Jayfeather sat still while the restof the Clan1 swirled2 around him, buzzing with tension and excitement.
“I’m scared.” Jayfeather recognized Bumblekit’s voice close by. “What if Sol comes into the camp and gets us?”
Jayfeather heard the rasp of a tongue, and pictured Millie giving her son a comforting lick. “Sol is far away, little one,” she murmured.
“And there are big, strong warriors5 here to guard us,” Daisy added. “Do you think that your father would let any cat lay a claw on you?”
Bumblekit’s tone brightened. “No! Graystripe is the best!”
Jayfeather wished he could be reassured6 as easily as the kit3. He knew bad times were coming. Fear, suspicion, and accusation7 crashed over him from all sides, as if his Clanmates were hurling8 rocks at him. He felt sick and dizzy, and the ground under his paws didn’t seem solid anymore.
Beside him, he heard Mousefur heaving herself to her paws with a gusty9 sigh. “If Ashfur’s killer10 meant to stir up trouble, mission accomplished11. That cat has stuck a nose into a nest of bees by taking one of our warriors.”
And that cat will get stung. But Jayfeather didn’t want to think about what might happen to Ashfur’s murderer.
He picked out Lionblaze from the mingled13 scents15 of ThunderClan cats, but his brother didn’t slow down as he padded past.
“So you’re going to find Sol,” Jayfeather called to him.
Lionblaze halted. “Yes.”
Jayfeather was desperate to talk to his brother as they always did: easily, with nothing left unspoken. But the secret they had shared since the night of the storm made it impossible.
The awkward silence was broken by Hollyleaf padding up to them.
“You never told us you’d seen Sol,” Jayfeather meowed.
He could imagine his sister’s shrug16. “It didn’t matter then.”
“Even so, you should have said something.” Lionblaze sounded upset. “You know Sol was supposed to help us with the prophecy.”
“What prophecy?” Hollyleaf snapped. “There isn’t a prophecy, as far as we’re concerned.”
“You didn’t know that when you saw Sol.”
Jayfeather winced17 as he listened to them bicker18. There was no point to their argument, except that it stopped them from discussing the only thing that mattered: whether any of them believed that Sol had killed Ashfur.
I’m glad I’m not going,he told himself. I don’t want to listen to them all the way to the sun-drown-place and back!
Leafpool’s voice cut across his thoughts. “Jayfeather, there you are! I want you to come help me prepare herbs for the patrol.”
“Okay, coming.”
He rose to his paws and followed his mentor19 back to the medicine cats’ den20, leaving Hollyleaf and Lionblaze to their squabbling. As soon as he brushed past the bramble screen, his mouth filled with the scent14 of the traveling herbs.
“I’ve laid everything out,” Leafpool told him. “We just have to make them into leaf wraps.”
It was a relief to have something to distract him, but the task was soon done, and he emerged into the clearing again with a leaf wrap for Brambleclaw clamped between his jaws21. By now the excitement over the patrol was beginning to die down, and the cats were returning to their dens22. Distinguishing Brambleclaw’s scent from the tang of the herbs he carried was difficult, but Jayfeather finally located him with Squirrelflight near the fresh-kill pile.
“I wish you were coming with us,” Brambleclaw was mewing to his mate as Jayfeather padded up. “We have so many good memories from that journey.”
Jayfeather caught the wistful note in his voice. It was as if the Clan deputy was looking back to a good time that was over, and regretting everything that had gone wrong since.
I wonder if he knows how wrong?
“I wish I was coming, too,” Squirrelflight replied, her voice subdued23. “But I’m probably not fit enough for a long journey, after the wound I took in the battle.”
“There’s no need to worry about Sol, you know,” Brambleclaw reassured her. “I’ll keep you safe.”
“I know.” Squirrelflight sighed.
Jayfeather’s pelt24 prickled. Squirrelflight had never needed another cat to keep her safe! Once she would have clawed the ears off any cat who suggested it. But now she sounded…broken; waves of guilt25 and longing26 were coming from her, so strongly that Jayfeather almost felt sorry for her.
He brushed past her and set the wrap of herbs down at Brambleclaw’s paws. “Here,” he announced. “Traveling herbs. Eat them all, and get plenty of rest before tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Jayfeather.”
“Hey, Brambleclaw!” Graystripe’s voice came from across the clearing; Jayfeather heard his paw steps as he bounded up. “Firestar wants me to act as deputy while you’re away. Can I have a word with you about border patrols?”
“Sure.” Brambleclaw gulped27 the herbs down quickly. “What do you want to know?”
“Well, I think a few cats are still worried about WindClan….”
The voices of the two toms faded as they padded across the clearing. Jayfeather had turned back toward his den when Squirrelflight intercepted28 him.
“Jayfeather, I want to talk to you.”
“There’s nothing left to say,” Jayfeather snapped. And I don’t want to hear anything you might have to tell me.He veered29 around the cat he had thought was his mother and headed toward his den. He felt hollow, as if a vast emptiness had opened up inside him. For so long he had depended on the prophecy to tell him who he was and what his destiny would be; without it, was he going to be just a medicine cat for the rest of his life? And where’s the cat who gave birth to us? What happened to her?
Jayfeather hated feeling that he wasn’t in control anymore. Unsettled, he blundered into the brambles that screened the medicine cats’ den. His paws tangled30 in a long tendril; thorns raked through his pelt and scratched his nose. He let out a startled yowl.
“Jayfeather!” Leafpool was instantly by his side. “Keep still. I’ll get you out.”
“I’m fine,” Jayfeather growled31. He’d nevermade a mistake like that, not even when he was a kit! He tugged32 himself free of the brambles and felt a clump33 of fur tear out as he stumbled into the den.
“Are you all right?” Leafpool’s voice was anxious. “Your nose is bleeding. I’ll get some cobweb.”
“I said, I’m fine.” Jayfeather shrugged34 her away, giving one paw a swift lick and swiping it over his nose. The scratch stung, but he couldn’t stand being fussed over.
Why can’t she leave me alone?he thought angrily as he stalked toward the store to get more herbs. She doesn’t have to worry about me. We’re not even kin12!
When he had delivered all the traveling herbs, Jayfeather found a few moments to snatch prey35 from the fresh-kill pile. As he gulped down his vole, he heard Berrynose’s raised voice a couple of tail-lengths away.
“Well, I don’t trust ShadowClan! After all that trouble with Sol, Blackstar would do anything to prove his Clan is still strong.”
Dustpelt’s annoyed hiss36 followed immediately. “Are you mouse-brained? Are you actually suggesting that a ShadowClan warrior4 trekked37 all the way across our territory to kill Ashfur?”
“It could happen,” Berrynose mumbled38.
“And hedgehogs could fly,” Dustpelt retorted scathingly.
Swallowing the last of his prey and swiping his tongue around his jaws, Jayfeather headed back to the den. I’m sick of cats wondering who killed Ashfur!
But when he took tansy to Millie and Briarkit, who were recovering from greencough, he couldn’t help overhearing Cloudtail, Brightheart, and Daisy, sitting close to the nursery entrance.
“Don’t worry about a thing, Daisy,” Cloudtail assured the cream-colored she-cat. “Some of the warriors are leaving, but there are plenty of us left to protect you and the kits39.”
“Graystripe said we can double the guard on the camp,” Brightheart added.
“I know you’ll all help.” Daisy still sounded worried. “But is it right to bring that murderous cat back here?”
Jayfeather didn’t want to listen to yet another discussion about Sol. Pushing his way through the brambles into the nursery, he found the kits swarming40 like ants whose nest has been disturbed.
“Now you be the killer!” Rosekit squealed41, batting Blossomkit on the ear with one paw. “And we’ll all come and catch you!”
Blossomkit let out a screech42 of excitement; Jayfeather almost tripped over the other kits as they bundled on top of her in a writhing43 heap.
“Stop that right now!” Millie’s voice was shocked. “This isn’t fun. A brave ThunderClan warrior is dead.”
Ashfur was never this important when he was alive,Jayfeather thought.
The kits calmed down a little as Jayfeather set down the tansy and left. On his way back to his den, he passed Firestar with Sandstorm, Graystripe, and Brackenfur.
“We can’t assume the problems are over,” Sandstorm was meowing. “If I were you, Firestar, I’d warn all cats to stay away from the WindClan border, except for patrols.”
“Right,” Graystripe agreed. “We don’t want to find another warrior dead in the stream.”
Jayfeather stifled44 a sigh. What’s the point of patrols and guards? The killer is here.
A night breeze had sprung up when Jayfeather padded over to the fresh-kill pile where Lionblaze and Hollyleaf were eating with the rest of the Sol patrol. Earlier in the day, he hadn’t known what to say to them, and it was no better now.
“Hi,” he meowed. “Ready for tomorrow?”
“As ready as we’ll ever be,” Hollyleaf replied.
“It’s weird45, going without you.” Lionblaze brushed his muzzle46 against Jayfeather’s shoulder. “This will be the first time we’ve ever been separated.”
Jayfeather nodded. He had even managed the long journey to visit the Tribe in the mountains, but this time he had to stay behind. In spite of his earlier impatience47 with his littermates, it felt wrong to be split from them, especially when he knew that the tendrils of the secret that bound them together could not be broken by any distance.
“Well…I guess it’s good-bye,” he muttered.
“I guess,” Lionblaze meowed.
Jayfeather touched his nose to his brother’s, and then to Hollyleaf’s.
“Bye, Jayfeather,” she murmured.
There ought to be more to say, Jayfeather knew, but tension quivered among the three of them like the strands48 of a spider’s web. In the end, he ducked his head, mumbled, “May StarClan light your path,” and headed back to the medicine cats’ den.
Jayfeather opened his eyes to see bleak49 rocks stretching to either side of him and a plunging50 precipice51 just in front of his paws. Startled, he leaped back. Wind swept across the mountaintop, ruffling52 his fur. As he recovered from the first shock of finding himself here, he recognized the place where he had met Midnight the badger53.
Looking up, Jayfeather saw the stars whirling around the sky, so fast that they became blurred54 trails of light. He tried to dig his claws into the thin soil where he stood, terrified of falling upward into the gaping55 emptiness.
Then he heard the scrape of claws on rock. Wrenching56 his gaze from the swirling57 stars, he whipped around to see the bulky body and white-striped head of Midnight.
“What do you want?” he demanded, trying not to sound as scared as he felt.
“Sol not kill Ashfur,” Midnight rumbled58. “This you know. These cats chasing wild geese.” She lumbered59 closer to Jayfeather, starlight glittering in her small black eyes. “Truth must come out.”
“Why?” This time Jayfeather couldn’t stop his voice from quivering.
Midnight’s words fell like stones into a deep pool. “Anything else will destroy your Clan forever.”
“But—” Jayfeather began to protest, but the wind rose, whipping away Midnight’s words and his own, and the badger’s looming60 form, until he felt that he and Midnight and the stars themselves were being swept into a vast whirlpool.
He seemed to hit the ground with a jolt61, and opened his eyes in the darkness of his own den. The air bore the scent of frost, and Jayfeather guessed that dawn was near.
Leafpool was shifting around in the bracken of her nest close by. “It’s time for the patrol to leave,” she meowed. “Do you want to come say good-bye?”
Jayfeather had said his farewells the night before, but he scrambled62 out of his nest and followed his mentor into the clearing. Most of the Sol patrol were bunched together near the opening of the thorn tunnel along with Firestar, Graystripe, and Squirrelflight.
A fox-length or so away, Jayfeather located Birchfall and Whitewing; their mingled scents told him they were pressed close together.
“You take care of yourself and get plenty of rest,” Birchfall told his mate. “Eat lots of fresh-kill, and tell Leafpool if you feel anything….”
“Shh,” Whitewing murmured lovingly. “I’ll be fine. I’m not the only cat who ever gave birth!”
Jayfeather padded past them and found himself close to Squirrelflight, who was saying good-bye to Brambleclaw. Unlike Whitewing, she was keeping her emotions firmly under control; Jayfeather couldn’t tell what she was feeling.
“Be careful at the sun-drown-place,” she warned the ThunderClan deputy. “Don’t get too close to the edge of the cliffs. They might give way again.”
“I know. I don’t want to go for another swim.” Brambleclaw was trying to sound cheerful, but Jayfeather could tell that it was forced.
“Brambleclaw, just remind me about hunting patrols,” Graystripe broke in. “The best places are by the old Twoleg nest and near the dead tree, right?”
“Right,” Brambleclaw replied. “Make sure the patrols remember that if they’re hunting by the dead tree they’ve got to be careful not to cross the ShadowClan border.”
“You’ll be fine, Graystripe,” Firestar assured the gray warrior. “You know the territory well enough by now.”
The cats who were staying behind edged backward as the patrol got ready to leave. A solemn silence spread over them. Jayfeather was aware of a sudden heightening of tension; no cats had ever set out on an expedition like this before.
“May StarClan light your path,” Firestar meowed. “You are going to find the truth.”
No! The truth is here!Jayfeather clamped his jaws shut so that he didn’t yowl out loud. Midnight had told him what he already knew: Sol did not kill Ashfur. The patrol was heading toward danger for nothing. Why couldn’t his Clanmates see that they had to look among themselves to find the truth?
He wondered whether they would find Sol and what would happen if they did. His paws tingled63 as he thought about what Sol could tell them.
He knows about the prophecy….
收听单词发音 |
1
clan
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| n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派 | |
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swirled
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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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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warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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hurling
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| n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的现在分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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gusty
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| adj.起大风的 | |
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killer
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| n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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scents
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| n.香水( scent的名词复数 )；气味；（动物的）臭迹；（尤指狗的）嗅觉 | |
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shrug
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| v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
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winced
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| 赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bicker
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| vi.(为小事)吵嘴，争吵 | |
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mentor
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| n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导 | |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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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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subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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pelt
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| v.投掷，剥皮，抨击，开火 | |
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guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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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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intercepted
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| 拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻 | |
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veered
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| v.（尤指交通工具）改变方向或路线( veer的过去式和过去分词 )；（指谈话内容、人的行为或观点）突然改变；（指风） （在北半球按顺时针方向、在南半球按逆时针方向）逐渐转向；风向顺时针转 | |
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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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growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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tugged
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| v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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hiss
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| v.发出嘶嘶声；发嘘声表示不满 | |
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trekked
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| v.艰苦跋涉，徒步旅行( trek的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指在山中）远足，徒步旅行，游山玩水 | |
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mumbled
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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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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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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squealed
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| v.长声尖叫，用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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screech
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| n./v.尖叫；(发出)刺耳的声音 | |
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writhing
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 ) | |
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stifled
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵 | |
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weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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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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impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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strands
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| n.（线、绳、金属线、毛发等的）股( strand的名词复数 )；缕；海洋、湖或河的)岸；（观点、计划、故事等的）部份v.使滞留，使搁浅( strand的第三人称单数 ) | |
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bleak
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| adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的 | |
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plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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precipice
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| n.悬崖，危急的处境 | |
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ruffling
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| 弄皱( ruffle的现在分词 )； 弄乱； 激怒； 扰乱 | |
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badger
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| v.一再烦扰，一再要求，纠缠 | |
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blurred
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| v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离 | |
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gaping
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| adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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wrenching
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| n.修截苗根，苗木铲根（铲根时苗木不起土或部分起土）v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的现在分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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swirling
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 ) | |
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rumbled
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| 发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋） | |
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59
lumbered
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| 砍伐（lumber的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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60
looming
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| n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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61
jolt
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| v.（使）摇动，（使）震动，（使）颠簸 | |
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62
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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63
tingled
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| v.有刺痛感( tingle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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