CHAPTER15
Jaypaw forced his legs to carryhim forward to the end of the tunnel. As he emerged, blinking, into brilliant sunlight, several cats crowded around him, mewing excitedly.
“Jay’s Wing! It isyou!”
“Well done! You’re a sharpclaw now.”
“Congratulations!”
At first Jaypaw couldn’t make out individual cats among the press of furry1 bodies. Then a ginger2-and-white she-cat thrust her way through the crowd. Her fur stood on end as she danced on restless paws.
“You’re lucky Jay’s Wing survived the challenge!” she yowled. Her voice quivered with sorrow, and her amber3 eyes were full of bitterness. “Have you forgotten that Fallen Leaves never came out of the tunnels?”
A small gray-and-white she-cat, her belly4 heavy with kits5, padded up to her side and pressed her muzzle7 into her shoulder. “Come on, Broken Shadow,” she murmured. “Let’s go find a patch of sunshine to rest in.”
“You don’t understand, Rising Moon!” Broken Shadow wailed8, but she allowed the other she-cat to lead her away.
Jaypaw stared around him, his mind racing9. He recognized the way the ground sloped down toward the entrance to the tunnels, but the trees were smaller, letting through the bright sunlight that had dazzled him. The spaces between the trees were mostly clear of undergrowth. It was like his home, yet not like it.
Where am I? And who are these strange cats? Has ThunderClan been invaded?
He spun11 around, looking for his Clanmates. Looking?Jaypaw shivered. This feels too real to be a dream.He could feel the wind in his fur and hear the voices of the other cats like birdsong in his ears; his belly was rumbling12 and his paws dragged as though he had truly been awake all night, searching for a way out of the tunnels in order to become a sharpclaw.
A pretty pale gray she-cat bounded up to him, her blue eyes sparkling with affection. She drew her tail down Jaypaw’s side.
“You’re a sharpclaw! It’s so exciting!” she meowed, bouncing gently on her paws. Suddenly her tail drooped14. “I wish our mother could see you.”
Who does she think I am?
“Perhaps Falcon16 Swoop17 cansee you.” A silver-furred she-cat padded up to Jaypaw. She was slender and graceful18, with long legs and brilliant blue eyes.
“Do you really think so, Whispering Breeze?” Jaypaw’s sister meowed hopefully.
“Precious Dove’s Wing, you know how much Falcon Swoop loved you and Jay’s Wing while she was alive. I’m sure she still loves you, wherever she may be.”
“I hope so,” Dove’s Wing murmured.
Jaypaw didn’t understand. Don’t these cats go to StarClan when they die? And why do they all seem to know me?
“Look, there’s been a mistake,” he began. “I’m not who you think I am. And where’s ThunderClan?”
Whispering Breeze stretched out her neck to give him a sniff19. “Are you okay?” she queried20. “I think your brain got scrambled21 down in the tunnels.”
“What’s ThunderClan?” Dove’s Wing asked, faintly anxious. “Did Rock tell you about it?”
Rock?Jaypaw’s belly lurched. Did Dove’s Wing know the sightless cat who lived in the tunnels?
He was about to ask her, when another cat loomed22 over him, a dark ginger tabby tom with muscular shoulders and amber eyes. “Don’t forget sharpclaws never talk about what goes on in the caves,” he warned. “That’s a secret they must keep for the rest of their lives.”
“It’s okay, Furled Bracken,” Dove’s Wing assured him. “Jay’s Wing is just a bit confused.”
Furled Bracken grunted23. “Just so long as he remembers what he was told when he went into the tunnels two nights ago.”
“I haven’t been in the tunnels for two nights!” Jaypaw protested. “I—”
“We were so worried about you when you didn’t come out on the first sunrise,” Dove’s Wing interrupted. “We thought you’d been lost.”
“Like Fallen Leaves,” a new voice broke in. Jaypaw turned and saw a hefty dark gray tabby tom with glittering ice-blue eyes. Sadness radiated from his pelt24. Jaypaw picked up such a strong image of Fallen Leaves from his mind that he guessed this cat must be the drowned cat’s father.
“Stone Song.” Furled Bracken touched the tabby tom’s ear with his nose. “I know how hard this is for you.”
Stone Song sighed. “We waited a moon of sunrises for Fallen Leaves to emerge,” he murmured. “But he never came.” He glanced across at Broken Shadow, who was lying under a tree not far off. Rising Moon crouched26 beside her, grooming27 her gently like a mother with her kit6. “It is time to give up waiting,” Stone Song finished quietly.
Jaypaw stared at the dark gray tabby. How can it be only one moon since Fallen Leaves disappeared? If that’s true, it means this must be long ago!Somehow he had emerged from the tunnels during the time before the Clan10 cats came to the lake, maybe even as far back as when the ancient cats trod the path to the Moonpool.
The stick!Jaypaw felt every hair on his pelt rise. I’m among the cats who are marked on the stick!
He looked back at the mouth of the tunnel. It looked different now, because it was on exposed hillside rather than surrounded by thick undergrowth, but he had sensed its shape when he walked through it to find the WindClan kits, and he was sure it was the same tunnel. Turning, he looked down at the lake, its glinting surface clearly visible throughthe trees. The shape of the water was familiar, but when he looked across to the flank of WindClan territory, he spotted28 Twolegs swarming29 over a mound30 of pale brown earth, pushing it around with yellow monsters. Their roaring hung in the air like the buzzing of bumblebees.
Jaypaw padded forward to the edge of the slope to take a closer look. A moment later, Furled Bracken joined him. “The Twolegs are still moving the earth,” he meowed worriedly. “Chasing Clouds and I went down there to check it out, but we still don’t know what they’re doing.”
“They’re building nests,” Jaypaw replied without thinking.
Furled Bracken gave him a sharp look. “What, nests for Twolegs to live in? There are a few in the woods on the other side of the lake, but Twolegs have never tried to live any closer than that.”
“Yes, there’ll be four nests.” Jaypaw remembered Hollyleaf’s and Lionblaze’s description of the horseplace. “The Twolegs are going to keep horses there.”
He realized that Furled Bracken was looking at him with a strange expression in his eyes. “How do you know that?” he gasped31.
Jaypaw gulped32. Mouse-brain!Of course these cats had no way of knowing what the Twolegs were doing with their yellow monsters. Had he just made a prophecy that was going to come true?
The ginger tom was still giving him a doubtful look. And I can’t say I blame him.Jaypaw was relieved to see Dove’s Wing bounding toward them.
“What are you doing, standing35 here?” she demanded as she gave him a shove back toward the deeper part of the forest. “You must be worn out and starving after being in the tunnels all that time. You need to rest. And I want Rising Moon to take a look at your pads. They’re bleeding from walking on stone for so long.”
Jaypaw looked down and saw spots of blood smeared36 on the grass where he had put his paws. Pain suddenly swept over him, and his head spun from the hunger that snarled37 in his belly. Maybe he really had been in the tunnels for two nights. He was glad to follow Dove’s Wing into the trees, where the long shadows of early morning striped the grass.
“Are we going to the camp?” he asked.
Dove’s Wing turned back, her blue eyes puzzled. “What do you mean? Are you sure you’re feeling all right?”
Okay, so these cats don’t have a camp,Jaypaw guessed. Think before you ask any more questions, stupid furball!
Looking worried, Dove’s Wing nosed aside some tendrils of ivy38 hanging from an oak tree, to reveal a cozy39 scoop40 among the roots. The bottom was lined with moss41 and feathers; warm scent42 clung about it.
This must be a den13.Jaypaw bent43 his head to sniff, and felt every muscle in his body tense. That’s my own scent!
Dove’s Wing nudged him forward. “Lie down. I’m going to fetch Rising Moon.”
Rising Moon must be the medicine cat,Jaypaw thought, remembering how she had comforted Fallen Leaves’s mother. He watched Dove’s Wing as she trotted44 away, trying to spot more dens45 among the trees and scant46 undergrowth. He couldn’t see any, but the intensity47 of scent in the air suggested they were not far-off.
Worn out, Jaypaw crawled into the den, curled up, and closed his eyes. Anxiety clawed through him. Will I ever get back to ThunderClan?But he was so exhausted48 that he fell into a shallow, uneasy sleep.
“…these are good juicy dock leaves.” The voice roused Jaypaw from his doze49. “Well done for finding that clump50.”
Relief flooded through him. He was back in his nest in the medicine cats’ den, with Leafpool talking about herbs close by
Then he opened his eyes and saw tangled51 brown roots and soft feathers around his head. He could still see. The voice he could hear wasn’t Leafpool’s, and when the ivy tendrils twitched to one side, Dove’s Wing and Rising Moon looked down at him, their eyes huge with concern. Dove’s Wing had a bunch of dock leaves in her jaws52. Jaypaw gave himself a tiny shake. If he wasn’t going to wake up back in his own Clan, in his own time, then he must be here for a reason. Maybe this was another place where he’d find answers to his questions about the prophecy—answers that StarClan couldn’t give him.
“Were you hurt while you were in the tunnels?” Rising Moon asked.
Jaypaw shook his head. “N-no. I’m not injured. My pads are sore, that’s all.”
“Were you scared down there?”
“A bit.” Jaypaw wondered if Rising Moon thought he was losing his mind. Dove’s Wing must have told her about the peculiar53 things he’d said. “I’m really tired, though,” he added, hoping she would believe that was the reason for his odd behavior. “And hungry. I…I guess that’s made me confused.”
He had to convince these cats that he really was Jay’s Wing. He wasn’t sure what they would do to him if they discovered he wasn’t. They certainly wouldn’t believe him if he told them the truth.
He had waited for so long to find out about the ancient cats, and now here he was, living among them! No other cat in the Clans54 or the Tribe of Rushing Water knew as much as this about the cats who once lived beside the lake. Jaypaw had always been conscious of them, felt their pelts55 brush against his, heard their whispers by the lake, and trodden in their paw steps on his way to the Moonpool.
And now I’m one of them!
Rising Moon blinked thoughtfully. “I guess there’s nothing wrong that food and rest won’t cure. Let’s look at your pads.” She crawled down into the den to crouch25 beside Jaypaw. “Have you licked them clean?”
“Uh…no.”
Rising Moon waited while Jaypaw’s tongue rasped busily at his pads, scraping off the mud and grit56. Dove’s Wing dropped the mouthful of dock leaves down to her.
“Oh, are you using dock?” Jaypaw asked, looking up from his licking. “I always thought horsetail was best to stop bleeding.”
Rising Moon’s eyes widened in surprise. “Horsetail? I’ve never heard of that. I don’t think it grows around here. Where did you hear about it?”
Think next time before you open your jaws, mouse-brain!“Er…I think one of the elders mentioned it,” he muttered, hoping that these cats hadelders.
“I’ll have a word with Running Horse later,” Rising Moon meowed. “He taught me so much about herbs, I’m sure he’ll know about it.”
“I saw Dawn River using yarrow the other day,” Dove’s Wing added helpfully. “We could ask her advice, too.”
So they don’t have a single medicine cat, Jaypaw thought as Rising Moon rubbed the cooling dock leaves on his pads. Just a few cats who share knowledge about herbs. And they don’t know as much as a Clan medicine cat.
Jaypaw remembered how uncertain Dove’s Wing had been that her mother might be watching her. If these cats had no medicine cat, that could explain why they weren’t aware of their ancestors. What do they think happens when a cat dies?
“There.” Rising Moon finished rubbing the last of Jaypaw’s pads. “Does that feel better?”
“It feels great, thanks.” Even though he knew that horsetail would have worked better, Jaypaw was still grateful for thecooling juices on his pads.
“You can rub your feet again later,” the she-cat went on, pushing the remaining dock leaves together into a pile. “But you’d better get some sleep now.”
“I’ll bring you something to eat,” Dove’s Wing promised.
Jaypaw’s jaws stretched in an enormous yawn. He was barely aware of Rising Moon scrambling58 out of the den. Closing his eyes, he let himself drift into sleep.
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收听单词发音
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1
furry
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| adj.毛皮的；似毛皮的；毛皮制的 | |
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ginger
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| n.姜，精力，淡赤黄色；adj.淡赤黄色的；vt.使活泼，使有生气 | |
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amber
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| n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的 | |
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belly
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| n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛 | |
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kits
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| 衣物和装备( kit的名词复数 )； 成套用品； 配套元件 | |
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kit
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| n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物 | |
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muzzle
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| n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默 | |
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8
wailed
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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clan
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| n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派 | |
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spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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12
rumbling
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| n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词 | |
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13
den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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14
drooped
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| 弯曲或下垂，发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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falcon
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| n.隼，猎鹰 | |
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swoop
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| n.俯冲，攫取；v.抓取，突然袭击 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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19
sniff
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| vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视 | |
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20
queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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21
scrambled
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| 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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22
loomed
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| 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 | |
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23
grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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24
pelt
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| v.投掷，剥皮，抨击，开火 | |
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25
crouch
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| v.蹲伏，蜷缩，低头弯腰；n.蹲伏 | |
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26
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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27
grooming
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| n. 修饰, 美容，（动物）梳理毛发 | |
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28
spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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29
swarming
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| 密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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30
mound
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| n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫 | |
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31
gasped
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| 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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32
gulped
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| v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的过去式和过去分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住 | |
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33
twitched
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| vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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34
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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35
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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36
smeared
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| 弄脏； 玷污； 涂抹； 擦上 | |
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37
snarled
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| 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 | |
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38
ivy
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| n.常青藤，常春藤 | |
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39
cozy
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| adj.亲如手足的，密切的，暖和舒服的 | |
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40
scoop
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| n.铲子，舀取，独家新闻；v.汲取，舀取，抢先登出 | |
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41
moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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42
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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43
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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44
trotted
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| 小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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45
dens
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| n.牙齿，齿状部分；兽窝( den的名词复数 )；窝点；休息室；书斋 | |
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46
scant
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| adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略 | |
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47
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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48
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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49
doze
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| v.打瞌睡；n.打盹，假寐 | |
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50
clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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51
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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52
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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53
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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54
clans
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| 宗族( clan的名词复数 )； 氏族； 庞大的家族； 宗派 | |
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55
pelts
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| n. 皮毛，投掷, 疾行 vt. 剥去皮毛，（连续）投掷 vi. 猛击，大步走 | |
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56
grit
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| n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关 | |
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57
tingled
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| v.有刺痛感( tingle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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58
scrambling
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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