CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

“The real meaning of enlightenment is to gaze with undimmed eyes on all darkness.” Nikos Kazantzakis TThe Lazy S Ranch¹ is located on Gros Ventre Road, about fi ft een miles outside of Jackson and three quarters of the way to Slide Lake. Built on the edge of Bridger-Teton National Forest with over a mile of frontage on the Gros Ventre River, it was originally a hunting lodge² for a rich banking³ family that bought the land for peanuts in the late 1920’s. In 1925, a massive landslide⁴ upriver had blocked the valley and created Slide Lake. The slide held for around two years before breaking and fl ooding the valley. Those in the small town of Kelly that survived were eager to sell and crazy Easterners were a godsend. Over the years the ranch had been expanded, and now it had 20 bedrooms in the main house and 14 additional cabins. Combined with an assortment⁶ of outbuildings and stables, it had proven to be the perfect place to keep the Hermes Project going after the government cancelled the funding. It wouldn’t raise any alarms for a ranch this size to have people coming and going constantly at odd hours. It was also far enough out of town and enough off the beaten path that few people ever drove by without a purpose. The project had been able to hide in plain sight. Walker, through a series of lawyers and interlocking companies, had purchased the property without leaving any clues. For the past four months the only people in any of the rooms or cabins were project members. 226 Rod Pennington & Jeffery A. Martin When the two Jeeps pulled up, as Paula had predicted, they were given a rock star welcome. A group of 25-30 incredibly fit men and women, mostly men, were waiting for them as they drove into the horseshoe circle in front of the main house. When in the “Stroke Belt” of South Carolina—lots of fried food and little alcohol to clear the arteries— Penelope Spence looked lean and fit. Here she felt like an out of shape, overweight lump. “I’m so fat compared to these people I could qualify for handicap parking,” she muttered to Walker under her breath. Walker patted her hand. “You have no time for negative thoughts today. Stay positive and stay focused.” He pushed his door open and stepped out. Lucas Haley opened Penelope’s door for her and escorted her around the SUV where she joined Walker on the curb⁷. A wave of applause echoed off the mountains. Walker motioned for silence, which he instantly received. “As I’m sure you all have already guessed, this is Penelope Drayton Spence.” Another, louder round of applause interrupted him. He motioned for quiet again. “A couple of announcements for those who have not heard, the Hermes Project has been declassified⁸ and none of you are wanted by the feds anymore.” Silence. “Apparently⁹ all of you have already heard. Moving on.” Walker glanced over his shoulder at Sally Winters who was on her cell phone. She leaned in and whispered in his ear. A broad smile crept over his face. “Here is some news you haven’t heard. In addition to commandeering all of Walker Industries’ aircraft, we have chartered a 737, and it will be arriving here tomorrow. It will be filled with friends and family. Who, I’m sure…” A roar went up, drowning out the rest of his comment. Walker motioned for silence. “But there are some things that can’t wait.” Puzzled expressions covered the faces of all the members of the Hermes Project. “I know this has been a difficult time for many of you, but for some it had to be nearly unbearable¹⁰.” Walker’s eyes fell on a lean young man with fierce red hair who was 28, but often still got carded in bars. Following Walker’s gaze, the rest of the people turned and looked. “Frank, I wanted to let you know that one of our corporate¹¹ jets has just gone wheels up. Your long-suffering bride and Trent Allen McCarthy should be here within four hours.” Frank McCarthy was buried under a sea of hugs and back slaps. Penelope leaned over and had to shout in Sally’s ear to be heard over the din⁵. “I don’t understand.” 227 The Fourth Awakening¹² “Trent Allen McCarthy is only four months old.” Winters could see from Penelope’s eyes that it still wasn’t tracking. “Frank has been here for the past six months.” It finally hit Penelope like a thunderbolt. “He missed the birth of his son?” “Let’s just say his wife was less than pleased.” Walker motioned for quiet. “We are expecting a large group of people from The Washington Post here in a few hours.” Walker pointed¹³ to a young man in the front row. “Kevin, are the phone connections and Internet access in place?” “Available and will be in place within the hour.” “Stevie.” A Nordic blond with a deep tan stepped forward. “Yo!” “Is the web page ready to launch?” “Absolutely.” “Bandwidth issues resolved?’ “We’re still working on it. Right now we have locked in 80 percent of the projected capacity with server redundancy. We might run slow at times, but we probably won’t crash.” “I want that probability turned into a certainty by 9 p.m. local time.” “That shouldn’t be a problem. If push comes to shove we’ll steal capacity from Walker Industries.” “Guys, you know what is at stake. If we miss this opportunity today it could take us years to get back to this moment. Any questions?” Silence. “One additional point. For the next 12 hours you leave this woman alone.” Walker pointed to Spence. “Don’t tell her your name or distract her in anyway. Right now she is the most important person in our world. Let her do her job.” He looked around at every face in the group. All were confident and smiling. “Let’s get to it.” “Thanks for not putting any pressure on me,” Spence whispered to Walker as he walked past. “No problem.” The inside of the main house was similar in design and style to the Wort Hotel. Apparently, every building in Wyoming was constructed with knotty¹⁴ yellow logs, and every rug and wall hanging was required to have a Thunderbird or other “Old West” design. Walker led the way into 228 Rod Pennington & Jeffery A. Martin the main dining room. It had large heavy tables with knotty yellow logs for legs. A crew of six men and one woman were busy running phone lines and computer cables across the floor and placing them on a long table designed to seat twelve, six on each side. Another crew of three men was running electric extension cords with surge suppressors on the end to each of what appeared to be ten workstations. The crews were quick and highly efficient, with no wasted movement. Sitting at a smaller table was an elderly man with a gray goatee and thinning hair. As Penelope got closer she saw that, while his body looked frail¹⁵, his eyes were keen and bubbled with mischief¹⁶. “Dr. Carl Altman, Ms. Penelope Drayton Spence.” “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.” Altman extended his hand. His grip was surprisingly fi rm. Sally Winters appeared with a plate of three eggs over easy, toast, and cheese grits¹⁷ that she placed next to Penelope’s elbow along with a mug of strong coffee with cream. The eggs were prepared exactly the same way as the ones she had enjoyed a few days earlier at the Cracker¹⁸ Barrel restaurant. “I’m really not…” “When she tells you to eat, you eat,” Walker said sternly. Chastened and repentant¹⁹, she unwrapped a cloth napkin. Penelope removed the silverware that was inside and placed the napkin in her lap. “I’m sure Michael has told you all about the Hermes Project.” “Actually, not very much at all. We mostly discussed previous Awakenings and Timothy Leary.” “I see,” Altman said, a bit taken aback. “I’m sure Michael has his reasons, but they would seem to elude²⁰ me at the moment.” Michael Walker smiled and said, “Ah!” Running toward them was a young man in his early twenties. “Here’s the reason now.” Altman turned stiffly in his chair and announced the arrival, “My grandson Jerold.” Altman leaned in and said to Penelope, “he could be a brilliant scientist, but he believes he has the soul of a journalist.” Th e old man was obviously proud of his grandson and having him close seemed to give him added vitality²¹. “He’s quite enamored with you.” As he got closer Jerold looked remarkably²² like a movie star. Unfortunately his double was the guy who played Napoleon Dynamite²³. All he needed was a “Vote for Pedro” t-shirt. Stacked in his arms were a laptop computer and a small box. 229 The Fourth Awakening “Sorry. I was just trying to get everything perfect.” “Jerold, this is Penelope Spence.” Jerold Altman ran his hand across the side of his pants before extending it to Penelope. It was still clammy. “This is such an honor. Th ose articles you wrote…” “Let’s stay on message, Jerold,” Walker said. “Oh, right. Right.” Opening the box, he placed a stack of documents next to Spence’s breakfast. “What I’ve done is compile some basic background research on the Hermes Project, and the written bios of the major players involved.” Pulling the top document off of the stack he said, “Here is a chronology with a complete timeline of major accomplishments²⁴. Next, an executive summary of the project itself, followed by a more detailed²⁵ analysis.” Spence began reading the chronology and then the summary. “Th ese are excellent, Jerold.” The young man flushed noticeably. Turning to Altman and Walker, she asked “And you have both signed off on these as being 100% accurate?” Both men nodded that they had. “Perfect.” Spence began reading the detailed report. “This is going to save me a ton of time. This is really outstanding stuff .” Jerold Altman went from flushed to bright crimson²⁶. “How long do you think it will take you to absorb all of this?” Walker asked. Penelope wasn’t expecting a question and had already crammed²⁷ half a piece of toast in her mouth in an attempt to finish her breakfast as quickly as possible. She put her hand over her mouth to catch any crumbs²⁸ that might attempt to escape and said, “A our.” Swallowing the bread and washing it down with a gulp²⁹ of water she tried again. “An hour; sooner if Jerold can stay here and answer any questions I might have.” “Excellent,” Walker rose to his feet then helped Altman to his. Th e doctor walked with the aid of a cane³⁰. “We’ll meet back here in one hour, and then take the grand tour.” As the two men slowly walked away Penelope heard them bickering³¹ like two old married people. “I can’t believe you spent all that time with her and didn’t discuss the Project.” “I figured Jerold would be able to speak her language, since they are both journalists.” “Yes. Yes, but…” Their voices faded in the distance. 230 Rod Pennington & Jeffery A. Martin “Are they always like that?” Penelope asked as she shoved the last of the eggs in her mouth. “Pretty much,” Jerold said. He appeared to become more and more relaxed the further his grandfather got from the table. Penelope pushed her plate aside and the dishes instantly disappeared. Sally Winters acknowledged her approval and handed Spence a lip balm, which she applied³² liberally to her lips without protest. “How soon before I can have a place to plug in my laptop and get to the Internet?” One of the men said, “Right now.” Ellison appeared out of nowhere with her laptop and placed it in front of her. Another man appeared over her other shoulder. “We have a wireless³³ router online.” He motioned toward her computer. “May I?” She slid her chair back and allowed him access to her laptop. He entered the encryption code for the router. “This will get you on the internet and give you access to your email. Everyone in the room will be behind the same firewall, so they technically³⁴ could….” Sally Winters pushed the laptop back in front of Penelope. “I want a secure hardwire connection to this laptop, ASAP.” “Five minutes?” Sally nodded that that was acceptable. “I’ll need a phone, printer — laser if possible — and a fax machine.” “They’re already on their way, Ms. Spence,” came a male voice from under the table, where one of the crew was already working on her hard line connection. Penelope reflexively crossed her ankles and pressed her knees tightly together. Penelope dialed Mark Hatchet³⁵’s cell phone but it immediately clicked to his voice mail. “Damn.” She shouted across the room to the work crew. “Do we have any way to get in contact with the people on Th e Washington Post’s jet?” A man in his late twenties came over with a clipboard in his hand. “I have all of the contact numbers for both of the jets. We can also send them a fax or an email.” “Good.” Spence pointed at the young man. “Don’t go anywhere. Oh, what’s your name?” The young man glanced at Sally Winters; he had a look of panic on his face. He remembered what Walker said earlier. “This is Danny,” Winters 231 The Fourth Awakening answered. “He’s a member of my staff. You’ll be seeing a lot of him.” She recognized him from earlier in the day in her hotel room at the Wort. He had seen a lot of her already. “Okay.” Turning her attention back to Jerold, she motioned to the stack of background material on the table and asked, “Do you have this information on your laptop?” “Yes.” “In a Word format³⁶?” “Yes.” “Danny, get these fi les emailed to both jets as soon as possible. Jerold will show you which ones I want sent.” Penelope handed Jerold’s laptop to the techie. “Then get a copy of the files onto my machine.” Donnie pulled a flash drive out of his pocket, plugged it into the USB port on Jerold’s laptop, and began the fi le transfer. “I need to speak to Mark Hatchet on the Gulfstream. Can I do that?” Danny handed her a cell phone and said. “Just hit one and it will speed dial directly to his plane.” “Cool.” Penelope pushed “one” then “enter” and the phone immediately dialed. A man’s voice answered that she didn’t recognize. “I need to speak to Mark Hatchet.” “Sorry, he’s not on this plane.” Looking around, she saw that Danny had taken Jerold’s laptop and moved to the other work area to send the emails. “Danny. He’s not on plane one.” “Try the second speed dial,” he said. “Thank you.” She disconnected, then hit two on the cell phone. “Mark Hatchet.” “It’s me. I’m going to be emailing some files to you. It has all of the background material on the Hermes Project, and bios of all of the major players. This should give your background and science guys something to work with while they’re in transit³⁷.” Penelope was excited. She had her big story. She had a deadline. She had support people falling all over themselves to help her. Walker was right, she was rapidly reaching the point where it wasn’t even annoying to be handled. Life does not get any better than this. “Just an FYI, Walker set up the whole thing in Miami to force Homeland Security to declassify³⁸ the Project.” “Get out of town!” 232 Rod Pennington & Jeffery A. Martin “No. Seriously.” “That certainly explains why Director Shepherd has been so cooperative.” In the doorway³⁹ leading to the dining room, Dr. Carl Altman and Michael Walker stood together watching Penelope Spence work. Walker smiled when he heard her laughter echo around the room. Dr. Altman patted Walker on the shoulder, “Interesting choice, Michael.” “She’s perfect Carl.” “I want to get her an fMRI as quickly as possible.” “I know.” “Have you seen any of the warning signs?” “Yes. During the interview in the prison she elevated her awareness⁴⁰ substantially in less than five seconds of meditation⁴¹.” “That’s rare, but not worrisome.” Walker shook his head and frowned. “And?” “Well,” Walker continued. “Her house burned down Saturday night.” Anger flashed in Dr. Altman’s eyes. “She was left alone aft er meeting with you?” “I didn’t have a choice. She needed an alibi⁴², and being seen with me would have pretty much shot that down, don’t you think?” “I’m not going through this again Michael,” Altman said curtly⁴³. “I told her to have someone stay with her, but she forgot.” Altman froze. “You mean you wanted her to do something and she was strong enough to do something diff erent?” “Yes.” “You have to tell her what kind of danger she is in.” “She has been under constant surveillance since yesterday.” “Have you told her why they shut down the project?” “Only in general terms.” Dr. Altman was starting to become agitated⁴⁴. “Good Lord, Michael. What did you two talk about for the past two days?” “Carl, she has had a lot to absorb. If anyone can appreciate the risk of going too quickly it should be you.” “If anything were to happen to her because of us…” Altman’s words drift ed off . “I know. But what we’re doing is larger than the life of one person.” Carl Altman was horrified⁴⁵. “You sound like those government fools when you talk like that.” 233 The Fourth Awakening “I don’t like this anymore than you do, but we have to be realistic.” “Have you told her about the big show we’re going to be putting on for the media?” “Not yet.” “She doesn’t know about Hermes or what went wrong with it. She doesn’t know about the demonstration⁴⁶. What exactly does she know, Michael?” “She’s been through quite a lot in the past few days and I didn’t want to overwhelm her.” “Good Lord.” A light flicked⁴⁷ on in Dr. Altman’s eyes. “She still doesn’t completely believe what you’ve been telling her and showing her.” “She has doubts.” “Doubts! This is just great.” “I know. We’ve discussed the risks before, Carl, and decided⁴⁸ that an outsider was our best choice.” “This could degenerate⁴⁹ into a nightmare, Michael.” “I’m not going to let her get hurt.” “Her personal safety is only one part of the equation. From what you’ve told me and what I’ve seen already for myself, she has the ability to neutralize⁵⁰ the event if she is not in the proper state of mind.” “I know.” Walker reached into his pocket and brought out a small leather case containing a hypodermic. “We will do whatever is necessary to make the event go off smoothly⁵¹.” “What have we wrought⁵², Michael? Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

1 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

2 lodge   

v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆

参考例句：

• Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗？
• I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。

3 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

4 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

5 din   

n.喧闹声，嘈杂声

参考例句：

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

6 assortment   

n.分类，各色俱备之物，聚集

参考例句：

• This shop has a good assortment of goods to choose from.该店各色货物俱全，任君选择。
• She was wearing an odd assortment of clothes.她穿着奇装异服。

7 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

8 declassified   

adj.解密的v.对（机密文件等）销密( declassify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Thousands of classified documents have now been declassified. 数以千计的保密文件现在被解密了。
• The software used for Siemens S7-300 encryption logic block declassified. 此软件用于对西门子S7-300加密逻辑块解密。

9 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

10 unbearable   

adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的

参考例句：

• It is unbearable to be always on thorns.老是处于焦虑不安的情况中是受不了的。
• The more he thought of it the more unbearable it became.他越想越觉得无法忍受。

11 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

12 awakening   

n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的

参考例句：

• the awakening of interest in the environment 对环境产生的兴趣
• People are gradually awakening to their rights. 人们正逐渐意识到自己的权利。

13 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

14 knotty   

adj.有结的，多节的，多瘤的，棘手的

参考例句：

• Under his leadership,many knotty problems were smoothly solved.在他的领导下，许多伤脑筋的问题都迎刃而解。
• She met with a lot of knotty problems.她碰上了许多棘手的问题。

15 frail   

adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的

参考例句：

• Mrs. Warner is already 96 and too frail to live by herself.华纳太太已经九十六岁了，身体虚弱，不便独居。
• She lay in bed looking particularly frail.她躺在床上，看上去特别虚弱。

16 mischief   

n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹

参考例句：

• Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
• He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。

17 grits   

n.粗磨粉；粗面粉；粗燕麦粉；粗玉米粉；细石子，砂粒等( grit的名词复数 )；勇气和毅力v.以沙砾覆盖（某物），撒沙砾于( grit的第三人称单数 )；咬紧牙关

参考例句：

• The sands [grits] in the cooked rice made my tooth ache. 米饭里的砂粒硌痛了牙。 来自辞典例句
• This process also produces homing and corn grits. 此法也产生玉米麸(homing)和玉米粗粉。 来自辞典例句

18 cracker   

n.（无甜味的）薄脆饼干

参考例句：

• Buy me some peanuts and cracker.给我买一些花生和饼干。
• There was a cracker beside every place at the table.桌上每个位置旁都有彩包爆竹。

19 repentant   

adj.对…感到悔恨的

参考例句：

• He was repentant when he saw what he'd done.他看到自己的作为，心里悔恨。
• I'll be meek under their coldness and repentant of my evil ways.我愿意乖乖地忍受她们的奚落，忏悔我过去的恶行。

20 elude   

v.躲避，困惑

参考例句：

• If you chase it,it will elude you.如果你追逐着它， 它会躲避你。
• I had dared and baffled his fury.I must elude his sorrow.我曾经面对过他的愤怒，并且把它挫败了；现在我必须躲避他的悲哀。

21 vitality   

n.活力，生命力，效力

参考例句：

• He came back from his holiday bursting with vitality and good health.他度假归来之后，身强体壮，充满活力。
• He is an ambitious young man full of enthusiasm and vitality.他是个充满热情与活力的有远大抱负的青年。

22 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

23 dynamite   

n./vt.(用)炸药(爆破)

参考例句：

• The workmen detonated the dynamite.工人们把炸药引爆了。
• The philosopher was still political dynamite.那位哲学家仍旧是政治上的爆炸性人物。

24 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

25 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

26 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。

27 crammed   

adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式)

参考例句：

• He crammed eight people into his car. 他往他的车里硬塞进八个人。
• All the shelves were crammed with books. 所有的架子上都堆满了书。

28 crumbs   

int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式

参考例句：

• She stood up and brushed the crumbs from her sweater. 她站起身掸掉了毛衣上的面包屑。
• Oh crumbs! Is that the time? 啊，天哪！都这会儿啦？

29 gulp   

vt.吞咽，大口地吸（气）；vi.哽住；n.吞咽

参考例句：

• She took down the tablets in one gulp.她把那些药片一口吞了下去。
• Don't gulp your food,chew it before you swallow it.吃东西不要狼吞虎咽，要嚼碎了再咽下去。

30 cane   

n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的

参考例句：

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

31 bickering   

v.争吵( bicker的现在分词 )；口角；（水等）作潺潺声；闪烁

参考例句：

• The children are always bickering about something or other. 孩子们有事没事总是在争吵。
• The two children were always bickering with each other over small matters. 这两个孩子总是为些小事斗嘴。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

32 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

33 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。

34 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

35 hatchet   

n.短柄小斧；v.扼杀

参考例句：

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

36 format   

n.设计，版式；[计算机]格式，DOS命令:格式化(磁盘)，用于空盘或使用过的磁盘建立新空盘来存储数据；v.使格式化，设计，安排

参考例句：

• Please format this floppy disc.请将这张软盘格式化。
• The format of the figure is very tasteful.该图表的格式很雅致。

37 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

38 declassify   

v.撤销保密

参考例句：

• These reports were only declassified last year.这些报告去年才被撤销了密级。
• Does the president have the power to declassify information?总统有权利解密相关信息吗？

39 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

40 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

41 meditation   

n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录

参考例句：

• This peaceful garden lends itself to meditation.这个恬静的花园适于冥想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation.很抱歉，我打断了你的沉思。

42 alibi   

n.某人当时不在犯罪现场的申辩或证明；借口

参考例句：

• Do you have any proof to substantiate your alibi? 你有证据表明你当时不在犯罪现场吗？
• The police are suspicious of his alibi because he already has a record.警方对他不在场的辩解表示怀疑，因为他已有前科。

43 curtly   

adv.简短地

参考例句：

• He nodded curtly and walked away. 他匆忙点了一下头就走了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The request was curtly refused. 这个请求被毫不客气地拒绝了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

44 agitated   

adj.被鼓动的，不安的

参考例句：

• His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定，回答全乱了。
• She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时，她十分焦虑。

45 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

46 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

47 flicked   

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

参考例句：

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

48 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。

49 degenerate   

v.退步，堕落；adj.退步的，堕落的；n.堕落者

参考例句：

• He didn't let riches and luxury make him degenerate.他不因财富和奢华而自甘堕落。
• Will too much freedom make them degenerate?太多的自由会令他们堕落吗？

50 neutralize   

v.使失效、抵消，使中和

参考例句：

• Nothing could neutralize its good effects.没有什么能抵消它所产生的好影响。
• Acids neutralize alkalis and vice versa.酸能使碱中和碱，亦能使酸中和。

51 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

52 wrought   

v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的

参考例句：

• Events in Paris wrought a change in British opinion towards France and Germany.巴黎发生的事件改变了英国对法国和德国的看法。
• It's a walking stick with a gold head wrought in the form of a flower.那是一个金质花形包头的拐杖。