—Joseph Addison, The Tattler.
Poe said that "the tone of beauty is sadness," but he was evidently thinking from cause to effect, not contrariwise, for sadness is rarely a producer of beauty—that is peculiarly the province of joy.
The exquisite3 beauty of a sunset is not exhilarating but tends to a sort of melancholy4 that is not far from delight The haunting beauty of deep, quiet music holds more than a tinge5 of sadness. The lovely minor6 cadences7 of bird song at twilight8 are almost depressing.
The reason we are affected9 to sadness by certain forms of placid10 beauty is twofold: movement is stimulating11 and joy-producing, while quietude leads to reflection, and reflection in turn often brings out the tone of regretful longing12 for that which is past; secondly13, quiet beauty produces a vague aspiration14 for the relatively15 unattainable, yet does not stimulate16 to the tremendous effort necessary to make the dimly desired state or object ours.
We must distinguish, for these reasons, between the sadness of beauty and the joy of beauty. True, joy is a deep, inner thing and takes in much more than the idea of bounding, sanguine18 spirits, for it includes a certain active contentedness19 of heart. In this chapter, however the word will have its optimistic, exuberant20 connotation—we are thinking now of vivid, bright-eyed, laughing joy.
Musical, joyous21 tones constitute voice charm, a subtle magnetism22 that is delightfully23 contagious24. Now it might seem to the desultory25 reader that to take the lancet and cut into this alluring26 voice quality would be to dissect27 a butterfly wing and so destroy its charm. Yet how can we induce an effect if we are not certain as to the cause?
The tone passages of the nose must be kept entirely29 free for the bright tones of voice—and after our warning in the preceding chapter you will not confuse what is popularly and erroneously called a "nasal" tone with the true nasal quality, which is so well illustrated30 by the voice work of trained French singers and speakers.
To develop nasal resonance sing the following, dwelling31 as long as possible on the ng sounds. Pitch the voice in the nasal cavity. Practise both in high and low registers, and develop range—with brightness.
Sing-song. Ding-dong. Hong-kong. Long-thong.
Practise in the falsetto voice develops a bright quality in the normal speaking-voice. Try the following, and any other selections you choose, in a falsetto voice. A man's falsetto voice is extremely high and womanish, so men should not practise in falsetto after the exercise becomes tiresome32.
She perfectly33 scorned the best of his clan34, and declared the ninth of any man, a perfectly vulgar fraction.
The actress Mary Anderson asked the poet Longfellow what she could do to improve her voice. He replied, "Read aloud daily, joyous, lyric35 poetry."
The joyous tones are the bright tones. Develop them by exercise. Practise your voice exercises in an attitude of joy. Under the influence of pleasure the body expands, the tone passages open, the action of heart and lungs is accelerated, and all the primary conditions for good tone are established.
More songs float out from the broken windows of the negro cabins in the South than from the palatial37 homes on Fifth Avenue. Henry Ward38 Beecher said the happiest days of his life were not when he had become an international character, but when he was an unknown minister out in Lawrenceville, Ohio, sweeping39 his own church, and working as a carpenter to help pay the grocer. Happiness is largely an attitude of mind, of viewing life from the right angle. The optimistic attitude can be cultivated, and it will express itself in voice charm. A telephone company recently placarded this motto in their booths: "The Voice with the Smile Wins." It does. Try it.
Reading joyous prose, or lyric poetry, will help put smile and joy of soul into your voice. The following selections are excellent for practise.
REMEMBER that when you first practise these classics you are to give sole attention to two things: a joyous attitude of heart and body, and bright tones of voice. After these ends have been attained40 to your satisfaction, carefully review the principles of public speaking laid down in the preceding chapters and put them into practise as you read these passages again and again. It would be better to commit each selection to memory.
SELECTIONS FOR PRACTISE
FROM MILTON'S "L'ALLEGRO"
Haste thee, Nymph, and bring with thee
Jest, and youthful Jollity,
Nods and Becks, and wreathèd Smiles,
Such as hang on Hebe's cheek,
And love to live in dimple sleek,—
And Laughter holding both his sides.
Come, and trip it as ye go
On the light fantastic toe;
And in thy right hand lead with thee
The mountain nymph, sweet Liberty:
And, if I give thee honor due,
Mirth, admit me of thy crew,
To live with her, and live with thee,
In unreprovèd pleasures free;
And singing, startle the dull Night
From his watch-tower in the skies,
Till the dappled Dawn doth rise;
Then to come in spite of sorrow,
And at my window bid good-morrow
Through the sweetbrier, or the vine,
Or the twisted eglantine;
And to the stack, or the barn-door,
Oft listening how the hounds and horn
Cheerly rouse the slumbering48 Morn,
From the side of some hoar hill,
Sometime walking, not unseen,
By hedge-row elms, on hillocks green,
Right against the eastern gate,
Where the great Sun begins his state,
The clouds in thousand liveries dight,
While the plowman near at hand
And every shepherd tells his tale,
THE SEA
The sea, the sea, the open sea,
The blue, the fresh, the fever free;
Without a mark, without a bound,
It runneth the earth's wide regions round;
It plays with the clouds, it mocks the skies,
Or like a cradled creature lies.
I'm on the sea, I'm on the sea,
I am where I would ever be,
With the blue above and the blue below,
And silence wheresoe'er I go.
If a storm should come and awake the deep,
What matter? I shall ride and sleep.
I love, oh! how I love to ride
Where every mad wave drowns the moon,
And tells how goeth the world below,
And why the southwest wind doth blow!
I never was on the dull, tame shore
But I loved the great sea more and more,
And backward flew to her billowy breast,
Like a bird that seeketh her mother's nest,—
And a mother she was and is to me,
For I was born on the open sea.
The waves were white, and red the morn,
In the noisy hour when I was born;
And the dolphins bared their backs of gold;
And never was heard such an outcry wild,
As welcomed to life the ocean child.
Full fifty summers a rover's life,
With wealth to spend, and a power to range,
But never have sought or sighed for change:
And death, whenever he comes to me,
Shall come on the wide, unbounded sea!
—Barry Cornwall.
The sun does not shine for a few trees and flowers, but for the wide world's joy. The lonely pine upon the mountain-top waves its sombre boughs61, and cries, "Thou art my sun." And the little meadow violet lifts its cup of blue, and whispers with its perfumed breath, "Thou art my sun." And the grain in a thousand fields rustles63 in the wind, and makes answer, "Thou art my sun." And so God sits effulgent64 in Heaven, not for a favored few, but for the universe of life; and there is no creature so poor or so low that he may not look up with child-like confidence and say, "My Father! Thou art mine."—Henry Ward Beecher.
THE LARK
Bird of the wilderness65,
Blithesome66 and cumberless,
Sweet be thy matin o'er moorland and lea!
Blest is thy dwelling-place:
Wild is thy lay, and loud,
Far in the downy cloud,—
Love gives it energy; love gave it birth.
Where, on thy dewy wing
Where art thou journeying?
Thy lay is in heaven; thy love is on earth.
O'er fell and fountain sheen,
Over the cloudlet dim,
Then, when the gloaming comes,
Low in the heather blooms,
Sweet will thy welcome and bed of love be!
Emblem of happiness,
Blest is thy dwelling-place.
Oh, to abide in the desert with thee!
—James Hogg.
In joyous conversation there is an elastic72 touch, a delicate stroke, upon the central ideas, generally following a pause. This elastic touch adds vivacity73 to the voice. If you try repeatedly, it can be sensed by feeling the tongue strike the teeth. The entire absence of elastic touch in the voice can be observed in the thick tongue of the intoxicated74 man. Try to talk with the tongue lying still in the bottom of the mouth, and you will obtain largely the same effect. Vivacity of utterance75 is gained by using the tongue to strike off the emphatic76 idea with a decisive, elastic touch.
Deliver the following with decisive strokes on the emphatic ideas. Deliver it in a vivacious77 manner, noting the elastic touch-action of the tongue. A flexible, responsive tongue is absolutely essential to good voice work.
FROM NAPOLEON'S ADDRESS TO THE DIRECTORY ON HIS RETURN FROM EGYPT
What have you done with that brilliant France which I left you? I left you at peace, and I find you at war. I left you victorious78 and I find you defeated. I left you the millions of Italy, and I find only spoliation and poverty. What have you done with the hundred thousand Frenchmen, my companions in glory? They are dead!... This state of affairs cannot last long; in less than three years it would plunge79 us into despotism.
Practise the following selection, for the development of elastic touch; say it in a joyous spirit, using the exercise to develop voice charm in all the ways suggested in this chapter.
I come from haunts of coot and hern,
I make a sudden sally,
And sparkle out among the fern,
By thirty hills I hurry down,
By twenty thorps, a little town,
And half a hundred bridges.
Till last by Philip's farm I flow
To join the brimming river;
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on forever.
In little sharps and trebles,
By many a field and fallow,
And many a fairy foreland set
With willow-weed and mallow.
I chatter, chatter, as I flow
To join the brimming river;
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on forever.
I wind about, and in and out,
With here a blossom sailing,
And here and there a grayling,
Upon me, as I travel,
With many a silvery water-break
And draw them all along, and flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on forever.
I slide by hazel covers,
I move the sweet forget-me-nots
That grow for happy lovers.
I slip, I slide, I gloom, I glance,
Among my skimming swallows;
I make the netted sunbeam dance
Against my sandy shallows,
In brambly wildernesses95,
I loiter round my cresses;
And out again I curve and flow
To join the brimming river;
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on forever.
—Alfred Tennyson.
The children at play on the street, glad from sheer physical vitality97, display a resonance and charm in their voices quite different from the voices that float through the silent halls of the hospitals. A skilled physician can tell much about his patient's condition from the mere98 sound of the voice. Failing health, or even physical weariness, tells through the voice. It is always well to rest and be entirely refreshed before attempting to deliver a public address. As to health, neither scope nor space permits us to discuss here the laws of hygiene99. There are many excellent books on this subject. In the reign100 of the Roman emperor Tiberius, one senator wrote to another: "To the wise, a word is sufficient."
"The apparel oft proclaims the man;" the voice always does—it is one of the greatest revealers of character. The superficial woman, the brutish man, the reprobate101, the person of culture, often discloses inner nature in the voice, for even the cleverest dissembler cannot entirely prevent its tones and qualities being affected by the slightest change of thought or emotion. In anger it becomes high, harsh, and unpleasant; in love low, soft, and melodious—the variations are as limitless as they are fascinating to observe. Visit a theatrical102 hotel in a large city, and listen to the buzz-saw voices of the chorus girls from some burlesque103 "attraction." The explanation is simple—buzz-saw lives. Emerson said: "When a man lives with God his voice shall be as sweet as the murmur of the brook or the rustle62 of the corn." It is impossible to think selfish thoughts and have either an attractive personality, a lovely character, or a charming voice. If you want to possess voice charm, cultivate a deep, sincere sympathy for mankind. Love will shine out through your eyes and proclaim itself in your tones. One secret of the sweetness of the canary's song may be his freedom from tainted104 thoughts. Your character beautifies or mars your voice. As a man thinketh in his heart so is his voice.
QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES
1. Define (a) charm; (b) joy; (c) beauty.
2. Make a list of all the words related to joy.
4. Deliver it without the use of notes. Have you carefully considered all the qualities that go to make up voice-charm in its delivery?
6. Discuss the effect of voice on character.
7. Discuss the effect of character on voice.
9. Analyze the defects of any given voice.
10. Make a short humorous speech imitating certain voice defects, pointing out reasons.
11. Commit the following stanza109 and interpret each phase of delight suggested or expressed by the poet.
An infant when it gazes on a light,
A child the moment when it drains the breast,
A devotee when soars the Host in sight,
An Arab with a stranger for a guest,
A sailor when the prize has struck in fight,
As they who watch o'er what they love while sleeping.
—Byron, Don Juan.
点击收听单词发音
1 innocence | |
n.无罪;天真;无害 | |
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2 delightful | |
adj.令人高兴的,使人快乐的 | |
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3 exquisite | |
adj.精美的;敏锐的;剧烈的,感觉强烈的 | |
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4 melancholy | |
n.忧郁,愁思;adj.令人感伤(沮丧)的,忧郁的 | |
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5 tinge | |
vt.(较淡)着色于,染色;使带有…气息;n.淡淡色彩,些微的气息 | |
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6 minor | |
adj.较小(少)的,较次要的;n.辅修学科;vi.辅修 | |
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7 cadences | |
n.(声音的)抑扬顿挫( cadence的名词复数 );节奏;韵律;调子 | |
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8 twilight | |
n.暮光,黄昏;暮年,晚期,衰落时期 | |
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9 affected | |
adj.不自然的,假装的 | |
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10 placid | |
adj.安静的,平和的 | |
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11 stimulating | |
adj.有启发性的,能激发人思考的 | |
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12 longing | |
n.(for)渴望 | |
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13 secondly | |
adv.第二,其次 | |
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14 aspiration | |
n.志向,志趣抱负;渴望;(语)送气音;吸出 | |
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15 relatively | |
adv.比较...地,相对地 | |
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16 stimulate | |
vt.刺激,使兴奋;激励,使…振奋 | |
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17 din | |
n.喧闹声,嘈杂声 | |
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18 sanguine | |
adj.充满希望的,乐观的,血红色的 | |
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19 contentedness | |
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20 exuberant | |
adj.充满活力的;(植物)繁茂的 | |
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21 joyous | |
adj.充满快乐的;令人高兴的 | |
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22 magnetism | |
n.磁性,吸引力,磁学 | |
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23 delightfully | |
大喜,欣然 | |
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24 contagious | |
adj.传染性的,有感染力的 | |
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25 desultory | |
adj.散漫的,无方法的 | |
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26 alluring | |
adj.吸引人的,迷人的 | |
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27 dissect | |
v.分割;解剖 | |
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28 resonance | |
n.洪亮;共鸣;共振 | |
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29 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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30 illustrated | |
adj. 有插图的,列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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31 dwelling | |
n.住宅,住所,寓所 | |
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32 tiresome | |
adj.令人疲劳的,令人厌倦的 | |
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33 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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34 clan | |
n.氏族,部落,宗族,家族,宗派 | |
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35 lyric | |
n.抒情诗,歌词;adj.抒情的 | |
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36 rim | |
n.(圆物的)边,轮缘;边界 | |
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37 palatial | |
adj.宫殿般的,宏伟的 | |
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38 ward | |
n.守卫,监护,病房,行政区,由监护人或法院保护的人(尤指儿童);vt.守护,躲开 | |
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39 sweeping | |
adj.范围广大的,一扫无遗的 | |
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40 attained | |
(通常经过努力)实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 ); 达到; 获得; 达到(某年龄、水平、状况) | |
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41 wiles | |
n.(旨在欺骗或吸引人的)诡计,花招;欺骗,欺诈( wile的名词复数 ) | |
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42 derides | |
v.取笑,嘲笑( deride的第三人称单数 ) | |
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43 lark | |
n.云雀,百灵鸟;n.嬉戏,玩笑;vi.嬉戏 | |
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44 scatters | |
v.(使)散开, (使)分散,驱散( scatter的第三人称单数 );撒 | |
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45 stoutly | |
adv.牢固地,粗壮的 | |
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46 struts | |
(框架的)支杆( strut的名词复数 ); 支柱; 趾高气扬的步态; (尤指跳舞或表演时)卖弄 | |
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47 dames | |
n.(在英国)夫人(一种封号),夫人(爵士妻子的称号)( dame的名词复数 );女人 | |
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48 slumbering | |
微睡,睡眠(slumber的现在分词形式) | |
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49 shrill | |
adj.尖声的;刺耳的;v尖叫 | |
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50 amber | |
n.琥珀;琥珀色;adj.琥珀制的 | |
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51 furrowed | |
v.犁田,开沟( furrow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52 blithe | |
adj.快乐的,无忧无虑的 | |
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53 mower | |
n.割草机 | |
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54 whets | |
v.(在石头上)磨(刀、斧等)( whet的第三人称单数 );引起,刺激(食欲、欲望、兴趣等) | |
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55 scythe | |
n. 长柄的大镰刀,战车镰; v. 以大镰刀割 | |
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56 hawthorn | |
山楂 | |
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57 foaming | |
adj.布满泡沫的;发泡 | |
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58 tune | |
n.调子;和谐,协调;v.调音,调节,调整 | |
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59 porpoise | |
n.鼠海豚 | |
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60 strife | |
n.争吵,冲突,倾轧,竞争 | |
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61 boughs | |
大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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62 rustle | |
v.沙沙作响;偷盗(牛、马等);n.沙沙声声 | |
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63 rustles | |
n.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的名词复数 )v.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的第三人称单数 ) | |
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64 effulgent | |
adj.光辉的;灿烂的 | |
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65 wilderness | |
n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等,荒漠 | |
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66 blithesome | |
adj.欢乐的,愉快的 | |
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67 moor | |
n.荒野,沼泽;vt.(使)停泊;vi.停泊 | |
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68 emblem | |
n.象征,标志;徽章 | |
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69 abide | |
vi.遵守;坚持;vt.忍受 | |
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70 heralds | |
n.使者( herald的名词复数 );预报者;预兆;传令官v.预示( herald的第三人称单数 );宣布(好或重要) | |
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71 cherub | |
n.小天使,胖娃娃 | |
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72 elastic | |
n.橡皮圈,松紧带;adj.有弹性的;灵活的 | |
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73 vivacity | |
n.快活,活泼,精神充沛 | |
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74 intoxicated | |
喝醉的,极其兴奋的 | |
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75 utterance | |
n.用言语表达,话语,言语 | |
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76 emphatic | |
adj.强调的,着重的;无可置疑的,明显的 | |
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77 vivacious | |
adj.活泼的,快活的 | |
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78 victorious | |
adj.胜利的,得胜的 | |
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79 plunge | |
v.跳入,(使)投入,(使)陷入;猛冲 | |
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80 brook | |
n.小河,溪;v.忍受,容让 | |
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81 bicker | |
vi.(为小事)吵嘴,争吵 | |
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82 ridges | |
n.脊( ridge的名词复数 );山脊;脊状突起;大气层的)高压脊 | |
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83 chatter | |
vi./n.喋喋不休;短促尖叫;(牙齿)打战 | |
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84 stony | |
adj.石头的,多石头的,冷酷的,无情的 | |
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85 eddying | |
涡流,涡流的形成 | |
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86 babble | |
v.含糊不清地说,胡言乱语地说,儿语 | |
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87 pebbles | |
[复数]鹅卵石; 沙砾; 卵石,小圆石( pebble的名词复数 ) | |
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88 fret | |
v.(使)烦恼;(使)焦急;(使)腐蚀,(使)磨损 | |
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89 trout | |
n.鳟鱼;鲑鱼(属) | |
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90 foamy | |
adj.全是泡沫的,泡沫的,起泡沫的 | |
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91 flake | |
v.使成薄片;雪片般落下;n.薄片 | |
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92 gravel | |
n.砂跞;砂砾层;结石 | |
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93 grassy | |
adj.盖满草的;长满草的 | |
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94 murmur | |
n.低语,低声的怨言;v.低语,低声而言 | |
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95 wildernesses | |
荒野( wilderness的名词复数 ); 沙漠; (政治家)在野; 不再当政(或掌权) | |
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96 shingly | |
adj.小石子多的 | |
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97 vitality | |
n.活力,生命力,效力 | |
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98 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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99 hygiene | |
n.健康法,卫生学 (a.hygienic) | |
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100 reign | |
n.统治时期,统治,支配,盛行;v.占优势 | |
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101 reprobate | |
n.无赖汉;堕落的人 | |
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102 theatrical | |
adj.剧场的,演戏的;做戏似的,做作的 | |
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103 burlesque | |
v.嘲弄,戏仿;n.嘲弄,取笑,滑稽模仿 | |
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104 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 | |
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105 eulogy | |
n.颂词;颂扬 | |
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106 joyful | |
adj.欢乐的,令人欢欣的 | |
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107 briefly | |
adv.简单地,简短地 | |
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108 analyze | |
vt.分析,解析 (=analyse) | |
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109 stanza | |
n.(诗)节,段 | |
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110 miser | |
n.守财奴,吝啬鬼 (adj.miserly) | |
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111 hoarded | |
v.积蓄并储藏(某物)( hoard的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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112 rapture | |
n.狂喜;全神贯注;着迷;v.使狂喜 | |
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