Domesticity Invaded
i
Early in the afternoon, two days later, Hilda came, with an air of reproach, into her mother’s empty bedroom. Mrs. Lessways had contracted a severe cold in the head, a malady1 to which she was subject and which she accepted with fatalistic submission2, even pleasurably giving herself up to it, as a martyr3 to the rack. Mrs. Lessways’ colds annoyed Hilda, who out of her wisdom could always point to the precise indiscretion which had caused them, and to whom the spectacle of a head wrapped day and night in flannel4 was offensively ridiculous. Moreover, Hilda in these crises was further and still more acutely exasperated5 by the pillage6 of her handkerchiefs. Although she possessed7 a supply of handkerchiefs far beyond her own needs, she really hated to lend to her mother in the hour of necessity. She did lend, and she lent without spoken protest, but with frigid8 bitterness. Her youthful passion for order and efficiency was aggrieved9 by her mother’s negligent10 and inadequate11 arrangements for coping with the inevitable12 plague. She now made a police-visit to the bedroom because she considered that her mother had been demanding handkerchiefs at a stage too early in the progress of the disease. Impossible that her mother should have come to the end of her own handkerchiefs! She knew with all the certitude of her omniscience13 that numerous clean handkerchiefs must be concealed14 somewhere in the untidiness of her mother’s wardrobe.
See her as she enters the bedroom, the principal bedroom of the house, whose wide bed and large wardrobe recall the past when she had a father as well as a mother, and when that bedroom awed15 her footsteps! A thin, brown-frocked girl, wearing a detested16 but enforced small black apron17; with fine, pale, determined18 features, rather unfeminine hair, and glowering19, challenging black eyes. She had a very decided20 way of putting down her uncoquettishly shod feet. Absurdly young, of course; wistfully young! She was undeveloped, and did not even look nearly twenty-one. You are at liberty to smile at her airs; at that careless critical glance which pityingly said: “Ah! if this were my room, it would be different from what it is;” at that serious worried expression, as if the anxiety of the whole world’s deficiencies oppressed the heart within; and at that supreme21 conviction of wisdom, which after all was little but an exaggerated perception of folly22 and inconsistency in others!... She is not to be comprehended on an acquaintance of three days. Years must go to the understanding of her. She did not understand herself. She was not even acquainted with herself. Why! She was na?ve enough to be puzzled because she felt older than her mother and younger than her beautiful girlish complexion23, simultaneously24!
She opened the central mirrored door of the once formidable wardrobe, and as she did so the image of the bed and of half the room shot across the swinging glass, taking the place of her own reflection. And instantly, when she inserted herself between the exposed face of the wardrobe and its door, she was precipitated25 into the most secret intimacy26 of her mother’s existence. There was the familiar odour of old kid gloves.... She was more intimate with her mother now than she could ever be in talking to her. The lower part of this section of the wardrobe consisted of three deep drawers with inset brass27 handles, an exquisitely28 exact piece of mahogany cabinetwork. From one of the drawers a bit of white linen30 untidily protruded31. Her mother! The upper part was filled with sliding trays, each having a raised edge to keep the contents from falling out. These trays were heaped pell-mell with her mother’s personal belongings—small garments, odd indeterminate trifles, a muff, a bundle of whalebone, veils, bags, and especially cardboard boxes. Quantities of various cardboard boxes! Her mother kept everything, could not bear that anything which had once been useful should be abandoned or destroyed; whereas Hilda’s propensity32 was to throw away with an impatient gesture whatever threatened to be an encumbrance33. Sighing, she began to arrange the contents of the trays in some kind of method. Incompetent34 and careless mother! Hilda wondered how the old thing managed to conduct her life from day to day with even a semblance35 of the decency36 of order. It did not occur to her that for twenty-five years before she was born, and for a long time afterwards, Mrs. Lessways had contrived37 to struggle along through the world, without her daughter’s aid, to the general satisfaction of herself and some others. At length, ferreting on the highest shelf but one, she had the deep, proud satisfaction of the philosopher who has correctly deduced consequences from character. Underneath38 a Paisley shawl she discovered a lost treasure of clean handkerchiefs. One, two, three, four—there were eleven! And among them was one of her own, appropriated by her mother through sheer inexcusable inadvertence. They had probably been lying under the shawl for weeks, months!
Still, she did not allow herself to be vexed39. Since the singular hysterical40 embrace in the twilight41 of the kitchen, she had felt for her mother a curious, kind, forbearing, fatalistic indulgence. “Mother is like that, and there you are!” And further, her mood had been so changed and uplifted by excitement and expectation that she could not be genuinely harsh. She had been thrilled by the audacity42 of the visit to Mr. Cannon43. And though she hoped from it little but a negative advantage, she was experiencing the rare happiness of adventure. She had slipped out for a moment from the confined and stifling44 circle of domestic dailiness. She had scented45 the feverish46 perfume of the world. And she owed all this to herself alone! She meant on the morrow, while her mother was marketing47, to pursue the enterprise; the consciousness of this intention was sweet, but she knew not why it was sweet. She only knew that she lived in the preoccupation of a dream.
Having taken two of the handkerchiefs, she shut the wardrobe and turned the key. She went first to her own small, prim48 room to restore stolen property to its rightful place, and then she descended49 towards the kitchen with the other handkerchief. Giving it to her mother, and concealing50 her triumph beneath a mask of wise, long-suffering benevolence51, she would say: “I’ve found ten of your handkerchiefs, mother. Here’s one!” And her mother, ingenuously52 startled and pleased, would exclaim: “Where, child?” And she, still controlling herself, as befitted a superior being, would reply casually53: “In your wardrobe, of course! You stuck to it there weren’t any; but I was sure there were.”
ii
The dialogue which actually did accompany the presentation of the handkerchief, though roughly corresponding to her rehearsal54 of it, was lacking in the dramatic pungency55 necessary for a really effective triumph; the reason being that the thoughts of both mother and daughter were diverted in different ways from the handkerchief by the presence of Florrie in the kitchen.
Florrie was the new servant, and she had come into the house that morning. Sponsored by an aunt who was one of the best of the Calder Street tenants56, Florrie had been accepted rather unwillingly57, the objection to her being that she was too young—thirteen and a half. Mrs. Lessways had a vague humanitarian58 sentiment against the employment of children; as for Hilda’s feeling, it was at one moment more compassionate59 even than her mother’s, and at another almost cynically60 indifferent. The aunt, however, a person of powerful common sense, had persuaded Mrs. Lessways that the truest kindness would be to give Florrie a trial. Florrie was very strong, and she had been brought up to work hard, and she enjoyed working hard. “Don’t you, Florrie?” “Yes, aunt,” with a delightful61 smiling, whispering timidity. She was the eldest62 of a family of ten, and had always assisted her mother in the management of a half-crown house and the nurture63 of a regiment64 of infants. But at thirteen and a half a girl ought to be earning money for her parents. Bless you! She knew what a pawnshop was, her father being often out of a job owing to potter’s asthma65; and she had some knowledge of cookery, and was in particular very good at boiling potatoes. To take her would be a real kindness on the part of Mrs. Lessways, for the ‘place’ was not merely an easy place, it was a ‘good’ place. Supposing that Mrs. Lessways refused to have her,—well, Florrie might go on to a ‘potbank’ and come to harm, or she might engage herself with tradespeople, where notoriously the work was never finished, or she might even be forced into a public-house. Her aunt knew that they wanted a servant at the “Queen Adelaide,” where the wages would be pretty high. But no! No niece of hers should ever go into service at a public-house if she could help it! What with hot rum and coffee to be ready for customers at half-past five of a morning, and cleaning up at nights after closing, a poor girl would never see her bed! Whereas at Mrs. Lessways’...! So Mrs. Lessways took Florrie in order to save her from slavery.
The slim child was pretty, with graceful66 and eager movements, and certainly a rapid comprehension. Her grey eyes sparkled, and her brown hair was coquettishly tied up, rather in the manner of a horse’s tail on May Day. She had arrived all by herself in the morning, with a tiny bundle, and she made a remarkably67 neat appearance—if you did not look at her boots, which had evidently been somebody else’s a long time before. Hilda had been clearly aware of a feeling of pleasure at the prospect68 of this young girl’s presence in the house.
Hilda now saw her in another aspect. She wore a large foul69 apron of sacking, which made her elegant body quite shapeless, and she was kneeling on the red-and-black tiled floor of the kitchen, with her enormous cracked boots sticking out behind her. At one side of her was a pail full of steaming brown water, and in her red coarse little hands, which did not seem to belong to those gracile arms, she held a dripping clout70. In front of her, on a half-dried space of clean, shining floor, stood Mrs. Lessways, her head wrapped in a flannel petticoat. Nearer to the child stretched a small semi-circle of liquid mud; to the rear was the untouched dirty floor. Florrie was looking up at her mistress with respectful, strained attention. She could not proceed with her work because Mrs. Lessways had chosen this moment to instruct her, with much snuffling, in the duties and responsibilities of her position.
“Yes, mum,” Florrie whispered. She seemed to be incapable71 of speaking beyond a whisper. But the whisper was delicate and agreeable; and perhaps it was a mysterious sign of her alleged72 unusual physical strength.
“You’ll have to be down at half-past six. Then you’ll light your kitchen fire, but of course you’ll get your coal up first. And then you’ll do your boots. Now the bacon—but never mind that—either Miss Hilda or me will be down tomorrow morning to show you.”
“Yes, mum,” Florrie’s whisper was grateful.
“When you’ve got things going a bit like, you’ll do your parlour—I’ve told you all about that, though. But I didn’t tell you—except on Wednesdays. On Wednesdays you give your parlour a thorough turn-out after breakfast, and mind it’s got to be all straight for dinner at half-past twelve.”
“Yes, mum.”
“I shall show you about your fire-irons—” Mrs. Lessways was continuing to make everything in the house the private property of Florrie, when Hilda interrupted her about the handkerchief, and afterwards with an exhortation73 to beware of the dampness of the floor, which exhortation Mrs. Lessways faintly resented; whereupon Hilda left the kitchen; it was always imprudent to come between Mrs. Lessways and a new servant.
Hilda remained listening in the lobby to the interminable and rambling74 instruction. At length Mrs. Lessways said benevolently75:
“There’s no reason why you shouldn’t go to bed at half-past eight, or nine at the latest. No reason whatever. And if you’re quick and handy —and I’m sure you are—you’ll have plenty of time in the afternoon for plain sewing and darning. I shall see how you can darn,” Mrs. Lessways added encouragingly.
“Yes, mum.”
Hilda’s heart revolted, less against her mother’s defects as an organizer than against the odious76 mess of the whole business of domesticity. She knew that, with her mother in the house, Florrie would never get to bed at half-past eight and very seldom at nine, and that she would never be free in the afternoons. She knew that if her mother would only consent to sit still and not interfere77, the housework could be accomplished78 with half the labour that at present went to it. There were three women in the place, or at any rate, a woman, a young woman, and a girl—and in theory the main preoccupation of all of them was this business of domesticity. It was, of course, ridiculous, and she would never be able to make anyone see that it was ridiculous. But that was not all. The very business itself absolutely disgusted her. It disgusted her to such a point that she would have preferred to do it with her own hands in secret rather than see others do it openly in all its squalor. The business might be more efficiently79 organized—for example, there was no reason why the sitting-room80 should be made uninhabitable between breakfast and dinner once a week—but it could never be other than odious. The kitchen floor must inevitably81 be washed every day by a girl on her knees in sackcloth with terrible hands. She was witnessing now the first stage in the progress of a victim of the business of domesticity. To-day Florrie was a charming young creature, full of slender grace. Soon she would be a dehumanized drudge82. And Hilda could not stop it! All over the town, in every street of the town, behind all the nice curtains and blinds, the same hidden shame was being enacted83: a vast, sloppy84, steaming, greasy85, social horror—inevitable! It amounted to barbarism, Hilda thought in her revolt. She turned from it with loathing86. And yet nobody else seemed to turn from it with loathing. Nobody else seemed to perceive that this business of domesticity was not life itself, was at best the clumsy external machinery87 of life. On the contrary, about half the adult population worshipped it as an exercise sacred and paramount88, enlarging its importance and with positive gusto permitting it to monopolize89 their existence. Nine-tenths of her mother’s conversation was concerned with the business of domesticity—and withal Mrs. Lessways took the business more lightly than most!
iii
There was an impatient knock at the front door,—rare phenomenon, but not unknown.
Mrs. Lessways cried out thickly from the folds of her flannel petticoat:
“Hilda, just see who that is, will you?... knocking like that! Florrie can’t come.”
And just as Hilda reached the front door, her mother opened the kitchen door wide, to view the troublesome disturber and to inform him, if as was probable he was exceeding his rights, that he would have done better to try the back door.
It was Mr. Cannon at the front door.
Hilda heard the kitchen door slammed to behind her, but the noise was like a hallucination in her brain. She was staggered by the apparition90 of Mr. Cannon in the porch. She had vaguely91 wondered what he might do to execute his promise of aid; she had felt that time was running short if her mother was to be prevented from commencing rent-collector on the Monday; she had perhaps ingenuously expected from him some kind of miracle; but of a surety she had never dreamed that he would call in person at her home. “He must be mad!” she would have exclaimed to herself, if the grandeur92 of his image in her heart had not made any such accusation93 impossible to her. He was not mad; he was merely inscrutable, terrifyingly so. It was as if her adventurous94 audacity, personified, had doubled back on her, and was exquisitely threatening her.
“Good afternoon!” said Mr. Cannon, smiling confidently and yet with ceremoniousness. “Is your mother about?”
“Yes.” Hilda did not know it, but she was whispering quite in the manner of Florrie.
“Shall I come in?”
“Oh! Please do!” The words jumped out of her mouth all at once, so anxious was she to destroy any impression conceivably made that she did not desire him to come in.
He crossed the step and took her hand with one gesture. She shut the door. He waited in suave95 silence. There was barely space for them together in the narrow lobby, and she scarce dared look up at him. He easily dominated her. His bigness subdued96 her, and the handsomeness of his face and his attire97 was like a moral intimidation98. He had a large physical splendour that was well set off and illustrated99 by the brilliance100 of his linen and his broadcloth. She was as modest as a mouse beside him. The superior young woman, the stern and yet indulgent philosopher, had utterly101 vanished, and only a poor little mouse remained.
“Will you please come into the drawing-room?” she murmured when, after an immense effort to keep full control of her faculties102, she had decided where he must be put.
“Thanks,” he said.
As she diminished herself, with beautiful shy curves of her body, against the wall so that he could manoeuvre103 his bigness through the drawing-room doorway104, he gave her a glance half benign105 and half politely malicious106, which seemed to say again: “I know you’re afraid, and I rather like it. But you know you needn’t be.”
“Please take a seat,” she implored107. And then quickly, as he seemed to have no intention of speaking to her confidentially108, “I’ll tell mother.”
Leaving the room, she saw him sink smoothly109 into a seat, his rich-piled hat in one gloved hand and an ebony walking-stick in the other. His presence had a disastrous110 effect on the chill, unfrequented drawing-room, reducing it instantly to a condition of paltry111 shabbiness.
The kitchen door was still shut. Yes, all the squalor of the business of domesticity must be hidden from this splendid being! Hilda went as a criminal into the kitchen. Mrs. Lessways with violent movements signalled her to close the door before speaking. Florrie gazed spellbound upwards112 at both of them. The household was in a high fever.
“You don’t mean to tell me that’s Mr. Cannon!” Mrs. Lessways excitedly whispered.
“Do—do—you know him?” Hilda faltered113.
“Do I know him!... What does he want?”
“He wants to see you.”
“What about?”
“I suppose it’s about property or something,” Hilda replied, blushing. Never had she felt so abject114 in front of her mother.
Mrs. Lessways rapidly unpinned the flannel petticoat and then threw it, with a desperate gesture of sacrifice, on to the deal table. The situation had to be met. The resplendent male awaited her in the death-cold room. The resplendent male had his overcoat, but she, suffering, must face the rigour and the risk unprotected. No matter if she caught bronchitis! The thing had to be done. Even Hilda did not think of accusing her mother of folly. Mrs. Lessways having patted her hair, emptied several handkerchiefs from the twin pockets of her embroidered115 black apron, and, snatching at the clean handkerchief furnished by Hilda, departed to her fate. She was certainly startled and puzzled, but she was not a whit29 intimidated116, and the perception of this fact inspired Hilda with a new, reluctant respect for her mother.
Hilda, from the kitchen, heard the greetings in the drawing-room, and then the reverberations of the sufferer’s nose. She desired to go into the drawing-room. Her mother probably expected her to go in. But she dared not. She was afraid.
“I was wondering,” said the voice of Mr. Cannon, “whether you’ve ever thought of selling your Calder Street property, Mrs. Lessways.” And then the drawing-room door was closed, and the ticking of the grandfather’s clock resumed possession of the lobby.
收听单词发音 |
1
malady
|
|
| n.病，疾病(通常做比喻) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
submission
|
|
| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
martyr
|
|
| n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
flannel
|
|
| n.法兰绒；法兰绒衣服 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
exasperated
|
|
| adj.恼怒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
pillage
|
|
| v.抢劫；掠夺；n.抢劫，掠夺；掠夺物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
possessed
|
|
| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
frigid
|
|
| adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
aggrieved
|
|
| adj.愤愤不平的，受委屈的；悲痛的；（在合法权利方面）受侵害的v.令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式)；令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式和过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
negligent
|
|
| adj.疏忽的；玩忽的；粗心大意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
inadequate
|
|
| adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
inevitable
|
|
| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
omniscience
|
|
| n.全知，全知者，上帝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
concealed
|
|
| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
awed
|
|
| adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
detested
|
|
| v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
apron
|
|
| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
glowering
|
|
| v.怒视( glower的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
supreme
|
|
| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
folly
|
|
| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
complexion
|
|
| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
simultaneously
|
|
| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
precipitated
|
|
| v.（突如其来地）使发生( precipitate的过去式和过去分词 )；促成；猛然摔下；使沉淀 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
intimacy
|
|
| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
brass
|
|
| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
exquisitely
|
|
| adv.精致地；强烈地；剧烈地；异常地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
whit
|
|
| n.一点，丝毫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
linen
|
|
| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
protruded
|
|
| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
propensity
|
|
| n.倾向；习性 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
encumbrance
|
|
| n.妨碍物，累赘 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
incompetent
|
|
| adj.无能力的，不能胜任的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
semblance
|
|
| n.外貌，外表 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
decency
|
|
| n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
contrived
|
|
| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
underneath
|
|
| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
vexed
|
|
| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
hysterical
|
|
| adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
twilight
|
|
| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
audacity
|
|
| n.大胆，卤莽，无礼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
cannon
|
|
| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
stifling
|
|
| a.令人窒息的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
scented
|
|
| adj.有香味的；洒香水的；有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
feverish
|
|
| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
marketing
|
|
| n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
prim
|
|
| adj.拘泥形式的，一本正经的；n.循规蹈矩，整洁；adv.循规蹈矩地，整洁地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
descended
|
|
| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
concealing
|
|
| v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
benevolence
|
|
| n.慈悲，捐助 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
ingenuously
|
|
| adv.率直地，正直地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
casually
|
|
| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
rehearsal
|
|
| n.排练，排演；练习 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
pungency
|
|
| n.（气味等的）刺激性；辣；（言语等的）辛辣；尖刻 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
tenants
|
|
| n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
unwillingly
|
|
| adv.不情愿地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
humanitarian
|
|
| n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
compassionate
|
|
| adj.有同情心的，表示同情的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
cynically
|
|
| adv.爱嘲笑地，冷笑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
delightful
|
|
| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
eldest
|
|
| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
nurture
|
|
| n.养育，照顾，教育；滋养，营养品；vt.养育，给与营养物，教养，扶持 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
regiment
|
|
| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
asthma
|
|
| n.气喘病，哮喘病 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
graceful
|
|
| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
remarkably
|
|
| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
prospect
|
|
| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
foul
|
|
| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
clout
|
|
| n.用手猛击；权力，影响力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
incapable
|
|
| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
alleged
|
|
| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
exhortation
|
|
| n.劝告，规劝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
rambling
|
|
| adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
benevolently
|
|
| adv.仁慈地，行善地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
odious
|
|
| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
interfere
|
|
| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
accomplished
|
|
| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
efficiently
|
|
| adv.高效率地，有能力地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
sitting-room
|
|
| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
inevitably
|
|
| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
drudge
|
|
| n.劳碌的人；v.做苦工，操劳 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
enacted
|
|
| 制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
sloppy
|
|
| adj.邋遢的，不整洁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
greasy
|
|
| adj. 多脂的，油脂的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
loathing
|
|
| n.厌恶，憎恨v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的现在分词)；极不喜欢 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
machinery
|
|
| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
paramount
|
|
| a.最重要的，最高权力的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
monopolize
|
|
| v.垄断，独占，专营 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
apparition
|
|
| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
vaguely
|
|
| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
grandeur
|
|
| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
accusation
|
|
| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
adventurous
|
|
| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
suave
|
|
| adj.温和的；柔和的；文雅的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
subdued
|
|
| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
attire
|
|
| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
intimidation
|
|
| n.恐吓，威胁 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
illustrated
|
|
| adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
brilliance
|
|
| n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
utterly
|
|
| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
faculties
|
|
| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
manoeuvre
|
|
| n.策略，调动；v.用策略，调动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
doorway
|
|
| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
benign
|
|
| adj.善良的，慈祥的；良性的，无危险的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
malicious
|
|
| adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
implored
|
|
| 恳求或乞求（某人）( implore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
confidentially
|
|
| ad.秘密地，悄悄地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
smoothly
|
|
| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
disastrous
|
|
| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
paltry
|
|
| adj.无价值的，微不足道的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
112
upwards
|
|
| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
113
faltered
|
|
| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
114
abject
|
|
| adj.极可怜的，卑屈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
115
embroidered
|
|
| adj．绣花的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
116
intimidated
|
|
| v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |