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Chapter 3
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 "Then we'll consider the car pool settled?" Mrs. Baden asked, coming in tactfully.
"Naturally," I said, mentally shredding1 my previous sentence. "We would feel so honored to have Hi-nin—"
"Do not think of putting yourself out. We do not have a helicopter, of course, but Hi-nin and I can so easily walk."
I was rapidly becoming unable to think of anything at all because Gail was trying to use me for a merry-go-round and I kept switching her from hand to hand and I could hear her beginning to build up the ba-bas.
"My car pool," I said, "would be terribly sad to think of Hi-nin walking."
"You would?"
"Terribly."
"In such a case—if it will give you pleasure for me to accept?"
"It would," I said fervently2, holding Gail under one arm as she was beginning to kick.
And on the way home all the second thoughts began.
I would be glad to have Hi-nin in the car pool. Four of the other mamas were like me, amazed that anyone was willing to put up with her child all the way to and from Playplace. I could count on them to cooperate. But Gail's mama.... I'd gone to Western State Preparation for Living with Regina Raymond Crowley.
I landed on the Crowley home and tooted for five minutes before I remembered that Regina was at work.
"Ma-ma!" Gail began.
"Wouldn't you like to come to Verne's house," I asked, "and we can call up your mama?"
"No." Well, I asked, didn't I?
I was carrying Gail down the steps from my roof when I bumped unexpectedly into Clay.
"What is that!" he exclaimed, and Gail became again flying blonde hair and kicking feet.
"Regina's child," I said. "What are you doing home?"
"Accountant sent me back. Twenty-five and a half hours is the maximum this week. Good thing, too. I've got a headache." He eyed Gail meaningfully. She was obviously not the sort of thing the doctor orders for a headache.
"I can't help it, honey," I said, sitting down on a step to tear another handkerchief square from my skirt. "I'm going to call Regina at work now."
"Don't you have a chairman to take care of things like that?"
"I am the chairman," I said proudly.
"Why in heaven's name did you let yourself get roped into something like that?"
"I was selected by Mrs. Baden!"
"Obscenity," said Clay. It is his privilege, of course, to use this word.
The arty little store where Regina works has a telephane as well as a telephone, and in color, at that. So I could see Regina in full color, taking her own good time about switching on the sound. She switched on as a sort of afterthought and tilted3 her nose at me. I don't suppose she can really tilt4 her nose up and down, but she always gives that impression.
"Gail has an incipient5 streptococcus infection," I said. "They sent her home."
"Ma-ma!" Gail cried.
"Why didn't they give her a shot there? That's what they did with my niece last year."
I explained why not.
Regina sighed resignedly. "Verne, people can talk you into anything. There are times when you have to be firm. I work, girl. That's why I put Gail in Playplace. I can't leave here until twelve o'clock."
"But what'll I do with Gail?"
"Take her back. Or you keep her until I get home. Sorry, Verne, but you got yourself into this."
I switched off, furious.
Then I remembered Hi-nin. I couldn't be furious. I was going to have to get Regina's cooperation.
I picked up Gail and went into the bedroom. "I do not dislike Regina Crowley," I wrote with black crayola on a piece of note paper. I stuck it into a crevice6 of my mirror and gave Gail my bare-shoulder decorations to play with while I concentrated on thinking up reasons why I should not dislike Regina Crowley.
"I do," Clay said, sneaking7 up so quietly I jumped two feet.
"So do I," I said, gazing wearily at my note. "But I have to have her in a good mood. You see, there's this Hiserean child and since I'm chairman of the car pool, I have to—"
"Don't tell me about it," Clay said. "My advice to you is get elephantiasis of your steering8 foot and give the whole thing up now." He glanced meaningfully at Gail, who couldn't possibly be bothering him. She was playing quietly on the floor, pulling the suction disks off my jewelry9 and sticking them on her legs.
When I finally got Gail home, she sped into her mother's arms and I couldn't help being a little irritated because I had been practically swinging from the ceiling dust controls to ingratiate myself, and her mama just said, "Oh, hi," and Gail was satisfied.
"By the way," I said, watching Regina hang up her dark blue hand-woven jacket, "you wouldn't mind picking up an extra child tomorrow, would you?"
"Mind! Certainly I mind. I've got as much as I can do with my job and Gail and eight children in the heli already."
"It's a Hiserean child," I said. "The mother is so lovely, Regina. She didn't want us to go to any trouble."
"That's fine. Because I'm not going to go to any trouble."
I put my fists behind my back. "Of course I understand, Regina. I think it's remarkable10 that you manage to do so much. And keep up with your art things as you do. But don't you think it would be an interesting experience to have a Hiserean child in the pool?"
Regina pulled off her hand-woven wrap-skirt and I was shocked to see she wore a real boudoir slip to work.
"Everybody to their own interesting experiences," she said, laughing at me. This was obviously one of her triple-level remarks.
"De gustibus," I said, to show I know a few arty things myself, "non disputandum est."
"You have such moments, Verne! Have you ever seen a Hiserean child?"
"I saw one today."
"Well."
"Well?"
"De gustibus, as you said. You know the other children will eat it alive, don't you? Your child will. Now Gail...."
It's true that Gail never kicks anyone small enough to kick back. It's also true that Billy bites.
I unclenched my fists and stretched up with a deep breath so as to relax my stomach and improve my posture11.
"Hiserean children," I pointed12 out, "are going to have to be adjusted to our society. As I understand it, they're here to stay. Their sun blew up behind them and personally I think we're lucky they happened to drift here."
"I don't see why it's so lucky. I wish we'd gotten one of the ships full of scientific information. Or their top scientists. Or artists, for that matter. All we got were plain people. If you like to call them people."
"They're at least educated people with good sense. And we've got their ship to take apart and learn things from. And their books and, after all, some music and their gestural art. I should think you artists would find that real avant garde."
"Just hearing you say it like that is enough to kill Hiserean art."
"Regina, I know you think I'm a prig, but that isn't the point. And if it matters to you, I'm not a prig."
"Do you wear boudoir slips?" Regina was biting a real smile.
"No, I don't. But I'd like to."
"Then why don't you?"
"Because I put one on once and I thought I looked absolutely devastating13 and you know what my husband said?"
"I won't try to guess Clay's bon mot."
"He said, 'What did you put that on for?'"
Regina laughed until she popped a snap on her paper house dress. "But seriously," she said finally, "if he didn't know, why didn't you tell him?"
"That's not the point. The point is I am not the boudoir-slip type. My unmentionables are unmentionable for esthetic14 reasons only."
Regina laughed again. "Really, Verne, you're not half bad when you try."
"If you honestly think I'm not half bad, could you do it just as a favor to me? Pick up Hi-nin when you have the car pool?"
"The Hiserean child? No."
"Please, Regina. I'd do it for you except that the children would notice and it would get back to Mrs. His-tara. If there's anything I could do for you in return—"
"What could you possibly do?"
"I don't know. But I can't go back and tell that dear creature our car pool doesn't want her."
"Stop looking so intense. That's what keeps you from being the boudoir-slip type. You always look as though you're going out to break up a saloon or campaign for better Public Child Protection. The boudoir slip requires a languorous15 expression."
"Phooey to looking languorous. And phooey to boudoir slips. I'd wear diapers to nursery school if you'd change your mind about taking along Hi-nin."
"Would you wear a boudoir slip?"
"I—hell, yes."
"And nothing else?"
"Only my various means of support. And my respectability."
Regina laughed her tiger-on-the-third-Christian laugh. "What I want to find out," she said, "is how you manage the respectability bit."
It dawned on me while I was grinding the pepper for Clay's salad that Regina had explained herself. All of a sudden I saw straight through her and I wondered why I hadn't seen it before. Regina envied me.
Now on the face of it, that seemed unlikely. But it occurred to me that Regina's parents had been the poor but honest and uneducated sort that simply are never asked to chaperone school parties. And the fact is that they were not what Regina thought of as respectable, though it never occurred to anyone but her that it mattered. And since all her culture was acquired after the age of thirteen, she felt it didn't fit properly and that's why she went out of her way to be arty-arty.
Whereas I took for granted all the things Regina had learned so painstakingly16, and this in turn was what made me so irritatingly respectable.
As Regina had suggested, perhaps it is the expression on one's face that makes the difference.
"Hey!" a cop yelled, pulling up as close to us as his rotors would allow. "What the hell?"
"I beg your pardon," I said frigidly18. It is very frigid17 in November if you are out in a helicopter dressed only in a boudoir slip.
"Look de bleesemans!" Gail cried.
"He might shoot everybody!" Billy warned.
Meli began to cry loudly. "He might choot! Ma-ma!"
"Pardon me, madam," the cop said, and beat a hasty retreat.
When we landed on Hi-nin's roof, Mrs. His-tara came up with him. She looked at me sympathetically. "You are perhaps molting19, beloved friend?" Her large eyes retracted20 and filled with tears. "Such a season!"
"No—no, dear. Just—getting a little fresh air."
I put Hi-nin on the front seat with me. He gave me a big-eyed, toothless smile and sat down in perfect quiet, except for the soft, almost sea sound of his breathing.
It was during one of those brief and infrequent silences we have that I noticed something was amiss. No sea sound.
I looked around to find Billy's hands around Hi-nin's throat.
"Billy!" I screamed.
"Aw!" he said, and let go.
Hi-nin began to breathe again in a violent, choked way.
"Billy," I said, wondering if I could keep myself from simply throwing my son out of the helicopter, "Billy...."
"It is nothing, nice mama," Hi-nin said, still choking.
"Billy." I didn't trust myself to speak any further. I reached around and spanked21 him until my hand was sore. "If you ever do that again—"
"Waa!" Billy bawled22. I'm sure he could be heard quite plainly by the men building the new astronomical23 station on the Moon.
I put Hi-nin on my lap and kept him there. "That's just Billy's way of making friends," I whispered to him.
Under Billy's leadership, several other children began to cry, and all in all it was not a well-integrated, love-sharing group that I lifted down from the heli at Playplace.
"The children always sense it, don't they," Mrs. Baden said with her gentle smile, "when we don't feel comfortable about a situation?"
"Comfortable!" I cried. It seemed to me the day had become blazing hot and I didn't remember what I was dressed in until I tried to take off my jacket. "My son is an inhuman24 monster. He tried to—to—" I could feel a big sob25 coming on.
"Bite?" Mrs. Baden supplied helpfully.
"Strangle," I managed to blurt26 out.
"We'll be especially considerate of Billy today," Mrs. Baden said. "He'll be feeling guilty and he senses your discomfort27 about his aggression28."
"Senses it! I all but tore him limb from limb! That dear little Hiserean child—"
"I do not want to be of difficulty," Hi-nin said, tears pouring out of those great, big eyes.
Tears were pouring out of my small blue eyes by this time and Mr. Grantham, who brings a set of grandchildren, came by and patted my shoulder.
"Chin up!" he said. "Eyes front!"
Then he looked at his hand and my recently patted shoulder.
"Oh, excuse me," he said. "Would you like to borrow my jacket?"
I shook my head, acutely aware, suddenly, that Mr. Grantham is not a doddering old grandfather but a young and handsome man. And all he thought about my bare shoulder was that it ought to be covered.
"You just run along," Mrs. Baden said. "We'll let Billy strangle the pneumatic dog and everything will be just fine. Oh, and dear—I don't know whether you've noticed it—you don't have on a dress."
I went home and sat in front of the mirror feeling miserable29 in several different directions. If Regina Raymond Crowley appeared in public dressed only in a boudoir slip, people would think all sorts of wicked things. When I appeared in public in a boudoir slip, everybody thought I was just a little absentminded.
This, I thought, is a hell of a thing to worry about. And then I thought, Oh, phooey. If even I think I'm respectable, what can I expect other people to think?
I took down the note on the mirror about Regina. No wonder I didn't like her! I turned the paper over and wrote "Phooey to me!" with my eyebrow30 pencil.
I was still regarding the note and trying to argue myself into a better mood when Clay came tramping down from work at three o'clock.
"Why are you sitting around in a boudoir slip?" he asked.
"You're a double-dyed louse and a great, big alligator31 head," I told him.
"Don't mention it," he said. "Where's Billy?"
"Taking his nap. Tell me the truth, Clay. The absolute truth."
Clay looked at me suspiciously. "I'd planned on a little golf this afternoon."
"This won't take a minute. I don't ask you things like this all the time, now do I?"
"I still don't know what you're talking about."
I took a deep breath. "Clay, is there anything about me, anything at all, that is not respectable?"
"There is not," he said.
"Well—I guess that's all there is to it," I sighed. I pulled off my boudoir slip and got a neat paper one out of the slot. "Anyway," I said bravely, "boudoir slips have to be laundered32."
Clay looked at me curiously33 for a moment and then said, "This looks like a good afternoon to go play golf."
"Do you think there's anything not respectable about Regina Crowley?"
"There is everything not respectable about Regina Crowley," Clay said vehemently34.
"You see?"
"Frankly35, no."
"Well, do you think her husband uses that tone of voice when he says, 'There is everything respectable about Verne Barrat?'"
"I don't know why he should say that at all."
"She might ask him."
"Darling, you're mad as a hatter," Clay said, kissing me good-by.
"Do you really think so?"
"Of course not," Clay roared as he tramped up the steps to the heli.
About nine o'clock the next morning I heard a heli landing on the roof and I thought, Now who? There was much tooting, and when I went up, Regina practically threw Hi-nin at me.
"I told you so," she snapped at me. Her face was burning red and she wasn't bothering to tilt her nose.
"What happened? Why did you bring him back to me?"
"His hand," she said, and took off.
Hand? He was holding one hand over the other. No! I grabbed his hands to see what it was.
One hand had obviously been bitten off at the wrist. He was holding the wound with the tentacles36 of his other little boneless hand. There was very little blood.
"It is as nothing," he said, but when I cradled him in my arms, I could feel him shaking all over.
"It will grow back," he said.
Would it?
I took him in the heli and held him while I drove. I could feel him trying to stop himself from shaking, but he couldn't.
"Does it hurt very much?" I asked.
"The pain is small," he said. "It is the fear. The fear is terrible. I am unable to swallow it."
I was unable to swallow it, too.
"The hand," said Mrs. His-tara without concern, "will grow back. But the things within my son...." She, too, began to tremble involuntarily.
"Billy," I began, feeling the blood come through my lower lip, "Billy and I are...." It was too inadequate37 to say it.
"It was not Billy," Hi-nin said without rancor38. "It was Gail."
"Gail! Gail doesn't bite!" But she had, and I broke down and plain cried.
"Do not trouble yourself," said Mrs. His-tara. "My son receives from this a wound that does not heal. On Hiserea he would be forever sick, you understand. On your world, where everyone is born with this open wound, it will be his protection. So Mrs. Baden warned me and I think she is wise."
As soon as I got home, I called up Regina. She looked pale and lifeless against the gaudy39, irresponsible objects in the art shop.
"It wasn't my fault," she said quickly. "I can't drive and watch the children at the same time. I told you the children would eat...." She stopped, and for the first time I saw Regina really horrified40 with herself.
"Nobody said it was your fault. But don't you think you could have taken Hi-nin home yourself? To show Mrs. His-tara that—I don't know what it would show."
It reminded me, somehow, of the time Regina stepped on a lizard41 and left it in great pain, pulling itself along by its tiny front paws, and I had said, "Regina, you can't leave that poor thing suffering," and she had said, "Well, I didn't step on it on purpose," and I had said, "Somebody's got to kill it now," and she had said, "I've got a class." I could still feel the crunch42 of it under my foot as its tiny life went out.
"Sorry, Verne," she said, "you got yourself into this," and hung up.
That night Regina called me. "Can you give blood?" she asked.
"Yes," I said. "If I stuff myself, I can get the scales up to a hundred and ten pounds."
"What type?"

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 shredding 5d52274bcc6c4b67c83aca2284867ccd     
v.撕碎,切碎( shred的现在分词 );用撕毁机撕毁(文件)
参考例句:
  • Like the Tehran experience, the shredding may be all for naught. 如同德黑兰事件中的情况一样,切碎文件可能是徒劳的。 来自时文部分
  • How shredding began is subject to some guesswork. 粉碎处理行业的起源是个有争议的问题。 来自时文部分
2 fervently 8tmzPw     
adv.热烈地,热情地,强烈地
参考例句:
  • "Oh, I am glad!'she said fervently. “哦,我真高兴!”她热烈地说道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • O my dear, my dear, will you bless me as fervently to-morrow?' 啊,我亲爱的,亲爱的,你明天也愿这样热烈地为我祝福么?” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
3 tilted 3gtzE5     
v. 倾斜的
参考例句:
  • Suddenly the boat tilted to one side. 小船突然倾向一侧。
  • She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。
4 tilt aG3y0     
v.(使)倾侧;(使)倾斜;n.倾侧;倾斜
参考例句:
  • She wore her hat at a tilt over her left eye.她歪戴着帽子遮住左眼。
  • The table is at a slight tilt.这张桌子没放平,有点儿歪.
5 incipient HxFyw     
adj.起初的,发端的,初期的
参考例句:
  • The anxiety has been sharpened by the incipient mining boom.采矿业初期的蓬勃发展加剧了这种担忧。
  • What we see then is an incipient global inflation.因此,我们看到的是初期阶段的全球通胀.
6 crevice pokzO     
n.(岩石、墙等)裂缝;缺口
参考例句:
  • I saw a plant growing out of a crevice in the wall.我看到墙缝里长出一棵草来。
  • He edged the tool into the crevice.他把刀具插进裂缝里。
7 sneaking iibzMu     
a.秘密的,不公开的
参考例句:
  • She had always had a sneaking affection for him. 以前她一直暗暗倾心于他。
  • She ducked the interviewers by sneaking out the back door. 她从后门偷偷溜走,躲开采访者。
8 steering 3hRzbi     
n.操舵装置
参考例句:
  • He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
  • Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵,口吻也马上变得温和了。
9 jewelry 0auz1     
n.(jewllery)(总称)珠宝
参考例句:
  • The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
  • Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。
10 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。
11 posture q1gzk     
n.姿势,姿态,心态,态度;v.作出某种姿势
参考例句:
  • The government adopted an uncompromising posture on the issue of independence.政府在独立这一问题上采取了毫不妥协的态度。
  • He tore off his coat and assumed a fighting posture.他脱掉上衣,摆出一副打架的架势。
12 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。
13 devastating muOzlG     
adj.毁灭性的,令人震惊的,强有力的
参考例句:
  • It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
  • Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。
14 esthetic 3tfzcU     
adj.美学的,审美的;悦目的,雅致的
参考例句:
  • That armchair is comfortable but not very esthetic.那张扶手椅坐起来舒服,但不太美观。
  • There are physical distance and esthetic distance between the esthetic subject and the object.审美的主客体之间有物理距离和心理距离。
15 languorous 9ba067f622ece129006173ef5479f0e6     
adj.怠惰的,没精打采的
参考例句:
  • For two days he was languorous and esteemed. 两天来,他因身体衰弱无力,受到尊重。 来自辞典例句
  • Some one says Fuzhou is a languorous and idle city. 有人说,福州是一个慵懒闲淡的城市。 来自互联网
16 painstakingly painstakingly     
adv. 费力地 苦心地
参考例句:
  • Every aspect of the original has been closely studied and painstakingly reconstructed. 原作的每一细节都经过了仔细研究,费尽苦心才得以重现。
  • The cause they contrived so painstakingly also ended in failure. 他们惨淡经营的事业也以失败而告终。
17 frigid TfBzl     
adj.寒冷的,凛冽的;冷淡的;拘禁的
参考例句:
  • The water was too frigid to allow him to remain submerged for long.水冰冷彻骨,他在下面呆不了太长时间。
  • She returned his smile with a frigid glance.对他的微笑她报以冷冷的一瞥。
18 frigidly 3f87453f096c6b9661c44deab443cec0     
adv.寒冷地;冷漠地;冷淡地;呆板地
参考例句:
19 molting db85f1af31319318d646efa2505487ca     
n.蜕皮v.换羽,脱毛( molt的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • The old cuticle is digested by molting fluid. 旧表皮被蜕皮液消化。 来自辞典例句
  • Molting in insects is triggered by rising levels of a hormone called ecdysone. 昆虫的脱皮是由于称为脱皮素激素的含量升高而引起的。 来自辞典例句
20 retracted Xjdzyr     
v.撤回或撤消( retract的过去式和过去分词 );拒绝执行或遵守;缩回;拉回
参考例句:
  • He made a false confession which he later retracted. 他作了假供词,后来又翻供。
  • A caddy retracted his statement. 一个球童收回了他的话。 来自辞典例句
21 spanked 7f5c8f4a184a8a7677239d55dcee6b0f     
v.用手掌打( spank的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • We spanked along in his new car. 我们坐在他的新车里兜风。 来自辞典例句
  • The nurse spanked the naughty child. 保育员打了一下那个淘气的孩子的屁股。 来自辞典例句
22 bawled 38ced6399af307ad97598acc94294d08     
v.大叫,大喊( bawl的过去式和过去分词 );放声大哭;大声叫出;叫卖(货物)
参考例句:
  • She bawled at him in front of everyone. 她当着大家的面冲他大喊大叫。
  • My boss bawled me out for being late. 我迟到,给老板训斥了一顿。 来自《简明英汉词典》
23 astronomical keTyO     
adj.天文学的,(数字)极大的
参考例句:
  • He was an expert on ancient Chinese astronomical literature.他是研究中国古代天文学文献的专家。
  • Houses in the village are selling for astronomical prices.乡村的房价正在飙升。
24 inhuman F7NxW     
adj.残忍的,不人道的,无人性的
参考例句:
  • We must unite the workers in fighting against inhuman conditions.我们必须使工人们团结起来反对那些难以忍受的工作条件。
  • It was inhuman to refuse him permission to see his wife.不容许他去看自己的妻子是太不近人情了。
25 sob HwMwx     
n.空间轨道的轰炸机;呜咽,哭泣
参考例句:
  • The child started to sob when he couldn't find his mother.孩子因找不到他妈妈哭了起来。
  • The girl didn't answer,but continued to sob with her head on the table.那个女孩不回答,也不抬起头来。她只顾低声哭着。
26 blurt 8tczD     
vt.突然说出,脱口说出
参考例句:
  • If you can blurt out 300 sentences,you can make a living in America.如果你能脱口而出300句英语,你可以在美国工作。
  • I will blurt out one passage every week.我每星期要脱口而出一篇短文!
27 discomfort cuvxN     
n.不舒服,不安,难过,困难,不方便
参考例句:
  • One has to bear a little discomfort while travelling.旅行中总要忍受一点不便。
  • She turned red with discomfort when the teacher spoke.老师讲话时她不好意思地红着脸。
28 aggression WKjyF     
n.进攻,侵略,侵犯,侵害
参考例句:
  • So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结,就不必惧怕外来侵略。
  • Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。
29 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。
30 eyebrow vlOxk     
n.眉毛,眉
参考例句:
  • Her eyebrow is well penciled.她的眉毛画得很好。
  • With an eyebrow raised,he seemed divided between surprise and amusement.他一只眉毛扬了扬,似乎既感到吃惊,又觉有趣。
31 alligator XVgza     
n.短吻鳄(一种鳄鱼)
参考例句:
  • She wandered off to play with her toy alligator.她开始玩鳄鱼玩具。
  • Alligator skin is five times more costlier than leather.鳄鱼皮比通常的皮革要贵5倍。
32 laundered 95074eccc0837ff352682b72828e8414     
v.洗(衣服等),洗烫(衣服等)( launder的过去式和过去分词 );洗(黑钱)(把非法收入改头换面,变为貌似合法的收入)
参考例句:
  • Send these sheets to be laundered. 把这些床单送去洗熨。 来自辞典例句
  • The air seems freshly laundered. Sydney thinks of good drying weather. 空气似乎被清洗过,让悉妮想起晴朗干爽适合晒衣服的好天气。 来自互联网
33 curiously 3v0zIc     
adv.有求知欲地;好问地;奇特地
参考例句:
  • He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
  • He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。
34 vehemently vehemently     
adv. 热烈地
参考例句:
  • He argued with his wife so vehemently that he talked himself hoarse. 他和妻子争论得很激烈,以致讲话的声音都嘶哑了。
  • Both women vehemently deny the charges against them. 两名妇女都激烈地否认了对她们的指控。
35 frankly fsXzcf     
adv.坦白地,直率地;坦率地说
参考例句:
  • To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说,我一点也不赞成这个主意。
  • Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说,我不反对改革。
36 tentacles de6ad1cd521db1ee7397e4ed9f18a212     
n.触手( tentacle的名词复数 );触角;触须;触毛
参考例句:
  • Tentacles of fear closed around her body. 恐惧的阴影笼罩着她。
  • Many molluscs have tentacles. 很多软体动物有触角。 来自《简明英汉词典》
37 inadequate 2kzyk     
adj.(for,to)不充足的,不适当的
参考例句:
  • The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
  • She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。
38 rancor hA6zj     
n.深仇,积怨
参考例句:
  • I have no rancor against him.我对他无怨无仇。
  • Their rancor dated from a political dogfight between them.他们的积怨来自于他们之间在政治上的狗咬狗。
39 gaudy QfmzN     
adj.华而不实的;俗丽的
参考例句:
  • She was tricked out in gaudy dress.她穿得华丽而俗气。
  • The gaudy butterfly is sure that the flowers owe thanks to him.浮华的蝴蝶却相信花是应该向它道谢的。
40 horrified 8rUzZU     
a.(表现出)恐惧的
参考例句:
  • The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
  • We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。
41 lizard P0Ex0     
n.蜥蜴,壁虎
参考例句:
  • A chameleon is a kind of lizard.变色龙是一种蜥蜴。
  • The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect.蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。
42 crunch uOgzM     
n.关键时刻;艰难局面;v.发出碎裂声
参考例句:
  • If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
  • People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。


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