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CHAPTER II
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 Ruth Seer’s father had been a clergyman of the Church of England, and had spent a short life in doing, in the eyes of his family—a widowed mother and an elderly sister—incredibly foolish things.
To begin with he openly professed1 what were then considered extreme views, and thereby2 hopelessly alienated3 the patron of the comfortable living on which his mother’s eye had been fixed4 when she encouraged his desire to take Holy Orders.
“As if lighted candles, and flowers on the altar, and that sort of thing, mattered two brass6 farthings when £800 a year was at stake,” wailed7 Mrs. Seer, to a sympathizing friend.
Paul Seer then proceeded to fall in love, and with great promptitude married the music mistress at the local High School for Girls. She was adorably pretty, with the temper of an angel, and they succeeded in being what Mrs. Seer described as “wickedly happy” in a state of semi-starvation on his curate’s pay of £120 a year.
27They had three children with the greatest possible speed.
That two died at birth Mrs. Seer looked upon as a direct sign of a Merciful Providence8.
Poor lady, she had struggled for so many years on a minute income, an income barely sufficient for one which had to provide for three, to say nothing of getting the boy educated by charity, that it was small wonder if a heart and mind, narrow to start with, had become entirely9 ruled by the consideration of ways and means.
And, the world being so arranged that ways and means do bulk iniquitously10 large in most people’s lives, obliterating11, even against their will, almost everything else by comparison, perhaps it was also a Merciful Providence which took the boyish curate and his small wife to Itself within a week of each other, during the first influenza12 epidemic13. You cannot work very hard, and not get enough food or warmth, and at the same time hold your own against the Influenza Fiend when he means business. So, at the age of three, the Benevolent14 Clergy’s Orphanage15, Parson’s Green, London, S.E., swallowed Ruth Courthope Seer. A very minute figure all in coal black, in what seemed to her a coal-black world. For many a long year, in times of depression, that sense of an all pervading16 28blackness would swallow Ruth up, struggle she never so fiercely.
Asked, long after she had left it, what the Orphanage was like, she answered instantly and without thought:
“It was an ugly place.”
That was the adjective which covered to her everything in it, and the life she led there. It was ugly.
The Matron was the widow of a Low Church parson. A worthy17 woman who looked on life as a vale of tears, on human beings as miserable18 sinners, and on joy and beauty as a distinct mark of the Beast.
She did her duty by the orphans19 according to the light she possessed20. They were sufficiently21 fed, and kept warm and clean. They learnt the three R’s, sewing and housework. Also to play “a piece” on the piano, and a smattering of British French. The Orphanage still in these days considered that only three professions were open to “ladies by birth.” They must be either a governess, a companion, or a hospital nurse.
The Matron inculcated the virtues22 of gratitude23, obedience24 and contentment, and two great precepts25, “You must bow to the Will of God” and “You must behave like a lady.”
“The Will of God” seemed to typify every 29unpleasant thing that could possibly happen to you; and Ruth, in the beginnings of dawning thought, always pictured It as a large purple-black storm-cloud, which descended27 on all and sundry28 at the most unexpected moments, and before which the dust blew and the trees were bent29 double, and human beings were scattered30 as with a flail31. And in Ruth’s mind the storm-cloud was peculiarly terrible because unaccompanied by rain.
With regard to the second precept26, when thought progressed still farther, and she began to reason things out, she one day electrified33 the whole Orphanage when rebuked34 for unladylike behaviour, by standing35 up and saying, firmly but politely, “If you please, Matron, I don’t want to be a lady. I want to be a little girl.”
But for the most part she was a silent child and gave little trouble.
Twice a year a severe lady, known as “your Grandmother,” and a younger less severe lady, known as “your Aunt Amelia,” came to see her, and they always hoped she “was a good girl.”
Then Aunt Amelia ceased to come, for she had gone out to India to be married, and “your Grandmother” came alone. And then Grandmother died and went to heaven, and nobody came to see Ruth any more. Only a parcel 30came, an event hitherto unknown in Ruth’s drab little existence, and of stupendous interest. It contained a baby’s first shoe, a curl of gold hair in a tiny envelope, labelled “Paul, aged5 2,” in a pointed36 writing, a letter in straggling round hand beginning “My dear Mamma,” another letter in neat copper37 plate beginning “My dear Mother,” and a highly coloured picture of St. George attacking the dragon, signed “Paul Courthope Seer,” with the date added in the pointed writing.
It was many years later that Ruth first understood the pathos38 of that parcel.
When she was seventeen the Committee found a situation for her as companion to a lady. The Matron recommended her as suitable for the position, and the Committee informed her, on the solemn occasion when she appeared before them to receive their parting valediction39, delivered by the Chairman, that she was extremely lucky to secure a situation in a Christian40 household where she would not only have every comfort, but even Every Luxury.
So Ruth departed to a large and heavily furnished house, where the windows were only opened for a half an hour each day while the servants did the rooms, and which consequently smelt41 of the bodies of the people who lived in it. Every day, except Sunday, she went for a drive 31with an old lady in a brougham with both windows closed. On fine warm days she walked out with an old lady leaning on her arm. Every morning she read the newspaper aloud. At other times she picked up dropped stitches in knitting, played Halma, or read a novel aloud, by such authors as Rhoda Broughton or Mrs. Hungerford.
Any book less calculated to have salutary effect on a young girl who never spoke42 to any man under fifty, and that but rarely, can hardly be imagined.
If there had been an animal in the house, or a garden round it, Ruth might have struggled longer. As it was, at the end of three months she proved to be one of the Orphanage’s few failures and, without even consulting the Committee, gave notice, and took a place as shop assistant to a second-hand43 bookseller in a small back street off the Tottenham Court Road. And here Ruth stayed and worked for the space of seventeen years—to be exact, until the year of the Great War, 1914.
The Committee ceased to take an interest in her, and her Aunt Amelia, still in India, ceased to write at Christmas, and Ruth’s last frail44 links with the world of her father were broken.
It was a strange life for a girl in the little bookshop, but at any rate she had achieved 32some measure of freedom, she had got rid of the burden of her ladyhood, and in some notable directions her starved intelligence was fed.
Her master, Raphael Goltz, came of the most despised of all race combinations; he was a German Jew, and he possessed the combined brain-power of both races.
He had the head of one of Michael Angelo’s apostles, on the curious beetle-shaped body of the typical Jew. He was incredibly mean, and rather incredibly dirty, and he had three passions—books, music, and food.
When he discovered in his new assistant a fellow lover of the two first, and an intelligence considerably46 above the average, he taught her how and what to read, and to play and sing great music not unworthily. With regard to the third, he taught her, in his own interest, to be a cook of supreme47 excellence48.
And on the whole Ruth was not unhappy. Sometimes she looked her loneliness in the face, and the long years struck at her like stones. Sometimes her dying, slowly dying, youth called to her in the night watches, and she counted the hours of the grey past years, hours and hours with nothing of youth’s meed of joy and love in them. But for the most part she strangled these thoughts with firm hands. There was nothing to be gained by them, for there was 33nothing to be done. An untrained woman, without money or people, must take what she can get and be thankful.
She read a great many both of the wisest and of the most beautiful books in the world, she listened to music played by the master hand, and her skilled cooking interested her. As the years went on, old Goltz left the business more and more to her, spending his time in his little back parlour surrounded by his beloved first editions, which he knew better by now than to offer for sale, drawing the music of the spheres from his wonderful Bluthner piano, and steadily49 smoking. He gave Ruth a sitting-room50 of her own upstairs, and allowed her to take in the two little dogs Sarah and Selina. On Saturday afternoons and Sundays she would take train into the country, and tramp along miles with them in the world she loved.
And then, when it seemed as if life were going on like that for ever and ever, came the breathless days before August 4, 1914, those days when the whole world stood as it were on tiptoe, waiting for the trumpet51 signal.
Ah well! there was something of the wonder and glory of war, of which we had read, about it then—before we knew—yes, before we knew! The bugle52 call—the tramp of armed men—the glamour53 of victory and great deeds—and of sacrifice 34too,—of sacrifice too. The love of one’s country suddenly made concrete as it were. Just for that while, at any rate, no one thinking of himself, or personal profit. Personal glory, perhaps, which is a better matter. Every one standing ready. “Send me.”
The world felt cleaner, purer.
It was a wonderful time. Too wonderful to last perhaps. But the marks last. At any rate we have known. We have seen white presences upon the hills. We have heard the voices of the Eternal Gods.
The greatest crime in history. Yes. But we were touched to finer issues in those first days.
And then Raphael Goltz woke up too. He talked to Ruth in the hot August evenings instead of sleeping. Even she was astonished at what the old man knew. He had studied foreign politics for years. He knew that the cause of the war lay farther back, much farther back than men realized. He saw things from a wide standpoint. He was a German Jew by blood and in intellect, Jew by nature, but England had always been his home. That he loved her well Ruth never had any doubt after those evenings.
He never thought, though, that it would come to war. It seemed to him impossible. “It would be infamy,” he said.
35And then it came. Came with a shock, and yet with a strange sense of exhilaration about it. Men who had stood behind counters, and sat on office stools since boyhood, stretched themselves, as the blood of fighting forefathers54 stirred in their veins55. They were still the sons of men who had gone voyaging with Drake and Frobisher, of men who had sailed the seven seas, and fought great fights, and found strange lands, and died brave deaths, in the days when a Great Adventure was possible for all. For them too had, almost inconceivably, come the chance to get away from greyly monotonous56 days which seemed like “yesterday come back”; for them too was the Great Adventure possible. The lad who, under Ruth’s supervision57, took down shutters58, cleaned boots, knives and windows, swept the floors and ran errands, was among the first to go, falsifying his age by two years, and it was old Raphael Goltz, German Jew, who even in those first days knew the war as the crime of all the ages.
Ruth was the next, and he helped her too; while the authorities turned skilled workers down, and threw cold water in buckets on the men and women standing shoulder to shoulder ready for any sacrifice in those first days, old Raphael Goltz, knowing the value of Ruth’s cooking and physical soundness, found her the 36money to offer her services free—old Raphael Goltz, who through so many years had been so incredibly mean. He disliked dogs cordially, yet he undertook the care of Sarah and Selina in her absence. To Ruth’s further amazement59, he also gave her introductions of value to leading authorities in Paris who welcomed her gladly and sent her forthwith into an estaminet behind the lines in Northern France.
Something of her childhood in the Orphanage, and of the long years with Raphael Goltz, Ruth told North, as they sat together in the warmth and stillness of the May evening, but of the years in France she spoke little. She had seen unspeakable things there. The memory of them was almost unbearable60. They were things she held away from thought. Beautiful and wonderful things there were too, belonging to those years. But they were still more impossible to speak of. She carried the mark of them both, the terrible and the beautiful, in her steady eyes. Besides, some one else, who was interested too, who was surely—the consciousness was not to be ignored—interested too, knew all about that. And suddenly she realized how that common knowledge of life and death at their height was also a bond, as well as love of Thorpe, and she paused in her tale, and sat very still.
37“And then?” said North, after a while.
“I was out there for two years, without coming home, the first time. There seemed nothing for me to come home for, and I didn’t want to leave. There was always so much to be done, and one felt of use. It was selfish of me really, but I never realized somehow that Raphael Goltz cared. Then I had bad news from him. You remember the time when the mobs wrecked61 the shops with German names? Well, his was one of them. So I got leave and came back to him. It was very sad. The old shop was broken to pieces, his books had been thrown into the street and many burnt, and the piano, his beautiful piano, smashed past all repair. I found him up in the back attic62, with Sarah and Selina. He had saved them for me somehow. He cried when I came. He was very old, you see, and he had felt the war as much as any of us.”
Her eyes were full of tears, and she stopped for a moment to steady her voice. “He bore no malice63, and three days after I got back he died, babbling64 the old cry, ‘We ought to have been friends.’
“It was always that, ‘We ought to have been friends,’ and once he said, ‘Together we could have regenerated65 the world.’ He left everything he had to me, over £60,000. It is to him 38I owe Thorpe.” Her eyes shone through the tears in them.
“Come! and let me show you,” she said, and so almost seemed to help him out of his chair, and then, still holding his hand, led him through the door behind them, along the passage into the front hall. Here he stopped, and undoubtedly66 but for the compelling hand would have gone no farther. But the soft firm grip held, and something with it, some force outside both of them, drew him after her into the room that once was his friend’s. A spacious67 friendly room, with wide windows looking south and west, and filled just now with the light of a cloudless sunset.
And the dreaded68 moment held nothing to fear. Nothing was changed. Nothing was spoilt. He had expected something, which to him, unreasonably69 perhaps, but uncontrollably, would have seemed like sacrilege; instead he found it was sanctuary70. Sanctuary for that, to him, annihilated71 personality which had been the companion of the best years of his life.
Dick might have come back at any moment and found his room waiting for him, as it had waited on many a spring evening just like this. His capacious armchair was still by the window. The big untidy writing-table, with its many drawers and pigeon-holes, in its place. The 39piano where he used to sit and strum odd bits of music by ear.
“But it is all just the same,” he said, standing like a man in a dream when Ruth dropped his hand inside the threshold.
“I was offered the furniture with the house,” she said, “and when I saw this room I felt I wanted it just as it is. Before that I had all sorts of ideas in my head as to how I would furnish! But this appealed to me. There is an air of space and comfort and peace about the room that I could not bear to disturb. And now I am very glad, because I feel he is pleased. Of course, his more personal things have gone, and I have added a few things of my own. Look, this is what I brought you to see.”
She pointed towards the west window, where stood an exquisitely72 carved and gilded73 table of foreign workmanship which was new to him, and on it burnt a burnished74 bronze lamp, its flame clear and bright even in the fierce glow of the setting sun. Beside the lamp stood a glass vase, very beautiful in shape and clarity, filled with white pinks.
North crossed the room and examined the lamp with interest.
“What does it mean?” he asked.
“It is a custom of the orthodox Jews. When anyone belonging to them dies, they keep a 40lamp burning for a year. The flame is never allowed to go out. It is a symbol. A symbol of the Life Eternal. All the years of the war Raphael Goltz kept this lamp burning for the men who went West. You see it is in the west window. And now I keep it burning for him. You don’t think he would mind, although my poor old master was a German Jew, racially?”
She looked up at North anxiously, as they stood side by side before the lamp.
“Not Dick—certainly not Dick!” said North. Ruth heaved a sigh of relief.
“You see, I don’t really know anything about him except what I feel about the farm, and I did want the lamp here.”
“No, Dick wouldn’t mind. But you are mad, you know, quite mad!”
For all that his eyes were very kindly75 as he looked down at her.
“I expect it is being so much alone,” she said tranquilly76, stooping to smell the pinks.
“Was Goltz an orthodox Jew then?” asked North.
“Oh no, very far from it. He wasn’t anything in the least orthodox. If you could have known him!” Ruth laughed a little. “But he had some queer religion of his own. He believed in Beauty, and that it was a revelation of something very great and wonderful, beyond 41the wildest dreams of a crassly77 ignorant and blind humanity. That glass vase was his. Have you noticed the wonderful shape of it? And look now with the light shining through. Do you think it is a shame to put flowers in it? But their scent78 is the incense79 on the altar.”
“Oh, that’s the idea, is it?” said North. He spoke very gently, as one would to a child showing you its treasures.
“This place is full of altars,” said Ruth, her eyes looking west. “Do you know the drive in the little spinney? All one broad blue path of hyacinths, and white may trees on either side.”
“Oh, that’s the idea, is it?” said North. He in his voice—“you mean Dick’s ‘Pathway to Heaven’!”
“Did he call it that?”
“He said it was so blue it must be.”
“Yes, and it seems to vanish into space between the trees.”
“As I must,” said North. “I have paid you an unwarrantable visitation, and I shall only just get home now before lighting-up time.”
“You will come again?” said Ruth as they went down the garden. “I want to show you the site for my cottages. I think it is the right one.”
“Cottages?”
“Yes, I am going to build three. My lawyer 42tells me it is economically an unsound investment. My conscience tells me it has got to be done, if I am to enjoy Thorpe properly. Two couples are waiting to be married until the cottages are ready, and one man is working here and his wife living in London because there is no possible place for them. I am giving him a room here at present.”
North raised his eyebrows80.
“Do you take in anybody promiscuously81 who comes along?” he asked.
“Well, this man went through four years of the war. Was a sergeant82, and holds the Mons Medal and the D.C.M. He is a painter by trade, and worked for Baxter, who is putting up a billiard-room and a garage at Mentmore Court.”
“Mentmore Court?” North looked across at the big white house on the hill. “Why, there is a billiard-room and a garage there already.”
“I believe they are turning the existing billiard-room into a winter garden, or something of that sort. And they have six cars, so the present garage is not big enough.”
“Your cottages will probably be of more use to the country,” said North. “I hear he made his money in leather, and his name is Pithey. Do you know him?”
“Well, he took a ‘fancy’ to my Shorthorns, 43and walked in last week to ask if I’d sell. Price was no object. He fancied them. Then he took a fancy to some of the furniture and offered to buy that, and finally he said if I was open to take ‘a profit on my deal’ over the farm, he was prepared to go to a fancy price for it.”
North stopped and looked at her.
“Are you making it up?” he asked.
Ruth bubbled over into an irrepressible laugh.
“When he went away he told me not to worry. Mrs. Pithey was coming to call, but she had been so busy, and now those lazy dogs of workmen couldn’t be out of the place for another month at least.”
“And my wife is worrying me to call on him,” groaned83 North. “Halloo, where is Larry?”
“He was there a moment ago; I saw him just before you stopped, but I never saw him jump out.”
North called in vain until he gave a peculiar32 whistle, which brought a plainly reluctant Larry to view.
“He doesn’t want to come with me,” said North. “Get in, Larry.” And Larry obeyed the peremptory84 command, while Ruth checked an impulse to suggest that she should keep him.
As the car started slowly up the hill he turned, 44laying his black and tan velvet85 muzzle86 on the back of the hood45. Long after they had vanished, Ruth was haunted by the wistful amber87 eyes looking at her from a cloud of dust.
Slowly she went up home through the scented88 evening. It had been a wonderful day. And she had made a friend. It was not such an event as it would have been before she went to France, but it was sufficiently uplifting even now. She sang to herself as she went. And then quite suddenly she thought of the man in the brown suit. “I wonder who he was, and where he disappeared to,” she said to herself, as she answered Miss McCox’s injured summons to supper.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 professed 7151fdd4a4d35a0f09eaf7f0f3faf295     
公开声称的,伪称的,已立誓信教的
参考例句:
  • These, at least, were their professed reasons for pulling out of the deal. 至少这些是他们自称退出这宗交易的理由。
  • Her manner professed a gaiety that she did not feel. 她的神态显出一种她并未实际感受到的快乐。
2 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。
3 alienated Ozyz55     
adj.感到孤独的,不合群的v.使疏远( alienate的过去式和过去分词 );使不友好;转让;让渡(财产等)
参考例句:
  • His comments have alienated a lot of young voters. 他的言论使许多年轻选民离他而去。
  • The Prime Minister's policy alienated many of her followers. 首相的政策使很多拥护她的人疏远了她。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 fixed JsKzzj     
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的
参考例句:
  • Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗?
  • Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定,我们就不应该随意改变。
5 aged 6zWzdI     
adj.年老的,陈年的
参考例句:
  • He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了,也老点了。
  • He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老,然而记忆力还好。
6 brass DWbzI     
n.黄铜;黄铜器,铜管乐器
参考例句:
  • Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
  • Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。
7 wailed e27902fd534535a9f82ffa06a5b6937a     
v.哭叫,哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She wailed over her father's remains. 她对着父亲的遗体嚎啕大哭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • The women of the town wailed over the war victims. 城里的妇女为战争的死难者们痛哭。 来自辞典例句
8 providence 8tdyh     
n.深谋远虑,天道,天意;远见;节约;上帝
参考例句:
  • It is tempting Providence to go in that old boat.乘那艘旧船前往是冒大险。
  • To act as you have done is to fly in the face of Providence.照你的所作所为那样去行事,是违背上帝的意志的。
9 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。
10 iniquitously 6f4e8e3faa1d9ccd8f846c3777875ca5     
adv.不正地,非法地
参考例句:
  • They really believed that the treaty of Versailles was iniquitously injust. 他们确实相信凡尔赛条约是极为不公平的。 来自互联网
11 obliterating ccbd87387f18865c6ec59c3e2975ee4d     
v.除去( obliterate的现在分词 );涂去;擦掉;彻底破坏或毁灭
参考例句:
  • Michael smoked the competition, obliterating field in most of his events. 迈克尔让比赛放光,几乎淹没了他所参加的大多数项目。 来自互联网
  • He heard Pam screaming.The noise became obliterating.Then solid darkness descended. 在一片混乱中,他听到了帕姆的尖叫。接下来,噪音消失了,黑暗降临了。 来自互联网
12 influenza J4NyD     
n.流行性感冒,流感
参考例句:
  • They took steps to prevent the spread of influenza.他们采取措施
  • Influenza is an infectious disease.流感是一种传染病。
13 epidemic 5iTzz     
n.流行病;盛行;adj.流行性的,流传极广的
参考例句:
  • That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
  • The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。
14 benevolent Wtfzx     
adj.仁慈的,乐善好施的
参考例句:
  • His benevolent nature prevented him from refusing any beggar who accosted him.他乐善好施的本性使他不会拒绝走上前向他行乞的任何一个乞丐。
  • He was a benevolent old man and he wouldn't hurt a fly.他是一个仁慈的老人,连只苍蝇都不愿伤害。
15 orphanage jJwxf     
n.孤儿院
参考例句:
  • They dispensed new clothes to the children in the orphanage.他们把新衣服发给孤儿院的小孩们。
  • They gave the proceeds of the sale to the orphanage.他们把销售的收入给了这家孤儿院。
16 pervading f19a78c99ea6b1c2e0fcd2aa3e8a8501     
v.遍及,弥漫( pervade的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • an all-pervading sense of gloom 无处不在的沮丧感
  • a pervading mood of fear 普遍的恐惧情绪
17 worthy vftwB     
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的
参考例句:
  • I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
  • There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。
18 miserable g18yk     
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的
参考例句:
  • It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他,这是可耻的。
  • Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。
19 orphans edf841312acedba480123c467e505b2a     
孤儿( orphan的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The poor orphans were kept on short commons. 贫苦的孤儿们吃不饱饭。
  • Their uncle was declared guardian to the orphans. 这些孤儿的叔父成为他们的监护人。
20 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。
21 sufficiently 0htzMB     
adv.足够地,充分地
参考例句:
  • It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
  • The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。
22 virtues cd5228c842b227ac02d36dd986c5cd53     
美德( virtue的名词复数 ); 德行; 优点; 长处
参考例句:
  • Doctors often extol the virtues of eating less fat. 医生常常宣扬少吃脂肪的好处。
  • She delivered a homily on the virtues of family life. 她进行了一场家庭生活美德方面的说教。
23 gratitude p6wyS     
adj.感激,感谢
参考例句:
  • I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
  • She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。
24 obedience 8vryb     
n.服从,顺从
参考例句:
  • Society has a right to expect obedience of the law.社会有权要求人人遵守法律。
  • Soldiers act in obedience to the orders of their superior officers.士兵们遵照上级军官的命令行动。
25 precepts 6abcb2dd9eca38cb6dd99c51d37ea461     
n.规诫,戒律,箴言( precept的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • They accept the Prophet's precepts but reject some of his strictures. 他们接受先知的教训,但拒绝他的种种约束。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • The legal philosopher's concern is to ascertain the true nature of all the precepts and norms. 法哲学家的兴趣在于探寻所有规范和准则的性质。 来自辞典例句
26 precept VPox5     
n.戒律;格言
参考例句:
  • It occurs to me that example is always more efficacious than precept.我想到身教重于言教。
  • The son had well profited by the precept and example of the father.老太爷的言传身教早已使他儿子获益无穷。
27 descended guQzoy     
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的
参考例句:
  • A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
  • The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。
28 sundry CswwL     
adj.各式各样的,种种的
参考例句:
  • This cream can be used to treat sundry minor injuries.这种药膏可用来治各种轻伤。
  • We can see the rich man on sundry occasions.我们能在各种场合见到那个富豪。
29 bent QQ8yD     
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的
参考例句:
  • He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
  • We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
30 scattered 7jgzKF     
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的
参考例句:
  • Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来,塞进文件夹里。
31 flail hgNzc     
v.用连枷打;击打;n.连枷(脱粒用的工具)
参考例句:
  • No fence against flail.飞来横祸不胜防。
  • His arms were flailing in all directions.他的手臂胡乱挥舞着。
32 peculiar cinyo     
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的
参考例句:
  • He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
  • He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。
33 electrified 00d93691727e26ff4104e0c16b9bb258     
v.使电气化( electrify的过去式和过去分词 );使兴奋
参考例句:
  • The railway line was electrified in the 1950s. 这条铁路线在20世纪50年代就实现了电气化。
  • The national railway system has nearly all been electrified. 全国的铁路系统几乎全部实现了电气化。 来自《简明英汉词典》
34 rebuked bdac29ff5ae4a503d9868e9cd4d93b12     
责难或指责( rebuke的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The company was publicly rebuked for having neglected safety procedures. 公司因忽略了安全规程而受到公开批评。
  • The teacher rebuked the boy for throwing paper on the floor. 老师指责这个男孩将纸丢在地板上。
35 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
36 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
37 copper HZXyU     
n.铜;铜币;铜器;adj.铜(制)的;(紫)铜色的
参考例句:
  • The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
  • Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。
38 pathos dLkx2     
n.哀婉,悲怆
参考例句:
  • The pathos of the situation brought tears to our eyes.情况令人怜悯,看得我们不禁流泪。
  • There is abundant pathos in her words.她的话里富有动人哀怜的力量。
39 valediction EiJwo     
n.告别演说,告别词
参考例句:
  • He gave a touching valediction at graduation.他在毕业典礼上发表了动人的告别辞。
  • I came here just for a valediction.我来仅仅是向你告别。
40 Christian KVByl     
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒
参考例句:
  • They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
  • His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。
41 smelt tiuzKF     
v.熔解,熔炼;n.银白鱼,胡瓜鱼
参考例句:
  • Tin is a comparatively easy metal to smelt.锡是比较容易熔化的金属。
  • Darby was looking for a way to improve iron when he hit upon the idea of smelting it with coke instead of charcoal.达比一直在寻找改善铁质的方法,他猛然想到可以不用木炭熔炼,而改用焦炭。
42 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
43 second-hand second-hand     
adj.用过的,旧的,二手的
参考例句:
  • I got this book by chance at a second-hand bookshop.我赶巧在一家旧书店里买到这本书。
  • They will put all these second-hand goods up for sale.他们将把这些旧货全部公开出售。
44 frail yz3yD     
adj.身体虚弱的;易损坏的
参考例句:
  • Mrs. Warner is already 96 and too frail to live by herself.华纳太太已经九十六岁了,身体虚弱,不便独居。
  • She lay in bed looking particularly frail.她躺在床上,看上去特别虚弱。
45 hood ddwzJ     
n.头巾,兜帽,覆盖;v.罩上,以头巾覆盖
参考例句:
  • She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
  • The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。
46 considerably 0YWyQ     
adv.极大地;相当大地;在很大程度上
参考例句:
  • The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
  • The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。
47 supreme PHqzc     
adj.极度的,最重要的;至高的,最高的
参考例句:
  • It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
  • He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
48 excellence ZnhxM     
n.优秀,杰出,(pl.)优点,美德
参考例句:
  • His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。
  • My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。
49 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。
50 sitting-room sitting-room     
n.(BrE)客厅,起居室
参考例句:
  • The sitting-room is clean.起居室很清洁。
  • Each villa has a separate sitting-room.每栋别墅都有一间独立的起居室。
51 trumpet AUczL     
n.喇叭,喇叭声;v.吹喇叭,吹嘘
参考例句:
  • He plays the violin, but I play the trumpet.他拉提琴,我吹喇叭。
  • The trumpet sounded for battle.战斗的号角吹响了。
52 bugle RSFy3     
n.军号,号角,喇叭;v.吹号,吹号召集
参考例句:
  • When he heard the bugle call, he caught up his gun and dashed out.他一听到军号声就抓起枪冲了出去。
  • As the bugle sounded we ran to the sports ground and fell in.军号一响,我们就跑到运动场集合站队。
53 glamour Keizv     
n.魔力,魅力;vt.迷住
参考例句:
  • Foreign travel has lost its glamour for her.到国外旅行对她已失去吸引力了。
  • The moonlight cast a glamour over the scene.月光给景色增添了魅力。
54 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》
55 veins 65827206226d9e2d78ea2bfe697c6329     
n.纹理;矿脉( vein的名词复数 );静脉;叶脉;纹理
参考例句:
  • The blood flows from the capillaries back into the veins. 血从毛细血管流回静脉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I felt a pleasant glow in all my veins from the wine. 喝过酒后我浑身的血都热烘烘的,感到很舒服。 来自《简明英汉词典》
56 monotonous FwQyJ     
adj.单调的,一成不变的,使人厌倦的
参考例句:
  • She thought life in the small town was monotonous.她觉得小镇上的生活单调而乏味。
  • His articles are fixed in form and monotonous in content.他的文章千篇一律,一个调调儿。
57 supervision hr6wv     
n.监督,管理
参考例句:
  • The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
  • The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。
58 shutters 74d48a88b636ca064333022eb3458e1f     
百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 ); (照相机的)快门
参考例句:
  • The shop-front is fitted with rolling shutters. 那商店的店门装有卷门。
  • The shutters thumped the wall in the wind. 在风中百叶窗砰砰地碰在墙上。
59 amazement 7zlzBK     
n.惊奇,惊讶
参考例句:
  • All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
  • He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。
60 unbearable alCwB     
adj.不能容忍的;忍受不住的
参考例句:
  • It is unbearable to be always on thorns.老是处于焦虑不安的情况中是受不了的。
  • The more he thought of it the more unbearable it became.他越想越觉得无法忍受。
61 wrecked ze0zKI     
adj.失事的,遇难的
参考例句:
  • the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
  • the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞
62 attic Hv4zZ     
n.顶楼,屋顶室
参考例句:
  • Leakiness in the roof caused a damp attic.屋漏使顶楼潮湿。
  • What's to be done with all this stuff in the attic?顶楼上的材料怎么处理?
63 malice P8LzW     
n.恶意,怨恨,蓄意;[律]预谋
参考例句:
  • I detected a suggestion of malice in his remarks.我觉察出他说的话略带恶意。
  • There was a strong current of malice in many of his portraits.他的许多肖像画中都透着一股强烈的怨恨。
64 babbling babbling     
n.胡说,婴儿发出的咿哑声adj.胡说的v.喋喋不休( babble的现在分词 );作潺潺声(如流水);含糊不清地说话;泄漏秘密
参考例句:
  • I could hear the sound of a babbling brook. 我听得见小溪潺潺的流水声。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Infamy was babbling around her in the public market-place. 在公共市场上,她周围泛滥着对她丑行的种种议论。 来自英汉文学 - 红字
65 regenerated 67df9da7e5af2af5acd8771deef0296f     
v.新生,再生( regenerate的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • They are regarded as being enveloped in regenerated gneisses. 它们被认为包围在再生的片麻岩之中。 来自辞典例句
  • The party soon regenerated under her leadership. 该党在她的领导下很快焕然一新。 来自辞典例句
66 undoubtedly Mfjz6l     
adv.确实地,无疑地
参考例句:
  • It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
  • He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。
67 spacious YwQwW     
adj.广阔的,宽敞的
参考例句:
  • Our yard is spacious enough for a swimming pool.我们的院子很宽敞,足够建一座游泳池。
  • The room is bright and spacious.这房间很豁亮。
68 dreaded XuNzI3     
adj.令人畏惧的;害怕的v.害怕,恐惧,担心( dread的过去式和过去分词)
参考例句:
  • The dreaded moment had finally arrived. 可怕的时刻终于来到了。
  • He dreaded having to spend Christmas in hospital. 他害怕非得在医院过圣诞节不可。 来自《用法词典》
69 unreasonably 7b139a7b80379aa34c95638d4a789e5f     
adv. 不合理地
参考例句:
  • He was also petty, unreasonably querulous, and mean. 他还是个气量狭窄,无事生非,平庸刻薄的人。
  • Food in that restaurant is unreasonably priced. 那家饭店价格不公道。
70 sanctuary iCrzE     
n.圣所,圣堂,寺庙;禁猎区,保护区
参考例句:
  • There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
  • Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。
71 annihilated b75d9b14a67fe1d776c0039490aade89     
v.(彻底)消灭( annihilate的过去式和过去分词 );使无效;废止;彻底击溃
参考例句:
  • Our soldiers annihilated a force of three hundred enemy troops. 我军战士消灭了300名敌军。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • We annihilated the enemy. 我们歼灭了敌人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
72 exquisitely Btwz1r     
adv.精致地;强烈地;剧烈地;异常地
参考例句:
  • He found her exquisitely beautiful. 他觉得她异常美丽。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He wore an exquisitely tailored gray silk and accessories to match. 他穿的是做工非常考究的灰色绸缎衣服,还有各种配得很协调的装饰。 来自教父部分
73 gilded UgxxG     
a.镀金的,富有的
参考例句:
  • The golden light gilded the sea. 金色的阳光使大海如金子般闪闪发光。
  • "Friends, they are only gilded disks of lead!" "朋友们,这只不过是些镀金的铅饼! 来自英汉文学 - 败坏赫德莱堡
74 burnished fd53130f8c1e282780d281f960e0b9ad     
adj.抛光的,光亮的v.擦亮(金属等),磨光( burnish的过去式和过去分词 );被擦亮,磨光
参考例句:
  • The floor was spotless; the grate and fire-irons were burnished bright. 地板上没有污迹;炉栅和火炉用具擦得发亮。 来自辞典例句
  • The woods today are burnished bronze. 今天的树林是一片发亮的青铜色。 来自辞典例句
75 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。
76 tranquilly d9b4cfee69489dde2ee29b9be8b5fb9c     
adv. 宁静地
参考例句:
  • He took up his brush and went tranquilly to work. 他拿起刷子,一声不响地干了起来。
  • The evening was closing down tranquilly. 暮色正在静悄悄地笼罩下来。
77 crassly 3419bcd54a8567a9a016a6bbc55186cb     
adv.粗鲁地,愚钝地
参考例句:
  • I know one investment banking boss who penalises underlings for lobbying crassly. 我认识的一位投行老板就会惩罚那些过分游说的下级。 来自互联网
78 scent WThzs     
n.气味,香味,香水,线索,嗅觉;v.嗅,发觉
参考例句:
  • The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
  • The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。
79 incense dcLzU     
v.激怒;n.香,焚香时的烟,香气
参考例句:
  • This proposal will incense conservation campaigners.这项提议会激怒环保人士。
  • In summer,they usually burn some coil incense to keep away the mosquitoes.夏天他们通常点香驱蚊。
80 eyebrows a0e6fb1330e9cfecfd1c7a4d00030ed5     
眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
  • His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。
81 promiscuously 8dbf1c1acdd06d63118a7d7a8111d22a     
adv.杂乱地,混杂地
参考例句:
  • It promiscuously plunders other languages and delights in neologisms. 它杂乱地掠夺其它语言,并以增加新词为乐。 来自互联网
  • It's like biology: an ecosystem where microbes are promiscuously swapping genes and traits, evolution speeds up. 就像生物学:一个一群微生物混杂地交换基因和特性的生态系统,进化加速了。 来自互联网
82 sergeant REQzz     
n.警官,中士
参考例句:
  • His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
  • How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹?
83 groaned 1a076da0ddbd778a674301b2b29dff71     
v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 );发牢骚;抱怨;受苦
参考例句:
  • He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
  • The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
84 peremptory k3uz8     
adj.紧急的,专横的,断然的
参考例句:
  • The officer issued peremptory commands.军官发出了不容许辩驳的命令。
  • There was a peremptory note in his voice.他说话的声音里有一种不容置辩的口气。
85 velvet 5gqyO     
n.丝绒,天鹅绒;adj.丝绒制的,柔软的
参考例句:
  • This material feels like velvet.这料子摸起来像丝绒。
  • The new settlers wore the finest silk and velvet clothing.新来的移民穿着最华丽的丝绸和天鹅绒衣服。
86 muzzle i11yN     
n.鼻口部;口套;枪(炮)口;vt.使缄默
参考例句:
  • He placed the muzzle of the pistol between his teeth.他把手枪的枪口放在牙齿中间。
  • The President wanted to muzzle the press.总统企图遏制新闻自由。
87 amber LzazBn     
n.琥珀;琥珀色;adj.琥珀制的
参考例句:
  • Would you like an amber necklace for your birthday?你过生日想要一条琥珀项链吗?
  • This is a piece of little amber stones.这是一块小小的琥珀化石。
88 scented a9a354f474773c4ff42b74dd1903063d     
adj.有香味的;洒香水的;有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词)
参考例句:
  • I let my lungs fill with the scented air. 我呼吸着芬芳的空气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The police dog scented about till he found the trail. 警犬嗅来嗅去,终于找到了踪迹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》


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