n.滑行( glide的名词复数 );滑音;音渡;过渡音v.滑动( glide的第三人称单数 );掠过;(鸟或飞机 ) 滑翔 | |
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peculiar
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adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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ERECTED
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adj. 直立的,竖立的,笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立,建立 | |
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quill
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n.羽毛管;v.给(织物或衣服)作皱褶 | |
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poised
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a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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discretion
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n.谨慎;随意处理 | |
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controversy
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n.争论,辩论,争吵 | |
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crafty
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adj.狡猾的,诡诈的 | |
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sufficiently
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adv.足够地,充分地 | |
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instinctively
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adv.本能地 | |
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standing
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n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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burrows
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n.地洞( burrow的名词复数 )v.挖掘(洞穴),挖洞( burrow的第三人称单数 );翻寻 | |
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estuaries
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(江河入海的)河口,河口湾( estuary的名词复数 ) | |
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knoll
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n.小山,小丘 | |
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boulders
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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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22
patriotic
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adj.爱国的,有爱国心的 | |
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jubilee
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n.周年纪念;欢乐 | |
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aspiration
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n.志向,志趣抱负;渴望;(语)送气音;吸出 | |
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pious
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adj.虔诚的;道貌岸然的 | |
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mariners
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海员,水手(mariner的复数形式) | |
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quaint
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adj.古雅的,离奇有趣的,奇怪的 | |
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inscription
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n.(尤指石块上的)刻印文字,铭文,碑文 | |
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aisle
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n.(教堂、教室、戏院等里的)过道,通道 | |
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30
slain
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杀死,宰杀,杀戮( slay的过去分词 ); (slay的过去分词) | |
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31
invaders
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入侵者,侵略者,侵入物( invader的名词复数 ) | |
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32
estuary
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n.河口,江口 | |
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dilute
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vt.稀释,冲淡;adj.稀释的,冲淡的 | |
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derives
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v.得到( derive的第三人称单数 );(从…中)得到获得;源于;(从…中)提取 | |
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recollects
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v.记起,想起( recollect的第三人称单数 ) | |
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recollect
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v.回忆,想起,记起,忆起,记得 | |
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quays
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码头( quay的名词复数 ) | |
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mumbles
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含糊的话或声音,咕哝( mumble的名词复数 ) | |
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moribund
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adj.即将结束的,垂死的 | |
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vessels
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n.血管( vessel的名词复数 );船;容器;(具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的)人 | |
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quarry
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n.采石场;v.采石;费力地找 | |
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salmon
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n.鲑,大马哈鱼,橙红色的 | |
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cod
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n.鳕鱼;v.愚弄;哄骗 | |
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adventurous
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adj.爱冒险的;惊心动魄的,惊险的,刺激的 | |
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edible
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n.食品,食物;adj.可食用的 | |
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epicures
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n.讲究饮食的人( epicure的名词复数 ) | |
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tenacious
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adj.顽强的,固执的,记忆力强的,粘的 | |
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lairs
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n.(野兽的)巢穴,窝( lair的名词复数 );(人的)藏身处 | |
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remains
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n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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50
rugged
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adj.高低不平的,粗糙的,粗壮的,强健的 | |
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51
immediate
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adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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52
whitewashed
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粉饰,美化,掩饰( whitewash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53
specious
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adj.似是而非的;adv.似是而非地 | |
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disillusion
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vt.使不再抱幻想,使理想破灭 | |
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55
belying
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v.掩饰,与…不符,使…失望;掩饰( belie的现在分词 );证明(或显示)…为虚假;辜负;就…扯谎 | |
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56
disillusioned
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a.不再抱幻想的,大失所望的,幻想破灭的 | |
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57
pebbles
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[复数]鹅卵石; 沙砾; 卵石,小圆石( pebble的名词复数 ) | |
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58
dab
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v.轻触,轻拍,轻涂;n.(颜料等的)轻涂 | |
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59
prospered
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成功,兴旺( prosper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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60
insistent
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adj.迫切的,坚持的 | |
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61
projectors
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电影放映机,幻灯机( projector的名词复数 ) | |
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62
melancholy
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n.忧郁,愁思;adj.令人感伤(沮丧)的,忧郁的 | |
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63
dismal
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adj.阴沉的,凄凉的,令人忧郁的,差劲的 | |
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64
exertions
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n.努力( exertion的名词复数 );费力;(能力、权力等的)运用;行使 | |
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65
naval
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adj.海军的,军舰的,船的 | |
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66
surmounting
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战胜( surmount的现在分词 ); 克服(困难); 居于…之上; 在…顶上 | |
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countless
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adj.无数的,多得不计其数的 | |
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68
encroachment
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n.侵入,蚕食 | |
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69
rattle
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v.飞奔,碰响;激怒;n.碰撞声;拨浪鼓 | |
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70
scour
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v.搜索;擦,洗,腹泻,冲刷 | |
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71
gravel
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n.砂跞;砂砾层;结石 | |
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monstrous
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adj.巨大的;恐怖的;可耻的,丢脸的 | |
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rustics
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n.有农村或村民特色的( rustic的名词复数 );粗野的;不雅的;用粗糙的木材或树枝制作的 | |
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