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CHAPTER VII.
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 “You have given me your ideas and objections in regard to the present state of affairs”, I commenced my next conversation with Mr. Forest, “you have expressed, occasionally, your conviction that the organization of society at the end of the last century needed reformation. Will you, now, kindly1 state how you would have reformed the evils of my time?”
 
Mr. Forest smiled. “I do not pretend to be a reformer who can perfect mankind or even all human institutions. Please do not forget that we are all cooking with water. What many people style the social question is insolvable. The variety established by nature will always be felt. You can never create conformity2. We will always have smart and stupid, industrious3 and lazy people. The clever women and men will not submit to an equal distribution of the product of labor4, nor feel satisfied under such a state of legal robbery. And if the results of labor are distributed according to the ability of the workers the people earning less than others will always grumble5. It is, therefore, impossible to make all men content with their lot, no matter how you may distribute the earnings6 of the working force. But the fact that it is impossible to make everybody absolutely happy does96 not release us from the obligation to use our best efforts toward improving the lot of mankind”.
 
“I understand your position. But let me hear what reforms you would have inaugurated or proposed, if you had lived at the close of the last century”.
 
“The society of your day suffered chiefly”, said Mr. Forest, “from unsystematized production, the monopolies that made possible the amassing8 of immense fortunes at the expense of the people, and the want of intelligence on the part of the workers who would either submit to these extortions or strike, instead of forming mutual9 producing associations. Another great evil was the injustice10 of your taxation11. In all the fields of human activity the workers produced values without a clear knowledge of what was really required. There was, generally, such a surplus of the products of farming that the farmers had to sell everything so cheap that they could hardly earn a living. Some factories worked day and night until the markets were overstocked with goods. Then these goods were sold at any price obtainable, sometimes below cost. Numerous bankruptcies12 followed, the factories had to stop their work, and the manufacturers as well as the working women and men had to suffer from a term of idleness until the surplus of goods was exhausted13. Then a feverish14 activity commenced again”.
 
“How would you have remedied this evil?” I asked.
 
“A national bureau of statistics should have ascertained15 both the average yearly consumption and the97 capacity of the different trades and their plants for the production of the necessities of life”.
 
“Should the government have given to each trade an order for the work to be done during the year?” I queried16, “and how should the trades have divided such an order among the members so that all would be satisfied?”
 
“The National Government should simply have ascertained the amount of the yearly consumption of the various articles, the capacity of the respective trades for furnishing such articles, and should then have left the regulation of production to the members of each trade. Such an arrangement would have given each trade a clear idea of its task. The chosen representatives of each trade could have subdivided17 the work. A heavy overproduction would easily have been prevented, while competition both among the factories and the individual members would have been maintained, thus securing the best kind of work, while under the present system of production we are suffering from a want both of quantity and quality”.
 
“But if any trade should have produced more goods than needed”, I objected.
 
“That would have been its own fault, and it would, as a matter of course, have had to stand the consequences”, Mr. Forest replied.
 
“But, suppose, the members of a certain trade had formed a trust, thereby18 forcing the people to pay exorbitant19 prices for the products of their guilds20?” I objected again.
 
98 “A national law should have protected the people against an attempted robbery of this kind, threatening all guilty parties with confiscation21 of all their property and with the operation of all the plants by men hired by the administration, until the plants could be sold to operators. The importation of the respective goods from other countries would cover the deficiency until all the plants were again in full operation”.
 
“But how would you have stopped the frequent strikes of our days?” I asked.
 
“By encouraging the workman to start mutual producing associations”, Mr. Forest answered. “I have mentioned already how mutual producing associations could easily have been started. A dozen tailors or shoemakers could have rented lofts22 with steam power, purchased a few sewing and other machines and sold their products directly to other workmen, thus securing the profits of the manufacturer, wholesaler23, retailer25 and workman, or in other words all the profit that was in the labor of the members of the association. There was no law in your time to forbid such enterprises or to prevent all other workmen from buying their boots, shoes, clothing, furniture and all other articles from such associations solely27. As soon as the manufacturers noticed that all the laborers28 were commencing to deal with mutual associations they would gladly have sold their plants at a very fair price, and yet cheaper than a new association could have procured29 them. I imagine there was very little pleasure in conducting a factory or any99 other business having many employees in 1887, judging from the frequent strikes that made it almost impossible for many business men to figure on prices six months ahead, or to close contracts. Therefore, the owners of factories would, I fancy, have sold their plants at very fair prices. And the workmen could not have done a smarter thing than to cause the former manufacturers to remain with them as business managers at a fair salary. This would have secured a smooth running of the concern. Under such an arrangement the workers would have become the owners of the business concerns, paying for them in installments30, they would have secured full pay for their work, and the former owner would have disposed of all his former cares, receiving a fair compensation for his plant and his services”.
 
“I think that most of the manufacturers and businessmen of my days were so worried by the constantly increased demands of their employees, that they would have gladly sold their property”, I remarked, “but what would have become of the wholesale24 and retail26 dealers31?”
 
“They could have sold their goods and have either joined the producing associations as salesmen or gone into another business”, Mr. Forest replied. “And in a similar way the workmen of your time could have organized one trade after another, until the entire manufacturing industry had been based on large guilds, the latter consisting mostly of mutual producing societies”.
 
100 “But our workmen preferred to avoid the responsibility, care and risk of business enterprises. They would rather have worked for wages and, occasionally tried to increase them, sometimes by striking and preventing other laborers taking the places of the strikers”, I said. “You are aware of this state of affairs?”
 
“Yes”, Forest answered, “and it must have been a sad spectacle to see intelligent men who could just as well have been independent, remain journeymen, trying to bulldoze their employer to pay them more than he volunteered, and to intimidate32 other workers from performing duties at a rate of wages that would have satisfied them. The fact that your workingmen did not possess sufficient enterprise, mental discipline and independence, to establish mutual producing associations, has driven humanity into communism. That this damnable form of society is a failure is a matter of course. When humanity was at so low a standard that shoemakers had not spunk33 or smartness enough to start and run the shoeshops on a co-operative basis, and tailors could not manage tailorshops on a similar plan, it was simply impossible to make successful an organization which had the power to regulate all production and all consumption. But the principle of mutual productive associations is, in my opinion, the one best adapted for the solution of the labor question, because it secures for the members of the associations the pay for the full real value of their labor and keeps alive competition, the strongest factor in101 securing the progress of mankind. But whether we shall ever reach this solution of the labor question seems doubtful”.
 
“I am inclined to believe in your plan”, I admitted, “so far as laborers engaged in manufacturing establishments are concerned. But how would you have organized the work on the farms, the employment of professional man, railroad officials and laborers, employees on streetcars, merchants and bankers and their clerks and those who follow many other avocations34?”
 
“Let us go slowly”, Mr. Forest answered with a smile. “Let us first look into the agrarian36 question. Reformers of society have always met the greatest difficulty when they came across the farmers. Under communistic rule the country people have but very little love for the soil they are tilling because they know it is not theirs, that their toiling37 does not benefit them, and they feel that the city people are favored at their expense. If I had been asked at the end of the last century how I would treat the land question I would have advocated a law ordaining38 that no farmer should have more than forty acres of land. If any farmer had more at the time of the passing of the bill he could keep it during his lifetime, but he would be compelled to dispose of it in his last will, so that a single person should not receive more than forty acres. On a forty acre piece a farmer can make a fair living, and although the farmers were by no means prosperous in your days, yet there was still a fair prospect39 for the increase of102 the value of land by reason of the increase of the population, augmented40 as it was by immigration”.
 
“But how would you have proposed to stop overproduction by the farming population through which the agricultural interests were suffering in 1887?” I inquired.
 
“The National Bureau of Statistics would have served the farmers just as well as the rest of the people. The farmers should have formed state associations and should have laid out plans for the production according to the capacity of the farms. And, after ascertaining41 that their capacity of production was far ahead of consumption, they should have used the surplus of land for the production of new things that could, perhaps, find a market, or they could have saved their labor by not producing more goods than they could sell in supplying the real demands of the market, thus working less.”
 
“Under your plan every person would not have had a right to land”, I remarked.
 
“Yes, everybody would, who could pay the price the owner demanded for it”, Mr. Forest said. “Not everybody can own a farm. Did you own one?”
 
“I did not”.
 
“Very well. Under your communistic system nobody owns a piece of ground large enough to put a stick into”.
 
“How would you have regulated the professional services?”
 
103 “By passing laws establishing rates to be charged for professional services. And the laws I would have simplified by doing away with the abominable42 confusion resulting from the innumerable decisions forming precedents43. For a long time I did not believe it until I found positive statements to the effect that a trading nation like the Americans, at the end of the nineteenth century, had neither a national criminal law, nor a national commerce law. This fact and the confusion caused by the conflicting precedent44 decisions that could always be quoted by either of the contesting lawyers in a suit must have made the United States, in your days, a paradise for swindlers and for lawyers who cared not so much for the upholding of the law, as for a retainer”.
 
“Such were the charges frequently made against the law and lawyers in my days”, I said. “But now tell me what you would have done with the railroad and telegraph employees, with—”
 
“Let us stop right here”, Mr. Forest interrupted. “I would have purchased all the railroads and all the telegraph lines of the country at a fair price. I would have issued United States bonds to pay for them. I would have used the income of the roads and lines to pay running expenses and the interest on the bonds issued, and the surplus in the United States treasury45 I would have applied46 to paying off the bonds”.
 
“But would not this proposition of yours, if carried into effect, have brought about the same horrors you declare the concentration of power in the hands104 of the administration has brought down on humanity of the twentieth century?” I asked.
 
“No. For that the officers would not be numerous enough”, Mr. Forest replied; “and I remember distinctly, that in your days civil service reform had been instituted, to a certain extent, in the appointment of federal officers. I have read conflicting opinions about it. Some writers claimed a frequent change of the officers to be a fundamental principle of republican institutions. Others ridiculed47 this notion. Every man of common sense would keep a man who knew and performed the duties of his position well. And the nation should simply do the same regardless of the party affiliations48 of the employee, thus securing a good public service. I remember that letter carriers and other employees of the postoffice department could not be removed without cause. Now, if this principle had been applied to all the clerical and subordinate officers, if all the railroad and telegraph officials, when the nation took charge of these institutions, had been retained at the salaries they were receiving at that time, so long as they did their work well, then there would have been no trouble. Uncle Sam would have paid just as much, if not more, than the former corporations did, and by retaining the whole force he could have united the railroad and telegraph lines with the postal49 service after the fashion already prevailing50, at that time, in Germany”.
 
“That theory sounds very plausible51, certainly”.
 
“It is very remarkable52 that such a smart and energetic people, trading as much as our forefathers53 did,105 should have allowed the principal means of commerce, the railroad and telegraph lines, to be in the hands of private corporations which, as a matter of course, managed them simply with a view of paying as large dividends54 as possible to the shareholders,—sometimes for “a wheel within a wheel”, for members of the inner circle. In the historical works of your time I frequently note expressions of astonishment55 and wrath56 because knights57, during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in Europe, stopped merchants passing the roads below their castles, and demanded a part of the travellers’ goods as a toll58, or the payment of a certain sum of money for which they agreed either to let the merchants travel in peace or to furnish them with protection for the rest of their journey. These knights had to risk their lives when they undertook to collect a toll from the merchants, for the latter not unfrequently showed fight; they knew how to handle a lance or a sword and they had their goods protected by armed men. More than one of the enterprising, toll-levying59 knights died on the highway, where he had tried to attach a share of the merchant’s earnings. But the gentlemen controlling the highways of traffic at the end of the last century could levy60 new tolls61, whenever they pleased. All they had to do was to sit down in Delmonico’s or some other good restaurant, and over a few bottles of champagne62 resolve to do so. There was no danger connected with this business of toll levying in your days, Mr. West, except the danger of a headache when the champagne happened to be106 poor. It was a very remarkable state of affairs, and it is a striking proof of the general fairness and good nature of the railroad magnates of 1887 that they treated the people as well as they did. Still, it was a ridiculous spectacle to see the principal highways of such a business people controlled by private corporations that virtually did precisely63 what they pleased”.
 
“The gas works, street railways and waterworks of cities you would have had managed by the city authorities, I suppose?” I said.
 
“Indeed, that is what I would have done”, Mr. Forest replied. “But I would first have extended the power of the national administration over all the forest and mining lands then in the possession of the United States. If the national government had taken care of the remnants of the immense forests that once covered the larger part of this vast territory, we would not at present suffer from a lack of timber”.
 
“What would you have done with the bankers and merchants?”
 
“Nothing”, Mr. Forest answered. “The different mutual productive associations would have needed men to manage such business affairs as were outside the management of the factory, attended to by the former manufacturer. For the workmen would soon have found out that it required more than the manual labor of the toilers to build up and run a large business establishment. And the owners of grocery stores would, if similar establishments had been started by consuming societies, have sold their stock on hand107 and secured places as managers or clerks of the new stores”.
 
“I suppose that under the system proposed by you all the old-fashioned stores would have been forced to close out”, I said, “because the different guilds would have purchased goods at wholesale and would have sold them to their members at a low cash price. The storekeepers that were not able to secure positions in the stores of the different guilds would have been forced to look out for some other employment;—a rather hard lot for many of them”.
 
“The change in the mode of production would not have been sudden”, Mr. Forest explained, “but would have been brought about gradually, thus giving the business people, perhaps thirty years time to let their children join guilds instead of becoming storekeepers and traders. And there is no reason why enterprising merchants who had a fine taste in selecting goods, should not have retained a large number of customers. It is not cheapness alone that attracts buyers, and in the country, where there were no factories, etc., close at hand, stores would have to be kept”.
 
“You said you would have passed laws preventing farmers owning more than forty acres of land”, I said, “Would you have also limited the amount of city property to be owned by any one man?”
 
“The possession of one house ought to have satisfied every fair-minded man”, Mr. Forest continued. “Nobody can deny that the accumulation of fortunes108 amounting to many millions in the hands of a few people, while hundreds of thousands could earn hardly more than a living, was a state of affairs which made this damnable communism possible”.
 
“But how would you have been able to prevent this?” I queried with some curiosity.
 
“By making the taxation of inherited property the principal assessment64 for the maintenance of the national, state and local governments as well as of the schools. I would have proposed a tax of one percent on all property inherited by a single person, amounting upward to $10,000. An inheritance amounting to $20,000 I would have taxed two percent, $30,000 three percent, $100,000 ten percent, $200,000 twenty percent, $500,000 fifty percent. If anybody left a fortune yielding a larger sum than $250,000 to each heir, the surplus should have been considered as an income to humanity, the national, state and local governments sharing therein in a just proportion”.
 
“Would not such a law have acted as a check upon the ambition and the enterprise of the people?” I asked.
 
“If it had prevented people amassing immense fortunes it would have served a good purpose. It would not have lessened65 but protected competition”, Mr. Forest answered. “Men possessing twenty or fifty millions of dollars and using them without regard for the rights of other people, were very dangerous. They were in a position to annihilate66 their competitors, and they frequently used their power unmercifully. Thus109 by increasing their millions and by killing67 competition they were paving the way for communism. And was it not unfair that a man who had amassed68 by all manner of means such an enormous fortune could leave it to a son who would continue the work of killing competitors with smaller means? What could the most able man accomplish in an avocation35, if he had against him a man who possessed69, perhaps, very little ability, but who was unscrupulously using his millions to attain70 his ends? Parents might leave their children enough to place their dear ones beyond the reach of want but they should not enable them to prevent the children of poorer parents having a fair show to get ahead in life”.
 
“You would have met with considerable resistance to such a proposition in my days”, I remarked.
 
“I fancy the millionaires would have objected”, Mr. Forest assented71. “Still, I think that such a law would have served the best interest of both the children of rich parents and humanity in general. Nothing but a law of this kind could have stemmed the tide of communism and anarchy72. A child inheriting $250,000 ought to be satisfied with his lot and ought to let the surplus go to the defraying of the expenses of the government. By sacrificing a part of their enormous fortunes, the heirs would have saved the rest, and would have weakened the communistic tendency of your days. And it appears more than doubtful to me whether the possession of such enormous properties110 made these wealthy people good, or even happy and contented”.
 
“If such a law had been passed in 1887 most of the millionaires would have converted their property into cash and emigrated to Europe”, I objected.
 
“I suppose they would have done so”, Mr. Forest admitted. “But I am, nevertheless, convinced that a law of this kind would not only have been just but that it would have done a great deal to save humanity from communism. Civilized73 countries would have been obliged to pass a similar law at the same time”.
 
“The temptation to avoid the consequences of the statute74 would have been very great”, I remarked. “Many people would have tried to evade75 the tax by declaring to the authorities a smaller amount of property than they really owned, or by presenting during their life time, a part of their fortune to their children”.
 
“Any attempt at fraud should have been punished by a confiscation of all the property”, said Mr. Forest. “And as for gifts they could have been taxed at the same rate as inheritances from one percent up to fifty.—But such a law would have been necessary only during the first fifty or sixty years of a new order of things. As soon as mutual producing associations were in general operation, selling their goods directly from the factories to the consumers, and buying all the necessities of life and commodities, as far as possible, at wholesale, and selling them a little above cost price, there would have been little occasion for111 men to amass7 millions of dollars. The number of middlemen and traders would have largely decreased. Everybody would have been compelled to do work of some kind and would have received a compensation according to both the quantity and quality of his performances”.
 
“But would not cliques76 like the one you are charging with having control of your government have taken possession of a mutual producing association, thus depriving the clever workers of a part of their earnings and paying the poorer men more for their work than they deserved?” I queried.
 
“In such a case the good men could have left an association, where they were cheated and joined another partnership77. Good laborers are always appreciated wherever competition rules. But the association, thus driving away their ablest members, would soon have been unable to compete with others. Difficulties, therefore, could have been regulated without much trouble”.
 
“You must advocate, as a matter of course mutual insurance companies among the guilds for the protection of the members against accidents, sickness, infirmity and old age, and these mutual insurance companies would, perhaps, have also written life and fire policies?” I suggested.
 
“That would, indeed, have been a consequence of the whole system that would unite the few advantages of communism with the benefits of competition”, Mr. Forest answered.
 
112 “Would you have encouraged immigration?” I asked. “At the end of the nineteenth century, many honest, liberal and fair-minded people, whom nobody could fairly class as know-nothings, were of the opinion that the United States had all the foreign elements the country could assimilate, and that the rest of the public lands should be preserved for the children of the people living in the union, in the year of our Lord 1887. The objection against further immigration was largely due to the actions of the German and Irish dynamiters”.
 
“I can imagine”, Mr. Forest answered, “that some of the customs and notions of the numerous immigrants of your time were objectionable to the native Americans, and that the crimes of the anarchists78, their crazy revolt against the laws of a country that had offered them hospitality, must naturally have created a deep emotion among the Anglo-Americans. But I think they had, nevertheless, many reasons for encouraging immigration, especially under your form of production. A strict execution of the laws of the country”, he continued, after a pause, “against all transgressors, native as well as transplanted, would have done the country good and have made all attempts to restrict immigration entirely79 unnecessary, all the more so, as the really objectionable foreigners could reach the United States via Canada or Mexico if they desired strongly to become inhabitants of the United States.”
 
“These arguments were frequently used in my time,” I remarked.
 
113 “The comparatively small harm done by immigrants was largely over-balanced by the many advantages the citizens of the United States obtained through the large influx80 of people from Europe”, said Mr. Forest. “The very fact that hundreds of thousands of able-bodied people, whose rearing and education had cost the European countries millions of dollars, landed on American shores was a great gain to the United States. The very presence of these men and women increased the value of the lands or city lots where they settled, thus enriching the property owners. Many of the immigrants were well trained laborers and mechanics, others artists and scholars. All these men and women were not familiar with the ways and means of their new country, many of them were unable to speak the English language, and they all had, therefore, to start in the very lowest places of American business life—thus naturally elevating all the inhabitants of the United States in a more or less degree, to higher positions in life. Many of these people, coming from all parts of Europe, were ably and well trained, and they became successful competitors of those, who were here before their arrival. But the constant stream of people from Europe to the United States was, nevertheless, steadily81 enriching and elevating the American people, and all the blows aimed at immigration were, therefore, unwise, and the legislators who proposed such blows remind me of the man who intended to kill the goose that laid the golden eggs”.
 
114 “It is, of course, impossible to advance social theories to which everybody will agree”, Mr. Forest said in conclusion. “I maintain, however, that all such theories should be based on two fundamental principles. They should have as an aim the establishment of a state of society, where everybody should be protected against an undeserved poverty, where the brain-cancer, fear of an undeserved poverty, should be cured; and they should preserve competition, the power that is permanently82 spurring everybody to use his best efforts to elevate himself and humanity”.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 kindly tpUzhQ     
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地
参考例句:
  • Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
  • A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。
2 conformity Hpuz9     
n.一致,遵从,顺从
参考例句:
  • Was his action in conformity with the law?他的行动是否合法?
  • The plan was made in conformity with his views.计划仍按他的意见制定。
3 industrious a7Axr     
adj.勤劳的,刻苦的,奋发的
参考例句:
  • If the tiller is industrious,the farmland is productive.人勤地不懒。
  • She was an industrious and willing worker.她是个勤劳肯干的员工。
4 labor P9Tzs     
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
参考例句:
  • We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
  • He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后,他已经疲惫不堪了。
5 grumble 6emzH     
vi.抱怨;咕哝;n.抱怨,牢骚;咕哝,隆隆声
参考例句:
  • I don't want to hear another grumble from you.我不愿再听到你的抱怨。
  • He could do nothing but grumble over the situation.他除了埋怨局势之外别无他法。
6 earnings rrWxJ     
n.工资收人;利润,利益,所得
参考例句:
  • That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
  • Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。
7 amass tL5ya     
vt.积累,积聚
参考例句:
  • How had he amassed his fortune?他是如何积累财富的呢?
  • The capitalists amass great wealth by exploiting workers.资本家剥削工人而积累了巨额财富。
8 amassing hzmzBn     
v.积累,积聚( amass的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • The study of taxonomy must necessarily involve the amassing of an encyclopaedic knowledge of plants. 分类学研究一定要积累广博的植物知识。 来自辞典例句
  • Build your trophy room while amassing awards and accolades. 建立您的奖杯积累奖项和荣誉。 来自互联网
9 mutual eFOxC     
adj.相互的,彼此的;共同的,共有的
参考例句:
  • We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
  • Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。
10 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。
11 taxation tqVwP     
n.征税,税收,税金
参考例句:
  • He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
  • The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
12 bankruptcies bcf5e4df1f93a4fe2251954d2dc45f1f     
n.破产( bankruptcy的名词复数 );倒闭;彻底失败;(名誉等的)完全丧失
参考例句:
  • It's a matter of record that there were ten bankruptcies in the town last year. 去年这个城市有十家破产是事实。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Business bankruptcies rose 50 percent over the previous year. 破产企业的数量比前一年增加50%。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
13 exhausted 7taz4r     
adj.极其疲惫的,精疲力尽的
参考例句:
  • It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长,到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
  • Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。
14 feverish gzsye     
adj.发烧的,狂热的,兴奋的
参考例句:
  • He is too feverish to rest.他兴奋得安静不下来。
  • They worked with feverish haste to finish the job.为了完成此事他们以狂热的速度工作着。
15 ascertained e6de5c3a87917771a9555db9cf4de019     
v.弄清,确定,查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The previously unidentified objects have now been definitely ascertained as being satellites. 原来所说的不明飞行物现在已证实是卫星。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I ascertained that she was dead. 我断定她已经死了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
16 queried 5c2c5662d89da782d75e74125d6f6932     
v.质疑,对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 );询问
参考例句:
  • She queried what he said. 她对他说的话表示怀疑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • \"What does he have to do?\" queried Chin dubiously. “他有什么心事?”琴向觉民问道,她的脸上现出疑惑不解的神情。 来自汉英文学 - 家(1-26) - 家(1-26)
17 subdivided 9c88c887e396c8cfad2991e2ef9b98bb     
再分,细分( subdivide的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The compound was subdivided into four living areas. 那个区域被划分成4个居住小区。
  • This part of geologic calendar has not been satisfactorily subdivided. 这部分地质年代表还没有令人满意地再细分出来。
18 thereby Sokwv     
adv.因此,从而
参考例句:
  • I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市,因此对它不怎么熟悉。
  • He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民,因而得到了投票权。
19 exorbitant G7iyh     
adj.过分的;过度的
参考例句:
  • More competition should help to drive down exorbitant phone charges.更多的竞争有助于降低目前畸高的电话收费。
  • The price of food here is exorbitant. 这儿的食物价格太高。
20 guilds e9f26499c2698dea8220dc23cd98d0a8     
行会,同业公会,协会( guild的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • View list of the guilds that Small has war on. 看目前有哪些公会是我们公会开战的对象及对我们开战的对象。
  • Guilds and kingdoms fit more with the Middle Age fantasy genre. (裴):公会和王国更适合中世纪奇幻类型。
21 confiscation confiscation     
n. 没收, 充公, 征收
参考例句:
  • Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels. 没收一切流亡分子和叛乱分子的财产。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言
  • Confiscation of smuggled property is part of the penalty for certain offences. 没收走私财产是对某些犯罪予以惩罚的一部分。
22 lofts dba33875eb1186c08cd8c3eba344fcdc     
阁楼( loft的名词复数 ); (由工厂等改建的)套房; 上层楼面; 房间的越层
参考例句:
  • He lofts it into the air, and hugs his head in the deep secret embrace. 他抬手甩了出去,然后赶忙把头紧紧的抱了个密不透风。
  • Spring Loaded Bed Loft-Lofts bed, freeing up extra storage space underneath. 弹性床铺抬高器---抬高床铺,释放更多床底下的空间。
23 wholesaler 6e9z3h     
n.批发商
参考例句:
  • We're the largest furniture wholesaler in Illinois. 我们是伊利诺伊州最大的家具批发商。 来自辞典例句
  • These are used to create profiles for each wholesaler. 这是他日常的工作或通过与批发商的正式会谈。 来自互联网
24 wholesale Ig9wL     
n.批发;adv.以批发方式;vt.批发,成批出售
参考例句:
  • The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物,以零售价卖出。
  • Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。
25 retailer QjjzzO     
n.零售商(人)
参考例句:
  • What are the retailer requirements?零售商会有哪些要求呢?
  • The retailer has assembled a team in Shanghai to examine the question.这家零售商在上海组建了一支团队研究这个问题。
26 retail VWoxC     
v./n.零售;adv.以零售价格
参考例句:
  • In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
  • These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。
27 solely FwGwe     
adv.仅仅,唯一地
参考例句:
  • Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
  • The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。
28 laborers c8c6422086151d6c0ae2a95777108e3c     
n.体力劳动者,工人( laborer的名词复数 );(熟练工人的)辅助工
参考例句:
  • Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言
29 procured 493ee52a2e975a52c94933bb12ecc52b     
v.(努力)取得, (设法)获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 );拉皮条
参考例句:
  • These cars are to be procured through open tender. 这些汽车要用公开招标的办法购买。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • A friend procured a position in the bank for my big brother. 一位朋友为我哥哥谋得了一个银行的职位。 来自《用法词典》
30 installments 7d41ca7af6f495d8e3432f8a4544f253     
部分( installment的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The first two installments were pretty close together in 1980. 第一次和节二次提款隔得很近,都是在1980年提的。
  • You have an installments sales contract. 你已经订立了一份分期付款的买卖契约了。
31 dealers 95e592fc0f5dffc9b9616efd02201373     
n.商人( dealer的名词复数 );贩毒者;毒品贩子;发牌者
参考例句:
  • There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
  • The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败,与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。
32 intimidate 5Rvzt     
vt.恐吓,威胁
参考例句:
  • You think you can intimidate people into doing what you want?你以为你可以威胁别人做任何事?
  • The first strike capacity is intended mainly to intimidate adversary.第一次攻击的武力主要是用来吓阻敌方的。
33 spunk YGozt     
n.勇气,胆量
参考例句:
  • After his death,the soldier was cited for spunk.那位士兵死后因作战勇敢而受到表彰。
  • I admired her independence and her spunk.我敬佩她的独立精神和勇气。
34 avocations ced84b6cc413c20155f985ee94d0e492     
n.业余爱好,嗜好( avocation的名词复数 );职业
参考例句:
  • Most seem to come from technical avocations, like engineering, computers and sciences. 绝大多数人原有技术方面的爱好,比如工程、计算机和科学。 来自互联网
  • In terms of avocations, there is hardly anything in common between Jenny and her younger sister. 就业余爱好而言,珍妮和她妹妹几乎没什么共同之处。 来自互联网
35 avocation leuyZ     
n.副业,业余爱好
参考例句:
  • He was a printer by trade and naturalist by avocation.他从事印刷业,同时是个博物学爱好者。
  • Learning foreign languages is just an avocation with me.学习外语只不过是我的一项业余爱好。
36 agrarian qKayI     
adj.土地的,农村的,农业的
参考例句:
  • People are leaving an agrarian way of life to go to the city.人们正在放弃农业生活方式而转向城市。
  • This was a feature of agrarian development in Britain.这是大不列颠土地所有制发展的一个特征。
37 toiling 9e6f5a89c05478ce0b1205d063d361e5     
长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 ); 艰难缓慢地移动,跋涉
参考例句:
  • The fiery orator contrasted the idle rich with the toiling working classes. 这位激昂的演说家把无所事事的富人同终日辛劳的工人阶级进行了对比。
  • She felt like a beetle toiling in the dust. She was filled with repulsion. 她觉得自己像只甲虫在地里挣扎,心中涌满愤恨。
38 ordaining 285c5859e1e50cc8997f13bbcddd677c     
v.任命(某人)为牧师( ordain的现在分词 );授予(某人)圣职;(上帝、法律等)命令;判定
参考例句:
39 prospect P01zn     
n.前景,前途;景色,视野
参考例句:
  • This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
  • The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。
40 Augmented b45f39670f767b2c62c8d6b211cbcb1a     
adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式
参考例句:
  • 'scientists won't be replaced," he claims, "but they will be augmented." 他宣称:“科学家不会被取代;相反,他们会被拓展。” 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
  • The impact of the report was augmented by its timing. 由于发表的时间选得好,这篇报导的影响更大了。
41 ascertaining e416513cdf74aa5e4277c1fc28aab393     
v.弄清,确定,查明( ascertain的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • I was ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. 我当时是要弄清楚地下室是朝前还是朝后延伸的。 来自辞典例句
  • The design and ascertaining of permanent-magnet-biased magnetic bearing parameter are detailed introduced. 并对永磁偏置磁悬浮轴承参数的设计和确定进行了详细介绍。 来自互联网
42 abominable PN5zs     
adj.可厌的,令人憎恶的
参考例句:
  • Their cruel treatment of prisoners was abominable.他们虐待犯人的做法令人厌恶。
  • The sanitary conditions in this restaurant are abominable.这家饭馆的卫生状况糟透了。
43 precedents 822d1685d50ee9bc7c3ee15a208b4a7e     
引用单元; 范例( precedent的名词复数 ); 先前出现的事例; 前例; 先例
参考例句:
  • There is no lack of precedents in this connection. 不乏先例。
  • He copied after bad precedents. 他仿效恶例。
44 precedent sSlz6     
n.先例,前例;惯例;adj.在前的,在先的
参考例句:
  • Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗?
  • This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。
45 treasury 7GeyP     
n.宝库;国库,金库;文库
参考例句:
  • The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
  • This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。
46 applied Tz2zXA     
adj.应用的;v.应用,适用
参考例句:
  • She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
  • This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。
47 ridiculed 81e89e8e17fcf40595c6663a61115a91     
v.嘲笑,嘲弄,奚落( ridicule的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Biosphere 2 was ultimately ridiculed as a research debade, as exfravagant pseudoscience. 生物圈2号最终被讥讽为科研上的大失败,代价是昂贵的伪科学。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She ridiculed his insatiable greed. 她嘲笑他的贪得无厌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
48 affiliations eb07781ca7b7f292abf957af7ded20fb     
n.联系( affiliation的名词复数 );附属机构;亲和性;接纳
参考例句:
  • She had affiliations of her own in every capital. 她原以为自己在欧洲各国首府都有熟人。 来自辞典例句
  • The society has many affiliations throughout the country. 这个社团在全国有很多关系。 来自辞典例句
49 postal EP0xt     
adj.邮政的,邮局的
参考例句:
  • A postal network now covers the whole country.邮路遍及全国。
  • Remember to use postal code.勿忘使用邮政编码。
50 prevailing E1ozF     
adj.盛行的;占优势的;主要的
参考例句:
  • She wears a fashionable hair style prevailing in the city.她的发型是这个城市流行的款式。
  • This reflects attitudes and values prevailing in society.这反映了社会上盛行的态度和价值观。
51 plausible hBCyy     
adj.似真实的,似乎有理的,似乎可信的
参考例句:
  • His story sounded plausible.他说的那番话似乎是真实的。
  • Her story sounded perfectly plausible.她的说辞听起来言之有理。
52 remarkable 8Vbx6     
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的
参考例句:
  • She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
  • These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。
53 forefathers EsTzkE     
n.祖先,先人;祖先,祖宗( forefather的名词复数 );列祖列宗;前人
参考例句:
  • They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left. 它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • All of us bristled at the lawyer's speech insulting our forefathers. 听到那个律师在讲演中污蔑我们的祖先,大家都气得怒发冲冠。 来自《简明英汉词典》
54 dividends 8d58231a4112c505163466a7fcf9d097     
红利( dividend的名词复数 ); 股息; 被除数; (足球彩票的)彩金
参考例句:
  • Nothing pays richer dividends than magnanimity. 没有什么比宽宏大量更能得到厚报。
  • Their decision five years ago to computerise the company is now paying dividends. 五年前他们作出的使公司电脑化的决定现在正产生出效益。
55 astonishment VvjzR     
n.惊奇,惊异
参考例句:
  • They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
  • I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。
56 wrath nVNzv     
n.愤怒,愤慨,暴怒
参考例句:
  • His silence marked his wrath. 他的沉默表明了他的愤怒。
  • The wrath of the people is now aroused. 人们被激怒了。
57 knights 2061bac208c7bdd2665fbf4b7067e468     
骑士; (中古时代的)武士( knight的名词复数 ); 骑士; 爵士; (国际象棋中)马
参考例句:
  • stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
  • He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。
58 toll LJpzo     
n.过路(桥)费;损失,伤亡人数;v.敲(钟)
参考例句:
  • The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
  • The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。
59 levying 90ad9be315edeae7731b2d08f32e26d5     
征(兵)( levy的现在分词 ); 索取; 发动(战争); 征税
参考例句:
  • The high tax will be given levying to the foreign country car. 对外国汽车要予以征收高税。
  • Levying estate income tax are considered to be goods tax. 遗产税是在财产所有者死亡后所征收的税。
60 levy Z9fzR     
n.征收税或其他款项,征收额
参考例句:
  • They levy a tax on him.他们向他征税。
  • A direct food levy was imposed by the local government.地方政府征收了食品税。
61 tolls 688e46effdf049725c7b7ccff16b14f3     
(缓慢而有规律的)钟声( toll的名词复数 ); 通行费; 损耗; (战争、灾难等造成的)毁坏
参考例句:
  • A man collected tolls at the gateway. 一个人在大门口收通行费。
  • The long-distance call tolls amount to quite a sum. 长途电话费数目相当可观。
62 champagne iwBzh3     
n.香槟酒;微黄色
参考例句:
  • There were two glasses of champagne on the tray.托盘里有两杯香槟酒。
  • They sat there swilling champagne.他们坐在那里大喝香槟酒。
63 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。
64 assessment vO7yu     
n.评价;评估;对财产的估价,被估定的金额
参考例句:
  • This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
  • What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何?
65 lessened 6351a909991322c8a53dc9baa69dda6f     
减少的,减弱的
参考例句:
  • Listening to the speech through an interpreter lessened its impact somewhat. 演讲辞通过翻译的嘴说出来,多少削弱了演讲的力量。
  • The flight to suburbia lessened the number of middle-class families living within the city. 随着迁往郊外的风行,住在城内的中产家庭减少了。
66 annihilate Peryn     
v.使无效;毁灭;取消
参考例句:
  • Archer crumpled up the yellow sheet as if the gesture could annihilate the news it contained.阿切尔把这张黄纸揉皱,好象用这个动作就会抹掉里面的消息似的。
  • We should bear in mind that we have to annihilate the enemy.我们要把歼敌的重任时刻记在心上。
67 killing kpBziQ     
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财
参考例句:
  • Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
  • Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。
68 amassed 4047ea1217d3f59ca732ca258d907379     
v.积累,积聚( amass的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He amassed a fortune from silver mining. 他靠开采银矿积累了一笔财富。
  • They have amassed a fortune in just a few years. 他们在几年的时间里就聚集了一笔财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》
69 possessed xuyyQ     
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的
参考例句:
  • He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
  • He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。
70 attain HvYzX     
vt.达到,获得,完成
参考例句:
  • I used the scientific method to attain this end. 我用科学的方法来达到这一目的。
  • His painstaking to attain his goal in life is praiseworthy. 他为实现人生目标所下的苦功是值得称赞的。
71 assented 4cee1313bb256a1f69bcc83867e78727     
同意,赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The judge assented to allow the prisoner to speak. 法官同意允许犯人申辩。
  • "No," assented Tom, "they don't kill the women -- they're too noble. “对,”汤姆表示赞同地说,“他们不杀女人——真伟大!
72 anarchy 9wYzj     
n.无政府状态;社会秩序混乱,无秩序
参考例句:
  • There would be anarchy if we had no police.要是没有警察,社会就会无法无天。
  • The country was thrown into a state of anarchy.这国家那时一下子陷入无政府状态。
73 civilized UwRzDg     
a.有教养的,文雅的
参考例句:
  • Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
  • rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为
74 statute TGUzb     
n.成文法,法令,法规;章程,规则,条例
参考例句:
  • Protection for the consumer is laid down by statute.保障消费者利益已在法令里作了规定。
  • The next section will consider this environmental statute in detail.下一部分将详细论述环境法令的问题。
75 evade evade     
vt.逃避,回避;避开,躲避
参考例句:
  • He tried to evade the embarrassing question.他企图回避这令人难堪的问题。
  • You are in charge of the job.How could you evade the issue?你是负责人,你怎么能对这个问题不置可否?
76 cliques 5c4ad705fea1aae5fc295ede865b8921     
n.小集团,小圈子,派系( clique的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • All traitorous persons and cliques came to no good end. 所有的叛徒及叛徒集团都没好下场。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • They formed cliques and carried arms expansion and war preparations. 他们拉帮结派,扩军备战。 来自互联网
77 partnership NmfzPy     
n.合作关系,伙伴关系
参考例句:
  • The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
  • Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。
78 anarchists 77e02ed8f43afa00f890654326232c37     
无政府主义者( anarchist的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Anarchists demand the destruction of structures of oppression including the country itself. "无政府主义者要求摧毁包括国家本身在内的压迫人民的组织。
  • Unsurprisingly, Ms Baburova had a soft spot for anarchists. 没什么奇怪的,巴布罗娃女士倾向于无政府主义。
79 entirely entirely     
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
  • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
80 influx c7lxL     
n.流入,注入
参考例句:
  • The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
  • Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施,因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。
81 steadily Qukw6     
adv.稳定地;不变地;持续地
参考例句:
  • The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
  • Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。
82 permanently KluzuU     
adv.永恒地,永久地,固定不变地
参考例句:
  • The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
  • The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。


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