They'd swum to the other bank to see if her trail had picked up in a straight line, but there was no trace ofher for miles in either direction on the eastern shore.
It was all my fault. She had come, as Alice had seen, to make peace with the Cullens, only to beangered by my camaraderie1 with Jacob. I wished I'd noticed her earlier, before Jacob had phased. Iwished we'd gone hunting somewhere else.
There wasn't much to be done. Carlisle had called Tanya with the disappointing news. Tanya and Katehadn't seen Irina since they'd decided2 to come to my wedding, and they were distraught that Irina hadcome so close and yet not returned home; it wasn't easy for them to lose their sister, however temporarythe separation might be. I wondered if this brought back hard memories of losing their mother so manycenturies ago.
Alice was able to catch a few glimpses of Irina's immediate3 future, nothing too concrete. She wasn'tgoing back to Denali, as far as Alice could tell. The picture was hazy4. All Alice could see was that Irinawas visibly upset; she wandered in the snow-swathed wilderness—to the north? To the east?—with adevastated expression. She made no decisions for a new course beyond her directionless grieving.
Days passed and, though of course I forgot nothing, Irina and her pain moved to the back of my mind.
There were more important things to think of now. I would leave for Italy in just a few days. When I gotback, we'd all be off to South America.
Every detail had been gone over a hundred times already. We would start with the Ticunas, tracing theirlegends as well as we could at the source. Now that it was accepted that Jacob would come with us, hefigured prominently in the plans—it was unlikely that the people who believed in vampires6 would speakto any of us about their stories. If we dead-ended with the Ticunas, there were many closely relatedtribes in the area to research. Carlisle had some oldfriends in the Amazon; if we could find them, they might have information for us, too. Or at least asuggestion as to where else we might go for answers. It was unlikely that the three Amazon vampires hadanything to do with the legends of vampire5 hybrids7 themselves, as they were all female. There was noway to know how long our search would take.
I hadn't told Charlie about the longer trip yet, and I stewed8 about what to say to him while Edward andCarlisle's discussion went on. How to break the news to him just right?
I stared at Renesmee while I debated internally. She was curled up on the sofa now, her breathing slowwith heavy sleep, her tangled9 curls splayed wildly around her face.Usually, Edward and I took her backto our cottage to put her to bed, but tonight we lingered with the family, he and Carlisle deep in theirplanning session.
Meanwhile, Emmett and Jasper were more excited about planning the hunting possibilities. The Amazonoffered a change from our normal quarry10. Jaguars11 and panthers, for example. Emmett had a whim12 towrestle with an anaconda. Esme and Rosalie were planning what they would pack. Jacob was off withSam's pack, setting things up for his own absence.
Alice moved slowly—for her—around the big room, unnecessarily tidying the already immaculate space,straightening Esme's perfectly13 hung garlands. She was re-centering Esme's vases on the console at themoment. I could see from the way her face fluctuated—aware, then blank, then aware again—that shewas searching the future. I assumed she was trying to see through the blind spots that Jacob andRenesmee made in her visions as to what was waiting for us in South America until Jasper said, "Let itgo, Alice; she's not our concern," and a cloud of serenity14 stole silently and invisibly through the room.
Alice must have been worrying about Irina again.
She stuck her tongue out at Jasper and then lifted one crystal vase that was filled with white and redroses and turned toward the kitchen. There was just the barest hint of wilt15 to one of the white flowers,but Alice seemed intent on utter perfection as a distraction16 to her lack of vision tonight.
Staring at Renesmee again, I didn't see it when the vase slipped from Alice's fingers. I only heard thewhoosh of the air whistling past the crystal, and my eyes flickered17 up in time to see the vase shatter intoten thousand diamond shards18 against the edge of the kitchen's marble floor.
We were perfectly still as the fragmented crystal bounced and skittered in every direction with anunmusical tinkling19, all eyes on Alice's back.
My first illogical thought was that Alice was playing some joke on us. Because there was no way thatAlice could have dropped the vase by accident I could have darted20 across the room to catch the vase inplenty of time myself, if I hadn't assumed she would get it. And how would it fall through her fingers in thefirst place? Her perfectly sure fingers...
I had never seen a vampire drop anything by accident. Ever.
And then Alice was facing us, twisting in a move so fast it didn't exist.
Her eyes were halfway21 here and halfway locked on the future, wide, staring, filling her thin face till theyseemed to overflow22 it. Looking into her eyes was like looking out of a grave from the inside; I was buriedin the terror anddespair and agony of her gaze.
I heard Edward gasp23; it was a broken, half-choked sound.
"What?"Jasper growled24, leaping to her side in a blurred25 rush of movement, crushing the broken crystalunder his feet. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her sharply. She seemed to rattle26 silently in hishands. "What Alice?"Emmett moved into my peripheral27 vision, his teeth bared while his eyes darted toward the window,anticipating an attack.
There was only silence from Esme, Carlisle, and Rose, who were frozen just as I was.
Jasper shook Alice again. "What is it?""They're coming for us," Alice and Edward whispered together, perfectly synchronized28. "All of them."Silence.
For once, I was the quickest to understand—because something in their words triggered my own vision.
It was only the distant memory of a dream—faint, transparent29, indistinct as if I were peering through thickgauze.... In my head, I saw a line of black advancing on me, the ghost of my half-forgotten humannightmare. I could not see the glint of their ruby30 eyes in the shrouded31 image, or the shine of their sharpwet teeth, but I knew where the gleam should be....
Stronger than the memory of the sight came the memory of the feel —the wrenching32 need to protect theprecious thing behind me.
I wanted to snatch Renesmee up into my arms, to hide her behind my skin and hair, to make herinvisible. But I couldn't even turn to look at her. I felt not like stone but ice. For the first time since I'dbeen reborn a vampire, I felt cold.
I barely heard the confirmation33 of my fears. I didn't need it. I already knew.
"The Volturi," Alice moaned.
"All of them," Edward groaned34 at the same time.
"Why?" Alice whispered to herself. "How?""When?" Edward whispered.
"Why?" Esme echoed.
"When?"Jasper repeated in a voice like splintering ice.
Alice's eyes didn't blink, but it was as if a veil covered them; they became perfectly blank. Only hermouth held on to her expression of horror.
"Not long," she and Edward said together. Then she spoke35 alone. "There's snow on the forest, snow onthe town. Little more than a month.""Why?" Carlisle was the one to ask this time.
Esme answered. "They must have a reason. Maybe to see ...""This isn't about Bella," Alice said hollowly. "They're all coming—Aro, Caius, Marcus, every member ofthe guard, even the wives.""The wives never leave the tower," Jasper contradicted her in a flat voice. "Never. Not during thesouthern rebellion. Not when the Romanians tried to overthrow36 them. Not even when they were huntingthe immortal37 children. Never.""They're coming now," Edward whispered.
"But why?" Carlisle said again. "We've done nothing! And if we had, what could we possibly do thatwould bring f/?/sdown on us?""There are so many of us," Edward answered dully. "They must want to make sure that..." He didn'tfinish.
"That doesn't answer the crucial question! Why?"I felt I knew the answer to Carlisle's question, and yet at the same time I didn't. Renesmee was thereason why, I was sure. Somehow I'd known from the very beginning that they would come for her. Mysubconscious had warned me before I'd known I was carrying her. It felt oddly expected now. As if I'dsomehow always known that the Volturi would come to take my happiness from me.
But that still didn't answer the question.
"Go back, Alice," Jasper pleaded. "Look for the trigger. Search."Alice shook her head slowly, her shoulders sagging38. "It came out of nowhere, Jazz. I wasn't looking forthem, or even for us. I was just looking for Irina. She wasn't where I expected her to be...." Alice trailedoff, her eyes drifting again. She stared at nothing for a long second.
And then her head jerked up, her eyes hard as flint. I heard Edward catch his breath.
"She decided to go to them," Alice said. "Irina decided to go to the Volturi. And then they will decide....
It's as if they're waiting for her. Like their decision was already made, and just waiting on her___"It was silent again as we digested this. What would Irina tell the Volturi that would result in Alice'sappalling vision?
"Can we stop her?" Jasper asked.
"There's no way. She's almost there.""What is she doing?" Carlisle was asking, but I wasn't paying attention to the discussion now. All myfocus was on the picture that was painstakingly40 coming together in my head.
I pictured Irina poised41 on the cliff, watching. What had she seen? A vampire and a werewolf who werebest friends. I'd been focused on that image, one that would obviously explain her reaction. But that wasnot all that she'd seen.
She'd also seen a child. An exquisitely42 beautiful child, showing off in the falling snow, clearly more thanhuman...
Irina... the orphaned43 sisters... Carlisle had said that losing their mother to the Volturi's justice had madeTanya, Kate, and Irina purists when it came to the law.
Just half a minute ago, Jasper had said the words himself: Not even when they were hunting theimmortal children.... The immortal children—the unmentionable bane, the appalling39 taboo44...
With Irina's past, how could she apply any other reading to what she'd seen that day in the narrow field?
Shehad not been close enough to hear Renesmee's heart, to feel the heat radiating from her body.
Renesmee's rosy45 cheeks could have been a trick on our part for all she knew.
After all, the Cullens were in league with werewolves. From Irina's point of view, maybe this meantnothing was beyond us....
Irina, wringing46 her hands in the snowy wilderness—not mourning Laurent, after all, but knowing it washer duty to turn the Cullens in, knowing what would happen to them if she did. Apparently47 herconscience had won out over the centuries of friendship.
And the Volturi's response to this kind of infraction48 was so automatic, it was already decided.
I turned and draped myself over Renesmee's sleeping body, covering her with my hair, burying my facein her curls.
"Think of what she saw that afternoon," I said in a low voice, interrupting whatever Emmett wasbeginning to say. "To someone who'd lost a mother because of the immortal children, what wouldRenesmee look like?"Everything was silent again as the others caught up to where I was already.
"An immortal child," Carlisle whispered.
I felt Edward kneel beside me, wrap his arms over us both.
"But she's wrong," I went on. "Renesmee isn't like those other children. They were frozen, but she growsso much every day. They were out of control, but she never hurts Charlie or Sue or even shows themthings that would upset them. She can control herself. She's already smarter than most adults. Therewould be no reason___"I babbled49 on, waiting for someone to exhale50 with relief, waiting for the icy tension in the room to relax asthey realized I was right. The room just seemed to get colder. Eventually my small voice trailed off intosilence.
No one spoke for a long time.
Then Edward whispered into my hair. "It's not the kind of crime they hold a trial for, love," he saidquietly. "Aro's seen Irina's proof in her thoughts. They come to destroy, not to be reasoned with.""But they're wrong," I said stubbornly.
"They won't wait for us to show them that."His voice was still quiet, gentle, velvet51... and yet the pain and desolation in the sound was unavoidable.
His voice was like Alice's eyes before—like the inside of a tomb.
"What can we do?" I demanded.
Renesmee was so warm and perfect in my arms, dreaming peacefully. I'd worried so much aboutRenesmee's speeding age—worried that she would only have little over a decade of life.... That terrorseemed ironic52 now.
Little over a month...
Was this the limit, then? I'd had more happiness than most people ever experienced. Was there somenatural law that demanded equal shares of happiness and misery53 in the world? Was my joy overthrowingthe balance? Was four months all I could have?
It was Emmett who answered my rhetorical question.
"We fight," he said calmly.
"We can't win," Jasper growled. I could imagine how his face would look, how his body would curveprotectively over Alice's.
"Well, we can't run. Not with Demetri around." Emmett made a disgusted noise, and I knew instinctivelythat he was not upset by the idea of the Volturi's tracker but by the idea of running away. "And I don'tknow that we can't win," he said. "There are a few options to consider. We don't have to fight alone."My head snapped up at that. "We don't have to sentence the Quileutes to death, either, Emmett!""Chill, Bella." His expression was no different from when he was contemplating54 fighting anacondas. Eventhe threat of annihilation couldn't change Emmett's perspective, his ability to thrill to a challenge. "I didn'tmean the pack. Be realistic, though—do you think Jacob or Sam is going to ignore an invasion? Even if itwasn't about Nessie? Not to mention that, thanks to Irina, Aro knows about our alliance with the packnow, too. But I was thinking of our other friends."Carlisle echoed me in a whisper. "Other friends we don't have to sentence to death.""Hey, we'll let them decide," Emmett said in a placating55 tone. "I'm not saying they have to fight with us." Icould see the plan refining itself in his head as he spoke. "If they'd just stand beside us, just long enoughto make the Volturi hesitate. Bella's right, after all. If we could force them to stop and listen. Though thatmight take away any reason for a fight___"There was a hint of a smile on Emmett's face now. I was surprised no one had hit him yet. I wanted to.
"Yes," Esme said eagerly. "That makes sense, Emmett. All we need is for the Volturi to pause for onemoment. Just long enough to listen*"We'd need quite a show of witnesses," Rosalie said harshly, her voice brittle56 as glass.
Esme nodded in agreement, as if she hadn't heard the sarcasm57 in Rosalie's tone. "We can ask that muchof our friends. Just to witness.""We'd do it for them," Emmett said.
"We'll have to ask them just right," Alice murmured. I looked to see her eyes were a dark void again.
"They'll have to be shown very carefully.""Shown?"Jasper asked.
Alice and Edward both looked down at Renesmee. Then Alice's eyes glazed58 over.
"Tanya's family," she said. "Siobhan's coven. Amun's. Some of the nomads—Garrett and Mary forcertain. Maybe Alistair.""What about Peter and Charlotte?" Jasper asked half fearfully, as if he hoped the answer was no, and hisold brother could be spared from the coming carnage.
"Maybe.""The Amazons?" Carlisle asked. "Kachiri, Zafrina, and Senna?"Alice seemed too deep into her vision to answer at first; finally she shuddered59, and her eyes flickeredback tothe present. She met Carlisle's gaze for the tiniest part of a second, and then looked down.
"I can't see.""What was that?" Edward asked, his whisper a demand. "That part in the jungle. Are we going to lookfor them?""I can't see," Alice repeated, not meeting his eyes. A flash of confusion crossed Edward's face. "We'llhave to split up and hurry—before the snow sticks to the ground. We have to round up whomever wecan and get them here to show them." She zoned60 again. "Ask Eleazar. There is more to this than just animmortal child."The silence was ominous61 for another long moment while Alice was in her trance. She blinked slowlywhen it was over, her eyes peculiarly opaque62 despite the fact that she was clearly in the present.
"There is so much. We have to hurry," she whispered.
"Alice?" Edward asked. "That was too fast—I didn't understand. What was—?""I can't see!" she exploded back at him. "Jacob's almost here!"Rosalie took a step toward the front door. "I'll deal with—""No, let him come," Alice said quickly, her voice straining higher with each word. She grabbed Jasper'shand and began pulling him toward the back door. "I'll see better away from Nessie, too. I need to go. Ineed to really concentrate. I need to see everything I can. I have to go. Come on, Jasper, there's no timeto waste!"We all could hear Jacob on the stairs. Alice yanked, impatient, on Jasper's hand. He followed quickly,confusion in his eyes just like Edward's. They darted out the door into the silver night.
"Hurry!" she called back to us. "You have to find them all!""Find what?" Jacob asked, shutting the front door behind himself. "Where'd Alice go?"No one answered; we all just stared.
Jacob shook the wet from his hair and pulled his arms through the sleeves of his t-shirt, his eyes onRenesmee. "Hey, Bells! I thought you guys would've gone home by now___"He looked up to me finally, blinked, and then stared. I watched his expression as the room's atmospherefinally touched him. He glanced down, eyes wide, at the wet spot on the floor, the scattered63 roses, thefragments of crystal. His fingers quivered.
"What?" he asked flatly. "What happened?"I couldn't think where to begin. No one else found the words, either.
Jacob crossed the room in three long strides and dropped to his knees beside Renesmee and me. Icould feel the heat shaking off his body as tremors64 rolled down his arms to his shaking hands.
"Is she okay?" he demanded, touching65 her forehead, tilting66 his head as he listened to her heart. "Don'tmess with me, Bella, please!""Nothing's wrong with Renesmee," I choked out, the words breaking in strange places.
"Then who?""All of us, Jacob," I whispered. And it was there in my voice, too—the sound of the inside of a grave.
"It's over. We've all been sentenced to die."
点击收听单词发音
1 camaraderie | |
n.同志之爱,友情 | |
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2 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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3 immediate | |
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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4 hazy | |
adj.有薄雾的,朦胧的;不肯定的,模糊的 | |
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5 vampire | |
n.吸血鬼 | |
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6 vampires | |
n.吸血鬼( vampire的名词复数 );吸血蝠;高利贷者;(舞台上的)活板门 | |
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7 hybrids | |
n.杂交生成的生物体( hybrid的名词复数 );杂交植物(或动物);杂种;(不同事物的)混合物 | |
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8 stewed | |
adj.焦虑不安的,烂醉的v.炖( stew的过去式和过去分词 );煨;思考;担忧 | |
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9 tangled | |
adj. 纠缠的,紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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10 quarry | |
n.采石场;v.采石;费力地找 | |
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11 jaguars | |
n.(中、南美洲的)美洲虎( jaguar的名词复数 ) | |
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12 whim | |
n.一时的兴致,突然的念头;奇想,幻想 | |
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13 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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14 serenity | |
n.宁静,沉着,晴朗 | |
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15 wilt | |
v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎;(指人)疲倦,衰弱 | |
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16 distraction | |
n.精神涣散,精神不集中,消遣,娱乐 | |
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17 flickered | |
(通常指灯光)闪烁,摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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18 shards | |
n.(玻璃、金属或其他硬物的)尖利的碎片( shard的名词复数 ) | |
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19 tinkling | |
n.丁当作响声 | |
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20 darted | |
v.投掷,投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 );向前冲,飞奔 | |
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21 halfway | |
adj.中途的,不彻底的,部分的;adv.半路地,在中途,在半途 | |
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22 overflow | |
v.(使)外溢,(使)溢出;溢出,流出,漫出 | |
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23 gasp | |
n.喘息,气喘;v.喘息;气吁吁他说 | |
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24 growled | |
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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25 blurred | |
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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26 rattle | |
v.飞奔,碰响;激怒;n.碰撞声;拨浪鼓 | |
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27 peripheral | |
adj.周边的,外围的 | |
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28 synchronized | |
同步的 | |
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29 transparent | |
adj.明显的,无疑的;透明的 | |
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30 ruby | |
n.红宝石,红宝石色 | |
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31 shrouded | |
v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 );保密 | |
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32 wrenching | |
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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33 confirmation | |
n.证实,确认,批准 | |
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34 groaned | |
v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 );发牢骚;抱怨;受苦 | |
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35 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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36 overthrow | |
v.推翻,打倒,颠覆;n.推翻,瓦解,颠覆 | |
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37 immortal | |
adj.不朽的;永生的,不死的;神的 | |
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38 sagging | |
下垂[沉,陷],松垂,垂度 | |
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39 appalling | |
adj.骇人听闻的,令人震惊的,可怕的 | |
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40 painstakingly | |
adv. 费力地 苦心地 | |
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41 poised | |
a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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42 exquisitely | |
adv.精致地;强烈地;剧烈地;异常地 | |
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43 orphaned | |
[计][修]孤立 | |
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44 taboo | |
n.禁忌,禁止接近,禁止使用;adj.禁忌的;v.禁忌,禁制,禁止 | |
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45 rosy | |
adj.美好的,乐观的,玫瑰色的 | |
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46 wringing | |
淋湿的,湿透的 | |
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47 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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48 infraction | |
n.违反;违法 | |
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49 babbled | |
v.喋喋不休( babble的过去式和过去分词 );作潺潺声(如流水);含糊不清地说话;泄漏秘密 | |
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50 exhale | |
v.呼气,散出,吐出,蒸发 | |
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51 velvet | |
n.丝绒,天鹅绒;adj.丝绒制的,柔软的 | |
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52 ironic | |
adj.讽刺的,有讽刺意味的,出乎意料的 | |
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53 misery | |
n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦 | |
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54 contemplating | |
深思,细想,仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 ); 注视,凝视; 考虑接受(发生某事的可能性); 深思熟虑,沉思,苦思冥想 | |
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55 placating | |
v.安抚,抚慰,使平静( placate的现在分词 ) | |
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56 brittle | |
adj.易碎的;脆弱的;冷淡的;(声音)尖利的 | |
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57 sarcasm | |
n.讥讽,讽刺,嘲弄,反话 (adj.sarcastic) | |
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58 glazed | |
adj.光滑的,像玻璃的;上过釉的;呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式);上釉于,上光;(目光)变得呆滞无神 | |
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59 shuddered | |
v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 );发抖;(机器、车辆等)突然震动;颤动 | |
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60 zoned | |
adj.划成区域的,束带的v.(飞机、汽车等)急速移动( zoom的现在分词 );(价格、费用等)急升,猛涨 | |
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61 ominous | |
adj.不祥的,不吉的,预兆的,预示的 | |
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62 opaque | |
adj.不透光的;不反光的,不传导的;晦涩的 | |
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63 scattered | |
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的 | |
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64 tremors | |
震颤( tremor的名词复数 ); 战栗; 震颤声; 大地的轻微震动 | |
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65 touching | |
adj.动人的,使人感伤的 | |
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66 tilting | |
倾斜,倾卸 | |
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