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CHAPTER 7. Our Growing Modesty
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 Being at last considered sufficiently1 tamed and trained to be trusted with scissors, we barbered ourselves as best we could. A close-trimmed beard is certainly more comfortable than a full one. Razors, naturally, they could not supply.
 
“With so many old women you’d think there’d be some razors,” sneered2 Terry. Whereat Jeff pointed3 out that he never before had seen such complete absence of facial hair on women.
 
“Looks to me as if the absence of men made them more feminine in that regard, anyhow,” he suggested.
 
“Well, it’s the only one then,” Terry reluctantly agreed. “A less feminine lot I never saw. A child apiece doesn’t seem to be enough to develop what I call motherliness.”
 
Terry’s idea of motherliness was the usual one, involving a baby in arms, or “a little flock about her knees,” and the complete absorption of the mother in said baby or flock. A motherliness which dominated society, which influenced every art and industry, which absolutely protected all childhood, and gave to it the most perfect care and training, did not seem motherly—to Terry.
 
We had become well used to the clothes. They were quite as comfortable as our own—in some ways more so—and undeniably better looking. As to pockets, they left nothing to be desired. That second garment was fairly quilted with pockets. They were most ingeniously arranged, so as to be convenient to the hand and not inconvenient4 to the body, and were so placed as at once to strengthen the garment and add decorative5 lines of stitching.
 
In this, as in so many other points we had now to observe, there was shown the action of a practical intelligence, coupled with fine artistic6 feeling, and, apparently7, untrammeled by any injurious influences.
 
Our first step of comparative freedom was a personally conducted tour of the country. No pentagonal bodyguard8 now! Only our special tutors, and we got on famously with them. Jeff said he loved Zava like an aunt—“only jollier than any aunt I ever saw”; Somel and I were as chummy as could be—the best of friends; but it was funny to watch Terry and Moadine. She was patient with him, and courteous9, but it was like the patience and courtesy of some great man, say a skilled, experienced diplomat10, with a schoolgirl. Her grave acquiescence11 with his most preposterous12 expression of feeling; her genial13 laughter, not only with, but, I often felt, at him—though impeccably polite; her innocent questions, which almost invariably led him to say more than he intended—Jeff and I found it all amusing to watch.
 
He never seemed to recognize that quiet background of superiority. When she dropped an argument he always thought he had silenced her; when she laughed he thought it tribute to his wit.
 
I hated to admit to myself how much Terry had sunk in my esteem14. Jeff felt it too, I am sure; but neither of us admitted it to the other. At home we had measured him with other men, and, though we knew his failings, he was by no means an unusual type. We knew his virtues15 too, and they had always seemed more prominent than the faults. Measured among women—our women at home, I mean—he had always stood high. He was visibly popular. Even where his habits were known, there was no discrimination against him; in some cases his reputation for what was felicitously16 termed “gaiety” seemed a special charm.
 
But here, against the calm wisdom and quiet restrained humor of these women, with only that blessed Jeff and my inconspicuous self to compare with, Terry did stand out rather strong.
 
As “a man among men,” he didn’t; as a man among—I shall have to say, “females,” he didn’t; his intense masculinity seemed only fit complement18 to their intense femininity. But here he was all out of drawing.
 
Moadine was a big woman, with a balanced strength that seldom showed. Her eye was as quietly watchful19 as a fencer’s. She maintained a pleasant relation with her charge, but I doubt if many, even in that country, could have done as well.
 
He called her “Maud,” amongst ourselves, and said she was “a good old soul, but a little slow”; wherein he was quite wrong. Needless to say, he called Jeff’s teacher “Java,” and sometimes “Mocha,” or plain “Coffee”; when specially20 mischievous21, “Chicory,” and even “Postum.” But Somel rather escaped this form of humor, save for a rather forced “Some ‘ell.”
 
“Don’t you people have but one name?” he asked one day, after we had been introduced to a whole group of them, all with pleasant, few-syllabled strange names, like the ones we knew.
 
“Oh yes,” Moadine told him. “A good many of us have another, as we get on in life—a descriptive one. That is the name we earn. Sometimes even that is changed, or added to, in an unusually rich life. Such as our present Land Mother—what you call president or king, I believe. She was called Mera, even as a child; that means ‘thinker.’ Later there was added Du—Du-Mera—the wise thinker, and now we all know her as O-du-mera—great and wise thinker. You shall meet her.”
 
“No surnames at all then?” pursued Terry, with his somewhat patronizing air. “No family name?”
 
“Why no,” she said. “Why should we? We are all descended22 from a common source—all one ‘family’ in reality. You see, our comparatively brief and limited history gives us that advantage at least.”
 
“But does not each mother want her own child to bear her name?” I asked.
 
“No—why should she? The child has its own.”
 
“Why for—for identification—so people will know whose child she is.”
 
“We keep the most careful records,” said Somel. “Each one of us has our exact line of descent all the way back to our dear First Mother. There are many reasons for doing that. But as to everyone knowing which child belongs to which mother—why should she?”
 
Here, as in so many other instances, we were led to feel the difference between the purely23 maternal24 and the paternal25 attitude of mind. The element of personal pride seemed strangely lacking.
 
“How about your other works?” asked Jeff. “Don’t you sign your names to them—books and statues and so on?”
 
“Yes, surely, we are all glad and proud to. Not only books and statues, but all kinds of work. You will find little names on the houses, on the furniture, on the dishes sometimes. Because otherwise one is likely to forget, and we want to know to whom to be grateful.”
 
“You speak as if it were done for the convenience of the consumer—not the pride of the producer,” I suggested.
 
“It’s both,” said Somel. “We have pride enough in our work.”
 
“Then why not in your children?” urged Jeff.
 
“But we have! We’re magnificently proud of them,” she insisted.
 
“Then why not sign ‘em?” said Terry triumphantly26.
 
Moadine turned to him with her slightly quizzical smile. “Because the finished product is not a private one. When they are babies, we do speak of them, at times, as ‘Essa’s Lato,’ or ‘Novine’s Amel’; but that is merely descriptive and conversational27. In the records, of course, the child stands in her own line of mothers; but in dealing28 with it personally it is Lato, or Amel, without dragging in its ancestors.”
 
“But have you names enough to give a new one to each child?”
 
“Assuredly we have, for each living generation.”
 
Then they asked about our methods, and found first that “we” did so and so, and then that other nations did differently. Upon which they wanted to know which method has been proved best—and we had to admit that so far as we knew there had been no attempt at comparison, each people pursuing its own custom in the fond conviction of superiority, and either despising or quite ignoring the others.
 
With these women the most salient quality in all their institutions was reasonableness. When I dug into the records to follow out any line of development, that was the most astonishing thing—the conscious effort to make it better.
 
They had early observed the value of certain improvements, had easily inferred that there was room for more, and took the greatest pains to develop two kinds of minds—the critic and inventor. Those who showed an early tendency to observe, to discriminate29, to suggest, were given special training for that function; and some of their highest officials spent their time in the most careful study of one or another branch of work, with a view to its further improvement.
 
In each generation there was sure to arrive some new mind to detect faults and show need of alterations30; and the whole corps31 of inventors was at hand to apply their special faculty32 at the point criticized, and offer suggestions.
 
We had learned by this time not to open a discussion on any of their characteristics without first priming ourselves to answer questions about our own methods; so I kept rather quiet on this matter of conscious improvement. We were not prepared to show our way was better.
 
There was growing in our minds, at least in Jeff’s and mine, a keen appreciation33 of the advantages of this strange country and its management. Terry remained critical. We laid most of it to his nerves. He certainly was irritable34.
 
The most conspicuous17 feature of the whole land was the perfection of its food supply. We had begun to notice from that very first walk in the forest, the first partial view from our ‘plane. Now we were taken to see this mighty35 garden, and shown its methods of culture.
 
The country was about the size of Holland, some ten or twelve thousand square miles. One could lose a good many Hollands along the forest-smothered flanks of those mighty mountains. They had a population of about three million—not a large one, but quality is something. Three million is quite enough to allow for considerable variation, and these people varied36 more widely than we could at first account for.
 
Terry had insisted that if they were parthenogenetic they’d be as alike as so many ants or aphids; he urged their visible differences as proof that there must be men—somewhere.
 
But when we asked them, in our later, more intimate conversations, how they accounted for so much divergence37 without cross-fertilization, they attributed it partly to the careful education, which followed each slight tendency to differ, and partly to the law of mutation38. This they had found in their work with plants, and fully39 proven in their own case.
 
Physically40 they were more alike than we, as they lacked all morbid41 or excessive types. They were tall, strong, healthy, and beautiful as a race, but differed individually in a wide range of feature, coloring, and expression.
 
“But surely the most important growth is in mind—and in the things we make,” urged Somel. “Do you find your physical variation accompanied by a proportionate variation in ideas, feelings, and products? Or, among people who look more alike, do you find their internal life and their work as similar?”
 
We were rather doubtful on this point, and inclined to hold that there was more chance of improvement in greater physical variation.
 
“It certainly should be,” Zava admitted. “We have always thought it a grave initial misfortune to have lost half our little world. Perhaps that is one reason why we have so striven for conscious improvement.”
 
“But acquired traits are not transmissible,” Terry declared. “Weissman has proved that.”
 
They never disputed our absolute statements, only made notes of them.
 
“If that is so, then our improvement must be due either to mutation, or solely42 to education,” she gravely pursued. “We certainly have improved. It may be that all these higher qualities were latent in the original mother, that careful education is bringing them out, and that our personal differences depend on slight variations in prenatal condition.”
 
“I think it is more in your accumulated culture,” Jeff suggested. “And in the amazing psychic43 growth you have made. We know very little about methods of real soul culture—and you seem to know a great deal.”
 
Be that as it might, they certainly presented a higher level of active intelligence, and of behavior, than we had so far really grasped. Having known in our lives several people who showed the same delicate courtesy and were equally pleasant to live with, at least when they wore their “company manners,” we had assumed that our companions were a carefully chosen few. Later we were more and more impressed that all this gentle breeding was breeding; that they were born to it, reared in it, that it was as natural and universal with them as the gentleness of doves or the alleged44 wisdom of serpents.
 
As for the intelligence, I confess that this was the most impressive and, to me, most mortifying45, of any single feature of Herland. We soon ceased to comment on this or other matters which to them were such obvious commonplaces as to call forth46 embarrassing questions about our own conditions.
 
This was nowhere better shown than in that matter of food supply, which I will now attempt to describe.
 
Having improved their agriculture to the highest point, and carefully estimated the number of persons who could comfortably live on their square miles; having then limited their population to that number, one would think that was all there was to be done. But they had not thought so. To them the country was a unit—it was theirs. They themselves were a unit, a conscious group; they thought in terms of the community. As such, their time-sense was not limited to the hopes and ambitions of an individual life. Therefore, they habitually47 considered and carried out plans for improvement which might cover centuries.
 
I had never seen, had scarcely imagined, human beings undertaking48 such a work as the deliberate replanting of an entire forest area with different kinds of trees. Yet this seemed to them the simplest common sense, like a man’s plowing49 up an inferior lawn and reseeding it. Now every tree bore fruit—edible fruit, that is. In the case of one tree, in which they took especial pride, it had originally no fruit at all—that is, none humanly edible—yet was so beautiful that they wished to keep it. For nine hundred years they had experimented, and now showed us this particularly lovely graceful50 tree, with a profuse51 crop of nutritious52 seeds.
 
They had early decided53 that trees were the best food plants, requiring far less labor54 in tilling the soil, and bearing a larger amount of food for the same ground space; also doing much to preserve and enrich the soil.
 
Due regard had been paid to seasonable crops, and their fruit and nuts, grains and berries, kept on almost the year through.
 
On the higher part of the country, near the backing wall of mountains, they had a real winter with snow. Toward the south-eastern point, where there was a large valley with a lake whose outlet55 was subterranean56, the climate was like that of California, and citrus fruits, figs57, and olives grew abundantly.
 
What impressed me particularly was their scheme of fertilization. Here was this little shut-in piece of land where one would have thought an ordinary people would have been starved out long ago or reduced to an annual struggle for life. These careful culturists had worked out a perfect scheme of refeeding the soil with all that came out of it. All the scraps58 and leavings of their food, plant waste from lumber59 work or textile industry, all the solid matter from the sewage, properly treated and combined—everything which came from the earth went back to it.
 
The practical result was like that in any healthy forest; an increasingly valuable soil was being built, instead of the progressive impoverishment60 so often seen in the rest of the world.
 
When this first burst upon us we made such approving comments that they were surprised that such obvious common sense should be praised; asked what our methods were; and we had some difficulty in—well, in diverting them, by referring to the extent of our own land, and the—admitted—carelessness with which we had skimmed the cream of it.
 
At least we thought we had diverted them. Later I found that besides keeping a careful and accurate account of all we told them, they had a sort of skeleton chart, on which the things we said and the things we palpably avoided saying were all set down and studied. It really was child’s play for those profound educators to work out a painfully accurate estimate of our conditions—in some lines. When a given line of observation seemed to lead to some very dreadful inference they always gave us the benefit of the doubt, leaving it open to further knowledge. Some of the things we had grown to accept as perfectly61 natural, or as belonging to our human limitations, they literally62 could not have believed; and, as I have said, we had all of us joined in a tacit endeavor to conceal63 much of the social status at home.
 
“Confound their grandmotherly minds!” Terry said. “Of course they can’t understand a Man’s World! They aren’t human—they’re just a pack of Fe-Fe-Females!” This was after he had to admit their parthenogenesis.
 
“I wish our grandfatherly minds had managed as well,” said Jeff. “Do you really think it’s to our credit that we have muddled65 along with all our poverty and disease and the like? They have peace and plenty, wealth and beauty, goodness and intellect. Pretty good people, I think!”
 
“You’ll find they have their faults too,” Terry insisted; and partly in self-defense, we all three began to look for those faults of theirs. We had been very strong on this subject before we got there—in those baseless speculations66 of ours.
 
“Suppose there is a country of women only,” Jeff had put it, over and over. “What’ll they be like?”
 
And we had been cocksure as to the inevitable67 limitations, the faults and vices68, of a lot of women. We had expected them to be given over to what we called “feminine vanity”—“frills and furbelows,” and we found they had evolved a costume more perfect than the Chinese dress, richly beautiful when so desired, always useful, of unfailing dignity and good taste.
 
We had expected a dull submissive monotony, and found a daring social inventiveness far beyond our own, and a mechanical and scientific development fully equal to ours.
 
We had expected pettiness, and found a social consciousness besides which our nations looked like quarreling children—feebleminded ones at that.
 
We had expected jealousy69, and found a broad sisterly affection, a fair-minded intelligence, to which we could produce no parallel.
 
We had expected hysteria, and found a standard of health and vigor70, a calmness of temper, to which the habit of profanity, for instance, was impossible to explain—we tried it.
 
All these things even Terry had to admit, but he still insisted that we should find out the other side pretty soon.
 
“It stands to reason, doesn’t it?” he argued. “The whole thing’s deuced unnatural71—I’d say impossible if we weren’t in it. And an unnatural condition’s sure to have unnatural results. You’ll find some awful characteristics—see if you don’t! For instance—we don’t know yet what they do with their criminals—their defectives—their aged64. You notice we haven’t seen any! There’s got to be something!”
 
I was inclined to believe that there had to be something, so I took the bull by the horns—the cow, I should say!—and asked Somel.
 
“I want to find some flaw in all this perfection,” I told her flatly. “It simply isn’t possible that three million people have no faults. We are trying our best to understand and learn—would you mind helping72 us by saying what, to your minds, are the worst qualities of this unique civilization of yours?”
 
We were sitting together in a shaded arbor73, in one of those eating-gardens of theirs. The delicious food had been eaten, a plate of fruit still before us. We could look out on one side over a stretch of open country, quietly rich and lovely; on the other, the garden, with tables here and there, far apart enough for privacy. Let me say right here that with all their careful “balance of population” there was no crowding in this country. There was room, space, a sunny breezy freedom everywhere.
 
Somel set her chin upon her hand, her elbow on the low wall beside her, and looked off over the fair land.
 
“Of course we have faults—all of us,” she said. “In one way you might say that we have more than we used to—that is, our standard of perfection seems to get farther and farther away. But we are not discouraged, because our records do show gain—considerable gain.
 
“When we began—even with the start of one particularly noble mother—we inherited the characteristics of a long race-record behind her. And they cropped out from time to time—alarmingly. But it is—yes, quite six hundred years since we have had what you call a ‘criminal.’
 
“We have, of course, made it our first business to train out, to breed out, when possible, the lowest types.”
 
“Breed out?” I asked. “How could you—with parthenogenesis?”
 
“If the girl showing the bad qualities had still the power to appreciate social duty, we appealed to her, by that, to renounce74 motherhood. Some of the few worst types were, fortunately, unable to reproduce. But if the fault was in a disproportionate egotism—then the girl was sure she had the right to have children, even that hers would be better than others.”
 
“I can see that,” I said. “And then she would be likely to rear them in the same spirit.”
 
“That we never allowed,” answered Somel quietly.
 
“Allowed?” I queried75. “Allowed a mother to rear her own children?”
 
“Certainly not,” said Somel, “unless she was fit for that supreme76 task.”
 
This was rather a blow to my previous convictions.
 
“But I thought motherhood was for each of you—”
 
“Motherhood—yes, that is, maternity77, to bear a child. But education is our highest art, only allowed to our highest artists.”
 
“Education?” I was puzzled again. “I don’t mean education. I mean by motherhood not only child-bearing, but the care of babies.”
 
“The care of babies involves education, and is entrusted78 only to the most fit,” she repeated.
 
“Then you separate mother and child!” I cried in cold horror, something of Terry’s feeling creeping over me, that there must be something wrong among these many virtues.
 
“Not usually,” she patiently explained. “You see, almost every woman values her maternity above everything else. Each girl holds it close and dear, an exquisite79 joy, a crowning honor, the most intimate, most personal, most precious thing. That is, the child-rearing has come to be with us a culture so profoundly studied, practiced with such subtlety80 and skill, that the more we love our children the less we are willing to trust that process to unskilled hands—even our own.”
 
“But a mother’s love—” I ventured.
 
She studied my face, trying to work out a means of clear explanation.
 
“You told us about your dentists,” she said, at length, “those quaintly81 specialized82 persons who spend their lives filling little holes in other persons’ teeth—even in children’s teeth sometimes.”
 
“Yes?” I said, not getting her drift.
 
“Does mother-love urge mothers—with you—to fill their own children’s teeth? Or to wish to?”
 
“Why no—of course not,” I protested. “But that is a highly specialized craft. Surely the care of babies is open to any woman—any mother!”
 
“We do not think so,” she gently replied. “Those of us who are the most highly competent fulfill83 that office; and a majority of our girls eagerly try for it—I assure you we have the very best.”
 
“But the poor mother—bereaved84 of her baby—”
 
“Oh no!” she earnestly assured me. “Not in the least bereaved. It is her baby still—it is with her—she has not lost it. But she is not the only one to care for it. There are others whom she knows to be wiser. She knows it because she has studied as they did, practiced as they did, and honors their real superiority. For the child’s sake, she is glad to have for it this highest care.”
 
I was unconvinced. Besides, this was only hearsay85; I had yet to see the motherhood of Herland.

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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 sufficiently 0htzMB     
adv.足够地,充分地
参考例句:
  • It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
  • The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。
2 sneered 0e3b5b35e54fb2ad006040792a867d9f     
讥笑,冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He sneered at people who liked pop music. 他嘲笑喜欢流行音乐的人。
  • It's very discouraging to be sneered at all the time. 成天受嘲讽是很令人泄气的。
3 pointed Il8zB4     
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。
4 inconvenient m4hy5     
adj.不方便的,令人感到麻烦的
参考例句:
  • You have come at a very inconvenient time.你来得最不适时。
  • Will it be inconvenient for him to attend that meeting?他参加那次会议会不方便吗?
5 decorative bxtxc     
adj.装饰的,可作装饰的
参考例句:
  • This ware is suitable for decorative purpose but unsuitable for utility.这种器皿中看不中用。
  • The style is ornate and highly decorative.这种风格很华丽,而且装饰效果很好。
6 artistic IeWyG     
adj.艺术(家)的,美术(家)的;善于艺术创作的
参考例句:
  • The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
  • These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。
7 apparently tMmyQ     
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。
8 bodyguard 0Rfy2     
n.护卫,保镖
参考例句:
  • She has to have an armed bodyguard wherever she goes.她不管到哪儿都得有带武器的保镖跟从。
  • The big guy standing at his side may be his bodyguard.站在他身旁的那个大个子可能是他的保镖。
9 courteous tooz2     
adj.彬彬有礼的,客气的
参考例句:
  • Although she often disagreed with me,she was always courteous.尽管她常常和我意见不一,但她总是很谦恭有礼。
  • He was a kind and courteous man.他为人友善,而且彬彬有礼。
10 diplomat Pu0xk     
n.外交官,外交家;能交际的人,圆滑的人
参考例句:
  • The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话,紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
  • He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。
11 acquiescence PJFy5     
n.默许;顺从
参考例句:
  • The chief inclined his head in sign of acquiescence.首领点点头表示允许。
  • This is due to his acquiescence.这是因为他的默许。
12 preposterous e1Tz2     
adj.荒谬的,可笑的
参考例句:
  • The whole idea was preposterous.整个想法都荒唐透顶。
  • It would be preposterous to shovel coal with a teaspoon.用茶匙铲煤是荒谬的。
13 genial egaxm     
adj.亲切的,和蔼的,愉快的,脾气好的
参考例句:
  • Orlando is a genial man.奥兰多是一位和蔼可亲的人。
  • He was a warm-hearted friend and genial host.他是个热心的朋友,也是友善待客的主人。
14 esteem imhyZ     
n.尊敬,尊重;vt.尊重,敬重;把…看作
参考例句:
  • I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
  • The veteran worker ranks high in public love and esteem.那位老工人深受大伙的爱戴。
15 virtues cd5228c842b227ac02d36dd986c5cd53     
美德( virtue的名词复数 ); 德行; 优点; 长处
参考例句:
  • Doctors often extol the virtues of eating less fat. 医生常常宣扬少吃脂肪的好处。
  • She delivered a homily on the virtues of family life. 她进行了一场家庭生活美德方面的说教。
16 felicitously cfc987046a9a4751a8c5587092889b68     
adv.恰当地,适切地
参考例句:
  • But I also received many others that raised the notion of the Macintosh much more felicitously. 不过我也收到了许多以更巧妙得体的方式弘扬苹果电脑理念的来信。 来自互联网
17 conspicuous spszE     
adj.明眼的,惹人注目的;炫耀的,摆阔气的
参考例句:
  • It is conspicuous that smoking is harmful to health.很明显,抽烟对健康有害。
  • Its colouring makes it highly conspicuous.它的色彩使它非常惹人注目。
18 complement ZbTyZ     
n.补足物,船上的定员;补语;vt.补充,补足
参考例句:
  • The two suggestions complement each other.这两条建议相互补充。
  • They oppose each other also complement each other.它们相辅相成。
19 watchful tH9yX     
adj.注意的,警惕的
参考例句:
  • The children played under the watchful eye of their father.孩子们在父亲的小心照看下玩耍。
  • It is important that health organizations remain watchful.卫生组织保持警惕是极为重要的。
20 specially Hviwq     
adv.特定地;特殊地;明确地
参考例句:
  • They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
  • The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。
21 mischievous mischievous     
adj.调皮的,恶作剧的,有害的,伤人的
参考例句:
  • He is a mischievous but lovable boy.他是一个淘气但可爱的小孩。
  • A mischievous cur must be tied short.恶狗必须拴得短。
22 descended guQzoy     
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的
参考例句:
  • A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
  • The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。
23 purely 8Sqxf     
adv.纯粹地,完全地
参考例句:
  • I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
  • This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。
24 maternal 57Azi     
adj.母亲的,母亲般的,母系的,母方的
参考例句:
  • He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
  • The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。
25 paternal l33zv     
adj.父亲的,像父亲的,父系的,父方的
参考例句:
  • I was brought up by my paternal aunt.我是姑姑扶养大的。
  • My father wrote me a letter full of his paternal love for me.我父亲给我写了一封充满父爱的信。
26 triumphantly 9fhzuv     
ad.得意洋洋地;得胜地;成功地
参考例句:
  • The lion was roaring triumphantly. 狮子正在发出胜利的吼叫。
  • Robert was looking at me triumphantly. 罗伯特正得意扬扬地看着我。
27 conversational SZ2yH     
adj.对话的,会话的
参考例句:
  • The article is written in a conversational style.该文是以对话的形式写成的。
  • She values herself on her conversational powers.她常夸耀自己的能言善辩。
28 dealing NvjzWP     
n.经商方法,待人态度
参考例句:
  • This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
  • His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。
29 discriminate NuhxX     
v.区别,辨别,区分;有区别地对待
参考例句:
  • You must learn to discriminate between facts and opinions.你必须学会把事实和看法区分出来。
  • They can discriminate hundreds of colours.他们能分辨上百种颜色。
30 alterations c8302d4e0b3c212bc802c7294057f1cb     
n.改动( alteration的名词复数 );更改;变化;改变
参考例句:
  • Any alterations should be written in neatly to the left side. 改动部分应书写清晰,插在正文的左侧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code. 基因突变是指DNA 密码的改变。 来自《简明英汉词典》
31 corps pzzxv     
n.(通信等兵种的)部队;(同类作的)一组
参考例句:
  • The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
  • When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时,他自愿参加了海军陆战队。
32 faculty HhkzK     
n.才能;学院,系;(学院或系的)全体教学人员
参考例句:
  • He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
  • He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。
33 appreciation Pv9zs     
n.评价;欣赏;感谢;领会,理解;价格上涨
参考例句:
  • I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
  • I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。
34 irritable LRuzn     
adj.急躁的;过敏的;易怒的
参考例句:
  • He gets irritable when he's got toothache.他牙一疼就很容易发脾气。
  • Our teacher is an irritable old lady.She gets angry easily.我们的老师是位脾气急躁的老太太。她很容易生气。
35 mighty YDWxl     
adj.强有力的;巨大的
参考例句:
  • A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
  • The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。
36 varied giIw9     
adj.多样的,多变化的
参考例句:
  • The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
  • The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。
37 divergence kkazz     
n.分歧,岔开
参考例句:
  • There is no sure cure for this transatlantic divergence.没有什么灵丹妙药可以消除大西洋两岸的分歧。
  • In short,it was an age full of conflicts and divergence of values.总之,这一时期是矛盾与价值观分歧的时期。
38 mutation t1PyM     
n.变化,变异,转变
参考例句:
  • People who have this mutation need less sleep than others.有这种突变的人需要的睡眠比其他人少。
  • So far the discussion has centered entirely around mutation in the strict sense.到目前为止,严格来讲,讨论完全集中于围绕突变问题上。
39 fully Gfuzd     
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地
参考例句:
  • The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气,然后全部呼出。
  • They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。
40 physically iNix5     
adj.物质上,体格上,身体上,按自然规律
参考例句:
  • He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服,心绪也很乱。
  • Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。
41 morbid u6qz3     
adj.病的;致病的;病态的;可怕的
参考例句:
  • Some people have a morbid fascination with crime.一些人对犯罪有一种病态的痴迷。
  • It's morbid to dwell on cemeteries and such like.不厌其烦地谈论墓地以及诸如此类的事是一种病态。
42 solely FwGwe     
adv.仅仅,唯一地
参考例句:
  • Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
  • The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。
43 psychic BRFxT     
n.对超自然力敏感的人;adj.有超自然力的
参考例句:
  • Some people are said to have psychic powers.据说有些人有通灵的能力。
  • She claims to be psychic and to be able to foretell the future.她自称有特异功能,能预知未来。
44 alleged gzaz3i     
a.被指控的,嫌疑的
参考例句:
  • It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
  • alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为
45 mortifying b4c9d41e6df2931de61ad9c0703750cd     
adj.抑制的,苦修的v.使受辱( mortify的现在分词 );伤害(人的感情);克制;抑制(肉体、情感等)
参考例句:
  • I've said I did not love her, and rather relished mortifying her vanity now and then. 我已经说过我不爱她,而且时时以伤害她的虚荣心为乐。 来自辞典例句
  • It was mortifying to know he had heard every word. 知道他听到了每一句话后真是尴尬。 来自互联网
46 forth Hzdz2     
adv.向前;向外,往外
参考例句:
  • The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
  • He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
47 habitually 4rKzgk     
ad.习惯地,通常地
参考例句:
  • The pain of the disease caused him habitually to furrow his brow. 病痛使他习惯性地紧皱眉头。
  • Habitually obedient to John, I came up to his chair. 我已经习惯于服从约翰,我来到他的椅子跟前。
48 undertaking Mfkz7S     
n.保证,许诺,事业
参考例句:
  • He gave her an undertaking that he would pay the money back with in a year.他向她做了一年内还钱的保证。
  • He is too timid to venture upon an undertaking.他太胆小,不敢从事任何事业。
49 plowing 6dcabc1c56430a06a1807a73331bd6f2     
v.耕( plow的现在分词 );犁耕;费力穿过
参考例句:
  • "There are things more important now than plowing, Sugar. "如今有比耕种更重要的事情要做呀,宝贝儿。 来自飘(部分)
  • Since his wife's death, he has been plowing a lonely furrow. 从他妻子死后,他一直过着孤独的生活。 来自辞典例句
50 graceful deHza     
adj.优美的,优雅的;得体的
参考例句:
  • His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
  • The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。
51 profuse R1jzV     
adj.很多的,大量的,极其丰富的
参考例句:
  • The hostess is profuse in her hospitality.女主人招待得十分周到。
  • There was a profuse crop of hair impending over the top of his face.一大绺头发垂在他额头上。
52 nutritious xHzxO     
adj.有营养的,营养价值高的
参考例句:
  • Fresh vegetables are very nutritious.新鲜蔬菜富于营养。
  • Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。
53 decided lvqzZd     
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。
54 labor P9Tzs     
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
参考例句:
  • We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
  • He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后,他已经疲惫不堪了。
55 outlet ZJFxG     
n.出口/路;销路;批发商店;通风口;发泄
参考例句:
  • The outlet of a water pipe was blocked.水管的出水口堵住了。
  • Running is a good outlet for his energy.跑步是他发泄过剩精力的好方法。
56 subterranean ssWwo     
adj.地下的,地表下的
参考例句:
  • London has 9 miles of such subterranean passages.伦敦像这样的地下通道有9英里长。
  • We wandered through subterranean passages.我们漫游地下通道。
57 figs 14c6a7d3f55a72d6eeba2b7b66c6d0ab     
figures 数字,图形,外形
参考例句:
  • The effect of ring dyeing is shown in Figs 10 and 11. 环形染色的影响如图10和图11所示。
  • The results in Figs. 4 and 5 show the excellent agreement between simulation and experiment. 图4和图5的结果都表明模拟和实验是相当吻合的。
58 scraps 737e4017931b7285cdd1fa3eb9dd77a3     
油渣
参考例句:
  • Don't litter up the floor with scraps of paper. 不要在地板上乱扔纸屑。
  • A patchwork quilt is a good way of using up scraps of material. 做杂拼花布棉被是利用零碎布料的好办法。
59 lumber a8Jz6     
n.木材,木料;v.以破旧东西堆满;伐木;笨重移动
参考例句:
  • The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。
  • They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。
60 impoverishment ae4f093f45919e5b388bce0d13eaa2e6     
n.贫穷,穷困;贫化
参考例句:
  • Therefore, the spiritual impoverishment is a more fearful social phenomenon. 所以,精神贫困是一种比物质贫困更隐蔽更可怕的社会现象。 来自互联网
  • Impoverishment is compounded by many elements, and can transmit to be a pernicious cycle. 贫困是由多种因素复合而成的,并且具有传递性,形成贫困的恶性循环。 来自互联网
61 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
62 literally 28Wzv     
adv.照字面意义,逐字地;确实
参考例句:
  • He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
  • Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候,她不走到真正要昏厥了,决不肯坐下来。
63 conceal DpYzt     
v.隐藏,隐瞒,隐蔽
参考例句:
  • He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方,他只好隐瞒身份。
  • He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。
64 aged 6zWzdI     
adj.年老的,陈年的
参考例句:
  • He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了,也老点了。
  • He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老,然而记忆力还好。
65 muddled cb3d0169d47a84e95c0dfa5c4d744221     
adj.混乱的;糊涂的;头脑昏昏然的v.弄乱,弄糟( muddle的过去式);使糊涂;对付,混日子
参考例句:
  • He gets muddled when the teacher starts shouting. 老师一喊叫他就心烦意乱。
  • I got muddled up and took the wrong turning. 我稀里糊涂地拐错了弯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
66 speculations da17a00acfa088f5ac0adab7a30990eb     
n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 );思考;投机活动;推断
参考例句:
  • Your speculations were all quite close to the truth. 你的揣测都很接近于事实。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • This possibility gives rise to interesting speculations. 这种可能性引起了有趣的推测。 来自《用法词典》
67 inevitable 5xcyq     
adj.不可避免的,必然发生的
参考例句:
  • Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
  • The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。
68 vices 01aad211a45c120dcd263c6f3d60ce79     
缺陷( vice的名词复数 ); 恶习; 不道德行为; 台钳
参考例句:
  • In spite of his vices, he was loved by all. 尽管他有缺点,还是受到大家的爱戴。
  • He vituperated from the pulpit the vices of the court. 他在教堂的讲坛上责骂宫廷的罪恶。
69 jealousy WaRz6     
n.妒忌,嫉妒,猜忌
参考例句:
  • Some women have a disposition to jealousy.有些女人生性爱妒忌。
  • I can't support your jealousy any longer.我再也无法忍受你的嫉妒了。
70 vigor yLHz0     
n.活力,精力,元气
参考例句:
  • The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
  • She didn't want to be reminded of her beauty or her former vigor.现在,她不愿人们提起她昔日的美丽和以前的精力充沛。
71 unnatural 5f2zAc     
adj.不自然的;反常的
参考例句:
  • Did her behaviour seem unnatural in any way?她有任何反常表现吗?
  • She has an unnatural smile on her face.她脸上挂着做作的微笑。
72 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
73 arbor fyIzz0     
n.凉亭;树木
参考例句:
  • They sat in the arbor and chatted over tea.他们坐在凉亭里,边喝茶边聊天。
  • You may have heard of Arbor Day at school.你可能在学校里听过植树节。
74 renounce 8BNzi     
v.放弃;拒绝承认,宣布与…断绝关系
参考例句:
  • She decided to renounce the world and enter a convent.她决定弃绝尘世去当修女。
  • It was painful for him to renounce his son.宣布与儿子脱离关系对他来说是很痛苦的。
75 queried 5c2c5662d89da782d75e74125d6f6932     
v.质疑,对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 );询问
参考例句:
  • She queried what he said. 她对他说的话表示怀疑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • \"What does he have to do?\" queried Chin dubiously. “他有什么心事?”琴向觉民问道,她的脸上现出疑惑不解的神情。 来自汉英文学 - 家(1-26) - 家(1-26)
76 supreme PHqzc     
adj.极度的,最重要的;至高的,最高的
参考例句:
  • It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
  • He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
77 maternity kjbyx     
n.母性,母道,妇产科病房;adj.孕妇的,母性的
参考例句:
  • Women workers are entitled to maternity leave with full pay.女工产假期间工资照发。
  • Trainee nurses have to work for some weeks in maternity.受训的护士必须在产科病房工作数周。
78 entrusted be9f0db83b06252a0a462773113f94fa     
v.委托,托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He entrusted the task to his nephew. 他把这任务托付给了他的侄儿。
  • She was entrusted with the direction of the project. 她受委托负责这项计划。 来自《简明英汉词典》
79 exquisite zhez1     
adj.精美的;敏锐的;剧烈的,感觉强烈的
参考例句:
  • I was admiring the exquisite workmanship in the mosaic.我当时正在欣赏镶嵌画的精致做工。
  • I still remember the exquisite pleasure I experienced in Bali.我依然记得在巴厘岛所经历的那种剧烈的快感。
80 subtlety Rsswm     
n.微妙,敏锐,精巧;微妙之处,细微的区别
参考例句:
  • He has shown enormous strength,great intelligence and great subtlety.他表现出充沛的精力、极大的智慧和高度的灵活性。
  • The subtlety of his remarks was unnoticed by most of his audience.大多数听众都没有觉察到他讲话的微妙之处。
81 quaintly 7kzz9p     
adv.古怪离奇地
参考例句:
  • "I don't see what that's got to do with it,'said the drummer quaintly. “我看不出这和你的事有什么联系,"杜洛埃说道,他感到莫名其妙。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
  • He is quaintly dressed, what a strange one he is. 他一身的奇装异服,真是另类!
82 specialized Chuzwe     
adj.专门的,专业化的
参考例句:
  • There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
  • These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。
83 fulfill Qhbxg     
vt.履行,实现,完成;满足,使满意
参考例句:
  • If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了,你就要履行你的诺言。
  • This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。
84 bereaved dylzO0     
adj.刚刚丧失亲人的v.使失去(希望、生命等)( bereave的过去式和过去分词);(尤指死亡)使丧失(亲人、朋友等);使孤寂;抢走(财物)
参考例句:
  • The ceremony was an ordeal for those who had been recently bereaved. 这个仪式对于那些新近丧失亲友的人来说是一种折磨。
  • an organization offering counselling for the bereaved 为死者亲友提供辅导的组织
85 hearsay 4QTzB     
n.谣传,风闻
参考例句:
  • They started to piece the story together from hearsay.他们开始根据传闻把事情的经过一点点拼湊起来。
  • You are only supposing this on hearsay.You have no proof.你只是根据传闻想像而已,并没有证据。


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