3.Salt

Salt

Then comes the night of Nellie’s near escape.
She’ll never know exactly how, but Lucy likes to think it began as most escapes do: in the dead of the night. What’s still called the hour of the wolf. Decades back, before the buffalo¹ were slaughtered² and the tigers that fed on them died too, a lone⁴ horse in these hills would have quaked in fear of carnivores come slavering. Though there are no tigers, Nellie trembles like her ancestors. She’s smarter than most people, her master claimed. She knows there are things more fearsome than any living threat. The thing strapped⁵ to her back, for instance, that dead thing she can’t shake. Nellie waits till the stars stare through their peepholes of sky and the two sleepers⁶ lie quiet. Then she commences to dig.
Nellie digs through the hours of the wolf, the snake, the owl⁷, the bat, the mole⁸, the sparrow. At the hour of earthworms stirring in their burrows⁹, Lucy and Sam wake to the knock of hooves against the stake.
Sam is quicker. Four strides and Sam’s caught the reins¹⁰ in one hand. With the other, Sam slaps Nellie. Hard.
The mare¹¹ only snorts, but the sound echoes in Lucy along with the sound of other slaps by other hands on other parts. She leaps between girl and horse. Sam’s hand halts in midair. Only then, her neck loosening, does Lucy admit she didn’t know if Sam would stop.
“She tried to run,” Sam says with arm still raised.
“You scared her.”
“She’s a traitor¹². She’d’ve made off with Ba.”
“She’s got feelings too. She’s—”
“Smarter than most people,” Sam mocks, lowering her voice to ape Teacher Leigh. It’s half-convincing. A fit to Sam’s new, leaner face. They both of them go quiet. When Sam speaks again it’s still in a borrowed voice, not quite a man’s but not quite Sam’s own. “If Nellie’s so smart then she understands loyalty¹³. If she’s so smart she can take her punishment.”
“She’s worn out by the weight. I’m tired too. Aren’t you?”
“Ba wouldn’t quit on account of being tired.”
And maybe that was Ba’s problem. Maybe he should’ve made peace with what they had before he died dirty in his bed, not a clean shirt to his name. Lucy presses a hand to her hot scalp. Her head buzzes. Strange thoughts have been taking residence in her empty spaces. Sometimes it seems the wind itself whispers notions at night.
“Let’s let her rest a while,” Lucy says. “Anyhow, we can’t have much farther to go.” She looks around at the hills. Not a soul to speak to since they left the two boys at that crossroads a month back. She’s got to ask, for Nellie’s sake if not her own. “Right?”
Sam shrugs¹⁵.
“Sam?”
Another shrug¹⁴. This time Lucy perceives the softening¹⁶ in Sam’s shoulders as doubt.
“If we keep on,” Sam says, “we might find a better place.”
The next place might be better, Ba said each time they packed up for a new mine. Better never came.
“You don’t know where you’re going,” Lucy says. And then, unbidden, she is laughing. She hasn’t laughed since Ba died. These aren’t her forced ha-has but something raw and hurting as it pulls free. If Sam means to chase Ba’s dream of wildness, they’ll never quit wandering. And maybe that’s what Sam wants: Ba forever on their backs.
“Don’t be stupid,” Lucy says when she catches her breath. “We can’t last.”
“We could if you were stronger.” Those words are Ba’s words. As the sneer¹⁷ is Ba’s, and the swing of Sam’s hand aiming once more for Nellie.
Lucy grabs Sam. Touch is a shock—Sam’s wristbones so small and fine despite that brashness. Sam tugs¹⁸ away, pulling Lucy off-balance. Lucy flings an arm out—and her nails graze Sam’s cheek.
Sam flinches¹⁹. Sam who’s never quailed²⁰ before, not from the kids and their stones, not from Ba at his drunkest. But why would Sam? Ba didn’t ever aim to hit Sam, as Lucy just did. The morning light is stark²¹ now, Sam’s accusing eyes as wide as twin suns.
Coward that she is, Lucy flees. The blows resume behind her.
She climbs. Up the biggest hill she can find, thirsting plants reaching up the hem³ of her dress, which is too short now, and faded from travel. The grass so parched²² it draws blood, hatching her legs with delicate pattern. At the summit, she folds her knees to her chest. Puts her head between and squeezes her ears shut.Ting le?Ma asked, holding her hands over Lucy’s ears. Silence for that first moment. Then the throb²³ and whoosh²⁴ of Lucy’s own blood. It’s inside you. Where you come from. The sound of the ocean.
Salt water, poison to its drinkers. In Teacher Leigh’s history book, land stops at the ocean that borders this Western territory. Beyond: blank blue, sea monsters drawn²⁵ among the waves. The savage²⁶ unknown, the teacher said, and it troubled Lucy that Ma spoke²⁷ so yearningly²⁸.
For the first time, Lucy understands the desire to travel so far from the life she’s known. She meant for them to leave Sam’s violence when they fled town. But violence lives in Lucy too.
“Sorry,” Lucy says. This time to Ma. She hasn’t taken care of Sam as Ma bid her. She doesn’t know if she can. And then, because Sam isn’t there to witness weakness, Lucy finally lets herself cry. She licks the tears as she goes. Salt’s expensive, missing from their table for many years. She cries till her tongue shrivels. Then she chews a blade of grass to clear the taste.
The grass tastes of ocean too.
A second blade proves just as salty. Lucy stands, looking over the hilltop. There: a gleam of white.
She walks till she reaches the edge of a huge white disk that crunches²⁹ underfoot, burning her scratches. Height of the dry season and all through the hills, the shallow pools and creeks³⁰ are disappearing. Here a whole lake has gone, and left behind a salt flat.
Lucy stands long enough for the clouds to gather, the world to swirl³¹ around her. She thinks of the plums Ma pickled in salt, the way they took a form more potent³² than their origins. She thinks of Ba salting his game. Of salt to scour³³ iron. Of salt in an open wound, a burn that purifies. Salt to clean and salt to save. Salt on a rich man’s table every Sunday, a flavor to mark the passage of the week. Salt shrinking the flesh of fruit and meat both, changing it, buying time.
—
The sun’s swung low when Lucy descends³⁴. Sam’s face is mottled, but not on account of shadows. Sam rages—yet there is fear behind it. What here in this emptiness could scare Sam?
“You left,” Sam spits out between a string of cusses, and Lucy understands. She broke the unspoken contract of their lives. Always it’s been Sam who ranges wide while Lucy sat, waiting. Sam’s never been left behind.
Lucy speaks, gently, as she would to a spooked horse. Of salt and pork, venison and squirrel, while Sam refuses. Yells louder.
“It’ll mean we can keep looking,” Lucy says. “Nellie’s not as strong as you.” She pauses. “Nor am I.”
This soothes³⁵ Sam, but what convinces is the wind that insinuates³⁶ itself between them, carrying the flies and the odor of Ba. Both siblings³⁷ pale. So when Lucy says certain Indian tribes honored their warriors³⁸ this way, Sam relents at last.
Does it matter that agreement was bought with a lie?
For the first time they untie³⁹ the ropes from Nellie’s back. Freed, the mare rolls in the grass, leaving a black mash⁴⁰ of flies.
What makes a man a man? They tip the trunk. Is it a face to show the world? Hands and feet to shape it? Two legs to walk it? A heart to beat, teeth and tongue to sing? Ba has few of these left. He lacks even a man’s shape. He’s shaped by the trunk as a stew⁴¹ is shaped by its pot. Lucy has salted meat gone green at the edges, and meat frozen for days. Nothing like this.
—
Sam approaches the salt flat at a run. By evening it’s as if one great white moon has sunk to the ground, leaving a lesser⁴² in the sky that rises, unconvincing. Sam leaps high and slams down those boots. A crack splits the surface, twice as long as Sam is tall. The boom like close thunder. Lucy peers up at the now-dark sky. Sure enough the clouds are circling.
She shoulders the shovel⁴³. Where Sam leaps, Lucy follows, prying⁴⁴ hunks of white. Goose bumps swim on Lucy’s skin despite the heat. This here’s a familiar rhythm. The digging. The heat. Even the boom like laughter from a man full-grown. Lucy looks up to find Sam looking back.
“It’s near as pretty as gold,” Sam agrees. Then, “Wish he coulda seen it.”
—
Sprinkled over Ba’s body, the salt looks like ash. Flies flee the onslaught, but the maggots can’t escape. In their death throes they look for all the world like small white tongues, curled in screams.
It takes four blistering⁴⁵ days for Ba to transform to something other. Time to rest Nellie and let her eat her fill of grass. Sam turns the parts, using the shovel to give them an even coat of salt. From time to time Sam chops apart a joint⁴⁶, a knot of flesh. At a distance Sam looks to hold an enormous spoon.
Burial is just another recipe, Ma said.
—
Ba dries up smaller than Lucy, smaller than Sam. They pour him into the empty rucksack: the startling brown flower of his ribs⁴⁷, the butterfly of his pelvis, the grin stuck to his skull⁴⁸. And lengths and lumps they can’t identify, hardened mysteries that may hold the answer to questions Lucy never could ask. Why’d he drink? Why’d he sometimes look like he was crying? Where’d he bury Ma?
They leave the stained trunk behind. Once, Ma carried it across the ocean. Now it’s a gift to the flies. Lucy feels an unexpected pang⁴⁹ of pity for those flies, which followed faithfully for weeks, buzzing and mating and birthing young. Countless⁵⁰ lives lived on the bounty⁵¹ of Ba’s corpse⁵², a generosity⁵³ of the kind the living Ba never showed. They’re doomed⁵⁴ to die by the hundreds. Each morning will dawn on more black bodies cold in the grass. If Lucy had a handful of silver, she’d scatter⁵⁵ it in their midst.

1 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

2 slaughtered   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The invading army slaughtered a lot of people. 侵略军杀了许多人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Hundreds of innocent civilians were cruelly slaughtered. 数百名无辜平民遭残杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 hem   

n.贴边，镶边；vt.缝贴边；(in)包围，限制

参考例句：

• The hem on her skirt needs sewing.她裙子上的褶边需要缝一缝。
• The hem of your dress needs to be let down an inch.你衣服的折边有必要放长1英寸。

4 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

5 strapped   

adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• Make sure that the child is strapped tightly into the buggy. 一定要把孩子牢牢地拴在婴儿车上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soldiers' great coats were strapped on their packs. 战士们的厚大衣扎捆在背包上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 sleepers   

n.卧铺（通常以复数形式出现）；卧车( sleeper的名词复数 )；轨枕；睡觉（呈某种状态）的人；小耳环

参考例句：

• He trod quietly so as not to disturb the sleepers. 他轻移脚步，以免吵醒睡着的人。 来自辞典例句
• The nurse was out, and we two sleepers were alone. 保姆出去了，只剩下我们两个瞌睡虫。 来自辞典例句

7 owl   

n.猫头鹰，枭

参考例句：

• Her new glasses make her look like an owl.她的新眼镜让她看上去像只猫头鹰。
• I'm a night owl and seldom go to bed until after midnight.我睡得很晚，经常半夜后才睡觉。

8 mole   

n.胎块；痣；克分子

参考例句：

• She had a tiny mole on her cheek.她的面颊上有一颗小黑痣。
• The young girl felt very self- conscious about the large mole on her chin.那位年轻姑娘对自己下巴上的一颗大痣感到很不自在。

9 burrows   

n.地洞( burrow的名词复数 )v.挖掘（洞穴），挖洞( burrow的第三人称单数 )；翻寻

参考例句：

• The intertidal beach unit contains some organism burrows. 潮间海滩单元含有一些生物潜穴。 来自辞典例句
• A mole burrows its way through the ground. 鼹鼠会在地下钻洞前进。 来自辞典例句

10 reins   

感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带

参考例句：

• She pulled gently on the reins. 她轻轻地拉着缰绳。
• The government has imposed strict reins on the import of luxury goods. 政府对奢侈品的进口有严格的控制手段。

11 mare   

n.母马，母驴

参考例句：

• The mare has just thrown a foal in the stable.那匹母马刚刚在马厩里产下了一只小马驹。
• The mare foundered under the heavy load and collapsed in the road.那母马因负载过重而倒在路上。

12 traitor   

n.叛徒，卖国贼

参考例句：

• The traitor was finally found out and put in prison.那个卖国贼终于被人发现并被监禁了起来。
• He was sold out by a traitor and arrested.他被叛徒出卖而被捕了。

13 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

14 shrug   

v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等)

参考例句：

• With a shrug,he went out of the room.他耸一下肩，走出了房间。
• I admire the way she is able to shrug off unfair criticism.我很佩服她能对错误的批评意见不予理会。

15 shrugs   

n.耸肩（以表示冷淡，怀疑等）( shrug的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany shrugs off this criticism. 匈牙利总理久尔恰尼对这个批评不以为然。 来自互联网
• She shrugs expressively and takes a sip of her latte. 她表达地耸肩而且拿她的拿铁的啜饮。 来自互联网

16 softening   

变软，软化

参考例句：

• Her eyes, softening, caressed his face. 她的眼光变得很温柔了。它们不住地爱抚他的脸。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• He might think my brain was softening or something of the kind. 他也许会觉得我婆婆妈妈的，已经成了个软心肠的人了。

17 sneer   

v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语

参考例句：

• He said with a sneer.他的话中带有嘲笑之意。
• You may sneer,but a lot of people like this kind of music.你可以嗤之以鼻，但很多人喜欢这种音乐。

18 tugs   

n.猛拉( tug的名词复数 )；猛拖；拖船v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The raucous sirens of the tugs came in from the river. 河上传来拖轮发出的沙哑的汽笛声。 来自辞典例句
• As I near the North Tower, the wind tugs at my role. 当我接近北塔的时候，风牵动着我的平衡杆。 来自辞典例句

19 flinches   

v.（因危险和痛苦）退缩，畏惧( flinch的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The brave man never flinches from danger. 勇敢者在危险面前从不退缩。 来自互联网
• Aureate scent-bottle can give person sex appeal mature sense, general and young girl flinches. 金色的香水瓶会给人性感成熟的感觉，一般年轻的女孩望而却步。 来自互联网

20 quailed   

害怕，发抖，畏缩( quail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I quailed at the danger. 我一遇到危险，心里就发毛。
• His heart quailed before the enormous pyramidal shape. 面对这金字塔般的庞然大物，他的心不由得一阵畏缩。 来自英汉文学

21 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

22 parched   

adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干

参考例句：

• Hot winds parched the crops.热风使庄稼干透了。
• The land in this region is rather dry and parched.这片土地十分干燥。

23 throb   

v.震颤，颤动；(急速强烈地)跳动，搏动

参考例句：

• She felt her heart give a great throb.她感到自己的心怦地跳了一下。
• The drums seemed to throb in his ears.阵阵鼓声彷佛在他耳边震响。

24 whoosh   

v.飞快地移动，呼

参考例句：

• It goes whoosh up and whoosh down.它呼一下上来了，呼一下又下去了。
• Whoosh!The straw house falls down.呼！稻草房子倒了。

25 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

26 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

27 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

28 yearningly   

怀念地，思慕地，同情地； 渴

参考例句：

• He asked himself yearningly, wondered secretly and sorely, if it would have lurked here or there. 她急切地问自己，一面又暗暗伤心地思索着，它会不会就藏匿在附近。
• His mouth struggled yearningly. 他满怀渴望，嘴唇发抖。

29 crunches   

n.（突发的）不足( crunch的名词复数 )；需要做出重要决策的困难时刻；紧要关头；嘎吱的响声v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的第三人称单数 )；嘎吱作响；（快速大量地）处理信息；数字捣弄

参考例句：

• I can't bear the way she crunches the sugar. 我简直看不惯她嚼糖的那副样子。 来自辞典例句
• Crunches with a twisting motion (to hit obliques) are excellent. 做仰卧起坐时加上转体动作更好。 来自互联网

30 creeks   

n.小湾( creek的名词复数 )；小港；小河；小溪

参考例句：

• The prospect lies between two creeks. 矿区位于两条溪流之间。 来自辞典例句
• There was the excitement of fishing in country creeks with my grandpa on cloudy days. 有在阴雨天和姥爷一起到乡村河湾钓鱼的喜悦。 来自辞典例句

31 swirl   

v.(使)打漩，(使)涡卷；n.漩涡，螺旋形

参考例句：

• The car raced roughly along in a swirl of pink dust.汽车在一股粉红色尘土的漩涡中颠簸着快速前进。
• You could lie up there,watching the flakes swirl past.你可以躺在那儿，看着雪花飘飘。

32 potent   

adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的

参考例句：

• The medicine had a potent effect on your disease.这药物对你的病疗效很大。
• We must account of his potent influence.我们必须考虑他的强有力的影响。

33 scour   

v.搜索；擦，洗，腹泻，冲刷

参考例句：

• Mother made me scour the family silver.母亲让我擦洗家里的银器。
• We scoured the telephone directory for clues.我们仔细查阅电话簿以寻找线索。

34 descends   

v.下来( descend的第三人称单数 )；下去；下降；下斜

参考例句：

• This festival descends from a religious rite. 这个节日起源于宗教仪式。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The path descends steeply to the village. 小路陡直而下直到村子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

35 soothes   

v.安慰( soothe的第三人称单数 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦

参考例句：

• Fear grasps, love lets go. Fear rankles, love soothes. 恐惧使人痛心，爱使痛苦减轻。 来自互联网
• His loe celebrates her victories and soothes her wounds. 他的爱庆祝她的胜利，也抚平她的创伤。 来自互联网

36 insinuates   

n.暗示( insinuate的名词复数 )；巧妙或迂回地潜入；（使）缓慢进入；慢慢伸入v.暗示( insinuate的第三人称单数 )；巧妙或迂回地潜入；（使）缓慢进入；慢慢伸入

参考例句：

• Slang insinuates itself into the language. 俚语慢慢地渗入语言中。 来自辞典例句
• But the division of labor slowly insinuates itself into this process of production. 但是，分工慢慢地侵入了这种生产过程。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源

37 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

38 warriors   

武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
• The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。

39 untie   

vt.解开，松开；解放

参考例句：

• It's just impossible to untie the knot.It's too tight.这个结根本解不开。太紧了。
• Will you please untie the knot for me?请你替我解开这个结头，好吗？

40 mash   

n.麦芽浆，糊状物，土豆泥；v.把…捣成糊状，挑逗，调情

参考例句：

• He beat the potato into a mash before eating it.他把马铃薯捣烂后再吃。
• Whiskey,originating in Scotland,is distilled from a mash of grains.威士忌源于苏格兰，是从一种大麦芽提纯出来的。

41 stew   

n.炖汤，焖，烦恼；v.炖汤，焖，忧虑

参考例句：

• The stew must be boiled up before serving.炖肉必须煮熟才能上桌。
• There's no need to get in a stew.没有必要烦恼。

42 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

43 shovel   

n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出

参考例句：

• He was working with a pick and shovel.他在用镐和铲干活。
• He seized a shovel and set to.他拿起一把铲就干上了。

44 prying   

adj.爱打听的v.打听，刺探（他人的私事）( pry的现在分词 )；撬开

参考例句：

• I'm sick of you prying into my personal life! 我讨厌你刺探我的私生活！
• She is always prying into other people's affairs. 她总是打听别人的私事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

45 blistering   

adj.酷热的；猛烈的；使起疱的；可恶的v.起水疱；起气泡；使受暴晒n.[涂料] 起泡

参考例句：

• The runners set off at a blistering pace. 赛跑运动员如脱缰野马般起跑了。
• This failure is known as preferential wetting and is responsible for blistering. 这种故障称为优先吸湿，是产生气泡的原因。 来自辞典例句

46 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

47 ribs   

n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹

参考例句：

• He suffered cracked ribs and bruising. 他断了肋骨还有挫伤。
• Make a small incision below the ribs. 在肋骨下方切开一个小口。

48 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

49 pang   

n.剧痛，悲痛，苦闷

参考例句：

• She experienced a sharp pang of disappointment.她经历了失望的巨大痛苦。
• She was beginning to know the pang of disappointed love.她开始尝到了失恋的痛苦。

50 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

51 bounty   

n.慷慨的赠予物，奖金；慷慨，大方；施与

参考例句：

• He is famous for his bounty to the poor.他因对穷人慷慨相助而出名。
• We received a bounty from the government.我们收到政府给予的一笔补助金。

52 corpse   

n.尸体，死尸

参考例句：

• What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
• The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。

53 generosity   

n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为

参考例句：

• We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
• We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。

54 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。

55 scatter   

vt.撒，驱散，散开；散布/播；vi.分散，消散

参考例句：

• You pile everything up and scatter things around.你把东西乱堆乱放。
• Small villages scatter at the foot of the mountain.村庄零零落落地散布在山脚下。