While hunting up the garage and negotiating for gasoline Steve thrust resolutely1 from his mind his encounter with O'Malley and the galling2 sense of inferiority it carried with it; but once on the highroad again the smart returned and the sting lingering behind the man's scorn was not to be allayed3. It required every excuse his wounded dignity could muster4 to bolster5 up his pride and make out for himself the plausible6 case that had previously7 comforted him and lulled8 his conscience to rest. It was now more impossible than ever for him to make any confession9, he decided10; for having denied in his father's presence O'Malley's acquaintance it would be ridiculous to acknowledge that he had known the truck driver all along. Of course he could not do that. Whatever he might have said or done at the time, it was entirely11 too late to go back on his conduct now. One event had followed on the heels of another until to slip out a single stone of the structure he had built up would topple over the whole house.
If he had spoken in the beginning that would have been quite simple. All he could do now was
to let bygones be bygones and in the pleasure of to-day forget the mistakes of yesterday. Consoled by this reflection he managed to recapture such a degree of his self-esteem that by the time he rejoined the family he was once more holding his head in the air and smiling with his wonted lightness of heart.
"We shall get you to Northampton now, daughter, without more delay, I hope," Mrs. Tolman affirmed when the car was again skimming along. "We may be a bit behind schedule; nevertheless a late arrival by motor will be pleasanter than to have made the trip by train."
"I should say so!" was the fervent12 ejaculation.
"Come, come!" interrupted Mr. Tolman. "I shall not sit back and allow you two people to cry down the railroads. They are not perfect, I will admit, and unquestionably trains do not always go at the hours we wish they did; a touring car is, perhaps, a more comfortable and luxurious13 method of travel, especially in summer. But just as it is an improvement over the train, so the train was a mighty14 advance over the stagecoach15 of olden days."
"Oh, I don't know, Dad," Stephen mused16. "I am not so sure that I should not have liked stagecoaches17 better. Think what jolly sport it must have been to drive all over the country!"
"In fine weather, yes—that is, if the roads had been as excellent as they are now; but you must remember that in the old coaching days road-building
had not reached its present perfection. Traveling by stage over a rough highway in a conveyance18 that had few springs was not so comfortable an undertaking19 as it is sometimes pictured. Furthermore you must not forget that it was also perilous21, for not only was there danger from accident on these poorly constructed, unlighted thoroughfares but there was in addition the menace from highwaymen in the less populated districts. It took a great while to make a journey of any length, too, and to sleep in a coach where one was cramped22, jolted23, and either none too warm or miserably24 hot was not an unalloyed delight, as I am sure you will agree."
"I had not thought of any of those things," owned Stephen. "It just seemed on the face of it as if it must have been fun to ride on top of the coach and see the sights as one does from the Fifth Avenue or London buses."
"Oh," laughed his father, "a few hours' adventure like that is quite a different affair from making a stagecoach journey. I grant that to ride on a clear morning through the streets of a great city, or bowl along the velvet26 roads of a picturesque27 countryside as one frequently does in England is very delightful28. To read Dickens' descriptions of journeys up to London is to long to don a greatcoat, wind a muffler about one's neck, and amid the cracking of whips and tooting of horns dash off behind the horses for the fairy city his pen portrays29. Who would not have liked, for example, to
set out with Mr. Pickwick for the Christmas holidays at Dingley Dell? Why, you cannot even read about it without seeing in your mind's eye the envious30 throng31 that crowded the inn yard and watched while the stableboys loosed the heads of the leaders and the steeds galloped32 away! And those marvelous country taverns34 he depicts35, with their roaring fires, their steaming roasts, their big platters of fowl36 deluged37 in gravy38, and their hot puddings! Was there ever writer more tantalizing39?"
"You will have us all hungry in two minutes, Dad, if you keep on," exclaimed Stephen.
"And Dickens has us hungry, too," declared Mr. Tolman. "Nevertheless we must not forget that he paints but one side of the picture. He fails to emphasize what such a trip meant when the weather was cold and stormy, and those outside the coach as well as those inside it were often drenched40 with rain or snow, and well-nigh frozen to death. Moreover, while it is true that many of the inns along the turnpike were clean and furnished excellent fare, there were others that could boast nothing better than chilly41 rooms, damp beds, and only a very limited hospitality."
"I believe you are a realist, Henry," said his wife playfully.
Her husband laughed.
"Nor must we lose sight of the time consumed by making a trip by coach," he went on. "Business in those days was not such a rushing matter as it
is now, of course; yet even when issues of importance were at stake, or crises of life and death were to be met, there was no hurrying things beyond a certain point. Physical impossibility prohibited it. Horses driven at their liveliest pace could cover only a comparatively small number of miles an hour; and at the points where the relays were changed, or the horses fed and rested; the mails deposited or taken aboard; and passengers left or picked up, there were unavoidable delays. In fact, the strongest argument against the stagecoach, and the one that influenced public opinion the most, was this so-called fast-mail service; for in order to make connections with other mail coaches along the route and not forfeit42 the money paid for doing so, horses were often driven at such a merciless rate of speed that the poor creatures became total wrecks43 within a very short time. Many a horse fell in its tracks in the inn yards, having been lashed44 along to make the necessary ten miles an hour and reach a specified45 town on schedule. Other horses were maimed for life. It is tragic46 to consider that in England before the advent25 of the railroad about thirty thousand horses were annually47 either killed outright48 or injured so badly that they were of little use afterward49."
"Great Scott, Dad!" ejaculated Stephen.
"And England was no more guilty in this respect than was America, for in the early days of our own country when people were demanding quicker transportation and swifter mail service
thousands of noble beasts offered up their last breath in making the required rate of speed."
"I suppose nobody thought about the horses," murmured the boy. "I am sure I didn't."
"If the public thought at all it was too selfish to care, I am afraid, until threatened by the possibility of the total extermination50 of these creatures," was his father's reply. "This danger, blended with a humane51 impulse which rose from the gentler-minded portion of the populace, was the decisive factor in urging men to seek out some other method of travel. Then, too, the world was waking up commercially and it was becoming imperative52 to find better ways for transporting the ever increasing supplies of merchandise. The quick moving of troops from one point to another was also an issue. Although the canals of England enabled the government to carry quite a large body of men, the method was a slow one. In 1806, for instance, it took exactly a week to shift troops from Liverpool to London, a distance of thirty-four miles."
"Why, they could have marched it in less time than that, couldn't they?" questioned Doris derisively53.
"Yes, the journey might easily have been made on foot in two days," nodded her father. "But in war time a long march which exhausts the soldiers is frequently an unwise policy, for the men are in no condition when they arrive to go into immediate54 action, as reënforcements often must."
"I see," answered Doris.
"When the Liverpool and Manchester Railroad was opened in 1830 this thirty-four miles was covered in two hours," continued Mr. Tolman. "Of course the quick transportation of troops was then, as now, of very vital importance. We have had plenty of illustrations of that in our recent war against Germany. Frequently the fate of a battle has hung on large reënforcements being speedily dispatched to a weak point in the line. Moreover, by means of the railroads, vast quantities of food, ammunition55 and supplies of all sorts can constantly be sent forward to the men in action. During the late war our American engineers laid miles and miles of track under fire, thereby56 keeping open the route to the front so that there was no danger of the fighters being cut off and left unequipped. It was a service for which they, as well as our nation, won the highest praise. And not only was there a constant flow of supplies but it was by means of these railroads that hospital trains were enabled to carry to dressing57 stations far behind the lines thousands of wounded men whose lives might otherwise have been lost."
"I suppose the slightly wounded could be made more comfortable in this way, too," Mrs. Tolman suggested.
"Yes, indeed," was the reply. "Not only were the men better cared for in the roomier hospitals behind the lines, but as there was more space there the peril20 from contagion58, always a menace when
large numbers of sick are packed closely together, was greatly lessened59; for there is nothing army doctors dread60 so much as an epidemic61 of disease when there is not enough room to isolate62 the patients."
"When did England adopt railroads in place of stagecoaches, Dad?" asked Doris presently.
At the question her father laughed.
"See here!" he protested good-humoredly, "what do you think I am? Just because I happen to be a superintendent63 do you think me a volume of railroad history, young woman? The topic, I confess, is a fascinating one; but I am off for a vacation to-day."
"Oh, tell us, Dad, do!" urged the girl.
"Nonsense! What is the use of spoiling a fine morning like this talking business?" objected her father.
"But it is not business to us," interrupted Mrs. Tolman. "It is simple a story—a sort of fairy tale."
"It is not unlike a fairy tale, that's a fact," reflected her husband gravely. "Imagine yourself back, then, in 1700, before steam power was in use in England. Now you must not suppose that steam had never been heard of, for an ancient Alexandrian record dated 120 B. C. describes a steam turbine, steam fountain, and steam boiler64; nevertheless, Hero, the historian who tells us of them, leaves us in doubt as to whether these wonders were actually worked out, or if they were, whether
they were anything but miniature models. Still the fact that they are mentioned goes to prove that there were persons in the world who at a very early date vaguely65 realized the possibilities of steam as a force, whether turned to practical uses or not. For years the subject remained an alluring66 one which led many a scientist into experiments without number. In various parts of the world men played with the idea and wrote about it; but no one actually produced any practical steam contrivance until 1650, when the second Marquis of Worcester constructed a steam fountain that could force the water from the moat around his castle as high as the top of one of the towers. The feat67 was looked upon as a marvel33 and afterward a larger fountain, similar in principle, was constructed at Vauxhall and from that time on the future of steam as a motive68 power was assured."
"Did the Marquis of Worcester go on with his experiments and make other things?" demanded Stephen.
"Apparently69 not," replied his father. "He did, nevertheless, furnish a basis for others to work on. Scientists were encouraged to investigate with redoubled zeal70 this strange vapor71 which, when controlled and directed, could carry water to the top of a castle tower. When in 1698 Savery turned Worcester's crude steam fountain to draining mines and carrying a water supply, every vestige72 of doubt that this mighty power could be applied73 to practical uses vanished."
"Did the steam engine come soon afterward?" queried74 Doris, who had become interested in the story.
"No, not immediately," answered Mr. Tolman, pausing to shift the gear of the car. "Before the steam engine, as we know it, saw the light, there had to be more experimenting and improving of the steam fountain. It was not until 1705 that Thomas Newcomen and his partner, John Calley, invented and patented the first real steam engine. Of course it was not in the least like the engines we use now. Still, it was a steam device with moving parts which would pump water, a tremendous advance over the mechanisms75 of the past where all the power had been secured by the alternate filling and emptying of a vacuum, or vacant receptacle, attached to the pump. Now, with Newcomen's engine a complete revolution took place. The engine with moving parts, the ancestor of our modern exquisitely76 constructed machinery77, speedily crowded out the primitive78 steam fountain idea. The new device was very imperfect, there can be no question about that; but just as the steam fountain furnished the inspiration for the engine with moving parts, so this forward step became the working hypothesis for the engines that followed."
"What engines did follow?" Doris persisted, "and who did invent our steam engine?"
"Silly! And you in college," jeered79 Steve disdainfully.
"I am not taking a course in steam engines
there," laughed his sister teasingly. "Anyway, girls are not expected to know who invented all the machines in the world, are they, Dad?"
Mr. Tolman waited a moment, then said soothingly80:
"No, dear. Girls are not usually so much interested in scientific subjects as boys are—although why they should not be I never could quite understand. Nevertheless, I think it might be as well for even a girl to know to whom we are indebted for such a significant invention as the steam engine.
"It was James Watt81," Stephen asserted triumphantly82.
"It certainly was," his father agreed. "And since your brother has his information at his tongue's end, suppose we get him to tell us more about this remarkable83 person."
Stephen flushed.
"I'm afraid," began he lamely84, "that I don't know much more. You see, I studied about him quite a long time ago and I don't remember the details. I should have to look it up. I do recall the name, though—"
His father looked amused.
"I don't know which of you children is the more blameworthy," remarked he in a bantering85 tone. "Doris, who never heard of Watt; or Stephen, who has forgotten all about him."
Both the boy and the girl chuckled86 good-humoredly.
"At least I knew his name, Dad—give me credit for that," piped Steve.
"That was something, certainly," Mrs. Tolman declared, joining in the laugh.
"Well, since neither of us can furnish the story, I don't see but that you will have to do it, Dad," Doris said mischievously87.
"It would be a terrible humiliation88 if I should discover that I could not do it, wouldn't it?" replied Mr. Tolman with a smile. "In point of fact, there actually is not a great deal more that it is essential for one to know. It was by perfecting the engines of the Newcomen type and adding to them first one and then another valuable device that Watt finally built up the forerunner89 of our present-day engine. The progression was a gradual one. Now he would better one part, then some other. He surrounded the cylinder90, for example, with a jacket, or chamber91, which contained steam at the same pressure as that within the boiler, thereby keeping it as hot as the steam that entered it—a very important improvement over the old idea; then he worked out a plan by which the steam could be admitted at each end of the cylinder instead of at one end, as was the case with former engines. The latter innovation resulted in the push and pull of the piston92 rod. So it went."
"How did Watt come to know so much about engines?" asked Stephen.
"Oh, Watt was an engineer by trade—or rather he was a maker93 of mathematical instruments for
the University of Glasgow, where he came into touch with a Newcomen engine. He also made surveys of rivers, harbors, and canals. So you see it was quite a consistent thing that a man with such a bent94 of mind should take up the pastime of experimenting with a toy like the steam engine in his leisure hours."
"Did he go so far as to patent it, Henry?" Mrs. Tolman questioned.
"Yes, he did. Many of our scientists either had not the wit to do this, alas95, or else they were too impractical96 to appreciate the value of their ideas. In consequence the glory and financial benefit of what they did was often filched97 from them. But Watt was a Scotchman and canny98 enough to realize to some extent what his invention was worth. He therefore obtained a patent on it which was good for twenty-five years; and when, in 1800, this right expired he retired99 from business with both fame and fortune."
"It is nice to hear of one inventor who got something out of his toil," Mrs. Tolman observed.
"Indeed it is. Think of the many men who have slaved day and night, forfeited100 health, friends, and money to give to the world an idea, and never lived to receive either gratitude101 or financial reward, dying unknown or entirely forgotten. There is something tragic about the injustice102 of it. But Watt, I am glad to say, lived long enough to witness the service he had done mankind and enjoy an honored place among the great of the world."
"Is the kind of engine Watt invented now in use?" Doris inquired.
"Yes, that is a double-acting or reciprocating103 engine of a more perfect type," her father returned. "Mechanics and engineers went on improving Watt's engine just as he had improved those that had preceded it. It is interesting, too, to notice that after thousands of years scientists have again worked around to the steam turbine described so long ago in the Alexandrian records. This engine, although it does away with many of the moving parts introduced by Newcomen, preserves the essential principles of that early engine combined with Watt's later improvements. To-day we have a number of different kinds of engines, their variety differing with the purpose to which they are applied. Their cost, weight, and the space they require have been reduced and their power increased, and in addition we have made it possible to run them not only by means of coal or wood but by gasoline, oil, or electricity. We have small, light-weight engines for navigation use; mighty engines to propel our great warships104 and ocean liners; stationary105 engines for mills and power plants; to say nothing of the wonderful locomotive engines that can draw the heaviest trains over the highest of mountains. The principle of all these engines is, however, the same and for the brain behind them we must thank James Watt."
"Was it Watt who invented the locomotive, too?" ventured Doris. Her father shook his head.
"The perfecting of the locomotive, my dear, is, as Kipling says, another story."
"Tell it to us."
"Not now, daughter," protested Mr. Tolman. "I am far too hungry; and more than that I am eager to enjoy this beautiful country and forget railroads and locomotives."
"Did you say you were hungry, Henry?" asked Mrs. Tolman.
"I am—starved!" her husband said apologetically. "Isn't it absurd to be hungry so early in the day?"
"It is nearly noon, Dad!" said Steve, glancing down at the clock in the front of the car.
"Noon! Why, I thought it was still the middle of the morning."
"No, indeed! While you have been talking we have come many a mile, and the time has slipped past," his wife said. "If all goes well—" The shot from a bursting tire rent the air.
"Which evidently it does not," interrupted Mr. Tolman grimly, bringing the car to a stop. "How aggravating106! We were almost into Palmer, where I had planned for us to lunch. Now it may be some little time before we can get anything to eat."
"Motorist's luck! Motorist's luck, my dear!" cried Mrs. Tolman gaily107. "An automobilist must resign himself to taking cheerfully what comes."
"That is all very well," grumbled108 her husband, as he clambered out of the car. "Nevertheless you
must admit that this mishap109 on the heels of the other one is annoying."
Stephen also got out and the two bent to examine the punctured110 tire.
"I should not mind so much if I were not so hungry," murmured Mr. Tolman. "How are you, Steve? Fainting away?"
The boy laughed.
"Well, I could eat something if I had it," he confessed.
"I wish I hadn't mentioned food," went on Mr. Tolman humorously. "It was an unfortunate suggestion."
"I'm hungry, too," piped Doris.
"There, you see the epidemic you have started, Henry," called Mrs. Tolman accusingly. "Here is Doris vowing111 she is in the last throes of starvation."
Nobody noticed that in the meanwhile the mother had reached down and lifted into her lap the small suitcase hidden in the bottom of the car. She opened the cover and began to remove its contents.
At length, when a remark her husband made to her went unheeded, he sensed her preoccupation and came around to the side of the car where she was sitting. Immediately he gave a cry of surprise.
"My word!" he exclaimed. "Steve, come here and see what your mother has."
Stephen looked.
There sat Mrs. Tolman, unpacking112 with quiet enjoyment113 sandwiches, eggs, cake, cookies, and olives.
A shout of pleasure rose from the famished114 travelers.
"So it was not your jewels, after all, Mater!" cried Stephen.
"No, and after the way you have slandered115 me and my little suitcase, none of you deserve a thing to eat," his mother replied. "However, I am going to be magnanimous if only to shame you. Now climb in and we will have our lunch. You can fix the tire afterward."
The men were only too willing to obey.
As with brightened faces they took their seats in the car, Stephen smiled with affection at his mother.
"Well, Mater, Watt was not the only person who lived to see himself appreciated; and I don't believe people were any more grateful to him for his steam engine than we are to you right now for this luncheon116. You are the best mother I ever had."
点击收听单词发音
1 resolutely | |
adj.坚决地,果断地 | |
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2 galling | |
adj.难堪的,使烦恼的,使焦躁的 | |
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3 allayed | |
v.减轻,缓和( allay的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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4 muster | |
v.集合,收集,鼓起,激起;n.集合,检阅,集合人员,点名册 | |
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5 bolster | |
n.枕垫;v.支持,鼓励 | |
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6 plausible | |
adj.似真实的,似乎有理的,似乎可信的 | |
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7 previously | |
adv.以前,先前(地) | |
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8 lulled | |
vt.使镇静,使安静(lull的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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9 confession | |
n.自白,供认,承认 | |
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10 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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11 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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12 fervent | |
adj.热的,热烈的,热情的 | |
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13 luxurious | |
adj.精美而昂贵的;豪华的 | |
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14 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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15 stagecoach | |
n.公共马车 | |
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16 mused | |
v.沉思,冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 );沉思自语说(某事) | |
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17 stagecoaches | |
n.驿马车( stagecoach的名词复数 ) | |
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18 conveyance | |
n.(不动产等的)转让,让与;转让证书;传送;运送;表达;(正)运输工具 | |
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19 undertaking | |
n.保证,许诺,事业 | |
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20 peril | |
n.(严重的)危险;危险的事物 | |
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21 perilous | |
adj.危险的,冒险的 | |
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22 cramped | |
a.狭窄的 | |
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23 jolted | |
(使)摇动, (使)震惊( jolt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24 miserably | |
adv.痛苦地;悲惨地;糟糕地;极度地 | |
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25 advent | |
n.(重要事件等的)到来,来临 | |
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26 velvet | |
n.丝绒,天鹅绒;adj.丝绒制的,柔软的 | |
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27 picturesque | |
adj.美丽如画的,(语言)生动的,绘声绘色的 | |
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28 delightful | |
adj.令人高兴的,使人快乐的 | |
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29 portrays | |
v.画像( portray的第三人称单数 );描述;描绘;描画 | |
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30 envious | |
adj.嫉妒的,羡慕的 | |
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31 throng | |
n.人群,群众;v.拥挤,群集 | |
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32 galloped | |
(使马)飞奔,奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 ); 快速做[说]某事 | |
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33 marvel | |
vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异;n.令人惊异的事 | |
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34 taverns | |
n.小旅馆,客栈,酒馆( tavern的名词复数 ) | |
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35 depicts | |
描绘,描画( depict的第三人称单数 ); 描述 | |
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36 fowl | |
n.家禽,鸡,禽肉 | |
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37 deluged | |
v.使淹没( deluge的过去式和过去分词 );淹没;被洪水般涌来的事物所淹没;穷于应付 | |
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38 gravy | |
n.肉汁;轻易得来的钱,外快 | |
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39 tantalizing | |
adj.逗人的;惹弄人的;撩人的;煽情的v.逗弄,引诱,折磨( tantalize的现在分词 ) | |
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40 drenched | |
adj.湿透的;充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 );在某人(某物)上大量使用(某液体) | |
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41 chilly | |
adj.凉快的,寒冷的 | |
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42 forfeit | |
vt.丧失;n.罚金,罚款,没收物 | |
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43 wrecks | |
n.沉船( wreck的名词复数 );(事故中)遭严重毁坏的汽车(或飞机等);(身体或精神上)受到严重损伤的人;状况非常糟糕的车辆(或建筑物等)v.毁坏[毁灭]某物( wreck的第三人称单数 );使(船舶)失事,使遇难,使下沉 | |
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44 lashed | |
adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 );煽动;紧系;怒斥 | |
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45 specified | |
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46 tragic | |
adj.悲剧的,悲剧性的,悲惨的 | |
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47 annually | |
adv.一年一次,每年 | |
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48 outright | |
adv.坦率地;彻底地;立即;adj.无疑的;彻底的 | |
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49 afterward | |
adv.后来;以后 | |
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50 extermination | |
n.消灭,根绝 | |
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51 humane | |
adj.人道的,富有同情心的 | |
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52 imperative | |
n.命令,需要;规则;祈使语气;adj.强制的;紧急的 | |
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53 derisively | |
adv. 嘲笑地,嘲弄地 | |
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54 immediate | |
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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55 ammunition | |
n.军火,弹药 | |
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56 thereby | |
adv.因此,从而 | |
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57 dressing | |
n.(食物)调料;包扎伤口的用品,敷料 | |
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58 contagion | |
n.(通过接触的疾病)传染;蔓延 | |
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59 lessened | |
减少的,减弱的 | |
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60 dread | |
vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧 | |
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61 epidemic | |
n.流行病;盛行;adj.流行性的,流传极广的 | |
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62 isolate | |
vt.使孤立,隔离 | |
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63 superintendent | |
n.监督人,主管,总监;(英国)警务长 | |
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64 boiler | |
n.锅炉;煮器(壶,锅等) | |
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65 vaguely | |
adv.含糊地,暖昧地 | |
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66 alluring | |
adj.吸引人的,迷人的 | |
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67 feat | |
n.功绩;武艺,技艺;adj.灵巧的,漂亮的,合适的 | |
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68 motive | |
n.动机,目的;adv.发动的,运动的 | |
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69 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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70 zeal | |
n.热心,热情,热忱 | |
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71 vapor | |
n.蒸汽,雾气 | |
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72 vestige | |
n.痕迹,遗迹,残余 | |
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73 applied | |
adj.应用的;v.应用,适用 | |
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74 queried | |
v.质疑,对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 );询问 | |
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75 mechanisms | |
n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 );机械装置;[生物学] 机制;机械作用 | |
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76 exquisitely | |
adv.精致地;强烈地;剧烈地;异常地 | |
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77 machinery | |
n.(总称)机械,机器;机构 | |
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78 primitive | |
adj.原始的;简单的;n.原(始)人,原始事物 | |
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79 jeered | |
v.嘲笑( jeer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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80 soothingly | |
adv.抚慰地,安慰地;镇痛地 | |
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81 watt | |
n.瓦,瓦特 | |
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82 triumphantly | |
ad.得意洋洋地;得胜地;成功地 | |
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83 remarkable | |
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
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84 lamely | |
一瘸一拐地,不完全地 | |
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85 bantering | |
adj.嘲弄的v.开玩笑,说笑,逗乐( banter的现在分词 );(善意地)取笑,逗弄 | |
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86 chuckled | |
轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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87 mischievously | |
adv.有害地;淘气地 | |
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88 humiliation | |
n.羞辱 | |
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89 forerunner | |
n.前身,先驱(者),预兆,祖先 | |
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90 cylinder | |
n.圆筒,柱(面),汽缸 | |
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91 chamber | |
n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所 | |
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92 piston | |
n.活塞 | |
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93 maker | |
n.制造者,制造商 | |
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94 bent | |
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的 | |
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95 alas | |
int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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96 impractical | |
adj.不现实的,不实用的,不切实际的 | |
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97 filched | |
v.偷(尤指小的或不贵重的物品)( filch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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98 canny | |
adj.谨慎的,节俭的 | |
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99 retired | |
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的 | |
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100 forfeited | |
(因违反协议、犯规、受罚等)丧失,失去( forfeit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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101 gratitude | |
adj.感激,感谢 | |
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102 injustice | |
n.非正义,不公正,不公平,侵犯(别人的)权利 | |
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103 reciprocating | |
adj.往复的;来回的;交替的;摆动的v.报答,酬答( reciprocate的现在分词 );(机器的部件)直线往复运动 | |
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104 warships | |
军舰,战舰( warship的名词复数 ); 舰只 | |
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105 stationary | |
adj.固定的,静止不动的 | |
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106 aggravating | |
adj.恼人的,讨厌的 | |
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107 gaily | |
adv.欢乐地,高兴地 | |
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108 grumbled | |
抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 ); 发牢骚; 咕哝; 发哼声 | |
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109 mishap | |
n.不幸的事,不幸;灾祸 | |
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110 punctured | |
v.在(某物)上穿孔( puncture的过去式和过去分词 );刺穿(某物);削弱(某人的傲气、信心等);泄某人的气 | |
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111 vowing | |
起誓,发誓(vow的现在分词形式) | |
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112 unpacking | |
n.取出货物,拆包[箱]v.从(包裹等)中取出(所装的东西),打开行李取出( unpack的现在分词 );拆包;解除…的负担;吐露(心事等) | |
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113 enjoyment | |
n.乐趣;享有;享用 | |
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114 famished | |
adj.饥饿的 | |
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115 slandered | |
造谣中伤( slander的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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116 luncheon | |
n.午宴,午餐,便宴 | |
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