Chapter 7

She hangs on the western wall

 

 Dudley Eigenvalue, D.D.S., browsed¹ among treasures in his Park Avenue  office/residence. Mounted on black velvet² in a locked mahogany case,  showpiece of the office, was a set of false dentures, each tooth a different  precious metal. The upper right canine³ was pure titanium and for Eigenvalue  the focal point of the set. He had seen the original sponge at a foundry  near Colorado Springs a year ago, having flown there in the private plane of  one Clayton ("Bloody⁵") Chiclitz. Chiclitz of Yoyodyne, one of the biggest  defense⁶ contractors⁷ on the east coast, with subsidiaries all over the  country. He and Eigenvalue were part of the same Circle. That was what the  enthusiast⁸, Stencil⁹, said. And believed.

For those who keep an eye on such things, bright little flags had begun to  appear toward the end of Eisenhower's first term, fluttering bravely in  history's gay turbulence¹⁰, signaling that a new and unlikely profession was  gaining moral ascendancy¹¹. Back around the turn of the century,  psychoanalysis had usurped¹² from the priesthood the role of father-confessor.  Now, it seemed, the analyst¹³ in his turn was about to be deposed¹⁴ by, of all  people, the dentist.

It appeared actually to have been little more than a change in nomenclature.  Appointments became sessions, profound statements about oneself came to be  prefaced by "My dentist says . . ." Psychodontia, like its predecessors,  developed a jargon¹⁵: you called neurosis "malocclusion," oral, anal and  genital stages "deciduous¹⁶ dentition," id "pulp¹⁷" and superego "enamel¹⁸."

The pulp is soft and laced with little blood vessels¹⁹ and nerves. The enamel,  mostly calcium²⁰, is inanimate. These were the it and I psychodontia had to  deal with. The hard, lifeless I covered up the warm, pulsing it; protecting  and sheltering.

Eigenvalue, enchanted²¹ by the titanium's dull spark, brooded on Stencil's  fantasy (thinking of it with conscious effort as a distal amalgam²²: an alloy  of the illusory flow and gleam of mercury with the pure truth of gold or  silver, filling a breach²³ in the protective enamel, far from the root).

Cavities in the teeth occur for good reason, Eigenvalue reflected. But even  if there are several per tooth, there's no conscious organization there  against the life of the pulp, no conspiracy²⁴. Yet we have men like Stencil,  who must go about grouping the world's random²⁵ caries into cabals²⁷.

Intercom blinked gently. "Mr. Stencil," it said. So. What pretext²⁸ this time.  He'd spent three appointments getting his teeth cleaned. Gracious and  flowing, Dr. Eigenvalue entered the private waiting room. Stencil rose to  meet him, stammering²⁹. "Toothache?" the doctor suggested, solicitous³¹.

"Nothing wrong with the teeth," Stencil got out. "You must talk. You must  both drop pretense³²."

From behind his desk, in the office, Eigenvalue said, "You're a bad  detective and a worse spy."

"It isn't espionage³³," Stencil protested, "but the Situation is intolerable."  A term he'd learned from his father. "They're abandoning the Alligator³⁴  Patrol. Slowly, so as not to attract attention."

"You think you've frightened them?"

"Please." The man was ashen³⁵. He produced a pipe and pouch³⁶ and set about  scattering³⁷ tobacco on the wall-to-wall carpeting.

"You presented the Alligator Patrol to me," said Eigenvalue, "in a humorous  light. An interesting conversation piece, while my hygienist was in your  mouth. Were you waiting for her hands to tremble? For me to go all pale? Had  it been myself and a drill, such a guilt³⁸ reaction might have been very, very  uncomfortable." Stencil had filled the pipe and was lighting³⁹ it. "You've  conceived somewhere the notion that I am intimate with the details of a  conspiracy. In a world such as you inhabit, Mr. Stencil, any cluster of  phenomena⁴⁰ can be a conspiracy. So no doubt your suspicion is correct. But  why consult me? Why not the Encyclopaedia⁴¹ Britannica? It knows more than I  about any phenomena you should ever have interest in. Unless, of course,  you're curious about dentistry." How weak he looked, sitting there. How old  was he - fifty-five - and he looked seventy. Whereas Eigenvalue at roughly  the same age looked thirty-five. Young as he felt. "Which field?" he asked  playfully. "Peridontia, oral surgery, orthodontia? Prosthetics?"

"Suppose it was prosthetics," taking Eigenvalue by surprise. Stencil was  building a protective curtain of aromatic⁴² pipe smoke, to be inscrutable  behind. But his voice had somehow regained⁴³ a measure of self-possession.

"Come," said Eigenvalue. They entered a rear office, where the museum was.  Here were a pair of forceps once handled by Fauchard; a first edition of The  Surgeon Dentist, Paris, 1728; a chair sat in by patients of Chapin Aaron  Harris; a brick from one of the first buildings of the Baltimore College of  Dental Surgery. Eigenvalue led Stencil to the mahogany case.

"Whose," said Stencil, looking at the dentures.

"Like Cinderella's prince," Eigenvalue smiled, "I'm still looking for the  jaw⁴⁴ to fit these."

"And Stencil, possibly. It would be something she'd wear."

"I made them," said Eigenvalue. "Anybody you'd be looking for would never  have seen them. Only you, I and a few other privileged have seen them."

"How does Stencil know."

"That I'm telling the truth? Tut, Mr. Stencil."

The false teeth in the case smiled too, twinkling as if in reproach.

Back in the office, Eigenvalue, to see what he could see, inquired: "Who  then is V.?"

But the conversational⁴⁵ tone didn't take Stencil aback, he didn't look  surprised that the dentist knew of his obsession⁴⁶. "Psychodontia has its  secrets and so does Stencil," Stencil answered. "But most important, so does  V. She's yielded him only the poor skeleton of a dossier. Most of what he  has is inference. He doesn't know who she is, nor what she is. He's trying  to find out. As a legacy⁴⁷ from his father."

The afternoon curled outside, with only a little wind to stir it. Stencil's  words seemed to fall insubstantial inside a cube no wider than Eigenvalue's  desk. The dentist kept quiet as Stencil told how his father had come to hear  of the girl V. When he'd finished, Eigenvalue said, "You followed up, of  course. On-the-spot investigation⁴⁸."

"Yes. But found out hardly more than Stencil has told you." Which was the  case. Florence only a few summers ago had seemed crowded with the same  tourists as at the turn of the century. But V., whoever she was, might have  been swallowed in the airy Renaissance⁴⁹ spaces of that city, assumed into the  fabric⁵⁰ of any of a thousand Great Paintings, for all Stencil was able to  determine. He had discovered, however, what was pertinent⁵¹ to his purpose:  that she'd been connected, though perhaps only tangentially⁵², with one of  those grand conspiracies⁵³ or foretastes of Armageddon which seemed to have  captivated all diplomatic sensibilities in the years preceding the Great  War. V. and a conspiracy. Its particular shape governed only by the surface  accidents of history at the time.

Perhaps history this century, thought Eigenvalue, is rippled⁵⁶ with gathers in  its fabric such that if we are situated⁵⁷, as Stencil seemed to be, at the  bottom of a fold, it's impossible to determine warp⁵⁸, woof or pattern  anywhere else. By virtue⁵⁹, however, of existing in one gather it is assumed  there are others, compartmented off into sinuous⁶⁰ cycles each of which come  to assume greater importance than the weave itself and destroy any  continuity. Thus it is that we are charmed by the funny-looking automobiles  of the '30's, the curious fashions of the '20's, the peculiar⁶¹ moral habits  of our grandparents. We produce and attend musical comedies about them and  are conned⁶² into a false memory, a phony nostalgia⁶⁴ about what they were. We  are accordingly lost to any sense of a continuous tradition. Perhaps if we  lived on a crest⁶⁵, things would be different. We could at least see.

 

I

 In April of 1899 young Evan Godolphin, daft with the spring and sporting a  costume too Esthetic⁶⁶ for such a fat boy, pranced⁶⁷ into Florence. Camouflaged  by a gorgeous sunshower which had burst over the city at three in the  afternoon, his face was the color of a freshly-baked pork pie and as  noncommittal. Alighting at the Stazione Centrale he flagged down an open cab  with his umbrella of cerise sills, roared the address of his hotel to a  Cook's luggage agent and, with a clumsy entrechat deux and a jolly-ho to no  one in particular, leaped in and was driven earoling away down Via dei  Panzani. He had come to meet his old father, Captain Hugh, F.R.G.S. and  explorer of the Antarctic - at least such was the ostensible⁶⁸ reason. He was,  however, the sort of ne'er-do-well who needs no reason for anything,  ostensible or otherwise. The family called him Evan the Oaf. In return, in  his more playful moments, he referred to all other Godolphins as The  Establishment. But like his other utterances⁶⁹, there was no rancor⁷⁰ here: in  his early youth he had looked aghast at Dickens's Fat Boy as a challenge to  his faith in all fat boys as innately⁷² Nice Fellows, and subsequently worked  as hard at contradicting that insult to the breed as he did at being a  ne'er-do-well. For despite protests from the Establishment to the contrary,  shiftlessness did not come easily to Evan. He was not, though fond of his  father, much of a conservative; for as long as he could remember he had  labored⁷³ beneath the shadow of Captain Hugh, a hero of the Empire, resisting  any compulsion to glory which the name Godolphin might have implied for  himself. But this was a characteristic acquired from the age, and Evan was  too nice a fellow not to turn with the century. He had dallied⁷⁴ for a while  with the idea of getting a commission and going to sea; not to follow in his  old father's wake but simply to get away from the Establishment. His  adolescent mutterings in times of family stress were all prayerful, exotic  syllables⁷⁶: Bahrein, Dar es Salaam⁷⁷, Samarang. But in his second year at  Dartmouth, he was expelled for leading a Nihilist group called the League of  the Red Sunrise, whose method of hastening the revolution was to hold mad  and drunken parties beneath the Commodore's window. Flinging up their  collective arms at last in despair, the family exiled him to the Continent,  hoping, possibly, that he would stage some prank⁷⁹ harmful enough to society  to have him put away in a foreign prison.

At Deauville, recuperating⁸⁰ after two months of goodnatured lechery⁸¹ in Paris,  he'd returned to his hotel one evening 17,000 francs to the good and  grateful to a bay named Cher Ballon, to find a telegram from Captain Hugh  which said; "Hear you were sacked. If you need someone to talk to I am at  Piazza⁸² della Signoria 5 eighth floor. I should like very much to see you  son. Unwise to say too much in telegram. Vheissu. You understand. FATHER."

Vheissu, of course. A summons he couldn't ignore, Vheissu. He understood.  Hadn't it been their only nexus⁸³ for longer than Evan could remember; had it  not stood preeminent⁸⁴ in his catalogue of outlandish regions where the  Establishment held no sway? It was something which, to his knowledge, Evan  alone shared with his father, though he himself had stopped believing in the  place around the age of sixteen. His first impression on reading the wire -  that Captain Hugh was senile at last, or raving⁸⁵, or both - was soon replaced  by a more charitable opinion. Perhaps, Evan reasoned, his recent expedition  to the South had been too much for the old boy. But on route to Pisa, Evan  had finally begun to feel disquieted⁸⁷ at the tone of the thing. He'd taken of  late to examining everything in print - menus, railway timetables, posted  advertisements for literary merit; he belonged to a generation of young men  who no longer called their fathers pater because of an understandable  confusion with the author of The Renaissance, and was sensitive to things  like tone. And this had a je ne sais quoi de sinistre about it which sent  pleasurable chills racing⁸⁸ along his spinal⁸⁹ column. His imagination ran riot.  Unwise to say too much in telegram: intimations of a plot, a cabal²⁶ grand and  mysterious: combined with that appeal to their only common possession.  Either by itself would have made Evan ashamed: ashamed at hallucinations  belonging in a spy thriller⁹⁰, even more painfully ashamed for an attempt at  something which should have existed but did not, based only on the sharing  long ago of a bedside story. But both, together, were like a parlay of  horses, capable of a whole arrived at by same operation more alien than  simple addition of parts.

He would see his father. In spite of the heart's vagrancy⁹¹, the cerise  umbrella, the madcap clothes. Was rebellion in his blood? He'd never been  troubled enough to wonder. Certainly the League of the Red Sunrise had been  no more than a jolly lark⁹²; he couldn't yet become serious over politics. But  he had a mighty⁹³ impatience⁹⁴ with the older generation, which is almost as  good as open rebellion. He became more bored with talk of Empire the further  he lumbered⁹⁵ upward out of the slough⁹⁶ of adolescence⁹⁷; shunned⁹⁸ every hint of  glory like the sound of a leper's rattle⁹⁹. China, the Sudan, the East Indies,  Vheissu had served their purpose: given him a sphere of influence roughly  congruent with that of his skull¹⁰⁰, private colonies of the imagination whose  borders were solidly defended against the Establishment's incursions or  depredations¹⁰¹. He wanted to be left alone, never to "do well" in his own way,  and would defend that oaf's integrity to the last lazy heartbeat.

The cab swung left, crossing the tram tracks with two bone-rattling¹⁰² jolts,  and then right again into Via dei Vechietti. Evan shook four fingers in the  air and swore at the driver, who smiled absently. A tram came blithering up  behind them; drew abreast¹⁰³. Evan turned his head and saw a young girl in  dimity blinking huge eyes at him.

"Signorina," he cried, "ah, brava fanciulla, sei tu inglesa?"

She blushed and began to study the embroidery¹⁰⁴ on her parasol. Evan stood up  on the cab's seat, postured¹⁰⁵, winked¹⁰⁶, began to sing Deh, vieni alla finestra  from Don Giovanni. Whether or not she understood Italian, the song had a  negative effect: she withdrew from the window and hid among a mob of  Italians standing¹⁰⁷ in the center aisle¹⁰⁸. Evan's driver chose this moment to  lash¹⁰⁹ the horses into a gallop¹¹⁰ and swerve¹¹¹ across the tracks again, in front  of the tram. Evan, still singing, lost his balance and fell halfway¹¹² over the  back of the carriage. He managed to catch hold of the boot's top with one  flailing¹¹³ arm and after a deal of graceless floundering to haul himself back  in. By this time they were in Via Pecori. He looked back and saw the girl  getting out of the tram. He sighed as his cab bounced on past Giotto's  Campanile, still wondering if she were English.

 

II

 In front of a wine shop on the Ponte Vecchio sat Signor Mantissa and his  accomplice¹¹⁴ in crime, a seedy-looking Calabrese named Cesare. Both were  drinking Broglio wine and feeling unhappy. It had occurred to Cesare  sometime during the rain that he was a steamboat. Now that the rain was only  a slight drizzle¹¹⁶ the English tourists were beginning to emerge once more  from the shops lining¹¹⁷ the bridge, and Cesare was announcing his discovery to  those who came within earshot. He would emit short blasts across the mouth  of the wine bottle to encourage the illusion. "Toot," he would go, "toot.  Vaporetto, io."

Signor Mantissa was not paying attention. His five feet three rested angular  on the folding chair, a body small, well-wrought and somehow precious, as if  it were the forgotten creation of any goldsmith - even Cellini - shrouded  now in dark serge and waiting to be put up for auction¹¹⁸. His eyes were  streaked¹¹⁹ and rimmed¹²⁰ with the pinkness of what seemed to be years of  lamenting¹²¹. Sunlight, bouncing off the Arno, off the fronts of shops,  fractured into spectra¹²² by the falling rain, seemed to tangle¹²³ or lodge¹²⁴ in his  blond hair, eyebrows¹²⁵, mustache, turning that face to a mask of inaccessible  ecstasy¹²⁶; contradicting the sorrowing and weary eyeholes. You would be drawn  inevitably¹²⁷ again to these eyes, linger as you might have on the rest of the  face: any Visitors' Guide to Signor Mantissa must accord them an asterisk  denoting especial interest. Though offering no clue to their enigma¹²⁸; for  they reflected a free-floating sadness, unfocused, indeterminate: a woman,  the casual tourist might think at first, be almost convinced until some more  catholic light moving in and out of a web of capillaries¹²⁹ would make him not  so sure. What then? Politics, perhaps. Thinking of gentle-eyed Mazzini with  his lambent dreams, the observer would sense frailness¹³¹, a poet-liberal. But  if he kept watching long enough the plasma¹³³ behind those eyes would soon run  through every fashionable permutation of grief - financial trouble,  declining health, destroyed faith, betrayal, impotence, loss - until  eventually it would dawn on our tourist that he had been attending no wake  after all: rather a street-long festival of sorrow with no booth the same,  no exhibit offering anything solid enough to merit lingering at.

The reason was obvious and disappointing: simply that Signor Mantissa  himself had been through them all, each booth was a permanent exhibit in  memory of some time in his life when there had been a blond seamstress in  Lyons, or an abortive¹³⁴ plot to smuggle¹³⁵ tobacco over the Pyrenees, or a minor  assassination¹³⁶ attempt in Belgrade. All his reversals had occurred, had been  registered: he had assigned each one equal weight, had learned nothing from  any of them except that they would happen again. Like Machiavelli he was in  exile, and visited by shadows of rhythm and decay. He mused¹³⁷ inviolate¹³⁸ by the  serene¹³⁹ river of Italian pessimism¹⁴⁰, and all men were corrupt¹⁴¹: history would  continue to recapitulate¹⁴² the same patterns. There was hardly ever a dossier  on him, wherever in the world his tiny, nimble feet should happen to walk.  No one in authority seemed to care. He belonged to that inner circle of  deracinated seers whose eyesight was clouded over only by occasional tears,  whose outer rim¹¹⁵ was tangent to rims¹⁴³ enclosing the Decadents¹⁴⁴ of England and  France, the Generation of '98 in Spain, for whom the continent of Europe was  like a gallery one is familiar with but long weary of, useful now only as  shelter from the rain, or some obscure pestilence¹⁴⁵.

Cesare drank from the wine bottle. He sang:

 Il piove, dolor mia  Ed anch'io piango . . .

"No," said Signor Mantissa, waving away the bottle. "No more for me till he  arrives."

"There are two English ladies," Cesare cried. "I will sing to them."

"For God's sake -"

 Vedi, donna vezzosa, questo poveretto,  Sempre cantante d'amore come -

"Be quiet, can't you."

"-un vaporetto." Triumphantly¹⁴⁷ he boomed a hundred-cycle note across the  Ponte Vecchio. The English ladies cringed and passed on.

After a while Signor Mantissa reached under his chair, coming up with a new  fiasco of wine.

"Here is the Gaucho¹⁴⁸," he said. A tall, lumbering¹⁴⁹ person in a wideawake hat  loomed¹⁵⁰ over them, blinking curiously¹⁵¹.

Biting his thumb irritably¹⁵² at Cesare, Signor Mantissa found a corkscrew;  gripped the bottle between his knees, drew the cork¹⁵³. The Gaucho straddled a  chair backwards¹⁵⁴ and took a long swallow from the wine bottle.

"Broglio," Signor Mantissa said, "the finest."

The Gaucho fiddled¹⁵⁵ absently with his hatbrim. Then burst out: "I'm a man of  action, signor, I'd rather not waste time. Allora. To business. I have  considered your plan. I asked for no details last night. I dislike details.  As it was, the few you gave me were superfluous¹⁵⁶. I'm sorry, I have many  objections. It is much too subtle. There are too many things that can go  wrong. How many people are in it now? You, myself and this lout¹⁵⁷." Cesare  beamed. "Two too many. You should have done it all alone. You mentioned  wanting to bribe¹⁵⁸ one of the attendants. It would make four. How many more  will have to be paid off, consciences set at ease. Chances arise that  someone can betray us to the guardie before this wretched business is done?"

Signor Mantissa drank, wiped his mustaches, smiled painfully. "Cesare is  able to make the necessary contacts," he protested, "he's below suspicion,  no one notices him. The river barge¹⁵⁹ to Pisa, the boat from there to Nice,  who should have arranged these if not -"

"You, my friend," the Gaucho said menacingly, prodding¹⁶⁰ Signor Mantissa in  the ribs¹⁶¹ with the corkscrew. "You, alone. Is it necessary to bargain with  the captains of barges¹⁶² and boats? No: it is necessary only to get on board,  to stow away. From there on in, assert yourself. Be a man. If the person in  authority objects -" He twisted the corkscrew savagely¹⁶³, furling several  square inches of Signor Mantissa's white linen¹⁶⁵ shirt around it. "Capisci?"

Signor Mantissa, skewered¹⁶⁶ like a butterfly, flapped his arms, grimaced,  tossed his golden head.

"Certo io," he finally managed to say, "of course, signor commendatore, to  the military mind . . . direct action, of course . . . but in such a  delicate matter . . ."

"Pah!" The Gaucho disengaged the corkscrew, sat glaring at Signor Mantissa.  The rain had stopped, the sun was setting. The bridge was thronged¹⁶⁸ with  tourists, returning to their hotels on the Lungarno. Cesare gazed benignly  at them. The three sat in silence until the Gaucho began to talk, calmly but  with an undercurrent of passion.

"Last year in Venezuela it was not like this. Nowhere in America was it like  this, There were no twistings, no elaborate maneuverings. The conflict was  simple: we wanted liberty, they didn't want us to have it. Liberty or  slavery, my Jesuit friend, two words only. It needed none of your extra  phrases, your tracts¹⁷⁰, none of your moralizing, no essays on political  justice. We knew where we stood, and where one day we would stand. And when  it came to the fighting we were equally as direct. You think you are being  Machiavellian¹⁷¹ with all these artful tactics. You once heard him speak of the  lion and the fox and now your devious¹⁷² brain can see only the fox. What has  happened to the strength, the aggressiveness, the natural nobility of the  lion? What sort of an age is this where a man becomes one's enemy only when  his back is turned?"

Signor Mantissa had regained some of his composure. "It is necessary to have  both, of course," he said placatingly¹⁷³. "Which is why I chose you as a  collaborator¹⁷⁴, commendatore. You are the lion, I -" humbly¹⁷⁵ - "a very small  fox."

"And he is the pig," the Gaucho roared, clapping Cesare on the shoulder.  "Bravo! A fine cadre."

"Pig," said Cesare happily, making a grab for the wine bottle.

"No more," the Gaucho said. "The signor here has taken the trouble to build  us all a house of cards. Much as I dislike living in it, I won't permit your  totally drunken breath to blow it over in indiscreet talk." He turned back  to Signor Mantissa. "No," he continued, "you are not a true Machiavellian.  He was an apostle of freedom for all men. Who can read the last Chapter of  Il Principe and doubt his desire for a republican and united Italy? Right  over there -" he gestured toward the left bank, the sunset "he lived,  suffered under the Medici. They were the foxes, and he hated them. His final  exhortation¹⁷⁷ is for a lion, an embodiment of power, to arise in Italy and run  all foxes to earth forever. His morality was as simple and honest as my own  and my comrades' in South America. And now, under his banner, you wish to  perpetuate¹⁷⁸ the detestable cunning of the Medici, who suppressed freedom in  this very city for so long. I am dishonored irrevocably, merely having  associated with you."

"If -" again the pained smile - "if the commendatore has perhaps some  alternative plan, we should be happy . . ."

"Of course there's another plan," the Gaucho retorted, "the only plan. Here,  you have a map?" Eagerly Signor Mantissa produced from an inside pocket a  folded diagram, hand-sketched in pencil. The Gaucho peered at it  distastefully. "So that is the Uffizi," he said. "I've never been inside the  place. I suppose I shall have to, to get the feel of the terrain¹⁸¹. And where  is the objective?"

Signor Mantissa pointed¹⁸² to the lower left-hand corner. "The Sala di Lorenzo  Monaco," he said. "Here, you see. I have already had a key made for the main  entrance. Three main corridors: east, west, and a short one on the south  connecting them. From the west corridor, number three, we enter a smaller  one here, marked 'Ritratti diversi.' At the end, on the right, is a single  entrance to the gallery. She hangs on the western wall."

"A single entrance which is also the single exit," the Gaucho said. "Not  good. A dead end. And to leave the building itself one must go all the way  back up the eastern corridor to the steps leading to Piazza della Signoria."

"There is a lift," said Signor Mantissa, "leading to a passage which lets  one out in the Palazzo Vecchio."

"A lift," the Gaucho sneered¹⁸⁴. "About what I'd expect from you." He leaned  forward, baring his teeth. "You already propose to commit an act of supreme¹⁸⁵  idiocy¹⁸⁶ by walking all the way down one corridor, along another, halfway up a  third, down one more into a cul-de-sac and then out again the same way you  came in. A distance of -" he measured rapidly - "some six hundred meters,  with guards ready to jump out at you every time you pass a gallery or turn a  corner. But even this isn't confining enough for you. You must take a lift."

"Besides which," Cesare put in, "she's so big."

The Gaucho clenched¹⁸⁷ one fist. "How big."

"175 by 279 centimeters," admitted Signor Mantissa.

"Capo di minghe!" The Gaucho sat back, shaking his head. With an obvious  effort at controlling his temper, he addressed Signor Mantissa. "I'm not a  small man," he explained patiently. "In fact I am rather a large man. And  broad. I am built like a lion. Perhaps it's a racial trait. I come from the  north, and there may be some tedesco blood in these veins¹⁸⁸. The tedeschi are  taller than the Latin races. Taller and broader. Perhaps someday this body  will run to fat, but now it is all muscle. So, I am big, non e vero? Good.  Then let me inform you -" his voice rising in violent crescendo¹⁸⁹ - "that  there would be room enough under your damnable Botticelli for me and the  fattest whore in Florence, with plenty left over for her elephant of a  mother to act as chaperone! How in God's name do you intend to walk 300  meters with that? Will it be hidden in your pocket?"

"Calm, commendatore," Signor Mantissa pleaded. "Anyone might be listening.  It is a detail, I assure you. Provided for. The florist¹⁹⁰ Cesare visited last  night -"

"Florist. Florist: you've let a florist into your confidence. Wouldn't it  make you happier to publish your intentions in the evening newspapers?"

"But he is safe. He is only providing the tree."

"The tree."

"The Judas tree. Small: some four meters, no taller. Cesare has been at work  all morning, hollowing out the trunk. So we shall have to execute our plans  soon, before the purple flowers die."

"Forgive what may be my appalling¹⁹¹ stupidity," the Gaucho said, "but as I  understand it, you intend to roll up the Birth of Venus, hide it in the  hollow trunk of a Judas tree, and carry it some 300 meters, past an army of  guards who will soon be aware of its theft, and out into Piazza della  Signoria, where presumably you will then lose yourself in the crowds?"

"Precisely¹⁹². Early evening would be the best time -"

"A rivederci."

Signor Mantissa leaped to his feet. "I beg you, commendatore," he cried.  "Aspetti. Cesare and I will be disguised as workmen, you see. The Uffizi is  being redecorated, there will be nothing unusual -"

"Forgive me," the Gaucho said, "you are both lunatics."

"But your cooperation is essential. We need a lion, someone skilled in  military tactics, in strategy . . ."

"Very well." The Gaucho retraced¹⁹³ his steps and stood towering over Signor  Mantissa. "I suggest this: the Sala di Lorenzo Monaco has windows, does it  not?"

"Heavily barred."

"No matter. A bomb, a small bomb, which I'll provide. Anyone who tries to  interfere¹⁹⁵ will be disposed of by force. The window should let us out next to  the Posta Centrale. Your rendezvous¹⁹⁶ with the barge?"

"Under the Ponte San Trinita."

"Some four or five hundred yards up the Lungamo. We can commandeer a  carriage. Have your barge waiting at midnight tonight. That's my proposal.  Take it or leave it. I shall be at the Uffizi till supper time,  reconnoitering. From then till nine, at home making the bomb. After that, at  Scheissvogel's, the birriere. Let me know by ten."

"But the tree, commendatore. It cost close to 200 lire."

"Damn your tree." With a smart about-face the Gaucho turned and strode away  in the direction of the right bank.

The sun hovered¹⁹⁷ over the Arno. Its declining rays tinged¹⁹⁸ the liquid  gathering²⁰⁰ in Signor Mantissa's eyes to a pale red, as if the wine he'd drunk  were overflowing²⁰¹, watered down with tears.

Cesare let a consoling arm fall round Signor Mantissa's thin shoulders. "It  will go well," he said. "The Gaucho is a barbarian²⁰². He's been in the jungles  too long. He doesn't understand."

"She is so beautiful," Signor Mantissa whispered.

"Davvero. And I love her too. We are comrades in love." Signor Mantissa did  not answer. After a little while he reached for the wine.

 

III

 Miss Victoria Wren²⁰³, late of Lardwick-in-the-Fen, Yorks., recently  self-proclaimed a citizen of the world, knelt devoutly²⁰⁴ in the front pew of a  church just off Via dello Studio. She was saying an act of contrition²⁰⁵. An  hour before, in the Via dei Vecchietti, she'd had impure²⁰⁶ thoughts while  watching a fat English boy cavort²⁰⁷ in a cab; she was now being heartily²⁰⁸ sorry  for them. At nineteen she'd already recorded a serious affair: having the  autumn before in Cairo seduced²⁰⁹ one Goodfellow, an agent of the British  Foreign Office. Such is the resilience of the young that his face was  already forgotten. Afterward²¹⁰ they'd both been quick to blame the violent  emotions which arise during any tense international situation (this was at  the time of the Fashoda crisis) for her deflowering. Now, six or seven  months later, she found it difficult to determine how much she had in fact  planned, how much had been out of her control. The liaison²¹¹ had in due course  been discovered by her widowed father Sir Alastair, with whom she and her  sister Mildred were traveling. There were words, sobbings, threats, insults,  late one afternoon under the trees in the Ezbekiyeh Garden, with little  Mildred gazing struck and tearful at it all while God knew what scars were  carved into her. At length Victoria had ended it with a glacial good-bye and  a vow²¹² never to return to England; Sir Alastair had nodded and taken Mildred  by the hand. Neither had looked back.

Support after that was readily available. By prudent²¹³ saving Victoria had  amassed²¹⁴ some 400 pounds from a wine merchant in Antibes, a Polish cavalry²¹⁵  lieutenant²¹⁶ in Athens, an art dealer²¹⁷ in Rome; she was in Florence now to  negotiate the purchase of a small couturiere's establishment on the left  bank. A young lady of enterprise, she found herself acquiring political  convictions, beginning to detest¹⁷⁹ anarchists²¹⁸, the Fabian Society, even the  Earl of Rosebery. Since her eighteenth birthday she had been carrying a  certain innocence²¹⁹ like a penny candle, sheltering the flame under a ringless  hand still soft with baby fat, redeemed²²⁰ from all stain by her candid²²¹ eyes  and small mouth and a girl's body entirely²²² honest as any act of contrition.  So she knelt unadorned save for an ivory comb, gleaming among all the  plausibly²²³ English quantities of brown hair. An ivory comb, five-toothed:  whose shape was that of five crucified, all sharing at least one common arm.  None of them was a religious figure: they were soldiers of the British Army.  She had found the comb in one of the Cairo bazaars²²⁴. It had apparently²²⁵ been  hand-carved by a Fuzzy-Wuzzy, an artisan among the Mahdists, in  commemoration of the crucifixions of '83, in the country east of invested  Khartoum. Her motives²²⁶ in buying it may have been as instinctive²²⁷ and  uncomplex as those by which any young girl chooses a dress or gewgaw of a  particular hue²²⁸ and shape.

Now she did not regard her time with Goodfellow or with the three since him  as sinful: she only remembered Goodfellow at all because he had been the  first. It was not that her private, outre brand of Roman Catholicism merely  condoned²²⁹ what the Church as a whole regarded as sin: this was more than  simple sanction, it was implicit²³⁰ acceptance of the four episodes as outward  and visible signs of an inward and spiritual grace belonging to Victoria  alone. Perhaps it was a few weeks she had spent as a girl in the novitiate,  preparing to become a sister, perhaps some malady²³¹ of the generation; but  somehow at age nineteen she had crystallized into a nunlike²³² temperament  pushed to its most dangerous extreme. Whether she had taken the veil or not,  it was as if she felt Christ were her husband and that the marriage's  physical consummation must be achieved through imperfect, mortal versions of  himself - of which there had been, to date, four. And he would continue to  perform his husband's duties through as many more such agents as he deemed  fit. It is easy enough to see where such an attitude might lead: in Paris  similarly-minded ladies were attending Black Masses, in Italy they lived in  Pre-Raphaelite splendor²³³ as the mistresses of archbishops or cardinals²³⁴. It  happened that Victoria was not so exclusive.

She arose and walked down the center aisle to the rear of the church. She'd  dipped her fingers in holy water and was about to genuflect²³⁵ when someone  collided with her from behind. She turned, startled, to see an elderly man a  head shorter than herself, his hands held in front of him, his eyes  frightened.

"You are English," he said.

"I am."

"You must help me. I am in trouble. I can't go to the Consul-General."

He didn't look like a beggar or a hard-up tourist. She was reminded somehow  of Goodfellow. "Are you a spy, then?"

The old man laughed mirthlessly. "Yes. In a way I am engaged in espionage.  But against my will, you know. I didn't want it this way:"

Distraught: "I want to confess, don't you see? I'm in a church, a church is  where one confesses . . ."

"Come," she whispered.

"Not outside," he said. "The cafes are being watched."

She took his arm. "There is a garden in the back, I think. This way. Through  the sacristy."

He let her guide him, docile²³⁶. A priest was kneeling in the sacristy, reading  his breviary. She handed him ten soldi as they passed. He didn't look up. A  short groined arcade²³⁷ led into a miniature garden surrounded by mossy stone  walls and containing a stunted²³⁸ pine, some grass and a carp pool. She led him  to a stone bench by the pool. Rain came over the walls in occasional gusts²³⁹.  He carried a morning newspaper under his arm: now he spread sheets of it  over the bench. They sat. Victoria opened her parasol and the old man took a  minute lighting a Cavour. He sent a few puffs²⁴⁰ of smoke out into the rain,  and began:

"I don't expect you've ever heard of a place called Vheissu."

She had not.

He started telling her about Vheissu. How it was reached, on camel-back over  a vast tundra²⁴¹, past the dolmens and temples of dead cities; finally to the  banks of a broad river which never sees the sun, so thickly roofed is it  with foliage²⁴². The river is traveled in long teak boats which are carved like  dragons and paddled by brown men whose language is unknown to all but  themselves. In eight days' time there is a portage over a neck of  treacherous²⁴³ swampland to a green lake, and across the lake rise the first  foothills of the mountains which ring Vheissu. Native guides will only go a  short distance into these mountains. Soon they will turn back, pointing out  the way. Depending on the weather, it is one to two more weeks over moraine,  sheer granite²⁴⁴ and hard blue ice before the borders of Vheissu are reached.

"Then you have been there," she said.

He had been there. Fifteen years ago. And been fury-ridden since. Even in  the Antarctic, huddling²⁴⁵ in hasty shelter from a winter storm, striking camp  high on the shoulder of some as yet unnamed glacier²⁴⁶, there would come to him  hints of the perfume those people distill²⁴⁷ from the wings of black moths²⁴⁸.  Sometimes sentimental²⁴⁹ scraps²⁵⁰ of their music would seem to lace the wind;  memories of their faded murals, depicting²⁵¹ old battles and older love affairs  among the gods, would appear without warning in the aurora²⁵².

"You are Godolphin," she said, as if she had always known.

He nodded, smiled vaguely²⁵³. "I hope you are not connected with the press."  She shook her head, scattering droplets²⁵⁴ of rain. "This isn't for general  dissemination," he said, "and it may be wrong. Who am I to know my own  motives. But I did foolhardy things."

"Brave things," she protested. "I've read about them. In newspapers, in  books."

"But things which did not have to be done. The trek²⁵⁵ along the Barrier. The  try for the Pole in June. June down there is midwinter. It was madness."

"It was grand." Another minute, he thought hopelessly, and she'd begin  talking about a union Jack²⁵⁶ flying over the Pole. Somehow this church  towering Gothic and solid over their heads, the quietness, her impassivity,  his confessional humor; he was talking too much, must stop. But could not.

"We can always so easily give the wrong reasons," he cried; "can say: the  Chinese campaigns, they were for the Queen, and India for some gorgeous  notion of Empire. I know. I have said these things to my men, the public, to  myself. There are Englishmen dying, in South Africa today and about to die  tomorrow who believe these words as - I dare say as you believe in God."

She smiled secretly. "And you did not?" she asked gently. She was gazing at  the rim of her parasol.

"I did. Until . . ."

"Yes."

"But why? Have you never harrowed yourself halfway to - disorder²⁵⁸ - with that  single word? Why." His cigar had gone out. He paused to relight it. "It's  not," he continued, "as if it were unusual in any supernatural way. No high  priests with secrets lost to the rest of the world, jealously guarded since  the dawn of time, generation to generation. No universal cures, nor even  panaceas²⁵⁹ for human suffering. Vheissu is hardly a restful place. There's  barbarity, insurrection, internecine²⁶⁰ feud²⁶¹. It's no different from any other  godforsakenly remote region. The English have been jaunting in and out of  places like Vheissu for centuries. Except . . ."

She had been gazing at him. The parasol leaned against the bench, its handle  hidden in the wet grass.

"The colors. So many colors." His eyes were tightly closed, his forehead  resting on the bowed edge of one hand. "The trees outside the head shaman's  house have spider monkeys which are iridescent²⁶². They change color in the  sunlight. Everything changes. The mountains, the lowlands are never the same  color from one hour to the next. No sequence of colors is the same from day  to day. As if you lived inside a madman's kaleidoscope. Even your dreams  become flooded with colors, with shapes no Occidental ever saw. Not real  shapes, not meaningful ones. Simply random, the way clouds change over a  Yorkshire landscape."

She was taken by surprise: her laugh was high and brittle²⁶³. He hadn't heard.  "They stay with you," he went on, "they aren't fleecy lambs or jagged  profiles. They are, they are Vheissu, its raiment, perhaps its skin."

"And beneath?"

"You mean soul don't you. Of course you do. I wondered about the soul of  that place. If it had a soul. Because their music, poetry, laws and  ceremonies come no closer. They are skin too. Like the skin of a tattooed²⁶⁴  savage¹⁶⁴. I often put it that way to myself - like a woman. I hope I don't  offend."

"It's all right."

"Civilians²⁶⁶ have curious ideas about the military, but I expect in this case  there's some justice to what they think about us. This idea of the randy  young subaltern somewhere out in the back of beyond, collecting himself a  harem of dusky native women. I dare say a lot of us have this dream, though  I've yet to run across anyone who's realized it. And I won't deny I get to  thinking this way myself. I got to thinking that way in Vheissu. Somehow,  there -" his forehead furrowed²⁶⁷ - "dreams are not, not closer to the waking  world, but somehow I think, they do seem more real. Am I making sense to  you?"

"Go on." She was watching him, rapt.

"But as if the place were, were a woman you had found somewhere out there, a  dark woman tattooed from head to toes. And somehow you had got separated  from the garrison²⁶⁸ and found yourself unable to get back, so that you had to  be with her, close to her, day in and day out . . ."

"And you would be in love with her."

"At first. But soon that skin, the gaudy²⁶⁹ godawful riot of pattern and color,  would begin to get between you and whatever it was in her that you thought  you loved. And soon, in perhaps only a matter of days, it would get so bad  that you would begin praying to whatever god you knew of to send some  leprosy to her. To flay²⁷⁰ that tattooing²⁷¹ to a heap of red, purple and green  debris²⁷², leave the veins and ligaments raw and quivering and open at last to  your eyes and your touch. I'm sorry." He wouldn't look at her. The wind blew  rain over the wall. "Fifteen years. It was directly after we'd entered  Khartoum. I'd seen some beastliness in my Oriental campaigning, but nothing  to match that. We were to relieve General Gordon - oh you were, I suppose, a  chit of a girl then, but you've read about it, surely. What the Mahdi had  done to that city. To General Gordon, to his men. I was having trouble with  fever then and no doubt it was seeing all the carrion²⁷³ and the waste on top  of that. I wanted to get away, suddenly; it was as if a world of neat hollow  squares and snappy counter-marching had deteriorated²⁷⁴ into rout⁸⁶ or  mindlessness. I'd always had friends on the staffs at Cairo, Bombay,  Singapore. And in two weeks this surveying business came up, and I was in. I  was always weaseling in you know, on some show where you wouldn't expect to  find naval²⁷⁵ personnel. This time it was escorting a crew of civilian²⁶⁵  engineers into some of the worst country on earth. Oh, wild, romantic.  Contour lines and fathom-markings, cross-hatchings and colors where before  there were only blank spaces on the map. All for the Empire. This sort of  thing might have been lurking²⁷⁶ at the back of my head. But then I only knew I  wanted to get away. All very good to be crying St. George and no quarter  about the Orient, but then the Mahdist army had been gibbering the same  thing, really, in Arabic, and had certainly meant it at Khartoum."

Mercifully, he did not catch sight of her comb.

"Did you get maps of Vheissu?"

He hesitated. "No," he said. "No data ever got back, either to F.O. or to  the Geographic²⁷⁷ Society. Only a report of failure. Bear in mind: It was bad  country. Thirteen of us went in and three came out. Myself, my  second-in-command, and a civilian whose name I have forgotten and who so far  as I know has vanished from the earth without a trace."

"And your second-in-command?"

"He is, he is in hospital. Retired²⁷⁸ now." There was a silence. "There was  never a second expedition," old Godolphin went on. "Political reasons, who  could say? No one cared. I got out of it scotfree. Not my fault, they told  me. I even received a personal commendation from the Queen, though it was  all hushed up."

Victoria was tapping her foot absently. "And all this has some bearing on  your, oh, espionage activities at present?"

Suddenly he looked older. The cigar had gone out again. He flung it into the  grass; his hand shook. "Yes." He gestured helplessly at the church, the gray  walls. "For all I know you might be - I may have been indiscreet."

Realizing that he was afraid of her, she leaned forward, intent. "Those who  watch the cafes. Are they from Vheissu? Emissaries?"

The old man began to bite at his nails; slowly and methodically, using the  top central and lower lateral²⁷⁹ incisors to make minute cuts along a perfect  arc-segment. "You have discovered something about them," she pleaded,  "something you cannot tell." Her voice, compassionate²⁸⁰ and exasperated²⁸¹, rang  out in the little garden. "You must let me help you." Snip²⁸², snip. The rain  fell off, stopped. "What sort of world is it where there isn't at least one  person you can turn to if you're in danger?" Snip, snip. No answer. "How do  you know the Consul-General can't help. Please, let me do something." The  wind came in, lorn now of rain, over the wall. Something splashed lazily in  the pool. The girl continued to harangue²⁸³ old Godolphin as he completed his  right hand and switched to his left. Overhead the sky began to darken.

 

IV

 The eighth floor at Piazza delta²⁸⁴ Signoria 5 was murky²⁸⁵ and smelled of fried  octopus²⁸⁶. Evan, puffing²⁸⁷ from the last three flights of stairs, had to light  four matches before he found his father's door. Tacked²⁸⁸ to it, instead of the  card he'd expected to find, was a note on ragged²⁸⁹-edged paper, which read  simply "Evan." He squinted²⁹⁰ at it curiously. Except for the rain and the  house's creakings the hallway was silent. He shrugged²⁹¹ and tried the door. It  opened. He groped his way inside, found the gas, lit it. The room was  sparsely²⁹² furnished. A pair of trousers had been tossed haphazard²⁹³ over the  back of a chair; a white shirt, arms outstretched, lay on the bed. There  were no other signs that anyone lived there: no trunks, no papers. Puzzled,  he sat on the bed and tried to think. He pulled the telegram out of his  pocket and read it again. Vheissu. The only clue he had to go on. Had old  Godolphin really, after all, believed such a place existed?

Evan - even the boy - had never pressed his father for details. He had been  aware that the expedition was a failure, caught perhaps some sense of  personal guilt or agency in the droning, kindly²⁹⁴ voice which recited those  stories. But that was all: he'd asked no questions, had simply sat and  listened, as if anticipating that someday he would have to renounce²⁹⁵ Vheissu  and that such renunciation would be simpler if he formed no commitment now.  Very well: his father had been undisturbed a year ago, when Evan had last  seen him; something must therefore have happened in the Antarctic. Or on the  way back. Perhaps here in Florence. Why should the old man have left a note  with only his son's name on it? Two possibilities: (a) if it were no note  but rather a name-card and Evan the first alias²⁹⁶ to occur to Captain Hugh, or  (b) if he had wished Evan to enter the room. Perhaps both. On a sudden hunch  Evan picked up the pair of trousers, began rummaging²⁹⁷ through the pockets. He  came up with three soldi and a cigarette case. Opening the case, he found  four cigarettes, all hand-rolled. He scratched his stomach. Words came back  to him: unwise to say too much in telegram. He sighed.

"All right then young Evan," he muttered to himself, "we shall play this  thing to the hilt. Enter Godolphin, the veteran spy." Carefully he examined  the case for hidden springs: felt along the lining for anything which might  have been put underneath²⁹⁸. Nothing. He began to search the room, prodding the  mattress²⁹⁹ and scrutinizing³⁰⁰ it for recently-stitched seams. He combed the  armoire, lit matches in dark corners, looked to see if anything was taped to  the bottoms of chair seats. After twenty minutes he'd still found nothing  and was beginning to feel inadequate³⁰¹ as a spy. He threw himself disconsolate  into a chair, picked up one of his father's cigarettes, struck a match.  "Wait," he said. Shook out the match, pulled a table over, produced a  penknife from his pocket and carefully slit³⁰² each cigarette down the side,  brushing the tobacco off onto the floor. On the third try he was successful.  Written in pencil on the inside of the cigarette paper was: "Discovered  here. Scheissvogel's 10 P.M. Be careful. FATHER. "

Evan looked at his watch. Now what in the devil was all this about? Why so  elaborate? Had the old man been fooling with politics or was it a second  childhood? He could do nothing for a few hours at least. He hoped something  was afoot, if only to relieve the grayness of his exile, but was ready to be  disappointed. Turning off the gas, he stepped into the hall, closed the door  behind him, began to descend³⁰³ the stairs. He was wondering where  Scheissvogel's could be when the stairs suddenly gave under his weight and  he crashed through, clutching frantically³⁰⁴ in the air. He caught hold of the  banister; it splintered at the lower end and swung him out over the  stairwell, seven flights up. He hung there, listening to the nails edge  slowly out of the railing's upper end. I, he thought, am the most  uncoordinated oaf in the world. That thing is going to give any second now.  He looked around, wondering what he should do. His feet hung two yards away  from and several inches above the next banister. The ruined stairway he'd  just left was a foot away from his right shoulder. The railing he hung on  swayed dangerously. What can I lose, he thought. Only hope my timing³⁰⁵ isn't  too off. Carefully he bent¹³⁰ his right forearm up until his hand rested flat  against the side of the stairway: then gave himself a violent shove. He  swung out over the gaping³⁰⁶ well, heard the nails shriek³⁰⁷ free of the wood  above him as he reached the extreme point of his swing, flung the railing  away, dropped neatly³⁰⁸ astride the next banister and slid down it backwards,  arriving at the seventh floor just as the railing crashed to earth far  below. He climbed off the banister, shaking, and sat on the steps. Neat, he  thought. Bravo, lad. Do well as an acrobat³⁰⁹ or something. But a moment later,  after he had nearly been sick between his knees, he thought: how accidental  was it, really? Those stairs were all right when I came up. He smiled  nervously³¹⁰. He was getting almost as loony as his father. By the time he  reached the street his shakiness had almost gone. He stood in front of the  house for a minute, getting his bearings.

Before he knew it he'd been flanked by two policemen. "Your papers," one of  them said.

Evan came aware, protesting automatically.

"Those are our orders, cavaliere." Evan caught a slight note of contempt in  the "cavaliere." He produced his passport; the guardie nodded together on  seeing his name.

"Would you mind telling me -" Evan began.

They were sorry, they could give him no information. He would have to  accompany them.

"I demand to see the English Consul-General."

"But cavaliere, how do we know you are English? This passport could be  forged. You may be from any country in the world. Even one we have never  heard of."

Flesh began to crawl on the back of his neck. He had suddenly got the insane  notion they were talking about Vheissu. "If your superiors can give a  satisfactory explanation," he said, "I am at your service."

"Certainly, cavaliere." They walked across the square and around a corner to  a waiting carriage. One of the policemen courteously³¹¹ relieved him of his  umbrella and began to examine it closely. "Avanti," cried the other, and  away they galloped³¹² down the Borgo di Greci.

 

V

 Earlier that day, the Venezuelan Consulate³¹³ had been in an uproar³¹⁴. A coded  message had come through from Rome at noon in the daily bag, warning of an  upswing in revolutionary activities around Florence. Various of the local  contacts had already reported a tall, mysterious figure in a wideawake hat  lurking in the vicinity of the Consulate during the past few days.

"Be reasonable," urged Salazar, the Vice-Consul. "The worst we have to  expect is a demonstration³¹⁵ or two. What can they do? Break a few windows  trample³¹⁶ the shrubbery."

"Bombs," screamed Raton, his chief. "Destruction, pillage³¹⁷, rape³¹⁸, chaos³¹⁹. They  can take us over, stage a coup³²⁰ set up a junta³²¹. What better place? They  remember Garibaldi in this country. Look at Uruguay. They will have many  allies. What do we have? You, myself, one cretin of a clerk and the  charwoman."

The Vice-Consul opened his desk drawer and produced a bottle of Rufina. "My  dear Raton," he said, "calm yourself. This ogre in the flapping hat may be  one of our own men, sent over from Caracas to keep an eye on us." He poured  the wine into two tumblers, handed one to Raton. "Besides which the  communique from Rome said nothing definite. It did not even mention this  enigmatic person."

"He is in on it," Raton said, slurping³²² wine. "I have inquired. I know his  name and that his activities are shady and illegal. Do you know what he is  called?" He hesitated dramatically. "The Gaucho."

"Gauchos³²³ are in Argentina," Salazar observed soothingly³²⁴. "And the name might  also be a corruption³²⁵ of the French gauche³²⁶. Perhaps he is left-handed."

"It is all we have to go on," Raton said obstinately³²⁷. "It is the same  continent, is it not?"

Salazar sighed. "What is it you want to do?"

"Enlist³²⁸ help from the government police here. What other course is there?"

Salazar refilled the tumblers. "First," he said, "international  complications. There may be a question of jurisdiction³²⁹. The grounds of this  consulate are legally Venezuelan soil."

"We can have them place a cordon³³⁰ of guardie around us, outside the  property," Raton said craftily³³¹. "That way they would be suppressing riot in  Italian territory."

"Es posibile," the Vice-Consul shrugged. "But secondly³³², it might mean a loss  of prestige with the higher echelons³³³ in Rome, in Caracas. We could easily  make fools of ourselves, acting³³⁴ with such elaborate precautions on mere¹⁸⁰  suspicion, mere whimsy³³⁵."

"Whimsy!" shouted Raton. "Have I not seen this sinister³³⁶ figure with my own  eyes?" One side of his mustache was soaked with wine. He wrung³³⁷ it out  irritably. "There is something afoot," he went on, "something bigger than  simple insurrection, bigger than a single country. The Foreign Office of  this country has its eye on us. I cannot, of course, speak too indiscreetly,  but I have been in this business longer than you, Salazar, and I tell you:  we shall have much more to worry about than trampled³³⁸ bushes before this  business is done."

"Of course," Salazar said peevishly³³⁹, "if I am no longer party to your  confidences . . ."

"You would not know. Perhaps they do not know at Rome. You will discover  everything in due time. Soon enough," he added darkly.

"If it were only your job, I would say, fine: call in the Italians. Call in  the English and the Germans too, for all I care. But if your glorious coup  doesn't materialize, I come out of it just as badly."

"And then," Raton chuckled³⁴⁰, "that idiot clerk can take over both our jobs."

Salazar was not mollified. "I wonder," he said thoughtfully, "what sort of  Consul-General he would make."

Raton glowered³⁴¹. "I am still your superior."

"Very well then, your excellency -" spreading his hands hopelessly - "I  await your orders."

"Contact the government police at once. Outline the situation, stress its  urgency. Ask for a conference at their earliest possible convenience. Before  sundown, that means."

"That is all?"

"You might request that this Gaucho be put under apprehension³⁴²." Salazar did  not answer. After a moment of glaring at the Rufina bottle, Raton turned and  left the office. Salazar chewed on the end of his pen meditatively³⁴³. It was  midday. He gazed out the window, across the street at the Uffizi Gallery. He  noticed clouds massing over the Arno. Perhaps there would be rain.

 

They caught up with the Gaucho finally in the Ufiizi. He'd been lounging  against one wall of the Sala di Lorenzo Monaco, leering at the Birth of  Venus. She was standing in half of what looked like a scungille shell; fat  and blond, and the Gaucho, being a tedesco in spirit, appreciated this. But  he didn't understand what was going on in the rest of the picture. There  seemed to be some dispute over whether or not she should be nude³⁴⁴ or draped:  on the right a glassy-eyed lady built like a pear tried to cover her up with  a blanket and on the left an irritated young man with wings tried to blow  the blanket away while a girl wearing hardly anything twined around him,  probably trying to coax³⁴⁵ him back to bed. While this curious crew wrangled,  Venus stood gazing off into God knew where, covering up with her long  tresses. No one seemed to be looking at anyone else. A confusing picture.  The Gaucho had no idea why Signor Mantissa should want it, but it was none  of the Gaucho's affair. He scratched his head under the wideawake hat and  turned with a still-tolerant smile to see four guardie heading into the  gallery toward him, His first impulse was to run, his second to leap out a  window. But he'd familiarized himself with the terrain and both impulses  were checked almost immediately. "It is he," one of the guardie announced;  "avanti!" The Gaucho stood his ground, cocking the hat aslant³⁴⁶ and putting  his fists on his hips³⁴⁷.

They surrounded him and a tenente with a beard informed him that he must be  placed under apprehension. It was regrettable, true, but doubtless he would  be released within a few days. The tenente advised him to make no  disturbance³⁴⁸.

"I could take all four of you," the Gaucho said. His mind was racing,  planning tactics, calculating angles of enfilade. Had il gran signore  Mantissa blundered so extravagantly³⁴⁹ as to be arrested? Had there been a  complaint from the Venezuelan Consulate? He must be calm and admit nothing  until he saw how things lay. He was escorted along the "Ritratti diversi";  then two short rights into a long passageway. He didn't remember it from  Mantissa's map. "Where does this lead?"

"Over the Ponte Vecchio to the Pitti Gallery," the tenente said. "It is for  tourists. We are not going that far." A perfect escape route. The idiot  Mantissa! But halfway across the bridge they came out into the back roam of  a tobacconist's. The police seemed familiar with this exit; not so good  then, after all. Yet why all this secrecy³⁵⁰? No city government was ever this  cautious. It must therefore be the Venezuelan business. In the street was a  closed landau, painted black. They hustled³⁵¹ him in and started toward the  right bank. He knew they wouldn't head directly for their destination. They  did not: once over the bridge the driver began to zigzag³⁵², run in circles,  retrace¹⁹⁴ his way. The Gaucho settled back, cadged³⁵³ a cigarette from the  tenente, and surveyed the situation. If it were the Venezuelans, he was in  trouble. He had come to Florence specifically to organize the Venezuelan  colony, who were centered in the northeast part of the city, near Via  Cavour. There were only a few hundred of them: they kept to themselves and  worked either in the tobacco factory or at the Mercato Centrale, or as  sutlers to the Fourth Army Corps³⁵⁴, whose installations were nearby. In two  months the Gaucho had squared them away into ranks and uniforms, under the  collective title Figli di Machiavelli. Not that they had any particular  fondness for authority; nor that they were, politically speaking, especially  liberal or nationalistic; it was simply that they enjoyed a good riot now  and again, and if martial³⁵⁵ organization and the aegis³⁵⁶ of Machiavelli could  expedite things, so much the better. The Gaucho had been promising³⁵⁷ them a  riot for two months now, but the time was not yet favorable: things were  quiet in Caracas, with only a few small skirmishes going on in the jungles.  He was waiting for a major incident, a stimulus³⁵⁸ to which he could provide a  thunderous antiphonal response back across the Atlantic's nave³⁵⁹. It had been,  after all, only two years since settlement of the boundary dispute with  British Guiana, over which England and the United States nearly came to  blows. His agents in Caracas kept reassuring³⁶⁰ him: the scene was being set,  men were being armed, bribes³⁶¹ given, it was only a matter of time. Apparently  something had happened, or why should they be pulling him in? He had to  figure out some way of getting a message to his lieutenant, Cuernacabron.  Their usual rendezvous was at Scheissvogel's beer garden, in Piazza Vittorio  Emmanuele. And there was still Mantissa and his Botticelli. Regrettable  about that. It would have to wait till another night . . .

Imbecile!

Wasn't the Venezuelan Consulate located only some fifty meters from the  Uffizi? If there were a demonstration in progress, the guardie would have  their hands full; might not even hear the bomb go off. A diversionary feint!  Mantissa, Cesare and the fat blonde would all get away cleanly. He might  even escort them to their rendezvous under the bridge: as instigator³⁶² it  wouldn't be prudent to remain at the scene of the riot for very long.

This was all assuming, of course, that he could talk his way out of whatever  charges the police would try to press, or, failing that, escape. But the  essential thing right now was to get word to Cuernacabron. He felt the  carriage begin to slacken speed. One of the guardie produced a silk  handkerchief, doubled and redoubled it, and bound it over the Gaucho's eyes.  The landau bounced to a halt. The tenente took his arm and led him through a  courtyard, in a doorway³⁶³, around a few corners, down a flight of stairs. "In  here," ordered the tenente.

"May I ask a favor," the Gaucho said, feigning³⁶⁴ embarrassment³⁶⁵. "With all the  wine I have drunk today, I have not had the chance - That is, if I am to  answer your questions honestly and amiably³⁶⁶, I should feel more at ease if -"

"All right," the tenente growled³⁶⁷. "Angelo, you keep an eye on him." The  Gaucho smiled his thanks. He trailed down the hall after Angelo, who opened  the door for him. "May I remove this?" he asked. "After all, un gabinetto e  un gabinetto."

"Quite true," the guardia said. "And the windows are opaque³⁶⁸. Go ahead."

"Mille grazie." The Gaucho removed his blindfold³⁶⁹ and was surprised to find  himself in an elaborate W. C. There were even stalls. Only the Americans and  the English could be so fastidious about plumbing³⁷⁰. And the hallway outside,  he remembered, had smelled of ink, paper and sealing wax; a consulate,  surely. Both the American and the British consuls³⁷¹ had their headquarters in  Via Tornabuoni, so he knew that he was roughly three blocks west of Piazza  Vittorio Emmanuele. Scheissvogel's was almost within calling distance.

"Hurry up," Angelo said.

"Are you going to watch?" the Gaucho asked, indignant. "Can't I have a  little privacy? I am still a citizen of Florence. This was a republic once."  Without waiting for a reply he entered a stall and shut the door behind him.  "How do you expect me to escape?" he called jovially³⁷² from inside. "Flush  myself and swim away down the Arno?" While urinating he removed his collar  and tie, scribbled³⁷³ a note to Cuernacabron on the back of the collar,  reflected that occasionally the fox had his uses as well as the lion,  replaced collar, tie and blindfold and stepped out.

"You decided³⁷⁴ to wear it after all," Angelo said.

"Testing my marksmanship." They both laughed. The tenente had stationed the  other two guardie outside the door. "The man lacks charity," mused the  Gaucho as they steered³⁷⁵ him back down the hall.

Soon he was in a private office, seated on a hard wooden chair. "Take the  blindfold off," ordered a voice with an English accent. A wizened³⁷⁶ man, going  bald, blinked at him across a desk.

"You are the Gaucho," he said.

"We can speak English if you like," the Gaucho said. Three of the guardie  had withdrawn³⁷⁷. The tenente and three plainclothesmen who looked to the  Gaucho like state police stood ranged about the walls.

"You are perceptive," the balding man said.

The Gaucho decided to give at least the appearance of honesty. All the  inglesi he knew seemed to have a fetish about playing cricket. "I am," he  admitted. "Enough to know what this place is, your excellency."

The balding man smiled wistfully. "I am not the Consul-General," he said.  "That is Major Percy Chapman, and he is occupied with other matters."

"Then I would guess," the Gaucho guessed, "that you are from the English  Foreign Office. Cooperating with Italian police."

"Possibly. Since you seem to be of the inner circle in this matter, I  presume you know why you have been brought here."

The possibility of a private arrangement with this man suddenly seemed  plausible³⁷⁸. He nodded.

"And we can talk honestly."

The Gaucho nodded again, grinning.

"Then let us start," the balding man said, "by your telling me all you know  about Vheissu."

The Gaucho tugged³⁷⁹ perplexedly at one ear. Perhaps he had miscalculated,  after all. "Venezuela, you mean?"

"I thought we had agreed not to fence. I said Vheissu."

All at once the Gaucho, for the first time since the jungles, felt afraid.  When he answered it was with an insolence³⁸⁰ that rang hollow even to himself.  "I know nothing about Vheissu," he said.

The balding man sighed. "Very well." He shuffled³⁸¹ papers around on the desk  for a moment. "Let us get down to the loathsome³⁸² business of interrogation."  He signaled to the three policemen, who closed swiftly in a triangle around  the Gaucho.

 

VI

 When old Godolphin awoke it was to a wash of red sunset through the window.  It was a minute or two till he remembered where he was. His eyes flickered  from the darkening ceiling to a flowered bouffant³⁸³ dress hanging on the door  of the armoire, to a confusion of brushes, vials and jars on the dressing³⁸⁴  table, and then he remembered that this was the girl, Victoria's, room. She  had brought him here to rest for a while. He sat up on the bed, peering  about the room nervously. He knew he was in the Savoy, on the eastern side  of the Piazza Vittorio Emmanuele. But where had she gone? She had said she  would stay, keep watch over him, see that no harm came. Now she had  disappeared. He looked at his watch, twisting the dial to catch the failing  sunlight. He'd been asleep only an hour or so. She had wasted little time in  leaving. He arose, walked to the window, stood gazing out over the square,  watching the sun go down. The thought struck him that she might after all he  one of the enemy. He turned furiously, dashed across the room, twisted the  doorknob. The door was locked. Damn the weakness, this compulsion to beg  shrift of any random passer-by! He felt betrayal welling up around him,  eager to drown, to destroy. He had stepped into the confessional and found  himself instead in an oubliette. He crossed swiftly to the dressing table,  looking for something to force the door, and discovered a message, neatly  indited³⁸⁵ on scented³⁸⁶ note paper, for him:

If you value your well-being³⁸⁷ as much as I do, please do not try to leave.  Understand that I believe you and want to help you in your terrible need. I  have gone to inform the British Consulate of what you have told me. I have  had personal experience with them before; I know the Foreign Office to be  highly capable and discreet¹⁷⁶. I shall return shortly after dark.

He balled the paper up in his fist, flung it across the room. Even taking a  Christian³⁸⁸ view of the situation, even assuming her intentions were  well-meant and that she was not leagued with those who watched the cafes,  informing Chapman was a fatal error. He could not afford to have the F.O. in  on this. He sank down on the bed, head hung, hands clasped tightly between  his knees. Remorse³⁸⁹ and a numb¹⁸³ impotence: they had been jolly chums, riding  arrogant³⁹⁰ on his epaulets like guardian³⁹¹ angels for fifteen years. "It was not  my fault," he protested aloud to the empty room, as if the mother=of-pearl  brushes, the lace and dimity, the delicate Vessels of scent⁷⁵ would somehow  find tongue and rally round him. "I was not meant to leave those mountains  alive. That poor civilian engineer, dropped out of human sight;  Pike-Leeming, incurable³⁹² and insensate in a home in Wales; and Hugh Godolphin  . . ." He arose, walked to the dressing table, stood staring at his face in  the mirror. "He will only be a matter of time." A few yards of calico lay on  the table, near them a pair of pinking shears³⁹³. The girl seemed to be serious  about her dressmaking scheme (she'd been quite honest with him about her  past, not moved by his own confessional spirit so much as wanting to give  him some token to prepare the way toward a mutual³⁹⁴ trustfulness. He hadn't  been shocked by her disclosure of the affair with Goodfellow in Cairo. He  thought it unfortunate: it seemed to have given her some quaint³⁹⁵ and romantic  views about espionage.) He picked up the shears, turned them over in his  hands. They were long and glittering. The ripple⁵⁵ edges would make a nasty  wound. He raised his eyes to those of his reflection with an inquiring look.  The reflection smiled dolefully. "No," he said aloud. "Not yet. "

Forcing the door with the shears took only half a minute. Two flights down  the back stairs and out a service entrance, and he found himself in Via  Tosinghi, a block north of the Piazza. He headed east, away from the center  of town. He had to find a way out of Florence. However he came out of this,  he would have to resign his commission and live from here on in a fugitive,  a temporary occupant of pension rooms, a dweller³⁹⁶ in the demimonde. Marching  through the dusk, he saw his fate complete, pre-assembled, inescapable. No  matter how he tacked yawed or dodged³⁹⁷ about he'd only be standing still while  that treacherous reef loomed closer with every shift in course.

He turned right and headed toward the Duomo. Tourists sauntered by, cabs  clattered³⁹⁸ in the street. He felt isolated³⁹⁹ from a human community - even a  common humanity - which he had regarded until recently as little more than a  cant¹⁴⁶ concept which liberals were apt to use in making speeches. He watched  the tourists gaping at the Campanile; he watched dispassionately without  effort, curiously without commitment. He wondered at this phenomenon of  tourism: what was it drove them to Thomas Cook & Son in ever-increasing  flocks every year to let themselves in for the Campagna's fevers, the  Levant's squalor, the septic foods of Greece? To return to Ludgate Circus at  the desolate⁴⁰⁰ end of every season having caressed⁴⁰¹ the skin of each alien  place, a peregrine or Don Juan of cities but no more able to talk of any  mistress's heart than to cease keeping that interminable Catalogue, that non  picciol' libro. Did he owe it to them, the lovers of skins, not to tell  about Vheissu, not even to let them suspect the suicidal fact that below the  glittering integument⁴⁰² of every foreign land there is a hard dead-point of  truth and that in all cases - even England's - it is the same kind of truth,  can be phrased in identical words? He had lived with his knowledge since  June and that headlong drive for the Pole; was able now to control or  repress it almost at will. But the humans - those from whom, prodigal⁴⁰³, he  had strayed and could expect no future blessing⁴⁰⁴ - those four fat  schoolmistresses whinnying softly to one another by the south portals of the  Duomo, that fop in tweeds and clipped mustaches who came hastening by in  fumes⁴⁰⁵ of lavender toward God knew what assignation; had they any notion of  what inner magnitudes such control must draw on? His own, he knew, were  nearly played out. He wandered down Via dell' Orivolo, counting the dark  spaces between street lamps as he had once counted the number of puffs it  took him to extinguish all his birthday candles. This year, next year,  sometime, never. There were more candles at this point perhaps than even he  could dream; but nearly all had been blown to twisted black wicks and the  party needed very little to modulate⁴⁰⁶ to the most gently radiant of wakes. He  turned left toward the hospital and surgeons' school, tiny and grayhaired  and casting a shadow, he felt, much too large.

Footsteps behind him. On passing the next street lamp he saw the elongated  shadows of helmeted heads bobbing about his quickening feet. Guardie? He  nearly panicked: he'd been followed. He turned to face them, arms spread  like the drooping⁴⁰⁷ wings of a condor⁴⁰⁸ at bay. He couldn't see them. "You are  wanted for questioning," a voice purred in Italian, out of the darkness.

For no good reason he could see, life returned to him all at once, things  were as they had always been, no different from leading a renegade squad  against the Mahdi, invading Borneo in a whaleboat, attempting the Pole in  midwinter. "Go to hell," he said cheerfully. Skipped out of the pool of  light they'd trapped him in and went dashing off down a narrow, twisting  side street. He heard footsteps, curses, cries of "Avanti!" behind him:  would have laughed but couldn't waste the breath. Fifty meters on he turned  abruptly⁴⁰⁹ down an alley⁴¹⁰. At the end was a trellis: he gasped⁴¹¹ it, swung  himself up, began to climb. Young rose-thorns pricked⁴¹² his hands, the enemy  howled closer. He came to a balcony, vaulted⁴¹³ over, kicked in a set of French  windows and entered a bedroom where a single candle burned. A man and a  woman cringed nude and dumbfounded on the bed, their caresses⁴¹⁴ frozen to  immobility. "Madonna!" the woman screamed. "E il mio marito!" The man swore  and tried to dive under the bed. Old Godolphin, blundering through the room,  guffawed⁴¹⁵. My God, he was thinking irrelevantly⁴¹⁶, I have seen them before. I  have seen this all twenty years ago in a music hall. He opened a door, found  a stairway, hesitated briefly⁴¹⁷, then started up. No doubt about it, he was in  a romantic mood. He'd be let down if there weren't a dash over the rooftops.  By the time he gained the roof the voices of his pursuers were roaring in  confusion far to his left. Disappointed, he made his way over the tops of  two or three more buildings anyway, found an outside stairway and descended⁴¹⁸  to another alley. For ten minutes he jogged along, taking in great breaths,  steering⁴¹⁹ sinuous course. A brilliantly lighted back window finally attracted  his attention. He catfooted up to it, peered in. Inside, three men conferred  anxiously amid a jungle of hothouse flowers shrubs⁴²⁰ and trees. One of them he  recognized, and chuckled in amazement⁴²¹. It is a small planet indeed, he  thought, whose nether⁴²² end I have seen. He tapped on the window. "Raf," he  called softly.

Signor Mantissa glanced up, startled. "Minghe," he said, seeing Godolphin's  grinning face. "The old inglese. Let him in, someone." The florist,  red-faced and disapproving⁴²³, opened the rear door. Godolphin stepped in  quickly, the two men embraced, Cesare scratched his head. The florist  retreated behind a fan palm after resecuring the door.

"A long way from Port Said," Signor Mantissa said.

"Not so far," Godolphin said, "nor so long."

 

Here was the sort of friendship which doesn't decay, however gapped it may  be over the years with arid⁴²⁴ stretches of isolation⁴²⁵ from one another; more  significant a renewal⁴²⁶ of that instant, motiveless⁴²⁷ acknowledgment of kinship  one autumn morning four years back on the coaling piers⁴²⁸ at the head of the  Suez Canal. Godolphin, impeccable in full dress uniform, preparing to  inspect his man-o'-war, Rafael Mantissa the entrepreneur, overseeing the  embarkation⁴²⁹ of a fleet of bumboats he'd acquired in a drunken baccarat game  in Cannes the month before, had each touched glances and seen immediately in  the other an identical uprootedness, a similarly catholic despair. Before  they spoke⁴³⁰ they were friends. Soon they had gone out and got drunk together,  told each other their lives; were in fights, found, it seamed, a temporary  home in the half-world behind Port Said's Europeanized boulevards. No rot  about eternal friendship or blood brotherhood⁴³¹ ever needed to be spoken.

"What is it, my friend," Signor Mantissa said now.

"Do you remember, once," Godolphin said, "a place, I told you: Vheissu." It  hadn't been the same as telling his son, or the Board of Inquiry⁴³², or  Victoria a few hours before. Telling Raf had been like comparing notes with  a fellow sea dog on a liberty port both had visited.

Signor Mantissa made a sympathetic moue. "That again," he said.

"You have business now. I'll tell you later."

"No, nothing. This matter of a Judas tree."

"I have no more," Gadrulfi the florist muttered. "I've been telling him this  far half an hour."

"He's holding out," Cesare said ominously⁴³³. "Two hundred and fifty lire he  wants, this time."

Godolphin smiled. "What chicanery⁴³⁴ with the law requires a Judas tree?"

Without hesitation⁴³⁵ Signor Mantissa explained. "And now," he concluded, "we  need a duplicate, which we will let the police find."

Godolphin whistled. "You leave Florence tonight then."

"One way or the other, on the river barge at midnight, si:"

"And there would be room far one more?"

"My friend." Signor Mantissa gripped him by the biceps. "For you," he said.  Godolphin nodded. "You are in trouble. Of course. You need not even have  asked. If you had come along even without a word I would have slain⁴³⁶ the  barge captain at his first protest." The old man grinned. He was beginning  to feel at least halfway secure for the first time in weeks.

"Let me make up the extra fifty lire," he said.

"I could not allow -"

"Nonsense. Get the Judas tree." Sullenly⁴³⁷ the florist pocketed the money,  shambled to the corner and dragged a Judas tree, growing in a wine vat⁴, from  behind a thick tangle of ferns.

"The three of us can handle it," Cesare said. "Where to?"

"The Ponte Vecchio," Signor Mantissa said. "And then to Scheissvogel's.  Remember, Cesare, a firm and united front. We must not let the Gaucho  intimidate⁴³⁹ us. We may have to use his bomb, but we shall also have the Judas  trees. The lion and the fox."

They formed a triangle around the tree and lifted. The florist held the back  door open for them. They carried the tree twenty meters down an alley to a  waiting carriage.

"Andiam'," Signor Mantissa cried. The horses moved off at a trot⁴⁴⁰.

"I am to meet my son at Scheissvogel's in a few hours," Godolphin said. He  had almost forgotten that Evan was probably now in the city. "I thought a  beer hall would be safer than a cafe. But perhaps it is dangerous after all.  The guardie are after me. They and others may have the place under  surveillance."

 

Signor Mantissa took a sharp right expertly. "Ridiculous," he said. "Trust  me. You are safe with Mantissa, I will defend your life as long as I have my  own." Godolphin did not answer for a moment, then only shook his head in  acceptance. For now he found himself wanting to see Evan; almost  desperately⁴⁴¹. "You will see your son. It will be a jolly family reunion."

Cesare was uncorking a bottle of wine and singing an old revolutionary song.  A wind had risen off the Arno. It blew Signor Mantissa's hair into a pale  flutter. They headed toward the center of town, rattling along at a hollow  clip. Cesare's mournful singing soon dissipated in the seeming vastness of  that street.

 

VII

 The Englishman who had questioned the Gaucho was named Stencil. A little  after sundown he was in Major Chapman's study, sitting bemused in a deep  leather chair, his scarred Algerian briar gone out unnoticed in the ashtray  beside him. In his left hand he held a dozen wooden penholders, recently  fitted with shiny new nibs⁴⁴². With his right hand he was hurling⁴⁴³ the pens  methodically, like darts⁴⁴⁴, at a large photograph of the current Foreign  Minister which hung on the wall opposite. So far he had scored only a single  hit, in the center of the Minister's forehead. This had made his chief  resemble a benevolent⁴⁴⁵ unicorn⁴⁴⁶, which was amusing but hardly rectified⁴⁴⁷ The  Situation. The Situation at the moment was frankly⁴⁴⁸ appalling. More than  that, it seemed to be irreparably bitched up.

The door suddenly burst open and a rangy man, prematurely⁴⁴⁹ gray, came roaring  in. "They've found him," he said, not too elated.

Stencil glanced up quizzically, a pen poised⁴⁵⁰ in his hand. "The old man?"

"At the Savoy. A girl, a young English girl. Has him locked in. She just  told us. Walked in and announced, calmly enough -"

"Go check it out, then," Stencil interrupted. "Though he's probably bolted  by now."

"Don't you want to see her?"

"Pretty?"

"Rather."

"No then. Things are bad enough as it is, if you see my point. I'll leave  her to you, Demivolt."

"Bravo, Sidney. Dedicated⁴⁵¹ to duty, aren't you. St. George and no quarter. I  say. Well. I'm off, then. Don't say I didn't give you first chance."

Stencil smiled. "You're acting like a chorus boy. Perhaps I will see her.  Later, when you're done."

Demivolt smiled woefully. "It makes The Situation halfway tolerable, you  know." And bounded sadly back out through the door.

Stencil gritted⁴⁵² his teeth. Oh, The Situation. The bloody Situation. In his  more philosophical⁴⁵³ moments he would wander about this abstract entity⁴⁵⁴ The  Situation, its idea, the details of its mechanism⁴⁵⁵. He remembered times when  whole embassiesful of personnel had simply run amok and gibbering in the  streets when confronted with a Situation which refused to make sense no  matter who looked at it, or from what angle. He had once had a school chum  named Covess. They had entered the diplomatic service together, worked their  way up neck and neck. Until last year along name the Fashoda crisis and  quite early one morning Covess was discovered in spats⁴⁵⁶ and a pith helmet,  working his way around Piccadilly trying to recruit volunteers to invade  France. There had been some idea of commandeering a Cunard liner. By the  time they caught him he'd sworn in several costermongers, two streetwalkers  and a music-hall comedian⁴⁵⁷. Stencil remembered painfully that they bad all  been singing Onward⁴⁵⁸, Christian Soldiers in various keys and tempi⁴⁵⁹.

He had decided long ago that no Situation had any objective reality: it only  existed in the minds of those who happened to be in on it at any specific  moment. Since these several minds tended to form a sum total or complex more  mongrel than homogeneous, The Situation must necessarily appear to a single  observer much like a diagram in four dimensions to an eye conditioned to  seeing its world in only three. Hence the success or failure of any  diplomatic issue must vary directly with the degree of rapport⁴⁶⁰ achieved by  the team confronting it. This had led to the near-obsession with teamwork  which had inspired his colleagues to dub⁴⁶¹ him Soft-shoe Sidney, on the  assumption that he was at his best working in front of a chorus line.

But it was a neat theory, and he was in love with it. The only consolation  he drew from the present chaos was that his theory managed to explain it.  Brought up by a pair of bleak⁴⁶² Nonconformist aunts, he had acquired the  Anglo-Saxon tendency to group northern/Protestant/intellectual against  Mediterranean/Roman Catholic/irrational. He had thus arrived in Florence  with a deep-rooted and chiefly subliminal⁴⁶³ ill will toward all things  Italian, and the subsequent conduct of his running mates from the secret  police confirmed it. What sort of Situation could one expect from such a  scurvy⁴⁶⁴ and heterogeneous⁴⁶⁵ crew?

The matter of this English lad, for example: Godolphin, alias Gadrulfi. The  Italians claimed they had been unable after an hour of interrogation to  extract anything about his father, the naval officer. Yet the first thing  the boy had done when they'd finally brought him round to the British  Consulate was to ask for Stencil's help in locating old Godolphin. He had  been quite ready to answer all inquiries⁴⁶⁶ about Vheissu (although he'd done  little more than recapitulate information already in F.O.'s possession); he  had gratuitously⁴⁶⁷ made mention of the rendezvous at Scheissvogel's at ten  tonight; in general he'd exhibited the honest concern and bewilderment of  any English tourist confronted with a happening outside the ken⁷¹ of his  Baedeker or the power of Cook's to deal with it. And this simply did not fit  in with the picture Stencil had formed of father and son as cunning  arch-professionals. Their employers, whoever they might be (Scheissvogel's  was a German beer hall, which might be significant, especially so with Italy  a member of the Dreibund), could not tolerate such simplicity⁴⁶⁸. This show was  too big, too serious, to be carried out by any but the top men in the field.

The Department had been keeping a dossier on old Godolphin since '84, when  the surveying expedition had been all but wiped out. The name Vheissu  occurred in it only once, in a secret F.O. memorandum⁴⁶⁹ to the Secretary of  State for War, a memo⁶³ condensed from Godolphin's personal testimony⁴⁷⁰. But a  week ago the Italian Embassy in London sent round a copy of a telegram which  the censor⁴⁷¹ at Florence, after informing the state police, had let go  through. The Embassy had included no explanation except for a scribbled note  on the copy: "This may be of interest to you. Cooperation to our mutual  advantage." It was initialed by the Italian Ambassador. On seeing Vheissu a  live file again, Stencil's chief had alerted operatives in Deauville and  Florence to keep a close eye on father and son. Inquiries began to be made  around the Geographical⁴⁷² Society. Since the original had been somehow lost,  junior researchers started piecing together the text of Godolphin's  testimony at the time of the incident by interviewing all available members  of the original Board of Inquiry. The chief had been puzzled that no code  was used in the telegram; but it had only strengthened Stencil's conviction  that the Department was up against a pair of veterans. Such arrogance⁴⁷³, he  felt, such cocksureness was exasperating⁴⁷⁴ and one hated them for it, but at  the same time one was overcome with admiration⁴⁷⁵. Not bothering to use a code  was the devil-may-care gesture of the true sportsman.

The door opened hesitantly. "I say, Mr. Stencil."

"Yes, Moffit. Do what I told you?"

"They're together. Mine not to reason why, you know."

"Bravo. Give them an hour or so together. After that we let young Gadrulfi  out. Tell him we have nothing really to hold him on, sorry for the  inconvenience, pip-pip, a rivederci. You know."

"And then follow him, eh. Game is afoot, ha, ha."

"Oh, he'll go to Scheissvogel's. We've advised him to keep the rendezvous,  and whether he's straight or not he'll meet the old man. At least if he's  playing his game the way we think he is."

"And the Gaucho?"

"Give him another hour. Then if he wants to escape, let him."

"Chancy, Mr. Stencil."

"Enough, Moffit. Back in the chorus line."

"Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay," said Moffit, soft-shoeing out the door. Stencil  heaved a sigh, leaned forward in the chair and recommenced his dart⁷⁸ game.  Soon a second hit, two inches from the first, had transfigured the Minister  into a lopsided goat. Stencil gritted his teeth. "Pluck, lad," he muttered.  "Before the girl arrives the old bastard⁴⁷⁶ should look like a blooming  hedgehog."

 

Two cells away there was a loud morra game in progress. Outside the window,  somewhere, a girl sang about her love, killed defending his homeland in a  faraway war.

"She's singing for the tourists," the Gaucho complained bitterly, "she must  be. No one ever sings in Florence. No one ever used to. Except now and again  the Venezuelan friends I told you about. But they sing marching songs, which  are useful for morale⁴⁷⁷."

Evan stood by the cell door, leaning his forehead against the bars. "You may  no longer have any Venezuelan friends," he said. "They've probably all been  rounded up and pushed into the sea."

The Gaucho came over and gripped Evan's shoulder sympathetically. "You are  still young," he said "I know how it must have been. That's the way they  work. They attack a man's spirit. You will see your father again. I will see  my friends. Tonight. We're going to stage the most wonderful festa this city  has seen since Savonarola was burned."

Evan looked around hopelessly at the small cell, the heavy bars. "They told  me I might be released soon. But you stand a fat chance of doing anything  tonight. Except lose sleep."

The Gaucho laughed. "I think they will release me too. I told them nothing.  I'm used to their ways. They are stupid, and easily gotten round."

Evan clenched the bars furiously. "Stupid! Not only stupid. Deranged⁴⁷⁸.  Illiterate⁴⁷⁹. Some bungling⁴⁸⁰ clerk misspelled my name Gadrulfi, and they  refused to call me anything else. It was an alias, they said. Did it not say  Gadrulfi in my dossier? Was it not down in black and white?"

"Ideas are so novel to them. Once they get hold of one, having the vague  idea it is somehow precious, they wish to keep possession of it."

"If that were all. But someone in the higher echelons had got the idea  Vheissu was a code name for Venezuela. Either that or it was the same bloody  clerk, or his brother, who never learned to spell."

"They asked me about Vheissu," the Gaucho mused. "What could I say? This  time I really knew nothing. The English consider it important."

"But they don't tell you why. All they give you are mysterious hints. The  Germans are apparently in on it. The Antarctic is concerned in some way.  Perhaps in a matter of weeks, they say, the whole world will be plunged⁴⁸¹ into  apocalypse. And they think I am in on it. And you. Why else, if they are  going to release us anyway, did they throw us into the same cell? We'll be  followed wherever we go. Here we are, in the thick of a grand cabal, and we  haven't the slightest notion of what's going on."

"I hope you didn't believe them. Diplomatic people always talk that way.  They are living always on the verge⁴⁸² of some precipice⁴⁸³ or other. Without a  crisis they wouldn't be able to sleep nights."

Evan turned slowly to face his companion. "But I do believe them," he said  calmly. "Let me tell you. About my father. He would sit in my room, before I  went to sleep, and spin yarns⁴⁸⁴ about this Vheissu. About the spider-monkeys,  and the time he saw a human sacrifice, and the rivers whose fish are  sometimes opalescent⁴⁸⁵ and sometimes the color of fire. They circle round you  when you go in to bathe and dance a kind of elaborate ritual all about, to  protect you from evil. And there are volcanoes with cities inside them which  once every hundred years erupt into flaming hell but people go to live in  them anyway. And men in the hills with blue faces and women in the valleys  who give birth to nothing but sets of triplets, and beggars who belong to  guilds⁴⁸⁶ and hold jolly festivals and entertainments all summer long.

"You know haw a boy is. There comes a time for departure, a point where he  sees confirmed the suspicion he'd had for some time that his father is not a  god, not even an oracle⁴⁸⁷. He sees that he no longer has any right to any such  faith. So Vheissu becomes a bedtime story or fairy tale after all, and the  boy a superior version of his merely human father.

"I thought Captain Hugh was mad; I would have signed the commitment papers  myself. But at Piazza della Signoria 5 I was nearly killed in something that  could not have been an accident, a caprice of the inanimate world; and from  then till now I have seen two governments hagridden to alienation⁴⁸⁸ over this  fairy tale or obsession I thought was my father's own. As if this condition  of being just human, which had made Vheissu and my boy's love for him a lie,  were now vindicating⁴⁸⁹ them both for me, showing them to have been truth all  along and after all. Because the Italians and the English in those  consulates⁴⁹⁰ and even that illiterate clerk are all men. Their anxiety is the  same as my father's, what is coming to be my own, and perhaps in a few weeks  what will be the anxiety of everyone living in a world none of us wants to  see lit into holocaust⁴⁹¹. Call it a kind of communion, surviving somehow on a  mucked-up planet which God knows none of us like very much. But it is our  planet and we live on it anyway."

The Gaucho did not answer. He walked to the window, stood gazing out. The  girl was singing now about a sailor, halfway round the world from home and  his betrothed⁴⁹². From down the corridor floated cries: "Cinque, tre, otto,  brrrr!" Soon the Gaucho put his hands to his neck, removed his collar. He  came back to Evan.

"If they let you out," he said, "in time to see your father, there is also  at Scheissvogel's a friend of mine. His name is Cuernacabron. Everyone knows  him there. I would esteem⁴⁹³ it a favor if you would take him this, a message."  Evan took the collar and pocketed it absently. A thought occurred to him.

"But they will see your collar missing."

The Gaucho grinned, stripped off his shirt and tossed it under a bunk⁴⁹⁴. "It  is warm, I will tell them. Thank you for reminding me. It's not easy for me  to think like a fox."

"How do you propose to get out?"

"Simply. When the turnkey comes to let you out, we beat him unconscious,  take his keys, fight our way to freedom."

"If both of us get away, should I still take the message?"

"Si. I must first go to Via Cavour. I will be at Scheissvogel's later, to  see some associates on another matter. Un gran colpo, if things work right."

Soon footsteps, jangling keys approached down the corridor. "He reads our  minds," the Gaucho chuckled. Evan turned to him quickly, clasped his hand.

"Good luck."

"Put down your bludgeon, Gaucho," the turnkey called in a cheerful voice.  "You are to be released, both of you."

"Ah, che fortuna," said the Gaucho mournfully. He went back to the window.  It seemed that the girl's voice could be heard all over April. The Gaucho  stood on tiptoe. "Un' gazz'!" he screamed.

 

VIII

 Around Italian spy circles the latest joke was about an Englishman who  cuckolded his Italian friend. The husband came home one night to find the  faithless pair in flagrante delicto on the bed. Enraged⁴⁹⁵, he pulled out a  pistol and was about to take revenge when the Englishman held up a  restraining hand. "I say old chap," he said loftily, "we're not going to  have any dissension in the ranks, are we? Think what this might do to the  Quadruple Alliance."

The author of this parable⁴⁹⁶ was one Ferrante, a drinker of absinthe and  destroyer of virginity. He was trying to grow a beard. He hated politics.  Like a few thousand other young men in Florence he fancied himself a  neo-Machiavellian. He took the long view, having only two articles of faith:  (a) the Foreign Service in Italy was irreparably corrupt and nitwit, and (b)  someone should assassinate⁴⁹⁷ Umberto I. Ferrante had been assigned to the  Venezuelan problem for half a year and was beginning to see no way out of it  except suicide.

That evening he was wandering around secret police headquarters with a small  squid in one hand, looking for someplace to cook it. He'd just bought it at  the market, it was for supper. The hub of spy activities in Florence was the  second floor of a factory which made musical instruments for devotees of the  Renaissance and Middle Ages. It was run nominally⁴⁹⁸ by an Austrian named Vogt,  who worked painstakingly⁴⁹⁹ during the daylight hours putting together rebecs,  shawms and theorbos, and spied at night. In the legal or everyday segment of  his life he employed as helpers a Negro named Gascoigne who would bring in  his friends from time to time to test out the instruments, and Vogt's  mother, an incredibly aged⁵⁴ butterball of a woman who was under the curious  illusion that she'd had an affair with Palestrina in her girlhood. She would  be constantly haranguing⁵⁰⁰ visitors with fond reminiscences about  "Giovannino," these being mostly colorful allegations of sexual eccentricity  in the composer. If these two were in on Vogt's espionage activities, no one  was aware of it, not even Ferrante, who made it his business to spy on his  colleagues as well as any more appropriate quarry⁵⁰¹. Vogt, however, being  Austrian, could probably be given credit for discretion⁵⁰². Ferrante had no  faith in covenants⁵⁰³, he regarded them as temporary and more often than not  farcical. But he reasoned that as long as you'd made an alliance in the  first place you might as well comply with its rules as long as was  expedient⁵⁰⁴. Since 1882, then, Germans and Austrians had been temporarily  acceptable. But English most assuredly not. Which had given rise to his joke  about the cuckolded husband. He saw no reason for cooperating with London on  this matter. It was a plot, he suspected, on Britain's part, to force a  wedge into the Triple Alliance, to divide the enemies of England so that  England could deal with them separately and at her leisure.

He descended into the kitchen. Horrible screeching⁵⁰⁵ noises were coming from  inside. Naturally leery of anything deviating⁵⁰⁶ from his private norm,  Ferrante dropped quietly to hands and knees, crawled cautiously up behind  the stove and peered around it. It was the old woman, playing some sort of  air on a viola da gamba. She did not play very well. When she saw Ferrante  she put the bow down and glared at him.

"A thousand pardons, signora," Ferrante said, getting to his feet. "I did  not mean to interrupt the music. I was wondering if I might borrow a skillet  and some oil. My supper. Which will take no more than a few minutes." He  waved the squid at her placatingly.

"Ferrante," she croaked⁵⁰⁷ abruptly, "this is no time for subtlety⁵⁰⁸. Much is at  stake."

Ferrante was taken aback. Had she been snooping? Or merely in her son's  confidence? "I do not understand," he replied cautiously.

"That is nonsense," she retorted. "The English know something you did not.  It all began with this silly Venezuelan business, but by accident, unaware,  your colleagues have stumbled on something so vast and terrifying that they  are afraid even to speak its name aloud."

"Perhaps."

"Is it not true, then, that the young Gadrulfi has testified to Herr Stencil  that his father believes there to be agents of Vheissu present in this  city?"

"Gadrulfi is a florist," said Ferrante impassively, "whom we have under  surveillance. He is associated with partners of the Gaucho, an agitator  against the legally constituted government of Venezuela. We have followed  them to this florist's establishment. You have got your facts confused."

"More likely you and your fellow spies have got your names confused. I  suppose you are maintaining as well this ridiculous fiction that Vheissu is  a code name for Venezuela."

"That is the way it appears in our files."

"You are clever, Ferrante. You trust no one."

He shrugged. "Can I afford to?"

"I suppose not. Not when a barbaric and unknown race, employed by God knows  whom, are even now blasting the Antarctic ice with dynamite⁵⁰⁹, preparing to  enter a subterranean⁵¹⁰ network of natural tunnels, a network whose existence  is known only to the inhabitants of Vheissu, the Royal Geographic Society in  London, Herr Godolphin, and the spies of Florence."

Ferrante stood suddenly breathless. She was paraphrasing⁵¹¹ the secret  memorandum Stencil had sent back to London not an hour ago.

"Having explored the volcanoes of their own region," she went on, "certain  natives of the Vheissu district were the first to become aware of these  tunnels, which lace the earth's interior at depths varying -"

"Aspetti!" Ferrante cried. "You are raving."

"Tell the truth," she said sharply. "Tell me what Vheissu is really the code  name for. Tell me, you idiot, what I already know: that it stands for  Vesuvius." She cackled horribly.

He was breathing with difficulty. She had guessed or spied it out or been  told. She was probably safe. But how could he say: I detest politics, no  matter if they are international or only within a single department. And the  politics which have led to this worked the same way and are equally as  detestable. Everyone had assumed that the code word referred to Venezuela, a  routine matter, until the English in formed them that Vheissu actually  existed. There was testimony from young Gadrulfi, corroborating⁵¹² data already  obtained from the Geographic Society and the Board of Inquiry fifteen years  ago, about the volcanoes. And from then on fact had been added to meager  fact and the censorship of that single telegram had avalanched into a  harrowing afternoon-long session of give-and-take, of logrolling, bullying,  factions⁵¹³ and secret votes until Ferrante and his chief had to face the  sickening truth of the matter: that they must league with the English in  view of a highly probable common peril⁵¹⁴. That they could hardly afford not  to.

"It could stand for Venus, for all I know," he said. "Please, I cannot  discuss the matter." The old woman laughed again and began to saw away once  more on her viola da gamba. She watched Ferrante contemptuously as he took  down a skillet from a hook in the wall above the stove, poured olive oil  into it and poked⁵¹⁵ the embers into flame. When the oil began to sizzle, he  placed his squid carefully in it, like an offering. He suddenly found  himself sweating, though the stove gave off no great heat. Ancient music  whined⁵¹⁶ in the room, echoed off its walls. Ferrante let himself wonder, for  no good reason, if it had been composed by Palestrina.

 

IX

 

Adjoining the prison which Evan had recently vacated, and not far from the  British Consulate, are two narrow streets, Via del Purgatorio and Via  dell'Inferno, which intersect in a T whose long side parallels the Arno.  Victoria stood in this intersection⁵¹⁷, the night gloomy about her, a tiny  erect⁵¹⁸ figure in white dimity. She was trembling as if she waited for some  lover. They had been considerate at the consulate; more than that, she had  seen the dull pounding of some knowledge heavy behind their eyes, and known  all at once that old Godolphin had indeed been wrung by a "terrible need,"  and that her intuition had once more been correct. Her pride in this faculty  was an athlete's pride in his strength or skill; it had once told her, for  example, that Goodfellow was a spy and not a casual tourist; more, had  revealed to her all at once a latent talent of her own for espionage. Her  decision to help Godolphin came not out of any romantic illusion about  spying-in that business she saw mostly ugliness, little glamour-but rather  because she felt that skill or any virtu was a desirable and lovely thing  purely⁵¹⁹ for its own sake; and it became more effective the further divorced  it was from moral intention. Though she would have denied it, she was one  with Ferrante, with the Gaucho, with Signor Mantissa; like them she would  act, when occasion arose, on the strength of a unique and private gloss⁵²⁰ on  The Prince. She overrated virtu, individual agency, in much the same way  Signor Mantissa overrated the fox. Perhaps one day one of them might ask:  what was the tag-end of an age if not that sort of imbalance, that tilt⁵²¹  toward the more devious, the less forceful?

She wondered, standing stone-still at the crossroads, whether the old man  had trusted her, had waited after all. She prayed that he had, less perhaps  from concern for him than from some obvoluted breed of self-aggrandizement  which read the conforming of events to the channels she'd set out for them  as glorious testimony to her own skill. One thing she had avoided - probably  because of the supernatural tinge¹⁹⁹ men acquired in her perception - was the  schoolgirlish tendency to describe every male over the age of fifty as  "sweet," "dear," or "nice." Dormant⁵²² in every aged man she saw rather his  image regressed twenty or thirty years, like a wraith⁵²³ which nearly merged  outlines with its counterpart: young, potent⁵²⁴, possessing mighty sinews and  sensitive hands. So that in Captain Hugh it had been the young version she  wished to help and make a part of the vast system of channels, locks and  basins she had dug for the rampant⁵²⁵ river Fortune.

If there were, as some doctors of the mind were beginning to suspect, an  ancestral memory, an inherited reservoir of primordial⁵²⁶ knowledge which  shapes certain of our actions and casual desires, then not only her presence  here and now between purgatory⁵²⁷ and hell, but also her entire commitment to  Roman Catholicism as needful and plausible stemmed from and depended on an  article of the primitive⁵²⁸ faith which glimmered⁵²⁹ shiny and supreme in that  reservoir like a crucial valve-handle: the notion of the wraith or spiritual  double, happening on rare occasions by multiplication⁵³⁰ but more often by  fission⁵³¹, and the natural corollary which says the son is doppelganger to the  father. Having once accepted duality Victoria had found it only a single  step to Trinity. And having seen the halo of a second and more virile⁵³² self  flickering⁵³³ about old Godolphin, she waited now outside the prison while  somewhere to her right a girl sang lonely, telling a tale of hesitation,  between a rich man who was old and a young man who was fair.

At length she heard the prison door open, heard his footsteps begin to  approach down a narrow alleyway, heard the door slam to again. She dug the  point of her parasol into the ground beside one tiny foot and gazed down at  it. He was upon her before she realized it, nearly colliding with her. "I  say," he exclaimed.

She looked up. His face was indistinct. He peered closer at her. "I saw you  this afternoon," he said. "The girl in the tram, isn't it."

She murmured assent⁵³⁴. "And you sang Mozart to me." He did not look at all  like his father.

"A bit of a lark," Evan bumbled. "Didn't mean to embarrass you."

"You did."

Evan hung his head, sheepish. "But what are you doing out here, at this time  of night?" He forced a laugh. "Not waiting for me, surely."

"Yes," she said quietly. "Waiting for you."

"That's terribly flattering. But if I may say so, you aren't the sort of  young lady who . . . I mean, are you? I mean, dash it, why should you be  waiting for me? Not because you liked my singing voice."

"Because you are his son," she said.

He did not, he realized, have to ask for explanation: wouldn't have to  stammer³⁰, how did you nt my father, how did you know I was here, that I  would've released? It was as if what he'd said to the Gaucho, back in their  cell, had been like confession²⁵⁷; an acknowledgment of weakness; as if the  Gaucho's silence in turn had served as absolution, redeeming⁵³⁵ the weakness,  propelling him suddenly into the trembling planes of a new kind of manhood.  He felt that belief in Vheissu gave him no right any more to doubt as  arrogantly⁵³⁶ as he had before, that perhaps wherever he went from now on he  would perform like penance⁵³⁷ a ready acceptance of miracles or visions such as  this meeting at the crossroads seemed to him to be. They began to walk. She  tucked her hands around his bicep.

From his slight elevation⁵³⁸ he noted⁵³⁹ an ornate ivory comb, sunk to the armpits  in her hair. Faces, helmets, arms linked: crucified? He blinked closer at  the faces. All looked drawn-down by the weight of the bodies beneath: but  seemed to grimace¹⁶⁷ more by convention - with an Eastern idea of patience -  than with any more explicit⁵⁴⁰ or Caucasian pain. What a curious girl it was  beside him. He was about to use the comb for a conversational opening when  she spoke.

"How strange tonight, this city. As if something trembled below its surface,  waiting to burst through."

"Oh I've felt it. I think to myself: we are not, any of us, in the  Renaissance at all. Despite the Fra Angelicos, the Titians, Botticellis;  Brunelleschi church, ghosts of the Medici. It is another time. Like radium,  I expect: they say radium changes, bit by bit, over unimaginable spaces of  time, to lead. A glow about old Firenze seems to be missing, seems more a  leaden gray."

"Perhaps the only radiance left is in Vheissu."

He looked down at her. "How odd you are," he said. "I almost feel you know  more than I about the place."

She pursed her lips. "Do you know how I felt when I spoke with him? As if  he'd told me the same stories he told you when you were a bay, and I had  forgotten them, but needed only to see him, hear his voice, for all the  memories to come rushing back undecayed."

He smiled. "That would make us brother and sister."

She didn't answer. They turned into Via Porta Rossa. Tourists were thick in  the streets. Three rambling⁵⁴¹ musicians, guitar, violin and kazoo, stood on a  corner, playing sentimental airs.

"Perhaps we are in limbo," he said. "Or like the place we met: some still  point between hell and purgatory. Strange there's no Via del Paradiso  anywhere in Florence."

"Perhaps nowhere in the world."

For that moment at least they seemed to give up external plans, theories and  codes, even the inescapable romantic curiosity about one another, to indulge  in being simply and purely young, to share that sense of the world's  affliction, that outgoing sorrow at the spectacle of Our Human Condition  which anyone this age regards as reward or gratuity⁵⁴² for having survived  adolescence. For them the music was sweet and painful, the strolling chains  of tourists like a Dance of Death. They stood on the curb⁵⁴³, gazing at one  another, jostled against by hawkers and sightseers, lost as much perhaps in  that bond of youth as in the depths of the eyes each contemplated⁵⁴⁴.

He broke it first. "You haven't told me your name."

She told him.

"Victoria," he said. She felt a kind of triumph. It was the way he'd said it.

He patted her hand. "Come," he said feeling protective, almost fatherly. "I  am to meet him, at Scheissvogel's."

"Of course," she said. They turned left, away from the Arno, toward Piazza  Vittorio Emmanuele.

 

The Figli di Machiavelli had taken over for their garrison an abandoned  tobacco warehouse⁵⁴⁵ off Via Cavour. It was deserted⁵⁴⁶ at the moment except for  an aristocratic-looking man named Borracho, who was performing his nightly  duty of checking the rifles. There was a sudden pounding at the door.  "Digame," yelled Borracho.

"The lion and the fox," came the answer Borracho unlatched the door and was  nearly bowled over by a thick-set mestizo called Tito, who earned his living  selling obscene photographs to the Fourth Army Corps. He appeared highly  excited.

"They're marching," he began to babble⁵⁴⁷, "tonight, half a battalion⁵⁴⁸, they  have rifles, and fixed⁵⁴⁹ bayonets -"

"What in God's name is this," Borracho growled, "has Italy declared war? Que  pasa?"

"The Consulate. The Consulate of Venezuela. They are to guard it. They  expect us. Someone has betrayed the Figli di Machiavelli."

"Calm down," Borracho said. "Perhaps the moment which the Gaucho promised us  has arrived at last. We must expect him, then. Quickly. Alert the others.  Put them on standby. Send a messenger into town to find Cuernacabron. He  will likely be at the beer garden."

Tito saluted⁵⁵⁰, wheeled, ran to the door on the double, unlocked it. A thought  occurred to him. "Perhaps," he said, "perhaps the Gaucho himself is the  traitor⁵⁵²." He opened the door. The Gaucho stood there, glowering⁵⁵³. Tito gaped⁵⁵⁴.  Without a word the Gaucho brought his closed fist down on the mestizo's  head. Tito toppled and crashed to the floor.

"Idiot," the Gaucho said. "What's happened? Is everyone insane?"

Borracho told him about the army.

The Gaucho rubbed his hands. "Bravissimo. A major action. And yet we've not  heard from Caracas. No matter. We move tonight. Alert the troops. We must be  there at midnight."

"Not much time, commendatore."

"We will be there at midnight. Vada."

"Si, commendatore." Borracho saluted and left, stepping carefully over Tito  on his way out.

The Gaucho took a deep breath, crossed his arms, flung them wide, crossed  them again. "So," he cried to the empty warehouse. "The night of the lion  has come again to Florence!"

 

X

 

Scheissvogel's Biergarten and Rathskeller was a nighttime favorite not only  with the German travelers in Florence but also, it seemed, with those of the  other touring nations. An Italian caffe (it was conceded) being fine for the  afternoon, when the city lazed in contemplation of its art treasures. But  the hours after sundown demanded a conviviality⁵⁵⁵, a boisterousness⁵⁵⁶ which the  easygoing - perhaps even a bit cliquish⁵⁵⁷ - caffes did not supply. English,  American, Dutch, Spanish, they seemed to seek some Hofbrauhaus of the spirit  like a grail, hold a krug of Munich beer like a chalice⁵⁵⁸. Here at  Scheissvogel's were all the desired elements: blond barmaids, with thick  braids wound round the back of the head, who could carry eight foaming  kruger at a time, a pavilion with a small brass⁵⁵⁹ band out in the garden, an  accordionist⁵⁶⁰ inside, confidences roared across a table, much smoke, group  singing.

Old Godolphin and Rafael Mantissa sat out in back in the garden, at a small  table, while the wind from the river played chilly⁵⁶¹ about their mouths and  the wheeze⁵⁶² of the band frolicked about their ears, more absolutely alone, it  seemed to them, than anyone else in the city.

"Am I not your friend?" Signor Mantissa pleaded. "You must tell me. Perhaps,  as you say, you have wandered outside the world's communion. But haven't I  as well? Have I not been ripped up by the roots, screaming like the  mandrake, transplanted from country to country only to find the soil arid,  or the sun unfriendly, the air tainted⁵⁶³? Whom should you tell this terrible  secret to if not to your brother?"

"Perhaps to my son," said Godolphin.

"I never had a son. But isn't it true that we spend our lives seeking for  something valuable, some truth to tell to a son, to give to him with love?  Most of us aren't as lucky as you, perhaps we have to be torn away from the  rest of men before we can have such words to give to a son. But it has been  all these years. You can wait a few minutes more. He will take your gift and  use it for himself, for his own life. I do not malign⁵⁶⁴ him. It is the way a  younger generation acts: that, simply. You, as a boy, probably bore away  some such gift from your own father, not realizing that it was still as  valuable to him as it would be to you. But when the English speak of  'passing down' something from one generation to another, it is only that. A  son passes nothing back up. Perhaps this is a sad thing, and not Christian,  but it has been that way since time out of mind, and will never change.  Giving, and giving back, can be only between you and one of your own  generation. Between you and Mantissa, your dear friend."

The old man shook his head, half-smiling; "It isn't so much, Raf, I've grown  used to it. Perhaps you will find it not so much."

"Perhaps. It is difficult to understand how an English explorer thinks. Was  it the Antarctic? What sends the English into these terrible places?"

Godolphin stared at nothing. "I think it is the opposite of what sends  English reeling all over the globe in the mad dances called Cook's tours.  They want only the skin of a place, the explorer wants its heart. It is  perhaps a little like being in love. I bad never penetrated⁵⁶⁵ to the heart of  any of those wild places, Raf. Until Vheissu. It was not till the Southern  Expedition last year that I saw what was beneath her skin."

"What did you see?" asked Signor Mantissa, leaning forward.

"Nothing," Godolphin whispered. "It was Nothing I saw." Signor Mantissa  reached out a hand to the old man's shoulder. "Understand," Godolphin said,  bowed and motionless, "I had been tortured by Vheissu for fifteen years. I  dreamed of it, half the time I lived in it. It wouldn't leave me. Colors,  music, fragrances⁵⁶⁶. No matter where I got assigned, I was pursued by  memories. Now I am pursued by agents. That feral and lunatic dominion⁵⁶⁷ cannot  afford to let me escape.

"Raf, you will be ridden by it longer than I. I haven't much time left. You  must never tell anyone, I won't ask for your promise; I take that for  granted. I have done what no man has done. I have been at the Pole."

"The Pole. My friend. Then why have we not -"

"Seen it in the press. Because I made it that way. They found me, you  remember, at the last depot⁵⁶⁸, half dead and snowed in by a blizzard⁵⁶⁹. Everyone  assumed I had tried for the Pole and failed. But I was on my way back. I let  them tell it their way. Do you see? I had thrown away a sure knighthood,  rejected glory for the first time in my career, something my son has been  doing since he was born. Evan is rebellious⁵⁷⁰, his was no sudden decision. But  mine was, sudden and necessary, because of what I found waiting for me at  the Pole."

Two carabinieri and their girls arose from a table and weaved arm-in-arm out  of the garden. The band began to play a sad waltz. Sounds of carousing⁵⁷¹ in  the beer hall floated out to the two men. The wind blew steady, there was no  moon. The leaves of trees whipped to and fro like tiny automata.

"It was a foolish thing," Godolphin said, "what I did. There was nearly a  mutiny. After all, one man, trying for the Pole, in the dead of winter. They  thought I was insane. Possibly I was, by that time. But I had to reach it. I  had begun to think that there, at one of the only two motionless places on  this gyrating world, I might have peace to solve Vheissu's riddle⁵⁷². Do you  understand? I wanted to stand in the dead center of the carousel⁵⁷³, if only  for a moment; try to catch my bearings. And sure enough: waiting for me was  my answer. I'd begun to dig a cache nearby, after planting the flag. The  barrenness of that place howled around me, like a country the demiurge had  forgotten. There could have been no more entirely lifeless and empty place  anywhere on earth. Two or three feet down I struck clear ice. A strange  light, which seemed to move inside it, caught my attention. I cleared a  space away. Staring up at me through the ice, perfectly⁵⁷⁴ preserved, its fur  still rainbow-colored, was the corpse⁵⁷⁵ of one of their spider monkeys. It was  quite real; not like the vague hints they had given me before. I say 'they  had given.' I think they left it there for me. Why? Perhaps for some alien,  not-quite-human reason that I can never comprehend. Perhaps only to see what  I would do. A mockery, you see: a mockery of life, planted where everything but Hugh Godolphin was inanimate. With of course the implication . . . It  did tell me the truth about them. If Eden was the creation of God, God only  knows what evil created Vheissu. The skin which had wrinkled through my  nightmares was all there had ever been. Vheissu itself, a gaudy dream. Of  what the Antarctic in this world is closest to: a dream of annihilation."

Signor Mantissa looked disappointed. "Are you sure. Hugh? I have heard that  in the polar regions men, after long exposure, see things which -"

"Does it make any difference?" Godolphin said. "If it were only a  hallucination, it was not what I saw or believed I saw that in the end is  important. It is what I thought. What truth I came to."

Signor Mantissa shrugged helplessly. "And now? Those who are after you?"

"Think I will tell. Know I have guessed the meaning of their clue, and fear  I will try to publish it. But dear Christ, how could I? Am I mistaken, Raf?  I think it must send the world mad. Your eyes are puzzled. I know. You can't  see it yet. But you will. You are strong. It will hurt you no more -" he  laughed - "than it has hurt me." He looked up, over Signor Mantissa's  shoulder. "Here is my son. The girl is with him."

Evan stood over them. "Father," he said.

"Son." They shook hands. Signor Mantissa yelled for Cesare and drew up a  chair for Victoria.

"Could you all excuse me for a moment. I must deliver a message. For a Senor  Cuernacabron."

"He is a friend of the Gaucho," Cesare said, coming up behind them.

"You have seen the Gaucho?" asked Signor Mantissa.

"Half an hour ago."

"Where is he?"

"Out at Via Cavour. He is coming here later, he said he had to meet friends  on another matter."

"Aha!" Signor Mantissa glanced at his watch. "We haven't much time. Cesare,  go and inform the barge of our rendezvous. Then to the Ponte Vecchio for the  trees. The cabman can help. Hurry." Cesare ambled⁴³⁸ off. Signor Mantissa  waylaid⁵⁷⁶ a waitress, who set down four liters of beer on the table. "To our  enterprise," he said.

Three tables away Moffit watched, smiling.

 

XI

 That march from Via Cavour was the most splendid the Gaucho could remember.  Somehow, miraculously⁵⁷⁷, Borracho, Tito and a few friends had managed in a  surprise raid to make off with a hundred horses from the cavalry. The theft  was discovered quickly, but not before Figli di Machiavelli, hollering and  singing, were mounted and galloping⁵⁷⁸ toward the center of town. The Gaucho  rode in front, wearing a red shirt and a wide grin. "Avanti, i miei  fratelli," they sang, "Figli di Machiavelli, avanti alla donna Liberta!"  Close behind came the army, pursuing in ragged, furious files, half of them  on foot, a few in carriages. Halfway into town the renegades met  Cuernacabron in a gig: the Gaucho wheeled, swooped⁵⁷⁹, gathered him up bodily,  turned again to rejoin the Figli. "My comrade," he roared to his bewildered  second-in-command, "isn't it a glorious evening."

They reached the Consulate at a few minutes to midnight and dismounted,  still singing and yelling. Those who worked at the Mercato Centrale had  provided enough rotten fruit and vegetables to set up a heavy and sustained  barrage⁵⁸⁰ against the Consulate. The army arrived. Salazar and Raton watched  cringing⁵⁸¹ from the second-floor window. Fistfights broke out. So far no shots  had been fired. The square had erupted suddenly into a great whirling  confusion. Passers-by fled bawling⁵⁸² to what shelter they could find.

The Gaucho caught sight of Cesare and Signor Mantissa, with two Judas trees,  shuffling⁵⁸³ impatiently near the Posta Centrale. "Good God," he said. "Two  trees? Cuernacabron, I have to leave for a while. You are now commendatore.  Take charge." Cuernacabron saluted and dived into the melee⁵⁸⁴. The Gaucho,  making his way aver¹⁶⁹ to Signor Mantissa, saw Evan, the father, and the girl  waiting nearby. "Buona sera once again, Gadrulfi," he called, flipping⁵⁸⁵ a  salute⁵⁵¹ in Evan's direction. "Mantissa, are we ready?" He unclipped a large  grenade from one of the ammunition⁵⁸⁶ belts crisscrossing his chest. Signor  Mantissa and Cesare picked up the hollow tree.

"Guard the other one," Signor Mantissa called back to Godolphin. "Don't let  anyone know it's there until we return."

"Evan," the girl whispered, moving closer to him. "Will there be shooting?"

He did not hear her eagerness, only her fear. "Don't be afraid," he said,  aching to shelter her.

Old Godolphin had been looking at them, shuffling his feet, embarrassed.  "Son," he finally began, conscious of being a fool, "I suppose this is  hardly the time to mention it. But I must leave Florence. Tonight. I would -  I wish you would come with me." He couldn't look at his son. The boy smiled  wistfully, his arm round Victoria's shoulders.

"But Papa," he said, "I would be leaving my only true love behind."

Victoria stood on tiptoe to kiss his neck. "We will meet again," she  whispered sadly, playing the game.

The old man turned away from them, trembling, not understanding, feeling  betrayed once again. "I am terribly sorry," he said.

Evan released Victoria, moved to Godolphin. "Father," he said, "Father, it's  our way only. It's my fault, the joke. A trivial oaf's joke. You know I'll  come with you."

"My fault," the father said. "My oversight⁵⁸⁷, I dare say, for not keeping up  with the younger people. Imagine, something so simple as a way of speaking .  . .

Evan let his hand rest splayed on Godolphin's back. Neither moved for a  moment. "On the barge," Evan said, "there we'll be able to talk."

The old man turned at last. "Time we got round to it."

"We will," Evan said, trying to smile. "After all, here we've been, so many  years, biffing about at opposite ends of the world."

The old man did not answer, but burrowed⁵⁸⁸ his face against Evan's shoulder.  Both felt slightly embarrassed. Victoria watched them for a moment, then  turned away to gaze, placid⁵⁸⁹, at the rioting. Shots began to ring out. Blood  began to stain the pavements, screams to punctuate⁵⁹⁰ the singing of the Figli  di Machiavelli. She saw a rioter in a shirt of motley, sprawled⁵⁹¹ over the  limb of a tree, being bayoneted again and again by two soldiers. She stood  as still as she had at the crossroads waiting for Evan; her face betrayed no  emotion. It was as if she saw herself embodying⁵⁹² a feminine principle, acting  as complement⁵⁹³ to all this bursting, explosive male energy. Inviolate and  calm, she watched the spasms⁵⁹⁴ of wounded bodies, the fair of violent death,  framed and staged, it seemed, for her alone in that tiny square. From her  hair the heads of five crucified also looked on, no more expressive⁵⁹⁵ than  she.

 

Lugging⁵⁹⁶ the tree, Signor Mantissa and Cesare staggered through the "Ritratti  diversi," while the Gaucho guarded their rear. He'd already had to fire at  two guards. "Hurry," he said. "We must be out of here soon. They won't be  diverted for long."

Inside the Sala di Lorenzo Monaco Cesare unsheathed a razor-edged dagger⁵⁹⁷ and  prepared to slice the Botticelli from its frame. Signor Mantissa gazed at  her, at the asymmetric⁵⁹⁸ eyes, tilt of the frail¹³² head, streaming gold hair. He  could not move; as if he were any gentle libertine⁵⁹⁹ before a lady he had  writhed⁶⁰⁰ for years to possess, and now that the dream was about to be  consummated⁶⁰¹ he had been struck suddenly impotent. Cesare dug the knife into  the canvas, began to saw downward. Light, shining in from the street,  reflected from the blade, flickering from the lantern they had brought,  danced over the painting's gorgeous surface. Signor Mantissa watched its  movement, a slow horror growing in him. In that instant he was reminded of  Hugh Godolphin's spider-monkey, still shimmering⁶⁰² through crystal ice at the  bottom of the world. The whole surface of the painting now seemed to move,  to be flooded with color and motion. He thought, for the first time in  years, of the blond seamstress in Lyons. She would drink absinthe at night  and torture herself for it in the afternoon. God hated her, she said. At the  same time she was finding it more difficult to believe in him. She wanted to  go to Paris, she had a pleasant voice, did she not? She would go on the  stage, it had been her dream since girlhood. Countless⁶⁰³ mornings, in the  hours when passion's inertia⁶⁰⁴ of motion had carried them along faster than  sleep could overtake them, she had poured out to him schemes, despairs, all  tiny, relevant loves.

What sort of mistress, then, would Venus be? What outlying worlds would he  conquer in their headlong, three-in-the-morning excursions away from the  cities of sleep? What of her God, her voice, her dreams? She was already a  goddess. She had no voice he could ever hear. And she herself (perhaps even  her native demesne⁶⁰⁵?) was only . . .

A gaudy dream, a dream of annihilation. Was that what Godolphin had meant?  Yet she was no less Rafael Mantissa's entire love.

"Aspetti," he shouted, leaping forward to grab Cesare's hand.

"Sei pazzo?" Cesare snarled⁶⁰⁶.

"Guards coming this way," the Gaucho announced from the entrance to the  gallery. "An army of them. For God's sake, hurry."

"You have come all this way," Cesare protested, "and now you will leave her?"

"Yes."

The Gaucho raised his head, suddenly alert. The rattle of gunfire came to  him faintly. With an angry motion he flung the grenade down the corridor;  the approaching guards scattered⁶⁰⁷ and it went off with a roar in the  "Ritratti diversi." Signor Mantissa and Cesare, empty-handed, were at his  back. "We must run for our lives," the Gaucho said. "Have you got your lady  with you?"

"No," Cesare said, disgusted. "Not even the damned tree."

They dashed down a corridor smelling of burnt cordite. Signor Mantissa  noticed that paintings in the "Ritratti diversi" had all been taken down for  the redecorating. The grenade had harmed nothing except the walls and a few  guards. It was a mad, all-out sprint⁶⁰⁸, with the Gaucho taking pot-shots at  guards, Cesare waving his knife, Signor Mantissa flapping his arms wildly.  Miraculously they reached the entrance and half-ran, half tumbled down 126  steps to the Piazza della Signoria. Evan and Godolphin joined them.

"I must return to the battle," the Gaucho said, breathless. He stood for a  moment watching the carnage. "But don't they look like apes, now, fighting  over a female? Even if the female is named Liberty." He drew a long pistol,  checked the action. "There are nights," he mused, "nights, alone, when I  think we are apes in a circus, mocking the ways of men. Perhaps it is all a  mockery, and the only condition we can ever bring to men a mockery of  liberty, of dignity. But that cannot be. Or else I have lived . . ."

Signor Mantissa grasped his hand. "Thank you," he said.

The Gaucho shook his head. "Per niente," he muttered, then abruptly turned  and made his way toward the riot in the square. Signor Mantissa watched him  briefly. "Come," he said at last.

Evan looked over to where Victoria was standing enchanted. He seemed about  to move, or call to her. Then he shrugged and turned away to follow the  others. Perhaps he didn't want to disturb her.

Moffit, knocked sprawling⁶⁰⁹ by a not-so-rotten turnip⁶¹⁰, saw them. "They're  getting away," he said. He got to his feet and began clawing his way through  the rioters expecting to be shot at any minute. "In the name of the Queen,"  he cried. "Halt." Someone careened into him.

"I say," said Moffit, "it's Sidney."

"I've been looking all over for you," Stencil said.

"Not a mo too soon. They're getting away."

"Forget it."

"Down that alley. Hurry." He tugged at Stencil's sleeve. "Forget it, Moffit.  It's off. The whole show."

"Why?

"Don't ask why. It's over." But."

"There was just a communique from London. From the Chief. He knows more than  I do. He called it off. How should I know? No one ever tells me anything."

"Oh, my God."

They edged into a doorway. Stencil pulled out his pipe and lit it. The  sounds of firing rose in a crescendo which it seemed would never stop.  "Moffit," Stencil said after a while, puffing meditatively, "if there is  ever a plot to assassinate the Foreign Minister, I pray I never get assigned  to the job of preventing it. Conflict of interest, you know."

 

They scurried⁶¹¹ down a narrow street to the Lungarno. There, after Cesare had  removed two middle-aged⁶¹² ladies and a cab driver, they took possession of a  fiacre and clattered off pell-mell for the Ponte San Trinita. The barge was  waiting for them, dim amid the river's shadows. The captain jumped to the  quay⁶¹³. "Three of you," he bellowed⁶¹⁴. "Our bargain included only one." Signor  Mantissa flew into a rage, leaped from the carriage, picked up the captain  bodily and before anyone had time to register amazement, flung him into the  Arno. "On board!" he cried. Evan and Godolphin jumped onto a cargo⁶¹⁵ of crated  Chianti flasks⁶¹⁶. Cesare moaned, thinking of how that trip would be.

"Can anyone pilot a barge," Signor Mantissa wondered. "It is like a  man-o'-war," Godolphin smiled, "only smaller and no sails. Son, would you  cast off."

"Aye, aye, sir." In a moment they were free of the quay. Soon the barge was  drifting off into the current which flows strong and steady toward Pisa and  the sea. "Cesare," they called, in what were already ghosts' voices, "addio.  A rivederla."

Cesare waved. "A rivederci." Soon they had disappeared, dissolved in the  darkness. Cesare put his hands in his pockets and started to stroll. He  found a stone in the street and began to kick it aimlessly along the  Lungarno. Soon, he thought, I will go and buy a liter fiasco of Chianti. As  he passed the Palazzo Corsini, towering nebulous and fair above him, he  thought: what an amusing world it still is, where things and people can be  found in places where they do not belong. For example, out there on the  river now with a thousand liters of wine are a man in love with Venus, and a  sea captain, and his fat son. And back in the Uffizi . . . He roared aloud.  In the room of Lorenzo Monaco, he remembered amazed, before Botticelli's  Birth of Venus, still blooming purple and gay, there is a hollow Judas tree.

1 browsed   

v.吃草( browse的过去式和过去分词 )；随意翻阅；（在商店里）随便看看；（在计算机上）浏览信息

参考例句：

• I browsed through some magazines while I waited. 我边等边浏览几本杂志。 来自辞典例句
• I browsed through the book, looking at page after page. 我翻开了一下全书，一页又一页。 来自互联网

2 velvet   

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。

3 canine   

adj.犬的，犬科的

参考例句：

• The fox is a canine animal.狐狸是犬科动物。
• Herbivorous animals have very small canine teeth,or none.食草动物的犬牙很小或者没有。

4 vat   

n.(=value added tax)增值税，大桶

参考例句：

• The office is asking for the vat papers.办事处要有关增值税的文件。
• His father emptied sacks of stale rye bread into the vat.他父亲把一袋袋发霉的黑面包倒进大桶里。

5 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 enthusiast   

n.热心人，热衷者

参考例句：

• He is an enthusiast about politics.他是个热衷于政治的人。
• He was an enthusiast and loved to evoke enthusiasm in others.他是一个激情昂扬的人，也热中于唤起他人心中的激情。

9 stencil   

v.用模版印刷；n.模版；复写纸，蜡纸

参考例句：

• He then stencilled the ceiling with a moon and stars motif.他随后用模版在天花板上印上了月亮和繁星图案。
• Serveral of commonly used methods are photoprinting,photoengraving,mechnical engraving,and stencil.通常所采用的几种储存方法是：影印法、照相蚀刻、机械雕刻和模板。

10 turbulence   

n.喧嚣，狂暴，骚乱，湍流

参考例句：

• The turbulence caused the plane to turn over.空气的激流导致飞机翻转。
• The world advances amidst turbulence.世界在动荡中前进。

11 ascendancy   

n.统治权，支配力量

参考例句：

• We have had ascendancy over the enemy in the battle.在战斗中我们已占有优势。
• The extremists are gaining ascendancy.极端分子正逐渐占据上风。

12 usurped   

篡夺，霸占( usurp的过去式和过去分词 )； 盗用； 篡夺，篡权

参考例句：

• That magazine usurped copyrighted material. 那杂志盗用了版权为他人所有的素材。
• The expression'social engineering'has been usurped by the Utopianist without a shadow of light. “社会工程”这个词已被乌托邦主义者毫无理由地盗用了。

13 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

14 deposed   

v.罢免( depose的过去式和过去分词 )；（在法庭上）宣誓作证

参考例句：

• The president was deposed in a military coup. 总统在军事政变中被废黜。
• The head of state was deposed by the army. 国家元首被军队罢免了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 jargon   

n.术语，行话

参考例句：

• They will not hear critics with their horrible jargon.他们不愿意听到评论家们那些可怕的行话。
• It is important not to be overawed by the mathematical jargon.要紧的是不要被数学的术语所吓倒.

16 deciduous   

adj.非永久的；短暂的；脱落的；落叶的

参考例句：

• Overgrown deciduous shrubs can be cut back at this time of year.过于繁茂的落叶灌木可以在每年的这个时候修剪。
• Deciduous trees shed their leaves in autumn.落叶树木在秋天落叶。

17 pulp   

n.果肉，纸浆；v.化成纸浆，除去...果肉，制成纸浆

参考例句：

• The pulp of this watermelon is too spongy.这西瓜瓤儿太肉了。
• The company manufactures pulp and paper products.这个公司制造纸浆和纸产品。

18 enamel   

n.珐琅，搪瓷，瓷釉；(牙齿的)珐琅质

参考例句：

• I chipped the enamel on my front tooth when I fell over.我跌倒时门牙的珐琅质碰碎了。
• He collected coloured enamel bowls from Yugoslavia.他藏有来自南斯拉夫的彩色搪瓷碗。

19 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

20 calcium   

n.钙(化学符号Ca)

参考例句：

• We need calcium to make bones.我们需要钙来壮骨。
• Calcium is found most abundantly in milk.奶含钙最丰富。

21 enchanted   

adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She was enchanted by the flowers you sent her. 她非常喜欢你送给她的花。
• He was enchanted by the idea. 他为这个主意而欣喜若狂。

22 amalgam   

n.混合物；汞合金

参考例句：

• To counter this myth,we explained that we're really an amalgam of little guys.为了打破这个神话，我们解释说，我们确实是由一群小小的老百姓所组成的混合体。
• American literature is to our eyes a curious amalgam of familiar and strange.我们认为，美国文学把我们所熟悉的和陌生的东西奇妙地结合起来了。

23 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

24 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

25 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

26 cabal   

n.政治阴谋小集团

参考例句：

• He had been chosen by a secret government cabal.他已被一个秘密的政府阴谋集团选中。
• The illegal aspects of the cabal's governance are glaring and ubiquitous.黑暗势力的非法统治是显而易见的并无处不在。

27 cabals   

n.（政治）阴谋小集团，（尤指政治上的）阴谋( cabal的名词复数 )

参考例句：

28 pretext   

n.借口，托词

参考例句：

• He used his headache as a pretext for not going to school.他借口头疼而不去上学。
• He didn't attend that meeting under the pretext of sickness.他以生病为借口，没参加那个会议。

29 stammering   

v.结巴地说出( stammer的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He betrayed nervousness by stammering. 他说话结结巴巴说明他胆子小。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• \"Why,\" he said, actually stammering, \"how do you do?\" “哎呀，\"他说，真的有些结结巴巴，\"你好啊？” 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

30 stammer   

n.结巴，口吃；v.结结巴巴地说

参考例句：

• He's got a bad stammer.他口吃非常严重。
• We must not try to play off the boy troubled with a stammer.我们不可以取笑这个有口吃病的男孩。

31 solicitous   

adj.热切的，挂念的

参考例句：

• He was so solicitous of his guests.他对他的客人们非常关切。
• I am solicitous of his help.我渴得到他的帮助。

32 pretense   

n.矫饰，做作，借口

参考例句：

• You can't keep up the pretense any longer.你无法继续伪装下去了。
• Pretense invariably impresses only the pretender.弄虚作假欺骗不了真正的行家。

33 espionage   

n.间谍行为，谍报活动

参考例句：

• The authorities have arrested several people suspected of espionage.官方已经逮捕了几个涉嫌从事间谍活动的人。
• Neither was there any hint of espionage in Hanley's early life.汉利的早期生活也毫无进行间谍活动的迹象。

34 alligator   

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。

35 ashen   

adj.灰的

参考例句：

• His face was ashen and wet with sweat.他面如土色，汗如雨下。
• Her ashen face showed how much the news had shocked her.她灰白的脸显示出那消息使她多么震惊。

36 pouch   

n.小袋，小包，囊状袋；vt.装...入袋中，用袋运输；vi.用袋送信件

参考例句：

• He was going to make a tobacco pouch out of them. 他要用它们缝制一个烟草袋。
• The old man is always carrying a tobacco pouch with him.这老汉总是随身带着烟袋。

37 scattering   

n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散

参考例句：

• The child felle into a rage and began scattering its toys about. 这孩子突发狂怒，把玩具扔得满地都是。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The farmers are scattering seed. 农夫们在播种。 来自《简明英汉词典》

38 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

39 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

40 phenomena   

n.现象

参考例句：

• Ade couldn't relate the phenomena with any theory he knew.艾德无法用他所知道的任何理论来解释这种现象。
• The object of these experiments was to find the connection,if any,between the two phenomena.这些实验的目的就是探索这两种现象之间的联系，如果存在着任何联系的话。

41 encyclopaedia   

n.百科全书

参考例句：

• An encyclopaedia contains a lot of knowledge.百科全书包含很多知识。
• This is an encyclopaedia of philosophy.这是本哲学百科全书。

42 aromatic   

adj.芳香的，有香味的

参考例句：

• It has an agreeable aromatic smell.它有一种好闻的香味。
• It is light,fruity aromatic and a perfect choice for ending a meal.它是口感轻淡，圆润，芳香的，用于结束一顿饭完美的选择。

43 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。

44 jaw   

n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训

参考例句：

• He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
• A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。

45 conversational   

adj.对话的，会话的

参考例句：

• The article is written in a conversational style.该文是以对话的形式写成的。
• She values herself on her conversational powers.她常夸耀自己的能言善辩。

46 obsession   

n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感)

参考例句：

• I was suffering from obsession that my career would be ended.那时的我陷入了我的事业有可能就此终止的困扰当中。
• She would try to forget her obsession with Christopher.她会努力忘记对克里斯托弗的迷恋。

47 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

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。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

48 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

49 renaissance   

n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴

参考例句：

• The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
• The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。

50 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

51 pertinent   

adj.恰当的；贴切的；中肯的；有关的；相干的

参考例句：

• The expert made some pertinent comments on the scheme.那专家对规划提出了一些中肯的意见。
• These should guide him to pertinent questions for further study.这些将有助于他进一步研究有关问题。

52 tangentially   

adv.无关地

参考例句：

• The circumstances are delicate, involving their mother and, more tangentially, their father. 情况很微妙，事关他们的母亲也触及他们的父亲。 来自英汉文学 - 廊桥遗梦

53 conspiracies   

n.阴谋，密谋( conspiracy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was still alive and hatching his conspiracies. 他还活着，策划着阴谋诡计。 来自辞典例句
• It appeared that they had engaged in fresh conspiracies from the very moment of their release. 看上去他们刚给释放，立刻开始新一轮的阴谋活动。 来自英汉文学

54 aged   

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。

55 ripple   

n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进

参考例句：

• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。
• The small ripple split upon the beach.小小的涟漪卷来，碎在沙滩上。

56 rippled   

使泛起涟漪（ripple的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The lake rippled gently. 湖面轻轻地泛起涟漪。
• The wind rippled the surface of the cornfield. 微风吹过麦田，泛起一片麦浪。

57 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

58 warp   

vt.弄歪，使翘曲，使不正常，歪曲，使有偏见

参考例句：

• The damp wood began to warp.这块潮湿的木材有些翘曲了。
• A steel girder may warp in a fire.钢梁遇火会变弯。

59 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

60 sinuous   

adj.蜿蜒的，迂回的

参考例句：

• The river wound its sinuous way across the plain.这条河蜿蜒曲折地流过平原。
• We moved along the sinuous gravel walks,with the great concourse of girls and boys.我们沿着曲折的石径,随着男孩女孩汇成的巨流一路走去。

61 peculiar   

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。

62 conned   

adj.被骗了v.指挥操舵( conn的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Lynn felt women had been conned. 林恩觉得女人们受骗了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was so plausible that he conned everybody. 他那么会花言巧语，以至于骗过了所有的人。 来自辞典例句

63 memo   

n.照会，备忘录；便笺；通知书；规章

参考例句：

• Do you want me to send the memo out?您要我把这份备忘录分发出去吗？
• Can you type a memo for me?您能帮我打一份备忘录吗？

64 nostalgia   

n.怀乡病，留恋过去，怀旧

参考例句：

• He might be influenced by nostalgia for his happy youth.也许是对年轻时幸福时光的怀恋影响了他。
• I was filled with nostalgia by hearing my favourite old song.我听到这首喜爱的旧歌，心中充满了怀旧之情。

65 crest   

n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖

参考例句：

• The rooster bristled his crest.公鸡竖起了鸡冠。
• He reached the crest of the hill before dawn.他于黎明前到达山顶。

66 esthetic   

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。

67 pranced   

v.（马）腾跃( prance的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Their horses pranced and whinnied. 他们的马奔腾着、嘶鸣着。 来自辞典例句
• The little girl pranced about the room in her new clothes. 小女孩穿着新衣在屋里雀跃。 来自辞典例句

68 ostensible   

adj.(指理由)表面的，假装的

参考例句：

• The ostensible reason wasn't the real reason.表面上的理由并不是真正的理由。
• He resigned secretaryship on the ostensible ground of health.他借口身体不好，辞去书记的职务。

69 utterances   

n.发声( utterance的名词复数 )；说话方式；语调；言论

参考例句：

• John Maynard Keynes used somewhat gnomic utterances in his General Theory. 约翰·梅纳德·凯恩斯在其《通论》中用了许多精辟言辞。 来自辞典例句
• Elsewhere, particularly in his more public utterances, Hawthorne speaks very differently. 在别的地方，特别是在比较公开的谈话里，霍桑讲的话则完全不同。 来自辞典例句

70 rancor   

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。

71 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

72 innately   

adv.天赋地；内在地，固有地

参考例句：

• Innately conservative, Confucius was fascinated by the last of these disciplines. 由于生性保守，孔子特别推崇“礼”。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史
• Different individuals are innately fitted for different kinds of employment. 不同的人适合不同的职业，这是天生的。 来自互联网

73 labored   

adj.吃力的，谨慎的v.努力争取(for)( labor的过去式和过去分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转

参考例句：

• I was close enough to the elk to hear its labored breathing. 我离那头麋鹿非常近，能听见它吃力的呼吸声。 来自辞典例句
• They have labored to complete the job. 他们努力完成这一工作。 来自辞典例句

74 dallied   

v.随随便便地对待( dally的过去式和过去分词 )；不很认真地考虑；浪费时间；调情

参考例句：

• He dallied with the idea of becoming an actor. 他对当演员一事考虑过，但并不认真。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He dallied in the stores. 他在商店里闲逛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

75 scent   

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。

76 syllables   

n.音节( syllable的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a word with two syllables 双音节单词
• 'No. But I'll swear it was a name of two syllables.' “想不起。不过我可以发誓，它有两个音节。” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

77 salaam   

n.额手之礼，问安，敬礼；v.行额手礼

参考例句：

• And the people were so very friendly:full of huge beaming smiles,calling out "hello" and "salaam".这里的人民都很友好，灿然微笑着和我打招呼，说“哈罗”和“萨拉姆”。
• Salaam is a Muslim form of salutation.额手礼是穆斯林的问候方式。

78 dart   

v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲

参考例句：

• The child made a sudden dart across the road.那小孩突然冲过马路。
• Markov died after being struck by a poison dart.马尔科夫身中毒镖而亡。

79 prank   

n.开玩笑，恶作剧；v.装饰；打扮；炫耀自己

参考例句：

• It was thought that the fire alarm had been set off as a prank.人们认为火警报警器响是个恶作剧。
• The dean was ranking the boys for pulling the prank.系主任正在惩罚那些恶作剧的男学生。

80 recuperating   

v.恢复（健康、体力等），复原( recuperate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He's still recuperating from his operation. 他动了手术，还在恢复。
• He is recuperating from a serious back injury. 他背部受了重伤，目前正在康复中。 来自辞典例句

81 lechery   

n.好色；淫荡

参考例句：

• When they are idle,they indulge themselves into comfort,lechery,crapulence and gluttony.他们闲散时，就沉溺于安乐、纵欲、暴饮、暴食。
• His lechery made him the enemy of every self-respecting husband and father in the county.他的好色放浪使他成为全县所有自尊自重的丈夫和父亲的公敌。

82 piazza   

n.广场；走廊

参考例句：

• Siena's main piazza was one of the sights of Italy.锡耶纳的主要广场是意大利的名胜之一。
• They walked out of the cafeteria,and across the piazzadj.他们走出自助餐厅,穿过广场。

83 nexus   

n.联系；关系

参考例句：

• Shared ambition is the vital nexus between them.共同的志向是把他们联结在一起的重要纽带。
• Either way,the nexus between the consumer and consumer prices is important.无论那个方面，消费者与消费价格之间的关系是至关重要的。

84 preeminent   

adj.卓越的，杰出的

参考例句：

• Washington was recognized as the preeminent spokesman of American Negroes by 1895. 到1895年,华盛顿被公认为美国黑人的卓越代言人。
• He is preeminent because his articles are well written. 他的文章写得很漂亮,卓尔不群。

85 raving   

adj.说胡话的；疯狂的，怒吼的；非常漂亮的；令人醉心[痴心]的v.胡言乱语(rave的现在分词)n.胡话；疯话adv.胡言乱语地；疯狂地

参考例句：

• The man's a raving lunatic. 那个男子是个语无伦次的疯子。
• When I told her I'd crashed her car, she went stark raving bonkers. 我告诉她我把她的车撞坏了时，她暴跳如雷。

86 rout   

n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮

参考例句：

• The enemy was put to rout all along the line.敌人已全线崩溃。
• The people's army put all to rout wherever they went.人民军队所向披靡。

87 disquieted   

v.使不安，使忧虑，使烦恼( disquiet的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• People are disquieted [on tenterhooks]. 人心惶惶。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The bad news disquieted him. 恶讯使他焦急不安。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

88 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

89 spinal   

adj.针的，尖刺的，尖刺状突起的；adj.脊骨的，脊髓的

参考例句：

• After three days in Japan,the spinal column becomes extraordinarily flexible.在日本三天，就已经使脊椎骨变得富有弹性了。
• Your spinal column is made up of 24 movable vertebrae.你的脊柱由24个活动的脊椎骨构成。

90 thriller   

n.惊险片，恐怖片

参考例句：

• He began by writing a thriller.That book sold a million copies.他是写惊险小说起家的。那本书卖了一百万册。
• I always take a thriller to read on the train.我乘火车时，总带一本惊险小说看。

91 vagrancy   

（说话的，思想的）游移不定； 漂泊； 流浪； 离题

参考例句：

• The tramp was arrested for vagrancy. 这个流浪汉因流浪而被捕。
• Vagrancy and begging has become commonplace in London. 流浪和乞讨在伦敦已变得很常见。

92 lark   

n.云雀，百灵鸟；n.嬉戏，玩笑；vi.嬉戏

参考例句：

• He thinks it cruel to confine a lark in a cage.他认为把云雀关在笼子里太残忍了。
• She lived in the village with her grandparents as cheerful as a lark.她同祖父母一起住在乡间非常快活。

93 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

94 impatience   

n.不耐烦，急躁

参考例句：

• He expressed impatience at the slow rate of progress.进展缓慢，他显得不耐烦。
• He gave a stamp of impatience.他不耐烦地跺脚。

95 lumbered   

砍伐（lumber的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• A rhinoceros lumbered towards them. 一头犀牛笨重地向他们走来。
• A heavy truck lumbered by. 一辆重型卡车隆隆驶过。

96 slough   

v.蜕皮，脱落，抛弃

参考例句：

• He was not able to slough off the memories of the past.他无法忘记过去。
• A cicada throws its slough.蝉是要蜕皮的。

97 adolescence   

n.青春期，青少年

参考例句：

• Adolescence is the process of going from childhood to maturity.青春期是从少年到成年的过渡期。
• The film is about the trials and tribulations of adolescence.这部电影讲述了青春期的麻烦和苦恼。

98 shunned   

v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was shunned by her family when she remarried. 她再婚后家里人都躲着她。
• He was a shy man who shunned all publicity. 他是个怕羞的人，总是避开一切引人注目的活动。 来自《简明英汉词典》

99 rattle   

v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓

参考例句：

• The baby only shook the rattle and laughed and crowed.孩子只是摇着拨浪鼓，笑着叫着。
• She could hear the rattle of the teacups.她听见茶具叮当响。

100 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

101 depredations   

n.劫掠，毁坏( depredation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Protect the nation's resources against the depredations of other countries. 保护国家资源，不容他人染指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Hitler's early'successes\" were only the startling depredations of a resolute felon. 希特勒的早期“胜利”，只不过是一个死心塌地的恶棍出人意料地抢掠得手而已。 来自辞典例句

102 rattling   

adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词

参考例句：

• This book is a rattling good read. 这是一本非常好的读物。
• At that same instant,a deafening explosion set the windows rattling. 正在这时，一声震耳欲聋的爆炸突然袭来，把窗玻璃震得当当地响。

103 abreast   

adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地

参考例句：

• She kept abreast with the flood of communications that had poured in.她及时回复如雪片般飞来的大批信件。
• We can't keep abreast of the developing situation unless we study harder.我们如果不加强学习，就会跟不上形势。

104 embroidery   

n.绣花，刺绣；绣制品

参考例句：

• This exquisite embroidery won people's great admiration.这件精美的绣品，使人惊叹不已。
• This is Jane's first attempt at embroidery.这是简第一次试着绣花。

105 postured   

做出某种姿势( posture的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She postured before the camera. 她在相机前摆出做作的姿势。
• The painter postured his model. 画家使模特儿摆姿势。

106 winked   

v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮

参考例句：

• He winked at her and she knew he was thinking the same thing that she was. 他冲她眨了眨眼，她便知道他的想法和她一样。
• He winked his eyes at her and left the classroom. 他向她眨巴一下眼睛走出了教室。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

107 standing   

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。

108 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

109 lash   

v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛

参考例句：

• He received a lash of her hand on his cheek.他突然被她打了一记耳光。
• With a lash of its tail the tiger leaped at her.老虎把尾巴一甩朝她扑过来。

110 gallop   

v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展

参考例句：

• They are coming at a gallop towards us.他们正朝着我们飞跑过来。
• The horse slowed to a walk after its long gallop.那匹马跑了一大阵后慢下来缓步而行。

111 swerve   

v.突然转向，背离；n．转向，弯曲，背离

参考例句：

• Nothing will swerve him from his aims.什么也不能使他改变目标。
• Her car swerved off the road into a 6ft high brick wall.她的车突然转向冲出了马路，撞向6英尺高的一面砖墙。

112 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

113 flailing   

v.鞭打( flail的现在分词 )；用连枷脱粒；（臂或腿）无法控制地乱动；扫雷坦克

参考例句：

• He became moody and unreasonable, flailing out at Katherine at the slightest excuse. 他变得喜怒无常、不可理喻，为点鸡毛蒜皮的小事就殴打凯瑟琳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His arms were flailing in all directions. 他的手臂胡乱挥舞着。 来自辞典例句

114 accomplice   

n.从犯，帮凶，同谋

参考例句：

• She was her husband's accomplice in murdering a rich old man.她是她丈夫谋杀一个老富翁的帮凶。
• He is suspected as an accomplice of the murder.他涉嫌为这次凶杀案的同谋。

115 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

116 drizzle   

v.下毛毛雨；n.毛毛雨，蒙蒙细雨

参考例句：

• The shower tailed off into a drizzle.阵雨越来越小，最后变成了毛毛雨。
• Yesterday the radio forecast drizzle,and today it is indeed raining.昨天预报有小雨，今天果然下起来了。

117 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

118 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

119 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

参考例句：

• The children streaked off as fast as they could. 孩子们拔脚飞跑 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• His face was pale and streaked with dirt. 他脸色苍白，脸上有一道道的污痕。 来自辞典例句

120 rimmed   

adj.有边缘的，有框的v.沿…边缘滚动；给…镶边

参考例句：

• Gold rimmed spectacles bit deep into the bridge of his nose. 金边眼镜深深嵌入他的鼻梁。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Trees rimmed the pool. 水池的四周树木环绕。 来自《简明英汉词典》

121 lamenting   

adj.悲伤的，悲哀的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Katydids were lamenting fall's approach. 蝈蝈儿正为秋天临近而哀鸣。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Lamenting because the papers hadn't been destroyed and the money kept. 她正在吃后悔药呢，后悔自己没有毁了那张字条，把钱昧下来！ 来自英汉文学 - 败坏赫德莱堡

122 spectra   

n.光谱

参考例句：

• The infra-red spectra of quinones present a number of interesting features. 醌类的红外光谱具有一些有趣的性质。
• This relation between the frequency and the field spectra was noted experimentally. 实验上已经发现频率和场频谱之间的这种关系。

123 tangle   

n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱

参考例句：

• I shouldn't tangle with Peter.He is bigger than me.我不应该与彼特吵架。他的块头比我大。
• If I were you, I wouldn't tangle with them.我要是你，我就不跟他们争吵。

124 lodge   

v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆

参考例句：

• Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗？
• I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。

125 eyebrows   

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。

126 ecstasy   

n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷

参考例句：

• He listened to the music with ecstasy.他听音乐听得入了神。
• Speechless with ecstasy,the little boys gazed at the toys.小孩注视着那些玩具，高兴得说不出话来。

127 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

128 enigma   

n.谜，谜一样的人或事

参考例句：

• I've known him for many years,but he remains something of an enigma to me.我与他相识多年，他仍然难以捉摸。
• Even after all the testimonies,the murder remained a enigma.即使听完了所有的证词，这件谋杀案仍然是一个谜。

129 capillaries   

毛细管，毛细血管( capillary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The blood flows from the capillaries back into the veins. 血从毛细血管流回静脉。
• While Joe sleeps, a large percentage of his capillaries are inactive. 当乔睡觉时，他的毛细血管大部分是不工作的。

130 bent   

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。

131 frailness   

n.脆弱，不坚定

参考例句：

132 frail   

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。

133 plasma   

n.血浆，细胞质，乳清

参考例句：

• Keep some blood plasma back for the serious cases.留一些血浆给重病号。
• The plasma is the liquid portion of blood that is free of cells .血浆是血液的液体部分，不包含各种细胞。

134 abortive   

adj.不成功的，发育不全的

参考例句：

• We had to abandon our abortive attempts.我们的尝试没有成功，不得不放弃。
• Somehow the whole abortive affair got into the FBI files.这件早已夭折的案子不知怎么就进了联邦调查局的档案。

135 smuggle   

vt.私运；vi.走私

参考例句：

• Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
• She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。

136 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

137 mused   

v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事）

参考例句：

• \"I wonder if I shall ever see them again, \"he mused. “我不知道是否还可以再见到他们，”他沉思自问。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• \"Where are we going from here?\" mused one of Rutherford's guests. 卢瑟福的一位客人忍不住说道：‘我们这是在干什么？” 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

138 inviolate   

adj.未亵渎的，未受侵犯的

参考例句：

• The constitution proclaims that public property shall be inviolate.宪法宣告公共财产不可侵犯。
• They considered themselves inviolate from attack.他们认为自己是不可侵犯的。

139 serene   

adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的

参考例句：

• He has entered the serene autumn of his life.他已进入了美好的中年时期。
• He didn't speak much,he just smiled with that serene smile of his.他话不多，只是脸上露出他招牌式的淡定的微笑。

140 pessimism   

n.悲观者，悲观主义者，厌世者

参考例句：

• He displayed his usual pessimism.他流露出惯有的悲观。
• There is the note of pessimism in his writings.他的著作带有悲观色彩。

141 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

142 recapitulate   

v.节述要旨，择要说明

参考例句：

• Let's recapitulate the main ideas.让我们来概括一下要点。
• It will be helpful to recapitulate them.在这里将其简要重述一下也是有帮助的。

143 rims   

n.（圆形物体的）边( rim的名词复数 )；缘；轮辋；轮圈

参考例句：

• As she spoke, the rims of her eyes reddened a little. 说时，眼圈微红。 来自汉英文学 - 围城
• Her eyes were a little hollow, and reddish about the rims. 她的眼睛微微凹陷，眼眶有些发红。 来自辞典例句

144 decadents   

n.颓废派艺术家（decadent的复数形式）

参考例句：

145 pestilence   

n.瘟疫

参考例句：

• They were crazed by the famine and pestilence of that bitter winter.他们因那年严冬的饥饿与瘟疫而折磨得发狂。
• A pestilence was raging in that area. 瘟疫正在那一地区流行。

146 cant   

n.斜穿，黑话，猛扔

参考例句：

• The ship took on a dangerous cant to port.船只出现向左舷危险倾斜。
• He knows thieves'cant.他懂盗贼的黑话。

147 triumphantly   

ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地

参考例句：

• The lion was roaring triumphantly. 狮子正在发出胜利的吼叫。
• Robert was looking at me triumphantly. 罗伯特正得意扬扬地看着我。

148 gaucho   

n. 牧人

参考例句：

• Outside the city there are many countryside ranches for city dwellers to live the gaucho life,or just enjoy country life in the pampas,the grasslands outside buenos aires.城外有许多农庄，可以供城市居民前往居住和体验牛仔生活，或者只是去享受一下草原上的农家生活。
• There are many working estancias where tourists can live out the gaucho lifestyl

149 lumbering   

n.采伐林木

参考例句：

• Lumbering and, later, paper-making were carried out in smaller cities. 木材业和后来的造纸都由较小的城市经营。
• Lumbering is very important in some underdeveloped countries. 在一些不发达的国家，伐木业十分重要。

150 loomed   

v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• A dark shape loomed up ahead of us. 一个黑糊糊的影子隐隐出现在我们的前面。
• The prospect of war loomed large in everyone's mind. 战事将起的庞大阴影占据每个人的心。 来自《简明英汉词典》

151 curiously   

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。

152 irritably   

ad.易生气地

参考例句：

• He lost his temper and snapped irritably at the children. 他发火了，暴躁地斥责孩子们。
• On this account the silence was irritably broken by a reproof. 为了这件事，他妻子大声斥责，令人恼火地打破了宁静。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

153 cork   

n.软木，软木塞

参考例句：

• We heard the pop of a cork.我们听见瓶塞砰的一声打开。
• Cork is a very buoyant material.软木是极易浮起的材料。

154 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

155 fiddled   

v.伪造( fiddle的过去式和过去分词 )；篡改；骗取；修理或稍作改动

参考例句：

• He fiddled the company's accounts. 他篡改了公司的账目。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He began with Palestrina, and fiddled all the way through Bartok. 他从帕勒斯春纳的作品一直演奏到巴塔克的作品。 来自辞典例句

156 superfluous   

adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的

参考例句：

• She fined away superfluous matter in the design. 她删去了这图案中多余的东西。
• That request seemed superfluous when I wrote it.我这样写的时候觉得这个请求似乎是多此一举。

157 lout   

n.粗鄙的人；举止粗鲁的人

参考例句：

• He's just an ill-bred lout.他是个缺乏教养的乡巴佬。
• He had no training, no skills and he was just a big, bungling,useless lout!什么也不行，什么也不会，自己只是个傻大黑粗的废物！

158 bribe   

n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通

参考例句：

• He tried to bribe the policeman not to arrest him.他企图贿赂警察不逮捕他。
• He resolutely refused their bribe.他坚决不接受他们的贿赂。

159 barge   

n.平底载货船，驳船

参考例句：

• The barge was loaded up with coal.那艘驳船装上了煤。
• Carrying goods by train costs nearly three times more than carrying them by barge.通过铁路运货的成本比驳船运货成本高出近3倍。

160 prodding   

v.刺，戳( prod的现在分词 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳

参考例句：

• He needed no prodding. 他不用督促。
• The boy is prodding the animal with a needle. 那男孩正用一根针刺那动物。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

161 ribs   

n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹

参考例句：

• He suffered cracked ribs and bruising. 他断了肋骨还有挫伤。
• Make a small incision below the ribs. 在肋骨下方切开一个小口。

162 barges   

驳船( barge的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The tug is towing three barges. 那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。
• There were plenty of barges dropping down with the tide. 有不少驳船顺流而下。

163 savagely   

adv. 野蛮地，残酷地

参考例句：

• The roses had been pruned back savagely. 玫瑰被狠狠地修剪了一番。
• He snarled savagely at her. 他向她狂吼起来。

164 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

165 linen   

n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的

参考例句：

• The worker is starching the linen.这名工人正在给亚麻布上浆。
• Fine linen and cotton fabrics were known as well as wool.精细的亚麻织品和棉织品像羊毛一样闻名遐迩。

166 skewered   

v.（用串肉扦或类似物）串起，刺穿( skewer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He skewered his victim through the neck. 他用扦子刺穿了受害人的脖子。 来自辞典例句
• He skewered his foot on a nail. 他的脚踩在钉子上了。 来自互联网

167 grimace   

v.做鬼脸，面部歪扭

参考例句：

• The boy stole a look at his father with grimace.那男孩扮着鬼脸偷看了他父亲一眼。
• Thomas made a grimace after he had tasted the wine.托马斯尝了那葡萄酒后做了个鬼脸。

168 thronged   

v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Mourners thronged to the funeral. 吊唁者蜂拥着前来参加葬礼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The department store was thronged with people. 百货商店挤满了人。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

169 aver   

v.极力声明；断言；确证

参考例句：

• I aver it will not rain tomorrow.我断言明天不会下雨。
• In spite of all you say,I still aver that his report is true.不管你怎么说，我还是断言他的报告是真实的。

170 tracts   

大片土地( tract的名词复数 )； 地带； （体内的）道； （尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的）短文

参考例句：

• vast tracts of forest 大片大片的森林
• There are tracts of desert in Australia. 澳大利亚有大片沙漠。

171 machiavellian   

adj.权谋的，狡诈的

参考例句：

• A Machiavellian plot was suspected.人们怀疑背后有不可告人的阴谋。
• In this layer,Obama implied American policies that are cautious and Machiavellian.在这个层面，奥巴马含蓄地表达了美国的谨慎、权谋的（新）政策。

172 devious   

adj.不坦率的，狡猾的；迂回的，曲折的

参考例句：

• Susan is a devious person and we can't depend on her.苏姗是个狡猾的人，我们不能依赖她。
• He is a man who achieves success by devious means.他这个人通过不正当手段获取成功。

173 placatingly   

参考例句：

• He smiled placatingly and tucked the bills away in his pocket. 冯云卿陪着笑脸说，就把那些票据收起来。 来自子夜部分

174 collaborator   

n.合作者，协作者

参考例句：

• I need a collaborator to help me. 我需要个人跟我合作，帮我的忙。
• His collaborator, Hooke, was of a different opinion. 他的合作者霍克持有不同的看法。

175 humbly   

adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地

参考例句：

• We humbly beg Your Majesty to show mercy. 我们恳请陛下发发慈悲。
• "You must be right, Sir,'said John humbly. “你一定是对的，先生，”约翰恭顺地说道。

176 discreet   

adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的

参考例句：

• He is very discreet in giving his opinions.发表意见他十分慎重。
• It wasn't discreet of you to ring me up at the office.你打电话到我办公室真是太鲁莽了。

177 exhortation   

n.劝告，规劝

参考例句：

• After repeated exhortation by his comrades,he finally straightened out his thinking.经过同志们再三劝导，他终于想通了。
• Foreign funds alone are clearly not enough,nor are exhortations to reform.光有外资显然不够，只是劝告人们进行改革也不行。

178 perpetuate   

v.使永存，使永记不忘

参考例句：

• This monument was built to perpetuate the memory of the national hero.这个纪念碑建造的意义在于纪念民族英雄永垂不朽。
• We must perpetuate the system.我们必须将此制度永久保持。

179 detest   

vt.痛恨，憎恶

参考例句：

• I detest people who tell lies.我恨说谎的人。
• The workers detest his overbearing manner.工人们很讨厌他那盛气凌人的态度。

180 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。

181 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

182 pointed   

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。

183 numb   

adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木

参考例句：

• His fingers were numb with cold.他的手冻得发麻。
• Numb with cold,we urged the weary horses forward.我们冻得发僵，催着疲惫的马继续往前走。

184 sneered   

讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sneered at people who liked pop music. 他嘲笑喜欢流行音乐的人。
• It's very discouraging to be sneered at all the time. 成天受嘲讽是很令人泄气的。

185 supreme   

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。

186 idiocy   

n.愚蠢

参考例句：

• Stealing a car and then driving it drunk was the ultimate idiocy.偷了车然后醉酒开车真是愚蠢到极点。
• In this war there is an idiocy without bounds.这次战争疯癫得没底。

187 clenched   

v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He clenched his fists in anger. 他愤怒地攥紧了拳头。
• She clenched her hands in her lap to hide their trembling. 她攥紧双手放在腿上，以掩饰其颤抖。 来自《简明英汉词典》

188 veins   

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》

189 crescendo   

n.(音乐)渐强，高潮

参考例句：

• The gale reached its crescendo in the evening.狂风在晚上达到高潮。
• There was a crescendo of parliamentary and press criticism.来自议会和新闻界的批评越来越多。

190 florist   

n.花商；种花者

参考例句：

• The florist bunched the flowers up.花匠把花捆成花束。
• Could you stop at that florist shop over there?劳驾在那边花店停一下好不好？

191 appalling   

adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。

192 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

193 retraced   

v.折回( retrace的过去式和过去分词 )；回忆；回顾；追溯

参考例句：

• We retraced our steps to where we started. 我们折回我们出发的地方。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We retraced our route in an attempt to get back on the right path. 我们折返，想回到正确的路上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

194 retrace   

v.折回；追溯，探源

参考例句：

• He retraced his steps to the spot where he'd left the case.他折回到他丢下箱子的地方。
• You must retrace your steps.你必须折回原来走过的路。

195 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

196 rendezvous   

n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇

参考例句：

• She made the rendezvous with only minutes to spare.她还差几分钟时才来赴约。
• I have a rendezvous with Peter at a restaurant on the harbour.我和彼得在海港的一个餐馆有个约会。

197 hovered   

鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• A hawk hovered over the hill. 一只鹰在小山的上空翱翔。
• A hawk hovered in the blue sky. 一只老鹰在蓝色的天空中翱翔。

198 tinged   

v.（使）发丁丁声( ting的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• memories tinged with sadness 略带悲伤的往事
• white petals tinged with blue 略带蓝色的白花瓣

199 tinge   

vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息

参考例句：

• The maple leaves are tinge with autumn red.枫叶染上了秋天的红色。
• There was a tinge of sadness in her voice.她声音中流露出一丝忧伤。

200 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

201 overflowing   

n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The stands were overflowing with farm and sideline products. 集市上农副产品非常丰富。
• The milk is overflowing. 牛奶溢出来了。

202 barbarian   

n.野蛮人；adj.野蛮(人)的；未开化的

参考例句：

• There is a barbarian tribe living in this forest.有一个原始部落居住在这个林区。
• The walled city was attacked by barbarian hordes.那座有城墙的城市遭到野蛮部落的袭击。

203 wren   

n.鹪鹩；英国皇家海军女子服务队成员

参考例句：

• A wren is a kind of short-winged songbird.鹪鹩是一种短翼的鸣禽。
• My bird guide confirmed that a Carolina wren had discovered the thickets near my house.我掌握的鸟类知识使我确信，一只卡罗莱纳州鹪鹩已经发现了我家的这个灌木丛。

204 devoutly   

adv.虔诚地，虔敬地，衷心地

参考例句：

• She was a devoutly Catholic. 她是一个虔诚地天主教徒。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This was not a boast, but a hope, at once bold and devoutly humble. 这不是夸夸其谈，而是一个即大胆而又诚心、谦虚的希望。 来自辞典例句

205 contrition   

n.悔罪，痛悔

参考例句：

• The next day he'd be full of contrition,weeping and begging forgiveness.第二天，他就会懊悔不已，哭着乞求原谅。
• She forgave him because his contrition was real.她原谅了他是由于他的懊悔是真心的。

206 impure   

adj.不纯净的，不洁的；不道德的，下流的

参考例句：

• The air of a big city is often impure.大城市的空气往往是污浊的。
• Impure drinking water is a cause of disease.不洁的饮用水是引发疾病的一个原因。

207 cavort   

v.腾跃

参考例句：

• You can enjoy a quick snack while your children cavort in the sand.趁孩子们在沙滩上嬉戏，你可以吃点小吃。
• Stop cavorting around and sit still,just for five minutes!别欢蹦乱跳的，坐好了，就五分钟！

208 heartily   

adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很

参考例句：

• He ate heartily and went out to look for his horse.他痛快地吃了一顿，就出去找他的马。
• The host seized my hand and shook it heartily.主人抓住我的手，热情地和我握手。

209 seduced   

诱奸( seduce的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾引； 诱使堕落； 使入迷

参考例句：

• The promise of huge profits seduced him into parting with his money. 高额利润的许诺诱使他把钱出了手。
• His doctrines have seduced many into error. 他的学说把许多人诱入歧途。

210 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

211 liaison   

n.联系，（未婚男女间的）暖昧关系，私通

参考例句：

• She acts as a liaison between patients and staff.她在病人与医护人员间充当沟通的桥梁。
• She is responsible for liaison with researchers at other universities.她负责与其他大学的研究人员联系。

212 vow   

n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓

参考例句：

• My parents are under a vow to go to church every Sunday.我父母许愿，每星期日都去做礼拜。
• I am under a vow to drink no wine.我已立誓戒酒。

213 prudent   

adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的

参考例句：

• A prudent traveller never disparages his own country.聪明的旅行者从不贬低自己的国家。
• You must school yourself to be modest and prudent.你要学会谦虚谨慎。

214 amassed   

v.积累，积聚( amass的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He amassed a fortune from silver mining. 他靠开采银矿积累了一笔财富。
• They have amassed a fortune in just a few years. 他们在几年的时间里就聚集了一笔财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》

215 cavalry   

n.骑兵；轻装甲部队

参考例句：

• We were taken in flank by a troop of cavalry. 我们翼侧受到一队骑兵的袭击。
• The enemy cavalry rode our men down. 敌人的骑兵撞倒了我们的人。

216 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

217 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。

218 anarchists   

无政府主义者( anarchist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Anarchists demand the destruction of structures of oppression including the country itself. "无政府主义者要求摧毁包括国家本身在内的压迫人民的组织。
• Unsurprisingly, Ms Baburova had a soft spot for anarchists. 没什么奇怪的，巴布罗娃女士倾向于无政府主义。

219 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

220 redeemed   

adj. 可赎回的，可救赎的 动词redeem的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• She has redeemed her pawned jewellery. 她赎回了当掉的珠宝。
• He redeemed his watch from the pawnbroker's. 他从当铺赎回手表。

221 candid   

adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的

参考例句：

• I cannot but hope the candid reader will give some allowance for it.我只有希望公正的读者多少包涵一些。
• He is quite candid with his friends.他对朋友相当坦诚。

222 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。

223 plausibly   

似真地

参考例句：

• The case was presented very plausibly. 案情的申述似很可信。
• He argued very plausibly for its acceptance. 他为使之认可辩解得头头是道。

224 bazaars   

（东方国家的）市场( bazaar的名词复数 )； 义卖； 义卖市场； （出售花哨商品等的）小商品市场

参考例句：

• When the sky chooses, glory can rain into the Chandrapore bazaars. 如果天公有意，昌德拉卜的集市也会大放光彩。
• He visited the shops and bazaars. 他视察起各色铺子和市场来。

225 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

226 motives   

n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to impeach sb's motives 怀疑某人的动机
• His motives are unclear. 他的用意不明。

227 instinctive   

adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的

参考例句：

• He tried to conceal his instinctive revulsion at the idea.他试图饰盖自己对这一想法本能的厌恶。
• Animals have an instinctive fear of fire.动物本能地怕火。

228 hue   

n.色度；色调；样子

参考例句：

• The diamond shone with every hue under the sun.金刚石在阳光下放出五颜六色的光芒。
• The same hue will look different in different light.同一颜色在不同的光线下看起来会有所不同。

229 condoned   

v.容忍，宽恕，原谅( condone的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Terrorism can never be condoned. 决不能容忍恐怖主义。
• They condoned his sins because he repented. 由于他的悔悟，他们宽恕了他的罪。 来自辞典例句

230 implicit   

a.暗示的，含蓄的，不明晰的，绝对的

参考例句：

• A soldier must give implicit obedience to his officers. 士兵必须绝对服从他的长官。
• Her silence gave implicit consent. 她的沉默表示默许。

231 malady   

n.病，疾病(通常做比喻)

参考例句：

• There is no specific remedy for the malady.没有医治这种病的特效药。
• They are managing to control the malady into a small range.他们设法将疾病控制在小范围之内。

232 nunlike   

adj.太阳似的，非常明亮的，辉煌的

参考例句：

• First Picture of Alien Planet Orbiting Sunlike Star? 首张绕类日恒星运转的行星照片？ 来自互联网
• These asteroid-sized objects pack sunlike masses, extremely small orbits, and incredibly fast spins. 这两个只有小行星大小的物体却内含了太阳一般的质量，轨道极小，自转极快。 来自互联网

233 splendor   

n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌

参考例句：

• Never in his life had he gazed on such splendor.他生平从没有见过如此辉煌壮丽的场面。
• All the splendor in the world is not worth a good friend.人世间所有的荣华富贵不如一个好朋友。

234 cardinals   

红衣主教( cardinal的名词复数 )； 红衣凤头鸟（见于北美，雄鸟为鲜红色）； 基数

参考例句：

• cardinals in scarlet robes 身披红袍的枢机主教
• A conclave of cardinals was held to elect the new Pope. 红衣主教团举行了秘密会议来选举新教皇。

235 genuflect   

v.屈膝，跪拜（之态度）

参考例句：

• He genuflected in front of the altar.他在祭坛前跪拜。
• They refrained from genuflecting to the laws of political economy.他们拒不向政治经济学定律顶礼膜拜。

236 docile   

adj.驯服的，易控制的，容易教的

参考例句：

• Circus monkeys are trained to be very docile and obedient.马戏团的猴子训练得服服贴贴的。
• He is a docile and well-behaved child.他是个温顺且彬彬有礼的孩子。

237 arcade   

n.拱廊；(一侧或两侧有商店的)通道

参考例句：

• At this time of the morning,the arcade was almost empty.在早晨的这个时候，拱廊街上几乎空无一人。
• In our shopping arcade,you can find different kinds of souvenir.在我们的拱廊市场，你可以发现许多的纪念品。

238 stunted   

adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的

参考例句：

• the stunted lives of children deprived of education 未受教育的孩子所过的局限生活
• But the landed oligarchy had stunted the country's democratic development for generations. 但是好几代以来土地寡头的统治阻碍了这个国家民主的发展。

239 gusts   

一阵强风( gust的名词复数 )； （怒、笑等的）爆发； （感情的）迸发； 发作

参考例句：

• Her profuse skirt bosomed out with the gusts. 她的宽大的裙子被风吹得鼓鼓的。
• Turbulence is defined as a series of irregular gusts. 紊流定义为一组无规则的突风。

240 puffs   

n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• We sat exchanging puffs from that wild pipe of his. 我们坐在那里，轮番抽着他那支野里野气的烟斗。 来自辞典例句
• Puffs of steam and smoke came from the engine. 一股股蒸汽和烟雾从那火车头里冒出来。 来自辞典例句

241 tundra   

n.苔原，冻土地带

参考例句：

• The arctic tundra is at the top of the world around the North Pole.北极冻原是指北极点周边的地区，是世界最高的地方。
• There is a large amount of methane gas under the Siberian tundra.西伯利亚的冻土地带之下有大量的甲烷气体。

242 foliage   

n.叶子，树叶，簇叶

参考例句：

• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage.小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。
• Dark foliage clothes the hills.浓密的树叶覆盖着群山。

243 treacherous   

adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的

参考例句：

• The surface water made the road treacherous for drivers.路面的积水对驾车者构成危险。
• The frozen snow was treacherous to walk on.在冻雪上行走有潜在危险。

244 granite   

adj.花岗岩，花岗石

参考例句：

• They squared a block of granite.他们把一块花岗岩加工成四方形。
• The granite overlies the older rocks.花岗岩躺在磨损的岩石上面。

245 huddling   

n. 杂乱一团, 混乱, 拥挤 v. 推挤, 乱堆, 草率了事

参考例句：

• Twenty or thirty monkeys are huddling along the thick branch. 三十只猴子挤在粗大的树枝上。
• The defenders are huddling down for cover. 捍卫者为了掩护缩成一团。

246 glacier   

n.冰川，冰河

参考例句：

• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。
• The upper surface of glacier is riven by crevasses.冰川的上表面已裂成冰隙。

247 distill   

vt.蒸馏，用蒸馏法提取，吸取，提炼

参考例句：

• This standard set determine the method of petroleum products distill.本标准规定了测定石油产品蒸馏的方法。
• Distill the crucial points of the book.从书中提炼出关键的几点。

248 moths   

n.蛾( moth的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The moths have eaten holes in my wool coat. 蛀虫将我的羊毛衫蛀蚀了几个小洞。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The moths tapped and blurred at the window screen. 飞蛾在窗帘上跳来跳去，弄上了许多污点。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

249 sentimental   

adj.多愁善感的，感伤的

参考例句：

• She's a sentimental woman who believes marriage comes by destiny.她是多愁善感的人，她相信姻缘命中注定。
• We were deeply touched by the sentimental movie.我们深深被那感伤的电影所感动。

250 scraps   

油渣

参考例句：

• Don't litter up the floor with scraps of paper. 不要在地板上乱扔纸屑。
• A patchwork quilt is a good way of using up scraps of material. 做杂拼花布棉被是利用零碎布料的好办法。

251 depicting   

描绘，描画( depict的现在分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• a painting depicting the Virgin and Child 一幅描绘童贞马利亚和圣子耶稣的画
• The movie depicting the battles and bloodshed is bound to strike home. 这部描写战斗和流血牺牲的影片一定会取得预期效果。

252 aurora   

n.极光

参考例句：

• The aurora is one of nature's most awesome spectacles.极光是自然界最可畏的奇观之一。
• Over the polar regions we should see aurora.在极地高空,我们会看到极光。

253 vaguely   

adv.含糊地，暖昧地

参考例句：

• He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
• He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面，对一切都视而不见。

254 droplets   

n.小滴( droplet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Droplets of sweat were welling up on his forehead. 他额头上冒出了滴滴汗珠。 来自辞典例句
• In constrast, exhaled smoke contains relatively large water droplets and appears white. 相反，从人嘴里呼出的烟则包含相当大的水滴，所以呈白色。 来自辞典例句

255 trek   

vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行

参考例句：

• We often go pony-trek in the summer.夏季我们经常骑马旅行。
• It took us the whole day to trek across the rocky terrain.我们花了一整天的时间艰难地穿过那片遍布岩石的地带。

256 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

257 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

258 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

259 panaceas   

n.治百病的药，万灵药( panacea的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Are there no panaceas that would enable them to co-exist peacefully? 有没有让它们和平共处的办法？ 来自互联网

260 internecine   

adj.两败俱伤的

参考例句：

• Strife was internecine during the next fortnight.在以后两个星期的冲突中我们两败俱伤。
• Take the concern that metaphysical one-sided point of view observes and treats both,can cause internecine.采取形而上学的片面观点观察和处理二者的关系，就会造成两败俱伤。

261 feud   

n.长期不和；世仇；v.长期争斗；世代结仇

参考例句：

• How did he start his feud with his neighbor?他是怎样和邻居开始争吵起来的？
• The two tribes were long at feud with each other.这两个部族长期不和。

262 iridescent   

adj.彩虹色的，闪色的

参考例句：

• The iridescent bubbles were beautiful.这些闪着彩虹般颜色的大气泡很美。
• Male peacocks display their iridescent feathers for prospective female mates.雄性孔雀为了吸引雌性伴侣而展现了他们彩虹色的羽毛。

263 brittle   

adj.易碎的；脆弱的；冷淡的；(声音)尖利的

参考例句：

• The pond was covered in a brittle layer of ice.池塘覆盖了一层易碎的冰。
• She gave a brittle laugh.她冷淡地笑了笑。

264 tattooed   

v.刺青，文身( tattoo的过去式和过去分词 )；连续有节奏地敲击；作连续有节奏的敲击

参考例句：

• He had tattooed his wife's name on his upper arm. 他把妻子的名字刺在上臂上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sailor had a heart tattooed on his arm. 那水兵在手臂上刺上一颗心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

265 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

266 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

267 furrowed   

v.犁田，开沟( furrow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Overhead hung a summer sky furrowed with the rash of rockets. 头顶上的夏日夜空纵横着急疾而过的焰火。 来自辞典例句
• The car furrowed the loose sand as it crossed the desert. 车子横过沙漠，在松软的沙土上犁出了一道车辙。 来自辞典例句

268 garrison   

n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防

参考例句：

• The troops came to the relief of the besieged garrison.军队来援救被围的守备军。
• The German was moving to stiffen up the garrison in Sicily.德军正在加强西西里守军之力量。

269 gaudy   

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。

270 flay   

vt.剥皮；痛骂

参考例句：

• You cannot flay the same ox twice.一头牛不能剥两次皮。
• He was going to flay that stranger with every trick known to the law.他要用法律上所有的招数来痛斥那个陌生人。

271 tattooing   

n.刺字，文身v.刺青，文身( tattoo的现在分词 )；连续有节奏地敲击；作连续有节奏的敲击

参考例句：

• tattooing and body piercing 文身和穿体装饰
• On earth most work of the absolute shy cattle ^s skin-tattooing world! 地球上最牛的纹身绝对惊世之作！ 来自互联网

272 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

273 carrion   

n.腐肉

参考例句：

• A crow of bloodthirsty ants is attracted by the carrion.一群嗜血的蚂蚁被腐肉所吸引。
• Vultures usually feed on carrion or roadkill.兀鹫通常以腐肉和公路上的死伤动物为食。

274 deteriorated   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards. 她的健康状况急剧恶化，不久便去世了。
• His condition steadily deteriorated. 他的病情恶化，日甚一日。

275 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

276 lurking   

潜在

参考例句：

• Why are you lurking around outside my house? 你在我房子外面鬼鬼祟祟的，想干什么？
• There is a suspicious man lurking in the shadows. 有一可疑的人躲在阴暗中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

277 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

278 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

279 lateral   

adj.侧面的，旁边的

参考例句：

• An airfoil that controls lateral motion.能够控制横向飞行的机翼。
• Mr.Dawson walked into the court from a lateral door.道森先生从一个侧面的门走进法庭。

280 compassionate   

adj.有同情心的，表示同情的

参考例句：

• She is a compassionate person.她是一个有同情心的人。
• The compassionate judge gave the young offender a light sentence.慈悲的法官从轻判处了那个年轻罪犯。

281 exasperated   

adj.恼怒的

参考例句：

• We were exasperated at his ill behaviour. 我们对他的恶劣行为感到非常恼怒。
• Constant interruption of his work exasperated him. 对他工作不断的干扰使他恼怒。

282 snip   

n.便宜货，廉价货，剪，剪断

参考例句：

• He has now begun to snip away at the piece of paper.现在他已经开始剪这张纸。
• The beautifully made briefcase is a snip at £74.25.这个做工精美的公文包售价才74.25英镑，可谓物美价廉。

283 harangue   

n.慷慨冗长的训话，言辞激烈的讲话

参考例句：

• We had to listen to a long harangue about our own shortcomings.我们必须去听一有关我们缺点的长篇大论。
• The minister of propaganda delivered his usual harangue.宣传部长一如既往发表了他的长篇大论。

284 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

285 murky   

adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗

参考例句：

• She threw it into the river's murky depths.她把它扔进了混浊的河水深处。
• She had a decidedly murky past.她的历史背景令人捉摸不透。

286 octopus   

n.章鱼

参考例句：

• He experienced nausea after eating octopus.吃了章鱼后他感到恶心。
• One octopus has eight tentacles.一条章鱼有八根触角。

287 puffing   

v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• He was puffing hard when he jumped on to the bus. 他跳上公共汽车时喘息不已。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My father sat puffing contentedly on his pipe. 父亲坐着心满意足地抽着烟斗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

288 tacked   

用平头钉钉( tack的过去式和过去分词 )； 附加，增补； 帆船抢风行驶，用粗线脚缝

参考例句：

• He tacked the sheets of paper on as carefully as possible. 他尽量小心地把纸张钉上去。
• The seamstress tacked the two pieces of cloth. 女裁缝把那两块布粗缝了起来。

289 ragged   

adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的

参考例句：

• A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。
• Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。

290 squinted   

斜视( squint的过去式和过去分词 )； 眯着眼睛； 瞟； 从小孔或缝隙里看

参考例句：

• Pulling his rifle to his shoulder he squinted along the barrel. 他把枪顶肩，眯起眼睛瞄准。
• I squinted through the keyhole. 我从锁眼窥看。

291 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

292 sparsely   

adv.稀疏地；稀少地；不足地；贫乏地

参考例句：

• Relative to the size, the city is sparsely populated. 与其面积相比，这个城市的人口是稀少的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The ground was sparsely covered with grass. 地面上稀疏地覆盖草丛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

293 haphazard   

adj.无计划的，随意的，杂乱无章的

参考例句：

• The town grew in a haphazard way.这城镇无计划地随意发展。
• He regrerted his haphazard remarks.他悔不该随口说出那些评论话。

294 kindly   

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。

295 renounce   

v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系

参考例句：

• She decided to renounce the world and enter a convent.她决定弃绝尘世去当修女。
• It was painful for him to renounce his son.宣布与儿子脱离关系对他来说是很痛苦的。

296 alias   

n.化名；别名；adv.又名

参考例句：

• His real name was Johnson,but he often went by the alias of Smith.他的真名是约翰逊，但是他常常用化名史密斯。
• You can replace this automatically generated alias with a more meaningful one.可用更有意义的名称替换这一自动生成的别名。

297 rummaging   

翻找，搜寻( rummage的现在分词 )； 海关检查

参考例句：

• She was rummaging around in her bag for her keys. 她在自己的包里翻来翻去找钥匙。
• Who's been rummaging through my papers? 谁乱翻我的文件来着？

298 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

299 mattress   

n.床垫，床褥

参考例句：

• The straw mattress needs to be aired.草垫子该晾一晾了。
• The new mattress I bought sags in the middle.我买的新床垫中间陷了下去。

300 scrutinizing   

v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His grandfather's stern eyes were scrutinizing him, and Chueh-hui felt his face reddening. 祖父的严厉的眼光射在他的脸上。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• The machine hushed, extraction and injection nozzles poised, scrutinizing its targets. 机器“嘘”地一声静了下来，输入输出管道各就各位，检查着它的目标。 来自互联网

301 inadequate   

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。

302 slit   

n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂

参考例句：

• The coat has been slit in two places.这件外衣有两处裂开了。
• He began to slit open each envelope.他开始裁开每个信封。

303 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

304 frantically   

ad.发狂地, 发疯地

参考例句：

• He dashed frantically across the road. 他疯狂地跑过马路。
• She bid frantically for the old chair. 她发狂地喊出高价要买那把古老的椅子。

305 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

306 gaping   

adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大

参考例句：

• Ahead of them was a gaping abyss. 他们前面是一个巨大的深渊。
• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

307 shriek   

v./n.尖叫，叫喊

参考例句：

• Suddenly he began to shriek loudly.突然他开始大声尖叫起来。
• People sometimes shriek because of terror,anger,or pain.人们有时会因为恐惧，气愤或疼痛而尖叫。

308 neatly   

adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地

参考例句：

• Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
• The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

309 acrobat   

n.特技演员，杂技演员

参考例句：

• The acrobat balanced a long pole on his left shoulder.杂技演员让一根长杆在他的左肩上保持平衡。
• The acrobat could bend himself into a hoop.这个杂技演员可以把身体蜷曲成圆形。

310 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

311 courteously   

adv.有礼貌地，亲切地

参考例句：

• He courteously opened the door for me.他谦恭有礼地为我开门。
• Presently he rose courteously and released her.过了一会，他就很客气地站起来，让她走开。

312 galloped   

（使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事

参考例句：

• Jo galloped across the field towards him. 乔骑马穿过田野向他奔去。
• The children galloped home as soon as the class was over. 孩子们一下课便飞奔回家了。

313 consulate   

n.领事馆

参考例句：

• The Spanish consulate is the large white building opposite the bank.西班牙领事馆是银行对面的那栋高大的白色建筑物。
• The American consulate was a magnificent edifice in the centre of Bordeaux.美国领事馆是位于波尔多市中心的一座宏伟的大厦。

314 uproar   

n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸

参考例句：

• She could hear the uproar in the room.她能听见房间里的吵闹声。
• His remarks threw the audience into an uproar.他的讲话使听众沸腾起来。

315 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

316 trample   

vt.踩，践踏；无视，伤害，侵犯

参考例句：

• Don't trample on the grass. 勿踏草地。
• Don't trample on the flowers when you play in the garden. 在花园里玩耍时,不要踩坏花。

317 pillage   

v.抢劫；掠夺；n.抢劫，掠夺；掠夺物

参考例句：

• The invading troops were guilty of rape and pillage.侵略军犯了抢劫和强奸的罪。
• It was almost pillage.这简直是一场洗劫。

318 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

319 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

320 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

321 junta   

n.团体；政务审议会

参考例句：

• The junta reacted violently to the perceived threat to its authority.军政府感到自身权力受威胁而进行了激烈反击。
• A military junta took control of the country.一个军政权控制了国家。

322 slurping   

v.啜食( slurp的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was slurping his tea. 他正咂着嘴喝茶。
• Although the downturn has not stopped consumers slurping ice-cream, it has affected the bottom line. 尽管经济低迷没有阻止消费者吃冰淇淋，但却影响了净利润。 来自互联网

323 gauchos   

n.南美牧人( gaucho的名词复数 )

参考例句：

324 soothingly   

adv.抚慰地，安慰地；镇痛地

参考例句：

• The mother talked soothingly to her child. 母亲对自己的孩子安慰地说。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He continued to talk quietly and soothingly to the girl until her frightened grip on his arm was relaxed. 他继续柔声安慰那姑娘，她那因恐惧而紧抓住他的手终于放松了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

325 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

326 gauche   

adj.笨拙的，粗鲁的

参考例句：

• He now seems gauche and uninteresting.他显得又笨拙又古板。
• She was a rather gauche,provincial creature.她是个非常不善交际、偏狭守旧的人。

327 obstinately   

ad.固执地，顽固地

参考例句：

• He obstinately asserted that he had done the right thing. 他硬说他做得对。
• Unemployment figures are remaining obstinately high. 失业数字仍然顽固地居高不下。

328 enlist   

vt.谋取(支持等)，赢得；征募；vi.入伍

参考例句：

• They come here to enlist men for the army.他们来这儿是为了召兵。
• The conference will make further efforts to enlist the support of the international community for their just struggle. 会议必将进一步动员国际社会，支持他们的正义斗争。

329 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

330 cordon   

n.警戒线，哨兵线

参考例句：

• Police officers threw a cordon around his car to protect him.警察在他汽车周围设置了防卫圈以保护他。
• There is a tight security cordon around the area.这一地区周围设有严密的安全警戒圈。

331 craftily   

狡猾地，狡诈地

参考例句：

• He craftily arranged to be there when the decision was announced. 在决议宣布之时，他狡猾地赶到了那里。
• Strengthen basic training of calculation, get the kids to grasp the radical calculating ability craftily. 加强计算基本训练，通过分、小、百互化口算的练习，使学生熟练地掌握基本的计算技能。

332 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

333 echelons   

n.（机构中的）等级，阶层( echelon的名词复数 )；（军舰、士兵、飞机等的）梯形编队

参考例句：

• Officers were drawn largely from the top echelons of society. 这些官员大都来自社会上层。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Except in the higher echelons, extensive classification has no place in the classification of vegetation. 除高阶类级之外，外延分类在植物分类中还是没有地位的。 来自辞典例句

334 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

335 whimsy   

n.古怪，异想天开

参考例句：

• They are like oracular messages,but witty-jaunty at times-and sometimes trembling on the edge of whimsy.它们都像神谕，但很机智，有时极其轻快，有时又濒于怪诞。
• He had a whimsy about flying to the moon.他有个想飞上月球的怪念头。

336 sinister   

adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的

参考例句：

• There is something sinister at the back of that series of crimes.在这一系列罪行背后有险恶的阴谋。
• Their proposals are all worthless and designed out of sinister motives.他们的建议不仅一钱不值，而且包藏祸心。

337 wrung   

绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水）

参考例句：

• He has wrung the words from their true meaning. 他曲解这些字的真正意义。
• He wrung my hand warmly. 他热情地紧握我的手。

338 trampled   

踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯

参考例句：

• He gripped his brother's arm lest he be trampled by the mob. 他紧抓着他兄弟的胳膊，怕他让暴民踩着。
• People were trampled underfoot in the rush for the exit. 有人在拼命涌向出口时被踩在脚下。

339 peevishly   

adv．暴躁地

参考例句：

• Paul looked through his green glasses peevishly when the other speaker brought down the house with applause. 当另一个演说者赢得了满座喝彩声时，保罗心里又嫉妒又气恼。
• "I've been sick, I told you," he said, peevishly, almost resenting her excessive pity. “我生了一场病，我告诉过你了，"他没好气地说，对她的过分怜悯几乎产生了怨恨。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

340 chuckled   

轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
• She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情，她就轻轻地暗自发笑。

341 glowered   

v.怒视( glower的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He just glowered without speaking. 他一言不发地皱眉怒视我。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He glowered at me but said nothing. 他怒视着我，却一言不发。 来自辞典例句

342 apprehension   

n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑

参考例句：

• There were still areas of doubt and her apprehension grew.有些地方仍然存疑，于是她越来越担心。
• She is a girl of weak apprehension.她是一个理解力很差的女孩。

343 meditatively   

adv.冥想地

参考例句：

• The old man looked meditatively at the darts board. 老头儿沉思不语，看着那投镖板。 来自英汉文学
• "Well,'said the foreman, scratching his ear meditatively, "we do need a stitcher. “这--"工头沉思地搔了搔耳朵。 "我们确实需要一个缝纫工。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

344 nude   

adj.裸体的；n.裸体者，裸体艺术品

参考例句：

• It's a painting of the Duchess of Alba in the nude.这是一幅阿尔巴公爵夫人的裸体肖像画。
• She doesn't like nude swimming.她不喜欢裸泳。

345 coax   

v.哄诱，劝诱，用诱哄得到，诱取

参考例句：

• I had to coax the information out of him.我得用好话套出他掌握的情况。
• He tried to coax the secret from me.他试图哄骗我说出秘方。

346 aslant   

adv.倾斜地；adj.斜的

参考例句：

• The sunlight fell aslant the floor.阳光斜落在地板上。
• He leant aslant against the wall.他身子歪斜着依靠在墙上。

347 hips   

abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的

参考例句：

• She stood with her hands on her hips. 她双手叉腰站着。
• They wiggled their hips to the sound of pop music. 他们随着流行音乐的声音摇晃着臀部。 来自《简明英汉词典》

348 disturbance   

n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调

参考例句：

• He is suffering an emotional disturbance.他的情绪受到了困扰。
• You can work in here without any disturbance.在这儿你可不受任何干扰地工作。

349 extravagantly   

adv.挥霍无度地

参考例句：

• The Monroes continued to entertain extravagantly. 门罗一家继续大宴宾客。 来自辞典例句
• New Grange is one of the most extravagantly decorated prehistoric tombs. 新格兰奇是装饰最豪华的史前陵墓之一。 来自辞典例句

350 secrecy   

n.秘密，保密，隐蔽

参考例句：

• All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。
• Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。

351 hustled   

催促（hustle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He grabbed her arm and hustled her out of the room. 他抓住她的胳膊把她推出房间。
• The secret service agents hustled the speaker out of the amphitheater. 特务机关的代理人把演讲者驱逐出竞技场。

352 zigzag   

n.曲折，之字形；adj.曲折的，锯齿形的；adv.曲折地，成锯齿形地；vt.使曲折；vi.曲折前行

参考例句：

• The lightning made a zigzag in the sky.闪电在天空划出一道Z字形。
• The path runs zigzag up the hill.小径向山顶蜿蜒盘旋。

353 cadged   

v.乞讨，乞得，索取( cadge的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He cadged a cigarette from me. 他向我要了一支香烟。 来自辞典例句
• The boy cadged a meal form the old lady. 男孩向老妇人讨了一顿饭吃。 来自互联网

354 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

355 martial   

adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的

参考例句：

• The sound of martial music is always inspiring.军乐声总是鼓舞人心的。
• The officer was convicted of desertion at a court martial.这名军官在军事法庭上被判犯了擅离职守罪。

356 aegis   

n.盾；保护，庇护

参考例句：

• Medical supplies are flied in under the aegis of the red cross.在红十字会的保护下，正在空运进医药用品。
• The space programme will continue under the aegis of the armed forces.这项太空计划将以武装部队作后盾继续进行。

357 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

358 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

359 nave   

n.教堂的中部；本堂

参考例句：

• People gathered in the nave of the house.人们聚拢在房子的中间。
• The family on the other side of the nave had a certain look about them,too.在中殿另一边的那一家人，也有着自己特有的相貌。

360 reassuring   

a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的

参考例句：

• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
• With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。

361 bribes   

n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• corrupt officials accepting bribes 接受贿赂的贪官污吏

362 instigator   

n.煽动者

参考例句：

• It is not a and differs from instigator in nature. 在刑法理论中，通常将教唆犯作为共犯的一种类型加以探究。 来自互联网
• If we are really the instigator, we are awaiting punishment. 如果我们真的是煽动者，那我们愿意接受惩罚。 来自互联网

363 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

364 feigning   

假装，伪装( feign的现在分词 )； 捏造（借口、理由等）

参考例句：

• He survived the massacre by feigning death. 他装死才在大屠杀中死里逃生。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。

365 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

366 amiably   

adv.和蔼可亲地，亲切地

参考例句：

• She grinned amiably at us. 她咧着嘴向我们亲切地微笑。
• Atheists and theists live together peacefully and amiably in this country. 无神论者和有神论者在该国和睦相处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

367 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

368 opaque   

adj.不透光的；不反光的，不传导的；晦涩的

参考例句：

• The windows are of opaque glass.这些窗户装着不透明玻璃。
• Their intentions remained opaque.他们的意图仍然令人费解。

369 blindfold   

vt.蒙住…的眼睛；adj.盲目的；adv.盲目地；n.蒙眼的绷带[布等]； 障眼物，蒙蔽人的事物

参考例句：

• They put a blindfold on a horse.他们给马蒙上遮眼布。
• I can do it blindfold.我闭着眼睛都能做。

370 plumbing   

n.水管装置；水暖工的工作；管道工程v.用铅锤测量（plumb的现在分词）；探究

参考例句：

• She spent her life plumbing the mysteries of the human psyche. 她毕生探索人类心灵的奥秘。
• They're going to have to put in new plumbing. 他们将需要安装新的水管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

371 consuls   

领事( consul的名词复数 )； （古罗马共和国时期）执政官 （古罗马共和国及其军队的最高首长，同时共有两位，每年选举一次）

参考例句：

• American consuls warned that millions more were preparing to leave war-ravaged districts. 美国驻外领事们预告，还有几百万人正在准备离开战争破坏的地区。
• The legionaries, on their victorious return, refused any longer to obey the consuls. 军团士兵在凯旋归国时，不肯服从执政官的命令。

372 jovially   

adv.愉快地，高兴地

参考例句：

• "Hello, Wilson, old man,'said Tom, slapping him jovially on the shoulder. "How's business?" “哈罗，威尔逊，你这家伙，”汤姆说，一面嘻嘻哈哈地拍拍他的肩膀，“生意怎么样？” 来自英汉文学 - 盖茨比
• Hall greeted him jovially enough, but Gorman and Walson scowled as they grunted curt "Good Mornings." 霍尔兴致十足地向他打招呼，戈曼和沃森却满脸不豫之色，敷衍地咕哝句“早安”。 来自辞典例句

373 scribbled   

v.潦草的书写( scribble的过去式和过去分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下

参考例句：

• She scribbled his phone number on a scrap of paper. 她把他的电话号码匆匆写在一张小纸片上。
• He scribbled a note to his sister before leaving. 临行前，他给妹妹草草写了一封短信。

374 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

375 steered   

v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导

参考例句：

• He steered the boat into the harbour. 他把船开进港。
• The freighter steered out of Santiago Bay that evening. 那天晚上货轮驶出了圣地亚哥湾。 来自《简明英汉词典》

376 wizened   

adj.凋谢的；枯槁的

参考例句：

• That wizened and grotesque little old man is a notorious miser.那个干瘪难看的小老头是个臭名远扬的吝啬鬼。
• Mr solomon was a wizened little man with frizzy gray hair.所罗门先生是一个干瘪矮小的人，头发鬈曲灰白。

377 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。

378 plausible   

adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的

参考例句：

• His story sounded plausible.他说的那番话似乎是真实的。
• Her story sounded perfectly plausible.她的说辞听起来言之有理。

379 tugged   

v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She tugged at his sleeve to get his attention. 她拽了拽他的袖子引起他的注意。
• A wry smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. 他的嘴角带一丝苦笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

380 insolence   

n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度

参考例句：

• I've had enough of your insolence, and I'm having no more. 我受够了你的侮辱，不能再容忍了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• How can you suffer such insolence? 你怎么能容忍这种蛮横的态度？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

381 shuffled   

v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼

参考例句：

• He shuffled across the room to the window. 他拖着脚走到房间那头的窗户跟前。
• Simon shuffled awkwardly towards them. 西蒙笨拙地拖着脚朝他们走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

382 loathsome   

adj.讨厌的，令人厌恶的

参考例句：

• The witch hid her loathsome face with her hands.巫婆用手掩住她那张令人恶心的脸。
• Some people think that snakes are loathsome creatures.有些人觉得蛇是令人憎恶的动物。

383 bouffant   

adj.（发式、裙子等）向外胀起的

参考例句：

• Her short brown hair was curled in a puffy bouffant hairdo.她棕色的卷卷的短发蓬松鼓起。
• For example,in the late 1960 s women became tired of bouffant hairstyles and sought new looks.例如在20世纪60年代后期，妇女开始对蓬松的发型感到厌倦,开始追求新的形象。

384 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

385 indited   

v.写（文章，信等）创作，赋诗，创作( indite的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

386 scented   

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》

387 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

388 Christian   

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。

389 remorse   

n.痛恨，悔恨，自责

参考例句：

• She had no remorse about what she had said.她对所说的话不后悔。
• He has shown no remorse for his actions.他对自己的行为没有任何悔恨之意。

390 arrogant   

adj.傲慢的，自大的

参考例句：

• You've got to get rid of your arrogant ways.你这骄傲劲儿得好好改改。
• People are waking up that he is arrogant.人们开始认识到他很傲慢。

391 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

392 incurable   

adj.不能医治的，不能矫正的，无救的；n.不治的病人，无救的人

参考例句：

• All three babies were born with an incurable heart condition.三个婴儿都有不可治瘉的先天性心脏病。
• He has an incurable and widespread nepotism.他们有不可救药的，到处蔓延的裙带主义。

393 shears   

n.大剪刀

参考例句：

• These garden shears are lightweight and easy to use.这些园丁剪刀又轻又好用。
• With a few quick snips of the shears he pruned the bush.他用大剪刀几下子就把灌木给修剪好了。

394 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

395 quaint   

adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的

参考例句：

• There were many small lanes in the quaint village.在这古香古色的村庄里，有很多小巷。
• They still keep some quaint old customs.他们仍然保留着一些稀奇古怪的旧风俗。

396 dweller   

n.居住者，住客

参考例句：

• Both city and town dweller should pay tax.城镇居民都需要纳税。
• The city dweller never experiences anxieties of this sort.城市居民从未经历过这种担忧。

397 dodged   

v.闪躲( dodge的过去式和过去分词 )；回避

参考例句：

• He dodged cleverly when she threw her sabot at him. 她用木底鞋砸向他时，他机敏地闪开了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He dodged the book that I threw at him. 他躲开了我扔向他的书。 来自《简明英汉词典》

398 clattered   

发出咔哒声（clatter的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He dropped the knife and it clattered on the stone floor. 他一失手，刀子当啷一声掉到石头地面上。
• His hand went limp and the knife clattered to the ground. 他的手一软，刀子当啷一声掉到地上。

399 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

400 desolate   

adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂

参考例句：

• The city was burned into a desolate waste.那座城市被烧成一片废墟。
• We all felt absolutely desolate when she left.她走后，我们都觉得万分孤寂。

401 caressed   

爱抚或抚摸…( caress的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His fingers caressed the back of her neck. 他的手指抚摩着她的后颈。
• He caressed his wife lovingly. 他怜爱万分地抚摸着妻子。

402 integument   

n.皮肤

参考例句：

• The first protector against the entry of microorganisms is the integument.抗御微生物进入体内的第一道防线是皮肤。
• The cells of the integument and nucellus of some plants form perfectly normal embryos.某些植物的珠被和珠心细胞形成完全正常的胚。

403 prodigal   

adj.浪费的，挥霍的，放荡的

参考例句：

• He has been prodigal of the money left by his parents.他已挥霍掉他父母留下的钱。
• The country has been prodigal of its forests.这个国家的森林正受过度的采伐。

404 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

405 fumes   

n.(强烈而刺激的)气味，气体

参考例句：

• The health of our children is being endangered by exhaust fumes. 我们孩子们的健康正受到排放出的废气的损害。
• Exhaust fumes are bad for your health. 废气对健康有害。

406 modulate   

v.调整，调节(音的强弱)；变调

参考例句：

• Please modulate the sound on the TV.请调节一下电视的音量。
• This system could modulate the voice signal effectively.这个系统可以对语音信号进行有效的调制。

407 drooping   

adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词

参考例句：

• The drooping willows are waving gently in the morning breeze. 晨风中垂柳袅袅。
• The branches of the drooping willows were swaying lightly. 垂柳轻飘飘地摆动。

408 condor   

n.秃鹰；秃鹰金币

参考例句：

• The condor soars above the mountain heights.禿鹰翱翔于高山之上。
• A condor prepares to fly in Colombia.一只兀鹰在哥伦比亚准备振翅高飞。

409 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

410 alley   

n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路

参考例句：

• We live in the same alley.我们住在同一条小巷里。
• The blind alley ended in a brick wall.这条死胡同的尽头是砖墙。

411 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

412 pricked   

刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛

参考例句：

• The cook pricked a few holes in the pastry. 厨师在馅饼上戳了几个洞。
• He was pricked by his conscience. 他受到良心的谴责。

413 vaulted   

adj.拱状的

参考例句：

• She vaulted over the gate and ran up the path. 她用手一撑跃过栅栏门沿着小路跑去。
• The formal living room has a fireplace and vaulted ceilings. 正式的客厅有一个壁炉和拱形天花板。

414 caresses   

爱抚，抚摸( caress的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A breeze caresses the cheeks. 微风拂面。
• Hetty was not sufficiently familiar with caresses or outward demonstrations of fondness. 海蒂不习惯于拥抱之类过于外露地表现自己的感情。

415 guffawed   

v.大笑，狂笑( guffaw的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They all guffawed at his jokes. 他们听了他的笑话都一阵狂笑。
• Hung-chien guffawed and said, "I deserve a scolding for that! 鸿渐哈哈大笑道：“我是该骂！ 来自汉英文学 - 围城

416 irrelevantly   

adv.不恰当地，不合适地；不相关地

参考例句：

• To-morrow!\" Then she added irrelevantly: \"You ought to see the baby.\" 明天，”随即她又毫不相干地说：“你应当看看宝宝。” 来自英汉文学 - 盖茨比
• Suddenly and irrelevantly, she asked him for money. 她突然很不得体地向他要钱。 来自互联网

417 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

418 descended   

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。

419 steering   

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。

420 shrubs   

灌木( shrub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gardener spent a complete morning in trimming those two shrubs. 园丁花了整个上午的时间修剪那两处灌木林。
• These shrubs will need more light to produce flowering shoots. 这些灌木需要更多的光照才能抽出开花的新枝。

421 amazement   

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。

422 nether   

adj.下部的，下面的；n.阴间；下层社会

参考例句：

• This terracotta army well represents his ambition yet to be realized in the nether-world.这一批兵马俑很可能代表他死后也要去实现的雄心。
• He was escorted back to the nether regions of Main Street.他被护送回中央大道南面的地方。

423 disapproving   

adj.不满的，反对的v.不赞成( disapprove的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Mother gave me a disapproving look. 母亲的眼神告诉我她是不赞成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Her father threw a disapproving glance at her. 她父亲不满地瞥了她一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

424 arid   

adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的

参考例句：

• These trees will shield off arid winds and protect the fields.这些树能挡住旱风,保护农田。
• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。

425 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

426 renewal   

adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来

参考例句：

• Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。

427 motiveless   

adj.无动机的，无目的的

参考例句：

428 piers   

n.水上平台( pier的名词复数 )；（常设有娱乐场所的）突堤；柱子；墙墩

参考例句：

• Most road bridges have piers rising out of the vally. 很多公路桥的桥墩是从河谷里建造起来的。 来自辞典例句
• At these piers coasters and landing-craft would be able to discharge at all states of tide. 沿岸航行的海船和登陆艇，不论潮汐如何涨落，都能在这种码头上卸载。 来自辞典例句

429 embarkation   

n. 乘船, 搭机, 开船

参考例句：

• Lisbon became the great embarkation point. 里斯本成了最理想的跳板。 来自英语连读（第二部分）
• Good, go aboard please, be about very quickly embarkation. 好了，请上船吧，很快就要开船了。

430 spoke   

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。

431 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

432 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

433 ominously   

adv.恶兆地，不吉利地；预示地

参考例句：

• The wheels scooped up stones which hammered ominously under the car. 车轮搅起的石块，在车身下发出不吉祥的锤击声。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mammy shook her head ominously. 嬷嬷不祥地摇着头。 来自飘（部分）

434 chicanery   

n.欺诈，欺骗

参考例句：

• We will continue to see such chicanery in the future.在往后的日子我们仍将看到这样的骗局持续上演。
• Why do you give me so much chicanery as a explanation?你为什么给我那么多狡辩的解释？

435 hesitation   

n.犹豫，踌躇

参考例句：

• After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天，他终于直说了。
• There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。

436 slain   

杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词)

参考例句：

• The soldiers slain in the battle were burried that night. 在那天夜晚埋葬了在战斗中牺牲了的战士。
• His boy was dead, slain by the hand of the false Amulius. 他的儿子被奸诈的阿缪利乌斯杀死了。

437 sullenly   

不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地

参考例句：

• 'so what?" Tom said sullenly. “那又怎么样呢？”汤姆绷着脸说。
• Emptiness after the paper, I sIt'sullenly in front of the stove. 报看完，想不出能找点什么事做，只好一人坐在火炉旁生气。

438 ambled   

v.（马）缓行( amble的过去式和过去分词 )；从容地走，漫步

参考例句：

• We ambled down to the beach. 我们漫步向海滩走去。
• The old man ambled home through the garden every evening. 那位老人每天晚上经过花园漫步回家。 来自《简明英汉词典》

439 intimidate   

vt.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• You think you can intimidate people into doing what you want?你以为你可以威胁别人做任何事？
• The first strike capacity is intended mainly to intimidate adversary.第一次攻击的武力主要是用来吓阻敌方的。

440 trot   

n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧

参考例句：

• They passed me at a trot.他们从我身边快步走过。
• The horse broke into a brisk trot.马突然快步小跑起来。

441 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

442 nibs   

上司，大人物； 钢笔尖，鹅毛管笔笔尖( nib的名词复数 )； 可可豆的碎粒； 小瑕疵

参考例句：

• They were careful not to offend his nibs. 他们小心翼翼，不敢冒犯这位大人。
• Please tell his nibs that we'd like his help with the washing-up! 请转告那位大人，我们想请他帮助刷锅洗碗！

443 hurling   

n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的现在分词 )；大声叫骂

参考例句：

• The boat rocked wildly, hurling him into the water. 这艘船剧烈地晃动，把他甩到水中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Fancy hurling away a good chance like that, the silly girl! 想想她竟然把这样一个好机会白白丢掉了，真是个傻姑娘！ 来自《简明英汉词典》

444 darts   

n.掷飞镖游戏；飞镖( dart的名词复数 )；急驰，飞奔v.投掷，投射( dart的第三人称单数 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• His darts trophy takes pride of place on the mantelpiece. 他将掷镖奖杯放在壁炉顶上最显著的地方。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I never saw so many darts in a bodice! 我从没见过紧身胸衣上纳了这么多的缝褶！ 来自《简明英汉词典》

445 benevolent   

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。

446 unicorn   

n.(传说中的)独角兽

参考例句：

• The unicorn is an imaginary beast.独角兽是幻想出来的动物。
• I believe unicorn was once living in the world.我相信独角兽曾经生活在这个世界。

447 rectified   

[医]矫正的，调整的

参考例句：

• I am hopeful this misunderstanding will be rectified very quickly. 我相信这个误会将很快得到纠正。
• That mistake could have been rectified within 28 days. 那个错误原本可以在28天内得以纠正。

448 frankly   

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。

449 prematurely   

adv.过早地，贸然地

参考例句：

• She was born prematurely with poorly developed lungs. 她早产，肺部未发育健全。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His hair was prematurely white, but his busy eyebrows were still jet-black. 他的头发已经白了，不过两道浓眉还是乌黑乌黑的。 来自辞典例句

450 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

451 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

452 gritted   

v.以沙砾覆盖（某物），撒沙砾于( grit的过去式和过去分词 )；咬紧牙关

参考例句：

• He gritted his teeth and plunged into the cold weather. 他咬咬牙，冲向寒冷的天气。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The young policeman gritted his teeth and walked slowly towards the armed criminal. 年轻警官强忍住怒火，朝武装歹徒慢慢走过去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

453 philosophical   

adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的

参考例句：

• The teacher couldn't answer the philosophical problem.老师不能解答这个哲学问题。
• She is very philosophical about her bad luck.她对自己的不幸看得很开。

454 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

455 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

456 spats   

n.口角( spat的名词复数 )；小争吵；鞋罩；鞋套v.spit的过去式和过去分词( spat的第三人称单数 )；口角；小争吵；鞋罩

参考例句：

• Gasoline is a solvent liquid that removes grease spats. 汽油是一种能脱去油迹的有溶解能力的液体。 来自辞典例句
• Then spats took a catnap, and the bird looked out for dogs. 然后斯派茨小睡了一会儿。小鸟为它站岗放哨，防止狗跑过来。 来自互联网

457 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

458 onward   

adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先

参考例句：

• The Yellow River surges onward like ten thousand horses galloping.黄河以万马奔腾之势滚滚向前。
• He followed in the steps of forerunners and marched onward.他跟随着先辈的足迹前进。

459 tempi   

拍子，发展速度； 乐曲的速度或拍子( tempo的名词复数 )； （运动或活动的）速度，进度

参考例句：

• His playing drips with exaggerated rubato and unorthodox tempi(Annalyn Swan) 他的演奏渗透着夸张诡异的节奏（安纳莱恩斯旺）

460 rapport   

n.和睦，意见一致

参考例句：

• She has an excellent rapport with her staff.她跟她职员的关系非常融洽。
• We developed a high degree of trust and a considerable personal rapport.我们发展了高度的互相信任和不错的私人融洽关系。

461 dub   

vt.（以某种称号）授予，给...起绰号，复制

参考例句：

• I intend to use simultaneous recording to dub this film.我打算采用同期录音的方法为这部影片配音。
• It was dubbed into Spanish for Mexican audiences.它被译制成西班牙语以方便墨西哥观众观看。

462 bleak   

adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的

参考例句：

• They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
• The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。

463 subliminal   

adj.下意识的，潜意识的；太弱或太快以至于难以觉察的

参考例句：

• Maybe they're getting it on a subliminal level.也许他们会在潜意识里这么以为。
• The soft sell approach gets to consumers in a subliminal way.软广告通过潜意识的作用来影响消费者。

464 scurvy   

adj.下流的，卑鄙的，无礼的；n.坏血病

参考例句：

• Vitamin C deficiency can ultimately lead to scurvy.缺乏维生素C最终能道致坏血病。
• That was a scurvy trick to play on an old lady.用那样的花招欺负一个老太太可真卑鄙。

465 heterogeneous   

adj.庞杂的；异类的

参考例句：

• There is a heterogeneous mass of papers in the teacher's office.老师的办公室里堆满了大批不同的论文。
• America has a very heterogeneous population.美国人口是由不同种族组成的。

466 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

467 gratuitously   

平白

参考例句：

• They rebuild their houses for them gratuitously when they are ruined. 如果他们的房屋要坍了，就会有人替他们重盖，不要工资。 来自互联网
• He insulted us gratuitously. 他在毫无理由的情况下侮辱了我们。 来自互联网

468 simplicity   

n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯

参考例句：

• She dressed with elegant simplicity.她穿着朴素高雅。
• The beauty of this plan is its simplicity.简明扼要是这个计划的一大特点。

469 memorandum   

n.备忘录，便笺

参考例句：

• The memorandum was dated 23 August,2008.备忘录上注明的日期是2008年8月23日。
• The Secretary notes down the date of the meeting in her memorandum book.秘书把会议日期都写在记事本上。

470 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

471 censor   

n./vt.审查，审查员；删改

参考例句：

• The film has not been viewed by the censor.这部影片还未经审查人员审查。
• The play was banned by the censor.该剧本被查禁了。

472 geographical   

adj.地理的；地区(性)的

参考例句：

• The current survey will have a wider geographical spread.当前的调查将在更广泛的地域范围內进行。
• These birds have a wide geographical distribution.这些鸟的地理分布很广。

473 arrogance   

n.傲慢，自大

参考例句：

• His arrogance comes out in every speech he makes.他每次讲话都表现得骄傲自大。
• Arrogance arrested his progress.骄傲阻碍了他的进步。

474 exasperating   

adj. 激怒的 动词exasperate的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• Our team's failure is very exasperating. 我们队失败了，真是气死人。
• It is really exasperating that he has not turned up when the train is about to leave. 火车快开了， 他还不来，实在急人。

475 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

476 bastard   

n.坏蛋，混蛋；私生子

参考例句：

• He was never concerned about being born a bastard.他从不介意自己是私生子。
• There was supposed to be no way to get at the bastard.据说没有办法买通那个混蛋。

477 morale   

n.道德准则，士气，斗志

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

478 deranged   

adj.疯狂的

参考例句：

• Traffic was stopped by a deranged man shouting at the sky.一名狂叫的疯子阻塞了交通。
• A deranged man shot and killed 14 people.一个精神失常的男子开枪打死了14人。

479 illiterate   

adj.文盲的；无知的；n.文盲

参考例句：

• There are still many illiterate people in our country.在我国还有许多文盲。
• I was an illiterate in the old society,but now I can read.我这个旧社会的文盲，今天也认字了。

480 bungling   

adj.笨拙的，粗劣的v.搞糟，完不成( bungle的现在分词 )；笨手笨脚地做；失败；完不成

参考例句：

• You can't do a thing without bungling it. 你做事总是笨手笨脚。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• 'Enough, too,' retorted George. 'We'll all swing and sundry for your bungling.' “还不够吗？”乔治反问道，“就因为你乱指挥，我们都得荡秋千，被日头晒干。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛

481 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

482 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

483 precipice   

n.悬崖，危急的处境

参考例句：

• The hut hung half over the edge of the precipice.那间小屋有一半悬在峭壁边上。
• A slight carelessness on this precipice could cost a man his life.在这悬崖上稍一疏忽就会使人丧生。

484 yarns   

n.纱( yarn的名词复数 )；纱线；奇闻漫谈；旅行轶事

参考例句：

• ...vegetable-dyed yarns. 用植物染料染过色的纱线 来自辞典例句
• Fibers may be loosely or tightly twisted into yarns. 纤维可以是膨松地或紧密地捻成纱线。 来自辞典例句

485 opalescent   

adj.乳色的，乳白的

参考例句：

• Her skin was flawless and seemed opalescent.她的皮肤洁白无瑕,好象乳色的。
• The east glowed opalescent.东方泛起乳白色。

486 guilds   

行会，同业公会，协会( guild的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• View list of the guilds that Small has war on. 看目前有哪些公会是我们公会开战的对象及对我们开战的对象。
• Guilds and kingdoms fit more with the Middle Age fantasy genre. （裴）:公会和王国更适合中世纪奇幻类型。

487 oracle   

n.神谕，神谕处，预言

参考例句：

• In times of difficulty,she pray for an oracle to guide her.在困难的时候，她祈祷神谕来指引她。
• It is a kind of oracle that often foretells things most important.它是一种内生性神谕，常常能预言最重要的事情。

488 alienation   

n.疏远；离间；异化

参考例句：

• The new policy resulted in the alienation of many voters.新政策导致许多选民疏远了。
• As almost every conceivable contact between human beings gets automated,the alienation index goes up.随着人与人之间几乎一切能想到的接触方式的自动化，感情疏远指数在不断上升。

489 vindicating   

v.澄清（某人/某事物）受到的责难或嫌疑( vindicate的现在分词 )；表明或证明（所争辩的事物）属实、正当、有效等；维护

参考例句：

• Protesters vowed to hold commemorative activities until Beijing's verdict vindicating the crackdown was overturned. 示威者誓言除非中国政府平反六四，否则一直都会举行悼念活动。 来自互联网

490 consulates   

n.领事馆( consulate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Consulates General of The People's Republic at Los Angeles. 中华人民共和国驻洛杉矶总领事馆。 来自互联网
• The country's embassies, consulates and other diplomatic missions stationed in other countries. （七）家驻外使馆、馆和其他外交代表机构。 来自互联网

491 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

492 betrothed   

n. 已订婚者 动词betroth的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She is betrothed to John. 她同约翰订了婚。
• His daughter was betrothed to a teacher. 他的女儿同一个教师订了婚。

493 esteem   

n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• The veteran worker ranks high in public love and esteem.那位老工人深受大伙的爱戴。

494 bunk   

n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话

参考例句：

• He left his bunk and went up on deck again.他离开自己的铺位再次走到甲板上。
• Most economists think his theories are sheer bunk.大多数经济学家认为他的理论纯属胡说。

495 enraged   

使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤

参考例句：

• I was enraged to find they had disobeyed my orders. 发现他们违抗了我的命令，我极为恼火。
• The judge was enraged and stroke the table for several times. 大法官被气得连连拍案。

496 parable   

n.寓言，比喻

参考例句：

• This is an ancient parable.这是一个古老的寓言。
• The minister preached a sermon on the parable of the lost sheep.牧师讲道时用了亡羊的比喻。

497 assassinate   

vt.暗杀，行刺，中伤

参考例句：

• The police exposed a criminal plot to assassinate the president.警方侦破了一个行刺总统的阴谋。
• A plot to assassinate the banker has been uncovered by the police.暗杀银行家的密谋被警方侦破了。

498 nominally   

在名义上，表面地； 应名儿

参考例句：

• Dad, nominally a Methodist, entered Churches only for weddings and funerals. 爸名义上是卫理公会教徒，可只去教堂参加婚礼和葬礼。
• The company could not indicate a person even nominally responsible for staff training. 该公司甚至不能指出一个名义上负责职员培训的人。

499 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。

500 haranguing   

v.高谈阔论( harangue的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He continued in his customary, haranguing style. 他继续以他一贯的夸夸其谈的手法讲下去。 来自辞典例句
• That lady was still haranguing the girl. 那位女士仍然对那女孩喋喋不休地训斥。 来自互联网

501 quarry   

n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找

参考例句：

• Michelangelo obtained his marble from a quarry.米开朗基罗从采石场获得他的大理石。
• This mountain was the site for a quarry.这座山曾经有一个采石场。

502 discretion   

n.谨慎；随意处理

参考例句：

• You must show discretion in choosing your friend.你择友时必须慎重。
• Please use your best discretion to handle the matter.请慎重处理此事。

503 covenants   

n.（有法律约束的）协议( covenant的名词复数 )；盟约；公约；（向慈善事业、信托基金会等定期捐款的）契约书

参考例句：

• Do I need to review the Deed of mutual Covenants (DMC)? 我是否需要覆核公共契约(DMC)吗？ 来自互联网
• Many listed and unlisted companies need to sell to address covenants. 许多上市公司和非上市公司需要出售手中资产，以满足借贷契约的要求。 来自互联网

504 expedient   

adj.有用的，有利的；n.紧急的办法，权宜之计

参考例句：

• The government found it expedient to relax censorship a little.政府发现略微放宽审查是可取的。
• Every kind of expedient was devised by our friends.我们的朋友想出了各种各样的应急办法。

505 screeching   

v.发出尖叫声( screech的现在分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫

参考例句：

• Monkeys were screeching in the trees. 猴子在树上吱吱地叫着。
• the unedifying sight of the two party leaders screeching at each other 两党党魁狺狺对吠的讨厌情景

506 deviating   

v.偏离，越轨( deviate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I compromise by using a prepared text and deviating from it whenever I feel the need. 我搞折衷办法，准备一份讲稿，觉得需要的时候就自由发挥。 来自辞典例句
• Theories deviating practices are inane, while practices deviating theories are blindfold. 脱离实践的理论是空泛的，脱离理论指导的实践是盲目的。 来自互联网

507 croaked   

v.呱呱地叫( croak的过去式和过去分词 )；用粗的声音说

参考例句：

• The crow croaked disaster. 乌鸦呱呱叫预报灾难。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• 'she has a fine head for it," croaked Jacques Three. “她有一个漂亮的脑袋跟着去呢，”雅克三号低沉地说。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

508 subtlety   

n.微妙，敏锐，精巧；微妙之处，细微的区别

参考例句：

• He has shown enormous strength,great intelligence and great subtlety.他表现出充沛的精力、极大的智慧和高度的灵活性。
• The subtlety of his remarks was unnoticed by most of his audience.大多数听众都没有觉察到他讲话的微妙之处。

509 dynamite   

n./vt.(用)炸药(爆破)

参考例句：

• The workmen detonated the dynamite.工人们把炸药引爆了。
• The philosopher was still political dynamite.那位哲学家仍旧是政治上的爆炸性人物。

510 subterranean   

adj.地下的，地表下的

参考例句：

• London has 9 miles of such subterranean passages.伦敦像这样的地下通道有9英里长。
• We wandered through subterranean passages.我们漫游地下通道。

511 paraphrasing   

v.释义，意译( paraphrase的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I'm paraphrasing but this is honestly what he said. 我是在转述，但这的确是他说的意思。 来自柯林斯例句

512 corroborating   

v.证实，支持（某种说法、信仰、理论等）( corroborate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Neither can one really conclude much from a neat desk, unless there is further corroborating evidence. 实际上，我们也无法从一张整洁的办公桌中得出什么结论，除非还有其它证据进一步证实。 来自互联网

513 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

514 peril   

n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物

参考例句：

• The refugees were in peril of death from hunger.难民有饿死的危险。
• The embankment is in great peril.河堤岌岌可危。

515 poked   

v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交

参考例句：

• She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. 她用胳膊肘顶他的肋部。
• His elbow poked out through his torn shirt sleeve. 他的胳膊从衬衫的破袖子中露了出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

516 whined   

v.哀号( whine的过去式和过去分词 )；哀诉，诉怨

参考例句：

• The dog whined at the door, asking to be let out. 狗在门前嚎叫着要出去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He whined and pouted when he did not get what he wanted. 他要是没得到想要的东西就会发牢骚、撅嘴。 来自辞典例句

517 intersection   

n.交集，十字路口，交叉点；[计算机] 交集

参考例句：

• There is a stop sign at an intersection.在交叉路口处有停车标志。
• Bridges are used to avoid the intersection of a railway and a highway.桥用来避免铁路和公路直接交叉。

518 erect   

n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的

参考例句：

• She held her head erect and her back straight.她昂着头，把背挺得笔直。
• Soldiers are trained to stand erect.士兵们训练站得笔直。

519 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

520 gloss   

n.光泽，光滑；虚饰；注释；vt.加光泽于；掩饰

参考例句：

• John tried in vain to gloss over his faults.约翰极力想掩饰自己的缺点，但是没有用。
• She rubbed up the silver plates to a high gloss.她把银盘擦得很亮。

521 tilt   

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.

522 dormant   

adj.暂停活动的；休眠的；潜伏的

参考例句：

• Many animals are in a dormant state during winter.在冬天许多动物都处于睡眠状态。
• This dormant volcano suddenly fired up.这座休眠火山突然爆发了。

523 wraith   

n.幽灵；骨瘦如柴的人

参考例句：

• My only question right now involves the wraith.我唯一的问题是关于幽灵的。
• So,what you're saying is the Ancients actually created the Wraith?照你这么说，实际上是古人创造了幽灵？

524 potent   

adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的

参考例句：

• The medicine had a potent effect on your disease.这药物对你的病疗效很大。
• We must account of his potent influence.我们必须考虑他的强有力的影响。

525 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

526 primordial   

adj.原始的；最初的

参考例句：

• It is the primordial force that propels us forward.它是推动我们前进的原始动力。
• The Neanderthal Man is one of our primordial ancestors.的尼安德特人是我们的原始祖先之一.

527 purgatory   

n.炼狱；苦难；adj.净化的，清洗的

参考例句：

• Every step of the last three miles was purgatory.最后3英里时每一步都像是受罪。
• Marriage,with peace,is this world's paradise;with strife,this world's purgatory.和谐的婚姻是尘世的乐园，不和谐的婚姻则是人生的炼狱。

528 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

529 glimmered   

v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "There glimmered the embroidered letter, with comfort in its unearthly ray." 她胸前绣着的字母闪着的非凡的光辉，将温暖舒适带给他人。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
• The moon glimmered faintly through the mists. 月亮透过薄雾洒下微光。 来自辞典例句

530 multiplication   

n.增加，增多，倍增；增殖，繁殖；乘法

参考例句：

• Our teacher used to drum our multiplication tables into us.我们老师过去老是让我们反覆背诵乘法表。
• The multiplication of numbers has made our club building too small.会员的增加使得我们的俱乐部拥挤不堪。

531 fission   

n.裂开；分裂生殖

参考例句：

• The fission of the cell could be inhibited with certain chemicals.细胞的裂变可以通过某些化学药品加以抑制。
• Nuclear fission releases tremendous amounts of energy.核裂变释放出巨大的能量。

532 virile   

adj.男性的；有男性生殖力的；有男子气概的；强有力的

参考例句：

• She loved the virile young swimmer.她爱上了那个有男子气概的年轻游泳运动员。
• He wanted his sons to become strong,virile,and athletic like himself.他希望他的儿子们能长得像他一样强壮、阳刚而又健美。

533 flickering   

adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的

参考例句：

• The crisp autumn wind is flickering away. 清爽的秋风正在吹拂。
• The lights keep flickering. 灯光忽明忽暗。

534 assent   

v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可

参考例句：

• I cannot assent to what you ask.我不能应允你的要求。
• The new bill passed by Parliament has received Royal Assent.议会所通过的新方案已获国王批准。

535 redeeming   

补偿的，弥补的

参考例句：

• I found him thoroughly unpleasant, with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. 我觉得他一点也不讨人喜欢，没有任何可取之处。
• The sole redeeming feature of this job is the salary. 这份工作唯其薪水尚可弥补一切之不足。

536 arrogantly   

adv.傲慢地

参考例句：

• The consular porter strode arrogantly ahead with his light swinging. 领事馆的门房提着摇来晃去的灯，在前面大摇大摆地走着。
• It made his great nose protrude more arrogantly. 这就使得他的大鼻子更加傲慢地翘起来。

537 penance   

n.（赎罪的）惩罪

参考例句：

• They had confessed their sins and done their penance.他们已经告罪并做了补赎。
• She knelt at her mother's feet in penance.她忏悔地跪在母亲脚下。

538 elevation   

n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高

参考例句：

• The house is at an elevation of 2,000 metres.那幢房子位于海拔两千米的高处。
• His elevation to the position of General Manager was announced yesterday.昨天宣布他晋升总经理职位。

539 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

540 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。

541 rambling   

adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的

参考例句：

• We spent the summer rambling in Ireland. 我们花了一个夏天漫游爱尔兰。
• It was easy to get lost in the rambling house. 在布局凌乱的大房子里容易迷路。

542 gratuity   

n.赏钱，小费

参考例句：

• The porter expects a gratuity.行李员想要小费。
• Gratuity is customary in this money-mad metropolis.在这个金钱至上的大都市里，给小费是司空见惯的。

543 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

544 contemplated   

adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The doctor contemplated the difficult operation he had to perform. 医生仔细地考虑他所要做的棘手的手术。
• The government has contemplated reforming the entire tax system. 政府打算改革整个税收体制。

545 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

546 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

547 babble   

v.含糊不清地说，胡言乱语地说，儿语

参考例句：

• No one could understand the little baby's babble. 没人能听懂这个小婴孩的话。
• The babble of voices in the next compartment annoyed all of us.隔壁的车厢隔间里不间歇的嘈杂谈话声让我们都很气恼。

548 battalion   

n.营；部队；大队(的人)

参考例句：

• The town was garrisoned by a battalion.该镇由一营士兵驻守。
• At the end of the drill parade,the battalion fell out.操练之后，队伍解散了。

549 fixed   

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。

550 saluted   

v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂

参考例句：

• The sergeant stood to attention and saluted. 中士立正敬礼。
• He saluted his friends with a wave of the hand. 他挥手向他的朋友致意。 来自《简明英汉词典》

551 salute   

vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮

参考例句：

• Merchant ships salute each other by dipping the flag.商船互相点旗致敬。
• The Japanese women salute the people with formal bows in welcome.这些日本妇女以正式的鞠躬向人们施礼以示欢迎。

552 traitor   

n.叛徒，卖国贼

参考例句：

• The traitor was finally found out and put in prison.那个卖国贼终于被人发现并被监禁了起来。
• He was sold out by a traitor and arrested.他被叛徒出卖而被捕了。

553 glowering   

v.怒视( glower的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The boy would not go, but stood at the door glowering at his father. 那男孩不肯走，他站在门口对他父亲怒目而视。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then he withdrew to a corner and sat glowering at his wife. 然后他溜到一个角落外，坐在那怒视着他的妻子。 来自辞典例句

554 gaped   

v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的过去式和过去分词 )；张开，张大

参考例句：

• A huge chasm gaped before them. 他们面前有个巨大的裂痕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The front door was missing. A hole gaped in the roof. 前门不翼而飞，屋顶豁开了一个洞。 来自辞典例句

555 conviviality   

n.欢宴，高兴，欢乐

参考例句：

• Sumptuous food and patriotic music created an atmosphere of elegant conviviality. 佳肴盛馔和爱国乐曲，使气氛十分优雅而欢乐。 来自辞典例句
• Synonymous with freshness, hygiene and conviviality, the individual cream portions are also economical and practical. 独立包装奶不仅仅是新鲜、卫生、欢乐的代名词，同时也是非常经济实用的。 来自互联网

556 boisterousness   

n.喧闹；欢跃；（风暴）狂烈

参考例句：

557 cliquish   

adj.小集团的

参考例句：

• The real worry is over Mr Orban's headstrong ways and cliquish habits. 真正需要担心的是奥班先生刚愎自用，结党营私的习性。 来自互联网

558 chalice   

n.圣餐杯；金杯毒酒

参考例句：

• He inherited a poisoned chalice when he took over the job as union leader.他接手工会领导职务，看似风光，实则会给他带来很多麻烦。
• She was essentially feminine,in other words,a parasite and a chalice.她在本质上是个女人，换句话说，是一个食客和一只酒杯。

559 brass   

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。

560 accordionist   

n.手风琴师

参考例句：

561 chilly   

adj.凉快的，寒冷的

参考例句：

• I feel chilly without a coat.我由于没有穿大衣而感到凉飕飕的。
• I grew chilly when the fire went out.炉火熄灭后，寒气逼人。

562 wheeze   

n.喘息声，气喘声；v.喘息着说

参考例句：

• The old man managed to wheeze out a few words.老人勉强地喘息着说出了几句话。
• He has a slight wheeze in his chest.他呼吸时胸部发出轻微的响声。

563 tainted   

adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏

参考例句：

• The administration was tainted with scandal. 丑闻使得政府声名狼藉。
• He was considered tainted by association with the corrupt regime. 他因与腐败政府有牵连而名誉受损。 来自《简明英汉词典》

564 malign   

adj.有害的；恶性的；恶意的；v.诽谤，诬蔑

参考例句：

• It was easy to see why the cartoonists regularly portrayed him as a malign cherub.难怪漫画家总是把他画成一个邪恶的小天使。
• She likes to malign innocent persons.她爱诋毁那些清白的人。

565 penetrated   

adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The knife had penetrated his chest. 刀子刺入了他的胸膛。
• They penetrated into territory where no man had ever gone before. 他们已进入先前没人去过的地区。

566 fragrances   

n.芳香，香味( fragrance的名词复数 )；香水

参考例句：

• The bath oil comes in various fragrances. 这种沐浴油有不同的香味。
• This toilet soap lathers so nicely and has several fragrances. 这种香皂起泡很多，并且有好几种香味。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

567 dominion   

n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图

参考例句：

• Alexander held dominion over a vast area.亚历山大曾统治过辽阔的地域。
• In the affluent society,the authorities are hardly forced to justify their dominion.在富裕社会里，当局几乎无需证明其统治之合理。

568 depot   

n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站

参考例句：

• The depot is only a few blocks from here.公共汽车站离这儿只有几个街区。
• They leased the building as a depot.他们租用这栋大楼作仓库。

569 blizzard   

n.暴风雪

参考例句：

• The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。
• You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。

570 rebellious   

adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的

参考例句：

• They will be in danger if they are rebellious.如果他们造反，他们就要发生危险。
• Her reply was mild enough,but her thoughts were rebellious.她的回答虽然很温和，但她的心里十分反感。

571 carousing   

v.痛饮，闹饮欢宴( carouse的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• During the next nine years he alternated between service in several armies and carousing in Paris. 在那以后的九年里，他时而在几个军队中服役，时而在巴黎狂欢作乐。 来自辞典例句
• In his youth George W. Bush had a reputation for carousing. 小布什在年轻时有好玩的名声。 来自互联网

572 riddle   

n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜

参考例句：

• The riddle couldn't be solved by the child.这个谜语孩子猜不出来。
• Her disappearance is a complete riddle.她的失踪完全是一个谜。

573 carousel   

n.旋转式行李输送带

参考例句：

• Riding on a carousel makes you feel dizzy.乘旋转木马使你头晕。
• We looked like a bunch of awkward kids riding a slow-moving carousel.我们看起来就像一群骑在旋转木马上的笨拙的孩子。

574 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。

575 corpse   

n.尸体，死尸

参考例句：

• What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
• The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。

576 waylaid   

v.拦截，拦路( waylay的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I got waylaid on my way here. 我在来这里的路上遭到了拦路抢劫。
• He was waylaid by thieves. 他在路上被抢了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

577 miraculously   

ad.奇迹般地

参考例句：

• He had been miraculously saved from almost certain death. 他奇迹般地从死亡线上获救。
• A schoolboy miraculously survived a 25 000-volt electric shock. 一名男学生在遭受2.5 万伏的电击后奇迹般地活了下来。

578 galloping   

adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The horse started galloping the moment I gave it a good dig. 我猛戳了马一下，它就奔驰起来了。
• Japan is galloping ahead in the race to develop new technology. 日本在发展新技术的竞争中进展迅速，日新月异。

579 swooped   

俯冲，猛冲( swoop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The aircraft swooped down over the buildings. 飞机俯冲到那些建筑物上方。
• The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it. 鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来，并把它杀死。

580 barrage   

n.火力网，弹幕

参考例句：

• The attack jumped off under cover of a barrage.进攻在炮火的掩护下开始了。
• The fierce artillery barrage destroyed the most part of the city in a few minutes.猛烈的炮火几分钟内便毁灭了这座城市的大部分地区。

581 cringing   

adj.谄媚，奉承

参考例句：

• He had a cringing manner but a very harsh voice.他有卑屈谄媚的神情，但是声音却十分粗沙。
• She stepped towards him with a movement that was horribly cringing.她冲他走了一步，做出一个低三下四，令人作呕的动作。

582 bawling   

v.大叫，大喊( bawl的现在分词 )；放声大哭；大声叫出；叫卖（货物）

参考例句：

• We heard the dulcet tones of the sergeant, bawling at us to get on parade. 我们听到中士用“悦耳”的声音向我们大喊，让我们跟上队伍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• "Why are you bawling at me? “你向我们吼啥子？ 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

583 shuffling   

adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• Don't go shuffling along as if you were dead. 别像个死人似地拖着脚走。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some one was shuffling by on the sidewalk. 外面的人行道上有人拖着脚走过。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

584 melee   

n.混战；混战的人群

参考例句：

• There was a scuffle and I lost my hat in the melee.因发生一场斗殴，我的帽子也在混乱中丢失了。
• In the melee that followed they trampled their mother a couple of times.他们打在一团，七手八脚的又踩了他们的母亲几下。

585 flipping   

讨厌之极的

参考例句：

• I hate this flipping hotel! 我讨厌这个该死的旅馆！
• Don't go flipping your lid. 别发火。

586 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

587 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

588 burrowed   

v.挖掘（洞穴），挖洞( burrow的过去式和过去分词 )；翻寻

参考例句：

• The rabbits burrowed into the hillside. 兔子在山腰上打洞。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She burrowed her head into my shoulder. 她把头紧靠在我的肩膀上。 来自辞典例句

589 placid   

adj.安静的，平和的

参考例句：

• He had been leading a placid life for the past eight years.八年来他一直过着平静的生活。
• You should be in a placid mood and have a heart-to- heart talk with her.你应该心平气和的好好和她谈谈心。

590 punctuate   

vt.加标点于；不时打断

参考例句：

• The pupils have not yet learned to punctuate correctly.小学生尚未学会正确使用标点符号。
• Be sure to punctuate your sentences with the correct marks in the right places.一定要在你文章句子中的正确地方标上正确的标点符号。

591 sprawled   

v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的过去式和过去分词)；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawled full-length across the bed. 他手脚摊开横躺在床上。
• He was lying sprawled in an armchair, watching TV. 他四肢伸开正懒散地靠在扶手椅上看电视。

592 embodying   

v.表现( embody的现在分词 )；象征；包括；包含

参考例句：

• Every instrument constitutes an independent contract embodying a payment obligation. 每张票据都构成一份独立的体现支付义务的合同。 来自口语例句
• Fowth, The aesthetical transcendency and the beauty embodying the man's liberty. \" 第四部分：审美的超越和作为人类自由最终体现的“美”。 来自互联网

593 complement   

n.补足物，船上的定员；补语；vt.补充，补足

参考例句：

• The two suggestions complement each other.这两条建议相互补充。
• They oppose each other also complement each other.它们相辅相成。

594 spasms   

n.痉挛( spasm的名词复数 )；抽搐；（能量、行为等的）突发；发作

参考例句：

• After the patient received acupuncture treatment,his spasms eased off somewhat. 病人接受针刺治疗后，痉挛稍微减轻了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The smile died, squeezed out by spasms of anticipation and anxiety. 一阵阵预测和焦虑把她脸上的微笑挤掉了。 来自辞典例句

595 expressive   

adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的

参考例句：

• Black English can be more expressive than standard English.黑人所使用的英语可能比正式英语更有表现力。
• He had a mobile,expressive,animated face.他有一张多变的，富于表情的，生动活泼的脸。

596 lugging   

超载运转能力

参考例句：

• I would smile when I saw him lugging his golf bags into the office. 看到他把高尔夫球袋拖进办公室，我就笑一笑。 来自辞典例句
• As a general guide, S＄1 should be adequate for baggage-lugging service. 一般的准则是，如有人帮你搬运行李，给一新元就够了。 来自互联网

597 dagger   

n.匕首，短剑，剑号

参考例句：

• The bad news is a dagger to his heart.这条坏消息刺痛了他的心。
• The murderer thrust a dagger into her heart.凶手将匕首刺进她的心脏。

598 asymmetric   

a.不对称的

参考例句：

• Most people's faces are asymmetric. 大多数人的脸不对称。
• We have made no reference to asymmetric carbon atoms. 我们未曾涉及不对称碳原子。

599 libertine   

n.淫荡者；adj.放荡的，自由思想的

参考例句：

• The transition from libertine to prig was so complete.一个酒徒色鬼竟然摇身一变就成了道学先生。
• I believe John is not a libertine any more.我相信约翰不再是个浪子了。

600 writhed   

（因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He writhed at the memory, revolted with himself for that temporary weakness. 他一想起来就痛悔不已，只恨自己当一时糊涂。
• The insect, writhed, and lay prostrate again. 昆虫折腾了几下，重又直挺挺地倒了下去。

601 consummated   

v.使结束( consummate的过去式和过去分词 )；使完美；完婚；（婚礼后的）圆房

参考例句：

• The marriage lasted only a week and was never consummated. 那段婚姻仅维持了一星期，期间从未同房。
• We consummated an agreement after a year of negotiation. 经过一年的谈判，我们达成了协议。 来自《简明英汉词典》

602 shimmering   

v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The sea was shimmering in the sunlight. 阳光下海水波光闪烁。
• The colours are delicate and shimmering. 这些颜色柔和且闪烁微光。 来自辞典例句

603 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

604 inertia   

adj.惰性，惯性，懒惰，迟钝

参考例句：

• We had a feeling of inertia in the afternoon.下午我们感觉很懒。
• Inertia carried the plane onto the ground.飞机靠惯性着陆。

605 demesne   

n.领域，私有土地

参考例句：

• The tenants of the demesne enjoyed certain privileges.领地的占有者享有一定的特权。
• Keats is referring to epic poetry when he mentions Homer's"proud demesne".当济慈提到荷马的“骄傲的领域”时，他指的是史诗。

606 snarled   

v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说

参考例句：

• The dog snarled at us. 狗朝我们低声吼叫。
• As I advanced towards the dog, It'snarled and struck at me. 我朝那条狗走去时，它狂吠着向我扑来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

607 scattered   

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。

608 sprint   

n.短距离赛跑；vi. 奋力而跑，冲刺；vt.全速跑过

参考例句：

• He put on a sprint to catch the bus.他全速奔跑以赶上公共汽车。
• The runner seemed to be rallied for a final sprint.这名赛跑者似乎在振作精神作最后的冲刺。

609 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

610 turnip   

n.萝卜，芜菁

参考例句：

• The turnip provides nutrition for you.芜菁为你提供营养。
• A turnip is a root vegetable.芜菁是根茎类植物。

611 scurried   

v.急匆匆地走( scurry的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She said goodbye and scurried back to work. 她说声再见，然后扭头跑回去干活了。
• It began to rain and we scurried for shelter. 下起雨来，我们急忙找地方躲避。 来自《简明英汉词典》

612 middle-aged   

adj.中年的

参考例句：

• I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
• The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。

613 quay   

n.码头，靠岸处

参考例句：

• There are all kinds of ships in a quay.码头停泊各式各样的船。
• The side of the boat hit the quay with a grinding jar.船舷撞到码头发出刺耳的声音。

614 bellowed   

v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的过去式和过去分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫

参考例句：

• They bellowed at her to stop. 他们吼叫着让她停下。
• He bellowed with pain when the tooth was pulled out. 当牙齿被拔掉时，他痛得大叫。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

615 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

616 flasks   

n.瓶，长颈瓶， 烧瓶( flask的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The juggler juggled three flasks. 这个玩杂耍的人可同时抛接三个瓶子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The meat in all of the open flasks putrefied. 所有开口瓶中的肉都腐烂了。 来自辞典例句