Chapter 40

Behind him he hears the peep of the other ridge’s signal and his digging becomes almost frenzied¹. The trouble was, with my plan to put in a good first day even if it broke my back: I almost broke my back that first day.... He finishes the hole and gets the cable through and hooked and jerks his whistle wire... But only during the first half of that first day. Then, panting rapidly, hurries to inspect the next log; “He should have told me about the holes, the prick². . . .” (And see, the funny thing is: it was also Viv’s lunches that finally broke the ice and gave me the chance I was waiting for to talk with the boy . . .) The second half of the day went easier—because by then I had learned that I was breaking my back for naught³ . . . The line strums overhead. The cable comes back. The moss⁴ begins to steam softly on the old stumps⁶ . . . and that I was never going to measure up to Brother Hank, simply because he had rigged the scale, making it impossible. As the sun gets higher and higher. By the time Joe Ben blew a long, famished⁷ blast on the donkey whistle, indicating noon, Lee had regained⁸ his one-log lead over the other choker-setter. When the last thread of the whistle note raveled away into the forest Lee allowed himself to sink to the ground beside a stump⁵. He looked blankly at his hands for a time without moving, then removed the gloves, a careful finger at a time. During the grueling morning he had forgotten the circumstances surrounding the gift of the gloves. Hank’s remarks had vanished. So had the anger and the shame caused by the remarks. The gloves now existed pure and with no strings⁹ to the past and O Lord God, was he ever thankful that he had something to cover his soft, pink grad student’s fingers! He had thought this a hundred times. Not long after Hank had left Lee had removed the heavy shirt to let the breeze dry off his sweat; the sweat wasn’t much affected¹⁰ as he tugged¹¹, jerked, and hauled the unwieldly cable through a miasma¹² of berry vine and fire slashing¹³, but within a half an hour both arms were quilted from glove top to shoulder with a pattern of welts and scratches. The view he had of his stomach made him think fabric¹⁴ instead of flesh, a bright garment of patchwork¹⁵ skin stitched together with thorns. He put his shirt back on but an inch or so of wrist still showed between cuff¹⁶ and glove; occasionally he would pause, gasping¹⁷ as he waited for Joe Ben to reel the cable back out or for Andy to buck¹⁸ another fallen tree into thirty-two-foot lengths, and tenderly draw up a shirt sleeve and frown at that inch of bare wrist which was beginning to look like a scarlet¹⁹ bracelet²⁰: he hesitated to even imagine what his hands would have looked like without the heavy leather gloves. He let his head tilt²¹ back until it rested against the ragged²² side of the stump. He watched the other men move through a haze²³ of distorted distance toward the carrier that had brought them to this hell. He felt sick. He wouldn’t have walked those ten wavering miles to that truck even if a hot steak waited for him. His stomach would never touch food again. He wouldn’t move from the spot, though his leg was twisted painfully beneath him, though those bastard²⁴ carpenter ants, big and shiny as carpet tacks²⁵, crawled through his shirt and across his sweating belly²⁶, and though he was sitting in a thicket²⁷ of what was surely poison oak—what else? He sighed. Why try to gild²⁸ this Dante world? he was resolved to never move again. He closed his eyes. The sound of Joe’s radio was wafted²⁹ intermittently³⁰ through the trees: And in dreams I live... memory . . . Moon ...splendor³¹ ...love. His breathing slowed. His glasses were being streaked³² with sweat, but he couldn’t have cared less. He drew his eyelids³³ over his mangled³⁴ body . . . sliding backwards³⁵ up a long, hot, glistening³⁶ dream of a playground slide, tumbling over the top of the slide and down a thousand iron steps worn free of their nonskid texture³⁷ by a century of sneakers, onto a gritty sandlot schoolyard. Where he was able to look from beneath the brim of a grade-school beanie at the names lettered on the side of the high-school gymnasium. wakonda high sharks sports records. And who there? Whose name on top of the list, record-holder for high jump? The same for pole vault³⁸? And for hundred-meter swim state record? The same name all the way on down. Whose? Shucks, you know whose. That’s my brother Hank Stamper. And just you wait. When I get big. He told me. Teach me to. Someday, boy-oh-boy. Said he would. I can make. Body clean mind. But I kept up. One log ahead. By the gods did keep up with him today . . . And the ants crawled over him. And Joe’s little radio spun³⁹ out in the hot air: Oh minny years ago in days of childhood... providing background accompaniment for Lee’s dreaming, as well as for Hank’s limber-legged stride. I used to play till shadows come: (See when lunch blew I walked back to the crummy, but Lee isn’t anywhere to be seen. I pick up two sacks and tell Joe I’m going to look for the kid and I cut back and find him crapped out in the grass not a half a dozen steps from the anchor stump . . .) And heard my mother call at set of sun: Governor Jimmy Davis reminisced reverently⁴⁰ with a steel guitar— Come home, come home, It’s suppertime. The shadows lengthen⁴¹ fast —while Hank stood for a long time looking down on the boy’s scratched and blistered⁴² features. Come home, come home, It’s suppertime. I’m going home at last. In his sleep Lee sought to change and control his dreaming, as he was usually able to do, but his exhausted⁴³ mind ignored his efforts and kept threatening to ramble⁴⁴ off in its own willynilly direction through all sorts of best-forgotten childhood impressions. Unable to influence its meandering⁴⁵, Lee was just surrendering himself to the dream when one of the carpenter ant scouts⁴⁶ cruising the area decided⁴⁷ to test the terrain⁴⁸ for logging potential. (So I sat down near the kid and started eating, figuring let him rest, when all of a sudden up he comes with a squall like a wild man, whopping himself all over. When he stops I wipe my face on my sleeve and point towards his gaping⁴⁹ shirt he’s ripped half the buttons off. “Something you learned in college, that strip act?” “Whore of a bug⁵⁰ bit me! Shit.” “Why listen there. He can cuss too. Don’t that beat all?” I say and pick the second paper sack from the ground and hand it over to him. He’s still rubbing the ant bite. “I don’t want that swill⁵¹!” he yells, about half hysterical⁵² with getting woke up so unexpected. I grin at him. I know how he feels. I done that myself, asleep once and had a chipmunk⁵³ get down in my boot ...but I don’t say anything. I shrug⁵⁴ and put the sack on the ground and go back to my own lunch. The kid’s embarrassed. The way I was this morning popping off at Joby. I don’t act like I notice. I’m eating, humming a little, leaning back against the mossy padding of an old spongy deadfall. Things been moving along smooth and nice and with lunch and all I feel pretty good. Good enough I think maybe I can say a word or two to the boy without sounding like I’m sentencing him to be hung. Only thing I need is some way to start. I go to picking through my sack and arranging boiled eggs, olives, apples, and Thermos⁵⁵ in front of me on a piece of wax paper. He’s acting⁵⁶ like he’s going back to sleep and don’t want nothing to eat, but the sharp mustard-and-vinegar smell of them deviled eggs is ringing the air like a dinner gong. He sits back up and opens his own sack with one casual finger like, you know, he might ...then he might not. “I guess I fell asleep,” he says, looking at the ground. It’s a way to let me know why he blowed up when I offered him lunch. A sort of explanation and apology. I grin at him and nod to let him know I catch it . . .) Ah got a radiation burn On my pore pore heart, Joe’s radio insisted. A jay screamed at them, hot and hungry as it watched them eat. Except for Hank’s toneless humming as he chewed steadily⁵⁷ at the venison sandwich, there was little other sound. From the truck where the other men ate, the bell-like combinations of talk and laughter and Western music stroked the air and reached Hank and Lee on rippling⁵⁸ heat-warped waves. The radio played; the jay screamed. Sometimes Hank hummed along with Joe’s radio; other times he whistled derisively⁵⁹ at the bird. Neither of the brothers spoke⁶⁰ again while they finished their lunches; they ate facing each other, but their eyes never met; when Hank looked up from his meal he scanned the firs behind Lee with exaggerated absorption, measuring, falling, bucking⁶¹, and even sawmilling each tree with his eyes. Lee didn’t look up. He concentrated on the packed lunch. It was obvious that this sack of food was another contribution from the girl he had yet to meet but who was constantly growing in stature⁶² in his estimation. The meal was prepared to keep a man going at a hard job—like a practical fuel for a machine— but there was also that extra touch again, that addition intended to lift anything, even a sack lunch, out of the commonplace. At the very bottom of the sack, wrapped in foil like a bright holiday surprise, Lee found a square of creamy brown candy filled with roasted filberts. Lee bit off a small corner and crushed it with his tongue. “Your wife’s candy?”  Hank nodded. “That’s why I generally eat apart from the rest of those snakes; they always looking to share Viv’s dessert.” “It’s very good.” Hank scanned the trees again for a moment, lips pursed in deliberation, then turned suddenly toward Lee and leaned forward. (Then while we were eating I just started talking . . .) Before him, his three fingers curled slightly as though he gripped an invisible object. “Listen, bub, what I did this morning? Let me tell you . . .” His voice was excited. Lee listens with excitement to Hank’s intense words, eager to hear what Hank has to say about the morning’s choker-setting duel⁶³. “. ..was top the spar where we are going to move. Oh man, let me see. . . .” Hank’s crippled hand continues to grip the air as he strains for the right words. “Let me see, see if I can...” Lee looks on, expectant and impatient, while Hank takes a package of cigarettes; he tosses one to Lee and puts another in the corner of his mouth. “. . . see if I can give you some idea. Now. The tree you want for the spar is the biggest tree on the biggest hill you can find. It’s gonna be like the main center tentpole of our circus. And it’s gonna be the last one cut on the hill, see, the last one up there after we clear off the rest of the show. Okay? I get into this rig . . . oh, twenty pounds of paraphernalia⁶⁴, maybe more; handsaw, ax, hooks, rope, and throw a line around me and the tree an’ up the big sonofabitch I climb, lopping off branches as I go.” (And I get started telling him about rigging the spar. Just to have something to pass the time at first. Figuring that if he liked watching that tree felled when we first got to the show, he oughta like hearing about topping, too...) “As you go up, you take in the line, around the tree. It gets shorter as the tree gets smaller. You’re choppin’; one-handed; whack⁶⁵, whack, get the little limbs. Not many big limbs on a fir till right at the top but you still got to get the little ones, and keep an eye peeled where that safety line is because you get that with the ax, brother, wire center or no that could be all she wrote. Lots of climbers have chopped their line. That’s how Percy Williams bought it, husband to one of Henry’s first cousins. He cut his line. Hit feet first and jammed his legs all the way up to his shoulderblades. So you learn to watch out. Watch out those stobs we call gut-gougers. Watch out you get a good bite with your spurs or you slip and slide twenty feet and peel hide off your chest and belly and thighs⁶⁶ like scrapin’ a carrot. And you want to know something else, bub? You’re scared as hell. They say that the first spar is the tallest but that’s all hokum; every one you climb is the tallest. And Christ, this sonofabitch is a good forty thousand board feet.” (But see? When he looked at me, blank as ever behind those glasses, I realized he don’t have any notion how tall this makes the tree. And that I didn’t really have any way to tell him.

1 frenzied   

a.激怒的；疯狂的

参考例句：

• Will this push him too far and lead to a frenzied attack? 这会不会逼他太甚，导致他进行疯狂的进攻？
• Two teenagers carried out a frenzied attack on a local shopkeeper. 两名十几岁的少年对当地的一个店主进行了疯狂的袭击。

2 prick   

v.刺伤，刺痛，刺孔；n.刺伤，刺痛

参考例句：

• He felt a sharp prick when he stepped on an upturned nail.当他踩在一个尖朝上的钉子上时，他感到剧烈的疼痛。
• He burst the balloon with a prick of the pin.他用针一戳，气球就爆了。

3 naught   

n.无，零 [=nought]

参考例句：

• He sets at naught every convention of society.他轻视所有的社会习俗。
• I hope that all your efforts won't go for naught.我希望你的努力不会毫无结果。

4 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

5 stump   

n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走

参考例句：

• He went on the stump in his home state.他到故乡所在的州去发表演说。
• He used the stump as a table.他把树桩用作桌子。

6 stumps   

（被砍下的树的）树桩( stump的名词复数 )； 残肢； （板球三柱门的）柱； 残余部分

参考例句：

• Rocks and stumps supplied the place of chairs at the picnic. 野餐时石头和树桩都充当了椅子。
• If you don't stir your stumps, Tom, you'll be late for school again. 汤姆，如果你不快走，上学又要迟到了。

7 famished   

adj.饥饿的

参考例句：

• When's lunch?I'm famished!什么时候吃午饭？我饿得要死了！
• My feet are now killing me and I'm absolutely famished.我的脚现在筋疲力尽，我绝对是极饿了。

8 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。

9 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

10 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

11 tugged   

v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She tugged at his sleeve to get his attention. 她拽了拽他的袖子引起他的注意。
• A wry smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. 他的嘴角带一丝苦笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 miasma   

n.毒气；不良气氛

参考例句：

• A miasma rose from the marsh.沼泽地里冒出了瘴气。
• The novel spun a miasma of death and decay.小说笼罩着死亡和腐朽的气氛。

13 slashing   

adj.尖锐的；苛刻的；鲜明的；乱砍的v.挥砍( slash的现在分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Slashing is the first process in which liquid treatment is involved. 浆纱是液处理的第一过程。 来自辞典例句
• He stopped slashing his horse. 他住了手，不去鞭打他的马了。 来自辞典例句

14 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

15 patchwork   

n.混杂物；拼缝物

参考例句：

• That proposal is nothing else other than a patchwork.那个建议只是一个大杂烩而已。
• She patched new cloth to the old coat,so It'seemed mere patchwork. 她把新布初到那件旧上衣上，所以那件衣服看上去就象拼凑起来的东西。

16 cuff   

n.袖口；手铐；护腕；vt.用手铐铐；上袖口

参考例句：

• She hoped they wouldn't cuff her hands behind her back.她希望他们不要把她反铐起来。
• Would you please draw together the snag in my cuff?请你把我袖口上的裂口缝上好吗？

17 gasping   

adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词

参考例句：

• He was gasping for breath. 他在喘气。
• "Did you need a drink?""Yes, I'm gasping!” “你要喝点什么吗？”“我巴不得能喝点！”

18 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

19 scarlet   

n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的

参考例句：

• The scarlet leaves of the maples contrast well with the dark green of the pines.深红的枫叶和暗绿的松树形成了明显的对比。
• The glowing clouds are growing slowly pale,scarlet,bright red,and then light red.天空的霞光渐渐地淡下去了，深红的颜色变成了绯红，绯红又变为浅红。

20 bracelet   

n.手镯，臂镯

参考例句：

• The jeweler charges lots of money to set diamonds in a bracelet.珠宝匠要很多钱才肯把钻石镶在手镯上。
• She left her gold bracelet as a pledge.她留下她的金手镯作抵押品。

21 tilt   

v.(使)倾侧；(使)倾斜；n.倾侧；倾斜

参考例句：

• She wore her hat at a tilt over her left eye.她歪戴着帽子遮住左眼。
• The table is at a slight tilt.这张桌子没放平，有点儿歪.

22 ragged   

adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的

参考例句：

• A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。
• Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。

23 haze   

n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊

参考例句：

• I couldn't see her through the haze of smoke.在烟雾弥漫中，我看不见她。
• He often lives in a haze of whisky.他常常是在威士忌的懵懂醉意中度过的。

24 bastard   

n.坏蛋，混蛋；私生子

参考例句：

• He was never concerned about being born a bastard.他从不介意自己是私生子。
• There was supposed to be no way to get at the bastard.据说没有办法买通那个混蛋。

25 tacks   

大头钉( tack的名词复数 )； 平头钉； 航向； 方法

参考例句：

• Never mind the side issues, let's get down to brass tacks and thrash out a basic agreement. 别管枝节问题，让我们讨论问题的实质，以求得基本一致。
• Get down to the brass tacks,and quit talking round the subject. 谈实质问题吧，别兜圈子了。

26 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

27 thicket   

n.灌木丛，树林

参考例句：

• A thicket makes good cover for animals to hide in.丛林是动物的良好隐蔽处。
• We were now at the margin of the thicket.我们现在已经来到了丛林的边缘。

28 gild   

vt.给…镀金，把…漆成金色，使呈金色

参考例句：

• The sun transform the gild cupola into dazzling point of light.太阳将这些镀金的圆屋顶变成了闪耀的光点。
• With Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney primed to flower anew,Owen can gild the lily.贝巴和鲁尼如今蓄势待发，欧文也可以为曼联锦上添花。

29 wafted   

v.吹送，飘送，（使）浮动( waft的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The sound of their voices wafted across the lake. 他们的声音飘过湖面传到了另一边。
• A delicious smell of freshly baked bread wafted across the garden. 花园中飘过一股刚出炉面包的香味。 来自《简明英汉词典》

30 intermittently   

adv.间歇地；断断续续

参考例句：

• Winston could not intermittently remember why the pain was happening. 温斯顿只能断断续续地记得为什么这么痛。 来自英汉文学
• The resin moves intermittently down and out of the bed. 树脂周期地向下移动和移出床层。 来自辞典例句

31 splendor   

n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌

参考例句：

• Never in his life had he gazed on such splendor.他生平从没有见过如此辉煌壮丽的场面。
• All the splendor in the world is not worth a good friend.人世间所有的荣华富贵不如一个好朋友。

32 streaked   

adj.有条斑纹的，不安的v.快速移动( streak的过去式和过去分词 )；使布满条纹

参考例句：

• The children streaked off as fast as they could. 孩子们拔脚飞跑 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• His face was pale and streaked with dirt. 他脸色苍白，脸上有一道道的污痕。 来自辞典例句

33 eyelids   

n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色

参考例句：

• She was so tired, her eyelids were beginning to droop. 她太疲倦了，眼睑开始往下垂。
• Her eyelids drooped as if she were on the verge of sleep. 她眼睑低垂好像快要睡着的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

34 mangled   

vt.乱砍（mangle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• His hand was mangled in the machine. 他的手卷到机器里轧烂了。
• He was off work because he'd mangled his hand in a machine. 他没上班，因为他的手给机器严重压伤了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

35 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

36 glistening   

adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Her eyes were glistening with tears. 她眼里闪着晶莹的泪花。
• Her eyes were glistening with tears. 她眼睛中的泪水闪着柔和的光。 来自《用法词典》

37 texture   

n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理

参考例句：

• We could feel the smooth texture of silk.我们能感觉出丝绸的光滑质地。
• Her skin has a fine texture.她的皮肤细腻。

38 vault   

n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室

参考例句：

• The vault of this cathedral is very high.这座天主教堂的拱顶非常高。
• The old patrician was buried in the family vault.这位老贵族埋在家族的墓地里。

39 spun   

v.纺，杜撰，急转身

参考例句：

• His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
• Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。

40 reverently   

adv.虔诚地

参考例句：

• He gazed reverently at the handiwork. 他满怀敬意地凝视着这件手工艺品。
• Pork gazed at it reverently and slowly delight spread over his face. 波克怀着愉快的心情看着这只表，脸上慢慢显出十分崇敬的神色。

41 lengthen   

vt.使伸长，延长

参考例句：

• He asked the tailor to lengthen his coat.他请裁缝把他的外衣放长些。
• The teacher told her to lengthen her paper out.老师让她把论文加长。

42 blistered   

adj.水疮状的，泡状的v.（使）起水泡( blister的过去式和过去分词 )；（使表皮等）涨破，爆裂

参考例句：

• He had a blistered heel. 他的脚后跟起了泡。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Their hands blistered, but no one complained. 他们手起了泡，可是没有一个人有怨言。 来自《简明英汉词典》

43 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

44 ramble   

v.漫步，漫谈，漫游；n.漫步，闲谈，蔓延

参考例句：

• This is the best season for a ramble in the suburbs.这是去郊区漫游的最好季节。
• I like to ramble about the street after work.我下班后在街上漫步。

45 meandering   

蜿蜒的河流，漫步，聊天

参考例句：

• The village seemed deserted except for small boys and a meandering donkey. 整个村子的人都像是逃光了，只留下了几个小男孩和一头正在游游荡荡的小毛驴。 来自教父部分
• We often took a walk along the meandering river after supper. 晚饭后我们常沿着那条弯弯曲曲的小河散步。

46 scouts   

侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员

参考例句：

• to join the Scouts 参加童子军
• The scouts paired off and began to patrol the area. 巡逻人员两个一组，然后开始巡逻这个地区。

47 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

48 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

49 gaping   

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

参考例句：

• Ahead of them was a gaping abyss. 他们前面是一个巨大的深渊。
• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

50 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

51 swill   

v.冲洗；痛饮；n.泔脚饲料；猪食；（谈话或写作中的）无意义的话

参考例句：

• Having finished his coffee,he swilled out the mug and left it on the draining board.喝完咖啡后，他涮了涮杯子然后把它放在滴水板上。
• A crowd of men were standing around swilling beer.一群人正站在一起痛饮啤酒。

52 hysterical   

adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的

参考例句：

• He is hysterical at the sight of the photo.他一看到那张照片就异常激动。
• His hysterical laughter made everybody stunned.他那歇斯底里的笑声使所有的人不知所措。

53 chipmunk   

n.花栗鼠

参考例句：

• This little chipmunk is hungry.这只小花栗鼠肚子饿了。
• Once I brought her a chipmunk with a wound on its stomach.一次，我带了只腹部受伤的花栗鼠去找她。

54 shrug   

v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等)

参考例句：

• With a shrug,he went out of the room.他耸一下肩，走出了房间。
• I admire the way she is able to shrug off unfair criticism.我很佩服她能对错误的批评意见不予理会。

55 thermos   

n.保湿瓶，热水瓶

参考例句：

• Can I borrow your thermos?我可以借用你的暖水瓶吗？
• It's handy to have the thermos here.暖瓶放在这儿好拿。

56 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

57 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

58 rippling   

起涟漪的，潺潺流水般声音的

参考例句：

• I could see the dawn breeze rippling the shining water. 我能看见黎明的微风在波光粼粼的水面上吹出道道涟漪。
• The pool rippling was caused by the waving of the reeds. 池塘里的潺潺声是芦苇摇动时引起的。

59 derisively   

adv. 嘲笑地，嘲弄地

参考例句：

• This answer came derisively from several places at the same instant. 好几个人都不约而同地以讥讽的口吻作出回答。
• The others laughed derisively. 其余的人不以为然地笑了起来。

60 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

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

61 bucking   

v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的现在分词 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• a bucking bronco in the rodeo 牛仔竞技表演中一匹弓背跳跃的野马
• That means we'll be bucking grain bags, bustin's gut. 那就是说咱们要背这一袋袋的谷子，得把五脏都累坏。 来自辞典例句

62 stature   

n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材

参考例句：

• He is five feet five inches in stature.他身高5英尺5英寸。
• The dress models are tall of stature.时装模特儿的身材都较高。

63 duel   

n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争

参考例句：

• The two teams are locked in a duel for first place.两个队为争夺第一名打得难解难分。
• Duroy was forced to challenge his disparager to duel.杜洛瓦不得不向诋毁他的人提出决斗。

64 paraphernalia   

n.装备；随身用品

参考例句：

• Can you move all your paraphernalia out of the way?你可以把所有的随身物品移开吗？
• All my fishing paraphernalia is in the car.我的鱼具都在汽车里。

65 whack   

v.敲击，重打，瓜分；n.重击，重打，尝试，一份

参考例句：

• After years of dieting,Carol's metabolism was completely out of whack.经过数年的节食，卡罗尔的新陈代谢完全紊乱了。
• He gave me a whack on the back to wake me up.他为把我弄醒，在我背上猛拍一下。

66 thighs   

n.股，大腿( thigh的名词复数 )；食用的鸡（等的）腿

参考例句：

• He's gone to London for skin grafts on his thighs. 他去伦敦做大腿植皮手术了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The water came up to the fisherman's thighs. 水没到了渔夫的大腿。 来自《简明英汉词典》