“How tiresome1!” Frank Hargate said. “I was watching a most interesting thing here. Don't you see this little chaffinch nest in the bush, with a newly hatched brood. There was a small black snake threatening the nest, and the mother was defending it with quivering wings and open beak2. I never saw a prettier thing. I sat quite still and neither of them seemed to notice me. Of course I should have interfered3 if I had seen the snake getting the best of it. When you came running up like a cart horse, the snake glided4 away in the grass, and the bird flew off. Oh, dear! I am sorry. I had forgotten all about the match.”
“I never saw such a fellow as you are, Hargate. Here's the opening match of the season, and you, who are one of our best bats, poking5 about after birds and snakes. Come along; Thompson sent me and two or three other fellows off in all directions to find you. We shall be half out before you're back. Wilson took James's wicket the first ball.”
Frank Hargate leaped to his feet, and, laying aside for the present all thoughts of his favorite pursuit, started off at a run to the playing field. His arrival there was greeted with a mingled6 chorus of welcome and indignation. Frank Hargate was, next to Thompson the captain of the Town eleven, the best bat among the home boarders. He played a steady rather than a brilliant game, and was noted8 as a good sturdy sticker. Had he been there, Thompson would have put him in at first, in order to break the bowling9 of the House team. As it was, misfortunes had come rapidly. Ruthven and Handcock were bowling splendidly, and none of the Town boys were making any stand against them. Thompson himself had gone in when the fourth wicket fell, and was still in, although two wickets had since fallen, for only four runs, and the seventh wicket fell just as Frank arrived, panting, on the ground.
“I'm very sorry,” Frank shouted back cheerfully, “and never mind the flannels, for once. Shall I come in now?”
“No,” Thompson said. “You'd better get your wind first. Let Fenner come in next.”
Fenner stayed in four overs, adding two singles as his share, while Thompson put on a three and a two. Then Fenner was caught. Thirty-one runs for eight wickets! Then Frank took the bat, and walked to the ground. Thompson came across to him.
“Look here, Hargate, you have made a nice mess of it, and the game looks as bad as can be. Whatever you do, play carefully. Don't let out at anything that comes straight. The great thing is to bother their bowling a bit. They're so cocky now, that pretty near every ball is straight on the wickets. Be content with blocking for a bit, and Handcock will soon go off. He always gets savage11 if his bowling is collared.”
Frank obeyed orders. In the next twenty minutes he only scored six runs, all in singles, while Thompson, who was also playing very carefully, put on thirteen. The game looked more hopeful for the Town boys. Then there was a shout from the House, as Thompson's middle wicket was sent flying. Childers, who was the last of the team, walked out.
“Now, Childers,” Thompson said, “don't you hit at a ball. You're safe to be bowled or caught if you do. Just lift your bat, and block them each time. Now, Frank, it's your turn to score. Put them on as fast as you can. It's no use playing carefully any longer.”
Frank set to to hit in earnest. He had now got his eye well in, and the stand which he and Thompson had made together, had taken the sting out of the bowling. The ball which had taken Thompson's wicket was the last of the over. Consequently the next came to him. It was a little wide, and Frank, stepping out, drove it for four. A loud shout rose from the Town boys. There had only been one four scored before, during the innings. Off the next ball Frank scored a couple, blocked the next, and drove the last of the over past long leg for four. The next over Childers strictly12 obeyed orders, blocking each ball. Then it was Frank's turn again, and seven more went up on the board. They remained together for just fifteen minutes, but during that time thirty-one had been added to the score. Frank was caught at cover point, having added twenty-eight since Thompson left him, the other three being credited to Childers. The total was eighty-one—not a bad score in a school match.
“Well, you've redeemed13 yourself,” Thompson said, as Frank walked to the tent. “You played splendidly, old fellow, when you did come. If we do as well next innings we are safe. They're not likely to average eighty. Now get on your wicket-keeping gloves. Green and I will bowl.”
The House scored rapidly at first, and fifty runs were put on with the loss of four wickets. Then misfortune fell upon them, and the remaining six fell for nineteen. The next innings Frank went in first, but was caught when the score stood at fifteen. Thompson made fourteen, but the rest scored but badly, and the whole were out for forty-eight.
The House had sixty-one to get to win. Six wickets had fallen for fifty-one runs, when Thompson put Childers on to bowl. The change was a fortunate one. Ruthven's stumps14 were lowered at the first ball. Handcock was caught off the second. The spirits of the Town boys rose. There were but two wickets more, and still ten runs to get to win. The House played cautiously now, and overs were sent down without a run. Then off a ball from Childers a four was scored, but the next ball leveled the outside stump15. Then by singles the score mounted up until a tremendous shout from the House announced that the game was saved, sixty runs being marked by the scorers. The next ball, the Town boys replied even more lustily, for Childers ball removed the bails16, and the game ended in a tie. Both parties were equally well satisfied, and declared that a better game had never been played at Dr. Parker's. As soon as the game was over Frank, without waiting to join in the general talk over the game, put on his coat and waistcoat and started at a run for home.
Frank Hargate was an only son. His mother lived in a tiny cottage on the outskirts17 of Deal. She was a widow, her husband, Captain Hargate, having died a year before. She had only her pension as an officer's widow, a pittance18 that scarce sufficed even for the modest wants of herself, Frank, and her little daughter Lucy, now six years old.
“I hope I have not kept tea waiting, mother,” Frank said as he ran in. “It is not my beetles19 and butterflies this time. We have been playing a cricket match, and a first rate one it was. Town boys against the House. It ended in a tie.”
“You are only a quarter of an hour late,” his mother said, smiling, “which is a great deal nearer being punctual than is usually the case when you are out with your net. We were just going to begin, for I know your habits too well to give you more than a quarter of an hour's law.”
“I'm afraid I am horridly20 unpunctual,” Frank said, “and yet, mother, I never go out without making up my mind that I will be in sharp to time. But somehow there is always something which draws me away.”
“It makes no matter, Frank. If you are happy and amused I am content, and if the tea is cold it is your loss, not ours. Now, my boy, as soon as you have washed your hands we will have tea.”
It was a simple meal, thick slices of bread and butter and tea, for Mrs. Hargate could only afford to put meat upon the table once a day, and even for that several times in the week fish was substituted, when the weather was fine and the fishing boats returned, when well laden21. Frank fortunately cared very little what he ate, and what was good enough for his mother was good enough for him. In his father's lifetime things had been different, but Captain Hargate had fallen in battle in New Zealand. He had nothing besides his pay, and his wife and children had lived with him in barracks until his regiment22 was ordered out to New Zealand, when he had placed his wife in the little cottage she now occupied. He had fallen in an attack on a Maori pah, a fortnight after landing in New Zealand. He had always intended Frank to enter the military profession, and had himself directed his education so long as he was at home.
The loss of his father had been a terrible blow for the boy, who had been his constant companion when off duty. Captain Hargate had been devoted23 to field sports and was an excellent naturalist24. The latter taste Frank had inherited from him. His father had brought home from India—where the regiment had been stationed until it returned for its turn of home service four years before he left New Zealand—a very large quantity of skins of birds which he had shot there. These he had stuffed and mounted, and so dexterous25 was he at the work, so natural and artistic26 were the groups of birds, that he was enabled to add considerably27 to his income by sending these up to the shop of a London naturalist. He had instructed Frank in his methods, and had given him one of the long blowguns used by some of the hill tribes in India. The boy had attained28 such dexterity29 in its use that he was able with his clay pellets to bring down sitting birds, however small, with almost unerring accuracy.
These he stuffed and mounted, arranging them with a taste and skill which delighted the few visitors at his mother's cottage.
Frank was ready to join in a game of football or cricket when wanted, and could hold his own in either. But he vastly preferred to go out for long walks with his blowgun, his net, and his collecting boxes. At home every moment not required for the preparation of his lessons was spent in mounting and arranging his captures. He was quite ready to follow the course his father proposed for him, and to enter the army. Captain Hargate had been a very gallant30 officer, and the despatches had spoken most highly of the bravery with which he led his company into action in the fight in which he lost his life. Therefore Mrs. Hargate hoped that Frank would have little difficulty in obtaining a commission without purchase when the time for his entering the army arrived.
Frank's desire for a military life was based chiefly upon the fact that it would enable him to travel to many parts of the world, and to indulge his taste for natural history to the fullest. He was but ten years old when he left India with the regiment, but he had still a vivid recollection of the lovely butterflies and bright birds of that country.
His father had been at pains to teach him that a student of natural history must be more than a mere31 collector, and that like other sciences it must be methodically studied. He possessed32 an excellent library of books upon the subject, and although Frank might be ignorant of the name of any bird or insect shown to him he could at once name the family and species.
In the year which Frank had been at school at Dr. Parker's he had made few intimate friends. His habits of solitary33 wandering and studious indoor work had hindered his becoming the chum of any of his schoolfellows, and this absence of intimacy34 had been increased by the fact that the straitness of his mother's means prevented his inviting35 any of his schoolfellows to his home. He had, indeed, brought one or two of the boys, whose tastes lay in the direction of his own, to the house, to show them his collections of birds and insects. But he declined their invitations to visit them, as he was unable to return their hospitality, and was too proud to eat and drink at other fellows' houses when he could not ask them to do the same at his own. It was understood at Dr. Parker's that Frank Hargate's people were poor, but it was known that his father had been killed in battle. There are writers who depict36 boys as worshipers of wealth, and many pictures have been drawn37 of the slights and indignities38 to which boys, whose means are inferior to those of their schoolfellows, are subject. I am happy to believe that this is a libel. There are, it is true, toadies39 and tuft hunters among boys as among men. That odious40 creature, the parasite41 of the Greek and Latin plays, exists still, but I do not believe that a boy is one whit42 the less liked, or is ever taunted43 with his poverty, provided he is a good fellow. Most of the miseries44 endured by boys whose pocket money is less abundant than that of their fellows are purely45 self inflicted46. Boys and men who are always on the lookout47 for slights will, of course, find what they seek. But the lad who is not ashamed of what is no fault of his own, who frankly48 and manfully says, “I can't afford it,” will not find that he is in any way looked down upon by those of his schoolfellows whose good opinion is in the smallest degree worth having.
Certainly this was so in the case of Frank Hargate. He was never in the slightest degree ashamed of saying, “I can't afford it;” and the fact that he was the son of an officer killed in battle gave him a standing49 among the best in the school in spite of his want of pocket money.
Frank was friends with many of the fishermen, and these would often bring him strange fish and sea creatures brought up in their nets, instead of throwing them back into the sea.
During the holidays he would sometimes go out with them for twenty-four hours in their fishing-boats. His mother made no objection to this, as she thought that the exercise and sea air were good for his health, and that the change did him good. Frank himself was so fond of the sea that he was half disposed to adopt it instead of the army as a profession. But his mother was strongly opposed to the idea, and won him to her way of thinking by pointing out that although a sailor visits many ports he stays long at none of them, and that in the few hours' leave he might occasionally obtain he would be unable to carry out his favorite pursuits.
“Hargate,” Ruthven, who was one of the oldest of the House boys, and was about Frank's age, that is about fifteen years old, said a few days after the match, “the Doctor has given Handcock and Jones and myself leave to take a boat and go out this afternoon. We mean to start soon after dinner, and shall take some lines and bait with us. We have got leave till lockup, so we shall have a long afternoon of it. Will you come with us?”
“Thank you, Ruthven,” Frank said; “I should like it very much, but you know I'm short of pocket money, and I can't pay my share of the boat, so I would rather leave it alone.”
“Oh, nonsense, Hargate!” Ruthven answered; “we know money is not your strong point, but we really want you to go with us. You can manage a boat better than any of us, and you will really oblige us if you will go with us.”
“Oh, if you put it in that way,” Frank said, “I shall be glad to go with you; but I do not think,” he went on, looking at the sky, “that the weather looks very settled. However, if you do not mind the chance of a ducking, I don't.”
“All right. I'll be punctual.”
At the appointed hour the four lads met on the beach. Ruthven and his companions wanted to choose a light rowing boat, but Frank strongly urged them to take a much larger and heavier one. “In the first place,” he said, “the wind is blowing off shore, and although it's calm here it will be rougher farther out; and, unless I'm mistaken, the wind is getting up fast. Besides this it will be much more comfortable to fish from a good sized boat.”
His comrades grumbled51 at the extra labor52 which the large boat would entail53 in rowing. However, they finally gave in and the boat was launched.
“Look out, Master Hargate,” the boatman said as they started; “you'd best not go out too far, for the wind is freshening fast, and we shall have, I think, a nasty night.”
The boys thought little of the warning, for the sky was bright and blue, broken only by a few gauzy white clouds which streaked54 it here and there. They rowed out about a mile, and then laying in their oars55, lowered their grapnel and began to fish. The sport was good. The fish bit freely and were rapidly hauled on board. Even Frank was so absorbed in the pursuit that he paid no attention to the changing aspect of the sky, the increasing roughness of the sea, or the rapidly rising wind.
Suddenly a heavy drop or two of rain fell in the boat. All looked up.
“We are in for a squall,” Frank exclaimed, “and no mistake. I told you you would get a ducking, Ruthven.”
He had scarcely spoken when the squall was upon them. A deluge56 of rain swept down, driven by a strong squall of wind.
“Sit in the bottom of the boat,” Frank said; “this is a snorter.”
Not a word was said for ten minutes, long before which all were drenched57 to the skin. With the rain a sudden darkness had fallen, and the land was entirely58 invisible. Frank looked anxiously towards the shore. The sea was getting up fast, and the boat tugging59 and straining at the cord of the grapnel. He shook his head. “It looks very bad,” he said to himself. “If this squall does not abate60 we are going to have a bad time of it.”
A quarter of an hour after it commenced the heavy downpour of rain ceased, or rather changed into a driving sleet61. It was still extremely dark, a thick lead colored cloud overspread the sky. Already the white horses showed how fast the sea was rising, and the wind showed no signs of falling with the cessation of the rain storm. The boat was laboring62 at her head rope and dipping her nose heavily into the waves.
“Look here, you fellows,” Frank shouted, “we must take to the oars. If the rope were a long one we might ride here, but you know it little more than reached the ground when we threw it out. I believe she's dragging already, and even if she isn't she would pull her head under water with so short a rope when the sea gets up. We'd better get out the oars and row to shore, if we can, before the sea gets worse.”
The lads got up and looked round, and their faces grew pale and somewhat anxious as they saw how threatening was the aspect of the sea. They had four oars on board, and these were soon in the water and the grapnel hauled up. A few strokes sufficed to show them that with all four rowing the boat's head could not be kept towards the shore, the wind taking it and turning the boat broadside on.
“This will never do,” Frank said. “I will steer63 and you row, two oars on one side and one on the other. I will take a spell presently.
“Row steadily64, Ruthven,” he shouted; “don't spurt65. We have a long row before us and must not knock ourselves up at the beginning.”
For half an hour not a word was spoken beyond an occasional cheery exhortation66 from Frank. The shore could be dimly seen at times through the driving mist, and Frank's heart sank as he recognized the fact that it was further off than it had been when they first began to row. The wind was blowing a gale67 now, and, although but two miles from shore, the sea was already rough for an open boat.
“Here, Ruthven, you take a spell now,” he said.
Although the rowers had from time to time glanced over their shoulders, they could not, through the mist, form any idea of their position. When Ruthven took the helm he exclaimed, “Good gracious, Frank! the shore is hardly visible. We are being blown out to sea.”
“I am afraid we are,” Frank said; “but there is nothing to do but to keep on rowing. The wind may lull68 or it may shift and give us a chance of making for Ramsgate. The boat is a good sea boat, and may keep afloat even if we are driven out to sea. Or if we are missed from shore they may send the lifeboat out after us. That is our best chance.”
In another quarter of an hour Ruthven was ready to take another spell at the oar7. “I fear,” Frank shouted to him as he climbed over the seat, “there is no chance whatever of making shore. All we've got to do is to row steadily and keep her head dead to wind. Two of us will do for that. You and I will row now, and let Handcock and Jones steer and rest by turns. Then when we are done up they can take our places.”
In another hour it was quite dark, save for the gray light from the foaming69 water around. The wind was blowing stronger than ever, and it required the greatest care on the part of the steersman to keep her dead in the eye of the wind. Handcock was steering70 now, and Jones lying at the bottom of the boat, where he was sheltered, at least from the wind. All the lads were plucky71 fellows and kept up a semblance72 of good spirits, but all in their hearts knew that their position was a desperate one.
点击收听单词发音
1 tiresome | |
adj.令人疲劳的,令人厌倦的 | |
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2 beak | |
n.鸟嘴,茶壶嘴,钩形鼻 | |
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3 interfered | |
v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 );调停;妨碍;干涉 | |
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4 glided | |
v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 );掠过;(鸟或飞机 ) 滑翔 | |
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5 poking | |
n. 刺,戳,袋 vt. 拨开,刺,戳 vi. 戳,刺,捅,搜索,伸出,行动散慢 | |
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6 mingled | |
混合,混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 ); 混进,与…交往[联系] | |
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7 oar | |
n.桨,橹,划手;v.划行 | |
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8 noted | |
adj.著名的,知名的 | |
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9 bowling | |
n.保龄球运动 | |
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10 flannels | |
法兰绒男裤; 法兰绒( flannel的名词复数 ) | |
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11 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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12 strictly | |
adv.严厉地,严格地;严密地 | |
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13 redeemed | |
adj. 可赎回的,可救赎的 动词redeem的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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14 stumps | |
(被砍下的树的)树桩( stump的名词复数 ); 残肢; (板球三柱门的)柱; 残余部分 | |
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15 stump | |
n.残株,烟蒂,讲演台;v.砍断,蹒跚而走 | |
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16 bails | |
(法庭命令缴付的)保释金( bail的名词复数 ); 三柱门上的横木 | |
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17 outskirts | |
n.郊外,郊区 | |
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18 pittance | |
n.微薄的薪水,少量 | |
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19 beetles | |
n.甲虫( beetle的名词复数 ) | |
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20 horridly | |
可怕地,讨厌地 | |
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21 laden | |
adj.装满了的;充满了的;负了重担的;苦恼的 | |
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22 regiment | |
n.团,多数,管理;v.组织,编成团,统制 | |
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23 devoted | |
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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24 naturalist | |
n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者) | |
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25 dexterous | |
adj.灵敏的;灵巧的 | |
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26 artistic | |
adj.艺术(家)的,美术(家)的;善于艺术创作的 | |
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27 considerably | |
adv.极大地;相当大地;在很大程度上 | |
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28 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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29 dexterity | |
n.(手的)灵巧,灵活 | |
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30 gallant | |
adj.英勇的,豪侠的;(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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31 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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32 possessed | |
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的 | |
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33 solitary | |
adj.孤独的,独立的,荒凉的;n.隐士 | |
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34 intimacy | |
n.熟悉,亲密,密切关系,亲昵的言行 | |
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35 inviting | |
adj.诱人的,引人注目的 | |
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36 depict | |
vt.描画,描绘;描写,描述 | |
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37 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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38 indignities | |
n.侮辱,轻蔑( indignity的名词复数 ) | |
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39 toadies | |
n.谄媚者,马屁精( toady的名词复数 )v.拍马,谄媚( toady的第三人称单数 ) | |
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40 odious | |
adj.可憎的,讨厌的 | |
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41 parasite | |
n.寄生虫;寄生菌;食客 | |
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42 whit | |
n.一点,丝毫 | |
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43 taunted | |
嘲讽( taunt的过去式和过去分词 ); 嘲弄; 辱骂; 奚落 | |
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44 miseries | |
n.痛苦( misery的名词复数 );痛苦的事;穷困;常发牢骚的人 | |
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45 purely | |
adv.纯粹地,完全地 | |
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46 inflicted | |
把…强加给,使承受,遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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47 lookout | |
n.注意,前途,瞭望台 | |
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48 frankly | |
adv.坦白地,直率地;坦率地说 | |
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49 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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50 pier | |
n.码头;桥墩,桥柱;[建]窗间壁,支柱 | |
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51 grumbled | |
抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 ); 发牢骚; 咕哝; 发哼声 | |
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52 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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53 entail | |
vt.使承担,使成为必要,需要 | |
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54 streaked | |
adj.有条斑纹的,不安的v.快速移动( streak的过去式和过去分词 );使布满条纹 | |
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55 oars | |
n.桨,橹( oar的名词复数 );划手v.划(行)( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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56 deluge | |
n./vt.洪水,暴雨,使泛滥 | |
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57 drenched | |
adj.湿透的;充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 );在某人(某物)上大量使用(某液体) | |
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58 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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59 tugging | |
n.牵引感v.用力拉,使劲拉,猛扯( tug的现在分词 ) | |
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60 abate | |
vi.(风势,疼痛等)减弱,减轻,减退 | |
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61 sleet | |
n.雨雪;v.下雨雪,下冰雹 | |
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62 laboring | |
n.劳动,操劳v.努力争取(for)( labor的现在分词 );苦干;详细分析;(指引擎)缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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63 steer | |
vt.驾驶,为…操舵;引导;vi.驾驶 | |
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64 steadily | |
adv.稳定地;不变地;持续地 | |
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65 spurt | |
v.喷出;突然进发;突然兴隆 | |
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66 exhortation | |
n.劝告,规劝 | |
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67 gale | |
n.大风,强风,一阵闹声(尤指笑声等) | |
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68 lull | |
v.使安静,使入睡,缓和,哄骗;n.暂停,间歇 | |
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69 foaming | |
adj.布满泡沫的;发泡 | |
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70 steering | |
n.操舵装置 | |
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71 plucky | |
adj.勇敢的 | |
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72 semblance | |
n.外貌,外表 | |
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