HE big polo match came off the next day. It was the first of the season, and, taking respectful note of the fact, the barometer1, after a night of showers, jumped back to Fair.
All Fifth Avenue had poured down to see New York versus2 Hempstead. The beautifully rolled lawns and freshly painted club stand were sprinkled with spring dresses and abloom with sunshades, and coaches and other vehicles without number enclosed the farther side of the field.
Hayley Delane still played polo, though he had grown so heavy that the cost of
{19}
providing himself with mounts must have been considerable. He was, of course, no longer regarded as in the first rank; indeed, in these later days, when the game has become an exact science, I hardly know to what use such a weighty body as his could be put. But in that far-off dawn of the sport his sureness and swiftness of stroke caused him to be still regarded as a useful back, besides being esteemed3 for the part he had taken in introducing and establishing the game.
I remember little of the beginning of the game, which resembled many others I had seen. I never played myself, and I had no money on: for me the principal interest of the scene lay in the May weather, the ripple4 of spring dresses over the turf, the sense of youth, fun, gaiety, of young manhood and womanhood weaving their eternal pattern under the
{20}
conniving sky. Now and then they were interrupted for a moment by a quick “Oh” which turned all those tangled5 glances the same way, as two glittering streaks6 of men and horses dashed across the green, locked, swayed, rayed outward into starry7 figures, and rolled back. But it was for a moment only—then eyes wandered again, chatter8 began, and youth and sex had it their own way till the next charge shook them from their trance.
I was of the number of these divided watchers. Polo as a spectacle did not amuse me for long, and I saw about as little of it as the pretty girls perched beside their swains on coach-tops and club stand. But by chance my vague wanderings brought me to the white palings enclosing the field, and there, in a cluster of spectators, I caught sight of Leila Delane.
{21}
As I approached I was surprised to notice a familiar figure shouldering away from her. One still saw old Bill Gracy often enough in the outer purlieus of the big race-courses; but I wondered how he had got into the enclosure of a fashionable Polo Club. There he was, though, unmistakably; who could forget that swelling9 chest under the shabby-smart racing-coat, the gray top-hat always pushed back from his thin auburn curls, and the mixture of furtiveness10 and swagger which made his liquid glance so pitiful? Among the figures that rose here and there like warning ruins from the dead-level of old New York’s respectability, none was more typical than Bill Gracy’s; my gaze followed him curiously11 as he shuffled12 away from his daughter. “Trying to get more money out of her,” I concluded; and re
{22}
membered what Alstrop had said of Delane’s generosity13.
“Well, if I were Delane,” I thought, “I’d pay a good deal to keep that old ruffian out of sight.”
Mrs. Delane, turning to watch her father’s retreat, saw me and nodded. At the same moment Delane, on a tall deep-chested poney, ambled14 across the field, stick on shoulder. As he rode thus, heavily yet mightily15, in his red-and-black shirt and white breeches, his head standing16 out like a bronze against the turf, I whimsically recalled the figure of Guidoriccio da Foligno, the famous mercenary, riding at a slow powerful pace across the fortressed fresco17 of the Town Hall of Siena. Why a New York banker of excessive weight and more than middle age, jogging on a poney across a Long Island polo field, should have reminded me of a
{23}
martial figure on an armoured war-horse, I find it hard to explain. As far as I knew there were no turreted18 fortresses19 in Delane’s background; and his too juvenile20 polo cap and gaudy21 shirt were a poor substitute for Guidoriccio’s coat of mail. But it was the kind of trick the man was always playing; reminding me, in his lazy torpid22 way, of times and scenes and people greater than he could know. That was why he kept on interesting me.
It was this interest which caused me to pause by Mrs. Delane, whom I generally avoided. After a vague smile she had already turned her gaze on the field.
“You’re admiring your husband?” I suggested, as Delane’s trot23 carried him across our line of vision.
She glanced at me dubiously24. “You think he’s too fat to play, I suppose?” she retorted, a little snappishly.
{24}
“I think he’s the finest figure in sight. He looks like a great general, a great soldier of fortune—in an old fresco, I mean.”
She stared, perhaps suspecting irony25, as she always did beneath the unintelligible26.
“Ah, he can pay anything he likes for his mounts!” she murmured; and added, with a wandering laugh: “Do you mean it as a compliment? Shall I tell him what you say?”
“I wish you would.”
But her eyes were off again, this time to the opposite end of the field. Of course—Bolton Byrne was playing on the other side! The fool of a woman was always like that—absorbed in her latest adventure. Yet there had been so many, and she must by this time have been so radiantly sure there would be more! But
{25}
at every one the girl was born anew in her: she blushed, palpitated, “sat out” dances, plotted for tête-à-têtes, pressed flowers (I’ll wager) in her copy of “Omar Khayyám,” and was all white muslin and wild roses while it lasted. And the Byrne fever was then at its height.
It did not seem polite to leave her immediately, and I continued to watch the field at her side. “It’s their last chance to score,” she flung at me, leaving me to apply the ambiguous pronoun; and after that we remained silent.
The game had been a close one; the two sides were five each, and the crowd about the rails hung breathless on the last minutes. The struggle was short and swift, and dramatic enough to hold even the philanderers on the coach-tops. Once I stole a glance at Mrs. Delane, and saw the colour rush to her cheek. Byrne was
{26}
hurling himself across the field, crouched27 on the neck of his somewhat weedy mount, his stick swung like a lance—a pretty enough sight, for he was young and supple28, and light in the saddle.
“They’re going to win!” she gasped29 with a happy cry.
But just then Byrne’s poney, unequal to the pace, stumbled, faltered30, and came down. His rider dropped from the saddle, hauled the animal to his feet, and stood for a minute half-dazed before he scrambled31 up again. That minute made the difference. It gave the other side their chance. The knot of men and horses tightened32, wavered, grew loose, broke up in arrowing flights; and suddenly a ball—Delane’s—sped through the enemy’s goal, victorious33. A roar of delight went up; “Good for old Hayley!” voices shouted. Mrs. Delane gave a little sour laugh.
{27}
“That—that beastly poney; I warned him it was no good—and the ground still so slippery,” she broke out.
“The poney? Why, he’s a ripper. It’s not every mount that will carry Delane’s weight,” I said. She stared at me unseeingly and turned away with twitching34 lips. I saw her speeding off toward the enclosure.
I followed hastily, wanting to see Delane in the moment of his triumph. I knew he took all these little sporting successes with an absurd seriousness, as if, mysteriously, they were the shadow of more substantial achievements, dreamed of, or accomplished35, in some previous life. And perhaps the elderly man’s vanity in holding his own with the youngsters was also an element of his satisfaction; how could one tell, in a mind of such monumental simplicity36?
{28}
When I reached the saddling enclosure I did not at once discover him; an unpleasant sight met my eyes instead. Bolton Byrne, livid and withered—his face like an old woman’s, I thought—rode across the empty field, angrily lashing37 his poney’s flanks. He slipped to the ground, and as he did so, struck the shivering animal a last blow clean across the head. An unpleasant sight—
But retribution fell. It came like a black-and-red thunderbolt descending38 on the wretch39 out of the heaven. Delane had him by the collar, had struck him with his whip across the shoulders, and then flung him off like a thing too mean for human handling. It was over in the taking of a breath—then, while the crowd hummed and closed in, leaving Byrne to slink away as if he had become invisible, I saw my big Delane, grown calm and apathetic40,
{29}
turn to the poney and lay a soothing41 hand on its neck.
I was pushing forward, moved by the impulse to press that hand, when his wife went up to him. Though I was not far off I could not hear what she said; people did not speak loud in those days, or “make scenes,” and the two or three words which issued from Mrs. Delane’s lips must have been inaudible to everyone but her husband. On his dark face they raised a sudden redness; he made a motion of his free arm (the other hand still on the poney’s neck), as if to wave aside an importunate42 child; then he felt in his pocket, drew out a cigarette, and lit it. Mrs. Delane, white as a ghost, was hurrying back to Alstrop’s coach.
I was turning away too when I saw her husband hailed again. This time it was Bill Gracy, shoving and yet effacing43
{30}
himself, as his manner was, who came up, a facile tear on his lashes44, his smile half tremulous, half defiant45, a yellow-gloved hand held out.
“God bless you for it, Hayley—God bless you, my dear boy!”
Delane’s hand reluctantly left the poney’s neck. It wavered for an instant, just touched the other’s palm, and was instantly engulfed46 in it. Then Delane, without speaking, turned toward the shed where his mounts were being rubbed down, while his father-in-law swaggered from the scene.
I had promised, on the way home, to stop for tea at a friend’s house half-way between the Polo Club and Alstrop’s. Another friend, who was also going there, offered me a lift, and carried me on to Alstrop’s afterward47.
{31}
During our drive, and about the tea-table, the talk of course dwelt mainly on the awkward incident of Bolton Byrne’s thrashing. The women were horrified48 or admiring, as their humour moved them; but the men all agreed that it was natural enough. In such a case any pretext49 was permissible50, they said; though it was stupid of Hayley to air his grievance51 on a public occasion. But then he was stupid—that was the consensus52 of opinion. If there was a blundering way of doing a thing that needed to be done, trust him to hit on it! For the rest, everyone spoke53 of him affectionately, and agreed that Leila was a fool ... and nobody particularly liked Byrne, an “outsider” who had pushed himself into society by means of cheek and showy horsemanship. But Leila, it was agreed, had always had a weakness for “outsiders,” perhaps be
{32}
cause their admiration54 flattered her extreme desire to be thought “in.”
“Wonder how many of the party you’ll find left—this affair must have caused a good deal of a shake-up,” my friend said, as I got down at Alstrop’s door; and the same thought was in my own mind. Byrne would be gone, of course; and no doubt, in another direction, Delane and Leila. I wished I had a chance to shake that blundering hand of Hayley’s....
Hall and drawing-room were empty; the dressing-bell must have sounded its discreet55 appeal more than once, and I was relieved to find it had been heeded56. I didn’t want to stumble on any of my fellow-guests till I had seen our host. As I was dashing upstairs I heard him call me from the library, and turned back.
“No hurry—dinner put off till nine,” he said cheerfully; and added, on a note
{33}
of inexpressible relief: “We’ve had a tough job of it—ouf!”
The room looked as if they had: the card tables stood untouched, and the deep armchairs, gathered into confidential57 groups, seemed still deliberating on the knotty58 problem. I noticed that a good deal of whiskey and soda59 had gone toward its solution.
“What happened? Has Byrne left?”
“Byrne? No—thank goodness!” Alstrop looked at me almost reproachfully. “Why should he? That was just what we wanted to avoid.”
“I don’t understand. You don’t mean that he’s stayed and the Delanes have gone?”
“Lord forbid! Why should they, either? Hayley’s apologized!”
My jaw60 fell, and I returned my host’s stare.
{34}
“Apologized? To that hound? For what?”
Alstrop gave an impatient shrug61. “Oh, for God’s sake don’t reopen the cursèd question,” it seemed to say. Aloud he echoed: “For what? Why, after all, a man’s got a right to thrash his own poney, hasn’t he? It was beastly unsportsmanlike, of course—but it’s nobody’s business if Byrne chooses to be that kind of a cad. That’s what Hayley saw—when he cooled down.”
“Then I’m sorry he cooled down.”
Alstrop looked distinctly annoyed. “I don’t follow you. We had a hard enough job. You said you wanted to see him in a rage just once; but you don’t want him to go on making an ass62 of himself, do you?”
“I don’t call it making an ass of himself to thrash Byrne.
{35}
”
“And to advertise his conjugal63 difficulties all over Long Island, with twenty newspaper reporters at his heels?”
I stood silent, baffled but incredulous. “I don’t believe he ever gave that a thought. I wonder who put it to him first in that way?”
Alstrop twisted his unlit cigarette about in his fingers. “We all did—as delicately as we could. But it was Leila who finally convinced him. I must say Leila was very game.”
I still pondered: the scene in the paddock rose again before me, the quivering agonized64 animal, and the way Delane’s big hand had been laid reassuringly65 on its neck.
“Nonsense! I don’t believe a word of it!” I declared.
“A word of what I’ve been telling you?
{36}
”
“Well, of the official version of the case.”
To my surprise, Alstrop met my glance with an eye neither puzzled nor resentful. A shadow seemed to be lifted from his honest face.
“What do you believe?” he asked.
“Why, that Delane thrashed that cur for ill-treating the poney, and not in the least for being too attentive66 to Mrs. Delane. I was there, I tell you—I saw him.”
Alstrop’s brow cleared completely. “There’s something to be said for that theory,” he agreed, smiling over the match he was holding to his cigarette.
“Well, then—what was there to apologize for?”
“Why, for that—butting in between Byrne and his horse. Don’t you see, you young idiot? If Hayley hadn’t apolo
{37}
gized, the mud was bound to stick to his wife. Everybody would have said the row was on her account. It’s as plain as the knob on the door—there wasn’t anything else for him to do. He saw it well enough after she’d said a dozen words to him—”
“I wonder what those words were,” I muttered.
“Don’t know. He and she came downstairs together. He looked a hundred years old, poor old chap. ‘It’s the cruelty, it’s the cruelty,’ he kept saying; ‘I hate cruelty.’ I rather think he knows we’re all on his side. Anyhow, it’s all patched up and well patched up; and I’ve ordered my last ’eighty-four Georges Goulet brought up for dinner. Meant to keep it for my own wedding-breakfast; but since this afternoon I’ve rather lost interest in that festivity,” Alstrop concluded with a celibate67 grin.
{38}
“Well,” I repeated, as though it were a relief to say, “I could swear he did it for the poney.”
“Oh, so could I,” my host acquiesced68 as we went upstairs together.
On my threshold, he took me by the arm and followed me in. I saw there was still something on his mind.
“Look here, old chap—you say you were in there when it happened?”
“Yes. Close by—”
“Well,” he interrupted, “for the Lord’s sake don’t allude69 to the subject tonight, will you?”
“Of course not.”
“Thanks a lot. Truth is, it was a narrow squeak70, and I couldn’t help admiring the way Leila played up. She was in a fury with Hayley; but she got herself in hand in no time, and behaved very decently. She told me privately71 he was
{39}
often like that—flaring out all of a sudden like a madman. You wouldn’t imagine it, would you, with that quiet way of his? She says she thinks it’s his old wound.”
“What old wound?”
“Didn’t you know he was wounded—where was it? Bull Run, I believe. In the head—”
No, I hadn’t known; hadn’t even heard, or remembered, that Delane had been in the Civil War. I stood and stared in my astonishment72.
“Hayley Delane? In the war?”
“Why, of course. All through it.”
“But Bull Run—Bull Run was at the very beginning.” I broke off to go through a rapid mental calculation. “Look here, Jack73, it can’t be; he’s not over fifty-five. You told me so yourself.
{40}
If he was in it from the beginning he must have gone into it as a schoolboy.”
“Well, that’s just what he did: ran away from school to volunteer. His family didn’t know what had become of him till he was wounded. I remember hearing my people talk about it. Great old sport, Hayley. I’d have given a lot not to have this thing happen; not at my place anyhow; but it has, and there’s no help for it. Look here, you swear you won’t make a sign, will you? I’ve got all the others into line, and if you’ll back us up we’ll have a regular Happy Family Evening. Jump into your clothes—it’s nearly nine.
{41}
”
点击收听单词发音
1 barometer | |
n.气压表,睛雨表,反应指标 | |
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2 versus | |
prep.以…为对手,对;与…相比之下 | |
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3 esteemed | |
adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 );敬重;认为;以为 | |
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4 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 | |
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5 tangled | |
adj. 纠缠的,紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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6 streaks | |
n.(与周围有所不同的)条纹( streak的名词复数 );(通常指不好的)特征(倾向);(不断经历成功或失败的)一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 );使布满条纹 | |
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7 starry | |
adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的 | |
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8 chatter | |
vi./n.喋喋不休;短促尖叫;(牙齿)打战 | |
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9 swelling | |
n.肿胀 | |
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10 furtiveness | |
偷偷摸摸,鬼鬼祟祟 | |
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11 curiously | |
adv.有求知欲地;好问地;奇特地 | |
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12 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 | |
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13 generosity | |
n.大度,慷慨,慷慨的行为 | |
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14 ambled | |
v.(马)缓行( amble的过去式和过去分词 );从容地走,漫步 | |
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15 mightily | |
ad.强烈地;非常地 | |
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16 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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17 fresco | |
n.壁画;vt.作壁画于 | |
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18 turreted | |
a.(像炮塔般)旋转式的 | |
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19 fortresses | |
堡垒,要塞( fortress的名词复数 ) | |
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20 juvenile | |
n.青少年,少年读物;adj.青少年的,幼稚的 | |
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21 gaudy | |
adj.华而不实的;俗丽的 | |
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22 torpid | |
adj.麻痹的,麻木的,迟钝的 | |
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23 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 | |
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24 dubiously | |
adv.可疑地,怀疑地 | |
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25 irony | |
n.反语,冷嘲;具有讽刺意味的事,嘲弄 | |
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26 unintelligible | |
adj.无法了解的,难解的,莫明其妙的 | |
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27 crouched | |
v.屈膝,蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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28 supple | |
adj.柔软的,易弯的,逢迎的,顺从的,灵活的;vt.使柔软,使柔顺,使顺从;vi.变柔软,变柔顺 | |
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29 gasped | |
v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要 | |
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30 faltered | |
(嗓音)颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 ); 支吾其词; 蹒跚; 摇晃 | |
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31 scrambled | |
v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 );攀登;争夺;(军事飞机)紧急起飞 | |
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32 tightened | |
收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 ); (使)变紧; (使)绷紧; 加紧 | |
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33 victorious | |
adj.胜利的,得胜的 | |
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34 twitching | |
n.颤搐 | |
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35 accomplished | |
adj.有才艺的;有造诣的;达到了的 | |
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36 simplicity | |
n.简单,简易;朴素;直率,单纯 | |
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37 lashing | |
n.鞭打;痛斥;大量;许多v.鞭打( lash的现在分词 );煽动;紧系;怒斥 | |
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38 descending | |
n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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39 wretch | |
n.可怜的人,不幸的人;卑鄙的人 | |
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40 apathetic | |
adj.冷漠的,无动于衷的 | |
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41 soothing | |
adj.慰藉的;使人宽心的;镇静的 | |
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42 importunate | |
adj.强求的;纠缠不休的 | |
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43 effacing | |
谦逊的 | |
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44 lashes | |
n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 );鞭子;突然猛烈的一击;急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 );煽动;紧系;怒斥 | |
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45 defiant | |
adj.无礼的,挑战的 | |
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46 engulfed | |
v.吞没,包住( engulf的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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47 afterward | |
adv.后来;以后 | |
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48 horrified | |
a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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49 pretext | |
n.借口,托词 | |
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50 permissible | |
adj.可允许的,许可的 | |
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51 grievance | |
n.怨愤,气恼,委屈 | |
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52 consensus | |
n.(意见等的)一致,一致同意,共识 | |
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53 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 | |
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54 admiration | |
n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕 | |
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55 discreet | |
adj.(言行)谨慎的;慎重的;有判断力的 | |
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56 heeded | |
v.听某人的劝告,听从( heed的过去式和过去分词 );变平,使(某物)变平( flatten的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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57 confidential | |
adj.秘(机)密的,表示信任的,担任机密工作的 | |
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58 knotty | |
adj.有结的,多节的,多瘤的,棘手的 | |
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59 soda | |
n.苏打水;汽水 | |
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60 jaw | |
n.颚,颌,说教,流言蜚语;v.喋喋不休,教训 | |
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61 shrug | |
v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
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62 ass | |
n.驴;傻瓜,蠢笨的人 | |
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63 conjugal | |
adj.婚姻的,婚姻性的 | |
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64 agonized | |
v.使(极度)痛苦,折磨( agonize的过去式和过去分词 );苦斗;苦苦思索;感到极度痛苦 | |
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65 reassuringly | |
ad.安心,可靠 | |
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66 attentive | |
adj.注意的,专心的;关心(别人)的,殷勤的 | |
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67 celibate | |
adj.独身的,独身主义的;n.独身者 | |
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68 acquiesced | |
v.默认,默许( acquiesce的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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69 allude | |
v.提及,暗指 | |
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70 squeak | |
n.吱吱声,逃脱;v.(发出)吱吱叫,侥幸通过;(俚)告密 | |
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71 privately | |
adv.以私人的身份,悄悄地,私下地 | |
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72 astonishment | |
n.惊奇,惊异 | |
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73 jack | |
n.插座,千斤顶,男人;v.抬起,提醒,扛举;n.(Jake)杰克 | |
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