We now advance to the second great question in political economy; on what the degree of productiveness of these agents depends. For it is evident that their productive efficacy varies greatly at various times and places. With the same population and extent of territory, some countries have a much lager amount of production than others, and the same country at one time a greater amount than itself at another. Compare England either with a similar extent of territory in Russia, or with an equal population of Russians. Compare England now with England in the Middle Ages; Sicily, Northern Africa, or Syria at present, with the same countries at the time of their greatest prosperity, before the Roman Conquest. Some of the causes which contribute to this difference of productiveness are obvious; others not so much so. We proceed to specify5 several of them.
§2. The most evident cause of superior productiveness is what are called natural advantages. These are various. Fertility of soil is one of the principal. In this there are great varieties, from the deserts of Arabia to the alluvial6 plains of the Ganges, the Niger, and the Mississippi. A favourable7 climate is even more important than a rich soil. There are countries capable of being inhabited, but too cold to be compatible with agriculture. Their inhabitants cannot pass beyond the nomadic8 state; they must live, like the Laplanders, by the domestication9 of the rein-deer, if not by hunting or fishing, like the miserable10 Esquimaux. There are countries where oats will ripen11, but not wheat, such as the North of Scotland; others where wheat can be grown, but from excess of moisture and want of sunshine, affords but a precious crop; as in parts of Ireland. With each advance towards the south, or, in the European temperate12 region, towards the east, some new branch of agriculture becomes first possible, then advantageous13; the vine, maize14, silk, figs15, olives, rice, dates, successively present themselves, until we come to the sugar, coffee, cotton, spices, &c. of climates which also afford, of the more common agricultural products, and with only a slight degree of cultivation16, two or even three harvests in a year. Nor is it in agriculture alone that differences of climate ae important. Their influence is felt in many other branches of production: in the durability17 of all work which is exposed to the air; of buildings, for example. If the temples of Karnac and Luxor had not been injured by men, they might have subsisted18 in their original perfection almost for ever, for the inscriptions20 on some of them, though anterior21 to all authentic22 history, are fresher than is in our climate an inscription19 fifty years old: while at St. Petersburg, the most massive works, solidly executed in granite23 hardly a generation ago, are already, as travellers tell us, almost in a state to require reconstruction24, from alternate exposure to summer heat and intense frost. The superiority of the woven fabrics25 of Southern Europe over those of England in the richness and clearness of many of their colours, is ascribed to the superior quality of the atmosphere, for which neither the knowledge of chemists nor the skill of dyers has been able to provide, in our hazy26 and damp climate, a complete equivalent.
Another part of the influence of climate consists in lessening27 the physical requirements of the producers. In hot regions, mankind can exist in comfort with less perfect housing, less clothing; fuel, that absolute necessary of life in cold climates, they can almost dispense28 with, except for industrial uses. They also require less aliment; as experience had proved, long before theory had accounted for it by ascertaining29 that most of what we consume as food is not required for the actual nutrition of the organs, but for keeping up the animal heat, and for supplying the necessary stimulus30 to the vital functions, which in hot climates is almost sufficiently31 supplied by air and sunshine. Much, therefore, of the labour elsewhere expended32 to procure33 the mere34 necessaries of life, not being required, more remains35 disposable for its higher uses and its enjoyments36; if the character of the inhabitants does not rather induce them to use up these advantages in over-population, or in the indulgence of repose37.
Among natural advantages, besides soil and climate, must be mentioned abundance of mineral productions, in convenient situations, and capable of being worked with moderate labour. Such are the coal-fields of Great Britain, which do so much to compensate38 its inhabitants for the disadvantages of climate; and the scarcely inferior resource possessed39 by this country and the United States, in a copious40 supply of an easily reduced iron ore, at no great depth below the earth’s surface, and in close proximity41 to coal deposits available for working it. In mountain and hill districts, the abundance of natural water-power makes considerable amends42 for the usually inferior fertility of those regions. But perhaps a greater advantage than all these is a maritime43 situation, especially when accompanied with good natural harbours; and, next to it, great navigable rivers. These advantages consist indeed wholly in saving of cost of carriage. But few who have not considered the subject, have any adequate notion how great an extent of economical advantage this comprises; nor, without having considered the influence exercised on production by exchanges, and by what is called the division of labour, can it be fully45 estimated. So important is it, that it often does more than counterbalance sterility46 of soil, and almost every other natural inferiority; especially in that early stage of industry in which labour and science have not yet provided artificial means of communication capable of rivalling the natural. In the ancient world, and in the Middle ages, the most prosperous communities were not those which had the largest territory, or the most fertile soil, but rather those which had been forced by natural sterility to make the utmost use of a convenient maritime situation; as athens, Tyre, Marseilles, Venice, the free cities on the Baltic, and the like.
§3. So much for natural advantages; the value of which, caeteris paribus, is too obvious to be ever underrated. But experience testifies that natural advantages scarcely ever do for a community, no more than fortune and station do for an individual, anything like what it lies in their nature, or in their capacity, to do. Neither now nor in former ages have the nations possessing the best climate and soil, been either the richest or the most powerful; but (in so far as regards the mass of the people) generally among the poorest, though, in the midst of poverty, probably on the whole the most enjoying. Human life in those countries can be supported on so little, that the poor seldom suffer from anxiety, and in climates in which mere existence is a pleasure, the luxury which they prefer is that of repose. Energy, at the call of passion, they possess in abundance, but not that which is manifested in sustained and persevering47 labour: and as they seldom concern themselves enough about remote objects to establish good political institutions, the incentives48 to industry are further weakened by imperfect protection of its fruits. Successful production, like most other kinds of success, depends more on the qualities of the human agents, than on the circumstances in which they work: and it is difficulties, not facilities, that nourish bodily and mental energy. accordingly the tribes of mankind who have overrun and conquered others, and compelled them to labour for their benefit, have been mostly reared amidst hardship. They have either been bred in the forests of northern climates, or the deficiency of natural hardships has been supplied, as among the Greeks and Romans, by the artificial ones of a rigid50 military discipline. From the time when the circumstances of modern society permitted the discontinuance of that discipline, the South has no longer produced conquering nations; military vigour51, as well as speculative52 thought and industrial energy, have all had their principal seats in the less favoured North.
As the second, therefore, of the causes of superior productiveness, we may rank the greater energy of labour. By this is not to be understood occasional, but regular and habitual53 energy. No one undergoes, without murmuring, a greater amount of occasional fatigue54 and hardship, or has his bodily powers, and such faculties55 of mind as he possesses, kept longer at at their utmost stretch, than the North American; yet his indolence proverbial, whenever he has a brief respite56 from the pressure of present wants. Individuals, or nations, do not differ so much in the efforts they are able and willing to make under strong immediate57 incentives, as in their capacity of present exertion58 for a distant object; and in the thoroughness of their application to work on ordinary occasions. Some amount of these qualities is a necessary condition of any great improvement among mankind. To civilize59 a savage60, he must be inspired with new wants and desires, even if not of a very elevated kind, provided that their gratification can be a motive to steady and regular bodily and mental exertion. If the negroes of Jamaica and Demerara, after their emancipation61, had contented62 themselves, as it was predicted they would do, with the necessaries of life, and abandoned all labour beyond the little which in a tropical climate, with a thin population and abundance of the richest land, is sufficient to support existence, they would have sunk into a condition more barbarous, though less unhappy, than their previous state of slavery. The motive which was most relied on for inducing them to work was their love of fine clothes and personal ornaments63. No one will stand up for this taste as worthy64 of being cultivated, and in most societies its indulgence tends to impoverish65 rather than to enrich; but in the state of mind of the negroes it might have been the only incentive49 that could make them voluntarily undergo systematic66 labour, and so acquire or maintain habits of voluntary industry which may be converted to more valuable ends. In England, it is not the desire of wealth that needs to be taught, but the use of wealth, and appreciation67 of the objects of desire which wealth cannot purchase, or for attaining68 which it is not required. Every real improvement in the character of the English, whether it consist in giving them higher aspirations69, or only a juster estimate of the value of their present objects of desire, must necessarily moderate the ardour of their devotion to the pursuit of wealth. There is no need, however, that it should diminish the strenuous70 and businesslike application to the matter at hand, which is found in the best English workmen, and is their most valuable quality.
The desirable medium is one which mankind have not often known how to hit: when they labour, to do it with all their might, and especially with all their mind; but to devote to labour, for mere pecuniary71 gain, fewer hours in the day, fewer days in the year, and fewer years of life.
§4. The third element which determines the productiveness of the labour of a community, is the skill and knowledge therein existing; whether it be the skill and knowledge of the labourers themselves, or of those who direct their labour. No illustration is requisite to show how the efficacy of industry is promoted by the manual dexterity72 of those who perform mere routine processes; by the intelligence of those engaged in operations in which the mind has a considerable part; and by the amount of knowledge of natural powers and of the properties of objects, which is turned to the purposes of industry. That the productiveness of the labour of a people is limited by their knowledge of the arts of life, is self-evident; and that any progress in those arts, any improved application of the objects or powers of nature to industrial uses, enables the same quantity and intensity73 of labour to raise a greater produce.
One principal department of these improvements consists in the invention and use of tools and machinery74. The manner in which these serve to increase production and to economize75 labour, needs not be specially44 detailed76 in a work like the present: it will be found explained and exemplified, in a manner at once scientific and popular, in Mr. Babbage’s well-known “Economy of Machinery and Manufactures.” An entire chapter of Mr. Babbage’s book is composed of instances of the efficacy of machinery in “exerting forces too great for human power, and executing operations too delicate for human touch.” But to find examples of work which could not be performed at all by unassisted labour, we need not go so far. Without pumps, worked by steam-engines or otherwise, the water which collects in mines could not in many situations be got rid of at all, and the mines, after being worked to a little depth, must be abandoned: without ships or boats the sea could never have been crossed; without tools of some sort, trees could not be cut down, nor rocks excavated77; a plough, or at least a hoe, is necessary to any tillage of the ground. Very simple and rude instruments, however, are sufficient to render literally78 possible most works hitherto executed by mankind. and subsequent inventions have chiefly served to enable the work to be performed in greater perfection, and, above all, with a greatly diminished quantity of labour: the labour thus saved becoming disposable for other employments.
The use of machinery is far from being the only mode in which the effects of knowledge in aiding production are exemplified. In agriculture and horticulture, machinery is only now beginning to show that it can do anything of importance, beyond the invention and progressive improvement of the plough and a few other simple instruments. The greatest agricultural inventions have consisted in the direct application of more judicious79 processes to the land itself, and to the plants growing on it; such as rotation80 of crops, to avoid the necessity of leaving the land for one season in every two or three; improved manures, to renovate81 its fertility when exhausted82 by cropping; ploughing and draining the subsoil as well as the surface; conversion83 of bogs84 and marshes85 into cultivable land; such modes of pruning86, and of training and propping87 up plants and trees, as experience has shown to deserve the preference; in the case of the more expensive cultures, planting the roots or seeds further apart, and more completely pulverizing88 the soil in which they are placed, &c. In manufactures and commerce, some of the most important improvements consist in economizing89 time; in making the return follow more speedily upon the labour and outlay90. There are others of which the advantage consists in economy of material.
§5. But the effects of the increased knowledge of a community in increasing its wealth, need the less illustration as they have become familiar to the most uneducated, from such conspicuous91 instances as railways and steam-ships. A thing not yet so well understood and recognised, is the economical value of the general diffusion92 of intelligence among the people. The number of persons fitted to direct and superintend any industrial enterprise, or even to execute any process which cannot be reduced almost to an affair of memory and routine, is always far short of the demand; as is evident from the enormous difference between the salaries paid to such persons, and the wages of ordinary labour. The deficiency of practical good sense, which renders the majority of the labouring class such bad calculators — which makes, for instance, their domestic economy so improvident93, lax, and irregular — must disqualify them for any but a low grade of intelligent labour, and render their industry far less productive than with equal energy it otherwise might be. The importance, even in this limited aspect, of popular education, is well worthy of the attention of politicians, especially in England; since competent observers, accustomed to employ labourers of various nations, testify that in the workmen of other countries they often find great intelligence wholly apart from instruction, but that if an English labourer is anything but a hewer of wood and a drawer of water, he is indebted for it to education, which in his case is almost always self-education. Mr. Escher, of Zurich (an engineer and cotton manufacturer employing nearly two thousand working men of many different nations), in his evidence annexed94 to the Report of the Poor Law Commissioners95, in 1840, on the training of pauper96 children, gives a character of English as contrasted with Continental97 workmen, which all persons of similar experience will, I believe, confirm.
“The Italians’ quickness of perception is shown in rapidly comprehending any new descriptions of labour put into their hands, in a power of quickly comprehending the meaning of their employer, of adapting themselves to new circumstances, much beyond what any other classes have. The French workmen have the like natural characteristics, only in a somewhat lower degree. The English, Swiss, German, and Dutch workmen, we find, have all much slower natural comprehension. As workmen only, the preference is undoubtedly98 due to the English; because, as we find them, they are all trained to special branches, on which they have had comparatively superior training, and have concentrated all their thoughts. As men of business or of general usefulness, and as men with whom an employer would best like to be surrounded, I should, however, decidedly prefer the Saxons and the Swiss, but more especially the Saxons, because they have had a very careful general education, which has extended their capacities beyond any special employment, and rendered them fit to take up, after a short preparation, any employment to which they may be called. If I have an English workman engaged in the erection of a steam-engine, he will understand that, and nothing else; and for other circumstances or other branches of mechanics, however closely allied99, he will be comparatively helpless to adapt himself to all the circumstances that may arise, to make arrangements for them, and give sound advice or write clear statements and letters on his work in the various related branches of mechanics.”
On the connexion between mental cultivation and moral trustworthiness in the labouring class, the same witness says, “The better educated workmen, we find, are distinguished100 by superior moral habits in every respect. In the first place, they are entirely101 sober; they are discreet102 in their enjoyments, which are of a more rational and refined kind; they have a taste for much better society, which they approach respectfully, and consequently find much readier admittance to it; they cultivate music; they read; they enjoy the pleasures of scenery, and make parties for excursions into the count; they are economical, and their economy extends beyond their own purse to the stock of their master; they are, consequently, honest and trustworthy.” And in answer to a question respecting the English workmen, “Whilst in respect to the work to which they have been specially trained they are the most skilful103, they are in conduct the most disorderly, debauched, and unruly, and least respectable and trustworthy of any nation whatsoever104 whom we have employed; and in saying this, I express the experience of every manufacturer on the Continent to whom I have spoken, and especially of the English manufacturers, who make the loudest complaints. These characteristics of depravity do not apply to the English workmen who have received an education, but attach to the others in the degree in which they are in want of it. When the uneducated English workmen are released from the bonds of iron discipline in which they have been restrained by their employers in England, and are treated with the urbanity and friendly feeling which the more educated workmen on the Continent expect and receive from their employers, they, the English workmen, completely lose their balance: they do not understand their position, and after a certain time become totally unmanageable and useless.”* This result of observation is borne out by experience in England itself. As soon as any idea of equality enters the mind of an uneducated English working man, his head is turned by it. When he ceases to be servile, he becomes insolent105.
The moral qualities of the labourers are fully as important to the efficiency and worth of their labour, as the intellectual. Independently of the effects of intemperance106 upon their bodily and mental faculties, and of flighty, unsteady habits upon the energy and continuity of their work (points so easily understood as not to require being insisted upon), it is well worthy of meditation107, how much of the aggregate108 effect of their labour depends on their trustworthiness. All the labour now expended in watching that they fulfil their engagement, or in verifying that they have fulfilled it, is so much withdrawn109 from the real business of production, to be devoted110 to a subsidiary function rendered needful not by the necessity of things, but by the dishonesty of men. Nor are the greatest outward precautions more than very imperfectly efficacious, where, as is now almost invariably the case with hired labourers, the slightest relaxation111 of vigilance is an opportunity eagerly seized for eluding112 performance of their contract. The advantage to mankind of being able to trust one another, penetrates113 into every crevice114 and cranny of human life: the economical is perhaps the smallest part of it, yet even this iS incalculable. To consider only the most obvious part of the waste of wealth occasioned to society by human improbity; there is in all rich communities a predatory population, who live by pillaging115 or overreaching other people; their numbers cannot be authentically116 ascertained117, but on the lowest estimate, in a country like England, it is very large. The support of these persons is a direct burthen on the national industry. The police, and the whole apparatus118 of punishment, and of criminal and partly of civil justice, are a second burthen rendered necessity by the first. The exorbitantly-paid profession of lawyers, so far as their work is not created by defects in the law, of their own contriving119, are required and supported principally by the dishonesty of mankind. As the standard of integrity in a community rises higher, all these expenses become less. But this positive saving would be far outweighed120 by the immense increase in the produce of aU kinds of labour, and saving of time and expenditure121, which would be obtained if the labourers honestly performed what they undertake; and by the increased spirit, the feeing of power and confidence, with which works of all sorts would be planned and carried on by those who felt that all whose aid was required would do their part faithfully according to their contracts. Conjoint action is possible just in proportion as human beings can rely on each other. There are countries in Europe, of first-rate industrial capabilities123, where the most serious impediment to conducting business concerns on a large scale, is the rarity of persons who are supposed fit to be trusted with the receipt and expenditure of large sums of money. There are nations whose commodities are looked shily upon by merchants, because they cannot depend on finding the quality of the article conformable to that of the sample. Such short-sighted frauds are far from unexampled in English exports. Every one has heard of “devil’s dust:” and among other instances given by Mr. Babbage, is one in which a branch of export trade was for a long time actually stopped by the forgeries124 and frauds which had occurred in it. On the other hand, the substantial advantage derived125 in business transactions from proved trustworthiness, is not less remarkably126 exemplified in the same work. “At one of our largest towns, sales and purchases on a very extensive scale are made daily in the course of business without any of the parties ever exchanging a written document.”* Spread over a year’s transactions, how great a return, in saving of time, trouble, and expense, is brought in to the producers and dealers127 of such a town from their own integrity. “The influence of established character in producing confidence operated in a very remarkable128 manner at the time of the exclusion129 of British manufactures from the Continent during the last war. One of our largest establishments had been in the habit of doing extensive business with a house in the centre of Germany; but on the closing of the Continental ports against our manufactures, heavy penalties were inflicted130 on all those who contravened131 the Berlin and Milan decrees. The English manufacturer continued, nevertheless, to receive orders, with directions how to consign132 them, and appointments for the time and mode of payment, in letters, the handwriting of which was known to him, but which were never signed except by the Christian133 name of one of the firm, and even in some instances they were without any signature at all. These orders were executed, and in no instance was there the least irregularity in the payments.”1
§6. Among the secondary causes which determine the productiveness of productive agents, the most important is Security. By security I mean the completeness of the protection which society affords to its members. This consists of protection by the government, and protection against the government. The latter is the more important. Where a person known to possess anything worth taking away, can expect nothing but to have it torn from him, with every circumstance of tyrannical violence, by the agents of a rapacious134 government, it is not likely that many will exert themselves to produce much more than necessaries. This is the acknowledged explanation of the poverty of many fertile tracts122 of Asia, which were once prosperous and populous135. From this to the degree of security enjoyed in the best governed parts of Europe, there are numerous gradations. In many provinces of France, before the Revolution, a vicious system of taxation136 on the land, and still more the absence of redress137 against the arbitrary exactions which were made under colour of the taxes, rendered it the interest of every cultivator to appear poor, and therefore to cultivate badly. The only insecurity which is altogether paralysing to the active energies of producers, is that arising from the government, or from persons invested with its authority. Against all other depredators there is a hope of defending oneself. Greece and the Greek colonies in the ancient world. Flanders and Italy in the Middle Ages, by no means enjoyed what any one with modern ideas would call security: the state of society was most unsettled and turbulent; person and property were exposed to a thousand dangers. But they were free countries; they were in general neither arbitrarily oppressed, nor systematically138 plundered139 by their governments. Against other enemies the individual energy which their institutions called forth141, enabled them to make successful resistance: their labour, therefore, was eminently142 productive, and their riches, while they remained free, were constantly on the increase. The Roman despotism, putting an end to wars and internal conflicts throughout the empire, relieved the subject population from much of the former insecurity. but because it left them under the grinding yoke143 of its own rapacity144, they became enervated145 and impoverished146, until they were an easy prey147 to barbarous but free invaders148. They would neither fight nor labour, because they were no longer suffered to enjoy that for which they fought and laboured.
Much of the security of person and property in modern nations is the effect of manners and opinion rather than of law. There are, or lately were, countries in Europe where the monarch149 was nominally150 absolute, but where, from the restraints imposed by established usage, no subject felt practically in the smallest danger of having his possessions arbitrarily seized or a contribution levied151 on them by the government. There must, however, be in such governments much petty plunder140 and other tyranny by subordinate agents, for which redress is not obtained, owing to the want of publicity152 which is the ordinary character of absolute governments. In England the people are tolerably well protected, both by institutions and manners, against the agents of government; but, for the security they enjoy against other evil-doers, they are very little indebted to their institutions. The laws cannot be said to afford protection to property, when they afford it only at such a cost as renders submission153 to injury in general the better calculation. The security of property in England is owing (except as regards open violence) to opinion, and the fear of exposure, much more than to the direct operation of the law and the courts of justice.
Independently of all imperfection in the bulwarks154 which society purposely throws round what it recognises as property, there are various other modes in which defective155 institutions impede156 the employment of the productive resources of a country to the best advantage. We shall have occasion for noticing many of these in the progress of our subject. It is sufficient here to remark, that the efficiency of industry may be expected to be great, in proportion as the fruits of industry are insured to the person exerting it: and that all social arrangements are conducive157 to useful exertion, according as they provide that the reward of every one for his labour shall be proportioned as much as possible to the benefit which it produces. All laws or usages which favour one class or sort of persons to the disadvantage of others; which chain up the efforts of any part of the community in pursuit of their own good, or stand between those efforts and their natural fruits are (independently of all other grounds of condemnation) violations158 of the fundamental principles of economical policy; tending to make the aggregate productive powers of the community productive in a less degree than they would otherwise be.
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1 requisite | |
adj.需要的,必不可少的;n.必需品 | |
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2 requisites | |
n.必要的事物( requisite的名词复数 ) | |
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3 motive | |
n.动机,目的;adv.发动的,运动的 | |
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4 specified | |
adj.特定的 | |
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5 specify | |
vt.指定,详细说明 | |
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6 alluvial | |
adj.冲积的;淤积的 | |
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7 favourable | |
adj.赞成的,称赞的,有利的,良好的,顺利的 | |
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8 nomadic | |
adj.流浪的;游牧的 | |
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9 domestication | |
n.驯养,驯化 | |
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10 miserable | |
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的 | |
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11 ripen | |
vt.使成熟;vi.成熟 | |
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12 temperate | |
adj.温和的,温带的,自我克制的,不过分的 | |
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13 advantageous | |
adj.有利的;有帮助的 | |
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14 maize | |
n.玉米 | |
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15 figs | |
figures 数字,图形,外形 | |
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16 cultivation | |
n.耕作,培养,栽培(法),养成 | |
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17 durability | |
n.经久性,耐用性 | |
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18 subsisted | |
v.(靠很少的钱或食物)维持生活,生存下去( subsist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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19 inscription | |
n.(尤指石块上的)刻印文字,铭文,碑文 | |
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20 inscriptions | |
(作者)题词( inscription的名词复数 ); 献词; 碑文; 证劵持有人的登记 | |
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21 anterior | |
adj.较早的;在前的 | |
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22 authentic | |
a.真的,真正的;可靠的,可信的,有根据的 | |
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23 granite | |
adj.花岗岩,花岗石 | |
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24 reconstruction | |
n.重建,再现,复原 | |
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25 fabrics | |
织物( fabric的名词复数 ); 布; 构造; (建筑物的)结构(如墙、地面、屋顶):质地 | |
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26 hazy | |
adj.有薄雾的,朦胧的;不肯定的,模糊的 | |
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27 lessening | |
减轻,减少,变小 | |
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28 dispense | |
vt.分配,分发;配(药),发(药);实施 | |
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29 ascertaining | |
v.弄清,确定,查明( ascertain的现在分词 ) | |
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n.刺激,刺激物,促进因素,引起兴奋的事物 | |
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31 sufficiently | |
adv.足够地,充分地 | |
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v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 );使用(钱等)做某事;用光;耗尽 | |
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33 procure | |
vt.获得,取得,促成;vi.拉皮条 | |
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愉快( enjoyment的名词复数 ); 令人愉快的事物; 享有; 享受 | |
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37 repose | |
v.(使)休息;n.安息 | |
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38 compensate | |
vt.补偿,赔偿;酬报 vi.弥补;补偿;抵消 | |
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39 possessed | |
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的 | |
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40 copious | |
adj.丰富的,大量的 | |
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41 proximity | |
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42 amends | |
n. 赔偿 | |
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43 maritime | |
adj.海的,海事的,航海的,近海的,沿海的 | |
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44 specially | |
adv.特定地;特殊地;明确地 | |
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45 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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46 sterility | |
n.不生育,不结果,贫瘠,消毒,无菌 | |
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47 persevering | |
a.坚忍不拔的 | |
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48 incentives | |
激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 ); 刺激; 诱因; 动机 | |
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49 incentive | |
n.刺激;动力;鼓励;诱因;动机 | |
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50 rigid | |
adj.严格的,死板的;刚硬的,僵硬的 | |
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51 vigour | |
(=vigor)n.智力,体力,精力 | |
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52 speculative | |
adj.思索性的,暝想性的,推理的 | |
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53 habitual | |
adj.习惯性的;通常的,惯常的 | |
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54 fatigue | |
n.疲劳,劳累 | |
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55 faculties | |
n.能力( faculty的名词复数 );全体教职员;技巧;院 | |
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56 respite | |
n.休息,中止,暂缓 | |
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57 immediate | |
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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58 exertion | |
n.尽力,努力 | |
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59 civilize | |
vt.使文明,使开化 (=civilise) | |
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60 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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61 emancipation | |
n.(从束缚、支配下)解放 | |
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62 contented | |
adj.满意的,安心的,知足的 | |
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63 ornaments | |
n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 );点缀;装饰品;首饰v.装饰,点缀,美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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64 worthy | |
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的 | |
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65 impoverish | |
vt.使穷困,使贫困 | |
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66 systematic | |
adj.有系统的,有计划的,有方法的 | |
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67 appreciation | |
n.评价;欣赏;感谢;领会,理解;价格上涨 | |
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68 attaining | |
(通常经过努力)实现( attain的现在分词 ); 达到; 获得; 达到(某年龄、水平、状况) | |
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69 aspirations | |
强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 ); 志向; 发送气音; 发 h 音 | |
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70 strenuous | |
adj.奋发的,使劲的;紧张的;热烈的,狂热的 | |
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71 pecuniary | |
adj.金钱的;金钱上的 | |
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72 dexterity | |
n.(手的)灵巧,灵活 | |
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73 intensity | |
n.强烈,剧烈;强度;烈度 | |
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74 machinery | |
n.(总称)机械,机器;机构 | |
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75 economize | |
v.节约,节省 | |
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76 detailed | |
adj.详细的,详尽的,极注意细节的,完全的 | |
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77 excavated | |
v.挖掘( excavate的过去式和过去分词 );开凿;挖出;发掘 | |
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78 literally | |
adv.照字面意义,逐字地;确实 | |
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79 judicious | |
adj.明智的,明断的,能作出明智决定的 | |
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80 rotation | |
n.旋转;循环,轮流 | |
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81 renovate | |
vt.更新,革新,刷新 | |
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82 exhausted | |
adj.极其疲惫的,精疲力尽的 | |
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83 conversion | |
n.转化,转换,转变 | |
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84 bogs | |
n.沼泽,泥塘( bog的名词复数 );厕所v.(使)陷入泥沼, (使)陷入困境( bog的第三人称单数 );妨碍,阻碍 | |
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85 marshes | |
n.沼泽,湿地( marsh的名词复数 ) | |
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86 pruning | |
n.修枝,剪枝,修剪v.修剪(树木等)( prune的现在分词 );精简某事物,除去某事物多余的部分 | |
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87 propping | |
支撑 | |
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88 pulverizing | |
v.将…弄碎( pulverize的现在分词 );将…弄成粉末或尘埃;摧毁;粉碎 | |
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89 economizing | |
v.节省,减少开支( economize的现在分词 ) | |
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90 outlay | |
n.费用,经费,支出;v.花费 | |
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91 conspicuous | |
adj.明眼的,惹人注目的;炫耀的,摆阔气的 | |
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92 diffusion | |
n.流布;普及;散漫 | |
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93 improvident | |
adj.不顾将来的,不节俭的,无远见的 | |
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94 annexed | |
[法] 附加的,附属的 | |
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95 commissioners | |
n.专员( commissioner的名词复数 );长官;委员;政府部门的长官 | |
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96 pauper | |
n.贫民,被救济者,穷人 | |
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97 continental | |
adj.大陆的,大陆性的,欧洲大陆的 | |
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98 undoubtedly | |
adv.确实地,无疑地 | |
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99 allied | |
adj.协约国的;同盟国的 | |
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100 distinguished | |
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
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101 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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102 discreet | |
adj.(言行)谨慎的;慎重的;有判断力的 | |
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103 skilful | |
(=skillful)adj.灵巧的,熟练的 | |
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104 whatsoever | |
adv.(用于否定句中以加强语气)任何;pron.无论什么 | |
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105 insolent | |
adj.傲慢的,无理的 | |
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106 intemperance | |
n.放纵 | |
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107 meditation | |
n.熟虑,(尤指宗教的)默想,沉思,(pl.)冥想录 | |
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108 aggregate | |
adj.总计的,集合的;n.总数;v.合计;集合 | |
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109 withdrawn | |
vt.收回;使退出;vi.撤退,退出 | |
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110 devoted | |
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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111 relaxation | |
n.松弛,放松;休息;消遣;娱乐 | |
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112 eluding | |
v.(尤指机敏地)避开( elude的现在分词 );逃避;躲避;使达不到 | |
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113 penetrates | |
v.穿过( penetrate的第三人称单数 );刺入;了解;渗透 | |
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114 crevice | |
n.(岩石、墙等)裂缝;缺口 | |
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115 pillaging | |
v.抢劫,掠夺( pillage的现在分词 ) | |
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116 authentically | |
ad.sincerely真诚地 | |
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117 ascertained | |
v.弄清,确定,查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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118 apparatus | |
n.装置,器械;器具,设备 | |
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119 contriving | |
(不顾困难地)促成某事( contrive的现在分词 ); 巧妙地策划,精巧地制造(如机器); 设法做到 | |
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120 outweighed | |
v.在重量上超过( outweigh的过去式和过去分词 );在重要性或价值方面超过 | |
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121 expenditure | |
n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出;使用,消耗 | |
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122 tracts | |
大片土地( tract的名词复数 ); 地带; (体内的)道; (尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的)短文 | |
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123 capabilities | |
n.能力( capability的名词复数 );可能;容量;[复数]潜在能力 | |
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124 forgeries | |
伪造( forgery的名词复数 ); 伪造的文件、签名等 | |
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125 derived | |
vi.起源;由来;衍生;导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 );(从…中)得到获得;源于;(从…中)提取 | |
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126 remarkably | |
ad.不同寻常地,相当地 | |
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127 dealers | |
n.商人( dealer的名词复数 );贩毒者;毒品贩子;发牌者 | |
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128 remarkable | |
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
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129 exclusion | |
n.拒绝,排除,排斥,远足,远途旅行 | |
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130 inflicted | |
把…强加给,使承受,遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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131 contravened | |
v.取消,违反( contravene的过去式 ) | |
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132 consign | |
vt.寄售(货品),托运,交托,委托 | |
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133 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
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134 rapacious | |
adj.贪婪的,强夺的 | |
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135 populous | |
adj.人口稠密的,人口众多的 | |
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136 taxation | |
n.征税,税收,税金 | |
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137 redress | |
n.赔偿,救济,矫正;v.纠正,匡正,革除 | |
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138 systematically | |
adv.有系统地 | |
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139 plundered | |
掠夺,抢劫( plunder的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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140 plunder | |
vt.劫掠财物,掠夺;n.劫掠物,赃物;劫掠 | |
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141 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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142 eminently | |
adv.突出地;显著地;不寻常地 | |
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143 yoke | |
n.轭;支配;v.给...上轭,连接,使成配偶 | |
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144 rapacity | |
n.贪婪,贪心,劫掠的欲望 | |
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145 enervated | |
adj.衰弱的,无力的v.使衰弱,使失去活力( enervate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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146 impoverished | |
adj.穷困的,无力的,用尽了的v.使(某人)贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 );使(某物)贫瘠或恶化 | |
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147 prey | |
n.被掠食者,牺牲者,掠食;v.捕食,掠夺,折磨 | |
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148 invaders | |
入侵者,侵略者,侵入物( invader的名词复数 ) | |
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149 monarch | |
n.帝王,君主,最高统治者 | |
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150 nominally | |
在名义上,表面地; 应名儿 | |
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151 levied | |
征(兵)( levy的过去式和过去分词 ); 索取; 发动(战争); 征税 | |
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152 publicity | |
n.众所周知,闻名;宣传,广告 | |
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153 submission | |
n.服从,投降;温顺,谦虚;提出 | |
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154 bulwarks | |
n.堡垒( bulwark的名词复数 );保障;支柱;舷墙 | |
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155 defective | |
adj.有毛病的,有问题的,有瑕疵的 | |
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156 impede | |
v.妨碍,阻碍,阻止 | |
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157 conducive | |
adj.有益的,有助的 | |
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158 violations | |
违反( violation的名词复数 ); 冒犯; 违反(行为、事例); 强奸 | |
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