Chapter 82

“They’re all out here because they think I sold the business,” I told him. I told him what Lee’d said and how I figured Floyd Evenwrite and this other dude started the rumor¹. “So all those friendly folks of ours down there think they are in on the pie-slicing; that’s why the whole afternoon’s been smiles and shoulder-slapping, not from ions.” “But what for?” he asked, blinking his eyes. “I mean what for would Evenwrite—?” “Evenwrite wouldn’t,” I said. “Evenwrite wouldn’t have the sense. Evenwrite is more inclined toward planting spikes² than planting rumors³. No; it was this Draeger.” “Uh-huh,” he said, punching his fist in his palm and nodding; then he went to blinking again. “But I still don’t see what they was hoping to get outa that ...?” I took back the bottle, in as he wasn’t using it. I had me another sip⁵ and screwed the lid back on. “Just more pressure,” I said. “Like a squeeze play ...a way to make me look more the villain⁶ than before, even to my own folks.” He scratched at his bellybutton some more, thinking about that. “All right. I can see that, yeah; I can see how it ain’t gonna make some of the boys none too happy to be told they’re gonna be moved to work the woods when they was thinking the work was all over ...and how some of them might hardtime you a little. ...But I just don’t see for the life of me what good Even-write and Draeger thought it would do them.” 476 ken⁷ kesey I grinned at him while I put the bottle back in the drawer and slapped it shut. “Why, by gosh, I don’t see neither, Joby,” I said and wiped off my mouth. “Now that you mention it. No good at all. So let’s get on downstairs and see how we stand up under a little hardtiming. Let’s get on down there and show those dirteaters who’s one of the Ten Toughest Hombres This Side of the Rockies.” He followed me out of the room, still shaking his head. Good old Joby. Why anybody, dirteaters or no, would have to be showed something so obvious was way beyond him. (That heater is still humming when I go past the door. Viv is gone, down in the kitchen helping⁸ Jan. But Lee is still there. He sits there on that day-bed couch with that thermometer hanging out of his mouth, cleaning his glasses on one of her silk hankies, looking at me with that innocent look nearsighted people have with their glasses off. . . .) None of the folks did handsprings over the news, but Orland and his wife was the only ones that really hardtimed me. The rest just moped around smoking cigarettes while Orland claimed he was damned if he could see where I got off trying to dictate¹⁰ to the whole county, and his wife kept yapping That’s right! That’s right! like a hysterical¹¹ lap dog. “Of course you—out here in the sticks like a hermit—you don’t have to worry about neighbors!” he kept telling me. “You don’t have a teen-aged daughter who comes home crying because the kids in school won’t vote her into the Y-teens.” “That’s right!” his wife barked. “That’s right! That’s right!” She was one of these little-bitty women with bulgy¹², bright eyes and too big teeth pushing out of her lips, like she was about to jump right out of her hide at you. “We also have a share in this business,” Orland said and waved around at everybody. “We also own stock! Shares! But do we get a chance to vote like other shareholders¹³? Hank, I don’t know about the rest here, but I certainly don’t recall casting any vote of any kind for this deal with Wakonda Pacific. Or for going up to the woods and working for such a deal!” “That’s right! That is right!” sometimes a great notion “A share gets a vote; that’s how it’s supposed to be done. And my share votes we take this offer Evenwrite and these people are making!” “I’ve yet to hear this offer Evenwrite and those people are making, Orland,” I told him. “Yeah? Maybe that’s so and maybe not. But a considerable lot of the rest of us have heard it, and it sounds considerably¹⁴ better than anything you’ve offered.” “That’s right!” his wife barked. “That’s right!” “Orland, it seems to me that you—and that considerable lot of the rest of you—that you would all be a little slow in wanting your jobs sold out from under you.” “We wouldn’t lose our jobs. The union doesn’t want to put men to work in our jobs, just back to their own. We’ll keep our jobs, it’s just they would own the operation.” “The union not wanting to put men in our jobs sure comes as a surprise to me—considering how they been on my ass⁹ for years to get me to hire somebody other than family—but I do have to hand it to them for working it out so complete, jobs guaranteed and all. Did Floyd tell you this? My, my; I wouldn’t thought he concerned himself so over us. Was that who you heard it from? Floyd Evenwrite?” “Never mind who I heard it from, I have faith in the particular party’s word.” “You can afford to. It ain’t likely they’d fire you and have to train another sawyer....But some of us others might be a little easier to do without. Besides, you wouldn’t want to sell the old Stamper operation down the river after so many years of faithful service to us, now would you?” “So many years us serving the business, is what you mean. Ancient machinery¹⁵, buildings . . . why, we’re still working a high-lead show, for the love of Pete! We’d be wise to get out from under it while the getting’s good—” “That’s right!” “—and I cast my vote to sell!” “Me too! Me too!” Some of the others started to stir around, talking about voting, and I was just about to say something when the old man 478 ken kesey suddenly appeared. “How many sheers you got to vote with, Orland?” He was standing¹⁶ in the kitchen door, eating a drumstick. I hadn’t even seen him come back from town; somebody must have ferried him over while I was upstairs. He was wearing the shirt that he’d won off Rod the guitar player once in a game of dominoes, a black rayon job wove all through with strips of tinfoil¹⁷ thread so when he moved it shimmied against his hard little gut¹⁸ like a burlycue costume. I saw he’d cut off more of his arm cast to give his arm more freedom with a bottle, and that he was feeling his oats. He took another chomp¹⁹ out of the drumstick and asked, “How many sheers some of the rest you boogers got? Eh? Eh? A hunnerd between the whole lot of you? Two hunnerd? You got any better’n two hunnerd, I sure will be surprised. Yes sir, I will be surprised. Because I don’t offhand²⁰ recall—the old nigger’s memory ain’t what it was, I admit— but, see, there ain’t but about twenty-five hunnerd sheers in all, I’m blamed if I recall turnin’ loose any of my twenty-one hunnerd in the last year or so. . . . Hank, you sell any that hunnerd you useta have? No? Joe Ben, how about you?” He shrugged²², then took the last bite off the drumstick and scowled²³ down at the bone. “Lordy, but this is fine chicken,” he said and shook his head. “It sure looks like we oughta bought more, though, for a bunch this size. Because somebody’s gonna be short.” But not many hung around to eat, just Andy and John and one or two more. The others gathered up their coats and kids and followed Orland out to the dock, not having much to say, like they was stunned²⁴. I walked out with them and told the mill crew to meet at Scaler’s Bridge at six in the morning and they could ride up to the show on John’s truck. This set Orland off again; he said he was damned if he’d ride the back of a log truck in the confounded rain! ...But I went on like I hadn’t heard him, telling them how much we had to get done and where and by when, and mentioned that it was getting close on to the end of the year and that the men who hung in with me and didn’t miss any work—unless they were sick or like that— could probably look for a nice fat bonus at Christmas. Nobody sometimes a great notion said anything. Even Orland hushed. They stood around the dock while Big Lou yanked at the boat motor . . . just standing quiet and watching the perch²⁵ nibble²⁶ at the trash floating through the circle of dock light on the water. The motor caught and I said good night and I moved on back up the incline to the yard. Then, I just had reached the door when I thought I made out a far-off honking²⁷. I stopped and cupped my ear to see if I was right, and finally heard for sure a big flock way off to the northeast over the mountains. Joby’ll be glad to hear that, I thought, and started to go on in. I had the door open when I heard the crowd down on the docks go to talking. They thought they’d waited long enough, that I’d gone in—I was out of sight up behind the hedge and they didn’t have a notion in the world that I could hear them. Not just Orland and his wife, either, everybody. I listened a minute to their voices rattle²⁸ around in the cold, all jumbled²⁹ and excited and salty-sounding, all saying something different, but it all coming out the same, somehow. Like a round sounds with the singing all mixed. I’d hear one guy start on a particular gripe about the way he was being treated or the way he wouldn’t be able to face the people at church, and then all the others would come in on it like a chorus. And they’d keep that going until some other guy would come up with a variation; then they’d all take that up. And Orland’s wife’s voice, high and clear above all the rest, going like a pile driver: That’s right! That’s right! That’s right! Actually, it didn’t surprise me much what they were saying— it was about what I figured all of them’d been thinking all along anyway—but the longer I listened the less it sounded like they were even talking, let alone saying anything. The longer I listened, the weirder³⁰ the sound got. Usually, when you listen to people talk, you’re where you can see what is coming out of who. Kind of hook the voices up with the faces and keep them separate that way. But when you can’t see the faces, then the voices get all mixed together, and the talk isn’t exactly talk any more, not even a mixed-up round...it’s just a mish-mash of noise coming at you, without any individuality, damn near without source. Just a sound, feeding on itself the way a sound will when you get a microphone picking up its own broadcast 480 ken kesey so it goes running in circles faster and faster and faster into finally just a high, tight whine³¹. Eavesdropping³² has always hacked³³ me, but I didn’t even think of this as eavesdropping, because it honestly didn’t seem that I was listening to a lot of people talk. It was just one sound, not a lot of people, just one building noise; and suddenly I realized it was getting louder and louder every second! Then I woke up to what was happening: those damn geese! While listening to the crowd on the dock I’d clean forgot about the geese. Now they were going right over the house, raising such a din⁴ I couldn’t even hear the people any more. Just more of those old honkers. I laughed at myself and headed on into the house; I was reminded of what Joby’s old man used to say about distraction³⁴, and how effective the spell of distraction was on women. (I go into the kitchen. They’re already eating . . .) Ben always claimed a woman was the easiest distracted of animals. He claimed he could walk up and go to talking to a woman, get her distracted, “and have her so hooked on the noise I was making that she wouldn’t even know I was in her drawers until I hushed talking to come!” (Lee isn’t at the table. I ask if he’s going to eat tonight or not. Viv says that he has a temperature again.) Well, I don’t know how reliable Ben’s claim was, but having that flock of geese get right overhead before I noticed them convinced me of the effectiveness of distraction in general, and that it worked on men as well as women. I wished, though, that it was the geese distracting me from Orland and his wife and all the rest goddam griping relatives, instead of vice-versa. (I tell her that everybody is running a fever this particular night, and Lee oughten think he’s special or let it keep him from eating. She says she has a plate set back for him that she’ll take up to his room ...) I remember wishing, in fact, that the geese would do more than just distract me; I was peeved³⁵ enough with the relatives at the time that I wished the geese would get loud enough to drown them out completely! But that was still before the flocks really hit their peak; that was before I got as tired of the geese as I was of the people, before I got to wishing they would all shut up altogether. sometimes a great notion (...I sit down and go to filling my own plate. I ask Joe Ben to pass me the chicken platter. He picks it up and starts to pass it. There’s just a back left. He sees this and pulls back the platter and says Here, Hank, here, take this breast I don’t really want it I’m saving up for that old honker I’ll get me tomorrow so why don’t you go ahead and—He stops too late; I look around to see what’s wrong. Then, I see. The plate she’s set back for him on the warming shelf with all its chicken. I take the back and start eating. Everybody starts eating again, watching their plates. Then there is nothing but eating sounds for a long stretch before the people start talking again.) By that second week in November that year, all the little towns along the coast had become peacefully reconciled to the rain: they had elected, judged, and found it responsible for most of their troubles, and found responsible for the rain itself such impervious³⁶ scapegoats³⁸ as the satellites, or the Soviets³⁹, or their own secret and sinful ways; they had found something out-of-reach to blame and no longer minded the geese reminding them that “Winter is here, citizens, winter is sure enough here.” All the little towns except Wakonda. Wakonda, that year, hated the geese more than ever for their infernal night-long nagging⁴⁰ about winter. The citizens weren’t being allowed the customary peace of blaming, like the other towns. These citizens of Wakonda, while they had judged and found their scapegoat³⁷ every bit as responsible as the scapegoats in other towns, for some reason hadn’t had much say in their scapegoat’s election; and the particular candidate that had been forced upon them that year—for all his stand-offishness and his hardnosed obstinate⁴¹ ways—was just too damned available to be classified as out-of-reach and passed off as impervious. So the second week of rain brought to Wakonda none of the traditional fogginess that descended⁴² on Coos Bay, and Winchester Bay, and Yachats and Florence and all the rest of the muddy little coast towns where year after year citizens with drowsing but dreamless eyes drift foggily through their winters in a state of near-hibernation. Not to Wakonda, not that November. It brought instead to the town a wide-eyed insomnia⁴³, a great 482 ken kesey nuisance of geese, and a wild sort of grim and giddy spirit of dedication⁴⁴ to the town’s Common Good—a spirit the likes of which the coast hadn’t seen since those big sky-watching sea-scanning war-effort days back in ’42 after that single Japanese plane firebombed the forest outside of Brookings to give the Brookings area the distinction of being the only American shore ever to suffer a foreign air attack. This sort of distinction is bound to provoke a certain amount of community feeling; the bombing and the strike, while they exhibited very little in common outwardly, were in a way quite similar in that both had the effect of making the citizens feel, well, feel just a bit...special? No; more than special; let’s admit it: it made them feel downright different! And there is nothing like feeling special for hustling⁴⁵ a citizen out to round up every other comrade he can locate with a corresponding feeling; there is nothing like a sense of difference for getting a man lined up, shoulder to shoulder, with everybody as different as he is, in a dedicated⁴⁶ campaign for the Common Good; which means a campaign either for the ramming⁴⁷ of that difference down the throat of an ignorant and underprivileged and unholy world—this is only true, of course, in the case of a bona fide holy difference—or, at the other extreme, a campaign for the stamping-out of the thing that caused the damned difference in the first place. Meetings sprang up everywhere there was room and warmth enough, like mushrooms after lying dormant⁴⁸ for months waiting for proper conditions. Everyone convened⁴⁹. Old hatchets⁵⁰ were laid aside for the duration of the campaign. The young saw eye-to-eye with the old, the women stood solidly behind their men. The loggermen consorted⁵¹ with the construction men (although the roads still scarred the loggerman’s slopes) and the construction men with the loggers (though a lack of trees still left the roadbuilder’s efforts vulnerable to slides and settlings), and the churches went easy on the sinners. Folks had to get solidly together! Something had to be done! Something bold! And Jonathan Draeger, seemingly doing nothing but chat pleasantly during those days of crisis and insomnia, skillfully helped all the folks get solidly together, and gently aimed them toward the doing of that bold something. sometimes a great notion All except Willard Eggleston. Willard was too deeply involved in the preparations toward the doing of his own bold something to be expected to pick up on Draeger’s subtle, tossed-off hints aimed at putting the pressure on Hank; Willard just had too much of his own aims to see to during those first weeks of November, too many documents to prepare in private and too many last-minute papers to sign in secret, to have time for writing nasty letters or going out of his way to snub Hank’s wife on her visit to town. No; as much as he might have liked to join in the campaign, Willard would have to shirk his civic⁵² responsibility. He felt his time too dear, too personal and precious; at the most he couldn’t have devoted⁵³ more than a few paltry⁵⁴ seconds to the Common Good, though he knew the cause just and worthy⁵⁵. A pity, a real pity ...He would have liked to help. Yet Willard, in a few seconds, unknowingly did more for that good than all the dedicated hours of the rest of the citizens put together. When he reached his house the geese were still confiding⁵⁶ with one another louder than ever in the dark overhead. The rain had grown heavier. The wind had become bolder, stronger, rushing at him from side streets with such ferocity that he had been forced to fold up his umbrella to keep from losing it completely. He closed the picket⁵⁷ gate behind him and cut across the yard to the garage, going in the side door and sliding around the hushed black form of the car and into the house through the kitchen to keep from waking his wife. He tiptoed through the dark kitchen to the utility room that served as his office and pulled the door carefully closed. After listening a moment and hearing nothing in the house but the dripping of water from his coat onto the linoleum⁵⁸, he flicked⁵⁹ on the light and walked to put the umbrella in the laundry tray. He sat down at the desk and waited until his heart ceased banging at his temples. He was glad he’d made it without waking her. Not that his wife would have spoiled things if she had awakened—he often came in this late; nothing strange—but she sometimes got up and came out to sit in that awful old ratty red housecoat on the stool in front of the heater, her hands laced about her knees and 484 ken kesey all bent⁶⁰ forward like a shabby flamingo⁶¹, to watch down her nose as he figured the profit and overhead in the ledger⁶², sniffing⁶³ and scowling⁶⁴ and demanding to know what his plans were for keeping them out of the poorhouse. That was what he was afraid of tonight, how he might respond to her inevitable⁶⁵ demand to know what he intended to do. Generally he would only shrug²¹ in henpecked silence and wait for her to provide an answer for him, but tonight he had something he could tell her—and he was afraid, for want of someone to listen, he might do just that. He opened the desk drawer, removed the ledger, and noted⁶⁶ the night’s meager⁶⁷ take, being sure to keep the tickets and concession⁶⁸ separate. He closed the ledger and exchanged it for a brown manila envelope full of policies and legal documents; he pored over these for nearly a half-hour, then returned them to theenvelopeand pushed it farbackinabottomdrawerand piled other papers on top of it. He took a sheet of paper from a tablet and wrote a short letter to Jelly, explaining that he would see her and the boy after Thanksgiving instead of the day after tomorrow, because he’d made a mistake about the meeting of Independent Theatre Owners and it was to be in Astoria in the morning instead of in Portland. He folded the letter and put it in an envelope and addressed it. He stamped it and sealed it and closed it inside the ledger so it would look as though he had forgotten to mail it (that letter was going to do some toward showing the old flamingo her husband wasn’t quite the spineless rock-oyster she’d always called him); then he took out another sheet of paper and advised his wife his cold was much improved and that he thought he would drive on to Astoria tonight instead of sleeping a few hours and getting up early in the morning. Would have phoned about meeting change but hate to wake you. Weather might be worse in the morning the way it looks. So think it best to leave now. Will phone all the news tomorrow. Everything changing for better I am positive. Love, etc. He propped⁶⁹ the note against the inkwell and returned the tablet to its drawer. Sighed loudly. Folded his hands in his lap. Then, listening to the solitary⁷⁰ peck of water dripping from his coat onto the linoleum, began to weep. In complete silence. His sometimes a great notion little chin fluttered and his shoulders jerked with the violence of his sobbing⁷¹, but he made not the slightest sound. This silence made him weep harder than ever—it seemed he’d been crying in secret for years—but he knew he wouldn’t let himself be heard. Especially now, no matter how it hurt to keep still. He was too practiced at keeping hidden within the black india-ink outline of his looks to ever destroy the effect of letting anyone know he could cry. It was arranged that he keep still. In fact everything— he looked at the neat note, the tidy desk, the umbrella in the laundry tray—everything was always so arranged, so worked out. He wished he’d been either a bit less thorough, or a bit more. He wished he’d arranged it so there had been at least one person available to cry out loud to, one person to share his secrets with. But there just hadn’t been time. If he had just been allowed to take his time and work things out more carefully, he might have devised a scheme capable of doing all that this one would and still let people know what he was doing! let someone know what he was really like. ...But this strike, coming when it did, and that Stamper making it go on and on until the money was all gone...there just hadn’t been time to work out something so fancy. All he could do was use his natural resources, his weak-kneed look, his wife’s belief in his cowardice⁷², and especially the image of him held by the whole town: a rock-oyster, a creature soft and white living inside live rock and the rock more alive than its tenant⁷³ . . . all he’d had time to use was this image, and never let a soul know what he was truly— He ceased the noiseless crying, raising his head: Stamper! He could tell Stamper! And because Hank Stamper was somewhat to blame for what had—was very much to blame! Yes! Whose fault was it that things were getting too tight for people to spend money on dry-cleaning or movie pictures? Yes; very much to blame! enough so he deserves to be told just what extremes his hardnosed obstinance can drive a man to! enough so he can be told and be trusted to keep the secret! because Stamper can’t tell anybody else what really happened! because what happened is his fault! Yes! Hank Stamper! He’s the one!— because he was to blame, and others would know this if he told, 486 ken kesey Hank Stamper could be trusted to keep the secret . . . compelled to keep it. Willard leaped from the chair, already composing the phone call, and headed back to the garage, leaving that coat dripping behind him. No longer concerned with silence, he heaved up the door of the garage and slammed the car door shut loudly as soon as he was behind the wheel. His hands shook so with excitement he broke the key chain starting the car and backed over his wife’s pyracantha bush on the way out. He was burning with excitement at the prospect⁷⁴ of telling someone, bursting with enthusiasm for his plans. He saw the light blaze on in the bedroom window as he stopped in the street—good thing he’d decided⁷⁵ to make his call from a booth instead of from his own phone—and, as he turned his headlights on bright and put the car into forward, swinging past his wife’s startled bedroom window and into the street’s double-barreled rifling of rain, he couldn’t help giving the old flamingo an impudent⁷⁶ parting volley of horn blasts . . . “Shave and a haircut . . .” Perhaps not the all-illuminating farewell he would have preferred to leave her with, but enough, along with the letter in the ledger, to leave her wondering, enough to leave her forever with a bulge⁷⁷ of doubt troubling her newspaper-flat picture of the man she thought she had known for nineteen comic-strip years, and perhaps even enough to give her an inkling of what that man in turn actually thought of her. “. . . six bits.” In his own letter in his own ledger, up in the woods, Lee struggles with a stubby pencil to illuminate⁷⁸ his own particular reality to someone else—“Before moving on to farther-out explanations, Peters . . .”—secretly hoping in this way to throw a little light on the dim puzzle of his life for his own benefit: Do you recall, Peters, being introduced to this oracle⁷⁹? I believe I called him “Old Reliable,” as is my wont⁸⁰ when bringing him into society to meet my friends: “Old Reliable, The Sentry⁸¹ of my Besieged⁸² Pysche.” You remember? I said that he was my faithful and sometimes a great notion constant lookout⁸³ for danger, perched atop the loftiest mast of my mind, sweeping⁸⁴ the horizon for any sign of disaster...and you said he looked like nothing more than plain old paranoia⁸⁵ to you? I have said the same about him a time or two myself, I must admit, but, all name-calling aside, experience has taught me to trust his call of WATCH OUT to be as infallible as radar⁸⁶. Whatever perceptions he uses must be as sensitive to the slightest radiation of risk as a Geiger counter, because when his signal advises WATCH OUT it has always turned out that the advice was always founded in fact. But this time, as I ready my plan, for the life of me I can not see the danger he warns of. WATCH OUT, he screams down, but when I ask “Watch out what, old friend? Can’t you point to the danger? Can’t you show me where I have left room for the slightest element of risk? You’ve always been able to pick out the pitfalls⁸⁷ before. ...Where awaits this peril⁸⁸ you proclaim so positively⁸⁹?” In answer he only squawks WATCH OUT! WATCH OUT! over and over like a hysterical thinking machine, unable to point to a thing. Can I be expected to stay my hands much longer on such flimsy advice? Maybe the old fellow has flipped⁹⁰; maybe there is no specific risk, and the overall radiation of the scene has become high enough to blow his wiring and set him to hallucinating horrors that never existed at all. . . .

1 rumor   

n.谣言，谣传，传说

参考例句：

• The rumor has been traced back to a bad man.那谣言经追查是个坏人造的。
• The rumor has taken air.谣言流传开了。

2 spikes   

n.穗( spike的名词复数 )；跑鞋；（防滑）鞋钉；尖状物v.加烈酒于( spike的第三人称单数 )；偷偷地给某人的饮料加入（更多）酒精（ 或药物）；把尖状物钉入；打乱某人的计划

参考例句：

• a row of iron spikes on a wall 墙头的一排尖铁
• There is a row of spikes on top of the prison wall to prevent the prisoners escaping. 监狱墙头装有一排尖钉，以防犯人逃跑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 din   

n.喧闹声，嘈杂声

参考例句：

• The bustle and din gradually faded to silence as night advanced.随着夜越来越深，喧闹声逐渐沉寂。
• They tried to make themselves heard over the din of the crowd.他们力图让自己的声音盖过人群的喧闹声。

5 sip   

v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量

参考例句：

• She took a sip of the cocktail.她啜饮一口鸡尾酒。
• Elizabeth took a sip of the hot coffee.伊丽莎白呷了一口热咖啡。

6 villain   

n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因

参考例句：

• He was cast as the villain in the play.他在戏里扮演反面角色。
• The man who played the villain acted very well.扮演恶棍的那个男演员演得很好。

7 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

8 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。

9 ass   

n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人

参考例句：

• He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。
• An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。

10 dictate   

v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令

参考例句：

• It took him a long time to dictate this letter.口述这封信花了他很长时间。
• What right have you to dictate to others?你有什么资格向别人发号施令？

11 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。

12 bulgy   

a.膨胀的；凸出的

参考例句：

• And the bone at the back of the neck is bulgy came. 而且脖子后面的骨头都凸出来了。
• Lumbar shoulder dish what does the earlier note after bulgy operation have? 腰肩盘凸出手术后初期的注重事项有哪些？

13 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

14 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

15 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

16 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。

17 tinfoil   

n.锡纸，锡箔

参考例句：

• You can wrap it up in tinfoil.你可以用锡箔纸裹住它。
• Drop by rounded tablespoon onto tinfoil.Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.用大餐勺把刚刚搅拌好的糊糊盛到锡纸上，烘烤9至11分钟，直到变成金黄色。

18 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

19 chomp   

v. （人、动物进食时）大声地咬，嚼得很响

参考例句：

• I lost a tooth while chomping on a French baguette!我啃法棍面包时，崩掉了一颗牙！
• They just chomp on tundra, nap a few hours and feast again.它们只是在苔原上大嚼特嚼，睡上几小时，接着再吃。

20 offhand   

adj.临时，无准备的；随便，马虎的

参考例句：

• I can't answer your request offhand.我不能随便答复你的要求。
• I wouldn't want to say what I thought about it offhand.我不愿意随便说我关于这事的想法。

21 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。

22 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 scowled   

怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He scowled his displeasure. 他满脸嗔色。
• The teacher scowled at his noisy class. 老师对他那喧闹的课堂板着脸。

24 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

25 perch   

n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于

参考例句：

• The bird took its perch.鸟停歇在栖木上。
• Little birds perch themselves on the branches.小鸟儿栖歇在树枝上。

26 nibble   

n.轻咬，啃；v.一点点地咬，慢慢啃，吹毛求疵

参考例句：

• Inflation began to nibble away at their savings.通货膨胀开始蚕食他们的存款。
• The birds cling to the wall and nibble at the brickwork.鸟儿们紧贴在墙上，啄着砖缝。

27 honking   

v.（使）发出雁叫似的声音，鸣（喇叭），按（喇叭）( honk的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Cars zoomed helter-skelter, honking belligerently. 大街上来往车辆穿梭不停，喇叭声刺耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Flocks of honking geese flew past. 雁群嗷嗷地飞过。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

28 rattle   

v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓

参考例句：

• The baby only shook the rattle and laughed and crowed.孩子只是摇着拨浪鼓，笑着叫着。
• She could hear the rattle of the teacups.她听见茶具叮当响。

29 jumbled   

adj.混乱的；杂乱的

参考例句：

• Books, shoes and clothes were jumbled together on the floor. 书、鞋子和衣服胡乱堆放在地板上。
• The details of the accident were all jumbled together in his mind. 他把事故细节记得颠三倒四。

30 weirder   

怪诞的( weird的比较级 )； 神秘而可怕的； 超然的； 古怪的

参考例句：

• Actually, things got a little weirder when the tow truck driver showed up. 事实上，在拖吊车司机出现后，事情的发展更加怪异。

31 whine   

v.哀号，号哭；n.哀鸣

参考例句：

• You are getting paid to think,not to whine.支付给你工资是让你思考而不是哀怨的。
• The bullet hit a rock and rocketed with a sharp whine.子弹打在一块岩石上，一声尖厉的呼啸，跳飞开去。

32 eavesdropping   

n. 偷听

参考例句：

• We caught him eavesdropping outside the window. 我们撞见他正在窗外偷听。
• Suddenly the kids,who had been eavesdropping,flew into the room. 突然间，一直在偷听的孩子们飞进屋来。

33 hacked   

生气

参考例句：

• I hacked the dead branches off. 我把枯树枝砍掉了。
• I'm really hacked off. 我真是很恼火。

34 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

35 peeved   

adj.恼怒的，不高兴的v.（使）气恼，（使）焦躁，（使）愤怒( peeve的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sounded peeved about not being told. 没人通知他，为此他气哼哼的。
• She was very peeved about being left out. 她为被遗漏而恼怒。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

36 impervious   

adj.不能渗透的，不能穿过的，不易伤害的

参考例句：

• He was completely impervious to criticism.他对批评毫不在乎。
• This material is impervious to gases and liquids.气体和液体都透不过这种物质。

37 scapegoat   

n.替罪的羔羊，替人顶罪者；v.使…成为替罪羊

参考例句：

• He has been made a scapegoat for the company's failures.他成了公司倒闭的替罪羊。
• They ask me to join the party so that I'll be their scapegoat when trouble comes.他们想叫我入伙，出了乱子，好让我替他们垫背。

38 scapegoats   

n.代人受过的人，替罪羊( scapegoat的名词复数 )v.使成为替罪羊( scapegoat的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They were made the scapegoats for the misfire of the program. 他们成了那个计划失败的替罪羊。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Only some of the guards and a minor hotel employee, chosen as scapegoats, were imprisoned. 只有一些保镖和那个旅馆的小职员当了替罪羊，被关进了监狱。 来自辞典例句

39 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。

40 nagging   

adj.唠叨的，挑剔的；使人不得安宁的v.不断地挑剔或批评（某人）( nag的现在分词 )；不断地烦扰或伤害（某人）；无休止地抱怨；不断指责

参考例句：

• Stop nagging—I'll do it as soon as I can. 别唠叨了—我会尽快做的。
• I've got a nagging pain in my lower back. 我后背下方老是疼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

41 obstinate   

adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的

参考例句：

• She's too obstinate to let anyone help her.她太倔强了，不会让任何人帮她的。
• The trader was obstinate in the negotiation.这个商人在谈判中拗强固执。

42 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

43 insomnia   

n.失眠，失眠症

参考例句：

• Worries and tenseness can lead to insomnia.忧虑和紧张会导致失眠。
• He is suffering from insomnia.他患失眠症。

44 dedication   

n.奉献，献身，致力，题献，献辞

参考例句：

• We admire her courage,compassion and dedication.我们钦佩她的勇气、爱心和奉献精神。
• Her dedication to her work was admirable.她对工作的奉献精神可钦可佩。

45 hustling   

催促（hustle的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Our quartet was out hustling and we knew we stood good to take in a lot of change before the night was over. 我们的四重奏是明显地卖座的， 而且我们知道在天亮以前，我们有把握收入一大笔钱。
• Men in motors were hustling to pass one another in the hustling traffic. 开汽车的人在繁忙的交通中急急忙忙地互相超车。

46 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。

47 ramming   

n.打结炉底v.夯实（土等）( ram的现在分词 )；猛撞；猛压；反复灌输

参考例句：

• They are ramming earth down. 他们在夯实泥土。 来自辞典例句
• Father keeps ramming it down my throat that I should become a doctor. 父亲一直逼我当医生。 来自辞典例句

48 dormant   

adj.暂停活动的；休眠的；潜伏的

参考例句：

• Many animals are in a dormant state during winter.在冬天许多动物都处于睡眠状态。
• This dormant volcano suddenly fired up.这座休眠火山突然爆发了。

49 convened   

召开( convene的过去式 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合

参考例句：

• The chairman convened the committee to put the issue to a vote. 主席召集委员们开会对这个问题进行表决。
• The governor convened his troops to put down the revolt. 总督召集他的部队去镇压叛乱。

50 hatchets   

n.短柄小斧( hatchet的名词复数 )；恶毒攻击；诽谤；休战

参考例句：

• Hatchets, knives, bayonets, swords, all brought to be sharpened, were all red with it. 他们带来磨利的战斧、短刀、刺刀、战刀也全都有殷红的血。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
• They smashed all the carved paneling with their axes and hatchets. 圣所中一切雕刻的、们现在用斧子锤子打坏了。 来自互联网

51 consorted   

v.结伴( consort的过去式和过去分词 )；交往；相称；调和

参考例句：

• So Rhett consorted with that vile Watling creature and gave her money. 这样看来，瑞德在同沃特琳那个贱货来往并给她钱了。 来自飘（部分）
• One of those creatures Rhett consorted with, probably that Watling woman. 同瑞德 - 巴特勒厮混的一个贱货，很可能就是那个叫沃特琳的女人。 来自飘（部分）

52 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

53 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

54 paltry   

adj.无价值的，微不足道的

参考例句：

• The parents had little interest in paltry domestic concerns.那些家长对家里鸡毛蒜皮的小事没什么兴趣。
• I'm getting angry;and if you don't command that paltry spirit of yours.我要生气了，如果你不能振作你那点元气。

55 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

56 confiding   

adj.相信人的，易于相信的v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的现在分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等）

参考例句：

• The girl is of a confiding nature. 这女孩具有轻信别人的性格。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Celia, though confiding her opinion only to Andrew, disagreed. 西莉亚却不这么看，尽管她只向安德鲁吐露过。 来自辞典例句

57 picket   

n.纠察队；警戒哨；v.设置纠察线；布置警卫

参考例句：

• They marched to the factory and formed a picket.他们向工厂前进,并组成了纠察队。
• Some of the union members did not want to picket.工会的一些会员不想担任罢工纠察员。

58 linoleum   

n.油布，油毯

参考例句：

• They mislaid the linoleum.他们把油毡放错了地方。
• Who will lay the linoleum?谁将铺设地板油毡？

59 flicked   

（尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的过去式和过去分词 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等）

参考例句：

• She flicked the dust off her collar. 她轻轻弹掉了衣领上的灰尘。
• I idly picked up a magazine and flicked through it. 我漫不经心地拿起一本杂志翻看着。

60 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

61 flamingo   

n.红鹳，火烈鸟

参考例句：

• This is the only species of flamingo in the region,easily recognized by its pink plumage.这是那个地区唯一一种火烈鸟，很容易凭粉红色的羽毛辨认出来。
• In my family,I am flamingo in the flock of pigeons.在家里，我就像一只被困在鸽笼里的火烈鸟。

62 ledger   

n.总帐，分类帐；帐簿

参考例句：

• The young man bowed his head and bent over his ledger again.那个年轻人点头应诺，然后又埋头写起分类帐。
• She is a real accountant who even keeps a detailed household ledger.她不愧是搞财务的，家庭分类账记得清楚详细。

63 sniffing   

n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• We all had colds and couldn't stop sniffing and sneezing. 我们都感冒了，一个劲地抽鼻子，打喷嚏。
• They all had colds and were sniffing and sneezing. 他们都伤风了，呼呼喘气而且打喷嚏。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

64 scowling   

怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• There she was, grey-suited, sweet-faced, demure, but scowling. 她就在那里，穿着灰色的衣服，漂亮的脸上显得严肃而忧郁。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Scowling, Chueh-hui bit his lips. 他马上把眉毛竖起来。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

65 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

66 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

67 meager   

adj.缺乏的，不足的，瘦的

参考例句：

• He could not support his family on his meager salary.他靠微薄的工资无法养家。
• The two men and the woman grouped about the fire and began their meager meal.两个男人同一个女人围着火，开始吃起少得可怜的午饭。

68 concession   

n.让步，妥协；特许(权)

参考例句：

• We can not make heavy concession to the matter.我们在这个问题上不能过于让步。
• That is a great concession.这是很大的让步。

69 propped   

支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sat propped up in the bed by pillows. 他靠着枕头坐在床上。
• This fence should be propped up. 这栅栏该用东西支一支。

70 solitary   

adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士

参考例句：

• I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
• The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际，显得十分壮美。

71 sobbing   

<主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的

参考例句：

• I heard a child sobbing loudly. 我听见有个孩子在呜呜地哭。
• Her eyes were red with recent sobbing. 她的眼睛因刚哭过而发红。

72 cowardice   

n.胆小，怯懦

参考例句：

• His cowardice reflects on his character.他的胆怯对他的性格带来不良影响。
• His refusal to help simply pinpointed his cowardice.他拒绝帮助正显示他的胆小。

73 tenant   

n.承租人；房客；佃户；v.租借，租用

参考例句：

• The tenant was dispossessed for not paying his rent.那名房客因未付房租而被赶走。
• The tenant is responsible for all repairs to the building.租户负责对房屋的所有修理。

74 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

75 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。

76 impudent   

adj.鲁莽的，卑鄙的，厚颜无耻的

参考例句：

• She's tolerant toward those impudent colleagues.她对那些无礼的同事采取容忍的态度。
• The teacher threatened to kick the impudent pupil out of the room.老师威胁着要把这无礼的小学生撵出教室。

77 bulge   

n.突出，膨胀，激增；vt.突出，膨胀

参考例句：

• The apple made a bulge in his pocket.苹果把他口袋塞得鼓了起来。
• What's that awkward bulge in your pocket?你口袋里那块鼓鼓囊囊的东西是什么？

78 illuminate   

vt.照亮，照明；用灯光装饰；说明，阐释

参考例句：

• Dreams kindle a flame to illuminate our dark roads.梦想点燃火炬照亮我们黑暗的道路。
• They use games and drawings to illuminate their subject.他们用游戏和图画来阐明他们的主题。

79 oracle   

n.神谕，神谕处，预言

参考例句：

• In times of difficulty,she pray for an oracle to guide her.在困难的时候，她祈祷神谕来指引她。
• It is a kind of oracle that often foretells things most important.它是一种内生性神谕，常常能预言最重要的事情。

80 wont   

adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯

参考例句：

• He was wont to say that children are lazy.他常常说小孩子们懒惰。
• It is his wont to get up early.早起是他的习惯。

81 sentry   

n.哨兵，警卫

参考例句：

• They often stood sentry on snowy nights.他们常常在雪夜放哨。
• The sentry challenged anyone approaching the tent.哨兵查问任一接近帐篷的人。

82 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

83 lookout   

n.注意，前途，瞭望台

参考例句：

• You can see everything around from the lookout.从了望台上你可以看清周围的一切。
• It's a bad lookout for the company if interest rates don't come down.如果利率降不下来，公司的前景可就不妙了。

84 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

85 paranoia   

n.妄想狂，偏执狂；多疑症

参考例句：

• Her passion for cleanliness borders on paranoia.她的洁癖近乎偏执。
• The push for reform is also motivated by political paranoia.竞选的改革运动也受到政治偏执狂症的推动。

86 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

87 pitfalls   

（捕猎野兽用的）陷阱( pitfall的名词复数 )； 意想不到的困难，易犯的错误

参考例句：

• the potential pitfalls of buying a house 购买房屋可能遇到的圈套
• Several pitfalls remain in the way of an agreement. 在达成协议的进程中还有几个隐藏的困难。

88 peril   

n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物

参考例句：

• The refugees were in peril of death from hunger.难民有饿死的危险。
• The embankment is in great peril.河堤岌岌可危。

89 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

90 flipped   

轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转，撞毁了。
• The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。