In this his ever-changing course, from Reece at Cowbridge to Trollope in Christ's, which was passed so nomadically1, under ferulas of various color, the boy had, on the whole, snatched successfully a fair share of what was going. Competent skill in construing2 Latin, I think also an elementary knowledge of Greek; add ciphering to a small extent, Euclid perhaps in a rather imaginary condition; a swift but not very legible or handsome penmanship, and the copious3 prompt habit of employing it in all manner of unconscious English prose composition, or even occasionally in verse itself: this, or something like this, he had gained from his grammar-schools: this is the most of what they offer to the poor young soul in general, in these indigent4 times. The express schoolmaster is not equal to much at present,—while the unexpress, for good or for evil, is so busy with a poor little fellow! Other departments of schooling5 had been infinitely6 more productive, for our young friend, than the gerund-grinding one. A voracious7 reader I believe he all along was,—had "read the whole Edinburgh Review" in these boyish years, and out of the circulating libraries one knows not what cartloads; wading8 like Ulysses towards his palace "through infinite dung." A voracious observer and participator in all things he likewise all along was; and had had his sights, and reflections, and sorrows and adventures, from Kaimes Castle onward,—and had gone at least to Dover on his own score. Puer bonae spei, as the school-albums say; a boy of whom much may be hoped? Surely, in many senses, yes. A frank veracity9 is in him, truth and courage, as the basis of all; and of wild gifts and graces there is abundance. I figure him a brilliant, swift, voluble, affectionate and pleasant creature; out of whom, if it were not that symptoms of delicate health already show themselves, great things might be made. Promotions10 at least, especially in this country and epoch11 of parliaments and eloquent12 palavers13, are surely very possible for such a one!
Being now turned of sixteen, and the family economics getting yearly more propitious14 and flourishing, he, as his brother had already been, was sent to Glasgow University, in which city their Mother had connections. His brother and he were now all that remained of the young family; much attached to one another in their College years as afterwards. Glasgow, however, was not properly their College scene: here, except that they had some tuition from Mr. Jacobson, then a senior fellow-student, now (1851) the learned editor of St. Basil, and Regius Professor of Divinity in Oxford15, who continued ever afterwards a valued intimate of John's, I find nothing special recorded of them. The Glasgow curriculum, for John especially, lasted but one year; who, after some farther tutorage from Mr. Jacobson or Dr. Trollope, was appointed for a more ambitious sphere of education.
In the beginning of his nineteenth year, "in the autumn of 1824," he went to Trinity College, Cambridge. His brother Anthony, who had already been there a year, had just quitted this Establishment, and entered on a military life under good omens16; I think, at Dublin under the Lord Lieutenant's patronage17, to whose service he was, in some capacity, attached. The two brothers, ever in company hitherto, parted roads at this point; and, except on holiday visits and by frequent correspondence, did not again live together; but they continued in a true fraternal attachment18 while life lasted, and I believe never had any even temporary estrangement19, or on either side a cause for such. The family, as I said, was now, for the last three years, reduced to these two; the rest of the young ones, with their laughter and their sorrows, all gone. The parents otherwise were prosperous in outward circumstances; the Father's position more and more developing itself into affluent20 security, an agreeable circle of acquaintance, and a certain real influence, though of a peculiar21 sort, according to his gifts for work in this world.
Sterling22's Tutor at Trinity College was Julius Hare, now the distinguished23 Archdeacon of Lewes:—who soon conceived a great esteem24 for him, and continued ever afterwards, in looser or closer connection, his loved and loving friend. As the Biographical and Editorial work above alluded25 to abundantly evinces. Mr. Hare celebrates the wonderful and beautiful gifts, the sparkling ingenuity26, ready logic27, eloquent utterance28, and noble generosities29 and pieties30 of his pupil;—records in particular how once, on a sudden alarm of fire in some neighboring College edifice31 while his lecture was proceeding32, all hands rushed out to help; how the undergraduates instantly formed themselves in lines from the fire to the river, and in swift continuance kept passing buckets as was needful, till the enemy was visibly fast yielding,—when Mr. Hare, going along the line, was astonished to find Sterling, at the river-end of it, standing33 up to his waist in water, deftly34 dealing35 with the buckets as they came and went. You in the river, Sterling; you with your coughs, and dangerous tendencies of health!—"Somebody must be in it," answered Sterling; "why not I, as well as another?" Sterling's friends may remember many traits of that kind. The swiftest in all things, he was apt to be found at the head of the column, whithersoever the march might be; if towards any brunt of danger, there was he surest to be at the head; and of himself and his peculiar risks or impediments he was negligent36 at all times, even to an excessive and plainly unreasonable37 degree.
Mr. Hare justly refuses him the character of an exact scholar, or technical proficient38 at any time in either of the ancient literatures. But he freely read in Greek and Latin, as in various modern languages; and in all fields, in the classical as well, his lively faculty39 of recognition and assimilation had given him large booty in proportion to his labor40. One cannot under any circumstances conceive of Sterling as a steady dictionary philologue, historian, or archaeologist; nor did he here, nor could he well, attempt that course. At the same time, Greek and the Greeks being here before him, he could not fail to gather somewhat from it, to take some hue41 and shape from it. Accordingly there is, to a singular extent, especially in his early writings, a certain tinge42 of Grecism and Heathen classicality traceable in him;—Classicality, indeed, which does not satisfy one's sense as real or truly living, but which glitters with a certain genial43, if perhaps almost meretricious44 half-japannish splendor,—greatly distinguishable from mere45 gerund-grinding, and death in longs and shorts. If Classicality mean the practical conception, or attempt to conceive, what human life was in the epoch called classical,—perhaps few or none of Sterling's contemporaries in that Cambridge establishment carried away more of available Classicality than even he.
But here, as in his former schools, his studies and inquiries46, diligently47 prosecuted48 I believe, were of the most discursive49 wide-flowing character; not steadily50 advancing along beaten roads towards College honors, but pulsing out with impetuous irregularity now on this tract51, now on that, towards whatever spiritual Delphi might promise to unfold the mystery of this world, and announce to him what was, in our new day, the authentic52 message of the gods. His speculations53, readings, inferences, glances and conclusions were doubtless sufficiently54 encyclopedic; his grand tutors the multifarious set of Books he devoured55. And perhaps,—as is the singular case in most schools and educational establishments of this unexampled epoch,—it was not the express set of arrangements in this or any extant University that could essentially56 forward him, but only the implied and silent ones; less in the prescribed "course of study," which seems to tend no-whither, than—if you will consider it—in the generous (not ungenerous) rebellion against said prescribed course, and the voluntary spirit of endeavor and adventure excited thereby57, does help lie for a brave youth in such places. Curious to consider. The fagging, the illicit58 boating, and the things forbidden by the schoolmaster,—these, I often notice in my Eton acquaintances, are the things that have done them good; these, and not their inconsiderable or considerable knowledge of the Greek accidence almost at all! What is Greek accidence, compared to Spartan59 discipline, if it can be had? That latter is a real and grand attainment60. Certainly, if rebellion is unfortunately needful, and you can rebel in a generous manner, several things may be acquired in that operation,—rigorous mutual61 fidelity62, reticence63, steadfastness64, mild stoicism, and other virtues65 far transcending66 your Greek accidence. Nor can the unwisest "prescribed course of study" be considered quite useless, if it have incited67 you to try nobly on all sides for a course of your own. A singular condition of Schools and High-schools, which have come down, in their strange old clothes and "courses of study," from the monkish68 ages into this highly unmonkish one;—tragical condition, at which the intelligent observer makes deep pause!
One benefit, not to be dissevered from the most obsolete69 University still frequented by young ingenuous70 living souls, is that of manifold collision and communication with the said young souls; which, to every one of these coevals, is undoubtedly71 the most important branch of breeding for him. In this point, as the learned Huber has insisted, 6 the two English Universities,—their studies otherwise being granted to be nearly useless, and even ill done of their kind,—far excel all other Universities: so valuable are the rules of human behavior which from of old have tacitly established themselves there; so manful, with all its sad drawbacks, is the style of English character, "frank, simple, rugged72 and yet courteous," which has tacitly but imperatively73 got itself sanctioned and prescribed there. Such, in full sight of Continental74 and other Universities, is Huber's opinion. Alas75, the question of University Reform goes deep at present; deep as the world;—and the real University of these new epochs is yet a great way from us! Another judge in whom I have confidence declares further, That of these two Universities, Cambridge is decidedly the more catholic (not Roman catholic, but Human catholic) in its tendencies and habitudes; and that in fact, of all the miserable76 Schools and High-schools in the England of these years, he, if reduced to choose from them, would choose Cambridge as a place of culture for the young idea. So that, in these bad circumstances, Sterling had perhaps rather made a hit than otherwise?
Sterling at Cambridge had undoubtedly a wide and rather genial circle of comrades; and could not fail to be regarded and beloved by many of them. Their life seems to have been an ardently78 speculating and talking one; by no means excessively restrained within limits; and, in the more adventurous79 heads like Sterling's, decidedly tending towards the latitudinarian in most things. They had among them a Debating Society called The union; where on stated evenings was much logic, and other spiritual fencing and ingenuous collision,—probably of a really superior quality in that kind; for not a few of the then disputants have since proved themselves men of parts, and attained80 distinction in the intellectual walks of life. Frederic Maurice, Richard Trench81, John Kemble, Spedding, Venables, Charles Buller, Richard Milnes and others:—I have heard that in speaking and arguing, Sterling was the acknowledged chief in this union Club; and that "none even came near him, except the late Charles Buller," whose distinction in this and higher respects was also already notable.
The questions agitated82 seem occasionally to have touched on the political department, and even on the ecclesiastical. I have heard one trait of Sterling's eloquence83, which survived on the wings of grinning rumor84, and had evidently borne upon Church Conservatism in some form: "Have they not,"—or perhaps it was, Has she (the Church) not,—"a black dragoon in every parish, on good pay and rations85, horse-meat and man's-meat, to patrol and battle for these things?" The "black dragoon," which naturally at the moment ruffled86 the general young imagination into stormy laughter, points towards important conclusions in respect to Sterling at this time. I conclude he had, with his usual alacrity87 and impetuous daring, frankly88 adopted the anti-superstitious side of things; and stood scornfully prepared to repel89 all aggressions or pretensions90 from the opposite quarter. In short, that he was already, what afterwards there is no doubt about his being, at all points a Radical91, as the name or nickname then went. In other words, a young ardent77 soul looking with hope and joy into a world which was infinitely beautiful to him, though overhung with falsities and foul92 cobwebs as world never was before; overloaded93, overclouded, to the zenith and the nadir94 of it, by incredible uncredited traditions, solemnly sordid95 hypocrisies96, and beggarly deliriums old and new; which latter class of objects it was clearly the part of every noble heart to expend97 all its lightnings and energies in burning up without delay, and sweeping98 into their native Chaos99 out of such a Cosmos100 as this. Which process, it did not then seem to him could be very difficult; or attended with much other than heroic joy, and enthusiasm of victory or of battle, to the gallant101 operator, in his part of it. This was, with modifications102 such as might be, the humor and creed103 of College Radicalism104 five-and-twenty years ago. Rather horrible at that time; seen to be not so horrible now, at least to have grown very universal, and to need no concealment105 now. The natural humor and attitude, we may well regret to say,—and honorable not dishonorable, for a brave young soul such as Sterling's, in those years in those localities!
I do not find that Sterling had, at that stage, adopted the then prevalent Utilitarian106 theory of human things. But neither, apparently107, had he rejected it; still less did he yet at all denounce it with the damnatory vehemence108 we were used to in him at a later period. Probably he, so much occupied with the negative side of things, had not yet thought seriously of any positive basis for his world; or asked himself, too earnestly, What, then, is the noble rule of living for a man? In this world so eclipsed and scandalously overhung with fable109 and hypocrisy110, what is the eternal fact, on which a man may front the Destinies and the Immensities? The day for such questions, sure enough to come in his case, was still but coming. Sufficient for this day be the work thereof; that of blasting into merited annihilation the innumerable and immeasurable recognized deliriums, and extirpating111 or coercing112 to the due pitch those legions of "black dragoons," of all varieties and purposes, who patrol, with horse-meat and man's-meat, this afflicted113 earth, so hugely to the detriment114 of it.
Sterling, it appears, after above a year of Trinity College, followed his friend Maurice into Trinity Hall, with the intention of taking a degree in Law; which intention, like many others with him, came to nothing; and in 1827 he left Trinity Hall and Cambridge altogether; here ending, after two years, his brief University life.
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1 nomadically | |
adv.游牧地;流浪地 | |
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2 construing | |
v.解释(陈述、行为等)( construe的现在分词 );翻译,作句法分析 | |
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3 copious | |
adj.丰富的,大量的 | |
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4 indigent | |
adj.贫穷的,贫困的 | |
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5 schooling | |
n.教育;正规学校教育 | |
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6 infinitely | |
adv.无限地,无穷地 | |
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7 voracious | |
adj.狼吞虎咽的,贪婪的 | |
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8 wading | |
(从水、泥等)蹚,走过,跋( wade的现在分词 ) | |
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9 veracity | |
n.诚实 | |
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10 promotions | |
促进( promotion的名词复数 ); 提升; 推广; 宣传 | |
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11 epoch | |
n.(新)时代;历元 | |
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12 eloquent | |
adj.雄辩的,口才流利的;明白显示出的 | |
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13 palavers | |
n.废话,空话( palaver的名词复数 )v.废话,空话( palaver的第三人称单数 ) | |
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14 propitious | |
adj.吉利的;顺利的 | |
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15 Oxford | |
n.牛津(英国城市) | |
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16 omens | |
n.前兆,预兆( omen的名词复数 ) | |
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17 patronage | |
n.赞助,支援,援助;光顾,捧场 | |
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18 attachment | |
n.附属物,附件;依恋;依附 | |
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19 estrangement | |
n.疏远,失和,不和 | |
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20 affluent | |
adj.富裕的,富有的,丰富的,富饶的 | |
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21 peculiar | |
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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22 sterling | |
adj.英币的(纯粹的,货真价实的);n.英国货币(英镑) | |
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23 distinguished | |
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
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24 esteem | |
n.尊敬,尊重;vt.尊重,敬重;把…看作 | |
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25 alluded | |
提及,暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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26 ingenuity | |
n.别出心裁;善于发明创造 | |
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27 logic | |
n.逻辑(学);逻辑性 | |
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28 utterance | |
n.用言语表达,话语,言语 | |
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29 generosities | |
n.慷慨( generosity的名词复数 );大方;宽容;慷慨或宽容的行为 | |
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30 pieties | |
虔诚,虔敬( piety的名词复数 ) | |
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31 edifice | |
n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿,教室) | |
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32 proceeding | |
n.行动,进行,(pl.)会议录,学报 | |
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33 standing | |
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34 deftly | |
adv.灵巧地,熟练地,敏捷地 | |
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35 dealing | |
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36 negligent | |
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37 unreasonable | |
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38 proficient | |
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39 faculty | |
n.才能;学院,系;(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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40 labor | |
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦 | |
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41 hue | |
n.色度;色调;样子 | |
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42 tinge | |
vt.(较淡)着色于,染色;使带有…气息;n.淡淡色彩,些微的气息 | |
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43 genial | |
adj.亲切的,和蔼的,愉快的,脾气好的 | |
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44 meretricious | |
adj.华而不实的,俗艳的 | |
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45 mere | |
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46 inquiries | |
n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 );疑问;探究;打听 | |
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47 diligently | |
ad.industriously;carefully | |
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48 prosecuted | |
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49 discursive | |
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50 steadily | |
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51 tract | |
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52 authentic | |
a.真的,真正的;可靠的,可信的,有根据的 | |
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53 speculations | |
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54 sufficiently | |
adv.足够地,充分地 | |
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55 devoured | |
吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 ); 耗尽; 津津有味地看; 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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56 essentially | |
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57 thereby | |
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58 illicit | |
adj.非法的,禁止的,不正当的 | |
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59 spartan | |
adj.简朴的,刻苦的;n.斯巴达;斯巴达式的人 | |
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60 attainment | |
n.达到,到达;[常pl.]成就,造诣 | |
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61 mutual | |
adj.相互的,彼此的;共同的,共有的 | |
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62 fidelity | |
n.忠诚,忠实;精确 | |
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63 reticence | |
n.沉默,含蓄 | |
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64 steadfastness | |
n.坚定,稳当 | |
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65 virtues | |
美德( virtue的名词复数 ); 德行; 优点; 长处 | |
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66 transcending | |
超出或超越(经验、信念、描写能力等)的范围( transcend的现在分词 ); 优于或胜过… | |
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67 incited | |
刺激,激励,煽动( incite的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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68 monkish | |
adj.僧侣的,修道士的,禁欲的 | |
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69 obsolete | |
adj.已废弃的,过时的 | |
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70 ingenuous | |
adj.纯朴的,单纯的;天真的;坦率的 | |
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71 undoubtedly | |
adv.确实地,无疑地 | |
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72 rugged | |
adj.高低不平的,粗糙的,粗壮的,强健的 | |
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73 imperatively | |
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74 continental | |
adj.大陆的,大陆性的,欧洲大陆的 | |
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75 alas | |
int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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76 miserable | |
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的 | |
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77 ardent | |
adj.热情的,热烈的,强烈的,烈性的 | |
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78 ardently | |
adv.热心地,热烈地 | |
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79 adventurous | |
adj.爱冒险的;惊心动魄的,惊险的,刺激的 | |
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80 attained | |
(通常经过努力)实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 ); 达到; 获得; 达到(某年龄、水平、状况) | |
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81 trench | |
n./v.(挖)沟,(挖)战壕 | |
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82 agitated | |
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83 eloquence | |
n.雄辩;口才,修辞 | |
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84 rumor | |
n.谣言,谣传,传说 | |
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85 rations | |
定量( ration的名词复数 ); 配给量; 正常量; 合理的量 | |
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86 ruffled | |
adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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87 alacrity | |
n.敏捷,轻快,乐意 | |
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88 frankly | |
adv.坦白地,直率地;坦率地说 | |
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89 repel | |
v.击退,抵制,拒绝,排斥 | |
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90 pretensions | |
自称( pretension的名词复数 ); 自命不凡; 要求; 权力 | |
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91 radical | |
n.激进份子,原子团,根号;adj.根本的,激进的,彻底的 | |
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92 foul | |
adj.污秽的;邪恶的;v.弄脏;妨害;犯规;n.犯规 | |
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93 overloaded | |
a.超载的,超负荷的 | |
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94 nadir | |
n.最低点,无底 | |
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95 sordid | |
adj.肮脏的,不干净的,卑鄙的,暗淡的 | |
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96 hypocrisies | |
n.伪善,虚伪( hypocrisy的名词复数 ) | |
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97 expend | |
vt.花费,消费,消耗 | |
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98 sweeping | |
adj.范围广大的,一扫无遗的 | |
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99 chaos | |
n.混乱,无秩序 | |
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100 cosmos | |
n.宇宙;秩序,和谐 | |
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101 gallant | |
adj.英勇的,豪侠的;(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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102 modifications | |
n.缓和( modification的名词复数 );限制;更改;改变 | |
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103 creed | |
n.信条;信念,纲领 | |
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104 radicalism | |
n. 急进主义, 根本的改革主义 | |
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105 concealment | |
n.隐藏, 掩盖,隐瞒 | |
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106 utilitarian | |
adj.实用的,功利的 | |
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107 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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108 vehemence | |
n.热切;激烈;愤怒 | |
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109 fable | |
n.寓言;童话;神话 | |
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110 hypocrisy | |
n.伪善,虚伪 | |
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111 extirpating | |
v.消灭,灭绝( extirpate的现在分词 );根除 | |
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112 coercing | |
v.迫使做( coerce的现在分词 );强迫;(以武力、惩罚、威胁等手段)控制;支配 | |
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113 afflicted | |
使受痛苦,折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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114 detriment | |
n.损害;损害物,造成损害的根源 | |
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