Chapter 50

It’ll outlast¹ anything skin an’ bone. You need to get in there with some machines an’ tear hell out of it!” He lurched violently across the room, clearing his throat, wiping at the long cornstarch hair worrying his eyes, working his mouth in a grimacing² mixture of anger and exuberance³, of fury practically, of drunken, dedicated⁴ fury; he turned and came thundering back. “Tear it out! Only thing! Chop out the big stuff and burn the brush, grub up the brambles and poison the vines. Goddam right. What if it is growin’ back on you soon’s you bat your eye? Screw it. You don’t get it this round, get it the next. Yee HEE I useta tell Ben. Whoo Whooee. Goddam tootin’. Tear the livin’ jesus outa it! You watch an’ see if I—” Hank kept him from falling. Joe caught the outflung cane⁵. Viv hurried to his side, her face white. “Papa, Henry, are you all right?” “I think he’s just gassed, chicken,” Hank said without conviction. “Henry! Are you feeling all right?” Slowly the old face lifted and turned toward hers; gradually the sunken mouth stretched itself into a grin. “Okay, now—” He fixed⁶ her with one searing green eye. “What’s this about tryna sneak⁷ off on a coon hunt ’thout me?” “Oh, lord.” Hank sighed, releasing the old man and returning to his seat. “Papa,” Viv said with a mixture of relief and vexation, “you’ve just got to go to bed—” “Booger the bed! What about a coon hunt? I asked!” Joe Ben maneuvered⁸ him toward the stairs. “Nobody said anything about a coon hunt, Henry.” “Uh-huh, uh-huh, you think I can’t hear? You think the old nigger is too deef, too stove up to go on a little hunt? We’ll see about that.” “Come on, Papa.” Viv tugged⁹ gently at the sleeve of his shirt. “Let’s me and you go upstairs to bed.” “Why, all right,” he agreed with a sudden change of mood and gave Hank a wink¹⁰ so lascivious¹¹ and led Viv so spryly up the steps that I told her I was giving her three minutes, at the most five, then I was organizing a posse to come up and rescue her from the old dragon. We listened to him thundering and hooting¹² overhead. “I sometimes think,” Hank said, still shaking his head, “that my dear old daddy is slippin’ his gears.” “Oh no.” Joe Ben leaped to Henry’s defense¹³. “That ain’t it. He’s gettin’ to be the town character, like I said. They’re callin’ him Old Wild and Woolly in Wakonda—kids pointin’ at him, women sayin’ hello to him on the street—and don’t think for a minute he ain’t lovin’ every minute of it. Ah, no, Hankus, it ain’t that he’s really comin’ apart—well, maybe a little, like his memory an’ his eyes—it’s more a kind of act, you see?” “I don’t know which is worse.” “Ah, Hank, he’s gettin’ a million kicks.” “Maybe. But dammit, the doctor put all that plaster on him to kind of anchor him. He said he wasn’t really so bad busted¹⁴ up but if we didn’t slow him down some he sure would be. Looks like, if anything, it revved¹⁵ him up.” “He’s just holding his mouth right is all, enjoyin’ his lot. Don’t you think so, Lee? Oh yeah, listen to him rant¹⁶ an’ rejoice up there.” I was pessimistic. “Sounds like he’s rehearsing for a rape¹⁷.” “Oh no. It’s just an act,” Joe insisted. “All just an act. If he’s rehearsin’ for anything it’s for the Academy Award speech for the best actor of the year.” Above us we could hear the Academy Award candidate practicing diction as he called through spongy gums for Viv to get her puny¹⁸ ath back here an’ quit bein’ so blathted perthnickety! Viv appeared on the stairs, her hair disheveled and her pale cheeks flushed by the recent activity, and announced she was giving the rest of us one last chance to better old Henry’s offer of two dollars and a pint¹⁹ of liquor. Hank said that was too rich for his blood but Joe Ben allowed that in as his woman had already petered out on him and gone to bed with the kids upstairs, he’d up the bid to two-fifty. I kept my wallet in my pocket, but as she passed me on her way to deposit old Henry’s dirty socks in the laundry bag she asked if I didn’t have a five spot I wasn’t using. I told her to wait for next Saturday, payday. “You could get a draw tomorrow,” she hinted, blushing as she did with that anomalous²⁰ combination of demure²¹ coquetry and brazen²² diffidence. “I could talk my husband into it.” “All right, tomorrow. Where shall we rendezvous²³? She whirled away, trailing light laughter. “In town at the jetty. Tomorrow is the day I dig rock oysters²⁴ at the jetty. Bring a hammer.” “It sounds romantic,” I said and glanced about for brother Hank, to be sure it didn’t sound too romantic. But he was just coming away from the window. “You know, I been thinking,” he said thoughtfully, “what with the big yield we had today we’re standin’ in pretty fair shape. An’ we can’t expect this kinda weather to hold. An’ we’re all about half lit anyhow. So how about we take them dirteaters under the house there out for a little run, just to limber up?” “A hunt?” I asked. “Yeah!” Joe Ben was ready. “It’s late,” Viv said, thinking of us getting up at four-thirty for work in the morning. “Just right,” Hank said. “I was thinkin’ we’d by god just cross off tomorrow as far as work goes. We ain’t had a Saturday off in a long while.” “Good deal!” Joe Ben was beside himself. “Oh yeah! An’ you know what tomorrow happens to be? Halloween. Oh yeah, it’s too much: Halloween in town, a coon hunt, the old man bringin’ home a bottle, Les Gibbons fallin’ in the river...I can’t stand it!” “What about you, bub; you reckon you can stand it?” “I wasn’t exactly planning on a midnight stroll, but I think I’ll survive.” “I tell you what, Hankus: Let’s me an’ you take out first around the hill an’ get things goin’—them dogs’ll be worthless anyhow for the first hour after this long a layoff—and Lee and Viv can go on up on top to the shack²⁵ and wait till we tree some-thin’, then follow on down. No sense in all of us stumblin’ around in the brambles. How’s that sound, Viv? Lee?” Viv was willing and I saw no way out of the trap I had fashioned for myself, so I said fine. Besides, I was looking forward to the chance of speaking with Viv alone. During the evening, along with my decision to bury the hatchet²⁶, I had resolved to use the impetus²⁷ of well-being²⁸ and whisky to tell all, to come clean. My grimy conscience begged for a thorough airing. I had to tell someone everything and had picked Viv as the most sympathetic ear. I would tell her the whole evil scheme, all my terrible plans. Of course, I might have to fill in here and there, pad out the abstract, chink in the unfinished details of the fiendish plot against my brother, but I was determined²⁹ to reveal the truth to someone, though it meant lying myself blue in the face. That, however, is not quite the way it turned out. Upstairs, the young Henry with a compass in every pocket and a knife in his boot reached down to grapple with the shirtfront of the old Henry, pulling him roughly standing³⁰. “Okay, old man, you can let them downstairs think you’re fooled, but I’m blamed if I’ll let you think you fooled yourself. . . .” The old man looks down at the soft doeskin bedroom slipper³¹ that covers his good foot, noticing how worn it is already just since that doctor gave it to him. A bedroom slipper, for the love o’ Christ . . . As it turned out, I was never alone with her long enough to begin my fabricated confession³²—“Because when we swore to beat it,” the young Henry goes on, “we wasn’t talking just about the first rounds, we was talking about the whole boogerin’ fight! So get up from there...”—because just as we were leaving old Henry decided³³ that we couldn’t possibly survive out there in the untamed wilderness³⁴ without the blessing³⁵ of his woods-wily presence. In the front hall below they hear the light slipper’s padding change to a heavy stomp³⁶ counterpointing the rubber thud of the cast’s crutch³⁷ tip. “Listen there,” Joe Ben says . . . But, as it turned out, my father’s presence was more a blessing than he ever knew; had I actually gone through with the ridiculous confession I was fashioning for Viv, I am sure I would have expired of sheer absurdity³⁸ when later, back at the house after the hunt, my brother finally shed his phony foliage³⁹ of olive leaves and forget-me-nots to reveal the true color of his nightshade heart—“Listen there,” Joe says. “Sounds like somebody for some reason is changed a slipper for a corknail boot. . . .”—shed his foliage and showed his colors and proved himself once and for all deserving of whatever calamity⁴¹ I could conceivably perpetrate—“Now who do you suppose,” Joe asks aloud, “could be snakin’ down them stairs after us in one cork⁴⁰ boot?”—as it all turned out . . . “I got a pretty fair notion who,” Hank said. “What I’m wondering about is why.” He and Lee had been helping⁴² Viv into a pair of stubborn boots when Joe had heard that first boot-tread. Now they all stood listening to the somber⁴³ approach of stealthy rubber creeping from the stairs toward the hall. “Trouble sneakin’ up on us,” Joe said. “Trouble is right,” Hank said. “And with a snootful.” “Hank,” Viv whispered, “couldn’t he just go as far as—” Hank cut her off. “I’ll handle him.” She started to speak further but decided it would only cause more fuss. They were all standing in a row when Henry appeared. Viv saw him come clomping through the dark, struggling to work his plaster arm through the sleeve of a tattered⁴⁴ elkhide jacket. She saw that he had pared away some of the cast at the elbow and wrist to give him more freedom of movement. He stopped before them in the hall, glowering⁴⁵. “I couldn’t get off to sleep, if you got to know.” He looked from Hank to Joe Ben, challenging anybody to just by god try to tell him where he could go and where he couldn’t. When no one spoke⁴⁶ he resumed his struggle with the jacket. Viv leaned the .22-pump she was holding against the door and walked to give him a hand. “All right, then,” he grumbled⁴⁷, “is they any of that likker I brought home left, or you hogs⁴⁸ kill it?” “You want some more of that rotgut?” Hank stepped forward to steady his father while Viv tried to work the sleeve over the soiled cast. “Why, Jesus, Henry, you can barely put one foot in front of the other as it is—” “Get back away from me, blast it!” “—so what you want to make yourself more a handicap for?” “Get back, I say! I’ll thank you to leave me dress my own self. Lord love us when the day comes that Henry Stamper is a handicap. Where’s me some snoose, then?” Hank turned to Lee. “What you say, bub? It’s your show more or less. You want to drag this old drunk cripple along or not?” “I don’t know. He’s a sight. You sure he won’t scare off the game?” “Oh no.” As usual, Joe Ben spoke in Henry’s behalf. “Creatures been known to come for miles around when Henry’s along. He attracks the game.” “There’s something to what he says, Lee. You remember, Joe? The time we took him huntin’ cat with us in the Ochocos?” “All right now—” “Left him leanin’ against a tree—” “I said all right! Viv, honey, you seen my snuff?” “—an’ he dozed⁴⁹ off an’ we came back into camp an’ there was a scrubby coyote wettin’ on his leg.” “I remember that. Oh yeah. Thought he was a tree.” Henry was concentrating on the cluttered⁵⁰ shelf that ran head-high the length of the hall, choosing to ignore the conversation. “Just one can of Skol is all I ast an’ we can get this circus on the road.” “So you see, bub, he may actually be an asset.” “Bring him along. Maybe we can use him for bait.” “I never in my life seen such a collection of crap.” He rummaged⁵² through boxes of shotgun shells, tools, odds⁵³ and ends of clothing, tennis shoes, paint cans and brushes . . . “Never in all my born days.” Viv raised herself on tiptoe and found a whole carton. She opened one can for him by running her thumbnail around the crack. Henry looked into the offered can suspiciously before extracting a pinch fastidiously between thumb and finger. “Much obliged,” he said moodily⁵⁴. Turning his back on the others to confide⁵⁵ to her in a low voice: “All I aim is just to walk up as far as the first flat an’ listen to the dogs for a while. Then I’ll come on back. I just couldn’t get off to sleep.” She replaced the lid on the snuff and put the can in his jacket pocket. “It just hasn’t been a night for sleeping,” she said sympathetically. Hank and Joe Ben went on ahead with the dogs and she hung back with Lee to keep the old man company. She preferred staying apart from the dogs, anyway. Not that she minded their baying—in fact, some had very musical voices—but their noise always so overwhelmed the other little noises of the forest night. Henry had found a flashlight among the shelf ’s clutter⁵¹, but it had burned out a few yards from the front door. He flung it away with a curse and they continued on in darkness up the path in the direction of the nearest hill. The clouds that had blazed so brilliantly at sunset now spread across the land, blackening the sky and bringing it down close over their heads. On all sides, just beyond the fingertips, night hung in thick folds; even when the keen edge of the moon managed to slice itself a brief hole, its crippled light emphasized, more than alleviated⁵⁶, the gloom. They walked in a silent single file, with Viv a few yards behind Henry, and Lee bringing up the rear. The only thing Viv could see of the old man was the murky⁵⁷ sweep of his cast leading the way toward the hill, yet she could follow him easily; there were perhaps a dozen paths up to the shack, and she knew them all by heart. Her first year in Oregon she had walked up to the shack almost every day, early in the morning or late in the evening. She had walked home from there many times in complete darkness after sitting through a long twilight⁵⁸. From the hill she could see the sun sink into the sea when the weather was clear, or hear the buoys⁵⁹ out over the bar when it was stormy—the bell buoy⁶⁰ clanging in slow cadence⁶¹; the whistler keening mournfully as the waves tossed it about. Hank scolded her for choosing the early morning and the late evening for her walk, saying it would be warmer and clearer at midday. She tried it a few times but went back to her old schedule; in the evenings she liked to look seaward and see that perfectly⁶² round sphere sinking to meet that perfectly straight line—so different from the jig-jag line of the Rockies that her childhood sun had turned into a row of volcanoes, and so much simpler, like an orange ball rolling off the edge of a blue-green table—and in the mornings she enjoyed hearing the dark, mist-locked woods below her come awake for the day. That first summer it came to be almost a daily ritual, her walk to the shack.

1 outlast   

v.较…耐久

参考例句：

• The great use of life is to spend it doing something that will outlast it.人生的充分利用就是为争取比人生更长久的东西而度过一生。
• These naturally dried flowers will outlast a bouquet of fresh blooms.这些自然风干的花会比一束鲜花更加持久。

2 grimacing   

v.扮鬼相，做鬼脸( grimace的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• But then Boozer drove past Gasol for a rattling, grimacing slam dunk. 可布泽尔单吃家嫂，以一记强有力的扣篮将比分超出。 来自互联网
• The martyrdom of Archbishop Cranmer, said the don at last, grimacing with embarrassment. 最后那位老师尴尬地做个鬼脸，说，这是大主教克莱默的殉道士。 来自互联网

3 exuberance   

n.丰富；繁荣

参考例句：

• Her burst of exuberance and her brightness overwhelmed me.她勃发的热情和阳光的性格征服了我。
• The sheer exuberance of the sculpture was exhilarating.那尊雕塑表现出的勃勃生机让人振奋。

4 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

5 cane   

n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的

参考例句：

• This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。
• English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。

6 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

7 sneak   

vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行

参考例句：

• He raised his spear and sneak forward.他提起长矛悄悄地前进。
• I saw him sneak away from us.我看见他悄悄地从我们身边走开。

8 maneuvered   

v.移动，用策略( maneuver的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵

参考例句：

• I maneuvered my way among the tables to the back corner of the place. 我在那些桌子间穿行，来到那地方后面的角落。 来自辞典例句
• The admiral maneuvered his ships in the battle plan. 舰队司令按作战计划进行舰队演习。 来自辞典例句

9 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》

10 wink   

n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁

参考例句：

• He tipped me the wink not to buy at that price.他眨眼暗示我按那个价格就不要买。
• The satellite disappeared in a wink.瞬息之间，那颗卫星就消失了。

11 lascivious   

adj.淫荡的，好色的

参考例句：

• I was there to protect her from the importunities of lascivious men.我在那里保护她,不受那些好色男子的纠缠不休。
• In his old age Cato became lascivious and misconducted himself with a woman slave.到了晚年,卡托沉溺于女色,跟一个女奴私通。

12 hooting   

（使）作汽笛声响，作汽车喇叭声( hoot的现在分词 )； 倒好儿； 倒彩

参考例句：

• He had the audience hooting with laughter . 他令观众哄堂大笑。
• The owl was hooting. 猫头鹰在叫。

13 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

14 busted   

adj. 破产了的，失败了的，被降级的，被逮捕的，被抓到的 动词bust的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• You are so busted! 你被当场逮住了！
• It was money troubles that busted up their marriage. 是金钱纠纷使他们的婚姻破裂了。

15 revved   

v.（使）加速( rev的过去式和过去分词 )；（数量、活动等）激增；（使发动机）快速旋转；（使）活跃起来

参考例句：

• The taxi driver revved up his engine. 出租车司机把发动机发动起来。
• The car revved up and roared away. 汽车发动起来，然后轰鸣着开走了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 rant   

v.咆哮；怒吼；n.大话；粗野的话

参考例句：

• You can rant and rave at the fine,but you'll still have to pay it.你闹也好，骂也好，罚金还是得交。
• If we rant on the net,the world is our audience.如果我们在网络上大声嚷嚷，全世界都是我们的听众。

17 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

18 puny   

adj.微不足道的，弱小的

参考例句：

• The resources at the central banks' disposal are simply too puny.中央银行掌握的资金实在太少了。
• Antonio was a puny lad,and not strong enough to work.安东尼奥是个瘦小的小家伙，身体还不壮，还不能干活。

19 pint   

n.品脱

参考例句：

• I'll have a pint of beer and a packet of crisps, please.我要一品脱啤酒和一袋炸马铃薯片。
• In the old days you could get a pint of beer for a shilling.从前，花一先令就可以买到一品脱啤酒。

20 anomalous   

adj.反常的；不规则的

参考例句：

• For years this anomalous behaviour has baffled scientists.几年来这种反常行为让科学家们很困惑。
• The mechanism of this anomalous vascular response is unknown.此种不规则的血管反应的机制尚不清楚。

21 demure   

adj.严肃的；端庄的

参考例句：

• She's very demure and sweet.她非常娴静可爱。
• The luscious Miss Wharton gave me a demure but knowing smile.性感迷人的沃顿小姐对我羞涩地会心一笑。

22 brazen   

adj.厚脸皮的，无耻的，坚硬的

参考例句：

• The brazen woman laughed loudly at the judge who sentenced her.那无耻的女子冲着给她判刑的法官高声大笑。
• Some people prefer to brazen a thing out rather than admit defeat.有的人不愿承认失败，而是宁肯厚着脸皮干下去。

23 rendezvous   

n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇

参考例句：

• She made the rendezvous with only minutes to spare.她还差几分钟时才来赴约。
• I have a rendezvous with Peter at a restaurant on the harbour.我和彼得在海港的一个餐馆有个约会。

24 oysters   

牡蛎( oyster的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We don't have oysters tonight, but the crayfish are very good. 我们今晚没有牡蛎供应。但小龙虾是非常好。
• She carried a piping hot grill of oysters and bacon. 她端出一盘滚烫的烤牡蛎和咸肉。

25 shack   

adj.简陋的小屋，窝棚

参考例句：

• He had to sit down five times before he reached his shack.在走到他的茅棚以前，他不得不坐在地上歇了五次。
• The boys made a shack out of the old boards in the backyard.男孩们在后院用旧木板盖起一间小木屋。

26 hatchet   

n.短柄小斧；v.扼杀

参考例句：

• I shall have to take a hatchet to that stump.我得用一把短柄斧来劈这树桩。
• Do not remove a fly from your friend's forehead with a hatchet.别用斧头拍打朋友额头上的苍蝇。

27 impetus   

n.推动，促进，刺激；推动力

参考例句：

• This is the primary impetus behind the economic recovery.这是促使经济复苏的主要动力。
• Her speech gave an impetus to my ideas.她的讲话激发了我的思绪。

28 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

29 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

30 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

31 slipper   

n.拖鞋

参考例句：

• I rescued the remains of my slipper from the dog.我从那狗的口中夺回了我拖鞋的残留部分。
• The puppy chewed a hole in the slipper.小狗在拖鞋上啃了一个洞。

32 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

33 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。

34 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

35 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

36 stomp   

v.跺（脚），重踩，重踏

参考例句：

• 3.And you go to france, and you go to stomp! 你去法国，你去看跺脚舞！
• 4.How hard did she stomp? 她跺得有多狠？

37 crutch   

n.T字形拐杖；支持，依靠，精神支柱

参考例句：

• Her religion was a crutch to her when John died.约翰死后，她在精神上依靠宗教信仰支撑住自己。
• He uses his wife as a kind of crutch because of his lack of confidence.他缺乏自信心，总把妻子当作主心骨。

38 absurdity   

n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论

参考例句：

• The proposal borders upon the absurdity.这提议近乎荒谬。
• The absurdity of the situation made everyone laugh.情况的荒谬可笑使每个人都笑了。

39 foliage   

n.叶子，树叶，簇叶

参考例句：

• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage.小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。
• Dark foliage clothes the hills.浓密的树叶覆盖着群山。

40 cork   

n.软木，软木塞

参考例句：

• We heard the pop of a cork.我们听见瓶塞砰的一声打开。
• Cork is a very buoyant material.软木是极易浮起的材料。

41 calamity   

n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件

参考例句：

• Even a greater natural calamity cannot daunt us. 再大的自然灾害也压不垮我们。
• The attack on Pearl Harbor was a crushing calamity.偷袭珍珠港(对美军来说)是一场毁灭性的灾难。

42 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

43 somber   

adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的

参考例句：

• He had a somber expression on his face.他面容忧郁。
• His coat was a somber brown.他的衣服是暗棕色的。

44 tattered   

adj.破旧的，衣衫破的

参考例句：

• Her tattered clothes in no way detracted from her beauty.她的破衣烂衫丝毫没有影响她的美貌。
• Their tattered clothing and broken furniture indicated their poverty.他们褴褛的衣服和破烂的家具显出他们的贫穷。

45 glowering   

v.怒视( glower的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The boy would not go, but stood at the door glowering at his father. 那男孩不肯走，他站在门口对他父亲怒目而视。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then he withdrew to a corner and sat glowering at his wife. 然后他溜到一个角落外，坐在那怒视着他的妻子。 来自辞典例句

46 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。

47 grumbled   

抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声

参考例句：

• He grumbled at the low pay offered to him. 他抱怨给他的工资低。
• The heat was sweltering, and the men grumbled fiercely over their work. 天热得让人发昏，水手们边干活边发着牢骚。

48 hogs   

n.（尤指喂肥供食用的）猪( hog的名词复数 )；（供食用的）阉公猪；彻底地做某事；自私的或贪婪的人

参考例句：

• 'sounds like -- like hogs grunting. “像——像是猪发出的声音。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• I hate the way he hogs down his food. 我讨厌他那副狼吞虎咽的吃相。 来自辞典例句

49 dozed   

v.打盹儿，打瞌睡( doze的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He boozed till daylight and dozed into the afternoon. 他喝了个通霄，昏沉沉地一直睡到下午。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• I dozed off during the soporific music. 我听到这催人入睡的音乐，便不知不觉打起盹儿来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

50 cluttered   

v.杂物，零乱的东西零乱vt.( clutter的过去式和过去分词 )；乱糟糟地堆满，把…弄得很乱；（以…） 塞满…

参考例句：

• The room is cluttered up with all kinds of things. 零七八碎的东西放满了一屋子。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The desk is cluttered with books and papers. 桌上乱糟糟地堆满了书报。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

51 clutter   

n.零乱，杂乱；vt.弄乱，把…弄得杂乱

参考例句：

• The garage is in such a clutter that we can't find anything.车库如此凌乱，我们什么也找不到。
• We'll have to clear up all this clutter.我们得把这一切凌乱的东西整理清楚。

52 rummaged   

翻找，搜寻( rummage的过去式和过去分词 )； 已经海关检查

参考例句：

• I rummaged through all the boxes but still could not find it. 几个箱子都翻腾遍了也没有找到。
• The customs officers rummaged the ship suspected to have contraband goods. 海关人员仔细搜查了一艘有走私嫌疑的海轮。

53 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

54 moodily   

adv.喜怒无常地；情绪多变地；心情不稳地；易生气地

参考例句：

• Pork slipped from the room as she remained staring moodily into the distance. 阿宝从房间里溜了出来，留她独个人站在那里瞪着眼睛忧郁地望着远处。 来自辞典例句
• He climbed moodily into the cab, relieved and distressed. 他忧郁地上了马车，既松了一口气，又忧心忡忡。 来自互联网

55 confide   

v.向某人吐露秘密

参考例句：

• I would never readily confide in anybody.我从不轻易向人吐露秘密。
• He is going to confide the secrets of his heart to us.他将向我们吐露他心里的秘密。

56 alleviated   

减轻，缓解，缓和( alleviate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It is always completely alleviated by total gastrectomy. 全胃切除永远完全缓解症状。
• Toxicity problem in manufacturing and storage might be alleviated by coating beryllium with aluminum. 但如果用铝包覆铍，则可避免加工过程中及储存期间的中毒问题。

57 murky   

adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗

参考例句：

• She threw it into the river's murky depths.她把它扔进了混浊的河水深处。
• She had a decidedly murky past.她的历史背景令人捉摸不透。

58 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

59 buoys   

n.浮标( buoy的名词复数 )；航标；救生圈；救生衣v.使浮起( buoy的第三人称单数 )；支持；为…设浮标；振奋…的精神

参考例句：

• The channel is marked by buoys. 航道有浮标表示。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Often they mark the path with buoys. 他们常常用浮标作为航道的标志。 来自辞典例句

60 buoy   

n.浮标；救生圈；v.支持，鼓励

参考例句：

• The party did little to buoy up her spirits.这次聚会并没有让她振作多少。
• The buoy floated back and forth in the shallow water.这个浮标在浅水里漂来漂去。

61 cadence   

n.（说话声调的）抑扬顿挫

参考例句：

• He delivered his words in slow,measured cadences.他讲话缓慢而抑扬顿挫、把握有度。
• He liked the relaxed cadence of his retired life.他喜欢退休生活的悠闲的节奏。

62 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。