It was an almost unprecedented3 honor for a first year boy. The privilege of making such an expedition alone with one of the guides was reserved for the older boys, whose experience and training fitted them for the [101] “roughing” which such a trip usually involved. Walter fairly walked on air when he left Dr. Merriam to seek Big Jim and make the necessary arrangements. He found the guide tinkering with a jack-light.
“Dr. Merriam says——” began Walter.
“I know all about it, son,” interrupted the guide. “You an’ me’ll be pardners for a couple o’ days, and we’ll start before daylight to-morrow morning. Rustle4 round now and get your picter machine ready. I reckon Mr. Peaked Toes will be a mighty5 unsartin subjec’, a leetle mite6 bashful. If you don’t get him th’ first shot, ’tain’t likely he’ll wait fer a second, so it’s up to you t’ hev everythin’ in workin’ order. Run over an’ tell cookie thet I want two loaves o’ bread, a slab7 o’ bacon, some butter in a wide-mouth jar, flour, salt, cocoa an’ sugar fer a two days’ trip. We’re goin’ light, so you won’t need t’ bring nothin’ but yer fish rod, blankets, sneaks8 an’ an extra handkercher. Better turn in early, fer we want t’ start at four o’clock sharp. Hev cookie put up a lunch. Now skip!”
At quarter of four the next morning Walter slipped out of the wigwam. The moon had [102] not yet set, while in the east appeared the first faint flush of the coming day. The forest lay black and still. For a moment or two he shivered in the chill of the outer air after the warmth of the wigwam. There was a light in the guides’ cabin, and thither9 he made his way at once.
Just outside the door stood a pack basket, a tightly rolled blanket lashed10 across it, and the handle of a frying-pan protruding11 from the top. Big Jim’s favorite paddle leaned against it. As Walter approached, the door opened and the guide stepped out.
“Hello, pard!” said he. “I was jes’ comin’ over t’ pull yer out o’ yer blankets. Come in here an’ hev a cup o’ hot cocoa an’ stow thet snack away; it’s easier t’ carry inside than out.”
When Walter had gulped12 down the hot drink and eaten the lunch put up for him by the cook he felt ready for anything.
As they took their way down the trail to the lake the hoot13 of a great horned owl14 suddenly broke the silence and wakened startled echoes on Old Scraggy.
“Whooo-hoo-hoo-hoo! Whooo-hoo-hoo!”
[103] “Ole Fly-by-night must hev had poor huntin’ last evenin’,” said the guide. “Do you see him, son?”
Walter searched the trees near at hand, but could make out nothing that resembled a bird, and his chagrin15 was deepened by the guide’s next remark.
“Them books may tell yer where t’ look, but they don’t teach yer how t’ use th’ eyes God give yer. Now any five-year-old born in th’ woods would hev seen thet big swelled16 up bunch o’ feathers fust thing. Look at thet tall pine stump17 over thar t’ th’ right and——”
“Whooo-hoo-hoo-hoo! Whooo-hoo-hoo!” rang the fierce cry again, and almost on the instant the top of the stump resolved into a huge, broad-winged bird, that swiftly and noiselessly dropped behind a low hemlock18. A moment later it reappeared, a hare struggling in its talons19, and flew heavily over toward a swamp. Big Jim promptly20 seized upon the episode to drive home a lesson in woodcraft.
“Pard,” said he, “thar’s a better lesson in the A B C o’ wood life than I could give yer in a month o’ talkin’. If thet hare hadn’t let [104] its narves go on th’ jump, and had remembered what she ought t’ hev knowed afore she was born, thet to sit tight an’ not move a muscle when yer don’t want t’ be seen is th’ first law o’ th’ woods, she’d be sittin’ nice an’ snug21 this very minute, instead o’ stuffin’ ole Fly-by-night’s craw. Puss was narvous. The hoot startled her an’ she moved jest a leetle bit. Probably she rustled22 a leaf. Them big owls23 is all ears. Fact, son; the whole side o’ th’ head, pretty near, is an ear. He heared thet leaf rustle, an’ he was Johnny-on-the-spot in a jiffy. Yer saw what happened. Never make a sudden move in th’ woods. Sit tight if yer don’t want t’ be seen, or move so slowly thet nothin’s goin’ t’ notice it. Don’t never ferget it! Yer’ve jes’ seen what fergettin’ may cost. When yer go in th’ woods leave yer narves t’ hum.”
The pack basket and duffle were stowed in the middle of the canoe, Walter took the bow seat and the guide, kneeling in the stern, for he had never outgrown24 his early training when canoes of his acquaintance had no seats, shot the little craft out into the lake. As they turned into the low marshy25 estuary26 [105] which marked the outlet27 of the lake, the first rays of the rising sun glanced over Mt. Seward.
Once in the main channel of the river they felt the gentle force of the current, and under Jim’s powerful stroke they swept swiftly on. Walter had been doing his full share, for he was a good paddler, but now the guide suggested that he put up his paddle and hold his camera ready for whatever they might surprise along the river’s edge, or up some of the numerous setbacks.
The boy put his paddle aside and, slipping a film pack into the camera, set the focus for one hundred feet. Then with thumb and forefinger29 of his right hand on the focussing screw, ready to shorten the focus should they get within less than one hundred feet of a subject, he set himself to watch the shores.
“Remember now, no talkin’ an’ no sudden moves,” cautioned the guide.
Alas30 for Walter! The lesson had yet to be driven home. Not five minutes later the canoe shot around a bend, and without a sound glided31 into a setback28. Almost instantly a low warning hiss32 from Big Jim put [106] Walter on his guard. The canoe seemed merely to drift, but if the boy could have seen the guide he would have witnessed a magnificent exhibition of the canoeman’s art as, with paddle deep in the water and moving so slowly as to make hardly a perceptible ripple33, he still kept the craft under perfect control.
Walter, every nerve tense, scanned the shores in a vain effort to discover the cause of the guide’s warning. Inch by inch the canoe crept on and still the boy saw nothing but the placid34, pad-strewn surface of the water, and the forest-lined shore. Presently his eager ears caught a faint splash off to his right. Like a flash he turned, swinging his camera with him. The next instant he realized his mistake. With a sharp whistle of surprise and alarm a doe noisily splashed shoreward from a point not fifty yards distant, where she had been standing35 among the lily-pads. From the instant the canoe had first caught her attention and excited her curiosity she had remained so motionless that Walter had failed utterly36 to pick her out from the background with which her protective coloring blended so marvelously.
[107] But the moment the boy moved she whirled for the shore, sending the water flying in a shower of silver. As the boy, in open-mouthed astonishment37, watched her she lightly leaped a fallen log, and with a parting flirt38 of her white flag disappeared in the undergrowth.
Walter’s chagrin was too deep for words. Indeed, he was very near to tears as he realized what a rare opportunity he had missed, and how wholly his own fault it was. He did not dare look at Big Jim, and there was no comfort in the guide’s slow, sarcastic39 drawl:
“A clean miss, pard. Did them books teach yer thet lightnin’ whirl? ’Pears t’ me thet you an’ puss back thar, keepin’ company with ole Fly-by-night, belong in th’ same class. Now if yer mem’ry had been as good as yer fergittery we’d most likely hev drifted right up t’ thet thar deer. No use wastin’ more time in here. Some day when yer hev larned a leetle more woodcraft mebbe we’ll run down an’ try it agen.”
This surely was rubbing it in, and Big Jim meant it to be so. Right down in his big heart he was almost as disappointed for [108] the boy as was the boy himself, but he felt that this was the time to drive the lesson home. Every word stung the chagrined41 young photographer like a whip-lash, and he could not trust himself to make reply. He was mortified42 beyond expression, for he had prided himself that he knew the value of noiselessness and motionlessness, and that when the test should come he would win golden opinions from the guide for his display of woodcraft. Now, at the very first opportunity, he had failed miserably43, acting44 like the veriest tyro45, and he felt himself humbled46 to the last degree.
Had he turned he might have caught a kindly47 twinkle in the blue eyes watching the dejected droop48 of his figure, but he kept his face steadily49 to the front, gazing fixedly50 ahead, yet seeing nothing, while automatically he swung his paddle and gloomily lived over the bitterness of his mistake.
They were now once more in the current, and in a matter-of-fact way the guide suggested that Walter put his paddle up and be ready for whatever else might offer. As he adjusted the camera the boy resolved that [109] this time, come what might, he would show Big Jim that he had learned his lesson.
The opportunity came sooner than he had dared hope it would. The canoe swerved52 sharply toward the east bank, and presently Walter made out a little brown bunch on the end of a log. With a nod of the head he signaled the guide that he saw, and then attended strictly53 to his end of the matter in hand. By this time the canoe was close in to the bank, so deftly54 handled that it would approach within twenty feet of the log before emerging from the screen of a fallen tree which the guide had instantly noted55 and taken advantage of.
Jim was paddling only enough for steerage way, allowing the current to drift them down. They were now close to the fallen tree, and the guide began to silently work the little craft around the outer end. Walter had reduced the focus to twenty-five feet. As they drifted nearer and nearer to the subject he began to shake with nervous excitement, so that it was only by the exercise of all his will power that he could hold the camera steady. Inch by inch they crept past the tree and [110] Walter strained his eyes for a glimpse of the old log with its little bunch of fur. He was holding his breath from sheer excitement. Ha! There was the outer end of the log, and there, a foot or so back, sat a muskrat56, wholly oblivious57 to their presence.
Slowly, with the utmost caution, Walter turned in his seat, so slowly that it seemed ages to him. The guide had checked the canoe within less than twenty feet of the log and Walter altered his focus accordingly. Now in his reflecting finder he clearly saw the little fur bearer, a mussel in his paws. With a sigh of relief Walter heard the click of the shutter58 in response to the squeeze of the bulb, held in his left hand. Then as the rat made a frightened plunge59, he remembered that he had forgotten to withdraw the slide before making the exposure.
It is an error the novice60 frequently makes and that the expert is sometimes guilty of. It was, therefore, not surprising that under the stress of excitement Walter should suffer this lapse61 of memory, but coming as it did immediately after his other fiasco, it was almost more than he could bear.
[111] Big Jim was chuckling63 delightedly over the supposed success. “Reckon musky never set fer his picter afore! Did he look pleasant? Pard, yer sure did thet trick well. Had a bit o’ buck64 fever fust along, I reckon. Thought yer seemed kind o’ shaky. Don’t yer mind thet none. I’ve seen a feller with a clean open shot at a standin’ deer within fifty yards wobble his rifle round so thet th’ safest thing in thet neighborhood was thet thar deer. Now we’ll go on fer th’ next.”
Walter did not have the courage to tell the guide then of his second blunder, but resolved that when they got in camp that night he would own up like a man. For the next three miles nothing eventful occurred. Then the boy got his third chance. It was a great blue heron this time. It was standing on one foot, the other drawn65 up until it was hidden among the feathers of the under part of the body. The long neck was laid back on the shoulders, the sharp bill half buried in the feathers of the breast. The big bird appeared to be dozing66. The light fell just right, and as it was intensified67 by reflection from the water, Walter felt sure of a good photograph.
[112] Little by little the canoe drifted in. Forty feet, thirty, twenty, ten—click! This time there was no mistake. Working quickly but cautiously, with as little motion as possible, he pulled out and tore off the tab, set the shutter and, as the big bird spread its wings, a second click caught it at the very start of its flight. The shutter was set at the two hundredth part of a second, so that despite the nearness of the subject, Walter felt reasonably certain that little movement would show in the photograph.
“Get him?” asked Jim.
“Two of him,” replied Walter, a note of pardonable pride in his voice.
“Thet’s th’ stuff! Ye’re larnin’ fast,” said the guide, once more shooting the canoe into the current.
This success went far to offset68 the previous failures and the boy’s spirits rose. He began to enjoy his surroundings as he had not been able to since the episode with the deer. Mile after mile slipped behind them, the limpid69 brown water sliding between the unbroken wilderness70 on either bank. Try as he would he could not get over the impression of sliding [113] down-hill, such was the optical effect of the swiftly-moving water.
At last he heard a dull roar which increased in volume with every minute. Then they rounded a sharp turn, and before them the whole river became a churning, tumbling mass of white, with here and there an ugly black rock jutting71 above the surface. The canoe felt the increased movement of the water and the boy’s heart beat faster as the bow of the little craft still pointed40 straight down the middle of the river. Could it be that Big Jim would try to run those tumbling, roaring rapids!
“Sit tight and don’t move!” came the guide’s sharp, terse72 command.
The canoe all but grazed a great gray boulder73. Then dead ahead, not two inches under water, Walter saw another. Surely they must strike this, and then—he closed his eyes for just a second. When he opened them the canoe was just shooting through the churning froth on the edge of the rock, and that immediate62 danger was past. He realized then how completely the man behind him was master of the river and their [114] craft. With fascinated eyes he watched each new danger loom51 up and pass almost before he realized its ugly threat.
The roar of the rapids was now so loud that it drowned all other sounds. Presently he became aware that they were no longer in mid-stream. With a few powerful strokes the guide shot the canoe into a back eddy74 and a second later it grounded lightly on a tiny sand beach where Jim held it until Walter could leap out and pull it up securely.
“How’d yer like thet?” shouted the guide as he lifted his pack basket out.
“Great!” replied the boy, his eyes shining with excitement, as he helped take out the duffle.
Big Jim adjusted the basket to his back, lashed the paddles across the thwarts75 of the canoe so that when they rested on his shoulders, with the canoe inverted76 over his head, it balanced perfectly77, and leaving Walter to follow with the rest of the duffle plunged78 into what seemed at first glance an almost impenetrable thicket79 of maple80, birch and moosewood.
Walter found, however, that there was a well-defined trail, albeit81 a rough one. It [115] followed the course of the river, over moss-grown decaying tree trunks, across old skidways, now firm to the foot and again a bed of oozy82 black swamp muck in which he sank half-way to his knees. After a mile of this they came out on the bank of the river just at the foot of the falls which marked the end of the rapids. The canoe was launched at once and in a few minutes they were again speeding down-stream.
Three and a half miles below they made another portage. This put them in a lake at the upper end of which a shallow stream connected with a string of three small ponds. The last of these was known as Lonesome Pond, and this was their destination.
点击收听单词发音
1 attentively | |
adv.聚精会神地;周到地;谛;凝神 | |
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2 coveted | |
adj.令人垂涎的;垂涎的,梦寐以求的v.贪求,觊觎(covet的过去分词);垂涎;贪图 | |
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3 unprecedented | |
adj.无前例的,新奇的 | |
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4 rustle | |
v.沙沙作响;偷盗(牛、马等);n.沙沙声声 | |
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5 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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6 mite | |
n.极小的东西;小铜币 | |
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7 slab | |
n.平板,厚的切片;v.切成厚板,以平板盖上 | |
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8 sneaks | |
abbr.sneakers (tennis shoes) 胶底运动鞋(网球鞋)v.潜行( sneak的第三人称单数 );偷偷溜走;(儿童向成人)打小报告;告状 | |
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9 thither | |
adv.向那里;adj.在那边的,对岸的 | |
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10 lashed | |
adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 );煽动;紧系;怒斥 | |
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11 protruding | |
v.(使某物)伸出,(使某物)突出( protrude的现在分词 );凸 | |
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12 gulped | |
v.狼吞虎咽地吃,吞咽( gulp的过去式和过去分词 );大口地吸(气);哽住 | |
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13 hoot | |
n.鸟叫声,汽车的喇叭声; v.使汽车鸣喇叭 | |
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14 owl | |
n.猫头鹰,枭 | |
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15 chagrin | |
n.懊恼;气愤;委屈 | |
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16 swelled | |
增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 ); 肿胀; (使)凸出; 充满(激情) | |
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17 stump | |
n.残株,烟蒂,讲演台;v.砍断,蹒跚而走 | |
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18 hemlock | |
n.毒胡萝卜,铁杉 | |
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19 talons | |
n.(尤指猛禽的)爪( talon的名词复数 );(如爪般的)手指;爪状物;锁簧尖状突出部 | |
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20 promptly | |
adv.及时地,敏捷地 | |
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21 snug | |
adj.温暖舒适的,合身的,安全的;v.使整洁干净,舒适地依靠,紧贴;n.(英)酒吧里的私房 | |
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22 rustled | |
v.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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23 owls | |
n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 ) | |
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24 outgrown | |
长[发展] 得超过(某物)的范围( outgrow的过去分词 ); 长[发展]得不能再要(某物); 长得比…快; 生长速度超过 | |
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25 marshy | |
adj.沼泽的 | |
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26 estuary | |
n.河口,江口 | |
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27 outlet | |
n.出口/路;销路;批发商店;通风口;发泄 | |
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28 setback | |
n.退步,挫折,挫败 | |
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29 forefinger | |
n.食指 | |
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30 alas | |
int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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31 glided | |
v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 );掠过;(鸟或飞机 ) 滑翔 | |
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32 hiss | |
v.发出嘶嘶声;发嘘声表示不满 | |
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33 ripple | |
n.涟波,涟漪,波纹,粗钢梳;vt.使...起涟漪,使起波纹; vi.呈波浪状,起伏前进 | |
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34 placid | |
adj.安静的,平和的 | |
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35 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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36 utterly | |
adv.完全地,绝对地 | |
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37 astonishment | |
n.惊奇,惊异 | |
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38 flirt | |
v.调情,挑逗,调戏;n.调情者,卖俏者 | |
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39 sarcastic | |
adj.讥讽的,讽刺的,嘲弄的 | |
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40 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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41 chagrined | |
adj.懊恼的,苦恼的v.使懊恼,使懊丧,使悔恨( chagrin的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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42 mortified | |
v.使受辱( mortify的过去式和过去分词 );伤害(人的感情);克制;抑制(肉体、情感等) | |
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43 miserably | |
adv.痛苦地;悲惨地;糟糕地;极度地 | |
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44 acting | |
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的 | |
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45 tyro | |
n.初学者;生手 | |
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46 humbled | |
adj. 卑下的,谦逊的,粗陋的 vt. 使 ... 卑下,贬低 | |
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47 kindly | |
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地 | |
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48 droop | |
v.低垂,下垂;凋萎,萎靡 | |
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49 steadily | |
adv.稳定地;不变地;持续地 | |
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50 fixedly | |
adv.固定地;不屈地,坚定不移地 | |
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51 loom | |
n.织布机,织机;v.隐现,(危险、忧虑等)迫近 | |
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52 swerved | |
v.(使)改变方向,改变目的( swerve的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53 strictly | |
adv.严厉地,严格地;严密地 | |
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54 deftly | |
adv.灵巧地,熟练地,敏捷地 | |
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55 noted | |
adj.著名的,知名的 | |
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56 muskrat | |
n.麝香鼠 | |
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57 oblivious | |
adj.易忘的,遗忘的,忘却的,健忘的 | |
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58 shutter | |
n.百叶窗;(照相机)快门;关闭装置 | |
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59 plunge | |
v.跳入,(使)投入,(使)陷入;猛冲 | |
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60 novice | |
adj.新手的,生手的 | |
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61 lapse | |
n.过失,流逝,失效,抛弃信仰,间隔;vi.堕落,停止,失效,流逝;vt.使失效 | |
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62 immediate | |
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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63 chuckling | |
轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 ) | |
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64 buck | |
n.雄鹿,雄兔;v.马离地跳跃 | |
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65 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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66 dozing | |
v.打瞌睡,假寐 n.瞌睡 | |
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67 intensified | |
v.(使)增强, (使)加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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68 offset | |
n.分支,补偿;v.抵消,补偿 | |
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69 limpid | |
adj.清澈的,透明的 | |
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70 wilderness | |
n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等,荒漠 | |
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71 jutting | |
v.(使)突出( jut的现在分词 );伸出;(从…)突出;高出 | |
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72 terse | |
adj.(说话,文笔)精炼的,简明的 | |
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73 boulder | |
n.巨砾;卵石,圆石 | |
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74 eddy | |
n.漩涡,涡流 | |
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75 thwarts | |
阻挠( thwart的第三人称单数 ); 使受挫折; 挫败; 横过 | |
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76 inverted | |
adj.反向的,倒转的v.使倒置,使反转( invert的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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77 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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78 plunged | |
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降 | |
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79 thicket | |
n.灌木丛,树林 | |
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80 maple | |
n.槭树,枫树,槭木 | |
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81 albeit | |
conj.即使;纵使;虽然 | |
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82 oozy | |
adj.软泥的 | |
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