CHAPTER XVIII OTHER REFORMS

 WHEN books of the quality of “Jurgen” can be suppressed—happily this romance of James Branch Cabell has been restored to the libraries and book-stalls of the land—we are facing a dangerous precedent¹. “Casanova’s Homecoming” was likewise censored². But the Vice³ Society might be about better business. I could name a dozen volumes which they have stupidly imagined should be withdrawn⁴ from circulation, but it would be merely an idle repetition. The principle remains⁶ the same.

 

Publishers and authors have become frightened. If the realm of art is to be invaded by reformers who fail to distinguish between beauty and filth⁷, it is self-evident that there will be precious little art in America in the next hundred years. The pictures that we hang upon our walls may be torn down next, and the passion for dreariness⁸ may cause the entire United States to become one sad Sahara of utilitarianism, with no gleam of loveliness. The mania⁹ for standardizing¹⁰ us is growing; it is strange that the authorities do not pounce¹¹ upon a play like “R. U. R.,” lest it put false notions into the minds195 of the simple people. There is a tremendous lesson in that drama. Crush us too much, make too many automatons¹², and one day the lifeless, bloodless, unimaginative host may rise in sudden might and defeat the very purpose of their masters.

The easy triumph of Prohibition¹³ gives the reformer little to do—save to seek other avenues of sadistic¹⁴ expression. If we are to be dictated¹⁵ to as to which books we shall read, we will find a way to discover smut—and nothing but smut—just as we have found synthetic¹⁶ gin. And if the lifting of an elbow—a necessary gesture when one takes an old-fashioned drink—got on a Puritan’s nerves, I cannot think that the smoke curling from your cigarette and mine gives him anything but pain and genuine anguish¹⁷ of mind. Tobacco companies are worried, and some of them have been spending vast sums to offset¹⁸ the crusade against the weed. Meanwhile, the easy-going American says, “Well, of course, they did put Prohibition over on us, but—oh, they would not dare rob us of our cheroots. We simply wouldn’t stand for that.”

But I am afraid that we are as spineless as ever. When meetings are organized to protest against the reformers, they are often ill attended. A dash of rain dampens the ardor¹⁹ of the lackadaisical²⁰ citizen who prefers his own fireside to speeches that hit hard at this and that false cause. The trouble is that the fanatics²¹ have not made things quite hard enough for us. If there were a real lack of liquor;196 if complete drouth settled down over the land, we might rise in a great body and speak what we inwardly feel. But most of us are too lazy to fight back. Meanwhile, the organized minority gird on their armor, devising ways and means to torture us further. And in slippered²² comfort we sip²³ our home brew²⁴ or our dearly bought bootleg toddies, and decide that the effort required to get together is too great. We will let things drift. There must come a change; and after all, so long as Prohibition hasn’t really succeeded, what’s the use of worrying?

The reformer knows this characteristic lethargy of the American people, and he smiles, assembles his cohorts, calls us, in the vernacular²⁵ of the day, “easy marks,” and proceeds with his reforming.

The return of Blue Laws is not improbable. A few towns have already adopted them, and in these movies are not tolerated on the Sabbath, newspapers are not allowed to be sold, even the trolley²⁶ cars are stopped. A man may be arrested for painting his roof on Sunday; and as for a game of baseball on that day—it is unthinkable in many a community. One may not walk—except to church. The Puritan spirit is not dead. It lives in many a hamlet, dreary²⁷ enough under the best conditions. The American people have come to a point where it is a matter of living or existing.

For my own part, I am perfectly²⁸ willing for the Babbitts of this country to do as they please; all I ask is that they let me alone as I certainly shall let197 them alone. I have said elsewhere that I firmly believe in local option. That is because, perhaps, I think that contrast is the greatest thing in art and in life. I have never cared for regions of perpetual sunshine, just as I have never cared for localities where it rains, seemingly, forever. Give me a little of each. The Gopher Prairieite must feel an impulse to see a metropolis²⁹ now and then; just as we who live in tremendous cities feel the urge every so often to seek the stillness of the woods.

It so happens that a few people—nay, a great many—prefer to hive in cities, because there they find a certain amount of culture. They like the opera, and good plays, well acted—the sparkle which city life gives to them. They like dining out in restaurants, and they happen to care for the jeweled beauty of, say, Fifth Avenue or Michigan Avenue on a winter evening. The monotony of the life of a Kansas farmer does not appeal to them. They can scarcely understand that passion for seclusion³⁰ which he craves³¹. But they find no fault with his mode of living. They even look with a sort of amused tolerance³² upon those curious beings who sneer³³ at women who smoke cigarettes. They know perfectly well that there are many virtuous³⁴ women who smoke cigarettes, and it is difficult to understand why everyone cannot be possessed³⁵ of the same knowledge. But they do not seek to impose their beliefs upon others. They do no proselytizing³⁶. They are not anxious to convert people to a way of thinking198 and reasoning that seems to them simple and natural. They understand that what is one man’s meat is another man’s poison; but they do resent being told that what they consume as meat should be labeled poison—by someone who has never tasted it.

The Eighteenth Amendment³⁷ tells us, practically, that it is wrong to drink. You and I know that it is not wrong to drink. But we do know full well, without being told, that it is very wrong to get drunk.

In Kansas, the people are told that it is wrong to smoke; whereas anyone at all knows that it is in no wise wrong to smoke; but it is exceedingly wrong to over-smoke until one’s nerves become shattered and one’s hands tremble.

The reformer, seeing only the ill effects upon those who overdo³⁸ anything, and refusing to note the normal lives of those of us who never overdo anything, cannot differentiate³⁹. Hence the hullabaloo, the trouble, the mess the world is in today.

Reformers, you see, lack discrimination. One might as well deplore⁴⁰ Niagara Falls because a few fools plunge⁴¹ into its roaring torrents⁴²; cease to enjoy its beauty because suicides have taken advantage of its power and height to hurl⁴³ themselves into eternity⁴⁴. One might as well say that no more skyscrapers⁴⁵ are to be built, simply because now and then a man leaps from the top of one, and makes a ghastly mess of himself on the pavement below.

199 Robert Louis Stevenson used to say that the little superfluities of life were what made it lovely—yes, and bearable. Living does not consist in a mere⁵ drab drudgery⁴⁶ from day to day, proving oneself “efficient,” turning out, in orderly fashion, so many mechanical instruments, with no release from humdrum⁴⁷. Life must contain zest⁴⁸ and ardor and variety. That zest and ardor and variety we human beings ourselves give or bring to it. There must be a garnishing⁴⁹ of the dish of existence once in a while. We cannot have our days served up monotonously⁵⁰ on a dull platter, see them flung upon the banquet table without a surrounding decoration of loveliness. Ugliness must be hidden; and sane⁵¹ fun must play its part in the scheme of things.

Now it is obvious that drunkenness is a form of bestial⁵² ugliness, and should never be encouraged. Even we who are not professional reformers recognize that. But the right kind of mild drinking—the drinking of wines, which helps digestion⁵³ by giving the proper spur to the gastric⁵⁴ juices—is a salutary habit, and does no one any harm. In France I have never seen anyone intoxicated—except a visiting American; and I fear, with Prohibition, that more than ever will the cafés and streets of Paris be littered with shameful⁵⁵ and shameless fellow countrymen of mine. The French learn from childhood how to drink; and a picture in a recent Parisian journal showed a group of three generations of wine-growers chosen at hazard from among many others. I200 never looked upon sturdier representatives of what some of our forlorn know-nothings would doubtless call a “decadent” people.

Alcoholism is practically unknown among the Latin races. To go over the border into a sodden⁵⁶ state of imbecility is well-nigh unthinkable to them. France got rid of absinthe when she realized the danger of that fiery⁵⁷ liquid. She did not have to close up and seal and nail down every café in every city and hamlet just because a handful of ribald artists thought it smart to sit all afternoon and dream dreams of pink elephants. And, the instant absinthe became unlawful, the French obeyed the edict, accepted the truth that a menace had been removed, and went on consuming an occasional aperitif⁵⁸ and light wines—never cocktails⁵⁹ and highballs.

But the American people, through their reformers, always have to go to extremes. We could not see the wisdom of cutting out or controlling hard drinking. We had to slam every door of every saloon; and, not content with that, we had to “mop up” the entire country—or ridiculously try to do so—until there should be no drop of beer, even, on anybody’s premises⁶⁰. Then, the moment we had done that, we forthwith craved⁶¹ a little liquor—because we couldn’t get it. Humanly enough, we were sorry that we had been so rash. True, we had rid ourselves of one of the most abhorrent⁶² evidences of our so-called civilization—the saloon with the swinging-door; but in doing so we had destroyed, or attempted201 to destroy, the harmless pleasure of men and women who had never entered a saloon. We punished everybody, in order to punish a few.

This was not the right process. The folly⁶³ of our reformers is working incalculable harm to the entire country. And the end is not yet.

1 precedent   

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。

2 censored   

受审查的，被删剪的

参考例句：

• The news reports had been heavily censored . 这些新闻报道已被大幅删剪。
• The military-backed government has heavily censored the news. 有军方撑腰的政府对新闻进行了严格审查。

3 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

4 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

5 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 filth   

n.肮脏，污物，污秽；淫猥

参考例句：

• I don't know how you can read such filth.我不明白你怎么会去读这种淫秽下流的东西。
• The dialogue was all filth and innuendo.这段对话全是下流的言辞和影射。

8 dreariness   

沉寂，可怕，凄凉

参考例句：

• The park wore an aspect of utter dreariness and ruin. 园地上好久没人收拾，一片荒凉。
• There in the melancholy, in the dreariness, Bertha found a bitter fascination. 在这里，在阴郁、倦怠之中，伯莎发现了一种刺痛人心的魅力。

9 mania   

n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好

参考例句：

• Football mania is sweeping the country.足球热正风靡全国。
• Collecting small items can easily become a mania.收藏零星物品往往容易变成一种癖好。

10 standardizing   

使合乎规格，使标准化( standardize的现在分词 )； 规格化

参考例句：

• These composite indices are derived by standardizing each of its component series. 这些综合指数是使通过把它们的组成部分中的各个数列标准化而获得的。
• Significant progress was made in rectifying and standardizing nonbank financial institutions. 整顿和规范非银行金融机构取得重要进展。

11 pounce   

n.猛扑；v.猛扑，突然袭击，欣然同意

参考例句：

• Why do you pounce on every single thing I say?干吗我说的每句话你都要找麻烦？
• We saw the tiger about to pounce on the goat.我们看见老虎要向那只山羊扑过去。

12 automatons   

n.自动机，机器人( automaton的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These docile lunatic automatons are no more trouble to their guards than cattle. 对警卫来说，这些驯良的，机器人般的疯子和家畜一样不会带来多大的麻烦。 来自辞典例句
• For the most part, automatons are improved while they are off. 对大多数移动机器来讲，它们是在关机状态下得以改良的。 来自互联网

13 prohibition   

n.禁止；禁令，禁律

参考例句：

• The prohibition against drunken driving will save many lives.禁止酒后开车将会减少许多死亡事故。
• They voted in favour of the prohibition of smoking in public areas.他们投票赞成禁止在公共场所吸烟。

14 sadistic   

adj.虐待狂的

参考例句：

• There was a sadistic streak in him.他有虐待狂的倾向。
• The prisoners rioted against mistreatment by sadistic guards.囚犯因不堪忍受狱警施虐而发动了暴乱。

15 dictated   

v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布

参考例句：

• He dictated a letter to his secretary. 他向秘书口授信稿。
• No person of a strong character likes to be dictated to. 没有一个个性强的人愿受人使唤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 synthetic   

adj.合成的，人工的；综合的；n.人工制品

参考例句：

• We felt the salesman's synthetic friendliness.我们感觉到那位销售员的虚情假意。
• It's a synthetic diamond.这是人造钻石。

17 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。

18 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

19 ardor   

n.热情，狂热

参考例句：

• His political ardor led him into many arguments.他的政治狂热使他多次卷入争论中。
• He took up his pursuit with ardor.他满腔热忱地从事工作。

20 lackadaisical   

adj.无精打采的，无兴趣的；adv.无精打采地，不决断地

参考例句：

• His will was sapped and his whole attitude was lackadaisical.心里松懈，身态与神气便吊儿啷当。
• Lao Wang is very serious with work,so do not be lackadaisical.老王干活可较真儿啦，你可别马马虎虎的。

21 fanatics   

狂热者，入迷者( fanatic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The heathen temple was torn down by a crowd of religions fanatics. 异教徒的神殿被一群宗教狂热分子拆除了。
• Placing nukes in the hands of baby-faced fanatics? 把核弹交给一些宗教狂热者手里？

22 slippered   

穿拖鞋的

参考例句：

• She slippered across the room from her bed. 她下床穿着拖鞋走过房间 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She saw pairs of slippered feet -- but no one was moving. 她看见一双双穿着拖鞋的脚--可是谁也没有挪动一步。 来自互联网

23 sip   

v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量

参考例句：

• She took a sip of the cocktail.她啜饮一口鸡尾酒。
• Elizabeth took a sip of the hot coffee.伊丽莎白呷了一口热咖啡。

24 brew   

v.酿造，调制

参考例句：

• Let's brew up some more tea.咱们沏些茶吧。
• The policeman dispelled the crowd lest they should brew trouble.警察驱散人群，因恐他们酿祸。

25 vernacular   

adj.地方的，用地方语写成的；n.白话；行话；本国语；动植物的俗名

参考例句：

• The house is built in a vernacular style.这房子按当地的风格建筑。
• The traditional Chinese vernacular architecture is an epitome of Chinese traditional culture.中国传统民居建筑可谓中国传统文化的缩影。

26 trolley   

n.手推车，台车；无轨电车；有轨电车

参考例句：

• The waiter had brought the sweet trolley.侍者已经推来了甜食推车。
• In a library,books are moved on a trolley.在图书馆，书籍是放在台车上搬动的。

27 dreary   

adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的

参考例句：

• They live such dreary lives.他们的生活如此乏味。
• She was tired of hearing the same dreary tale of drunkenness and violence.她听够了那些关于酗酒和暴力的乏味故事。

28 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

29 metropolis   

n.首府；大城市

参考例句：

• Shanghai is a metropolis in China.上海是中国的大都市。
• He was dazzled by the gaiety and splendour of the metropolis.大都市的花花世界使他感到眼花缭乱。

30 seclusion   

n.隐遁，隔离

参考例句：

• She liked to sunbathe in the seclusion of her own garden.她喜欢在自己僻静的花园里晒日光浴。
• I live very much in seclusion these days.这些天我过着几乎与世隔绝的生活。

31 craves   

渴望，热望( crave的第三人称单数 )； 恳求，请求

参考例句：

• The tree craves calm but the wind will not drop. 树欲静而风不止。
• Victory would give him a passport to the riches he craves. 胜利将使他有机会获得自己梦寐以求的财富。

32 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

33 sneer   

v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语

参考例句：

• He said with a sneer.他的话中带有嘲笑之意。
• You may sneer,but a lot of people like this kind of music.你可以嗤之以鼻，但很多人喜欢这种音乐。

34 virtuous   

adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的

参考例句：

• She was such a virtuous woman that everybody respected her.她是个有道德的女性，人人都尊敬她。
• My uncle is always proud of having a virtuous wife.叔叔一直为娶到一位贤德的妻子而骄傲。

35 possessed   

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。

36 proselytizing   

v.（使）改变宗教信仰[政治信仰、意见等]，使变节( proselytize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

37 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

38 overdo   

vt.把...做得过头，演得过火

参考例句：

• Do not overdo your privilege of reproving me.不要过分使用责备我的特权。
• The taxi drivers' association is urging its members,who can work as many hours as they want,not to overdo it.出租车司机协会劝告那些工作时长不受限制的会员不要疲劳驾驶。

39 differentiate   

vi.(between)区分；vt.区别；使不同

参考例句：

• You can differentiate between the houses by the shape of their chimneys.你可以凭借烟囱形状的不同来区分这两幢房子。
• He never learned to differentiate between good and evil.他从未学会分辨善恶。

40 deplore   

vt.哀叹，对...深感遗憾

参考例句：

• I deplore what has happened.我为所发生的事深感愤慨。
• There are many of us who deplore this lack of responsibility.我们中有许多人谴责这种不负责任的做法。

41 plunge   

v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲

参考例句：

• Test pool's water temperature before you plunge in.在你跳入之前你应该测试水温。
• That would plunge them in the broil of the two countries.那将会使他们陷入这两国的争斗之中。

42 torrents   

n.倾注；奔流( torrent的名词复数 )；急流；爆发；连续不断

参考例句：

• The torrents scoured out a channel down the hill side. 急流沿着山腰冲刷出一条水沟。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Sudden rainstorms would bring the mountain torrents rushing down. 突然的暴雨会使山洪暴发。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

43 hurl   

vt.猛投，力掷，声叫骂

参考例句：

• The best cure for unhappiness is to hurl yourself into your work.医治愁苦的最好办法就是全身心地投入工作。
• To hurl abuse is no way to fight.谩骂决不是战斗。

44 eternity   

n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷

参考例句：

• The dull play seemed to last an eternity.这场乏味的剧似乎演个没完没了。
• Finally,Ying Tai and Shan Bo could be together for all of eternity.英台和山伯终能双宿双飞，永世相随。

45 skyscrapers   

n.摩天大楼

参考例句：

• A lot of skyscrapers in Manhattan are rising up to the skies. 曼哈顿有许多摩天大楼耸入云霄。
• On all sides, skyscrapers rose like jagged teeth. 四周耸起的摩天大楼参差不齐。

46 drudgery   

n.苦工，重活，单调乏味的工作

参考例句：

• People want to get away from the drudgery of their everyday lives.人们想摆脱日常生活中单调乏味的工作。
• He spent his life in pointlessly tiresome drudgery.他的一生都在做毫无意义的烦人的苦差事。

47 humdrum   

adj.单调的，乏味的

参考例句：

• Their lives consist of the humdrum activities of everyday existence.他们的生活由日常生存的平凡活动所构成。
• The accountant said it was the most humdrum day that she had ever passed.会计师说这是她所度过的最无聊的一天。

48 zest   

n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣

参考例句：

• He dived into his new job with great zest.他充满热情地投入了新的工作。
• He wrote his novel about his trip to Asia with zest.他兴趣浓厚的写了一本关于他亚洲之行的小说。

49 garnishing   

v.给（上餐桌的食物）加装饰( garnish的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She had finished the vegetables and was garnishing the roast. 她已经做好了蔬菜，正在给烤肉添加饰菜。 来自辞典例句
• Finely chop the reserved dill andthe rest for garnishing. 将保留下来的刁草叶剁碎，以备装饰。 来自互联网

50 monotonously   

adv.单调地，无变化地

参考例句：

• The lecturer phrased monotonously. 这位讲师用词单调。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The maid, still in tears, sniffed monotonously. 侍女还在哭，发出单调的抽泣声。 来自辞典例句

51 sane   

adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的

参考例句：

• He was sane at the time of the murder.在凶杀案发生时他的神志是清醒的。
• He is a very sane person.他是一个很有头脑的人。

52 bestial   

adj.残忍的；野蛮的

参考例句：

• The Roman gladiatorial contests were bestial amusements.罗马角斗是残忍的娱乐。
• A statement on Amman Radio spoke of bestial aggression and a horrible massacre. 安曼广播电台播放的一则声明提到了野蛮的侵略和骇人的大屠杀。

53 digestion   

n.消化，吸收

参考例句：

• This kind of tea acts as an aid to digestion.这种茶可助消化。
• This food is easy of digestion.这食物容易消化。

54 gastric   

adj.胃的

参考例句：

• Miners are a high risk group for certain types of gastric cancer.矿工是极易患某几种胃癌的高风险人群。
• That was how I got my gastric trouble.我的胃病就是这么得的。

55 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

56 sodden   

adj.浑身湿透的；v.使浸透；使呆头呆脑

参考例句：

• We stripped off our sodden clothes.我们扒下了湿透的衣服。
• The cardboard was sodden and fell apart in his hands.纸板潮得都发酥了，手一捏就碎。

57 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

58 aperitif   

n.饭前酒

参考例句：

• It is as an aperitif or with strong cheeses and desserts.此酒是开胃酒，可配合甜品及味道较浓郁的芝士食用。
• This beer is also very suitable as an aperitif.这款啤酒很适合作为开胃酒。

59 cocktails   

n.鸡尾酒( cocktail的名词复数 )；餐前开胃菜；混合物

参考例句：

• Come about 4 o'clock. We'll have cocktails and grill steaks. 请四点钟左右来，我们喝鸡尾酒，吃烤牛排。 来自辞典例句
• Cocktails were a nasty American habit. 喝鸡尾酒是讨厌的美国习惯。 来自辞典例句

60 premises   

n.建筑物，房屋

参考例句：

• According to the rules,no alcohol can be consumed on the premises.按照规定，场内不准饮酒。
• All repairs are done on the premises and not put out.全部修缮都在家里进行，不用送到外面去做。

61 craved   

渴望，热望( crave的过去式 )； 恳求，请求

参考例句：

• She has always craved excitement. 她总渴望刺激。
• A spicy, sharp-tasting radish was exactly what her stomach craved. 她正馋着想吃一个香甜可口的红萝卜呢。

62 abhorrent   

adj.可恶的，可恨的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• He is so abhorrent,saying such bullshit to confuse people.他这样乱说，妖言惑众，真是太可恶了。
• The idea of killing animals for food is abhorrent to many people.许多人想到杀生取食就感到憎恶。

63 folly   

n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话

参考例句：

• Learn wisdom by the folly of others.从别人的愚蠢行动中学到智慧。
• Events proved the folly of such calculations.事情的进展证明了这种估计是愚蠢的。