Not with these did Mary and Saxon belong. They knew them not, had no acquaintances among them. It did not matter whether the festival were Irish, German, or Slavonian; whether the picnic was the Bricklayers', the Brewers', or the Butchers'. They, the girls, were of the dancing crowd that swelled7 by a certain constant percentage the gate receipts of all the picnics.
They strolled about among the booths where peanuts were grinding and popcorn8 was roasting in preparation for the day, and went on and inspected the dance floor of the pavilion. Saxon, clinging to an imaginary partner, essayed a few steps of the dip-waltz. Mary clapped her hands.
Saxon smiled with appreciation9, pointed10 out her foot, velvet11-slippered with high Cuban heels, and slightly lifted the tight black skirt, exposing a trim ankle and delicate swell of calf12, the white flesh gleaming through the thinnest and flimsiest of fifty-cent black silk stockings. She was slender, not tall, yet the due round lines of womanhood were hers. On her white shirtwaist was a pleated jabot of cheap lace, caught with a large novelty pin of imitation coral. Over the shirtwaist was a natty13 jacket, elbow-sleeved, and to the elbows she wore gloves of imitation suede14. The one essentially15 natural touch about her appearance was the few curls, strangers to curling-irons, that escaped from under the little naughty hat of black velvet pulled low over the eyes.
Mary's dark eyes flashed with joy at the sight, and with a swift little run she caught the other girl in her arms and kissed her in a breast-crushing embrace. She released her, blushing at her own extravagance.
“You look good to me,” she cried, in extenuation16. “If I was a man I couldn't keep my hands off you. I'd eat you, I sure would.”
They went out of the pavilion hand in hand, and on through the sunshine they strolled, swinging hands gaily17, reacting exuberantly18 from the week of deadening toil19. They hung over the railing of the bear-pit, shivering at the huge and lonely denizen20, and passed quickly on to ten minutes of laughter at the monkey cage. Crossing the grounds, they looked down into the little race track on the bed of a natural amphitheater where the early afternoon games were to take place. After that they explored the woods, threaded by countless21 paths, ever opening out in new surprises of green-painted rustic22 tables and benches in leafy nooks, many of which were already pre-empted by family parties. On a grassy23 slope, tree-surrounded, they spread a newspaper and sat down on the short grass already tawny-dry under the California sun. Half were they minded to do this because of the grateful indolence after six days of insistent24 motion, half in conservation for the hours of dancing to come.
“Bert Wanhope'll be sure to come,” Mary chattered25. “An' he said he was going to bring Billy Roberts—'Big Bill,' all the fellows call him. He's just a big boy, but he's awfully26 tough. He's a prizefighter, an' all the girls run after him. I'm afraid of him. He ain't quick in talkin'. He's more like that big bear we saw. Brr-rf! Brr-rf!—bite your head off, just like that. He ain't really a prize-fighter. He's a teamster—belongs to the union. Drives for Coberly and Morrison. But sometimes he fights in the clubs. Most of the fellows are scared of him. He's got a bad temper, an' he'd just as soon hit a fellow as eat, just like that. You won't like him, but he's a swell dancer. He's heavy, you know, an' he just slides and glides27 around. You wanta have a dance with'm anyway. He's a good spender, too. Never pinches. But my!—he's got one temper.”
“You and he are pretty thick,” Saxon ventured.
“I'd marry'm to-morrow,” Mary flashed out impulsively30. Then her face went bleakly31 forlorn, hard almost in its helpless pathos32. “Only, he never asks me. He's...” Her pause was broken by sudden passion. “You watch out for him, Saxon, if he ever comes foolin' around you. He's no good. Just the same, I'd marry him to-morrow. He'll never get me any other way.” Her mouth opened, but instead of speaking she drew a long sigh. “It's a funny world, ain't it?” she added. “More like a scream. And all the stars are worlds, too. I wonder where God hides. Bert Wanhope says there ain't no God. But he's just terrible. He says the most terrible things. I believe in God. Don't you? What do you think about God, Saxon?”
“But if we do wrong we get ours, don't we?” Mary persisted. “That's what they all say, except Bert. He says he don't care what he does, he'll never get his, because when he dies he's dead, an' when he's dead he'd like to see any one put anything across on him that'd wake him up. Ain't he terrible, though? But it's all so funny. Sometimes I get scared when I think God's keepin' an eye on me all the time. Do you think he knows what I'm sayin' now? What do you think he looks like, anyway?”
“I don't know,” Saxon answered. “He's just a funny proposition.”
“He IS, just the same, from what all people say of him,” Saxon went on stoutly35. “My brother thinks he looks like Abraham Lincoln. Sarah thinks he has whiskers.”
“An' I never think of him with his hair parted,” Mary confessed, daring the thought and shivering with apprehension36. “He just couldn't have his hair parted. THAT'D be funny.”
“You know that little, wrinkly Mexican that sells wire puzzles?” Saxon queried37. “Well, God somehow always reminds me of him.”
“Now that IS funny. I never thought of him like that. How do you make it out?”
“Well, just like the little Mexican, he seems to spend his time peddling39 puzzles. He passes a puzzle out to everybody, and they spend all their lives tryin' to work it out. They all get stuck. I can't work mine out. I don't know where to start. And look at the puzzle he passed Sarah. And she's part of Tom's puzzle, and she only makes his worse. And they all, an' everybody I know—you, too—are part of my puzzle.”
“Mebbe the puzzles is all right,” Mary considered. “But God don't look like that yellow little Greaser. THAT I won't fall for. God don't look like anybody. Don't you remember on the wall at the Salvation40 Army it says 'God is a spirit'?”
“That's another one of his puzzles, I guess, because nobody knows what a spirit looks like.”
“That's right, too.” Mary shuddered41 with reminiscent fear. “Whenever I try to think of God as a spirit, I can see Hen Miller42 all wrapped up in a sheet an' runnin' us girls. We didn't know, an' it scared the life out of us. Little Maggie Murphy fainted dead away, and Beatrice Peralta fell an' scratched her face horrible. When I think of a spirit all I can see is a white sheet runnin' in the dark. Just the same, God don't look like a Mexican, an' he don't wear his hair parted.”
A strain of music from the dancing pavilion brought both girls scrambling43 to their feet.
“We can get a couple of dances in before we eat,” Mary proposed. “An' then it'll be afternoon an' all the fellows 'll be here. Most of them are pinchers—that's why they don't come early, so as to get out of taking the girls to dinner. But Bert's free with his money, an' so is Billy. If we can beat the other girls to it, they'll take us to the restaurant. Come on, hurry, Saxon.”
There were few couples on the floor when they arrived at the pavilion, and the two girls essayed the first waltz together.
“There's Bert now,” Saxon whispered, as they came around the second time.
“Don't take any notice of them,” Mary whispered back. “We'll just keep on goin'. They needn't think we're chasin' after them.”
“Did you see that other one?” Mary asked, as she backed Saxon in a long slide across the far end of the pavilion. “That was Billy Roberts. Bert said he'd come. He'll take you to dinner, and Bert'll take me. It's goin' to be a swell day, you'll see. My! I only wish the music'll hold out till we can get back to the other end.”
Down the floor they danced, on man-trapping and dinner-getting intent, two fresh young things that undeniably danced well and that were delightfully45 surprised when the music stranded46 them perilously47 near to their desire.
Bert and Mary addressed each other by their given names, but to Saxon Bert was “Mr. Wanhope,” though he called her by her first name. The only introduction was of Saxon and Billy Roberts. Mary carried it off with a flurry of nervous carelessness.
“Mr. Robert—Miss Brown. She's my best friend. Her first name's Saxon. Ain't it a scream of a name?”
“Sounds good to me,” Billy retorted, hat off and hand extended. “Pleased to meet you, Miss Brown.”
As their hands clasped and she felt the teamster callouses48 on his palm, her quick eyes saw a score of things. About all that he saw was her eyes, and then it was with a vague impression that they were blue. Not till later in the day did he realize that they were gray. She, on the contrary, saw his eyes as they really were—deep blue, wide, and handsome in a sullen-boyish way. She saw that they were straight-looking, and she liked them, as she had liked the glimpse she had caught of his hand, and as she liked the contact of his hand itself. Then, too, but not sharply, she had perceived the short, square-set nose, the rosiness49 of cheek, and the firm, short upper lip, ere delight centered her flash of gaze on the well-modeled, large clean mouth where red lips smiled clear of the white, enviable teeth. A BOY, A GREAT BIG MAN-BOY, was her thought; and, as they smiled at each other and their hands slipped apart, she was startled by a glimpse of his hair—short and crisp and sandy, hinting almost of palest gold save that it was too flaxen to hint of gold at all.
So blond was he that she was reminded of stage-types she had seen, such as Ole Olson and Yon Yonson; but there resemblance ceased. It was a matter of color only, for the eyes were dark-lashed and -browed, and were cloudy with temperament50 rather than staring a child-gaze of wonder, and the suit of smooth brown cloth had been made by a tailor. Saxon appraised51 the suit on the instant, and her secret judgment52 was NOT A CENT LESS THAN FIFTY DOLLARS. Further, he had none of the awkwardness of the Scandinavian immigrant. On the contrary, he was one of those rare individuals that radiate muscular grace through the ungraceful man-garments of civilization. Every movement was supple54, slow, and apparently55 considered. This she did not see nor analyze56. She saw only a clothed man with grace of carriage and movement. She felt, rather than perceived, the calm and certitude of all the muscular play of him, and she felt, too, the promise of easement and rest that was especially grateful and craved-for by one who had incessantly57, for six days and at top-speed, ironed fancy starch. As the touch of his hand had been good, so, to her, this subtler feel of all of him, body and mind, was good.
As he took her program and skirmished and joked after the way of young men, she realized the immediacy of delight she had taken in him. Never in her life had she been so affected58 by any man. She wondered to herself: IS THIS THE MAN?
He danced beautifully. The joy was hers that good dancers take when they have found a good dancer for a partner. The grace of those slow-moving, certain muscles of his accorded perfectly59 with the rhythm of the music. There was never doubt, never a betrayal of indecision. She glanced at Bert, dancing “tough” with Mary, caroming down the long floor with more than one collision with the increasing couples. Graceful53 himself in his slender, tall, lean-stomached way, Bert was accounted a good dancer; yet Saxon did not remember ever having danced with him with keen pleasure. Just a hit of a jerk spoiled his dancing—a jerk that did not occur, usually, but that always impended60. There was something spasmodic in his mind. He was too quick, or he continually threatened to be too quick. He always seemed just on the verge61 of overrunning the time. It was disquieting62. He made for unrest.
“You're a dream of a dancer,” Billy Roberts was saying. “I've heard lots of the fellows talk about your dancing.”
“I love it,” she answered.
But from the way she said it he sensed her reluctance63 to speak, and danced on in silence, while she warmed with the appreciation of a woman for gentle consideration. Gentle consideration was a thing rarely encountered in the life she lived. IS THIS THE MAN? She remembered Mary's “I'd marry him to-morrow,” and caught herself speculating on marrying Billy Roberts by the next day—if he asked her.
With eyes that dreamily desired to close, she moved on in the arms of this masterful, guiding pressure. A PRIZE-FIGHTER! She experienced a thrill of wickedness as she thought of what Sarah would say could she see her now. Only he wasn't a prizefighter, but a teamster.
Came an abrupt64 lengthening65 of step, the guiding pressure grew more compelling, and she was caught up and carried along, though her velvet-shod feet never left the floor. Then came the sudden control down to the shorter step again, and she felt herself being held slightly from him so that he might look into her face and laugh with her in joy at the exploit. At the end, as the band slowed in the last bars, they, too, slowed, their dance fading with the music in a lengthening glide28 that ceased with the last lingering tone.
“We're sure cut out for each other when it comes to dancin',” he said, as they made their way to rejoin the other couple.
“It was a dream,” she replied.
So low was her voice that he bent66 to hear, and saw the flush in her cheeks that seemed communicated to her eyes, which were softly warm and sensuous67. He took the program from her and gravely and gigantically wrote his name across all the length of it.
“An' now it's no good,” he dared. “Ain't no need for it.”
He tore it across and tossed it aside.
“Me for you, Saxon, for the next,” was Bert's greeting, as they came up. “You take Mary for the next whirl, Bill.”
“Nothin' doin', Bo,” was the retort. “Me an' Saxon's framed up to last the day.”
“Watch out for him, Saxon,” Mary warned facetiously68. “He's liable to get a crush on you.”
“I'd 'a' known you if I'd seen you in the dark,” Billy added.
Mary regarded them with mock alarm, and Bert said good-naturedly:
“All I got to say is you ain't wastin' any time gettin' together. Just the same, if' you can spare a few minutes from each other after a couple more whirls, Mary an' me'd be complimented to have your presence at dinner.”
“Just like that,” chimed Mary.
“Quit your kiddin',” Billy laughed back, turning his head to look into Saxon's eyes. “Don't listen to 'em. They're grouched because they got to dance together. Bert's a rotten dancer, and Mary ain't so much. Come on, there she goes. See you after two more dances.”
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收听单词发音
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1
starch
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| n.淀粉；vt.给...上浆 | |
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laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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robustly
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| adv.要用体力地，粗鲁地 | |
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stature
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| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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progeny
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| n.后代，子孙；结果 | |
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6
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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swelled
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| 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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8
popcorn
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| n.爆米花 | |
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appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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10
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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12
calf
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| n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮 | |
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13
natty
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| adj.整洁的，漂亮的 | |
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14
suede
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| n.表面粗糙的软皮革 | |
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15
essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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16
extenuation
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| n.减轻罪孽的借口；酌情减轻；细 | |
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17
gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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18
exuberantly
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| adv.兴高采烈地，活跃地，愉快地 | |
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19
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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20
denizen
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| n.居民，外籍居民 | |
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21
countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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22
rustic
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| adj.乡村的，有乡村特色的；n.乡下人，乡巴佬 | |
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23
grassy
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| adj.盖满草的；长满草的 | |
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24
insistent
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| adj.迫切的，坚持的 | |
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25
chattered
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| （人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤 | |
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26
awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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27
glides
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| n.滑行( glide的名词复数 )；滑音；音渡；过渡音v.滑动( glide的第三人称单数 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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28
glide
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| n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝 | |
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29
monologue
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| n.长篇大论，（戏剧等中的）独白 | |
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impulsively
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| adv.冲动地 | |
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31
bleakly
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| 无望地，阴郁地，苍凉地 | |
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32
pathos
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| n.哀婉，悲怆 | |
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33
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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35
stoutly
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| adv.牢固地，粗壮的 | |
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apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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outright
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| adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的 | |
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39
peddling
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| 忙于琐事的，无关紧要的 | |
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40
salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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41
shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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42
miller
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| n.磨坊主 | |
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43
scrambling
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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44
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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45
delightfully
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| 大喜，欣然 | |
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46
stranded
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| a.搁浅的，进退两难的 | |
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47
perilously
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| adv.充满危险地，危机四伏地 | |
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48
callouses
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| n.硬皮，老茧( callous的名词复数 )v.（使）硬结，（使）起茧( callous的第三人称单数 )；（使）冷酷无情 | |
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49
rosiness
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| n.玫瑰色；淡红色；光明；有希望 | |
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50
temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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51
appraised
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| v.估价( appraise的过去式和过去分词 )；估计；估量；评价 | |
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52
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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53
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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54
supple
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| adj.柔软的，易弯的，逢迎的，顺从的，灵活的；vt.使柔软，使柔顺，使顺从；vi.变柔软，变柔顺 | |
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55
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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56
analyze
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| vt.分析，解析 (=analyse) | |
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57
incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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58
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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59
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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60
impended
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| v.进行威胁，即将发生( impend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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61
verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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62
disquieting
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| adj.令人不安的，令人不平静的v.使不安，使忧虑，使烦恼( disquiet的现在分词 ) | |
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63
reluctance
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| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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64
abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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65
lengthening
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| （时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的现在分词 )； 加长 | |
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66
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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67
sensuous
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| adj.激发美感的；感官的，感觉上的 | |
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68
facetiously
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| adv.爱开玩笑地；滑稽地，爱开玩笑地 | |
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69
gallantly
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| adv. 漂亮地，勇敢地，献殷勤地 | |
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abetted
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| v.教唆（犯罪）( abet的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；怂恿；支持 | |
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