Chapter 94

If this was the last of it, I wanted the last look of good-by. I wanted the reserve to be shed for that final glowing gaze of farewell that is traditionally awarded two souls that have touched, that is deserved by two people who have been so daring as to have truly shared, without reserve or fear, that rare, hope-filled moment we call love...I touched her dripping chin with my finger, lifting her face to mine, determined¹ to have at least that last look. “Viv, I . . .” But the hope was not there, only the reserve and fear. And one thing else, a darker, heavier shadow that was hidden beneath the dropping of her eyelids² before I could classify it. “Let’s go in,” she whispered, pushing open the big door. (I kept worrying about what I was going to say to Lee when they got back. Since he’d left I’d been satisfied that it was done and we wouldn’t have to say anything; I hadn’t thought he’d come back; I hadn’t even wanted to think about him. But now here he was again all of a sudden, and something was going to have to be said, and I didn’t even have an inkling. I kept watching the TV. The front door opened and he came in behind Viv. I was still sitting in the big chair. He came across toward me, but right then the teams came back out on the field and my problem was solved for a while anyhow: maybe something was going to have to be said all right, but there wasn’t nothing so important it couldn’t wait for the Thanksgiving Day Classic, Missouri and Oklahoma tied nothing to nothing at the start of the second half ...!) In the living room we found Hank seated watching a football game on television; with a quilt tucked about him, a glass of evil-looking liquid by his chair, and a large livestock⁴ thermometer dangling⁵ cigar-fashion from the corner of his mouth; he looked so much the archetypical invalid⁶ that I was amused and a little ashamed for him. “How’s it goin’, bub?”—as he watched a rigmarole of prekickoff activities. sometimes a great notion “As well as could be expected, for a being not accustomed to existing under water.” “How are things in town?” “Dreary. I stopped in to see the old man.” “Yeah?” “He’s in a coma⁷ of some kind. Doctor Layton claims he’s dying.” “Yeah. Viv talked to the doc on the phone last night and he told her the same thing. I don’t know, though, I just don’t know.” “The good doctor seemed very positive of his diagnostic skill.” “Yeah, well, you can’t never tell about them things. He’s a tough old coon.” “What’s happening with Jan? I couldn’t make that funeral . . .” “Just as well. They’d put make-up all over him. It was kinda the last dirty trick Joby had pulled on him. Jan? She’s took the kids to Florence to stay with her parents.” “I suppose that’s best.” “I reckon. Now hang on; here comes the kick . . .” Except to glance down once for his can of beer, his eyes never left the television. Like Viv, he kept his attention fastened away from me, as painfully aware as we were of the feelings our inane⁸ chatter⁹ sought to conceal¹⁰. Neither did I seek his gaze. I was truly afraid to; behind the cloud of our spoken words our thoughts rustled¹⁴ like impatient lightning, charging the air of the old house with such intensity¹⁶ that it seemed that the only way to avoid detonating the whole room was by keeping the contact points insulated—should our eyes connect there was no predicting whether or not our wiring could support the voltage. I crossed the room to the table, unbuttoning my coat. “I was just telling Viv that I plan to start back toward civilization right away.” I picked a Golden Delicious apple from the bowl on the table and ate it as we talked. “To school.” “Is that right? You’re aiming to leave us?” “Winter term starts in a few weeks. And, since the word in town has it that the deal with Wakonda Pacific is off—” 682 ken¹² kesey “Yep.” He stretched, yawning, rubbing his chest through the front of his woolen¹⁸ robe. “It’s all she wrote. Today’s the deadline. Everybody laid up one way or another...and I damn sure couldn’t run them booms down by myself, even if I was in good runnin’ condition.” “It seems a shame after we’ve worked so hard.” “That’s the way she bounces. It won’t kill us. We’re covering ourselves. Floyd Evenwrite says this Draeger said they’re going to get a sales agreement with the mills as a sorta fringe demand in the new contract.” “What about Wakonda Pacific? Couldn’t they supply you with some help?” “They could but they won’t. I checked on that some days back. They’re just like us; with the river coming up like it is, they just as leave not have all them booms on their hands. Keeps up out there like this, we’re in for higher water than last week.” “Couldn’t you lose the booms in a flood, all that work?” He drank from the can and set it back beside his chair; “Well, what the dickens . . . it just seems like nobody wanted them goddam logs delivered.” “Except”—I started to say Joe Ben—“old Henry.” I hadn’t meant it as a cut, but I saw him flinch¹⁹, just as Viv had at the mention of swimming. He was silent a moment and when he spoke¹¹ again there was the vaguest edge to his voice. “Then, by god, old Henry can just get his ass³ out of bed and deliver ’em,” he said. And looked neither left nor right from the Gillette commercial. “The reason I came out—” “I was wonderin’—” “—is about an insurance policy the doctor claimed exists.” “By gosh, that’s right. I remember something about a policy.... Viv, chicken?” He called, though she still stood only a few feet behind his chair, toweling her hair. “You know anything about them life-insurance papers? Are they up in the desk?” “No. I cleaned the desk of everything but papers to do with the business, remember? You said you couldn’t find anything?” sometimes a great notion “What did you do with the other stuff.” “I took it up to the attic²⁰.” “Oh Christ.” He moved as though to stand. “The motherin’ attic!” “No, I’ll get it.” She tossed her hair back and turbaned the towel around it. “You’d never find it. And it’s drafty up there.” “Okeedoke,” Hank said and settled back in his chair. I saw Viv start up the stairs, her tennis shoes pit-patting a dim print, and I had sense enough to realize that this pit-pat was probably the final, fading knock of my last opportunity to be alone with her. “Wait . . .” I dropped my apple core into Hank’s abalone-shell ashtray²¹ “. . . I’ll come with you.” At the end of the hall past the bathroom and the room used as an office, a ladder, made of two-by-fours nailed like horizontal bars across the window there, took us up through a hinged trapdoor into the peaked top of the house ...a gloomy, dusty, musty room that ran from the front of the house to the back, like an elongated²² pyramid braced²³ upright with crisscrossing diagonal beams. Viv slid up through the trapdoor behind me, quiet as a burglar. I helped her stand. She wiped her hands on her Levis. The trapdoor fell shut with a muffled²⁴ thump²⁵. We were alone. “I haven’t been up here since I was five or six,” I said, looking about me. “It’s as delightful²⁶ as ever. It would have been a nice little nook to repair to on some of these long rainy Sunday afternoons to sip²⁷ tea and read Lovelace.” “Or Poe,” she said. We were both whispering, the way one does in certain rooms. Viv stretched out a leg and rolled a mangy Teddy bear over with the point of her tennis shoe. “Or Pooh.” We laughed beneath our breaths and began to move carefully forward through the dim clutter²⁸. A small window at each end of the long room provided space and light enough to be a building site for spiders and a cemetery²⁹ for flies; what light was left over strained through the little warped³⁰ panes³¹ and sifted³² like soot³³ from a chimney across an ominous³⁴ array of boxes and chests and trunks, rough-hewn packing crates³⁵ and ornate bureaus. A 684 ken kesey dozen or so orange crates were lined up on end, appearing to stand at brooding attention, like geometric ghosts. About this array of larger objects, like lesser³⁶ spirits of gayer and freer form, were gathered incidentals like the Teddy bear Viv had rolled over . . . fifty years of paraphernalia³⁷, tricycles to tambourines³⁸, dressmaker’s dummies³⁹ to diaper pails, dolls, boots, books, Christmas ornaments⁴⁰ . . . you’re wasting time, and, over everything, dust and mouse manure⁴¹ by the bale. “Of course,” I whispered, “one would have to bring more than a book and a cup of tea: I think I might like a knife and a shotgun, and perhaps a radio so I could call in reinforcements in case I needed to put down a revolution.” “A radio by all means.” “By all means.” When this is all over, I told myself, you will hate yourself for wasting so much time . . . “Because some of these natives look restless and very revolutionary.” I prodded⁴³ a stuffed owl¹⁷ and it responded with a high-pitched squeak⁴⁴ and produced from its feathers a little brown mouse which scampered⁴⁵ off behind some Japanese lanterns. “See? Very restless.” When you get yourself alone later you are going to call yourself all kinds of names for not taking advantage of this situation. Viv had reached the window and was looking out through the webs. “It’s too bad there isn’t a room up here—I mean for living in ...you can see so well. The garage across there, and the road and everything.” “It is a nice view.” I was standing⁴⁶ right beside her, close enough to smell her damp hair—go ahead! try something! at least try something!— but my hands stayed in my pockets, safe and well-mannered. A wall of protocol⁴⁷ and passivity rose between us—she would not breach⁴⁸ it; I could not. “That policy ...where would you think we might find it?” “Boy, in this mess,” she said brightly, “finding anything is going to be a chore. Here; you start on this side and I’ll start on the other and we’ll work our way down to the other end. It’s in a shoebox, I remember, but old Henry was always up here moving things around...” sometimes a great notion Before I could think over a cozier way to hunt, she was off, rummaging⁴⁹ through crates and crannies, and I was forced to follow suit. But you can still talk with her, idiot; go ahead and tell her how you feel. “I hope...you didn’t have anything else you were doing.” “Me?”—from the other side of the room. “Just breakfast dishes . . . why?” “No reason. I didn’t want to drag you away from something to help me beat about the attic.” “But I drug you away, Lee. You volunteered to come with me, remember?” I didn’t answer. My eyes had become accustomed enough to the gloom to see a path leading between the beams through the dust and debris⁵⁰ to a corner with a pronounced diminishment of spiderwebs. I followed the path to an old rolltop desk somewhat less dusty than its surroundings. I opened the rolltop of the desk and finally found the shoebox I was seeking. Along with a museum of mementos⁵² so maudlin⁵³ that I would have burst out laughing had not the laughter stuck in my throat like a fishbone. I intended to joke about the find. I meant to call to Viv but I was voiceless, as in a dream, and I experienced again that bright billowing medley⁵⁴ of excitement and trepidation⁵⁵ and outrage⁵⁶ and guilt⁵⁷ that I had first felt that first time I placed my eye to a hole in the wall and spied breathlessly on a life not my own. For once again I spied. Except the life before me now stood bared so much more, so terribly much more, than had the lean white body that had come with snarls⁵⁸ and grunts⁵⁹ to mount my mother in the lamplight so long ago.... Before me in the desk was a careful and terrible litter ...of high-school dance programs pinned with flaky brown carnations⁶⁰, of certificates for letter awards, of dog collars, scarves, dollar bills with dates inked across the pressed faces—Christmas 1933 John, Birthday 35 Granpa Stamper, Birthday 36 Granpa Stamper, Christmas 36 Granpa Stamper—all tacked⁶¹ onto a shop-class breadboard with the woodburned inscription⁶² “Not by god Alone!” There was a feeble stamp collection and a shell collection, precious as diamonds in a jewelry-store necklace 686 ken kesey box...and a flag mounted on a suction cup, and a foxtail, and stacks of Christmas cards, an album of Glenn Miller⁶³ 78s, a cigarette smoked to the fading lipstick⁶⁴ stain, a beer can, a locket, a shot glass, a dog tag, a service cap, and pictures, pictures, pictures . . . The pictures were as typically American as the suction-cupped flag. There were sets of snapshots in their little yellow envelopes; and studio portraits in glass frames; and family reunion shots swarming⁶⁵ with devilish youngsters making faces between the legs of pompous⁶⁶ grown-ups; and the five-dollarsfor-a-dozen pictures signed and exchanged your senior year in high school and generally thrown away the year after. I picked up one of these from its place on the shelf; across her white cashmere a sultry sixteen-year-old had penned: “To Hank the Hunk; a gorgeous Hunk of male I hope to let clean out my car pocket once again. Doree.” Another hoped he might “see fit to be a little more friendly in the future with certain interested parties.” Still another advised him that any such interest “wouldn’t get him nowhere so don’t go getting any ideas.” I had seen enough; I tossed away the bundle... high school pictures! I would have never believed my brother to be so banal⁶⁸. I picked up the boxful of policies, planning to sort through them in the better light downstairs, and was just turning to announce my find when I noticed, sitting behind a large maroon⁶⁹ photo album, one of those cheap pasteboard frames holding a photograph of Viv seated beside a small bespectacled boy. The child, about five or six—one of the up-and-coming younger Stampers, I surmised—glowered solemnly in the direction of the photographer’s telltale shadow that fell across the grass before him. Viv was seated with her skirt spread about her, hair swirling⁷¹, laughing open-mouthed at some remark made by the clever shutterbug intending to pierce the hard looks of the youngster. The photograph itself was of very bad quality; obviously blown up from a small and very bad snapshot, it was practically a masterpiece of the hazy⁷² focus and the direct lighting⁷³ ...yet, for all its faults I understood why it had been chosen for sometimes a great notion enlargement and framing. That the photograph did not resemble the Viv that one saw every day wiping back a delinquent⁷⁴ lock of hair as she hummed over a skillet of frying sausage, or sweeping⁷⁵ dried mud into a dustpan or hanging wet clothes over the stove in the living room or rummaging about the attic in dirt and tennis shoes . . . this was not important; the picture’s singular charm lay in the accidental entrapment⁷⁶ of the girl one sensed waiting behind that skillet of sausage or that pan of dust. The laughter, the blowing hair, the tilt⁷⁷ of the head showed her caught in an attitude that perhaps for that one instant fulfilled completely all that her slight smile perpetually suggested. I decided⁷⁸ I must have that picture. Didn’t I deserve at least a bit of a snapshot to show the boys back home? The photograph was rubber-banded to a small bundle of other papers for which I had no use, but if I could detach the picture and slip it inside my shirt no one would ever be the wiser. I set about trying to slip the rubber band off but it was sticky with age and I only succeeded in binding⁷⁹ the picture more tightly to the bundle. Don’t, picture, please... I brought the packet to my mouth to try to bite the sticky bands; my hands were shaking and I was nervous beyond all proportion to my theft. Don’t be this way. Please. You can be mine please. You can come with me please... “I can’t, Lee.” Until she answered I had not been aware that I was talking out loud. “I just can’t, Lee. Don’t, oh, Lee, don’t . . .” I had not even known I was crying. The photo flowed before my eyes, as the girl swept across toward me, through dust and cobwebs. “Why not, Viv?” I asked stupidly. She had almost reached me. “Why can’t you just flick⁸⁰ everything here and—” “Hey . . .” A hoarse⁸¹ word stopped us. “...ain’t you two found that outfit⁸² yet?” He was speaking from the trapdoor; his bodiless head could have been mistaken for another piece of the clutter. “You clucks oughta get some more light up here, for chrissakes. It’s like a grave. Find anything ...?” “I think I have it here,” I called to him, trying to control 688 ken kesey my voice. “A lot of policies to check through. We’re almost finished.” “Okay. Say, listen, bub: I’m gonna go slip into some clothes and run you back across. The air’ll do me good. You be ready to move when I get my clothes on.” The head disappeared. The trapdoor thumped⁸³ shut. She was in my arms. “Oh, Lee, that’s why. He’s why. I can’t leave him like he is now...” “Viv, he’s just putting you on with this sick bit; he isn’t sick . . .” “I know that.” “And he knows, too. He knows about us, couldn’t you tell just now? This sick bit, he’s just doing it to keep you.” “I know that, Lee ...but that’s why I say I—” “Viv, Viv, baby, listen...he’s no more sick than I am. If he and I were off out of your sight someplace he would probably beat the daylights out of me.” “But don’t you see what that means? How that means he feels?” “Viv, baby, listen; you love me! If I ever knew anything I know that.” “Yes! Yes, I know! But I love him too, Lee . . .” “Not as much as you—!” “Yes! As much! Oh, I don’t know...” Desperately⁸⁴, I grasped her shoulders. “Even if that’s so, that you love him as much, I need you more than he does. Even if you love us equally, it’s all the more reason; can’t you see I need you to keep—” “Need! Need, is that all!” she wailed⁸⁵ against my chest, her voice muffled by the heavy wool and her near hysteria. “Viv,” I started to say again, but she pushed back to seek my eyes. Beneath us we could hear Hank returning, heavy-heeled. “Let’s make it,” he called from below the trap. “Hear me Lee? Viv?” At the sound, her look of conflict and anguish⁸⁶ suddenly changed, and her eyes dropped, as though borne to the ground by the weight of an awful shadow, that same shade I had seen across her face at the front door but hadn’t recognized. Because, I would have never believed it possible to find that sometimes a great notion shadow on Viv. But, now, it was unmistakably nothing more mysterious than plain old shame. I had not recognized it earlier because it was not shame for herself or her guilt, or for me in mine, but shame for the man so weakened by his illness that he was unable to let his wife disappear momentarily from his observation into the attic, so stricken with fever that nothing would do but take me across the river himself to keep her from being alone with me that little time more . . . “Say, Viv, can I borrow this family album for a while? To show off my heritage back at school?” And being responsible for some of this weakness, she was trapped by it. It would be her memento⁵¹ of the thing we almost had, just as that photograph hidden inside that album was mine. I could think of nothing to say. She walked from me, away from the trapdoor toward the window—“You better go, Lee; he’s waiting, “—moving slow, weighted. That a shame focused on another should burden one as terribly as the personal variety was practically inconceivable to me. The poor kid is just too compassionate⁸⁷, I told myself . . . And yet, as I climbed down the ladder into the hallway, where Hank waited gnawing⁸⁸ on a hangnail, I felt that I too was encumbered⁸⁹ by a shadow as unnatural⁹⁰ as it was unwieldy. “Let’s go, bub,” he said impatiently. “I’ll pull on my boots downstairs.” “A bit ago you were too sick to bend at the joints⁹¹.” “Yeah, well maybe a little of that nice fresh-washed air out yonder is what I been lackin’. Is that okay with you? You ready to make it?” “Fine with me. I’ve got everything I came for . . .” “That’s good,” he said and started down the stairs. I followed, thinking, Unnatural, and unwieldy, and a hundred times heavier than any of the score of personal varieties that I have so often carried. Hank, my shame for you, believe it or not, is as great as that I hold for myself. Maybe greater. And, brother, that’s going some . . . From the attic window through cobwebs, Viv watches as they walk to the boat and get in. The boat starts, noiseless at this distance, and begins to creep across the river like a little red water 690 ken kesey beetle⁹². “I don’t know any more, Lee, what I want,” she says, like a small child. And becomes aware of her image once more, vaguely⁹³ reflected in the dirty attic window: what does it mean, all this concern about our images? It means this is the only way we ever see ourselves; looking out, at others, reflected through cobwebs from an attic window... (I ferried the kid back across; we were pretty casual about it. I said I didn’t blame him for wanting to shake the Oregon mud off his shoes and go back to hit the books. He said he was sorry to take me away from my ball game. We were getting along all right; standing pat seemed the best way to handle things . . .) “It’ll be nice to get back to some drier country ...even if it is colder.” “Sure. A fella gets tired of this friggin’ drizzle⁹⁴ all the time.” As the expanse of water lengthened⁹⁵ between myself and the slim blond girl alone in the echoing wooden house, I began searching frantically⁹⁶ for some last hope, some last unplayed trump⁹⁷ that would win me this hand; I no longer cared about beating my brother, I cared about winning the game. And there is a difference . . . “By the way, the doctor and Boney Stokes told me to ask how you were feeling . . .” (I’d had some things to say to him, on this boat trip across, but what the hell, I figured, don’t go picking at scabs . . .) “I’m probably gonna survive.” “They’ll be happy to hear that.” “I’ll bet they will.” When the bow touched dock I was desperate to the point of bursting; I felt I must do something or die! In another minute I would be gone from her for good, and she from me...for good! So do anything! Kick, scream, throw a tantrum for her to see and so she’ll know that— “Look who’s pulling up in the jeep. It’s Andy, big as life. Hey, Andy boy, how’s it hangin’?” I barely noticed as Hank waved to Andy climbing from the jeep. I had seen something far bigger... “What’s up, Andy, man? You look draggled.” sometimes a great notion Something far better . . . across the river, at the top of the old house, in the little attic window, like a candle lifted as a signal to me, at last . . . “Hank,” Andy approaches them, panting, “I just come from the mill. Somebody set it on fire last night.” “The mill! Is it burned?” “No, not real bad; rain kept it down pretty much so’s it hadn’t burnt more than the green chain an’ some stuff. I put it the rest of the way out . . .” “But for chrissakes the mill? Why? How do you know somebody lit it?” “ ’Cause there was this stuck to the glass on the front office.” Andy unfolds a smudged circular sticker and holds it to Hank. “This: a black cat, grinning . . .” “The old Wobbly sign? Who in god’s green world . . . with a Wobbly sign?” “It seems you have enemies, brother,” I said. He turned to look at me suspiciously, wondering if I’d had anything to do with the mill; it amused me a little, knowing that he was suspicious of my past when sabotage⁹⁸ was already cooking in the future. “Still, it also seems you have some very devoted⁹⁹ friends. For instance, Boney Stokes was most insistent¹⁰⁰ that I pass on his regards.” “That old spook,” he said and spat¹⁰¹ (besides, I figured, to myself, there’s no sense me and the kid getting into it), “someday I’m gonna trip that old bastard¹⁰² and bring him down like a stack of dominoes . . .” “Oh, you misjudge him . . .” I glanced again across at the house. “Mr. Stokes is full of appreciation¹⁰³ for you”—she was still framed in that dark square of window—“and determined to prove his good faith to you.” “Stokes? How’s that?” He looked at me, puzzled. (I figured, There’s no sense in saying any more when everything we could say we both already knew . . .) “Well, he asked me to advise you—” She’s still watching. Still at the window. He doesn’t know! “—advise you that, due to another change in his delivery route...he will be coming up the river this far and is willing to give you the benefit of his services 692 ken kesey once more.” “Yeah? Stokes? Is that right, now?” (I figured, There’s no sense doing anything when everything’s already been done...) “Yes, that is right; and he furthermore asked me to say that he was indeed sorry—wait; what was it?” Go ahead! It’s the only way. You know that it is! “...sorry for any inconvenience he might have caused you during your, let’s see, weakened condition, Mr. Stokes put it, I think. Is that right? Have you had a weakened condition, Brother Hank?” “You might say so, yeah . . .” (I had figured, I’ll just go on and drop the kid off in town and leave things where they are, just stand pat . . .) “Also, the good doctor told me to tell you that he was buying you a turkey—” “A turkey?” “Yes, a turkey,” I went blithely¹⁰⁴ on, acting¹⁰⁵ as though I were completely unmindful of the line of anger tightening¹⁰⁶ about Hank’s lips like a bowstring—Go on! you have to go on it’s the only way!—as though I were completely unaware¹⁰⁷ of the disbelief and shock in Andy’s eyes. “Yes, the good doctor said that he was paying for you a nice big gobbler for Thankgiving, compliments of the hospital.” “A turkey? Wait a minute...” “A free turkey, brother; it almost seems that you should get in a sick and weakened condition more often, doesn’t it?” “Wait a minute; what’s this all about, goddammit?” (I had figured, Yeah, there’s no reason dragging up the ashes, he’s finished with what he set out to do and there’s nothing I can do back, so what the hell . . . let it stand pat.) “And then Mr. Stokes said—let me recall—that ‘Thanksgiving dinner without the traditional gobbler just ain’t Thanksgiving,’ and that he considered the doctor a true Christian¹⁰⁸ in Heart and Deed for helping¹⁰⁹ you in your time of need.” “My time of need, he said that?” “That’s what he said. Boney Stokes. The good doctor said something different.” “What did the good doctor say?” “He said Hank Stamper deserves a free turkey for all he’s done for us.” “Doctor Layton said that? Goddam you, Lee, if you’re—” “That’s what he said.” “But I didn’t do anything to deserve—” “Now, now, brother...in a moment you’ll be saying you didn’t deserve to have your mill burned.” “Didn’t really burn, I tol’ you, Leland, I got to it—” “Okay, Andy . . .” “—they jus’ tried to burn it, but the rain—” “Okay, Andy.” (Yeah, that’s what I had figured . . . that it was all done and over. sometimes a great notion But the kid had a different notion.) “Yes, you have a lot of friends, Hank.” “Yeah.” “A lot of people interested.” “Yeah. Wait; let’s see if I get it right; Boney Stokes ...is coming here to push a turkey off on me?” “I don’t think Mr. Stokes is looking on this as a business transaction. Or the doctor either. I think it is more a consideration, don’t you, Andy?—a show of gratitude¹¹⁰ for Hank’s cooperation.” “My cooperation?” “Yes, about the contract and all . . .” “What in the hell do they think I want with charity or gratitude ...or a goddam turkey either for that matter?” “Oh, and there are other incidentals, too . . . that the citizens are going to donate. I think a whole basket. Mr. Stokes mentioned yams, cranberry¹¹¹ preserves, mincemeat—” “Hold it.” “—pumpkin pie, dressing—” “Hold it now,” I said— “—for just one goddam minute...” Hank stood up in the boat, his hand held slightly before him as if to hold off an attack of air. “Now just you tell me, bub: what are you driving at? just let’s have it straight, once.” (Yeah, I had figured everything had been done...) “I mean I didn’t order any goddamn mincemeat or yams. Are you shitting me? Or what the hell are you driving at!” “You must not understand, Hank; I know you didn’t order. Mr. Stokes isn’t selling this to you...he’s giving you the groceries. Or donating might be the better word. He said that anything else you might need, just hang out the flag for it. Simply hang up the flag. Can you handle that? In your weakened condition?” “Hold it . . .” (But I was wrong. He was still pushing. There was something left after all.) “Say, Hank—” “Hold it, bub...” Don’t stop now; you can’t stop now. “How is your condition, by the way?” “Hold it, bub, don’t push it too far...” (He don’t even act like he knows what I’m signifying; can he be that dense¹¹²?) “Push what, Hank?” “Just don’t is all.” “How far is too far, Hank?” “Okay, bub—” He stopped speaking and looked at me. I stood up; the boat, only tied at the stern, rocked and bucked¹¹³ beneath us. Andy looked back and forth¹¹⁴ from each of us. Hank stepped over the center seat. This was it; here comes the bomb. We stood facing each other with the boat bobbing and the rain bristling¹¹⁵ between us, and I waited . . . 694 ken kesey (He just stands there grinning at me. I feel that old mounting howl swirl⁷⁰ in my stomach and arms, tightening my fists ...and he just stands there grinning . . . what’s with him? What’s he got going now for the chrissakes?) And, waiting, I noticed for the first time that Hank was a good two inches shorter than myself. The revelation in no way excited me. How interesting, I kept thinking, as I waited for the bomb to drop; how peculiar¹¹⁶. “You were going to tell me, Hank,” I asked again; “that one has to push...” He started to clench¹¹⁷ his jaw¹¹⁸. “Maybe instead I oughta just come right out an’—” “Over there!” Andy shouts and points. From across the river comes a moist, cracking explosion, like wet lightning followed by a rumbling¹¹⁹ of heavy earth. The three figures start, turning to the crash in time to see a great section of the bank pitch out from the foundation and slide crashing onto the boathouse. For a second the earth floats on the little structure, then the boathouse rolls over, the way an ice cube rolls with sugar piled on it. (I stopped, watching the bank bright and dry and deep as a shell crater¹²⁰, ragged¹²¹ at the edges with shredded¹²² two-by-fours and frayed¹²³ rope and snapped cables. It gapes¹²⁴ this way a moment, from the bank below the barn. Then the earth, heavy with water, drops to fill the hole, carrying part of the barn down with it. Dust muddies the rain. Animal hides and gunny sacks swirl away, gathering¹²⁵ foam¹²⁶. Broken red planks¹²⁷ thrust floating upright for a moment, then flatten¹²⁸ out to float away. Some of them veer¹²⁹ into the foundation around the house, actually shoring it up against the current as though the barn has sacrificed itself for the house. The cow lumbers¹³⁰ bellowing¹³¹ from the ruin, up toward the orchard¹³². Another small slide heaves down about the half-submerged barn, clattering¹³³ and scraping; then it is still. None of the three have moved during the half-minute. Now Lee steps out of the boat up onto the dock with Andy, and Hank follows. (I stopped then, with my mouth hung open. It wasn’t the cave-in that really made me spin my wheels. The cave-in just distracted me for a second; it was something else, something I seen at the house that really pulled me up short. And the kid seen it, too, way before I did...) On the dock, I saw that Hank had noticed my concerned glance at the attic sometimes a great notion window... (Viv was up there, up there still in the attic! And the kid’s known all along she was watching. That’s why he was pushing . . .) “You knew, didn’t you?” Hank turned toward me with a slow, restricted control that made me think of the Tin Woodman of Oz straining against the rust¹³ in his joints. “You knew she’d see if I fisted you...ain’t that right?” “That’s right,” I told him, watching him closely and for some reason still waiting; because, though he was onto my reasons and my plan, he still didn’t sound like he’d dismissed earlier intentions. “Now everybody knows,” I said and waited . . . (Then it all come over me; I mean for the first time really come over me, just how nigger slick he’s got it all balanced out. He’s got it near perfect. He’s built it like the hanging nooses¹³⁵ we useta build as kids, that can’t get any way but tighter; he’s built it to where I can’t advance any direction but what I’m bound to lose ground. He’s arranged it so’s I’m stuck in a place where it’s damned if I do and damned if I don’t, whipped if I fight and whipped if I don’t . . . That’s how nice he’s got it balanced.) ...waited, watching him weigh the situation carefully. Andy rocked from boot to boot in mute confusion, like a big perplexed¹³⁶ bear, while I waited and Hank thought it over . . . (And seeing that, I think to myself, bub, right here is where your genius outfoxes you; because you’ve got it arranged better than you know. “Bub, we’ve tore up too much of each other to stop now.” Because you got it worked out so well that it doesn’t matter to me any more that she’s watching. “We’ve messed in the nest now, bub, messed in it good,” I tell him. Because he’d got the balance heavier on one side than he knew, the noose¹³⁴ tighter than he realized. “Because there’s too much salt, bub, rubbed in, to stop now just because she’s—”) I started to ask Hank what he meant when an abrupt¹³⁷, almost involuntary twist of his neck stopped me. His chin was being tugged¹³⁸ to the right, toward the house. He would pause, look at Andy, at me, then the neck would twist again, further right . . . then back at me, at that black-cat sticker Andy held, then right again as though he were being jerked by an invisible rein⁴² leading across the river up to that attic window. The rein pulled taut¹³⁹. He faced the house for a moment, looking at that slim 696 ken kesey glow in the dark window, then the rein snapped in two and his head swung back, facing me... (“Yeah, there’s too much rubbed in to leave now,” I told the kid. Because he’d finally made standing pat tougher than advancing, and losing ground easier than standing pat . . .) “So get your best hold,” Hank said and drew a deep breath, grinning at me. (“Because we’ve messed in it,” I said, and let him have it, for all I was worth, right on the side of the head.) The blow surprised me no more than had the discovery of my advantage in height: How interesting, I thought, as I saw stars sparked from my cheekbone. (The kid took the punch. He just stood there and took it. I guess I knew he would, with her watching, because that’s another part of the way he’s got it so worked out . . .) How interesting, I thought—Lee spins backward, tripping, slamming into the side of the garage; Andy bobs and weaves along the dock; Hank moves forward; Viv watches the tiny figures, her fists at her throat—how very interesting and peculiar, I found myself thinking, as bells rang in my ears and birds sang round my head just exactly the way it is described in the pulps¹⁴⁰ ...(He went down at the second punch and I figured that was that, he’s let her see all she needs to see . . .) Viv throws open the window, shouting through cobwebs and rain, “Hank! Don’t!” as Lee slides down the mossy boards of the garage wall. “Hank!” Hank steps backward, crouching¹⁴¹, throwing back the hood¹⁴² of his parka like a catcher tossing off his mask. (I heard Viv hollering something at me from that attic window, but I was past the point of being hollered at.) Lee lifts his head, groaning¹⁴³ ...Nor was I really surprised by his second blow, which started as a mere⁶⁷ white speck¹⁴⁴ in the distance, then swelled¹⁴⁵ suddenly before me into a great knobby hammer of fist that splashed Fourth-of-July crimson¹⁴⁶ in all directions. (I popped him again, bloodying¹⁴⁷ up his nose . . . that oughta do it, I figured.) “Hank! Stop! Stop it!” Viv’s voice stretches across the water, as Hank hunches¹⁴⁸, waiting for Lee to push himself groggily¹⁴⁹ from the wall. (But, by god, he got back up again. I busted¹⁵⁰ him another one.) Lee pushes himself upright, frowning, annoyed by the numbed¹⁵¹ and useless hinges of his jaw. Only one side of the jaw seems to sometimes a great notion function. His mouth opens at a slanting¹⁵² angle. Hank waits until the weaving stops and the mouth closes “Hank, no! Please, honey, no!” (I hit him again, harder) takes deliberate fastidious aim and fits another fist over Lee’s nose and lips, carefully missing the glasses ...Nor was I much more than slightly surprised to discover myself still standing when the crimson splash cleared. It all seemed natural, somehow, at the time... (The kid just kept sticking his face out. Fall down and stay, I kept saying under my breath, fall down and stay or get up and fight or I’m gonna beat you silly, or, or I’m gonna beat you to death.) “Hank!” Lee snaps back bouncing again from the wall, and begins sneezing. “Hank!” He sneezes violently, three times, creating a thin red mist between them while Hank waits, crouching, cocking his arm again. (...you just stand there keep letting her watch me pop you goddam you I’m gonna beat you clean to death!) ...But I must confess that I was thunderstruck to find, that, after I had blinked the tears and terror away, I was striking back! IMBECILE! DON’T . . . “Lee! Hank! No ...!” Lee’s hand jumps, springing forward, seemingly of its own accord, like a small animal into the air after a passing insect; the coat’s weight throws it off its aim so the blow is short, glancing off Hank’s chin and thumping¹⁵³ against his Adam’s apple IMBECILE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? FOR GOD’S SAKE DON’T FIGHT BACK! (Then I think the kid got the idea, that if he didn’t do something I was going to pound him to death. Because he finally went to hitting back. Maybe he sensed it, that I’m going to kill him. But now it’s too late. I figured, You waited too long and now I’m going to kill you.) My thunderstruck astonishment¹⁵⁴, however, compared to that of my back-reeling, eye-popping, air-sucking brother, became mere wonder; Hank dropped to one knee, making a noise like a man swallowing his tongue, and his face was a study of stupefaction: What’s this? he marveled; Who can this be belaboring¹⁵⁵ me about the chops? (I know I’m gonna kill you, I figured.) Who can this cat be, standing there in little Leland’s coat and pants, pasting me in the puss? (Because there just ain’t any reason any more not to kill you.) After my initial pride and astonishment receded¹⁵⁶, I cursed myself for losing control. Why 698 ken kesey did you have to go and hit back, imbecile? WATCH OUT! Now he’s down and you’ve got to let him get up and knock you down once more; do you think Viv is going to come rushing to the victor? Now; taunt¹⁵⁷ him again but this time be cool. “Do I—” My voice quavered pathetically with a mixture of grim and giddy panic as I goaded¹⁵⁸ him once more. “Do I now go to my neutral corner?” From his kneeling position of disgrace Hank half smiled at my attempt at humor, not his usual hidden grin of mock shyness, but an icy, cruel, reptilian¹⁵⁹ smirk¹⁶⁰ that turned my wet hair brittle¹⁶¹ and my saliva¹⁶² to slush. WATCH OUT! a voice warned, and Hank said “You better be reh—reh—” I tried to take heart from the fact that he was having a worse time speaking than myself; I had clearly landed a telling blow to the larynx. “—you better be by god ready to go a sight farther than that,” he went on, and the voice in my skull¹⁶³ shrieked¹⁶⁴ WATCH OUT WATCH OUT NOW WATCH OUT! “Because I’m gonna kill you goddamn you...” When I saw Hank come up off his knees and advance toward me behind his frozen lizard’s smile—RUN! BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!—I knew that my blow to the larynx had been a good deal more infuriating than telling. It had stunned¹⁶⁵ nothing but his reason; there was a look now of trapped, futile¹⁶⁶ rage. That one blow was the straw that snapped the animal’s mind! I told myself. NOW YOU’VE DONE IT, NOW HE’S GOING TO MURDER YOU. RUN! RUN FOR YOUR MISERABLE¹⁶⁷ LIFE! (I can’t see any reason not to kill you, don’t you see. You’ve outfoxed yourself making it too tight . . .) RUN! the voice kept screaming, RUN! But the river swirled¹⁶⁸ at my back and the voice said nothing about swimming. And for once, I wasn’t able to run for my miserable life. I could not back up at all. In spite of the hysterical¹⁶⁹ demands for retreat, I could only move forward. Thus, while the voice screeched¹⁷⁰ IMBECILE! IDIOT!, while my ears rang and Andy shuffled¹⁷¹ wordlessly, and Viv’s calling came again over the water, my brother and I finally, totally wholeheartedly embraced for our first and last and oh so long overdue¹⁷² dance of Hate and Hurt and Love. Finally, we quit fooling around and fought, as Andy kept time sometimes a great notion with his foot. It kept reminding me of a dance. Clinging to each other in a paroxysm of overripe passion we spun¹⁷³ the fight fantastic, reeled to the melodious¹⁷⁴ fiddle-cry of rain through the firs, and the accelerating tempo¹⁷⁵ of feet on the drumhead dock, and the high whirling skirl of adrenalin that always accompanies this dance...jointly¹⁷⁶ trampling¹⁷⁷ my surprise, Andy’s shock, and Hank’s astonishment underfoot in the action. (I have to kill you now. It’s what you’ve been begging for so long . . .) And, for never having danced together before, we came on passing fair if I say so myself . . . Viv watches in horror as the two of them, with Andy shuffling¹⁷⁸ so close he appears to be refereeing¹⁷⁹, crash together through the rain. She has stopped calling. “Don’t,” she whispers. “Please don’t . . .” (I have to go ahead and kill you because you pushed too much . . .) After one overcomes his natural aversion and hesitation¹⁸⁰ and takes the first steps, enters into the spirit, so to speak, of this particular form of primitive¹⁸¹ gavotte, he finds it is not nearly so unpleasant as his apprehensions¹⁸² had given him to believe. Not at all. Certainly it can be a bit more difficult than fox-trotting at the Waldorf or mamboing at the Copa, but then it can also be, in the final analysis, a good deal less painful. For although a clout¹⁸³ on the side of the head can set up a ringing sting that makes the ear burn like the fires of hell for the duration of the dance, who has not suffered more violent attacks on that same organ in the calm and cozy¹⁸⁴ two-step? The clout will cease its ringing and the ear its burning, but who hasn’t suffered a few well-placed words breathed softly cheek-to-cheek over the strains of a hotel orchestra? words with the power to ring on for months and years, and not just burn the ear but char¹⁵ one whole side of the brain as well? In this fistic dance a glaring misstep may leave you open for a quick, heavy, sickening punch in the stomach—I managed twice to lace the dock with my Golden Delicious—but this gut-rolling sickness is a sickness you know will pass, a pain you can endure by reminding yourself Hang on; it has to be over in a moment—whereas I have made missteps in far more placid¹⁸⁵ dances, and have suffered lighter¹⁸⁶ slower lower punches that still sicken with a pain 700 ken kesey that compounds itself by reminding you that it may never go away. (Yes; he’d pushed more than he’d need of. But. To where he knows I can’t but kill him. But. Kept rubbing things in like one red flag after another in front of a bull until— But why, if it’s just for Viv?) We reeled and shuffled from the dock up onto the gravelly bank; we rocked and rolled down the bank through a litter of roadside garbage. Always with Andy right beside us, cheering neither one nor the other of us. Always with Viv’s voice trickling¹⁸⁸ out of a gray distance, pleading with Hank to stop. Always with that other voice screaming from a much closer gray— IMBECILE—and demanding the same thing of me: STOP FIGHTING! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE! HE’LL KILL YOU! (Like everlastingly¹⁸⁹ pestering¹⁹⁰ a man who has a gun until the man— But why does he keep on?) YOU KNOW YOU CAN’T BEAT HIM. IF YOU KEEP FIGHTING HE’LL KILL YOU. LIE DOWN! STOP! (Like prodding¹⁹¹ a bear with a stick until— But if he knows that already, then why is he—?) HE’LL KILL YOU, Old Reliable kept screeching¹⁹², LIE DOWN! But something had happened. In a fist fight there is a point, after a cheek has been split or a nose broken with a sound in your skull like a light bulb being popped in mud, when you realize that you have already survived the worst. DON’T GET BACK UP! the voice from the shadows insisted as I struggled to free myself from a deep green net of berry vines where I had been thrown by a booming, eye-closing right. JUST LIE HERE. IF YOU GET UP HE’LL KILL YOU! And the voice, for the first time in a long, long reign¹⁹³ over my psyche¹⁹⁴, met with opposition¹⁹⁵. “No,” said a stranger in my head. “Not so.” YES. IT IS SO. LIE STILL. IF YOU GET UP HE’LL KILL YOU. “Not so,” the voice dissented¹⁹⁶ again, calmly. “No, he can’t kill you. He’s already done his damnedest. You’ve survived his worst.” DON’T LISTEN! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE! HE’LL BEAT sometimes a great notion YOU UNCONSCIOUS, THEN STRANGLE YOU WHERE YOU LIE. FOR GOD’S SAKE DON’T GET UP! “Listen to me. He won’t kill you. If he wanted you dead he could have gutted¹⁹⁷ you with that peavey pole leaning against the garage there. Or he could have cut your throat with that whittling¹⁹⁸ knife he carries. Or just could have stomped¹⁹⁹ your head in with those boots when you were looking for your tooth over there in the gravel¹⁸⁷ pile. He’s not trying to kill you.” “OH?” the first voice stopped its shrilling²⁰⁰ and demanded with a sly arrogance²⁰¹.

1 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。

2 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》

3 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。

4 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

5 dangling   

悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口

参考例句：

• The tooth hung dangling by the bedpost, now. 结果，那颗牙就晃来晃去吊在床柱上了。
• The children sat on the high wall,their legs dangling. 孩子们坐在一堵高墙上，摇晃着他们的双腿。

6 invalid   

n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的

参考例句：

• He will visit an invalid.他将要去看望一个病人。
• A passport that is out of date is invalid.护照过期是无效的。

7 coma   

n.昏迷，昏迷状态

参考例句：

• The patient rallied from the coma.病人从昏迷中苏醒过来。
• She went into a coma after swallowing a whole bottle of sleeping pills.她吃了一整瓶安眠药后就昏迷过去了。

8 inane   

adj.空虚的，愚蠢的，空洞的

参考例句：

• She started asking me inane questions.她开始问我愚蠢的问题。
• Such comments are inane because they don't help us solve our problem.这种评论纯属空洞之词，不能帮助我们解决问题。

9 chatter   

vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战

参考例句：

• Her continuous chatter vexes me.她的喋喋不休使我烦透了。
• I've had enough of their continual chatter.我已厌烦了他们喋喋不休的闲谈。

10 conceal   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽

参考例句：

• He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
• He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。

11 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。

12 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.

13 rust   

n.锈；v.生锈；(脑子)衰退

参考例句：

• She scraped the rust off the kitchen knife.她擦掉了菜刀上的锈。
• The rain will rust the iron roof.雨水会使铁皮屋顶生锈。

14 rustled   

v.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He rustled his papers. 他把试卷弄得沙沙地响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Leaves rustled gently in the breeze. 树叶迎着微风沙沙作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 char   

v.烧焦；使...燃烧成焦炭

参考例句：

• Without a drenching rain,the forest fire will char everything.如果没有一场透地雨，森林大火将烧尽一切。
• The immediate batch will require deodorization to char the protein material to facilitate removal in bleaching.脱臭烧焦的蛋白质原料易在脱色中去除。

16 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

17 owl   

n.猫头鹰，枭

参考例句：

• Her new glasses make her look like an owl.她的新眼镜让她看上去像只猫头鹰。
• I'm a night owl and seldom go to bed until after midnight.我睡得很晚，经常半夜后才睡觉。

18 woolen   

adj.羊毛(制)的；毛纺的

参考例句：

• She likes to wear woolen socks in winter.冬天她喜欢穿羊毛袜。
• There is one bar of woolen blanket on that bed.那张床上有一条毛毯。

19 flinch   

v.畏缩，退缩

参考例句：

• She won't flinch from speaking her mind.她不会讳言自己的想法。
• We will never flinch from difficulties.我们面对困难决不退缩。

20 attic   

n.顶楼，屋顶室

参考例句：

• Leakiness in the roof caused a damp attic.屋漏使顶楼潮湿。
• What's to be done with all this stuff in the attic?顶楼上的材料怎么处理？

21 ashtray   

n.烟灰缸

参考例句：

• He knocked out his pipe in the big glass ashtray.他在大玻璃烟灰缸里磕净烟斗。
• She threw the cigarette butt into the ashtray.她把烟头扔进烟灰缸。

22 elongated   

v.延长，加长( elongate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Modigliani's women have strangely elongated faces. 莫迪里阿尼画中的妇女都长着奇长无比的脸。
• A piece of rubber can be elongated by streching. 一块橡皮可以拉长。 来自《用法词典》

23 braced   

adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来

参考例句：

• They braced up the old house with balks of timber. 他们用梁木加固旧房子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The house has a wooden frame which is braced with brick. 这幢房子是木结构的砖瓦房。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 muffled   

adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己）

参考例句：

• muffled voices from the next room 从隔壁房间里传来的沉闷声音
• There was a muffled explosion somewhere on their right. 在他们的右面什么地方有一声沉闷的爆炸声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

25 thump   

v.重击，砰然地响；n.重击，重击声

参考例句：

• The thief hit him a thump on the head.贼在他的头上重击一下。
• The excitement made her heart thump.她兴奋得心怦怦地跳。

26 delightful   

adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的

参考例句：

• We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
• Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。

27 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。

28 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。

29 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

30 warped   

adj.反常的；乖戾的；（变）弯曲的；变形的v.弄弯，变歪( warp的过去式和过去分词 )；使（行为等）不合情理，使乖戾，

参考例句：

• a warped sense of humour 畸形的幽默感
• The board has warped. 木板翘了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

31 panes   

窗玻璃( pane的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sun caught the panes and flashed back at him. 阳光照到窗玻璃上，又反射到他身上。
• The window-panes are dim with steam. 玻璃窗上蒙上了一层蒸汽。

32 sifted   

v.筛( sift的过去式和过去分词 )；筛滤；细查；详审

参考例句：

• She sifted through her papers to find the lost letter. 她仔细在文件中寻找那封丢失的信。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She sifted thistles through her thistle-sifter. 她用蓟筛筛蓟。 来自《简明英汉词典》

33 soot   

n.煤烟，烟尘；vt.熏以煤烟

参考例句：

• Soot is the product of the imperfect combustion of fuel.煤烟是燃料不完全燃烧的产物。
• The chimney was choked with soot.烟囱被煤灰堵塞了。

34 ominous   

adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的

参考例句：

• Those black clouds look ominous for our picnic.那些乌云对我们的野餐来说是个不祥之兆。
• There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.电话那头出现了不祥的沉默。

35 crates   

n. 板条箱, 篓子, 旧汽车 vt. 装进纸条箱

参考例句：

• We were using crates as seats. 我们用大木箱作为座位。
• Thousands of crates compacted in a warehouse. 数以千计的板条箱堆放在仓库里。

36 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

37 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。

38 tambourines   

n.铃鼓，手鼓( tambourine的名词复数 )；（鸣声似铃鼓的）白胸森鸠

参考例句：

• The gaiety of tambourines ceases, The noise of revelers stops, The gaiety of the harp ceases. 赛24:8击鼓之乐止息、宴乐人的声音完毕、弹琴之乐也止息了。 来自互联网
• The singers went on, the musicians after them, In the midst of the maidens beating tambourines. 诗68:25歌唱的行在前、乐的随在后、在击鼓的童女中间。 来自互联网

39 dummies   

n.仿制品( dummy的名词复数 )；橡皮奶头；笨蛋；假传球

参考例句：

• If he dummies up, just try a little persuasion. 如果他不说话，稍微劝劝他就是了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All the articles in the window are dummies. 橱窗里的全部物品都是仿制品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

40 ornaments   

n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The shelves were chock-a-block with ornaments. 架子上堆满了装饰品。
• Playing the piano sets up resonance in those glass ornaments. 一弹钢琴那些玻璃饰物就会产生共振。 来自《简明英汉词典》

41 manure   

n.粪，肥，肥粒；vt.施肥

参考例句：

• The farmers were distributing manure over the field.农民们正在田间施肥。
• The farmers used manure to keep up the fertility of their land.农夫们用粪保持其土质的肥沃。

42 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。

43 prodded   

v.刺，戳( prod的过去式和过去分词 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳

参考例句：

• She prodded him in the ribs to wake him up. 她用手指杵他的肋部把他叫醒。
• He prodded at the plate of fish with his fork. 他拿叉子戳弄着那盘鱼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

44 squeak   

n.吱吱声，逃脱；v.（发出）吱吱叫，侥幸通过；（俚）告密

参考例句：

• I don't want to hear another squeak out of you!我不想再听到你出声！
• We won the game,but it was a narrow squeak.我们打赢了这场球赛，不过是侥幸取胜。

45 scampered   

v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The cat scampered away. 猫刺棱一下跑了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The rabbIt'scampered off. 兔子迅速跑掉了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

46 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。

47 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。

48 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

49 rummaging   

翻找，搜寻( rummage的现在分词 )； 海关检查

参考例句：

• She was rummaging around in her bag for her keys. 她在自己的包里翻来翻去找钥匙。
• Who's been rummaging through my papers? 谁乱翻我的文件来着？

50 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

51 memento   

n.纪念品，令人回忆的东西

参考例句：

• The photos will be a permanent memento of your wedding.这些照片会成为你婚礼的永久纪念。
• My friend gave me his picture as a memento before going away.我的朋友在离别前给我一张照片留作纪念品。

52 mementos   

纪念品，令人回忆的东西( memento的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The museum houses a collection of mementos, materials and documents. 博物馆保存着很多回忆录以及文献资料。
• This meant, however, that no one was able to retrieve irreplaceable family mementos. 然而，这也意味着谁也没能把无可替代的家庭纪念品从火中救出来。

53 maudlin   

adj.感情脆弱的，爱哭的

参考例句：

• He always becomes maudlin after he's had a few drinks.他喝了几杯酒后总是变得多愁善感。
• She continued in the same rather maudlin tone.她继续用那种颇带几分伤感的语调说话。

54 medley   

n.混合

参考例句：

• Today's sports meeting doesn't seem to include medley relay swimming.现在的运动会好象还没有混合接力泳这个比赛项目。
• China won the Men's 200 metres Individual Medley.中国赢得了男子200米个人混合泳比赛。

55 trepidation   

n.惊恐，惶恐

参考例句：

• The men set off in fear and trepidation.这群人惊慌失措地出发了。
• The threat of an epidemic caused great alarm and trepidation.流行病猖獗因而人心惶惶。

56 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

57 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

58 snarls   

n.（动物的）龇牙低吼( snarl的名词复数 )；愤怒叫嚷（声）；咆哮（声）；疼痛叫声v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的第三人称单数 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说

参考例句：

• I don't know why my hair snarls easily. 我不知道我的头发为什么容易缠结。 来自辞典例句
• She combed the snarls out of her hair. 她把头发的乱结梳理通。 来自辞典例句

59 grunts   

（猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的第三人称单数 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说； 石鲈

参考例句：

• With grunts of anguish Ogilvie eased his bulk to a sitting position. 奥格尔维苦恼地哼着，伸个懒腰坐了起来。
• Linda fired twice A trio of Grunts assembling one mortar fell. 琳达击发两次。三个正在组装迫击炮的咕噜人倒下了。

60 carnations   

n.麝香石竹，康乃馨( carnation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You should also include some carnations to emphasize your underlying meaning.\" 另外要配上石竹花来加重这涵意的力量。” 来自汉英文学 - 围城
• Five men per ha. were required for rose production, 6 or 7 men for carnations. 种植玫瑰每公顷需5个男劳力，香石竹需6、7个男劳力。 来自辞典例句

61 tacked   

用平头钉钉( tack的过去式和过去分词 )； 附加，增补； 帆船抢风行驶，用粗线脚缝

参考例句：

• He tacked the sheets of paper on as carefully as possible. 他尽量小心地把纸张钉上去。
• The seamstress tacked the two pieces of cloth. 女裁缝把那两块布粗缝了起来。

62 inscription   

n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文

参考例句：

• The inscription has worn away and can no longer be read.铭文已磨损，无法辨认了。
• He chiselled an inscription on the marble.他在大理石上刻碑文。

63 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

64 lipstick   

n.口红，唇膏

参考例句：

• Taking out her lipstick,she began to paint her lips.她拿出口红，开始往嘴唇上抹。
• Lipstick and hair conditioner are cosmetics.口红和护发素都是化妆品。

65 swarming   

密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去

参考例句：

• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。
• The beach is swarming with bathers. 海滩满是海水浴的人。

66 pompous   

adj.傲慢的，自大的；夸大的；豪华的

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities.他有点自大，自视甚高。
• He is a good man underneath his pompous appearance. 他的外表虽傲慢，其实是个好人。

67 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

68 banal   

adj.陈腐的，平庸的

参考例句：

• Making banal remarks was one of his bad habits.他的坏习惯之一就是喜欢说些陈词滥调。
• The allegations ranged from the banal to the bizarre.从平淡无奇到离奇百怪的各种说法都有。

69 maroon   

v.困住，使（人）处于孤独无助之境；n.逃亡黑奴；孤立的人；酱紫色，褐红色；adj.酱紫色的，褐红色的

参考例句：

• Five couples were marooned in their caravans when the River Avon broke its banks.埃文河决堤的时候，有5对夫妇被困在了他们的房车里。
• Robinson Crusoe has been marooned on a desert island for 26 years.鲁滨逊在荒岛上被困了26年。

70 swirl   

v.(使)打漩，(使)涡卷；n.漩涡，螺旋形

参考例句：

• The car raced roughly along in a swirl of pink dust.汽车在一股粉红色尘土的漩涡中颠簸着快速前进。
• You could lie up there,watching the flakes swirl past.你可以躺在那儿，看着雪花飘飘。

71 swirling   

v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Snowflakes were swirling in the air. 天空飘洒着雪花。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• She smiled, swirling the wine in her glass. 她微笑着，旋动着杯子里的葡萄酒。 来自辞典例句

72 hazy   

adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的

参考例句：

• We couldn't see far because it was so hazy.雾气蒙蒙妨碍了我们的视线。
• I have a hazy memory of those early years.对那些早先的岁月我有着朦胧的记忆。

73 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

74 delinquent   

adj.犯法的，有过失的；n.违法者

参考例句：

• Most delinquent children have deprived backgrounds.多数少年犯都有未受教育的背景。
• He is delinquent in paying his rent.他拖欠房租。

75 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？

76 entrapment   

n.（非法）诱捕，诱人犯罪；诱使犯罪

参考例句：

• The most common structural targets associated with oil entrapment are anticlines and faults. 与储油圈闭有关的最一般的构造目标是背斜和断层。 来自辞典例句
• The purely mechanical effect of glandular trichome exudates is the entrapment and immobilization of small arthropods. 具腺毛状体分泌物的纯机械作用是诱捕和粘住小的昆虫。 来自辞典例句

77 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.

78 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。

79 binding   

有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的

参考例句：

• The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

80 flick   

n.快速的轻打，轻打声，弹开；v.轻弹，轻轻拂去，忽然摇动

参考例句：

• He gave a flick of the whip.他轻抽一下鞭子。
• By a flick of his whip,he drove the fly from the horse's head.他用鞭子轻抽了一下，将马头上的苍蝇驱走。

81 hoarse   

adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的

参考例句：

• He asked me a question in a hoarse voice.他用嘶哑的声音问了我一个问题。
• He was too excited and roared himself hoarse.他过于激动，嗓子都喊哑了。

82 outfit   

n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装

参考例句：

• Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
• His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。

83 thumped   

v.重击， （指心脏）急速跳动( thump的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Dave thumped the table in frustration . 戴夫懊恼得捶打桌子。
• He thumped the table angrily. 他愤怒地用拳捶击桌子。

84 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

85 wailed   

v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She wailed over her father's remains. 她对着父亲的遗体嚎啕大哭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The women of the town wailed over the war victims. 城里的妇女为战争的死难者们痛哭。 来自辞典例句

86 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。

87 compassionate   

adj.有同情心的，表示同情的

参考例句：

• She is a compassionate person.她是一个有同情心的人。
• The compassionate judge gave the young offender a light sentence.慈悲的法官从轻判处了那个年轻罪犯。

88 gnawing   

a.痛苦的，折磨人的

参考例句：

• The dog was gnawing a bone. 那狗在啃骨头。
• These doubts had been gnawing at him for some time. 这些疑虑已经折磨他一段时间了。

89 encumbered   

v.妨碍，阻碍，拖累( encumber的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The police operation was encumbered by crowds of reporters. 警方的行动被成群的记者所妨碍。
• The narrow quay was encumbered by hundreds of carts. 狭窄的码头被数百辆手推车堵得水泄不通。 来自辞典例句

90 unnatural   

adj.不自然的；反常的

参考例句：

• Did her behaviour seem unnatural in any way?她有任何反常表现吗？
• She has an unnatural smile on her face.她脸上挂着做作的微笑。

91 joints   

接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语）

参考例句：

• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on gas mains. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在煤气的总管道上了。
• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on steam pipes. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在蒸气管道上了。

92 beetle   

n.甲虫，近视眼的人

参考例句：

• A firefly is a type of beetle.萤火虫是一种甲虫。
• He saw a shiny green beetle on a leaf.我看见树叶上有一只闪闪发光的绿色甲虫。

93 vaguely   

adv.含糊地，暖昧地

参考例句：

• He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
• He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面，对一切都视而不见。

94 drizzle   

v.下毛毛雨；n.毛毛雨，蒙蒙细雨

参考例句：

• The shower tailed off into a drizzle.阵雨越来越小，最后变成了毛毛雨。
• Yesterday the radio forecast drizzle,and today it is indeed raining.昨天预报有小雨，今天果然下起来了。

95 lengthened   

（时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The afternoon shadows lengthened. 下午影子渐渐变长了。
• He wanted to have his coat lengthened a bit. 他要把上衣放长一些。

96 frantically   

ad.发狂地, 发疯地

参考例句：

• He dashed frantically across the road. 他疯狂地跑过马路。
• She bid frantically for the old chair. 她发狂地喊出高价要买那把古老的椅子。

97 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

98 sabotage   

n.怠工，破坏活动，破坏；v.从事破坏活动，妨害，破坏

参考例句：

• They tried to sabotage my birthday party.他们企图破坏我的生日晚会。
• The fire at the factory was caused by sabotage.那家工厂的火灾是有人蓄意破坏引起的。

99 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。

100 insistent   

adj.迫切的，坚持的

参考例句：

• There was an insistent knock on my door.我听到一阵急促的敲门声。
• He is most insistent on this point.他在这点上很坚持。

101 spat   

n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声

参考例句：

• Her parents always have spats.她的父母经常有些小的口角。
• There is only a spat between the brother and sister.那只是兄妹间的小吵小闹。

102 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。

103 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

104 blithely   

adv.欢乐地，快活地，无挂虑地

参考例句：

• They blithely carried on chatting, ignoring the customers who were waiting to be served. 他们继续开心地聊天，将等着购物的顾客们置于一边。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He blithely ignored her protests and went on talking as if all were agreed between them. 对她的抗议他毫不在意地拋诸脑后，只管继续往下说，仿彿他们之间什么都谈妥了似的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

105 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。

106 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

107 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

108 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

109 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。

110 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

111 cranberry   

n.梅果

参考例句：

• Turkey reminds me of cranberry sauce.火鸡让我想起梅果酱。
• Actually I prefer canned cranberry sauce.事实上我更喜欢罐装的梅果酱。

112 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

113 bucked   

adj.快v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的过去式和过去分词 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• When he tried to ride the horse, it bucked wildly. 当他试图骑上这匹马时，它突然狂暴地跃了起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The plane bucked a strong head wind. 飞机顶着强烈的逆风飞行。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

114 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

115 bristling   

a.竖立的

参考例句：

• "Don't you question Miz Wilkes' word,'said Archie, his beard bristling. "威尔克斯太太的话，你就不必怀疑了。 "阿尔奇说。他的胡子也翘了起来。
• You were bristling just now. 你刚才在发毛。

116 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

117 clench   

vt.捏紧（拳头等），咬紧（牙齿等），紧紧握住

参考例句：

• I clenched the arms of my chair.我死死抓住椅子扶手。
• Slowly,he released his breath through clenched teeth.他从紧咬的牙缝间慢慢地舒了口气。

118 jaw   

n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训

参考例句：

• He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
• A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。

119 rumbling   

n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词

参考例句：

• The earthquake began with a deep [low] rumbling sound. 地震开始时发出低沉的隆隆声。
• The crane made rumbling sound. 吊车发出隆隆的响声。

120 crater   

n.火山口，弹坑

参考例句：

• With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。
• They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。

121 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。

122 shredded   

shred的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Serve the fish on a bed of shredded lettuce. 先铺一层碎生菜叶，再把鱼放上，就可以上桌了。
• I think Mapo beancurd and shredded meat in chilli sauce are quite special. 我觉得麻婆豆腐和鱼香肉丝味道不错。 来自《简明英汉词典》

123 frayed   

adj.磨损的v.（使布、绳等）磨损，磨破( fray的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His shirt was frayed. 他的衬衫穿破了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The argument frayed their nerves. 争辩使他们不快。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

124 gapes   

v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的第三人称单数 )；张开，张大

参考例句：

• His shirt gapes open with a button missing. 他的衬衫因丢了一颗纽扣而敞开着。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then, sometimes, the door slowly opens and gapes ajar for a moment. 有时房门会慢慢打开，敞着不动。 来自互联网

125 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

126 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

127 planks   

（厚）木板( plank的名词复数 )； 政纲条目，政策要点

参考例句：

• The house was built solidly of rough wooden planks. 这房子是用粗木板牢固地建造的。
• We sawed the log into planks. 我们把木头锯成了木板。

128 flatten   

v.把．．．弄平，使倒伏；使(漆等)失去光泽

参考例句：

• We can flatten out a piece of metal by hammering it.我们可以用锤子把一块金属敲平。
• The wrinkled silk will flatten out if you iron it.发皱的丝绸可以用熨斗烫平。

129 veer   

vt.转向，顺时针转，改变；n.转向

参考例句：

• He is unlikely to veer from his boss's strongly held views.他不可能背离他老板的强硬立场。
• If you fall asleep while driving,you'll probably veer off the road.假如你开车时打瞌睡，可能会驶离道路。

130 lumbers   

砍伐（lumber的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Carefully she covers them and lumbers away. 它把这些卵仔细地盖好，然后慢吞吞地走开了。
• Research shows that the intrinsic frequency of hole defect lumbers is little lower than standard lumbers. 研究表明，含有孔洞试件的固有频率与标准试件相比略低一些，但差别不大。

131 bellowing   

v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的现在分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫

参考例句：

• We could hear he was bellowing commands to his troops. 我们听见他正向他的兵士大声发布命令。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He disguised these feelings under an enormous bellowing and hurraying. 他用大声吼叫和喝采掩饰着这些感情。 来自辞典例句

132 orchard   

n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场

参考例句：

• My orchard is bearing well this year.今年我的果园果实累累。
• Each bamboo house was surrounded by a thriving orchard.每座竹楼周围都是茂密的果园。

133 clattering   

发出咔哒声（clatter的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Typewriters keep clattering away. 打字机在不停地嗒嗒作响。
• The typewriter was clattering away. 打字机啪嗒啪嗒地响着。

134 noose   

n.绳套，绞索（刑）；v.用套索捉；使落入圈套；处以绞刑

参考例句：

• They tied a noose round her neck.他们在她脖子上系了一个活扣。
• A hangman's noose had already been placed around his neck.一个绞刑的绳圈已经套在他的脖子上。

135 nooses   

n.绞索，套索( noose的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Now I must prepare the nooses and the rope to lash him alongside, he thought. 现在我得准备好套索和绳子，把它绑在船边，他想。 来自英汉文学 - 老人与海
• The nooses are no prank. We were lynched, we were murdered. 这些绳套不是恶作剧。我们被处以了私刑，我们被谋杀了。 来自互联网

136 perplexed   

adj.不知所措的

参考例句：

• The farmer felt the cow,went away,returned,sorely perplexed,always afraid of being cheated.那农民摸摸那头牛，走了又回来，犹豫不决，总怕上当受骗。
• The child was perplexed by the intricate plot of the story.这孩子被那头绪纷繁的故事弄得迷惑不解。

137 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

138 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》

139 taut   

adj.拉紧的，绷紧的，紧张的

参考例句：

• The bowstring is stretched taut.弓弦绷得很紧。
• Scarlett's taut nerves almost cracked as a sudden noise sounded in the underbrush near them. 思嘉紧张的神经几乎一下绷裂了，因为她听见附近灌木丛中突然冒出的一个声音。

140 pulps   

水果的肉质部分( pulp的第三人称单数 )； 果肉； 纸浆； 低级书刊

参考例句：

• They seem satisfied with the pulps. 他们似乎满足于看低级书刊。
• The lymphocytes of white pulps of spleen broke apart and disappeared. 脾脏白髓内淋巴细胞崩解、消失，法氏囊滤泡内淋巴细胞明显减少。

141 crouching   

v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• a hulking figure crouching in the darkness 黑暗中蹲伏着的一个庞大身影
• A young man was crouching by the table, busily searching for something. 一个年轻人正蹲在桌边翻看什么。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

142 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

143 groaning   

adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• She's always groaning on about how much she has to do. 她总抱怨自己干很多活儿。
• The wounded man lay there groaning, with no one to help him. 受伤者躺在那里呻吟着，无人救助。

144 speck   

n.微粒，小污点，小斑点

参考例句：

• I have not a speck of interest in it.我对它没有任何兴趣。
• The sky is clear and bright without a speck of cloud.天空晴朗，一星星云彩也没有。

145 swelled   

增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The infection swelled his hand. 由于感染，他的手肿了起来。
• After the heavy rain the river swelled. 大雨过后，河水猛涨。

146 crimson   

n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色

参考例句：

• She went crimson with embarrassment.她羞得满脸通红。
• Maple leaves have turned crimson.枫叶已经红了。

147 bloodying   

v.血污的( bloody的现在分词 )；流血的；屠杀的；残忍的

参考例句：

• Hizbullah rouses region-wide cheers for bloodying Israel's nose. 真主党让以色列满鼻流血，整个地区为之鼓舞喝彩。 来自互联网

148 hunches   

预感，直觉( hunch的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A technical sergeant hunches in a cubicle. 一位技术军士在一间小屋里弯腰坐着。
• We often test our hunches on each other. 我们经常互相检验我们的第六感觉。

149 groggily   

adv.酒醉地；东倒西歪地

参考例句：

150 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。

151 numbed   

v.使麻木，使麻痹( numb的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His mind has been numbed. 他已麻木不仁。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was numbed with grief. 他因悲伤而昏迷了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

152 slanting   

倾斜的，歪斜的

参考例句：

• The rain is driving [slanting] in from the south. 南边潲雨。
• The line is slanting to the left. 这根线向左斜了。

153 thumping   

adj.重大的，巨大的；重击的；尺码大的；极好的adv.极端地；非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词)；狠打；怦怦地跳；全力支持

参考例句：

• Her heart was thumping with emotion. 她激动得心怦怦直跳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He was thumping the keys of the piano. 他用力弹钢琴。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

154 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

155 belaboring   

v.毒打一顿( belabor的现在分词 )；责骂；就…作过度的说明；向…唠叨

参考例句：

• Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us. 让双方探寻那些能将我们团结在一起的因素，而不是那些刻意挑出那些分裂我们的因素。 来自互联网

156 receded   

v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题

参考例句：

• The floodwaters have now receded. 洪水现已消退。
• The sound of the truck receded into the distance. 卡车的声音渐渐在远处消失了。

157 taunt   

n.辱骂，嘲弄；v.嘲弄

参考例句：

• He became a taunt to his neighbours.他成了邻居们嘲讽的对象。
• Why do the other children taunt him with having red hair?为什么别的小孩子讥笑他有红头发？

158 goaded   

v.刺激( goad的过去式和过去分词 )；激励；（用尖棒）驱赶；驱使（或怂恿、刺激）某人

参考例句：

• Goaded beyond endurance, she turned on him and hit out. 她被气得忍无可忍，于是转身向他猛击。
• The boxers were goaded on by the shrieking crowd. 拳击运动员听见观众的喊叫就来劲儿了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

159 reptilian   

adj.（像）爬行动物的；（像）爬虫的；卑躬屈节的；卑鄙的n.两栖动物；卑劣的人

参考例句：

• The chick is ugly and almost reptilian in its appearance. 这只小鸡长得很丑，看起来几乎像个爬行动物。 来自辞典例句
• Being from Orion do Zetas contain DNA from the Reptilian race? 齐塔人是从猎户座而来，DNA来自爬虫族吗？ 来自互联网

160 smirk   

n.得意地笑；v.傻笑；假笑着说

参考例句：

• He made no attempt to conceal his smirk.他毫不掩饰自鸣得意的笑容。
• She had a selfsatisfied smirk on her face.她脸上带着自鸣得意的微笑。

161 brittle   

adj.易碎的；脆弱的；冷淡的；(声音)尖利的

参考例句：

• The pond was covered in a brittle layer of ice.池塘覆盖了一层易碎的冰。
• She gave a brittle laugh.她冷淡地笑了笑。

162 saliva   

n.唾液，口水

参考例句：

• He wiped a dribble of saliva from his chin.他擦掉了下巴上的几滴口水。
• Saliva dribbled from the baby's mouth.唾液从婴儿的嘴里流了出来。

163 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

164 shrieked   

v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She shrieked in fright. 她吓得尖叫起来。
• Li Mei-t'ing gave a shout, and Lu Tzu-hsiao shrieked, "Tell what? 李梅亭大声叫，陆子潇尖声叫：“告诉什么？ 来自汉英文学 - 围城

165 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。

166 futile   

adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的

参考例句：

• They were killed,to the last man,in a futile attack.因为进攻失败，他们全部被杀，无一幸免。
• Their efforts to revive him were futile.他们对他抢救无效。

167 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

168 swirled   

v.旋转，打旋( swirl的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The waves swirled and eddied around the rocks. 波浪翻滚着在岩石周围打旋。
• The water swirled down the drain. 水打着旋流进了下水道。

169 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。

170 screeched   

v.发出尖叫声( screech的过去式和过去分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫

参考例句：

• She screeched her disapproval. 她尖叫着不同意。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The car screeched to a stop. 汽车嚓的一声停住了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

171 shuffled   

v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼

参考例句：

• He shuffled across the room to the window. 他拖着脚走到房间那头的窗户跟前。
• Simon shuffled awkwardly towards them. 西蒙笨拙地拖着脚朝他们走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

172 overdue   

adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的

参考例句：

• The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了，被坏天气耽搁了。
• The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了，因为房租过期未付。

173 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。

174 melodious   

adj.旋律美妙的，调子优美的，音乐性的

参考例句：

• She spoke in a quietly melodious voice.她说话轻声细语，嗓音甜美。
• Everybody was attracted by her melodious voice.大家都被她悦耳的声音吸引住了。

175 tempo   

n.(音乐的)速度；节奏，行进速度

参考例句：

• The boss is unsatisfied with the tardy tempo.老板不满于这种缓慢的进度。
• They waltz to the tempo of the music.他们跟着音乐的节奏跳华尔兹舞。

176 jointly   

ad.联合地，共同地

参考例句：

• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。
• She owns the house jointly with her husband. 她和丈夫共同拥有这所房子。

177 trampling   

踩( trample的现在分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯

参考例句：

• Diplomats denounced the leaders for trampling their citizens' civil rights. 外交官谴责这些领导人践踏其公民的公民权。
• They don't want people trampling the grass, pitching tents or building fires. 他们不希望人们踩踏草坪、支帐篷或生火。

178 shuffling   

adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• Don't go shuffling along as if you were dead. 别像个死人似地拖着脚走。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some one was shuffling by on the sidewalk. 外面的人行道上有人拖着脚走过。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

179 refereeing   

[计]仲裁，审稿工作，稿件评审

参考例句：

• I've spent too much time in my career refereeing staff/line disputes. 办事人员和第一线人员常常发生争执，我为解决这种争执花费了许多时间。 来自辞典例句
• Unfair refereeing in yesterday's match made the news again. 昨天的比赛中又爆出了“黑哨”丑闻！ 来自互联网

180 hesitation   

n.犹豫，踌躇

参考例句：

• After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天，他终于直说了。
• There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。

181 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

182 apprehensions   

疑惧

参考例句：

• He stood in a mixture of desire and apprehensions. 他怀着渴望和恐惧交加的心情伫立着。
• But subsequent cases have removed many of these apprehensions. 然而，随后的案例又消除了许多类似的忧虑。

183 clout   

n.用手猛击；权力，影响力

参考例句：

• The queen may have privilege but she has no real political clout.女王有特权，但无真正的政治影响力。
• He gave the little boy a clout on the head.他在那小男孩的头部打了一下。

184 cozy   

adj.亲如手足的，密切的，暖和舒服的

参考例句：

• I like blankets because they are cozy.我喜欢毛毯，因为他们是舒适的。
• We spent a cozy evening chatting by the fire.我们在炉火旁聊天度过了一个舒适的晚上。

185 placid   

adj.安静的，平和的

参考例句：

• He had been leading a placid life for the past eight years.八年来他一直过着平静的生活。
• You should be in a placid mood and have a heart-to- heart talk with her.你应该心平气和的好好和她谈谈心。

186 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

187 gravel   

n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石

参考例句：

• We bought six bags of gravel for the garden path.我们购买了六袋碎石用来铺花园的小路。
• More gravel is needed to fill the hollow in the drive.需要更多的砾石来填平车道上的坑洼。

188 trickling   

n.油画底色含油太多而成泡沫状突起v.滴( trickle的现在分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动

参考例句：

• Tears were trickling down her cheeks. 眼泪顺着她的面颊流了下来。
• The engine was trickling oil. 发动机在滴油。 来自《简明英汉词典》

189 everlastingly   

永久地，持久地

参考例句：

• Why didn't he hold the Yankees instead of everlastingly retreating? 他为什么不将北军挡住，反而节节败退呢？
• "I'm tired of everlastingly being unnatural and never doing anything I want to do. "我再也忍受不了这样无休止地的勉强自己，永远不能赁自己高兴做事。

190 pestering   

使烦恼，纠缠( pester的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He's always pestering me to help him with his homework. 他总是泡蘑菇要我帮他做作业。
• I'm telling you once and for all, if you don't stop pestering me you'll be sorry. 我这是最后一次警告你。如果你不停止纠缠我，你将来会后悔的。

191 prodding   

v.刺，戳( prod的现在分词 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳

参考例句：

• He needed no prodding. 他不用督促。
• The boy is prodding the animal with a needle. 那男孩正用一根针刺那动物。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

192 screeching   

v.发出尖叫声( screech的现在分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫

参考例句：

• Monkeys were screeching in the trees. 猴子在树上吱吱地叫着。
• the unedifying sight of the two party leaders screeching at each other 两党党魁狺狺对吠的讨厌情景

193 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

194 psyche   

n.精神；灵魂

参考例句：

• His exploration of the myth brings insight into the American psyche.他对这个神话的探讨揭示了美国人的心理。
• She spent her life plumbing the mysteries of the human psyche.她毕生探索人类心灵的奥秘。

195 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

196 dissented   

不同意，持异议( dissent的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• We dissented from the decision. 对那项决定我们表示了不同意见。
• He dissented and questioned the justice of the award. 他提出质问，说裁判不公允。

197 gutted   

adj.容易消化的v.毁坏（建筑物等）的内部( gut的过去式和过去分词 )；取出…的内脏

参考例句：

• Disappointed? I was gutted! 失望？我是伤心透了！
• The invaders gutted the historic building. 侵略者们将那幢历史上有名的建筑洗劫一空。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

198 whittling   

v.切，削（木头），使逐渐变小( whittle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Inflation has been whittling away their savings. 通货膨胀使他们的积蓄不断减少。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is whittling down the branch with a knife to make a handle for his hoe. 他在用刀削树枝做一把锄头柄。 来自《简明英汉词典》

199 stomped   

v.跺脚，践踏，重踏( stomp的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She stomped angrily out of the office. 她怒气冲冲，重步走出办公室。
• She slammed the door and stomped (off) out of the house. 她砰的一声关上了门，暮暮地走出了屋了。 来自辞典例句

200 shrilling   

（声音）尖锐的，刺耳的，高频率的( shrill的现在分词 )； 凄厉

参考例句：

• The music of the pearl was shrilling with triumph in Kino. 珍珠之歌在基诺心里奏出胜利的旋律。

201 arrogance   

n.傲慢，自大

参考例句：

• His arrogance comes out in every speech he makes.他每次讲话都表现得骄傲自大。
• Arrogance arrested his progress.骄傲阻碍了他的进步。