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Chapter 5
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1938-1953 FEENot wanting anyone to know of her return, Meggie rode out to Drogheda on the mail truck with old BlueyWilliams, Justine in a basket on the seat beside her. Bluey was delighted to see her and eager to know what shehad been doing for the last four years, but as they neared the homestead he fell silent, divining her wish to comehome in peace.

Back to brown and silver, back to dust, back to that wonderful purity and spareness North Queensland solacked. No profligate2 growth here, no hastening of decay to make room for more; only a slow, wheelinginevitability like the constellations3. Kangaroos, more than ever. Lovely little symmetrical wilgas, round andmatronly, almost coy. Galahs, soaring in pink waves of undersides above the truck. Emus at full run. Rabbits,hopping out of the road with white powder puffs4 lashing6 cheekily. Bleached7 skeletons of dead trees in the grass.

Mirages8 of timber stands on the far curving horizon as they came across the Dibban-Dibban plain, only theunsteady blue lines across their bases to indicate that the trees weren't real. The sound she had so missed butnever thought to miss, crows carking desolately9. Misty10 brown veils of dust whipped along by the dry autumnwind like dirty rain. And the grass, the silver-beige grass of the Great Northwest, stretching to the sky like abenediction.

Drogheda, Drogheda! Ghost gums and sleepy giant pepper trees a-hum with bees. Stockyards and butteryyellow sandstone buildings, alien green lawn around the big house, autumn flowers in the garden, wallflowersand zinnias, asters and dahlias, marigolds and calendulas, chrysanthemums12, roses, roses. The gravel13 of thebackyard, Mrs. Smith standing14 gaping15, then laughing, crying, Minnie and Cat running, old stringy arms likechains around her heart. For Drogheda was home, and here was her heart, for always. Fee came out to see whatall the fuss was about. "Hello, Mum. I've come home."The grey eyes didn't change, but in the new growth of her soul Meggie understood. Mum was glad; she justdidn't know how to show it. "Have you left Luke?" Fee asked, taking it for granted that Mrs. Smith and the maidswere as entitled to know as she was herself. "Yes. I shall never go back to him. He didn't want a home, or hischildren, or me.""Children?""Yes. I'm going to have another baby."Oohs and aahs from the servants, and Fee speaking her judgment16 in that measured voice, gladness underneath17.

"If he doesn't want you, then you were right to come home. We can look after you here."Her old room, looking out across the Home Paddock, the gardens. And a room next door for Justine, the newbaby when it came. Oh, it was so good to be home!

Bob was glad to see her, too. More and more like Paddy, he was becoming a little bent18 and sinewy19 as the sunbaked his skin and his bones to dryness. He had the same gentle strength of character, but perhaps because hehad never been the progenitor20 of a large family, he lacked Paddy's fatherly mien21. And he was like Fee, also.

Quiet, self-contained, not one to air his feelings or opinions. He had to be into his middle thirties, Meggiethought in sudden surprise, and still he wasn't married. Then Jack22 and Hughie came in, two duplicate Bobswithout his authority, their shy smiles welcoming her home. That must be it, she reflected; they are so shy, it isthe land, for the land doesn't need articulateness or social graces. It needs only what they bring to it, voice-lesslove and wholehearted fealty23.

The Cleary men were all home that night, to unload a truck of corn Jims and Patsy had picked up from theAMLANDF in Gilly.

"I've never seen it so dry, Meggie," Bob said. "No rain in two years, not a drop. And the bunnies are a biggercurse than the kangas; they're eating more grass than sheep and kangas combined. We're going to try to handfeed,but you know what sheep are."Only too well did Meggie know what sheep were. Idiots, incapable24 of understanding even the rudiments25 ofsurvival. What little brain the original animal had ever possessed26 was entirely27 bred out of these woollyaristocrats. Sheep wouldn't eat anything but grass, or scrub cut from their natural environment. But there justweren't enough hands to cut scrub to satisfy over a hundred thousand sheep.

"I take it you can use me?" she asked.

"Can we! You'll free up a man's hands for scrubcutting, Meggie, if you'll ride the inside paddocks the way youused to."True as their word, the twins were home for good. At fourteen they quit Riverview forever, couldn't head backto the black-oil plains quickly enough. Already they looked like juvenile29 Bobs, Jacks30 and Hughies, in what wasgradually replacing the old-fashioned grey twill and flannel31 as the uniform of the Great Northwest grazier: whitemoleskin breeches, white shirt, a flat-crowned grey felt hat with a broad brim, and ankle-high elastic-sided ridingboots with flat heels. Only the handful of half-caste aborigines who lived in Gilly's shanty32 section aped thecowboys of the American West, in high-heeled fancy boots and ten-gallon Stetsons. To a black-soil plainsmansuch gear was a useless affectation, a part of a different culture. A man couldn't walk through the scrub in high-heeled boots, and a man often had to walk through the scrub. And a ten-gallon Stetson was far too hot and heavy.

The chestnut33 mare34 and the black gelding were both dead; the stables were empty. Meggie insisted she was happywith a stock horse, but Bob went over to Martin King's to buy her two of his part-thoroughbred hacks35 comacreamy mare with a black mane and tail, and a leggy chestnut gelding. For some reason the loss of the oldchestnut mare hit Meggie harder than her actual parting from Ralph, a delayed reaction; as if in this the fact ofhis going was more clearly stated. But it was so good to be out in the paddocks again, to ride with the dogs, eatthe dust of a bleating36 mob of sheep, watch the birds, the sky, the land.

It was terribly dry. Drogheda's grass had always managed to outlast38 the droughts Meggie remembered, but thiswas different. The grass was patchy now; in between its tussocks the dark ground showed, cracked into a finenetwork of fissures39 gaping like parched40 mouths. For which mostly thank the rabbits. In the four years of herabsence they had suddenly multiplied out of all reason, though she supposed they had been bad for many yearsbefore that. It was just that almost overnight their numbers had reached far beyond saturation41 point. They wereeverywhere, and they, too, ate the precious grass. She learned to set rabbit traps, hating in a way to see the sweetlittle things mangled42 in steel teeth, but too much of a land person herself to flinch43 from doing what had to bedone. To kill in the name of survival wasn't cruelty.

"God rot the homesick Pommy who shipped the first rabbits out from England," said Bob bitterly.

They were not native to Australia, and their sentimental44 importation had completely upset the ecologicalbalance of the continent where sheep and cattle had not, these being scientifically grazed from the moment oftheir introduction. There was no natural Australian predator45 to control the rabbit numbers, and imported foxesdidn't thrive. Man must be an unnatural46 predator, but there were too few men, too many rabbits.

After Meggie grew too big to sit a horse, she spent her days in the homestead with Mrs. Smith, Minnie and Cat,sewing or knitting for the little thing squirming inside her. He (she always thought of it as he) was a part of heras Justine never had been; she suffered no sickness or depression, and looked forward eagerly to bearing him.

Perhaps Justine was inadvertently responsible for some of this; now that the little pale-eyed thing was changingfrom a mindless baby to an extremely intelligent girl child, Meggie found herself fascinated with the process andthe child. It was a long time since she had been indifferent to Justine, and she yearned47 to lavish48 love upon herdaughter, hug her, kiss her, laugh with her. To be politely rebuffed was a shock, but that was what Justine did atevery affectionate overture49. When Jims and Patsy left Riverview, Mrs. Smith had thought to get them back underher wing again, then came the disappointment of discovering they were away in the paddocks most of the time.

So Mrs. Smith turned to little Justine, and found herself as firmly shut out as Meggie was. It seemed that Justinedidn't want to be hugged, kissed or made to laugh. She walked and talked early, at nine months. Once upon herfeet and in command of a very articulate tongue, she proceeded to go her own way and do precisely50 whatever shewanted. Not that she was either noisy or defiant51; simply that she was made of very hard metal indeed. Meggieknew nothing about genes52, but if she had she might have pondered upon the result of an intermingling of Cleary,Armstrong and O'neill. It couldn't fail to be powerful human soup.

But the most dismaying thing was Justine's dogged refusal to smile or laugh. Every soul on Drogheda turnedinside out performing antics to make her germinate54 a grin, without success. When it came to innate55 solemnity sheoutdid her grandmother. On the first of October, when Justine was exactly sixteen months old, Meggie's son wasborn on Drogheda. He was almost four weeks early and not expected; there were two or three sharp contractions,the water broke, and he was delivered by Mrs. Smith and Fee a few minutes after they rang for the doctor.

Meggie had scarcely, had time to dilate57. The pain was minimal58, the ordeal59 so quickly over it might hardly havebeen; in spite of the stitches she had to have because his entry into the world had been so precipitate61, Meggie feltwonderful. Totally dry for Justine, her breasts were full to overflowing62. No need for bottles or tins of Lactogenthis time. And he was so beautiful! Long and slender, with a quiff of flaxen hair atop his perfect little skull64, andvivid blue eyes which gave no hint of changing later to some other color. How could they change? They wereRalph's eyes, as he had Ralph's hands, Ralph's nose and mouth, even Ralph's feet. Meggie was unprincipledenough to be very thankful Luke had been much the same build and coloring as Ralph, much the same infeatures. But the hands, the way the brows grew in, the downy widow's peak, the shape of the fingers and toes;they were so much Ralph, so little Luke. Better hope no one remembered which man owned what.

"Have you decided-on his name?" asked Fee; he seemed to fascinate her. Meggie watched her as she stoodholding him, and was grateful. Mum was going to love again; oh, maybe not the way she had loved Frank, but atleast she would feel something.

"I'm going to call him Dane.""What a queer name! Why? Is it an O'neill family name? I thought you were finished with the O'neills?""It's got nothing to do with Luke. This is his name, no one else's. I hate family names; it's like wishing a pieceof someone different onto a new person. I called Justine Justine simply because I liked the name, and I'm callingDane Dane for the same reason.

"Well, it does have a nice ring to it," Fee admitted. Meggie winced66; her breasts were too full. "Better give himto me, Mum. Oh, I hope he's hungry! And I hope old Blue remembers to bring that breast pump. Otherwiseyou're going to have to drive into Gilly for it."He was hungry; he tugged67 at her so hard his gummy little mouth hurt. Looking down on him, the closed eyeswith their dark, gold-tipped lashes68, the feathery brows, the tiny working cheeks, Meggie loved him so much thelove hurt her more than his sucking ever could.

He is enough; he has to be enough, I'll not get any more. But by God, Ralph de Bricassart, by that God you lovemore than me, you'll never know what I stole from you-and from Him. I'm never going to tell you about Dane.

Oh, my baby! Shifting on the pillows to settle him more comfortably into the crook69 of her arm, to see moreeasily that perfect little face. My baby! You're mine, and I'm never going to give you up to anyone else. Least ofall to your father, who is a priest and can't acknowledge you. Isn't that wonderful?

The boat docked in Genoa at the beginning of April. Archbishop Ralph landed in an Italy bursting into full,Mediterranean71 spring, and caught a train to Rome. Had he requested it he could have been met, chauffeured72 in aVatican car to Rome, but he dreaded74 to feel the Church close around him again; he wanted to put the moment offas long as he could. The Eternal City. It was truly that, he thought, staring out of the taxi windows at thecampaniles and domes76, and pigeon-strewn plazas77, the ambitious fountains, the Roman columns with their basesburied deep in the centuries. Well, to him they were all superfluities. What mattered to him was the part of Romecalled the Vatican, its sumptuous78 public rooms, its anything but sumptuous private rooms.

A black-and-cream-robed Dominican monk79 led him through high marble corridors, amid bronze and stonefigures worthy81 of a museum, past great paintings in the styles of Giotto, Raphael, Botticelli, Fra Angelico. Hewas in the public rooms of a great cardinal82, and no doubt the wealthy Contini-Verchese family had given muchto enhance their august scion's surroundings.

In a room of ivory and gold, rich with color from tapestries83 and pictures, French carpeted and furnished,everywhere touches of crimson84, sat Vittorio Scarbanza, Cardinal di Contini-Verchese. The small smooth hand,its ruby85 ring glowing, was extended to him in welcome; glad to fix his eyes downward, Archbishop Ralphcrossed the room, knelt, took the hand to kiss the ring. And laid his cheek against the hand, knowing he couldn'tlie, though he had meant to right up until the moment his lips touched that symbol of spiritual power, temporalauthority.

Cardinal Vittorio put his other hand on the bent shoulder, nodding a dismissal to the monk, then as the doorclosed softly his hand went from shoulder to hair, rested in its dark thickness, smoothed it back tenderly from thehalf-averted forehead. It had changed; soon it would be no longer black, but the color of iron. The bent spinestiffened, the shoulders went back, and Archbishop Ralph looked directly up into his master's face. Ah, there hadbeen a change! The mouth had drawn87 in, knew pain and was more vulnerable; the eyes, so beautiful in color andshape and setting, were yet completely different from the eyes he still remembered as if bodily they had neverleft him. Cardinal Vittorio had always had a fancy that the eyes of Jesus were blue, and like Ralph's: calm,removed from what He saw and therefore able to encompass88 all, understand all. But perhaps it had been amistaken fancy. How could one feel for humanity and suffer oneself without its showing in the eyes?

"Come, Ralph, sit down.""Your Eminence89, I wish to confess.""Later, later! First we will talk, and in English. There are ears everywhere these days, but, thank our dear Jesus,not English-speaking ears. Sit down, Ralph, please. Oh, it is so good to see you! I have missed your wisecounsel, your rationality, your perfect brand of companionship. They have not given me anyone I like half sowell as you."He could feel his brain clicking into the formality already, feel the very thoughts in his mind take on morestilted phrasing; more than most people, Ralph de Bricassart knew how everything about one changed with one'scompany, even one's speech. Not for these ears the easy fluency90 of colloquial91 English. So he sat down not faraway, and directly opposite the slight figure in its scarlet92 moiré, the color changing yet not changing, of a qualitywhich made its edges fuse with the surroundings rather than stand out from them. The desperate weariness hehad known for weeks seemed to be easing a little from his shoulders; he wondered why he had dreaded thismeeting so, when he had surely known in his heart he would be understood, forgiven. But that wasn't it, not it atall. It was his own guilt93 at having failed, at being less than he had aspired94 to be, at disappointing a man who hadbeen interested, tremendously kind, a true friend. His guilt at walking into this pure presence no longer purehimself.

"Ralph, we are priests, but we are something else before that; something we were before we became priests, andwhich we cannot escape in spite of our exclusiveness. We are men, with the weaknesses and failings of men.

There is nothing you can tell me which could alter the impressions I formed of you during our years together,nothing you could tell me which will make me think less of you, or like you less. For many years I have knownthat you had escaped this realization95 of our intrinsic weakness, of our humanity, but I knew you must come to it,for we all do. Even the Holy Father, who is the most humble96 and human of us all.""I broke my vows97, Your Eminence. That isn't easily forgiven. It's sacrilege.""Poverty you broke years ago, when you accepted the bequest98 of Mrs. Mary Carson. Which leaves cha/y andobedience, does it not?" "Then all three were broken, Your Eminence.""I wish you would call me Vittorio, as you used to! I am not shocked, Ralph, nor disappointed. It is as Our LordJesus Christ wills, and I think perhaps you had a great lesson to learn which could not be learned in any way lessdestructive. God is mysterious, His reasons beyond our poor comprehension. But I think what you did was notdone lightly, your vows thrown away as having no value. I know you very well. I know you to be proud, verymuch in love with the idea of being a priest, very conscious of your exclusiveness. It is possible that you neededthis particular lesson to reduce that pride, make you understand that you are first a man, and therefore not asexclusive as you think. Is it not so?" "Yes. I lacked humility100, and I believe in a way I aspired to be God Himself.

I've sinned most grievously and inexcusably. I can't forgive myself, so how can I hope for divine forgiveness?""The pride, Ralph, the pride! It is not your place to forgive, do you not understand that yet? Only God canforgive. Only God! And He will forgive if the sincere repentance101 is there. He has forgiven greater sins from fargreater saints, you know, as well as from far greater villains103. Do you think Prince Lucifer is not forgiven? Hewas forgiven in the very moment of his rebellion. His fate as ruler of Hell is his own, not God's doing. Did he notsay it? "Better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven!" For he could not overcome his pride, he could not bear tosubjugate his will to the Will of Someone else, even though that Someone was God Himself. I do not want to seeyou make the same mistake, my dearest friend. Humility was the one quality you lacked, and it is the veryquality which makes a great saint-or a great man. Until you can leave the matter of forgiveness to God, you willnot have acquired true humility."The strong face twisted. "Yes, I know you're right. I must accept what I am without question, only strive to bebetter without having pride in what I am. I repent102, therefore I shall confess and await forgiveness. I do repent,bitterly." He sighed; his eyes betrayed the conflict his measured words couldn't, not in this room.

"And yet, Vittorio, in a way there was nothing else I could do. Either I ruined her, or I took the ruin uponmyself. At the time there didn't seem to be a choice, because I do love her. It wasn't her fault that I've neverwanted the love to extend to a physical plane. Her fate became more important than my own, you see. Until thatmoment I had always considered myself first, as more important than she, because I was a priest, and she was alesser being. But I saw that I was responsible for what she is .... I should have let her go when she was a child,but I didn't. I kept her in my heart and she knew it. If I had truly plucked her out she would have known that, too,and she would have become someone I couldn't influence." He smiled. "You see that I have much to repent. Itried a little creating of my own.""It was the Rose?"The head went back; Archbishop Ralph looked at the elaborate ceiling with its gilded105 moldings and baroqueMurano chandelier. "Could it have been anyone else? She's my only attempt at creation.""And will she be all right, the Rose? Did you do her more harm by this than in denying her?""I don't know, Vittorio. I wish I did! At the time it just seemed the only thing to do. I'm not gifted withPromethean foresight106, and emotional involvement makes one a poor judge. Besides, it simply . . . happened! ButI think perhaps she needed most what I gave her, the recognition of her identity as a woman. I don't mean thatshe didn't know she was a woman. I mean 1 didn't know. If I had first met her as a woman it might have beendifferent, but I knew her as a child for many years.""You sound rather priggish, Ralph, and not yet ready for forgiveness. It hurts, does it not? That you could havebeen human enough to yield to human weakness. Was it really done in such a spirit of noble self-sacrifice?"Startled, he looked into the liquid dark eyes, saw himself reflected in them as two tiny manikins of insignificantproportion. "No," he said. "I'm a man, and as a man I found a pleasure in her I didn't dream existed. I didn't knowa woman felt like that, or could be the source of such profound joy. I wanted never to leave her, not only becauseof her body, but because I just loved to be with her-talk to her, not talk to her, eat the meals she cooked, smile ather, share her thoughts. I shall miss her as long as I live." There was something in the sallow ascetic107 visagewhich unaccountably reminded him of Meggie's face in that moment of parting; the sight of a spiritual burdenbeing taken up, the resoluteness108 of a character well able to go forward in spite of its loads, its griefs, its pain.

What had he known, the red silk cardinal whose only human addiction109 seemed to be his languid Abyssinian cat?

"I can't repent of what I had with her in that way," Ralph went on when His Eminence didn't speak. "I repent thebreaking of vows as solemn and binding110 as my life. I can never again approach my priestly duties in the samelight, with the same zeal111. I repent that bitterly. But Meggie?" The look on his face when he uttered her namemade Cardinal Vittorio turn away to do battle with his own thoughts.

"To repent of Meggie would be to murder her." He passed his hand tiredly across his eyes. "I don't know ifthat's very clear, or even if it gets close to saying what I mean. I can't for the life of me ever seem to express whatI feel for Meggie adequately." He leaned forward in his chair as the Cardinal turned back, and watched his twinimages grow a little larger. Vittorio's eyes were like mirrors; they threw back what they saw and didn't permitone a glimpse of what went on behind them. Meggie's eyes were exactly the opposite; they went down and downand down, all the way to her soul. "Meggie is a benediction11," he said. "She's a holy thing to me, a different kindof sacrament.""Yes, I understand," sighed the Cardinal. "It is well you feel so. In Our Lord's eyes I think it will mitigate113 thegreat sin. For your own sake you had better confess to Father Giorgio, not to Father Guillermo. Father Giorgiowill not misinterpret your feelings and your reasoning. He will see the truth. Father Guillermo is less perceptive,and might deem your true repentance debatable." A faint smile crossed his thin mouth like a wispy114 shadow.

"They, too, are men, my Ralph, those who hear the confessions115 of the great. Never forget it as long as you live.

Only in their priesthood do they act as vessels116 containing God. In all else they are men. And the forgiveness theymete out comes from God, but the ears which listen and judge belong to men."There was a discreet117 knock on the door; Cardinal Vittorio sat silently and watched the tea tray being carried to abuhl table. "You see, Ralph? Since my days in Australia I have become addicted118 to the afternoon tea habit. Theymake it quite well in my kitchen, though they used not to at first." He held up his hand as Archbishop Ralphstarted to move toward the teapot. "Ah, no! I shall pour it myself. It amuses me to be 'mother."""I saw a great many black shirts in the streets of Genoa and Rome," said Archbishop Ralph, watching CardinalVittorio pour. "The special cohorts of II Duce. We have a very difficult time ahead of us, my Ralph. The HolyFather is adamant120 that there be no fracture between the Church and the secular121 government of Italy, and he isright in this as in ail1 things. No matter what happens, we must remain free to minister to all our children, evenshould a war mean our children will be divided, fighting each other in the name of a Catholic God. Wherever ourhearts and our emotions might lie, we must endeavor always to keep the Church removed from politicalideologies and international squabbles. I wanted you to come to me because I can trust your face not to giveaway what your brain is thinking no matter what your eyes might be seeing, and because you have the bestdiplomatic turn of mind I have ever encountered."Archbishop Ralph smiled ruefully. "You'll further my career in spite of me, won't you! I wonder what wouldhave happened to me if I hadn't met you?" "Oh, you would have become Archbishop of Sydney, a nice post andan important one," said His Eminence with a golden smile. "But the ways of our lives lie not in our hands. Wemet because it was meant to be, just as it is meant that we work together now for the Holy Father.""I can't see success at the end of the road," said Archbishop Ralph. "I think the result will be what the result ofimpartiality always is. No one will like us, and everyone will condemn123 us.""I know that, so does His Holiness. But we can do nothing else. And there is nothing to prevent our praying inprivate for the speedy downfall of 11 Duce and Der Fuehrer, is there?""Do you really think there will be war?""I cannot see any possibility of avoiding it."His Eminence's cat stalked out of the sunny corner where it had been sleeping, and jumped upon the scarletshimmering lap a little awkwardly, for it was old.

"Ah, Sheba! Say hello to your old friend Ralph, whom you used to prefer to me."The satanic yellow eyes regarded Archbishop Ralph haughtily125, and closed. Both men laughed.

Drogheda had a wireless126 set. Progress had finally come to Gillanbone in the shape of an AustralianBroadcasting Commission radio station, and at long last there was something to rival the party line for massentertainment. The wireless itself was a rather ugly object in a walnut127 case which sat on a small exquisite128 cabinetin the drawing room, its car-battery power source hidden in the cupboard underneath.

Every morning Mrs. Smith, Fee and Meggie turned it on to listen to the Gillanbone district news and weather,and every evening Fee and Meggie turned it on to listen to the ABC national news. How strange it was to beinstantaneously connected with Outside; to hear of floods, fires, rainfall in every part of the nation, an uneasyEurope, Australian politics, without benefit of Bluey Williams and his aged37 newspapers. When the national newson Friday, September 1/, announced that Hitler had invaded Poland, only Fee and Meggie were home to hear it,and neither of them paid any attention. There had been speculation129 for months; besides, Europe was half a worldaway. Nothing to do with Drogheda, which was the center of the universe. But on Sunday, September 3rd all themen were in from the paddocks to hear Father Watty Thomas say Mass, and the men were interested in Europe.

Neither Fee nor Meggie thought to tell them of Friday's news, and Father Watty, who might have, left in a hurryfor Narrengang.

As usual, the wireless set was switched on that evening for the national news. But instead of the crisp,absolutely Oxford130 tones of the announcer, there came the genteel, unmistakably Australian voice of the PrimeMinister, Robert Gordon Menzies.

"Fellow Australians. It is my melancholy132 duty to inform you officially that in consequence of the persistence133 byGermany in her invasion of Poland, Great Britain has declared war upon her, and that, as a result, Australia isalso at war . .. .

"It may be taken that Hitler's ambition is not to unite all the German people under one rule, but to bring underthat rule as many countries as can be subdued134 by force. If this is to go on, there can be no security in Europe andno peace in the world .... There can be no doubt that where Great Britain stands, there stand the people of theentire British world .... "Our staying power, and that of the Mother Country, will be best assisted by keeping ourproduction going, continuing our avocations135 and business, maintaining employment, and with it, our strength. Iknow that in spite of the emotions we are feeling, Australia is ready to see it through. "May God, in His mercyand compassion136, grant that the world may soon be delivered from this agony."There was a long silence in the drawing room, broken by the megaphonal tones of a short-wave NevilleChamberlain speaking to the British people; Fee and Meggie looked at their men.

"If we count Frank, there are six of us," said Bob into the silence. "All of us except Frank are on the land, whichmeans they won't want to let us serve. Of our present stockmen, I reckon six will want to go and two will want tostay.""I want to go!" said Jack, eyes shining.

"And me," said Hughie eagerly.

"And us," said Jims on behalf of himself and the inarticulate Patsy. But they all looked at Bob, who was theboss. "We've got to be sensible," he said. "Wool is a staple137 of war, and not only for clothes. It's used as packingin ammunition138 and explosives, for all sorts of funny things we don't hear of, I'm sure. Plus we have beef cattle forfood, and the old wethers and ewes go for hides, glue, tallow, lanolin-all war staples139.

"So we can't go off and leave Drogheda to run itself, no matter what we might want to do. With a war on it'sgoing to be mighty140 hard to replace the stockmen we're bound to lose. The drought's in its third year, we're scrub-cutting, and the bunnies are driving us silly. For the moment our job's here on Drogheda; not very excitingcompared to getting into action, but just as necessary. We'll be doing our best bit here."The male faces had fallen, the female ones lightened. "What if it goes on longer than old Pig Iron Bob thinks itwill?" asked Hughie, giving the Prime Minister his national nickname. Bob thought hard, his weatherbeatenvisage full of frowning lines. "If things get worse and it goes on for a long time, then I reckon as long as we'vegot two stockmen we can spare two Clearys, but only if Meggie's willing to get back into proper harness andwork the inside paddocks. It would be awfully141 hard and in good times we wouldn't stand a chance, but in thisdrought I reckon five men and Meggie working seven days a week could run Drogheda. Yet that's asking a lot ofMeggie, with two little babies." "If it has to be done, Bob, it has to be done," said Meggie. "Mrs. Smith won'tmind doing her bit by taking charge of Justine and Dane. When you give the word that I'm needed to keepDrogheda up to full production, I'll start riding the inside paddocks.""Then that's us, the two who can be spared," said Jims, smiling. "No, it's Hughie and I," said Jack quickly.

"By rights it ought to be Jims and Patsy," Bob said slowly. "You're the youngest and least experienced asstockmen, where as soldiers we'd all be equally inexperienced. But you're only sixteen now, chaps.""By the time things get worse we'll be seventeen," offered Jims. "We'll look older than we are, so we won't haveany trouble enlisting143 if we've got a letter from you witnessed by Harry144 Gough.""Well, right at the moment no one is going. Let's see if we can't bring Drogheda up to higher production, evenwith the drought and the bunnies." Meggie left the room quietly, went upstairs to the nursery. Dane and Justinewere asleep, each in a whitepainted cot. She passed her daughter by, and stood over her son, looking down athim for a long time. "Thank God you're only a baby," she said.

It was almost a year before the war intruded146 upon the little Drogheda universe, a year during which one by onethe stockmen left, the rabbits continued to multiply, and Bob battled valiantly147 to keep the station books lookingworthy of a wartime effort. But at the beginning of June 1940 came the news that the British ExpeditionaryForce had been evacuated148 from the European mainland at Dunkirk; volunteers for the second Australian ImperialForce poured in thousands into the recruiting centers, Jims and Patsy among them.

Four years of. riding the paddocks in all weathers had passed the twins' faces and bodies beyond youth, to thatageless calm of creases149 at the outer corners of the eyes, lines down the nose to the mouth. They presented theirletters and were accepted without comment. Bushmen were popular. They could usually shoot well, knew thevalue of obeying an order, and they were tough. Jims and Patsy had enlisted150 in Dubbo, but camp was to beIngleburn, outside Sydney, so everyone saw them off on the night mail. Cormac Carmichael, Eden's youngestson, was on the same train for the same reason, going to the same camp as it turned out. So the two familiespacked their boys comfortably into a first-class compartment151 and stood around awkwardly, aching to weep andkiss and have something warming to remember, but stifled152 by their peculiar153 British mistrust ofdemonstrativeness. The big C-36 steam locomotive howled mournfully, the stationmaster began blowing hiswhistle.

Meggie leaned over to peck her brothers on their cheeks self-consciously, then did the same to Cormac, wholooked just like his oldest brother, Connor; Bob, Jack and Hughie wrung154 three different young hands; Mrs.

Smith, weeping, was the only one who did the kissing and cuddling everyone was dying to do. Eden Carmichael,his wife and aging but still handsome daughter with him, went through the same formalities. Then everyone wasoutside on the Gilly platform, the train was jerking against its buffers155 and creeping forward. "Goodbye,goodbye!" everyone called, and waved big white handkerchiefs until the train was a smoky streak156 in theshimmering sunset distance. Together as they had requested, Jims and Patsy were gazetted to the raw, half-trained Ninth Australian Division and shipped to Egypt at the beginning of 1941, just in time to become a part ofthe rout157 at Benghazi. The newly arrived General Erwin Rommel had put his formidable weight on the Axis158 endof the seesaw159 and begun the first reversal of direction in the great cycling rushes back and forth160 across NorthAfrica. And, while the rest of the British forces retreated ignominiously161 ahead of the new Afrika Korps back toEgypt, the Ninth Australian Division was detailed162 to occupy and hold Tobruk, an outpost in Axis-held territory.

The only thing which made the plan feasible was that it was still accessible by sea and could be supplied as longas British ships could move in the Mediterranean. The Rats of Tobruk holed up for eight months, and saw actionafter action as Rommel threw everything he had at them from time to, time, without managing to dislodge them.

"Do youse know why youse is here?" asked Private Col Stuart, licking the paper on his cigarette and rolling itshut lazily. Sergeant164 Bob Malloy shifted his Digger hat far enough upward to see his questioner from under itsbrim. "Shit, no," he said, grinning; it was an oft-asked query165.

"Well, it's better than whiting gaiters in the bloody166 glasshouse," said Private Jims Cleary, pulling his twinbrother's shorts down a little so he could rest his head comfortably on soft warm belly167. "Yair, but in theglasshouse youse don't keep getting shot at," objected Col, flicking168 his dead match at a sunbathing169 lizard170. "Iknow this much, mate," said Bob, rearranging his hat to shade his eyes. "I'd rather get shot at than die of fuckin'

boredom171."They were comfortably, disposed in a dry, gravelly dugout just opposite the mines and barbed wire which cutoff the southwest corner of the perimeter172; on the other side Rommel hung doggedly173 on to his single piece of theTobruk territory. A big .50-caliber Browning machine gun shared the hole with them, cases of ammunitionneatly beside it, but no one seemed very energetic or interested in the possibility of attack. Their rifles werepropped against one wall, bayonets glittering in the brilliant Tobruk sun. Flies buzzed everywhere, but all fourwere Australian bushmen, so Tobruk and North Africa held no surprises in the way of heat, dust or flies. "Just aswell youse is twins, Jims," said Col, throwing pebbles174 at the lizard, which didn't seem disposed to move. "Youselook like a pair of poofters, all tied up together." "You're just jealous." Jims grinned, stroking Patsy's belly.

"Patsy's the best pillow in Tobruk.""Yair, all right for you, but what about poor Patsy? Go on, Harpo, say something!" Bob teased.

Patsy's white teeth appeared in a smile, but as usual he remained silent. Everyone had tried to get him to talk,but no one had ever succeeded beyond an essential yes or no; in consequence nearly everyone called him Harpo,after the voiceless Marx brother.

"Hear the news?" asked Col suddenly.

"What?""The Seventh's Matildas got plastered by the eightyeights at Halfaya. Only gun in the desert big enough to wipeout a Matilda. Went through them big buggers of tanks like a dose of salts.""Oh, yeah, tell me another!" said Bob skeptically. "I'm a sergeant and I never heard a whisper, you're a privateand you know all about it. Well, mate, there's just nothing Jerry's got capable of wiping out a brigade ofMatildas.""I was in Morshead's tent on a message from the CO when I heard it come through on the wireless, and it istrue," Col maintained. For a while no one spoke175; it was necessary to every inhabitant of a beleaguered176 outpostlike Tobruk that he believe implicitly177 his own side had sufficient military thrust to get him out. Col's news wasn'tvery welcome, more so because not one soldier in Tobruk held Rommel lightly. They had resisted his efforts toblow them out because they genuinely believed the Australian fighting man had no peer save a Gurkha, and iffaith is nine-tenths of power, they had certainly proved themselves formidable. "Bloody Poms," said Jims. "Whatwe need in North Africa is more Aussies." The chorus of agreement was interrupted by an explosion on the rimof the dugout which blew the lizard into nothing and sent the four soldiers diving for the machine gun and theirrifles. "Fuckin' Dago grenade, all splinters and no punch," Bob said with a sigh of relief. "If that was a Hitlerspecial we'd be playing our harps178 for sure, and wouldn't you like that, eh, Patsy?"At the beginning of Operation Crusader the Ninth Australian Division was evacuated by sea to Cairo, after aweary, bloody siege which seemed to have accomplished180 nothing. However, while the Ninth had been holed upinside Tobruk, the steadily181 swelling182 ranks of British troops in North Africa had become the British Eighth Army,its new commander General Bernard Law Montgomery.

Fee wore a little silver brooch formed into the rising sun emblem183 of the AIF; suspended on two chains below itwas a silver bar, on which she had two gold stars, one for each son under arms. It assured everyone she met thatshe, too, was Doing Her Bit for the Country. Because her husband was not a soldier, nor her son, Meggie wasn'tentitled to wear a brooch. A letter had come from Luke informing her that he would keep on cutting the sugar; hethought she would like to know in case she had been worried he might join up. There was no indication that heremembered a word of what she had said that morning in the Ingham pub. Laughing wearily and shaking herhead, she had dropped the letter in Fee's wastepaper basket, wondering as she did so if Fee worried about hersons under arms. What did she really think of the war? But Fee never said a word, though she wore her broochevery single day, all day. Sometimes a letter would come from Egypt, falling into tatters when it was spread openbecause the censor's scissors had filled it with neat rectangular holes, once the names of places or regiments184.

Reading these letters was largely a matter of piecing together much out of-virtually nothing, but they served onepurpose which cast all others into the shade: while ever they came, the boys were still alive. There had been norain. It was as if even the divine elements conspired186 to blight187 hope, for 1941 was the fifth year of a disastrousdrought. Meggie, Bob, Jack, Hughie and Fee were desperate. The Drogheda bank account was rich enough tobuy all the feed necessary to keep the sheep alive, but most of the sheep wouldn't eat. Each mob had a naturalleader, the Judas; only if they could persuade the Judas to eat did they stand a hope with the rest, but sometimeseven the sight of a chewing Judas couldn't impress the rest of the mob into emulating189 it.

So Drogheda, too, was seeing its share of bloodletting, and hating it. The grass was all gone, the ground a darkcracked waste lightened only by grey and dunbrown timber stands. They armed themselves with knives as wellas rifles; when they saw an animal down someone would cut its throat to spare it a lingering death, eyeless fromthe crows. Bob put on more cattle and hand-fed them to keep up Drogheda's war effort. There was no profit to behad in it with the price of feed, for the agrarian190 regions closer in were just as hard hit by lack of rain as thepastoral regions farther out. Crop returns were abysmally192 low. However, word had come from Rome that theywere to do what they could regardless of the cost.

What Meggie hated most of all was the time she had to put in working the paddocks. Drogheda had managed toretain only one of its stockmen, and so far there were no replacements193; Australia's greatest shortage had alwaysbeen manpower. So unless Bob noticed her irritability194 and fatigue195, and gave her Sunday off, Meggie worked thepaddocks seven days a week. However, if Bob gave her time off it meant he himself worked harder, so she triednot to let her distress196 show. It never occurred to her that she could simply refuse to ride as a stockman, plead herbabies as an excuse. They were well cared for, and Bob needed her so much more than they did. She didn't havethe insight to understand her babies needed her, too; thinking of her longing197 to be with them as selfishness whenthey were so well cared for by loving and familiar hands. It was selfish, she told herself. Nor did she have thekind of confidence that might have told her that in her children's eyes she was just as special as they were to her.

So she rode the paddocks, and for weeks on end got to see her children only after they were in bed for the night.

Whenever Meggie looked at Dane her heart turned over. He was a beautiful child; even strangers on the streets ofGilly remarked on it when Fee took him into town. His habitual198 expression was a smiling one, his nature acurious combination of quietness and deep, sure happiness; he seemed to have grown into his identity andacquired his self-knowledge with none of the pain children usually experience, for he rarely made mistakes aboutpeople or things, and nothing ever exasperated199 or bewildered him. To his mother his likeness200 to Ralph wassometimes very frightening, but apparently201 no one else ever noticed. Ralph had been gone from Gilly for a longtime, and though Dane had the same features, the same build, he had one great difference, which tended to cloudthe issue. His hair wasn't black like Ralph's, it was a pale gold; not the color of wheat or sunset but the color ofDrogheda grass, gold with silver and beige in it.

From the moment she set eyes on him, Justine adored her baby brother. Nothing was too good for Dane,nothing too much trouble to fetch or present in his honor. Once he began to walk she never left his side, forwhich Meggie was very grateful, worrying that Mrs. Smith and the maids were getting too old to keep asatisfactorily sharp eye on a small boy. On one of her rare Sundays off Meggie took her daughter onto her lapand spoke to her seriously about looking after Dane.

"I can't be here at the homestead to look after him myself," she said, "so it all depends on you, Justine., He'syour baby brother and you must always watch out for him, make sure he doesn't get into danger or trouble." Thelight eyes were very intelligent, with none of the rather wandering attention span typical of a four-year old.

Justine nodded confidently. "Don't worry, Mum," she said briskly. "I'll always look after him for you." "I wish Icould myself," Meggie sighed.

"I don't," said her daughter smugly. "I like having Dane all to myself. So don't worry. I won't let anythinghappen to him."Meggie didn't find the reassurance202 a comfort, though it was reassuring203. This precocious204 little scrap205 was going tosteal her son from her, and there was no way she could avert86 it. Back to the paddocks, while Justine staunchlyguarded Dane. Ousted206 by her own daughter, who was a monster. Who on earth did she take after? Not Luke, notherself, not Fee. At least these days she was smiling and laughing. She was four years old before she sawanything funny in anything, and that she ever did was probably due to Dane, who had laughed from babyhood.

Because he laughed, so did she. Meggie's children learned from each other all the time. But it was galling,knowing they could get on without their mother very well. By the time this wretched conflict is over, Meggiethought, he'll be too old to feel what he should for me. He's always going to be closer to Justine. Why is it thatevery time I think I've got my life under control, something happens? I didn't ask for this war or this drought, butI've got them.

Perhaps it was as well Drogheda was having such a hard time of it. If things had been easier, Jack and Hughiewould have been off to enlist142 in a second. As it was, they had no choice but to buckle207 down and salvage209 whatthey could out of the drought which would come to be called the Great Drought. Over a million square miles ofcrop-and stock-bearing land was affected210, from southern Victoria to the waist-high Mitchell grasslands211 of theNorthern Territory.

But the war rivaled the drought for attention. With the twins in North Africa, the homestead people followedthat campaign with painful eagerness as it pushed and pulled back and forth across Libya. Their heritage wasworking class, so they were ardent212 Labor104 supporters and loathed213 the present government, Liberal by name butconservative by nature. When in August of 1941 Robert Gordon Menzies stepped down, admitting he couldn'tgovern, they were jubilant, and when on October 3rd the Labor leader John Curtin was asked to form agovernment, it was the best news Drogheda had heard in years. All through 1940 and 1941 unease about Japanhad been growing, especially after Roosevelt and Churchill cut off her petroleum215 supplies. Europe was a longway away and Hitler would have to march his armies twelve thousand miles in order to invade Australia, butJapan was Asia, part of the Yellow Peril216 poised217 like a descending218 pendulum220 above Australia's rich, empty,underpopulated pit. So no one in Australia was at all surprised when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor; theyhad simply been waiting for it to come, somewhere. Suddenly the war was very close, and might even becometheir own backyard. There were no great oceans separating Australia from Japan, only big islands and little seas.

On Christmas Day 1941, Hong Kong fell; but the Japs would never succeed in taking Singapore, everyone said,relieved. Then news came of Japanese landings in Malay and in the Philippines; the great naval221 base at the toe ofthe Malayan peninsula kept its huge, flat-trajectoried guns trained on the sea, its fleet at the ready. But onFebruary 8th, 1942, the Japanese crossed the narrowStrait of Johore, landed on the north side of Singapore Island and came across to the city behind its impotentguns. Singapore fell without even a struggle.

And then great news! All the Australian troops in North Africa were to come home. Prime Minister Curtin rodethe swells222 of Churchillian wrath223 undismayed, insisting that Australia had first call on Australian men. The Sixthand Seventh Australian Divisions embarked224 in Alexandria quickly; the Ninth, still recovering in Cairo from itsbattering at Tobruk, was to follow as soon as more ships could be provided. Fee smiled, Meggie was deliriouswith joy. Jims and Patsy were coming home.

Only they didn't. While the North waited for its troopships the seesaw tipped again; the Eighth Army was in fullretreat back from Benghazi. Prime Minister Churchill struck a bargain with Prime Minister Curtin. The NinthAustralian Division would remain in North Africa, in exchange for the shipment of an American division todefend Australia.. Poor soldiers, shuttled around by decisions made in offices not even belonging to their owncountries. Give a little here, take a little there. But it was a hard jolt226 for Australia, to discover that the MotherCountry was booting all her Far Eastern chicks out of the nest, even a poult as fat and promising227 as Australia.

On the night of October 23rd, 1942, it was very quiet in the desert. Patsy shifted slightly, found his brother inthe darkness, and leaned. like a small child right into the curve of his shoulder. Jims's arm went around him andthey sat together in companionable silence. Sergeant Bob Malloy nudged Private Col Stuart, grinned.

"Pair of poofs," he said.

"Fuck you, too," said Jims.

"Come on, Harpo, say something," Col murmured. Patsy gave him an angelic smile only half seen in thedarkness, opened his mouth and hooted228 an excellent imitation of Harpo Marx's horn. Everyone for several yardshissed at Patsy to shut up; there was an all-quiet alert on.

"Christ, this waiting's killing230 me," Bob sighed. Patsy spoke in a shout: "It's the silence that's killing me!" "Youfuckin' side-show fraud, I'll do the killing!" Col croaked231 hoarsely232, reaching for his bayonet.

"For Crissake pipe down!" came the captain's whisper. "Who's the bloody idiot yelling?""Patsy," chorused half a dozen voices.

The roar of laughter floated reassuringly233 across the minefields, died down in a stream of low-toned profanityfrom the captain. Sergeant Malloy glanced at his watch; the second hand was just sweeping234 up to 9:40 pipemma.

Eight hundred and eighty-two British guns and howitzers spoke together. The heavens reeled, the groundlifted, expanded, could not settle, for the barrage235 went on and on without a second's diminution236 in themindshattering volume of noise. It was no use plugging fingers in ears; the gargantuan237 booming came up throughthe earth and traveled inward to the brain via the bones. What the effect must have been on Rommel's front thetroops of the Ninth in their trenches239 could only imagine. Usually it was possible to pick out this type and size ofartillery from that, but tonight their iron throats chorused in perfect harmony, and thundered on as the minutespassed. The desert fit not with the light of day but with the fire of the sun itself; a vast billowing cloud of dustrose like coiling smoke thousands of feet, glowing with the flashes of exploding shells and mines, the leapingflames of massive concentrations of detonating casings, igniting payloads. Everything Montgomery had wasaimed at the minefields-guns, howitzers, mortars243. And everything Montgomery had was thrown as fast as thesweating artillery240 crews could throw it, slaves feeding the maws of their weapons like small frantic244 birds a hugecuckoo; gun casings grew hot, the time between recoil245 and reload shorter and shorter as the artillerymen gotcarried away on their own impetus246. Madmen, maddened, they danced a stereotyped247 pattern of attendance on theirfieldpieces.

It was beautiful, wonderful-the high point of an artilleryman's life, which he lived and relived in his dreams,waking and sleeping, for the rest of his anticlimactic248 days. And yearned to have back again, those fifteen minuteswith Montgomery's guns.

Silence. Stilled, absolute silence, breaking like waves on distended249 eardrums; unbearable250 silence. Five minutesbefore ten, exactly. The Ninth got up and moved forward out of its trenches into no man's land, fixing bayonets,feeling for ammunition clips, releasing safety catches, checking water bottles, iron rations241, watches, tin hats,whether bootlaces were well tied, the location of those carrying the machine guns. It was easy to see, in theunholy glow of fires and red-hot sand melted into glass; but the dust pall251 hung between the Enemy and them,they were safe. For the moment. On the very edge of the minefields they halted, waited.

Ten pip-emma, on the dot. Sergeant Malloy put his whistle to his lips and blew a shrill252 blast up and down thecompany lines; the captain shouted his forward command. On a two-mile front the Ninth stepped off into theminefields and the guns began again behind them, bellowing253. They could see where they were going as if it hadbeen day, the howitzers trained on shortest range bursting shells not yards in front of them. Every three minutesthe range lifted another hundred yards; advance those hundred yards praying it was only through antitank mines,or that the S-mines, the man mines, had been shelled out of existence by Montgomery's guns. There were stillGermans and Italians in the field, outposts of machine guns, 50-mm small artillery, mortars. Sometimes a manwould step on an Unexploded S-mine, have time to see it leap upward out of the sand before it blew him in half.

No time to think, no time to do anything save crabscuttle in time to the guns, a hundred yards forward everythree minutes, praying. Noise, light, dust, smoke, gut-watering terror. Minefields which had no end, two or threemiles of them to the other side, and no going back. Sometimes in the tiny pauses between barrages254 came thedistant, eerie255 skirl of a bagpipe256 on the roasting gritty air; on the left of the Ninth Australian, the FiftyfirstHighlanders were trekking258 through the minefields with a piper to lead every company commander. To a Scot thesound of. his piper drawing him into battle was the sweetest lure259 in the world, and to an Australian very friendly,comforting. But to a German or an Italian it was hackle-raising. The battle went on for twelve days, and twelvedays is a very long battle. The Ninth was lucky at first; its casualties were relatively261 light through the minefieldsand through those first days of continued advance into Rommel's territory.

"You know, I'd rather be me and get shot at than be a sapper," said Col Stuart, leaning on his shovel262.

"I dunno, mate; I think they've got the best of it," growled263 his sergeant. "Waiting behind the fuckin' lines untilwe've done all the work, then out they toddle264 with their bloody minesweepers to clear nice little paths for thefuckin' tanks.""It isn't the tanks at fault, Bob; it's the brass265 who deploy266 them," Jims said, patting the earth down around the topof his section of their new trench238 with the fiat267 of his spade. "Christ, though, I wish they'd decide to keep us in oneplace for a while! I've dug more dirt in the last five days than a bloody anteater.""Keep digging, mate," said Bob unsympathetically.

"Hey, look!" cried Col, pointing skyward.

Eighteen RAF light bombers268 came down the valley in perfect flying-school formation, dropping their sticks ofbombs among the Germans and Italians with deadly accuracy.

"Bloody beautiful," said Sergeant Bob Malloy, his long neck tilting269 his head at the sky.

Three days later he was dead; a huge piece of shrapnel took off his arm and half his side in a fresh advance, butno one had time to stop except to pluck his whistle from what was left of his mouth. Men were going down nowlike flies, too tired to maintain the initial pitch of vigilance and swiftness; but what miserable270 barren ground theytook they held on to, in the face of a bitter defense272 by the cream of a magnificent army. It had become to them allno more than a dumb, stubborn refusal to be defeated. The Ninth held off Graf von Sponeck and Lungerhausenwhile the tanks broke out to the south, and finally Rommel was beaten. By November 8 he was trying to rallybeyond the Egyptian border, and Montgomery was left in command of the entire field. A very important tacticalvictory, Second Alamein; Rommel had been forced to leave behind many of his tanks, guns and equipment.

Operation Torch could commence its push eastward273 from Morocco and Algeria with more security. There wasstill plenty of fight in the Desert Fox, but a large part of his brush was on the ground at El Alamein. The biggestand most decisive battle of the North African theater had been fought, and Field Marshal Viscount Montgomeryof Alamein was its victor. Second Alamein was the swan song of the Ninth Australian Division in North Africa.

They were finally going home to contend with the Japanese, on the main land of New Guinea. Since March of1941 they had been more or less permanently274 in the front line, arriving poorly trained and equipped, but goinghome now with a reputation exceeded only by the Fourth Indian-,Division. And with the Ninth went Jims and Patsy, safe and whole.

Of course they were granted leave to go home to Drogheda. Bob drove into Gilly to collect them from theGoondiwindi train, for the Ninth was based in Brisbane and would depart after jungle training for New Guinea.

When the Rolls swept round the drive all the women were out on the lawn waiting, Jack and Hughie hangingback a little but just as eager to see their young brothers. Every sheep left alive on Drogheda could drop dead if itso desired, but this was a holiday.

Even after the car stopped and they got out, no one moved. They looked so different. Two years in the deserthad ruined their original uniforms; they were dressed in a new issue of jungle green, and looked like strangers.

For one thing, they seemed to have grown inches, which indeed they had; the last two years of their developmenthad occurred far from Drogheda, and had pushed them way above their older brothers. Not boys any more butmen, though not men in the BobJack-Hughie mold; hardship, battle euphoria and violent death had madesomething out of them Drogheda never could. The North African sun had dried and darkened them to rosymahogany, peeled away every layer of childhood. Yes, it was possible to believe these two men in their simpleuniforms, slouch hats pinned above their left ears with the badge of the AIF rising sun, had killed fellow men. Itwas in their eyes, blue as Paddy's but sadder, without his gentleness.

"My boys, my boys!" cried Mrs. Smith, running to them, tears streaming down her face. No, it didn't matterwhat they had done, how much they had changed; they were still her little babies she had washed, diapered, fed,whose tears she had dried, whose wounds she had kissed better. Only the wounds they harbored now werebeyond her power to heal.

Then everyone was around them, British reserve broken down, laughing, crying, even poor Fee patting them ontheir backs, trying to smile. After Mrs. Smith there was Meggie to kiss, Minnie to kiss, Cat to kiss, Mum to hugbashfully, Jack and Hughie to wring275 by the hand speechlessly. The Drogheda people would never know what itwas like to be home, they could never know how much this moment had been longed for, feared for.

And how the twins ate! Army tucker was never like this, they said, laughing. Pink and white fairy cakes,chocolate-soaked lamingtons rolled in coconut276, steamed spotted277 dog pudding, pavlova dripping passion fruit andcream from Drogheda cows. Remembering their stomachs from earlier days, Mrs. Smith was convinced they'dbe ill for a week, but as long as there was unlimited278 tea to wash it down, they didn't seem to have any troublewith their digestions280.

"A bit different from Wog bread, eh, Patsy?""Yair.""What's Wog mean?" asked Mrs. Smith.

"A Wog's an Arab, but a Wop's an Italian, right, Patsy?" "Pair."It was peculiar. They would talk, or at least Jims would talk, for hours about North Africa: the towns, thepeople, the food, the museum in Cairo, life on board a troopship, in rest camp. But no amount of questioningcould elicit281 anything but vague, change-the subject answers as to what the actual fighting had been like, whatGazala, Benghazi, Tobruk, El Alamein had been like. Later on after the war was over the women were to findthis constantly; the men who had actually been in the thick of battle never opened their mouths about it, refusedto join the ex-soldiers' clubs and leagues, wanted nothing to do with institutions perpetuating282 the memory of war.

Drogheda held a party for them. Alastair MacQueen was in the Ninth as well and was home, so of courseRudna Hunish held a party. Dominic O'Rourke's two youngest sons were in the Sixth in New Guinea, so eventhough they couldn't be present, Dibban-Dibban held a party. Every property in the district with a son in uniformwanted to celebrate the safe return of the three Ninth boys. Women and girls flocked around them, but the Clearyreturned heroes tried to escape at every opportunity, more scared than they had been on any field of war. In fact,Jims and Patsy didn't seem to want to have anything to do with women; it was to Bob, Jack and Hughie theyclung. Late into the night after the women had gone to bed they sat talking to the brothers who had been forcedto remain behind, opening their sore, scarred hearts. And they rode the paddocks of parched Drogheda, in itsseventh year of the drought, glad to be in civvies.

Even so racked and tortured, to Jims and Patsy the land was ineffably283 lovely, the sheep comforting, the lateroses in the garden a perfume of some heaven. And somehow they had to drink of it all so deeply they'd neveragain forget, for that first going away had been a careless one; they had had no idea what it would be like. Whenthey left this time it would be with every moment hoarded284 to remember and treasure, and with Drogheda rosespressed into their wallets along with a few blades of scarce Drogheda grass. To Fee they were kind and pitying,but to Meggie, Mrs. Smith, Minnie and Cat they were loving, very tender. They had been the real mothers. Whatdelighted Meggie most was the way they loved Dane, played with hum for hours, took him with them for rides,laughed with him, rolled him over and over on the lawn. Justine seemed to frighten them; but then, they wereawkward with anyone female whom they didn't know as well as they knew the older women. Besides which,poor Justine was furiously jealous of the way they monopolized285 Dane's company, for it meant she had no one toplay with.

"He's a bonzer little bloke, Meggie," said Jims to Meggie when she came out onto the veranda286 one day; he wassitting in a cane287 chair watching Patsy and Dane playing on the lawn.

"Yes, he is a little beauty, isn't he?" She smiled, sitting where she could see her youngest brother. Her eyes weresoft with pity; they had been her babies, too. "What's the matter, Jims? Can't you tell me?" His eyes lifted to hers,wretched with some deep pain, but he shook his head as if not even tempted288 "No, Meggie. It isn't anything Icould ever tell a woman.""What about when all this is over and you marry? Won't you want to tell your wife?""Us marry? I don't think so. War takes all that out of a man. We were itching289 to go, but we're wiser now. If wemarried we'd have sons, and for what? See them grow up, get pushed off to do what we've done, see what we'veseen?""Don't, Jims, don't!"His gaze followed hers, to Dane chuckling290 in glee because Patsy was holding him upside down.

"Don't ever let him leave Drogheda, Meggie. On Drogheda he can't come to any harm," said Jims.

Archbishop de Bricassart ran down the beautiful high corridor, heedless of the surprised faces turning to watchhim; he burst into the Cardinal's room and stopped short. His Eminence was entertaining Monsieur Papee, thePolish government-in-exile's ambassador to the Holy See. "Why, Ralph! What is it?""It's happened, Vittorio. Mussolini has been overthrown291.""Dear Jesus! The Holy Father, does he know?""I telephoned Castel Gandolfo myself, thoughradio should have it any minute. A friend at German headquarters phoned me." "I do hope the Holy Father hashis bags packed," said Monsieur Papee with a faint, a very faint relish292.

"If we disguised him as a Franciscan mendicant293 he might get out, not otherwise," Archbishop Ralph snapped.

"Kesselring has the city sealed tighter than a drum.""He wouldn't go anyway," said Cardinal Vittorio. Monsieur Papee got up. "I must leave you, Your Eminence. Iam the representative of a government which is Germany's enemy. If His Holiness is not safe, nor am 1. Thereare papers in my rooms I must attend to. Prim131 and precise, diplomat122 to his fingertips, he left the two priestsalone.

"He was here to intercede294 for his persecuted295 people?""Yes. Poor man, he cares so much for them.""And don't we?""Of course we do, Ralph! But the situation is more difficult than he knows.""The truth of the matter is he's not believed.""Ralph!""Well, isn't it the truth? The Holy Father spent his early years in Munich, he fell in love with the Germans andhe still loves them, in spite of everything. If proof in the form of those poor wasted bodies was laid out in front ofhis eyes, he'd say it must be the Russians did it. Not his so-dear Germans, never a people as cultured andcivilized as they are!" "Ralph, you are not a member of the Society of Jesus, but you are here only because youhave taken a personal oath of allegiance to the Holy Father. You have the hot blood of your Irish and Normanforebears, but I beg of you, be sensible! Since last September we have been only waiting for the axe63 to fall,praying 11 Duce would remain to shelter us from German reprisal297.

Adolf Hitler has a curious streak of contradiction in his personality, for there are two things he knows to be hisenemies yet wishes if at all possible to preserve: the British Empire and the Holy Catholic Church of Rome. Butwhen pushed to it, he has done his level best to crush the British Empire. Do you think he would not crush us,too, if we push him to it? One word of denunciation from us as to what is happening in Poland and he willcertainly crush us. And what earthly good do you think our denouncing that would achieve, my friend? We haveno armies, no soldiers. Reprisal would be immediate298, and the Holy Father would be sent to Berlin, which is whathe fears. Do you not remember the puppet pope in Avignon all those centuries ago? Do you want our Pope apuppet in Berlin?""I'm sorry, Vittorio, I can't see it that way. I say we must denounce Hitler, shout his barbarity from the rooftops!

If he has us shot we'll die martyrs299, and that would be more effective still.""You are not usually obtuse300, Ralph! He would not have us shot at all. He understands the impact of martyrdomjust as well as we do. The Holy Father would be shipped to Berlin, and we would be shipped quietly to Poland.

Poland, Ralph, Poland! Do you want to die in Poland of less use than you are now?"Archbishop Ralph sat down, clenched301 his hands between his knees, stared rebelliously302 out the window at thedoves soaring, golden in the setting sun, toward their cote. At forty-nine he was thinner than of yore, and wasaging as splendidly as he did most things.

"Ralph, we are what we are. Men, but only as a secondary consideration. First we are priests.""That wasn't how you listed our priorities when I came back from Australia, Vittorio.""I meant a different thing then, and you know it. You are being difficult. I mean now that we cannot think asmen. We must think as priests, because that is the most important aspect of our lives. Whatever we may think orwant to do as men, our allegiance is to the Church, and to no temporal power! Our loyalty303 lies only with the HolyFather! You vowed304 obedience99, Ralph. Do you wish to break it again? The Holy Father is infallible in all mattersaffecting the welfare of God's Church." "He's wrong! His judgment's biased305. All of his energies are directedtoward fighting Communism. He sees Germany as its greatest enemy, the only real factor preventing thewestward spread of Communism. He wants Hitler to remain firmly in the German saddle, just as he was contentto see Mussolini rule Italy.""Believe me, Ralph, there are things you do not know. He is the Pope, he is infallible! If you deny that, youdeny your very faith."The door opened discreetly306, but hastily.

"Your Eminence, Herr General Kesselring."Both prelates rose, their late differences smoothed from their faces, smiling.

"This is a great pleasure, Your Excellency. Won't you sit down? Would you like tea?"The conversation was conducted in German, since many of the senior members of the Vatican spoke it. TheHoly Father was fond of speaking and listening to German.

"Thank you, Your Eminence, I would. Nowhere else in Rome does one get such superbly English tea."Cardinal Vittorio smiled guilelessly. "It is a habit I acquired while I was the Papal Legate in Australia, andwhich, for all my innate Italianness, I have not been able to break.""And you, Your Grace?""I'm an Irishman, Herr General. The Irish, too, are brought up on tea." General Albert Kesselring alwaysresponded to Archbishop de Bricassart as one man to another; after these slight, oily Italian prelates he was sorefreshing, a man without subtlety307 or cunning, straightforward308.

"As always, Your Grace, I am amazed at the purity of your German accent," he complimented.

"I have an ear for languages, Herr General, which means it's like all talents-not worth praising.""What may we do for Your Excellency?" asked the Cardinal sweetly. "I presume you will have heard of the fateof Il Duce by now?" "Yes, Your Excellency, we have.""Then you will know in part why I came. To assure you that all is well, and to ask you if perhaps you wouldconvey the message to those summering at Castel Gandolfo? I'm so busy at the moment it's impossible for me tovisit Castel Gandolfo myself.""The message will be conveyed. You are so busy?" "Naturally. You must surely realize this is now an enemycountry for us Germans?""This, Herr General? This is not Italian soil, and no man is an enemy here except those who are evil.""I beg your pardon, Your Eminence. Naturally I was referring to Italy, not to the Vatican. But in the matter ofItaly I must act as my Fuehrer commands. Italy will be occupied, and my troops, present until now as allies, willbecome policemen."Archbishop Ralph, sitting comfortably and looking as if he had never had an ideological309 struggle in his life,watched the visitor closely. Did he know what his Fuehrer was doing in Poland? How could he not know?

Cardinal Vittorio arranged his face into an anxious look. "Dear General, not Rome herself, surely? Ah, notRome, with her history, her priceless artifacts? If you bring troops within her seven hills there will be strife,destruction. I beg of you, not that!"General Kesselring looked uncomfortable. "I hope it won't come to that, Your Eminence. But I took an oathalso, I too am under orders. I must do as my Fuehrer wishes.""You'll try for us, Herr General? Please, you must!

I was in Athens some years ago," said Archbishop Ralph quickly, leaning forward, his eyes charmingly wide, alock of white-sprinkled hair falling across his brow; he was well aware of his effect on the general, and used itwithout compunction. "Have you been in Athens, sir?" "Yes, I have," said the general dryly.

"Then I'm sure you know the story. How it took men of relatively modern times to destroy the buildings atopthe Acropolis? Herr General, Rome stands as she always was, a monument to two thousand years of care,attention, love. Please, I beg of you! Don't endanger Rome."The general stared at him in startled admiration310; his uniform became him very well, but no better than thesoutane with its touch of imperial purple became Archbishop Ralph. He, too, had the look of a soldier, a soldier'ssparely beautiful body, and the face of an angel. So must the Archangel Michael look; not a smooth youngRenaissance boy but an aging perfect man, who had loved Lucifer, fought him, banished311 Adam and Eve, slainthe serpent, stood at God's right hand. Did he know how he looked? He was indeed a man to remember.

"I shall do my best, Your Grace, I promise you. To a certain extent the decision is mine, I admit it. I am, as youknow, a civilized296 man. But you're asking a lot. If I declare Rome an open city, it means I cannot blow up herbridges or convert her buildings into fortresses312, and that might well be to Germany's eventual313 disadvantage.

What assurances do I have that Rome won't repay me with treachery if I'm kind to her?"Cardinal Vittorio pursed his lips and made kissing noises at his cat, an elegant Siamese nowadays; he smiledgently, and looked at the Archbishop. "Rome would never repay kindness with treachery, Herr General. I amsure when you do find the time to visit those summering at Castel Gandolfo that you will receive the sameassurances. Here, Kheng-see, my sweetheart! Ah, what a lovely girl you are!" His hands pressed it down on hisscarlet lap, caressed314 it. "An unusual animal, Your Eminence.""An aristocrat28, Herr General. Both the Archbishop and myself bear old and venerable names, but beside herlineage, ours are as nothing. Do you like her name? It is Chinese for silken flower. Apt, is it not?" The tea hadarrived, was being arranged; they were all quiet until the lay sister left the room.

"You won't regret a decision to declare Rome an open city, Your Excellency," said Archbishop Ralph to thenew master of Italy with a melting smile. He turned to the Cardinal, charm falling away like a dropped cloak, notneeded with this beloved man. "Your Eminence, do you intend to be "mother," or shall I do the honors?" was"Mother"?" asked General Kesselring blankly. Cardinal di Contini-Verchese laughed. "It is our little joke, wecelibate men. Whoever pours the tea is called "mother." An English saying, Herr General."That night Archbishop Ralph was tired, restless, on edge. He seemed to be doing nothing to help end this war,only dicker about the preservation315 of antiquities316, and he had grown to loathe214 Vatican inertia317 passionately318.

Though he was conservative by nature, sometimes the snaillike caution of those occupying the highest Churchpositions irked him intolerably. Aside from the humble nuns319 and priests who acted as servants, it was weekssince he had spoken to an ordinary man, someone without a political, spiritual or military axe to grind. Evenprayer seemed to come less easily to him these days, and God seemed light-years away, as if He had withdrawnto allow His human creatures full rein321 in destroying the world He had made for them. What he needed, hethought, was a stiff dose of Meggie and Fee, or a stiff dose of someone who wasn't interested in the fate of theVatican or of Rome.

His Grace walked down the private stairs into the great basilica of Saint Peter's, whence his aimless progresshad led him. Its doors were locked these days the moment darkness fell, a sign of the uneasy peace which layover Rome more telling than the companies of greyclad Germans moving through Roman streets. A faint,ghostly glow illuminated322 the yawning empty apse; his footsteps echoed hollowly on the stone floor as he walked,stopped and merged323 with the silence as he genuflected324 in front of the High Altar, began again. Then, betweenone foot's noise of impact and the next, he heard a gasp325. The flashlight in his hand sprang into life; he leveled hisbeam in the direction of the sound, not frightened so much as curious. This was his world; he could defend itsecure from fear.

The beam played upon what had become in his eyes the most beautiful piece of sculpture in all creation: thePieta of Michelangelo. Below the stilled stunned326 figures was another face, made not of marble but of flesh, allshadowed hollows and deathlike.

"Ciao," said His Grace, smiling.

There was no answer, but he saw that the clothes were those of a German infantryman of lowest rank; hisordinary man! That he was a German didn't matter.

"Wie geht's?" he asked, still smiling.

A movement caused sweat on a wide, intellectual brow to flash suddenly out of the dimness.

"Du bist krank?" he asked then, wondering if the lad, for he was no more, was ill.

Came the voice, at last: "Nein."Archbishop Ralph laid his flashlight down on the floor and went forward, put his hand under the soldier's chinand lifted it to look into the dark eyes, darker in the darkness.

"What's the" matter?" he asked in German, and laughed. "There!" he continued, still in German. "You don'tknow it, but that's been my main function in life to ask people what's the matter. And, let me tell you, it's aquestion which has got me into a lot of trouble in my time." "I clime to pray," said the lad in a voice too deep forhis age, with a heavy Bavarian accent.

"What happened, did you get locked in?""Yes, but that isn't what the matter is."His grace picked up the flashlight. "Well, you can't stay here all night, and I haven't got a key to the doors.

Come with me." He began walking back toward the private stairs leading up to the papal palace, talking in aslow, soft voice. "I came to pray myself, as a matter of fact. Thanks to your High Command, it's been a rathernasty day. That's it, up here .... We'll have to hope that the Holy Father's staff don't assume I've been arrested, butcan see I'm doing the escorting, not you."After that they walked for ten more minutes in silence, through corridors, out into open courts and gardens,inside hallways, up steps; the young German did not seem anxious to leave his protector's side, for he kept close.

At last His Grace opened a door and led his waif into a small sitting room, sparsely327 and humbly328 furnished,switched on a lamp and closed the door. They stood staring at each other, able to see. The German soldier saw avery tall man with a fine face and blue, discerning eyes; Archbishop Ralph saw a child tricked out in the garbwhich all of Europe found fearsome and awe179-inspiring. A child; no more than sixteen years old, certainly. Ofaverage height and youthfully thin, he had a frame promising later bulk and strength, and very long arms. His facehad rather an Italianate cast, dark and patrician329, extremely attractive; wide, dark brown eyes with long blacklashes, a magnificent head of wavy330 black hair. There was nothing usual or ordinary about him after all, even ifhis role was an ordinary one; in spite of the fact that he had longed to talk to an average, ordinary man, His Gracewas interested.

"Sit down," he said to the boy, crossing to a chest and unearthing331 a bottle of Marsala wine. He poured some intotwo glasses, gave the boy one and took his own to a chair from which he could watch the fascinatingcountenance comfortably. "Are they reduced to drafting children to do their fighting?" he asked, crossing hislegs. "I don't know," said the boy. "I was in a children's home, so I'd be taken early anyway.""What's your name, lad?""Rainer Moerling Hartheim," said the boy, rolling it out with great pride. "A magnificent name," said the priestgravely. "It is, isn't it? I chose it myself. They called me Rainer Schmidt at the home, but when I went into thearmy I changed it to the name I've always wanted.""You were an orphan332?""The Sisters called me a love child."Archbishop Ralph tried not to smile; the boy had such dignity and self-possession, now he had lost his fear.

Only what had frightened him? Not being found, or being locked in the basilica.

"Why were you so frightened, Rainer?"The boy sipped333 his wine gingerly, looked up with a pleased expression. "Good, it's sweet." He made himselfmore comfortable. "I wanted to see Saint Peter's because the Sisters always used to talk about it and show uspictures. So when they posted us to Rome I was glad. We got here this morning. The minute I could, I came." Hefrowned. "But it wasn't as I had expected. I thought rd feel closer to Our Lord, being in His own Church. Insteadit was only enormous and cold. I couldn't feel Him."Archbishop Ralph smiled. "I know what you mean. But Saint Peter's isn't really a church, you know. Not in thesense most churches are. Saint Peter's is the Church. It took me a long time to get used to it, I remember." "Iwanted to pray for two things," the boy said, nod-ding his head to indicate he had heard but that it wasn't whathe wished to hear.

"For the things which frighten you?""Yes. I thought being in Saint Peter's might help.""What are the things which frighten you, Rainer?" "That they'll decide I'm a Jew, and that my regiment185 will besent to Russia after all.""I see. No wonder you're frightened. Is there indeed a possibility they'll decide you're a Jew?""Well, look at me!" said the boy simply. "When they were writing down my particulars they said they'd have tocheck. I don't know if they can or not, but I suppose the Sisters might know more than they ever told me." "Ifthey do, they'll not pass it on," said His Grace comfortingly. "They'll know why they're being asked.""Do you really think so? Oh, I hope so!""Does the thought of having Jewish blood disturb you?" "What my blood is doesn't matter," said Rainer. "I wasborn a German, that's the only important thing.""Only they don't look at it like that, do they?" "No.""And Russia? There's no need to worry about Russia now, surely. You're in Rome, the opposite direction.""This morning I heard our commander saying we might be sent to Russia after all. It isn't going well there.""You're a child," said Archbishop Ralph abruptly334. "You ought to be in school.""I wouldn't be now anyway." The boy smiled. "I'm sixteen, so I'd be working." He sighed. "I would have likedto keep going to school. Learning is important."Archbishop Ralph started to laugh, then got up and refilled the glasses. "Don't take any notice of me, Rainer.

I'm not making any sense. Just thoughts, one after the other. It's my hour for them, thoughts. I'm not a very goodhost, am I?""You're all right," said the boy.

"So," said His Grace, sitting down again. "Define yourself, Rainer Moerling Hartheim."A curious pride settled on the young face. "I'm a German, and a Catholic. I want to make Germany a placewhere race and religion won't mean persecution335, and I'm going to devote my life to that end, if I live." "I shallpray for you-that you live, and succeed.""Would you?" asked the boy shyly. "Would you really pray for me personally, by name?""Of course. In fact, you've taught me something. That in my business there is only one weapon at my disposalprayer. I have no other function." "Who are you?" asked Rainer, the wine beginning to make him blink drowsily336.

"I'm Archbishop Ralph de Bricassart.""Oh! I thought you were an ordinary priest!""I am an ordinary priest. Nothing more.""I'll strike a bargain with you!" said the boy, his eyes sparkling. "You pray for me, Father, and if I live longenough to get what I want, I'll come back to Rome to let you see what your prayers have done."The blue eyes smiled tenderly. "All right, it's a bargain. And when you come, I'll tell you what 1 think happenedto my prayers." He got up. "Stay there, little politician. I'll find you something to eat."They talked until dawn glowed round the domes and campaniles, and the wings of pigeons whirred outside thewindow. Then the Archbishop conducted his guest through the public rooms of the palace, watching his awewith delight, and let him out into the cool, fresh air. Though he didn't know it, the boy with the splendid namewas indeed to go to Russia, carrying with him a memory oddly sweet and reassuring: that in Rome, in Our Lord'sown Church, a man was praying for him every day, by name.

By the time the Ninth was ready to be shipped to New Guinea, it was all over bar the mopping up. Disgruntled,the most elite337 division in Australian military history could only hope there might be further glory to amasssomewhere else, chasing the Japanese back up through Indonesia. Guadalcanal had defeated all Japanese hopesin the drive for Australia. And yet, like the Germans, they yielded bitterly, grudgingly338. Though their resourceswere pitifully stretched, their armies foundering339 from lack of supplies and reinforcements, they made theAmericans and the Australians pay for every inch they gained back. In retreat, the Japanese abandoned Buna,Gona, Salamaua, and slipped back up the north coast, to Lae and Finschafen.

On the fifth of September 1943 the Ninth Division was landed from the sea just east of Lae. It was hot, thehumidity was 100 percent, and it rained every afternoon though The Wet wasn't due for another two full months.

The threat of malaria340 meant everyone was taking Atabrine, and the little yellow tablets made everyone feel assick as if they had the actual malaria. Already the constant moisture meant permanently damp boots and socks;feet were becoming spongy, the flesh between the toes raw and bloody. Mocka and mosquito bites turned angry,ulcerated.

In Port Moresby they had seen the wretched state of the New Guinea natives, and if they couldn't stand theclimate without developing yaws, beriberi, malaria, pneumonia341, chronic342 skin diseases, enlarged livers andspleens, there wasn't much hope for the white man. There were survivors343 of Kokoda in Port Moresby as well,victims not so much of the Japanese but of New Guinea, emaciated344, masses of sores, delirious225 with fever. Tentimes as many had died from pneumonia nine thousand feet up in freezing cold wearing thin tropical kit119 as diedfrom the Japanese. Greasy345 dank mud, unearthly forests which glowed with cold pale spectral346 light after darkfrom phosphorescent fungi347, precipitous climbs over a gnarled tangle348 of exposed roots which meant a mancouldn't look up for a second and was a sitting duck for a sniper. It was about as different from North Africa asany place could get, and the Ninth wasn't a bit sorry it had stayed to fight the two Alameins instead of KokodaTrail. Lae was a coastal349 town amid heavily forested grasslands, far from the eleven-thousand-foot elevations350 ofthe deep interior, and far more salubrious as a battleground than Kokoda. Just a few European houses, a petrolpump, and a collection of native huts. The Japanese were as ever game, but few in number and impoverished351, asworn out from New Guinea as the Australians they had been fighting, as disease ridden. After the massiveordnance and extreme mechanization of North Africa it was strange never to see a mortar242 or a fieldpiece; justOwen guns and rifles, with bayonets in place all the time. Jims and Patsy liked hand-to-hand fighting, they likedto go in close together, guard each other. It was a terrible comedown after the Afrika Korps, though, there was nodoubt about it. Pint-size yellow men who all seemed to wear glasses and have buck208 teeth. They had absolutely nomartial panache352.

Two weeks after the Ninth landed at Lae, there were no more Japanese. It was, for spring in New Guinea, avery beautiful day. The humidity had dropped twenty points, the sun shone out of a sky suddenly blue instead ofsteamily white, the watershed353 reared green, purple and lilac beyond the town. Discipline had relaxed, everyoneseemed to be taking the day off to play cricket, walk around, tease the natives to make them laugh and displaytheir blood-red, toothless gums, the result of chewing betel nut. Jims and Patsy were strolling through the tallgrass beyond the town, for it reminded them of Drogheda; it was the same bleached, tawny354 color, and long theway Drogheda grass was after a season of heavy rain.

"Won't be long now until we're back, Patsy," said Jims. "We've got the Nips on the run, and Jerry, too. Home,Patsy, home to Drogheda! I can hardly wait.""Yair," said Patsy.

They walked shoulder to shoulder, much closer than was permissible355 between ordinary men; they would toucheach other sometimes, not consciously but as a man touches his own body, to relieve a mild itch60 or absentlyassure himself it is still all there. How nice it was to feel genuinely sunny sun on their faces instead of a moltenball in a Turkish bath! Every so often they would lift their muzzles356 to the sky, flare357 their nostrils358 to take in thescent of hot light on Drogheda-like grass, dream a little that they were back there, walking toward a wilga in thedaze of noon to lie down through the worst of it, read a book, drowse. Roll over, feel the friendly, beautiful earththrough their skins, sense a mighty heart beating away down under somewhere, like a mother's heart to a sleepybaby.

"Jims! Look! A dinkum Drogheda budgie!" said Patsy, shocked into speaking. Perhaps budgerigars werenatives of the Lae country, too, but the mood of the day and this quite unexpected reminder359 of home suddenlytriggered a wild elation360 in Patsy. Laughing, feeling the grass tickling361 his bare legs, he took off after it, snatchinghis battered362 slouch hat from his head and holding it out as if he truly believed he could snare363 the vanishing bird.

Smiling, Jims stood watching him.

He was perhaps twenty yards away when the machine gun ripped the grass to flying shreds364 around him; Jimssaw his arms go up, his body spin round so that the arms seemed stretched out in supplication365. From waist toknees he was brilliant blood, life's blood.

"Patsy, Patsy!" Jims screamed; in every cell of his own body he felt. the bullets, felt himself ebbing366, dying.

His legs opened in a huge stride, he gained momentum367 to run, then his military caution asserted itself and hedived headlong into the grass just as the machine gun opened up again.

"Patsy, Patsy, are you all right?" he cried stupidly, having seen that blood.

Yet incredibly, "Yair," came a faint answer.

Inch by inch Jims dragged himself forward through the fragrant368 grass, listening to the wind, the rustlings of hisown progress. When he reached his brother he put his head against the naked shoulder, and wept.

"Break it down," said Patsy. "I'm not dead yet.""How bad is it?" Jims asked, pulling down the bloodsoaked shorts to see blood-soaked flesh, shivering.

"Doesn't feel as if I'm going to die, anyway."Men had appeared all around them, the cricketers still wearing their leg pads and gloves; someone went backfor a stretcher while the rest proceeded to silence the gun at the far side of the clearing. The deed was done withmore than usual ruthlessness, for everyone was fond of Harpo. If anything happened to him, Jims would never bethe same.

A beautiful day; the budgerigar had long gone, but other birds trilled and twittered fearlessly, silenced onlyduring the actual battle. "Patsy's bloody lucky," said the medic to Jims some time later. "There must be a dozenbullets in him, but most of them hit the thighs369. The two or three higher up seem to have embedded370 themselves inpelvic bone or muscle. As far as I can judge, his gut's in one piece, so is his bladder. The only thing is . . .""Well, what?" Jims prompted impatiently; he was still shaking, and blue around the mouth.

"Difficult to say anything for certain at this stage, of course, and I'm not a genius surgeon like some of theblokes in Moresby. They'll be able to tell you a lot more. But the urethra has been damaged, so have many of thetiny little nerves in the perineum. I'm pretty sure he can be patched up as good as new, except maybe for thenerves. Nerves don't patch up too well, unfortunately." He cleared his throat. "What I'm trying to say is L%"caret might never have much sensation in the genital region." Jims uropped his head, looked at the groundthrough a crystal wall of tears. "At least he's alive," he said.

He was granted leave to fly to Port Moresby with his brother, and to stay until Patsy was pronounced out ofdanger. The injuries were little short of miraculous371. Bullets had scattered372 all around the lower abdomen373 withoutpenetrating it. But the Ninth medic had been right; lower pelvic sensation was badly impaired374. How much hemight regain375 later on no one was prepared to say.

"It doesn't much matter," said Patsy from the stretcher on which he was to be flown to Sydney. "I was never tookeen on marrying, anyway. Now, you look after yourself, Jims, do you hear? I hate leaving you.""I'll look after myself, Patsy. Christ!" Jims grinned, holding hard onto his brother's hand. "Fancy having tospend this. rest of the war without my best mate. I'll write an. I tell you what it's like. Say hello to Mrs. Smith andMeggie and Mum and the brothers for me, eh? Half your luck, going home to Drogheda."Fee an. Mrs. Smith flew down to Sydney to meet the Americas plane. which brought Patsy from Townsville;Fee remained only a few days, but Mrs. Smith stayed on in a Randwick hotel close to the Prince of Walesmilitary hospital. Patsy remained there for three months. His part in the war was over. Many tears had Mrs.

Smith shed; but there was much to be thankful for, too. In one way he would never be able to lead a full life, buthe could do everything else: ride, walk, run. Mating didn't seem to be in the Cleary line, anyway. When he wasdischarged from hospital Meggie drove down from Gilly in the Rolls, and the two women tucked him up on theback seat amid blankets and magazines, praying for one more boon376: that Jims would come home, too.

Not until the Emperor Hirohito's delegate signed Japan's official surrender did Gillanbone believe the war wasfinally over. The news came on Sunday, September 2, 1945, which was exactly six years after the start. Sixagonizing years. So many places empty, never to be filled again: Dominic O'Rourke's son Rory, Horry Hopeton'sson John, Eden Carmichael's son Cormac. Ross MacQueen's youngest son, Angus, would never walk again,Anthony King's son David would walk but never see where he was going, Paddy Cleary's son Patsy would neverhave children. And there were those whose wounds weren't visible, but whose scars went just as deep; who hadgone off gaily378, eager and laughing, but came home quietly, said little, and laughed only rarely. Who could havedreamed when it began that it would go on so long, or take such a toll379? Gillanbone was not a particularlysuperstitious community, but even the most cynical380 resident shivered that Sunday, September 2nd. For on thesame day that the war ended, so did the longest drought in the history of Australia. For nearly ten years no usefulrain had fallen, but that day the clouds filled the sky thousands of feet deep, blackly, cracked themselves openand poured twelve inches of rain on the thirsty earth. An inch of rain may not mean the breaking of a drought, itmight not be followed by anything more, but twelve inches of rain means grass. Meggie, Fee, Bob, Jack, Hughieand Patsy stood on the veranda watching it through the darkness, sniffing381 the unbearably382 sweet perfume of rainon parched and crumbling383 soil. Horses, sheep, cattle and pigs spraddled their legs against the shifting of themelting ground and let the water pour over their twitching385 bodies; most of them had been born since rain like thishad last passed across their world. In the cemetery386 the rain washed the dust away, whitened everything, washedthe dust off the outstretched wings of the bland387 Botticelli angel. The creek388 produced a tidal wave, its roaringflood mingling53 with the drumming of the soaking rain. Rain, rain! Rain. Like a benediction from some vastinscrutable hand, long withheld389, finally given. The blessed, wonderful rain. For rain meant grass, and grass waslife. A pale-green fuzz appeared, poked390 its little blades skyward, ramified, burgeoned391, grew a darker green as itlengthened, then faded and waxed fat, became the silver-beige, knee-high grass of Drogheda. The HomePaddock looked like a field of wheat, rippling392 with every mischievous393 puff5 of wind, and the homestead gardensexploded into color, great buds unfurling, the ghost gums suddenly white and lime-green again after nine yearsof griming dust. For though Michael Carson's insane proliferation of water tanks still held enough to keep thehomestead gardens alive, dust had long settled on every leaf and petal394, dimmed and drabbed. And an old legendhad been proven fact: Drogheda did indeed have sufficient water to survive ten years of drought, but only for thehomestead.

Bob, Jack, Hughie and Patsy went back to the paddocks, began seeing how best to restock; Fee opened a brand-new bottle of black ink and savagely395 screwed the lid down on her bottle of red ink; Meggie saw an end comingto her life in the saddle, for it would not be long before Jims was home and men turned up looking for jobs. Afternine years there were very few sheep or cattle left, only the prize breeders which were always penned and handfedin any time, the nucleus396 of champion stock, rams397 and bulls. Bob went east to the top of the Western slopes tobuy ewes of good blood line from properties not so hard hit by the drought. Jims came home. Eight stockmenwere added to the Drogheda payroll398. Meggie hung up her saddle.

It was not long after this that Meggie got a letter from Luke, the second since she had left him.

"Not long now, I reckon," he said. "A few more years in the sugar should see me through. The old back's a bitsore these days, but I can still cut with the best of them, eight or nine tons a day. Arne and I have twelve othergangs cutting for us, all good blokes. Money's getting very loose, Europe wants sugar as fast as we can produceit. I'm making over five thousand quid a year, saving almost all of it. Won't be long now, Meg, before I'm outaround Kynuna. Maybe when I get things together you might want to come back to me. Did I give you the kidyou wanted? Funny, how women get their hearts set on kids. I reckon that's what really broke us up, eh? Let meknow how you're getting on, and how Drogheda weathered the drought. Yours, Luke." Fee came out onto theveranda, where Meggie sat with the letter in her hand, staring absently out across the brilliant green of thehomestead lawns. "How's Luke?""The same as ever, Mum. Not a bit changed. Still on about a little while longer in the damned sugar, the placehe's going to have one day out around Kynuna.""Do you think he'll ever actually do it?""I suppose so, one day.""Would you go to join him, Meggie?""Not in a million years."Fee sat down in a cane chair beside her daughter, pulling it round so she could see Meggie properly. In thedistance men were shouting, hammers pounded; at long last the verandas399 and the upper-story windows of thehomestead were being enclosed by fine wire mesh400 to screen out the flies. For years Fee had held out, obdurate401.

No matter how many flies there were, the lines of the house would never be spoiled by ugly netting. But thelonger the drought dragged on the worse the flies became, until two weeks before it ended Fee had given in andhired a contractor402 to enclose every building on the station, not only the homestead itself but all the staff housesand barracks as well.

But electrify403 she would not, though since 1915 there had been a "donk," as the shearers called it, to supplypower to the shearing404 shed. Drogheda without the gentle diffusion405 of lamps? It wasn't to be thought of. However,there was one of the new gas stoves which burned off cylindered gas on order, and a dozen of the new kerosenerefrigerators; Australian industry wasn't yet on a peacetime footing, but eventually the new appliances wouldcome. "Meggie, why don't you divorce Luke, marry again?" Fee asked suddenly. "Enoch Davies would have youin a second; he's never looked at anyone else." Meggie's lovely eyes surveyed her mother in wonder. "GoodLord, Mum, I do believe you're actually talking to me as one woman to another!" Fee didn't smile; Fee still rarelysmiled. "Well, if you aren't a woman by now, you'll never be one. I'd say you qualified406. I must be getting old; Ifeel garrulous407."Meggie laughed, delighted at her mother's overture, and anxious not to destroy this new mood. "It's the rain,Mum. It must be. Oh, isn't it wonderful to see grass on Drogheda again, and green lawns around the homestead?""Yes, it is. But you're side-stepping my question. Why not divorce Luke, marry again?""It's against the laws of the Church.""Piffle!" exclaimed Fee, but gently. "Half of you is me, and I'm not a Catholic. Don't give me that, Meggie. Ifyou really wanted to marry, you'd divorce Luke.""Yes, I suppose I would. But I don't want to marry again. I'm quite happy with my children and Drogheda."A chuckle408 very like her own echoed from the interior of the bottle-brush shrubbery nearby, its drooping409 scarletcylinders hiding the author of the chuckle.

"Listen! There he is, that's Dane! Do you know at his age he can sit a horse as well as I can?" She leanedforward. "Dane! What are you up to? Come out of there this instant!"He crawled out from under the closest bottle brush, his hands full of black earth, suspicious black smears410 allaround his mouth. "Mum! Did you know soil tastes good? It really does, Mum, honestly!" He came to stand infront of her; at seven he was tall, slender, gracefully411 strong, and had a face of delicate porcelain412 beauty. Justineappeared, came to stand beside him. She too was tall, but skinny rather than slender, and atrociously freckled413. Itwas hard to see what her features were like beneath the brown spots, but those unnerving eyes were as pale asthey had been in infancy414, and the sandy brows and lashes were too-fair to emerge from the freckles415. Paddy'sfiercely red tresses rioted in a mass of curls around her rather pixyish face. No one could have called her a prettychild, but no one ever forgot her, not merely on account of the eyes but also because she had remarkable416 strengthof character. Astringent417, forth-right and uncompromisingly intelligent, Justine at eight cared as little whatanyone thought of her as she had when a baby. Only one person was very close to her: Dane. She still adoredhim, and still regarded him as her own property.

Which had led to many a tussle418 of wills between her and her mother. It had been a rude shock to Justine whenMeggie hung up her saddle and got back to being a mother. For one thing, Justine didn't seem to need a mother,since she was convinced she was right about everything. Nor was she the sort of little girl who required aconfidante, or warm approval. As far as she was concerned, Meggie was mostly someone who interfered419 withher pleasure in Dane. She got on a lot better with her grandmother, who was just the sort of person Justineheartily approved of; she kept her distance and assumed one had a little sense.

"I told him not to eat dirt," Justine said.

"Well, it won't kill him, Justine, but it isn't good for him, either." Meggie turned to her son. "Dane, why?"He considered the question gravely. "It was there, so I ate it. If it was bad for me, wouldn't it taste bad, too? Ittastes good.""Not necessarily," Justine interrupted loftily. "I give up on you, Dane, I really do. Some of the best-tastingthings are the most poisonous." "Name one!" he challenged.

"Treacle420!" she said triumphantly421.

Dane had been very ill after finding a tin of treacle in Mrs. Smith's pantry and eating the lot. He admitted thethrust, but countered. "I'm still here, so it can't be all that poisonous.""That's only because you vomited422. If you hadn't vomited, you'd be dead." This was inarguable. He and his sisterwere much of a height, so he tucked his arm companionably through hers and they sauntered away across thelawn toward their cubbyhouse, which their uncles had erected423 as instructed amid the down-drooping branches ofa pepper tree. Danger from bees had led to much adult opposition424 to this site, but the children were proven right.

The bees dwelled with them amicably425. For, said the children, pepper trees were the nicest of all trees, veryprivate. They had such a dry, fragrant smell, and the grapelike clusters of tiny pink globules they bore crumbledinto crisp, pungent426 pink flakes427 when crushed in the hand.

"They're so different from each other, Dane and Justine, yet they get along so well together," said Meggie. "Itnever ceases to amaze me. I don't think I've ever seen them quarrel, though how Dane avoids quarreling withsome one as determined428 and stubborn as Justine, I don't understand."But Fee had something else on her mind. "Lord, he's the living image of his father," she said, watching Daneduck under the lowest fronds429 of the pepper tree and disappear from sight.

Meggie felt herself go cold, a reflex response which years of hearing people say this had not scotched430. It wasjust her own guilt, of course. People always meant Luke. Why not? There were basic similarities between LukeO'neill and Ralph de Bricassart. But try as she would, she could never be quite natural when Dane's likeness tohis father was commented upon. She drew a carefully casual breath. "Do you think so, Mum?" she asked,nonchalantly swinging her foot. "I can never see it myself. Dane is nothing like Luke in nature or attitude to life."Fee laughed. It came out as a snort, but it was a genuine laugh. Grown pallid431 with age and encroachingcataracts, her eyes rested on Meggie's startled face, grim and ironic432. "Do you take me for a fool, Meggie? I don'tmean Luke O'neill. I mean Dane is the living image of Ralph de Bricassart." Lead. Her foot was made of lead. Itdropped to the Spanish tiles, her leaden body sagged433, the lead heart within her breast struggled against its vastweight to beat. Beat, damn you, beat! You've got to go on beating for my son!

"Why, Mum!" Her voice was leaden, too. "Why, Mum, what an extraordinary thing to say! Father Ralph deBricassart?""How many people of that name do you know? Luke O'neill never bred that boy; he's Ralph de Bricassart's son.

I knew it the minute I took him out of you at his birth.""Then-why haven't you said something? Why wait until he's seven years old to make such an insane andunfounded accusation434?" Fee stretched her legs out, crossed them daintily at the ankles. "I'm getting old at last,Meggie. And things don't hurt as much anymore. What a blessing435 old age can be! It's so good to see Droghedacoming back, I feel better within myself because of it. For the first time in years I feel like talking.""Well, I must say when you decide to talk you really know how to pick your subject! Mum, you have absolutelyno right to say such a thing: It isn't true!" said Meggie desperately436, not sure if her mother was bent on torture orcommiseration.

Suddenly Fee's hand came out, rested on Meggie's knee, and she was smiling-not bitterly or contemptuously,but with a curious sympathy. "Don't lie to me, Meggie. Lie to anyone else under the sun, but don't lie to me.

Nothing will ever convince me Luke O'neill fathered that boy. I'm not a fool, I have eyes. There's no Luke inhim, there never was because there couldn't be. He's the image of the priest. Look at his hands, the way his hairgrows in a widow's peak, the shape of his face, the eyebrows437, the mouth. Even how he moves. Ralph deBricassart, Meggie, Ralph de Bricassart."Meggie gave in, the enormity of her relief showing in the way she sat, loosely now, relaxed. "The distance inhis eyes. That's what I notice myself most of all. Is it so obvious? Does everyone know, Mum?" "Of course not,"said Fee positively438. "People don't look any further than the color of the eyes, the shape of the nose, the generalbuild. Like enough to Luke's. I knew because I'd been watching you and Ralph de Bricassart for years. All hehad to do was crook his little finger and you'd have gone running, so a fig80 for your "it's against the laws of theChurch" when it comes to divorce. You were panting to break a far more serious law of the Church than the oneabout divorce. Shameless, Meggie, that's what you were. Shameless!" A hint of hardness crept into her voice.

"But he was a stubborn man. His heart was set on being a perfect priest; you came a very bad second. Oh, idiocy439!

It didn't do him any good, did it? It was only a matter of time before something happened." Around the corner ofthe veranda someone dropped a hammer, and let fly with a string of curses; Fee winced, shuddered440. "Dearheaven, I'll be glad when they're done with the screening!" She got back to the subject. "Did you think youfooled me when you wouldn't have Ralph de Bricassart to marry you to Luke? 1 knew. You wanted him as thebridegroom, not as the officiating cleric. Then when he came to Drogheda before he left for Athens and youweren't here, I knew sooner or later he'd have to go and find you. He wandered around the place as lost as a littleboy at the Sydney Royal Easter Show. Marrying Luke was the smartest move you made, Meggie. As long as heknew you were pining for him Ralph didn't want you, but the minute you became somebody else's he exhibitedall the classical signs of the dog in the manger. Of course he'd convinced himself that his attachment441 to you wasas pure as the driven snow, but the fact remained that he needed you. You were necessary to him in a way noother woman ever had been, or I suspect ever will be. Strange," said Fee with real puzzlement. "I alwayswondered what on earth he saw in you, but I suppose mothers are always a little blind about their daughters untilthey're too old to be jealous of youth. You are about Justine, the same as I was about you."She leaned back in her chair, rocking slightly, her eyes half closed, but she watched Meggie like a scientist hisspecimen.

"Whatever it was he saw in you," she went on, "he saw it the first time he met you, and it never left offenchanting him. The hardest thing he had to face was your growing up, but he faced it that time he came to findyou gone, married. Poor Ralph! He had no choice but to look for you. And he did find you, didn't he? I knew itwhen you came home, before Dane was born. Once you had Ralph de Bricassart it wasn't necessary to stay anylonger with Luke." "Yes," sighed Meggie, "Ralph found me. But it didn't solve anything for us, did it? I knew hewould never be willing to give up his God. It was for that reason I was determined to have the only part of him Iever could. His child. Dane.""It's like listening to an echo," Fee said, laughing her rusty442 laugh. "You might be me, saying that.""Frank?"The chair scraped; Fee got up, paced the tiles, came back and stared hard at her daughter. "Well, well! Tit fortat, eh, Meggie? How long have you known?""Since I was a little girl. Since the time Frank ran away.""His father was married already. He was a lot older than me, an important politician. If I told you his name,you'd recognize it. There are streets named for him all over New Zealand, a town or two probably. But for thepurpose, I'll call him Pakeha. It's Maori for "white man," but it'll do. He's dead now, of course. I have a trace ofMaori blood in me, but Frank's father was half Maori. It showed in Frank because he got it from both of us. Oh,but I loved that man! Perhaps it was the call of our blood, I don't know. He was handsome. A big man with amop of black hair and the most brilliant, laughing black eyes. He was everything Paddy wasn't cultured,sophisticated, very charming. I loved him to the point of madness. And I thought I'd never love anyone else; Iwallowed in that delusion443 so long I left it too late, too late!" Her voice broke. She turned to look at the garden. "Ihave a lot to answer for, Meggie, believe me." "So that's why you loved Frank more than the rest of us," Meggiesaid. "I thought I did, because he was Pakeha's son and the rest belonged to Paddy," She sat down, made a queer,mournful noise. "So history does repeat itself. I had a quiet laugh when I saw Dane, I tell you.""Mum, you're an extraordinary woman!""Am I?" The chair creaked; she leaned forward. "Let me whisper you a little secret, Meggie. Extraordinary ormerely ordinary, I'm a very unhappy woman. For one reason or another I've been unhappy since the day I metPakeha. Mostly my own fault. I loved him, but what he did to me shouldn't happen to any woman. And there wasFrank .... I kept hanging on to Frank, and ignoring the rest of you. Ignoring Paddy, who was the best thing everhappened to me. Only I didn't see it. I was too busy comparing him with Pakeha. Oh, I was grateful to him, and Icouldn't help but see what a fine man he was . . . ." She shrugged444. "Well, all that's past. What I wanted to say wasthat it's wrong, Meggie. You know that, don't you?""No, I don't. The way I see it, the Church is wrong, expecting to take that from her priests as well.""Funny, how we always infer the Church is feminine. You stole a woman's man, Meggie, just as I did.""Ralph had absolutely no allegiance to any woman, except to me. The Church isn't a woman, Mum. It's a thing,an institution.""Don't bother trying to justify445 yourself to me. I know all the answers. I thought as you do myself, at the time.

Divorce was out of the question for him. He was one of the first people of his race to attain446 political greatness; hehad to choose between me and his people. What man could resist a chance like that to be noble? Just as yourRalph chose the Church, didn't he? So I thought,I don't care. I'll take what I can get of him, I'll have his child to love at least."But suddenly Meggie was too busy hating her mother to be able to pity her, too busy resenting the inferencethat she herself had made just as big a mess of things. So she said, "Except that I far outdid you in subtlety,Mum. My son has a name no one can take from him, even including Luke." Fee's breath hissed229 between herteeth. "Nasty! Oh, you're deceptive447, Meggie! Butter wouldn't melt in your mouth, would it? Well, my fatherbought my husband to give Frank a name and get rid of me: I'll bet you never knew that! How did you know?""That's my business.""You're going to pay, Meggie. Believe me, you're going to pay. You won't get away with it any more than I did.

I lost Frank in the worst way a mother could; I can't even see him and I long to .... You wait! You'll lose Dane,too.""Not if I can help it. You lost Frank because he couldn't pull in tandem448 with Daddy. I made sure Dane had nodaddy to harness him. I'll harness him instead, to Drogheda. Why do you think I'm making a stockman out ofhim already? He'll be safe on Drogheda.""Was Daddy? Was Stuart? Nowhere is safe. And you won't keep Dane here if he wants to go. Daddy didn'tharness Frank. That was it. Frank couldn't be harnessed. And if you think you, a woman, can harness Ralph deBricassart's son, you've got another think coming. It stands to reason, doesn't it? If neither of us could hold thefather, how can we hope to hold the son?" "The only way I can lose Dane is if you open your mouth, Mum. AndI'm warning you, I'd kill you first.""Don't bother, I'm not worth swinging for. Your secret's safe with me; I'm just an interested onlooker449. Yesindeed, that's all I am. An onlooker." "Oh, Mum! What could possibly have made you like this? Why like this, sounwilling to give?"Fee sighed. "Events which took place years before you were even born," she said pathetically.

But Meggie shook her fist vehemently451. "Oh, no, you don't! After what you've just told me? You're not going toget away with flogging that dead horse to me ever again! Rubbish, rubbish, rubbish! Do you hear me, Mum?

You've wallowed in it for most of your life, like a fly in syrup452!" Fee smiled broadly, genuinely pleased. "I usedto think having a daughter wasn't nearly as important as having sons, but I was wrong. I enjoy you, Meggie, in away I can never enjoy my sons. A daughter's an equal. Sons aren't, you know. They're just defenseless dolls weset up to knock down at our leisure."Meggie stared. "You're remorseless. Tell me, then, where do we go wrong?" "In being born," said Fee.

Men were returning home in thousands upon thousands, shedding their khaki uniforms and slouch hats forcivvies. And the Labor government, still in office, took a long, hard look at the great properties of the westernplains, some of the bigger stations closer in. It wasn't right that so much land should belong to one family, whenmen who had done their bit for Australia needed room for their belongings453 and the country needed moreintensive working of its land. Six million people to fill an area as big as the United States of America, but a merehandful of those six million holding vast tracts454 in a handful of names. The biggest properties would have to besubdivided, yield up some of their acreages to the war veterans. Bugela went from 150,000 acres to 70,000; tworeturned soldiers got 40,000 acres each off Martin King. Rudna Hunish had 120,000 acres, therefore RossMacQueen lost 60,000 acres and two more returned soldiers were endowed. So it went. Of course thegovernment compensated455 the graziers, though at lower figures than the open market would have given. And ithurt. Oh, it hurt. No amount of argument prevailed with Canberra; properties as large as Bugela and RudnaHunish would be partitioned. It was self-evident no man needed so much, since the Gilly district had manythriving stations of less than 50,000 acres. What hurt the most was the knowledge that this time it seemed thereturned soldiers would persevere456. After the First World War most of the big stations had gone through the samepartial resumption, but it had been poorly done, the fledgling graziers without training or experience; graduallythe squatters bought their filched457 acres back at rock-bottom prices from discouraged veterans. This time thegovernment was prepared to train and educate the new settlers at its own expense.

Almost all the squatters were avid377 members of the Country Party, and on principle loathed a Labor government,identifying it with blue-collar workers in industrial cities, trade unions and feckless Marxist intellectuals. Theunkindest cut of all was to find that the Clearys, who were known Labor voters, were not to see a single acrepared from the formidable bulk of Drogheda. Since the Catholic Church owned it, naturally it was subdivision-exempt. The howl was heard in Canberra, but ignored. It came very hard to the squatters, who always thought ofthemselves as the most powerful lobby group in the nation, to find that he who wields458 the Canberra whip doespretty much as he likes. Australia was heavily federal, its state governments virtually powerless.

Thus, like a giant in a Lilliputian world, Drogheda carried on, all quarter of a million acres of it.

The rain came and went, sometimes adequate, sometimes too much, sometimes too little, but not, thank God,ever another drought like the great one. Gradually the number of sheep built up and the quality of the woolimproved over pre-drought times, no mean feat65.

Breeding was the "in" thing. People talked of Haddon Rig near Warren, started actively459 competing with itsowner, Max Falkiner, for the top ram112 and ewe prizes at the Royal Easter Show in Sydney. And the price of woolbegan to creep up, then skyrocketed. Europe, the United States and Japan were hungry for every bit of fine woolAustralia. could produce. Other countries yielded coarser wools for heavy fabrics460, carpets, felts; but only thelong, silky fibers461 from Australian merinos could make a woolen462 textile so fine it slipped through the fingers likesoftest lawn. And that sort of wool reached its peak out on the black-soil plains of northwest New South Walesand southwest Queensland.

It was as if after all the years of tribulation463, a just reward had arrived. Drogheda's profits soared out of allimagination. Millions of pounds every year. Fee sat at her desk radiating contentment, Bob put another twostockmen on the books. If it hadn't been for the rabbits, pastoral conditions would have been ideal, but the rabbitswere as much of a blight as ever. On the homestead life was suddenly very pleasant. The wire screening hadexcluded flies from all Drogheda interiors; now that it was up and everyone had grown used to its appearance,they wondered how they had ever survived without it. For there were multiple compensations for the look of it,like being able to eat al fresco464 on the veranda when it was very hot, under the tapping leaves of the wistaria vine.

The frogs loved the screening, too. Little fellows they were, green with a delicate overlay of glossy465 gold. Onsuckered feet they crept up the outside of the mesh to stare motionless at the diners, very solemn and dignified466.

Suddenly one would leap, grab at a moth56 almost bigger than itself, and settle back into inertia with two-thirds ofthe moth flapping madly out of its overladen mouth. It amused Dane and Justine to time how long it took a frogto swallow a big moth completely, staring gravely through the wire and every ten minutes getting a little moremoth down. The insect lasted a long time, and would often still be kicking when the final piece of wingtip wasengulfed. "Erckle! What a fate!" chuckled467 Dane. "Fancy half of you still being alive while the other half of you isbusy being digested."Avid reading-that Drogheda passion-had given the two O'neill children excellent vocabularies at an early age.

They were intelligent, alert and interested in everything. Life was particularly pleasant for them. They had theirthoroughbred ponies468, increasing in size as they did; they endured their correspondence lessons at Mrs. Smith'sgreen kitchen table; they played in the pepper tree cubbyhouse; they had pet cats, pet dogs, even a pet goanna,which walked beautifully on a leash469 and answered to its name. Their favorite pet was a miniature pink pig, asintelligent as any dog, called Iggle-Piggle. So far from urban congestion470, they caught few diseases and never hadcolds or influenza471. Meggie was terrified of infantile paralysis472, diphtheria, anything which might swoop473 out ofnowhere to carry them off, so whatever vaccines474 became available they received. It was an ideal existence, fullof physical activity and mental stimulation475.

When Dane was ten and Justine eleven they were sent to boarding school in Sydney, Dane to Riverview astradition demanded, and Justine to Kincoppal. When she put them on the plane the first time, Meggie watched astheir white, valiantly composed little faces stared out of a window, handkerchiefs waving; they had never beenaway from home before. She had wanted badly to go with them, see them settled in for herself, but opinion wasso strongly against her she yielded. From Fee down to Jims and Patsy, everyone felt they would do a great dealbetter on their own.

"Don't mollycoddle476 them," said Fee sternly.

But indeed she felt like two different people as theDC-3 took off in a cloud of dust and staggered into the shimmering124 air. Her heart was breaking at losing Dane,and light at the thought of losing Justine. There was no ambivalence477 in her feelings about Dane; his gay, even-tempered nature gave and accepted love as naturally as breathing. But Justine was a lovable, horrible monster.

One had to love her, because there was much to love: her strength, her integrity, her self-reliance--lots of things.

The trouble was that she didn't permit love the way Dane did, nor did she ever give Meggie the wonderful feelingof being needed. She wasn't matey or full of pranks478, and she had a disastrous188 habit of putting people down,chiefly, it seemed, her mother. Meggie found much in her that had been exasperating479 in Luke, but at least Justinewasn't a miser271. For that much be thankful.

A thriving airline meant that all the children's vacations, even the shortest ones, could be spent on Drogheda.

However, after an initial period of adjustment both children enjoyed their schooling480. Dane was always homesickafter a visit to Drogheda, but Justine took to Sydney as if she had always lived there, and spent her Droghedatime longing to be back in the city. The Riverview Jesuits were delighted; Dane was a marvelous student, in theclassroom and on the playing field.

The Kincoppal nuns, on the other hand, were definitely not delighted; no one with eyes and a tongue as sharp asJustine's could hope to be popular. A class ahead of Dane, she was perhaps the better student of the two, but onlyin the classroom.

The Sydney Morning Herald481 of August 4th, 1952, was very interesting. Its big front page rarely bore more thanone photograph, usually middle and high up, the interest story of the day. And that day the picture was ahandsome portrait of Ralph de Bricassart.

His Grace Archbishop Ralph de Bricassart, at the present time aide to the Secretary of State of the Holy See ofRome, was today created Cardinal de Bricassart by His Holiness Pope Pius XII. Ralph Raoul, Cardinal deBricassart has had a long and illustrious association with the Roman Catholic Church in Australia, extendingfrom his arrival as a newly ordained482 priest in July 1919 to his departure for the Vatican in March 1938.

Born on September 23, 1893, in the Republic of Ireland, Cardinal de Bricassart was the second son of a familywhich can trace its descent from Baron483 Ranulf de Bricassart, who came to England in the train of William theConqueror. By tradition, Cardinal de Bricassart espoused484 the Church. He entered the seminary at the age ofseventeen, and upon his ordination485 was sent to Australia. His first months were spent in the service of the lateBishop Michael Clabby, in the Diocese of Winnemurra.

In June 1920 he was transferred to serve as pastor191 of Gillanbone, in northwestern New South Wales. He wasmade Monsignor, and continued at Gillanbone until December 1928. From there he became private secretary toHis Grace Archbishop Cluny Dark, and finally private secretary to the then Archbishop Papal Legate, HisEminence Cardinal di Contini-Verchese. During this time he was created Bishop70. When Cardinal di Contini-Verchese was transferred to Rome to commence his remarkable career at the Vatican, Bishop de Bricassart wascreated Archbishop, and returned to Australia from Athens as the Papal Legate himself. He held this importantVatican appointment until his transfer to Rome in 1938; since that time his rise within the central hierarchy486 of theRoman Catholic Church has been spectacular. Now 58 years of age, he is rumored487 to be one of the few menactively concerned in the determination of papal policy.

A Sydney Morning Herald representative talked to some of Cardinal de Bricassart's ex-parishioners in theGillanbone area yesterday. He is well remembered, and with much affection. This rich sheep district ispredominantly Roman Catholic in its religious adherence488. "Father de Bricassart founded the Holy Cross BushBibliophilic Society," said Mr. Harry Gough, Mayor of Gillanbone. "It was-for the time especially-a remarkableservice, splendidly endowed first by the late Mrs. Mary Carson, and after her death by the Cardinal himself, whohas never forgotten us or our needs.""Father de Bricassart was the finest-looking man I've ever seen," said Mrs. Fiona Cleary, present doyenne ofDrogheda, one of the largest and most prosperous stations in New South Wales. "During his time in Gilly he wasa great spiritual support to his parishioners, and particularly to those of us on Drogheda, which as you know nowbelongs to the Catholic Church. During floods he helped us move our stock, during fires he came to our aid, evenif it was only to bury our dead. He was, in fact, an extraordinary man in every way, and he had more charm thanany man I've ever met. One could see he was meant for great things. Indeed we remember him, though it's overtwenty years since he left us. Yes, I think it's quite truthful489 to say that there are some around Gilly who still misshim very much."During the war the then Archbishop de Bricassart served His Holiness loyally and unswervingly, and is creditedwith having influenced Field Marshal Albert Kesselring in deciding to maintain Rome as an open city after Italybecame a German enemy. Florence, which had asked in vain for the same privilege, lost many of its treasures,only restored later because Germany lost the war. In the immediate postwar period, Cardinal de Bricassart helpedthousands of displaced persons seek asylum490 in new countries, and was especially vigorous in aiding theAustralian immigration program.

Though by birth he is an Irishman, and though it seems he will not exert his influence as Cardinal de Bricassartin Australia, we still feel that to a large extent Australia may rightly claim this remarkable man as her own.

Meggie handed the paper back to Fee, and smiled at her mother ruefully. "One must congratulate him, as I saidto the Herald reporter. They didn't print that, did they? Though they printed your little eulogy491 almost verbatim, Isee. What a barbed tongue you've got! At least I know where Justine gets it from. I wonder how many peoplewill be smart enough to read between the lines of what you said?""He will, anyway, if he ever sees it.""I wonder does he remember us?" Meggie sighed. "Undoubtedly492. After all, he still finds time to administerDrogheda himself. Of course he remembers us, Meggie. How could he forget?" "True, I had forgotten Drogheda.

We're right up there on top of the earnings493, aren't we? He must be very pleased. With our wool at a pound perpound in the auctions494, the Drogheda wool check this year must have made even the gold mines look sick. Talkabout Golden Fleece. Over four million pounds, just from shaving our baa-lambs.""Don't be cynical, Meggie, it doesn't suit you," said Fee; her manner toward Meggie these days, though oftenmildly withering495, was tempered with respect and affection. "We've done well enough, haven't we? Don't forgetwe get our money every year, good or bad. Didn't he pay Bob a hundred thousand as a bonus, the rest of us fiftythousand each? If he threw us off Drogheda tomorrow we could afford to buy Bugela, even at today's inflatedland prices. And how much has he given your children? Thousands upon thousands. Be fair to him.""But my children don't know it, and they're not going to find out. Dane and Justine will grow up to think theymust make their own ways in the world, without benefit of dear Ralph Raoul, Cardinal de Bricassart. Fancy hissecond name being Raoul! Very Norman, isn't it?"Fee got up, walked over to the fire and threw the front page of the Herald onto the flames. Ralph Raoul,Cardinal de Bricassart shuddered, winked496 at her, and then shriveled up.

"What will you do if he comes back, Meggie?"Meggie sniffed497. "Fat chance!""He might," said Fee enigmatically.

He did, in December. Very quietly, without anyone knowing, driving an Aston Martin sports car all the wayfrom Sydney himself. Not a word about his presence in Australia had reached the press, so no one on Droghedahad the remotest suspicion he was coming. When the car pulled in to the gravelly area at one side of the housethere was no one about, and apparently no one had heard him arrive, for no one came out onto the veranda. Hehad felt the miles from Gilly in every cell of his body, inhaled498 the odors of the bush, the sheep, the dry grasssparkling restlessly in the sun. Kangaroos and emus, galahs and goannas, millions of insects buzzing andflipping, ants marching across the road in treacly columns, fat pudgy sheep everywhere. He loved it so, for in onecurious aspect it conformed to what he loved in all things; the passing years scarcely seemed to brush it. Only thefly screening was different, but he noted499 with amusement that Fee hadn't permitted the big house veranda facingthe Gilly road to be enclosed like the rest, only the windows opening onto it. She was right, of course; a greatexpanse of mesh would have rained the lines of that lovely Georgian facade500. How long did ghost gums live?

These must have been transplanted from the Dead Heart interior eighty years ago. The bougainvillea in their highbranches was one sliding mass of copper501 and purple.

It was already summer, two weeks left before Christmas, and the Drogheda roses were at their height. Therewere roses everywhere, pink and white and yellow, crimson like heart's blood, scarlet like a cardinal's soutane. Inamong the wistaria, green now, rambling502 roses drowsed pink and white, fell off the veranda roof, down the wiremesh, clung lovingly to the black shutters503 of the second story, stretched tendrils past them to the . sky. The tankstands were quite smothered504 from sight now, so were the tanks themselves. And one color was everywhereamong the roses, a pale pinkish-grey. Ashes of roses? Yes, that was the name of the color. Meggie must haveplanted them, it had to be Meggie.

He heard Meggie's laugh, and stood motionless, quite terrified, then made his feet go in the direction of thesound, gone down to delicious giggling505 trills. Just the way she used to laugh when she was a little girl. There itwas! Over there, behind a great clump506 of pinkish grey roses near a pepper tree. He pushed the clusters ofblossoms aside with his hand, his mind reeling from their perfume, and that laugh.

But Meggie wasn't there, only a boy squatting507 in the lush lawn, teasing a little pink pig which ran in idioticrushes up to him, galloped508 off, sidled back. Unconscious of his audience, the boy threw his gleaming head backand laughed. Meggie's laugh, from that unfamiliar509 throat. Without meaning to, Cardinal Ralph let the roses fallinto place and stepped through them, heedless of the thorns. The boy, about twelve or fourteen years of age, justprepubescent, looked up, startled; the pig squealed510, curled up its tail tightly and ran off.

Clad in an old pair of khaki shorts and nothing else, bare-footed, he was golden brown and silky-skinned, hisslender, boyish body already hinting at later power in the breadth of the young square shoulders, the well-developed calf511 and thigh257 muscles, the flat belly and narrow hips163. His hair was a little long and loosely curly, justthe bleached color of Drogheda grass, his eyes through absurdly thick black lashes intensely blue. He looked likea very youthful escaped angel.

"Hello," said the boy, smiling.

"Hello," said Cardinal Ralph, finding it impossible to resist the charm of that smile. "Who are you?""I'm Dane O'neill," answered the boy. "Who are you?" "My name is Ralph de Bricassart."Dane O'neill. He was Meggie's boy, then. She had not left Luke O'neill after all, she had gone back to him,borne this beautiful lad who might have been his, had he not married the Church first. How old had he beenwhen he married the Church? Not much older than this, not very much more mature. Had he waited, the boymight well have been his. What nonsense, Cardinal de Bricassart! If you hadn't married the Church you wouldhave remained in Ireland to breed horses and never known your fate at all, never known Drogheda or MeggieCleary.

"May I help you?" asked the boy politely, getting to his feet with a supple512 grace Cardinal Ralph recognized, andthought of as Meggie's. "Is your father here, Dane?""My father?" The dark, finely etched brows knitted. "No, he's not here. He's never been here.""Oh, I see. Is your mother here, then?""She's in Gilly, but she'll be back soon. My Nanna is in the house, though. Would you like to see her? I can takeyou." Eyes as blue as cornflowers stared at him, widened, narrowed. "Ralph de Bricassart. I've heard of you. Oh!

Cardinal de Bricassart! Your Eminence, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to be rude."Though he had abandoned his clerical regalia in favor of boots, breeches and a white shirt, the ruby ring wasstill on his finger, must never be withdrawn320 as long as he lived. Dane O'neill knelt, took Cardinal Ralph's slenderhand in his own slender ones, and kissed the ring reverently513. "It's all right, Dane. I'm not here as Cardinal deBricassart. I'm here as a friend of your mother's and your grandmother's.""I'm sorry, Your Eminence, I ought to have recognized your name the minute I heard it. We say it often enoughround here. Only you pronounce it a bit differently, and your Christian514 name threw me off. My mother will bevery glad to see you, I know.""Dane, Dane, where are you?" called an impatient voice, very deep and entrancingly husky.

The hanging fronds of the pepper tree parted and a girl of about fifteen ducked out, straightened. He knew whoshe was immediately, from those astonishing eyes. Meggie's daughter. Covered in freckles, sharp-faced, small-featured, disappointingly unlike Meggie.

"Oh, hello. I'm sorry, I didn't realize we had a visitor. I'm Justine O'neill.""Jussy, this is Cardinal de Bricassart!" Dane said in a loud whisper. "Kiss his ring, quickly!"The blind-looking eyes flashed scorn." "You're a real prawn515 about religion, Dane," she said without botheringto lower her voice. "Kissing a ring is unhygienic; I won't do it. Besides, how do we know this is Cardinal deBricassart? He looks like an old-fashioned grazier to me. You know, like Mr. Gordon.""He is, he is!" insisted Dane. "Please, Jussy, be good! Be good for me!" "I'll be good, but only for you. But Iwon't kiss his ring, even for you. Disgusting. How do I know who kissed it last? They might have had a cold.""You don't have to kiss my ring, Justine. I'm here on a holiday; I'm not being a cardinal at the moment.""That's good, because I'll tell you frankly516, I'm an atheist," said Meggie Cleary's daughter calmly. "After fouryears at Kincoppal I think it's all a load of utter codswallop.""That's your privilege," said Cardinal Ralph, trying desperately to look as dignified and serious as she did.

"May I find your grandmother?" "Of course. Do you need us?" Justine asked.

"No, thank you. I know my way.""Good." She turned to her brother, still gaping up at the visitor. "Come on, Dane, help me. Come on!"But though Justine tugged painfully at his arm, Dane stayed to watch Cardinal Ralph's tall, straight figuredisappear behind the roses. "You really are a prawn, Dane. What's so special about him?" "He's a cardinal!" saidDane. "Imagine that! A real live cardinal on Drogheda!""Cardinals," said Justine, "are Princes of the Church. I suppose you're right, it is rather extraordinary. But Idon't like him."Where else would Fee be, except at her desk? He stepped through the windows into the drawing room, but thesedays that necessitated517 opening a screen. She must have heard him, but kept on working, back bent, the lovelygolden hair gone to silver. With difficulty he remembered she must be all of seventy-two years old.

"Hello, Fee," he said.

When she raised her head he saw a change in her, of what precise nature he couldn't be sure; the indifferencewas there, but so were several other things. As if she had mellowed518 and hardened simultaneously519, become morehuman, yet human in a Mary Carson mold. God, these Drogheda matriarchs! Would it happen to Meggie, too,when her turn came?

"Hello, Ralph," she said, as if he stepped through the windows every day. "How nice to see you.""Nice to see you, too.""I didn't know you were in Australia.""No one does. I have a few weeks" holiday.""You're staying with us, I hope?""Where else?" His eyes roamed round the magnificent walls, rested on Mary Carson's portrait. "You know, Fee,your taste is impeccable, unerring. This room rivals anything in the Vatican. Those black egg shapes with theroses are 4 stroke of genius.""Why, thank you! We try our humble best. Personally I prefer the dining room; I've done it again since youwere here last. Pink and white and green. Sounds awful, but wait until you see it. Though why I try, I don't know.

It's your house, isn't it?""Not while there's a Cleary alive, Fee," he said quietly. "How comforting. Well, you've certainly come up in theworld since your Gilly days, haven't you? Did you see the Herald article about your promotion520?"He winced. "I did. Your tongue's sharpened, Fee.""Yes, and what's more, I'm enjoying it. All those years I shut up and never said a thing! I didn't know what Iwas missing." She smiled. "Meggie's in Gilly, but she'll be back soon."Dane and Justine came through the windows.

"Nanna, may we ride down to the borehead?""You know the rules. No riding unless your mother gives her permission personally. I'm sorry, but they're yourmother's orders. Where are your manners? Come and be introduced to our visitor.""I've already met them.""Oh.""I'd have thought you'd be away at boarding school," he said to Dane, smiling.

"Not in December, Your Eminence. We're off for two months-the summer holidays."Too many years away; he had forgotten that southern hemisphere children would enjoy their long vacationduring December and January.

"Are you going to be staying here long, Your Eminence?" Dane queried521, still fascinated.

"His Eminence will be with us for as long as he can manage, Dane," said his grandmother, "but I think he'sgoing to find it a little wearing to be addressed as Your Eminence all the time. What shall it be? Uncle Ralph?""Uncle!" exclaimed Justine. "You know "uncle' is against the family rules, Nanna! Our uncles are just Bob, Jack,Hughie, Jims and Patsy. So that means he's Ralph.""Don't be so rude, Justine! What on earth's the matter with your manners?" demanded Fee.

"No, Fee, it's all right. I'd prefer that everyone call me plain Ralph, really," the Cardinal said quickly. Why didshe dislike him so, the odd mite279? "I couldn't!" gasped522 Dane. "I couldn't call you just Ralph!"Cardinal Ralph crossed the room, took the bare shoulders between his hands and smiled down, his blue eyesvery kind, and vivid in the room's shadows. "Of course you can, Dane. It isn't a sin.""Come on, Dane, let's get back to the cubbyhouse," Justine ordered. Cardinal Ralph and his son turned towardFee, looked at her together. "Heaven help us!" said Fee. "Go on, Dane, go outside and play, will you?" Sheclapped her hands. "Buzz!"The boy ran for his life, and Fee edged toward her books. Cardinal Ralph took pity on her and announced thathe would go to the cookhouse. How little the place had changed! Still lamplit, obviously. Still redolent ofbeeswax and great vases of roses.

He stayed talking to Mrs. Smith and the maids for a long time. They had grown much older in the years sincehe had left, but somehow age suited them more than it did Fee. Happy. That's what they were. Genuinely almostperfectly happy. Poor Fee, who wasn't happy. It made him hungry to see Meggie, see if she was happy. But whenhe left the cookhouse Meggie wasn't back, so to fill in time he strolled through the grounds toward the creek.

How peaceful the cemetery was; there were six bronze plaques523 on the mausoleum wall, just as there had beenlast time. He must see that he himself was buried here; he must remember to instruct them, when he returned toRome. Near the mausoleum he noticed two new graves, old Tom, the garden rouseabout, and the wife of one ofthe stockmen, who had been on the payroll since 1946. Must be some sort of record. Mrs. Smith thought he wasstill with them because his wife lay here. The Chinese cook's ancestral umbrella was quite faded from all theyears of fierce sun, had dwindled524 from its original imperial red through the various shades he remembered to itspresent whitish pink, almost ashes of roses. Meggie, Meggie. You went back to him after me, you bore him ason. It was very hot; a little wind came, stirred the weeping willows525 along the creek, made the bells on theChinese cook's umbrella chime their mournful tinny tune526: Hee Sing, Hee Sing, Hee Sing. TANKSTANDCHARLIE HE WAS A GOOD BLOKE. That had faded, too, was practically indecipherable. Well, it was fitting.

Graveyards527 ought to sink back into the bosom528 of Mother Earth, lose their human cargo529 under a wash of time,until it all was gone and only the air remembered, sighing. He didn't want to be buried in a Vatican crypt, amongmen like himself. Here, among people who had really lived. Turning, his eyes caught the glaucous glance of themarble angel. He raised his hand, saluted530 it, looked across the grass toward the big house. And she was coming,Meggie. Slim, golden, in a pair of breeches and a white man's shirt exactly like his own, a man's grey felt hat onthe back of her head, tan boots on her feet. Like a boy, like her son, who should have been his son.

He was a man, but when he too lay here there would be nothing left living to mark the fact.

She came on, stepped over the white fence, came so close all he could see were her eyes, those grey, light-filledeyes which hadn't lost their beauty or their hold over his heart. Her arms were around his neck, his fate againwithin his touch, it was as if he had never been away from her, that mouth alive under his, not a dream; so longwanted, so long. A different kind of sacrament, dark like the earth, having nothing to do with the sky. "Meggie,Meggie," he said, his face in her hair, her hat on the grass, his arms around her.

"It doesn't seem to matter, does it? Nothing ever changes," she said, eyes closed..

"No, nothing changes," he said, believing it. "This is Drogheda, Ralph. I warned you, on Drogheda you're mine,not God's.""I know. I admit it. But I came." He drew her down onto the grass. "Why, Meggie?""Why what?" Her hand was stroking his hair, whiter than Fee's now, still thick, still beautiful.

"Why did you go back to Luke? Have his son?" he asked jealously. Her soul looked out from behind its lucentgrey windows and veiled its thoughts from him. "He forced me to," she said blandly531. "It was only once. But I hadDane, so I'm not sorry. Dane was worth everything I went through to get him.""I'm sorry, I had no right to ask. I gave you to Luke in the first place, didn't I?""That's true, you did.""He's a wonderful boy. Does he look like Luke?" She smiled secretly, plucked at the grass, laid her hand insidehis shirt, against his chest. "Not really. Neither of my children looks very much like Luke, or me.""I love them because they're yours.""You're as sentimental as ever. Age suits you, Ralph.

I knew it would, I hoped I'd have the chance to see it. Thirty years I've known you! It seems like thirty days.""Thirty years? As many as that?""I'm forty-one, my dear, so it must be." She got to her feet. "I was officially sent to summon you inside. Mrs.

Smith is laying on a splendid tea in your honor, and later on when it's a bit cooler there's to be roast leg of pork,with lots of crackling."He began to walk with her, slowly. "Your son laughs just like you, Meggie. His laugh was the first human noiseI heard on Drogheda. I thought he was you; I went to find you and I discovered him instead.""So he was the first person you saw on Drogheda.""Why, yes, I suppose he was.""What did you think of him, Ralph?" she asked eagerly. "I liked him. How could I not, when he's your son? ButI was attracted to him very strongly, far more so than to your daughter. She doesn't like me, either.""Justine might be my child, but she's a prize bitch. I've learned to swear in my old age, mostly thanks to Justine.

And you, a little. And Luke, a little. And the war, a little. Funny how they all mount up.""You've changed a lot, Meggie.""Have I?" The soft, full mouth curved into a smile. "I don't think so, really. It's just the Great Northwest,wearing me down, stripping off the layers like Salome's seven veils. Or like an onion, which is how Justinewould rather put it. No poetry, that child. I'm the same old Meggie, Ralph, only more naked.""Perhaps so.""Ali, but you've changed, Ralph.""In what way, my Meggie?""As if the pedestal rocks with every passing breeze, and as if the view from up there is a disappointment.""It is." He laughed soundlessly. "And to think I once had the temerity532 to say you weren't anything out of theordinary! I take it back. You're the one woman, Meggie. The one!" "What happened?""I don't know. Did I discover even Church idols533 have feet of clay? Did I sell myself for a mess of pottage? Am Igrasping at nothing?" His brows drew together, as if in pain. "And that's it, perhaps, in a nutshell. I'm a mass ofclichés. It's an old, sour, petrified534 world, the Vatican world." "I was more real, but you could never see it.""There was nothing else I could do, truly! I knew where I should have gone, but I couldn't. With you I mighthave been a better man, if less august. But I just couldn't, Meggie. Oh, I wish I could make you see that!" Herhand stole along his bare arm, tenderly. "Dear Ralph, I do see it. I know, I know.... Each of us has somethingwithin us which won't be denied, even if it makes us scream aloud to die. We are what we are, that's all. Like theold Celtic legend of the bird with the thorn in its breast, singing its heart out and dying. Because it has to, it'sdriven to. We can know what we do wrong even before we do it, but self-knowledge can't affect or change theoutcome, can it? Everyone singing his own little song, convinced it's the most wonderful song the world has everheard. Don't you see? We create our own thorns, and never stop to count the cost. All we can do is suffer thepain, and tell ourselves it was well worth it.""That's what I don't understand. The pain." He glanced down at her hand, so gently on his arm, hurting him sounbearably. "Why the pain, Meggie?" "Ask God, Ralph," said Meggie. "He's the authority on pain, isn't He? Hemade us what we are, He made the whole world. Therefore He made the pain, too."Bob, Jack, Hughie, Jims and Patsy were in for dinner, since it was Saturday night. Tomorrow FatherWatty was due out to say Mass, but Bob called him and said no one would be there. A white lie, to preserveCardinal Ralph's anonymity535. The five Cleary boys were more like Paddy than ever, older, slower in speech, assteadfast and enduring as the land. And how they loved Dane! Their eyes never seemed to leave him, evenfollowed him from the room when he went to bed. It wasn't hard to see they lived for the day when he would beold enough to join them in running Drogheda.

Cardinal Ralph had also discovered the reason for Justine's enmity. Dane had taken a fancy to him, hung on hiswords, lingered near him; she was plain jealous.

After the children had gone upstairs, he looked at those who were left: the brothers, Meggie, Fee.

"Fee, leave your desk for a moment," he said. "Come and sit here with us. I want to talk to all of you."She still carried herself well and hadn't lost her figure, only slackened in the breasts, thickened very slightly inthe waist; more a shaping due to old age than to an actual weight gain. Silently she seated herself in one of thebig cream chairs opposite the Cardinal, with Meggie to one side, and the brothers on stone benches close by.

"It's about Frank," he said.

The name hung between them, resounding536 distantly. "What about Frank?" asked Fee composedly.

Meggie laid her knitting down, looked at her mother, then at Cardinal Ralph. "Tell us, Ralph," she said quickly,unable to bear her mother's composure a moment longer.

"Frank has served almost thirty years in jail, do you realize that?" asked the Cardinal. "I know my people keptyou informed as we arranged, but I had asked them not to distress you unduly537. I honestly couldn't see what goodit could do Frank or yourselves to hear the harrowing details of his loneliness and despair, because there wasnothing any of us might have done. I think Frank would have been released some years ago had he not gained areputation for violence and instability during his early years in Goulburn Gaol538. Even as late as the war, whensome other prisoners were released into armed service, poor Frank was refused."Fee glanced up from her hands. "It's his temper," she said without emotion. The Cardinal seemed to be havingsome difficulty in finding the right words; while he sought for them, the family watched him in mingled539 dreadand hope, though it wasn't Frank's welfare they cared about. "It must be puzzling you greatly why I came back toAustralia after all these years," Cardinal Ralph said finally, not looking at Meggie. "I haven't always beenmindful of your lives, and I know it. From the day I met you, I've thought of myself first, put myself first. Andwhen the Holy Father rewarded my labors540 on behalf of the Church with a cardinal's mantle541, I asked myself ifthere was any service I could do the Cleary family which in some way would tell them how deeply I care." Hedrew a breath, focused his gaze on Fee, not on Meggie. "I came back to Australia to see what I could do aboutFrank. Do you remember, Fee, that time I spoke to you after Paddy and Stu died? Twenty years ago, and I'venever been able to forget the look in your eyes. So much energy and vitality542, crushed.""Yes," said Bob abruptly, his eyes riveted543 on his mother. "Yes, that's it." "Frank is being paroled," said theCardinal. "It was the only thing I could do to show you that I do care."If he had expected a sudden, dazzling blaze of light from out of Fee's long darkness, he would have been verydisappointed; at first it was no more than a small flicker544, and perhaps the toll of age would never really permit itto shine at full brightness. But in the eyes of Fee's sons he saw its true magnitude, and knew a sense of his ownpurpose he hadn't felt since that time during the war when he had talked to the young German soldier with theimposing name.

"Thank you," said Fee.

"Will you welcome him back to Drogheda?" he asked the Cleary men. "This is his home, it's where he ought tobe," Bob answered elliptically. Everyone nodded agreement save Fee, who seemed intent on some private vision.

"He isn't the same Frank," Cardinal Ralph went on gently. "I visited him in Goulburn Gaol to tell him the newsbefore I came here, and I had to let him know everyone on Drogheda had always been aware what had happenedto him. If I tell you that he didn't take it hard, it might give you some idea of the change in him. He was simply . .

. grateful. And so looking forward to seeing his family again, especially you, Fee.""When's he being released?" Bob asked, clearing his throat, pleasure for his mother clearly warring with fear ofwhat would happen when Frank returned.

"In a week or two. He'll come up on the night mail. I wanted him to fly, but he said he preferred the train.""Patsy and I will meet him," Jims offered eagerly, then his face fell. "Oh! We don't know what he looks like!""No," said Fee. "I'll meet him myself. On my own. I'm not in my dotage545 yet; I can still drive to Gilly.""Mum's right," said Meggie firmly, forestalling546 a chorus of protests from her brothers. "Let Mum meet him onher own. She's the one ought to see him first.""Well, I have work to do," said Fee gruffly, getting up and moving toward her desk.

The five brothers rose as one man. "And I reckon it's our bedtime," said Bob, yawning elaborately. He smiledshyly at Cardinal Ralph. "It will be like old times, to have you saying Mass for us in the morning."Meggie folded her knitting, put it away, got up. "I'll say good night, too, Ralph.""Good night, Meggie." His eyes followed her as she went out of the room, then turned to Fee's hunched547 back.

"Good night, Fee." "I beg your pardon? Did you say something?""I said good night.""Oh! Good night, Ralph."He didn't want to go upstairs so soon after Meggie. "I'm going for a walk before I turn in, I think. Do you knowsomething, Fee?" "No." Her voice was absent.

"You don't fool me for a minute."She snorted with laughter, an eerie sound. "Don't I? I wonder about that." Late, and the stars. The southernstars, wheeling across the heavens. He had lost his hold upon them forever, though they were still there, toodistant to warm, too remote to comfort. Closer to God, Who was a wisp between them. For a long time he stoodlooking up, listening to the wind in the trees, smiling.

Reluctant to be near Fee, he used the flight of stairs at the far end of the house; the lamp over her desk stillburned and he could see her bent silhouette548 there, working. Poor Fee. How much she must dread73 going to bed,though-perhaps when Frank came home it would be easier. Perhaps. At the top of the stairs silence met himthickly; a crystal lamp on a narrow hall table shed a dim pool of light for the comfort of nocturnal wanderers,flickering as the night breeze billowed the curtains inward around the window next to it. He passed it by, his feeton the heavy carpeting making no sound.

Meggie's door was wide open, more light welling through it; blocking the rays for a moment, he shut her doorbehind him and locked it. She had donned a loose wrapper and was sitting in a chair by the window looking outacross the invisible Home Paddock, but her head turned to watch him walk to the bed, sit on its edge. Slowly shegot up and came to him.

"Here, I'll help you get your boots off. That's the reason I never wear knee ones myself. I can't get them offwithout a jack, and a jack ruins good boots.""Did you wear that color deliberately549, Meggie?" "Ashes of roses?" She smiled. "It's always been my favoritecolor. It doesn't clash with my hair."He put one foot on her backside while she pulled a boot off, then changed it for the bare foot.

"Were you so sure I'd come to you, Meggie?""I told you. On Drogheda you're mine. Had you not come to me, I'd have gone to you, make no mistake." Shedrew his shirt over his head, and for a moment her hand rested with luxurious550 sensitivity on his bare back, thenshe went across to the lamp and turned it out, while he draped his clothes over a chair back. He could hear hermoving about, shedding her wrapper. And tomorrow morning I'll say Mass. But that's tomorrow morning, andthe magic has long gone. There is still the night, and Meggie. I have wanted her. She, too, is a sacrament.

Dane was disappointed. "I thought you'd wear a red soutane!" he said. "Sometimes I do, Dane, but only withinthe walls of the palace. Outside it, I wear a black soutane with a red sash, like this.""Do you really have a palace?""Yes.""Is it full of chandeliers?""Yes, but so is Drogheda.""Oh, Drogheda!" said Dane in disgust. "I'll bet ours are little ones compared to yours. I'd love to see yourpalace, and you in a red soutane." Cardinal Ralph smiled. "Who knows, Dane? Perhaps one day you will." Theboy had a curious expression always at the back of his eyes; a distant look. When he turned during the Mass,Cardinal Ralph saw it reinforced, but he didn't recognize it, only felt its familiarity. No man sees himself in amirror as he really is, nor any woman.

Luddie and Anne Mueller were due in for Christmas, as indeed they were every year. The big house was full oflight-hearted people, looking forward to the best Christmas in years; Minnie and Cat sang tunelessly as theyworked, Mrs. Smith's plump face was wreathed in smiles, Meggie relinquished551 Dane to Cardinal Ralph withoutcomment, and Fee seemed much happier, less glued to her desk. The men seized upon any excuse to make itback in each night, for after a late dinner the drawing room buzzed with conversation, and Mrs. Smith had takento preparing a bedtime supper snack of melted cheese on toast, hot buttered crumpets and raisin260 scones552. CardinalRalph protested that so much good food would make him fat, but after three days of Drogheda air, Droghedapeople and Drogheda food, he seemed to be shedding the rather gaunt, haggard look he had worn when hearrived.

The fourth day came in very hot. Cardinal Ralph had gone with Dane to bring in a mob of sheep, Justine sulkedalone in the pepper tree, and Meggie lounged on a cushioned cane settee on the veranda. Her bones felt limp,glutted, and she was very happy. A woman can live without it quite well for years at a stretch, but it was nice,when it was the one man. When she was with Ralph every part of her came alive except that part which belongedto Dane; the trouble was, when she was with Dane every part of her came alive except that which belonged toRalph. Only when both of them were present in her world simultaneously, as now, did she feel utterly553 complete.

Well, it stood to reason. Dane was her son, but Ralph was her man. Yet one thing marred554 her happiness; Ralphhadn't seen. So her mouth remained closed upon her secret. If he couldn't see it for himself, why should she tellhim? What had he ever done, to earn the telling? That he could think for a moment she had gone back to Lukewillingly was the last straw. He didn't deserve to be told, if he could think that of her. Sometimes she felt Fee'spale, ironic eyes upon her, and she would stare back, unperturbed. Fee understood, she really did. Understood thehalf-hate, the resentment555, the desire to pay back the lonely years. Off chasing rainbows, that was Ralph deBricassart; and why should she gift him with the most exquisite rainbow of all, his son? Let him be deprived. Lethim suffer, never knowing he suffered.

The phone rang its Drogheda code; Meggie listened idly, then realizing her mother must be elsewhere, she gotup reluctantly and went to answer it. "Mrs. Fiona Cleary, please," said a man's voice. When Meggie called hername, Fee returned to take the receiver. "Fiona Cleary speaking," she said, and as she stood listening the colorfaded gradually from her face, making it look as it had looked in the days after Paddy and Stu died; tiny andvulnerable. "Thank you," she said, and hung up.

"What is it, Mum?""Frank's been released. He's coming up on the night mail this afternoon." She looked at her watch. "I must leavesoon; it's after two.""Let me come with you," Meggie offered, so filled with her own happiness she couldn't bear to see her motherdisappointed; she sensed that this meeting couldn't be pure joy for Fee.

"No, Meggie, I'll be all right. You take care of things here, and hold dinner until I get back.""Isn't it wonderful, Mum? Frank's coming home in time for Christmas!" "Yes," said Fee, "it is wonderful."No one traveled on the night mail these days if they could fly, so by the time it had huffed the six hundred milesfrom Sydney, dropping its mostly second-class passengers at this small town or that, few people were left to bedisgorged in Gilly.

The stationmaster had a nodding acquaintance with Mrs. Cleary but would never have dreamed of engaging herin conversation, so he just watched her descend219 the wooden steps from the overhead footbridge, and left heralone to stand stiffly on the high platform. She was a stylish556 old girl, he thought; up-to-date dress and hat, high-heeled shoes, too. Good figure, not many lines on her face really for an old girl; just went to show what the easylife of a grazier could do for a woman.

So that on the surface Frank recognized his mother more quickly than she did him, though her heart knew himat once. He was fifty-two years old, and the years of his absence were those which had carried him from youth tomiddle age. The man who stood in the Gilly sunset was too thin, gaunt almost, very pale; his hair was croppedhalfway up his head, he wore shapeless clothes which hung on a frame still hinting at power for all its small size,and his well-shaped hands were clamped on the brim of a grey felt hat. He wasn't stooped or ill-looking, but hestood helplessly twisting that hat between his hands and seemed not to expect anyone to meet him, nor to knowwhat next he ought to do.

Fee, controlled, walked briskly down the platform. "Hello, Frank," she said.

He lifted the eyes which used to flash and sparkle so, set now in the face of an aging man. Not Frank's eyes atall. Exhausted557, patient, intensely weary. But as they absorbed the sight of Fee an extraordinary expression cameinto them, wounded, utterly defenseless, filled with the appeal of a dying man.

"Oh, Frank!" she said, and took him in her arms, rocking his head on her shoulder. "It's all right, it's all right,"she crooned, and softer still, "It's all right!"He sat slumped558 and silent in the car at first, but as the Rolls picked up speed and headed out of town he beganto take an interest in his surroundings, and glanced out of the window. "It looks exactly the same," he whispered.

"I imagine it does. Time moves slowly out here."They crossed the rumbling384 wooden-planked bridge over the thin, muddy river lined with weeping willows, mostof its bed exposed in a tangle of roots and gravel, pools lying in still brown patches, gum trees growingeverywhere in the stony559 wastes.

"The Barwon," he said. "I never thought I'd see it again."Behind them rose an enormous cloud of dust, in front of them the road sped straight as a perspective exerciseacross a great grassy560 plain devoid561 of trees.

"The road's new, Mum?" He seemed desperate to find conversation, make the situation appear normal.

"Yes, they put it through from Gilly to Milparinka just after the war ended.""They might have sealed it with a bit of tar75 instead of leaving it the same old dirt.""What for? We're used to eating dust out here, and think of the expense of making a bed strong enough to resistthe mud. The new road is straight, they keep it well graded and it cut out thirteen of our twenty-seven gates. Onlyfourteen left between Gilly and the homestead, and just you wait and see what we've done to them, Frank. Nomore opening and closing gates." The Rolls ran up a ramp562 toward a steel gate which lifted lazily; the moment thecar passed under it and got a few yards down the track, the gate lowered itself closed.

"Wonders never cease!" said Frank.

"We were the first station around here to install the automatic ramp gates--only between the Milparinka roadand the homestead, of course. The paddock gates still have to be opened and closed by hand.""Well, I reckon the bloke that invented these gates must have opened and closed a lot in his time, eh?" Frankgrinned; it was the first sign of amusement he had shown.

But then he fell silent, so his mother concentrated on her driving, unwilling450 to push him too quickly. When theypassed under the last gate and entered the Home Paddock, he gasped.

"I'd forgotten how lovely it is," he said.

"It's home," said Fee. "We've looked after it."She drove the Rolls down to the garages and then walked with him back to the big house, only this time hecarried his case himself. "Would you rather have a room in the big house, Frank, or a guesthouse all to yourself?"his mother asked.

"I'll take a guesthouse, thanks." The exhausted eyes rested on her face. "It will be nice to be able to get awayfrom people," he explained. That was the only reference he ever made to conditions in jail. "I think it will bebetter for you," she said, leading the way into her drawing room. "The big house is pretty full at the moment,what with the Cardinal here, Dane and Justine home, and Luddie and Anne Mueller arriving the day aftertomorrow for Christmas." She pulled the bell cord for tea and went quickly round the room lighting563 the kerosenelamps. "Luddie and Anne Mueller?" he asked.

She stopped in the act of turning up a wick, looked at him. "It's been a long time, Frank. The Muellers arefriends of Meggie's." The lamp trimmed to her satisfaction, she sat down in her wing chair. "We'll have dinner inan hour, but first we'll have a cup of tea. I have to wash the dust of the road out of my mouth."Frank seated himself awkwardly on the edge of one of the cream silk ottomans, gazing at the room in awe. "Itlooks so different from the days of Auntie Mary."Fee smiled. "Well, I think so," she said.

Then Meggie came in, and it was harder to assimilate the fact of Meggie grown into a mature woman than tosee his mother old. As his sister hugged and kissed him he turned his face away, shrank inside his baggy564 coat andsearched beyond her to his mother, who sat looking at him as if to say: It doesn't matter, it will all seem normalsoon, just give it time. A minute later, while he was still searching for something to say to this stranger, Meggie'sdaughter came in; a tall, skinny young girl who sat down stiffly, her big hands pleating folds in her dress, herlight eyes fixed565 first on one face, then on another. Meggie's son entered with the Cardinal and went to sit on thefloor beside his sister, a beautiful, calmly aloof566 boy.

"Frank, this is marvelous," said Cardinal Ralph, shaking him by the hand, then turning to Fee with his left browraised. "A cup of tea? Very good idea."The Cleary men came into the room together, and that was very hard, for they hadn't forgiven him at all. Frankknew why; it was the way he had hurt their mother. But he didn't know of anything to say which would makethem understand any of it, nor could he tell them of the pain, the loneliness, or beg forgiveness. The only one.

who really mattered was his mother, and she had never thought there was anything to forgive. It was the Cardinalwho tried to hold the evening together, who led the conversation round the dinner table and then afterward567 backin the drawing room, chatting with diplomatic ease and making a special point of including Frank in thegathering.

"Bob, I've meant to ask you ever since I arrived where are the rabbits?" the Cardinal asked. "I've seen millionsof burrows568, but nary a rabbit." "The rabbits are all dead," Bob answered.

"Dead?""That's right, from something called myxomatosis. Between the rabbits and the drought years, Australia wasjust about finished as a primary producing nation by nineteen forty-seven. We were desperate," said Bob,warming to his theme and grateful to have something to discuss which would exclude Frank.

At which point Frank unwittingly antagonized his next brother by saying, "I knew it was bad, but not as bad asall that." He sat back, hoping he had pleased the Cardinal by contributing his mite to the discussion. "Well, I'mnot exaggerating, believe me!" said Bob tartly569; how would Frank know?

"What happened?" the Cardinal asked quickly.

"The year before last the Commonwealth570 Scientific and Industrial Research Organization started anexperimental program in Victoria, infecting rabbits with this virus thing they'd bred. I'm not sure what a virus is,except I think it's a sort of germ. Anyway, they called theirs the myxomatosis virus. At first it didn't seem tospread too well, though what bunnies caught it all died. But about a year after the experimental infection it beganto spread like wildfire, they think mosquito-borne, but something to do with saffron thistle as well. And thebunnies have died in millions and millions ever since, it's just wiped them out. You'll sometimes see a fewsickies around with huge lumps all over their faces, very ugly-looking things. But it's a marvelous piece of work,Ralph, it really is. Nothing else can catch myxomatosis, even close relatives. So thanks to the blokes at theCSIRO, the rabbit plague is no more."Cardinal Ralph stared at Frank. "Do you realize what it is, Frank? Do you?" Poor Frank shook his head, wishingeveryone would let him retreat into anonymity.

"Mass-scale biological warfare571. I wonder does the rest of the world know that right here in Australia be tween1949 and 1952 a virus war was waged against a population of trillions upon trillions, and succeeded inobliterating it? Well! It's feasible, isn't it? Not simply yellow journalism572 at all, but scientific fact. They may aswell bury their atom bombs and hydrogen bombs. I know it had to be done, it was absolutely necessary,and it's probably the world's most unsung major scientific achievement. But it's terrifying, too."Dane had been following the conversation closely. "Biological warfare? I've never heard of it. What is itexactly, Ralph?""The words are new, Dane, but I'm a papal diplomat and the pity of it is that I must keep abreast573 of words like"biological warfare." In a nutshell, the term means myxomatosis. Breeding a germ capable of specifically killingand maiming only one kind of living being."Quite unselfconsciously Dane made the Sign of the Cross, and leaned back against Ralph de Bricassart's knees.

"We had better pray, hadn't we?" The Cardinal looked down on his fair head, smiling.

That eventually Frank managed to fit into Drogheda life at all was thanks to Fee, who in the face of stiff maleCleary opposition continued to act as if her oldest son had been gone but a short while, and had never broughtdisgrace on his family or bitterly hurt his mother. Quietly and inconspicuously she slipped him into the niche574 heseemed to want to occupy, removed from her other sons; nor did she encourage him to regain some of the vitalityof other days. For it had all gone; she had known it the moment he looked at her on the Gilly station platform.

Swallowed up by an existence the nature of which he refused to discuss with her. The most she could do for himwas to make him as happy as possible, and surely the way to do that was to accept the now Frank as the alwaysFrank.

There was no question of his working the paddocks, for his brothers didn't want him, nor did he want a kind oflife he had always hated. The sight of growing things pleased him, so Fee put him to potter in the homesteadgardens, left him in peace. And gradually the Cleary men grew used to having Frank back in the family bosom,began to understand that the threat Frank used to represent to their own welfare was quite empty.

Nothing would ever change what their mother felt for him, it didn't matter whether he was in jail or onDrogheda, she would still feel it. The important thing was that to have him on Drogheda made her happy. Hedidn't intrude145 upon their lives, he was no more or no less than always. Yet for Fee it wasn't a joy to have Frankhome again; how could it be? Seeing him every day was simply a different kind of sorrow from not being able tosee him at all. The terrible grief of having to witness a ruined life, a ruined man. Who was her most beloved son,and must have endured agonies beyond her imagination.

One day after Frank had been home about six months, Meggie came into the drawing room to find her mothersitting looking through the big windows to where Frank was clipping the great bank of roses alongside the drive.

She turned away, and something in her calmly arranged face sent Meggie's hands up to her heart.

"Oh, Mum!" she said helplessly.

Fee looked at her, shook her head and smiled. "It doesn't matter, Meggie," she said.

"If only there was something I could do!""There is. Just carry on the way you have been. I'm very grateful. You've become an ally."

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 ail lVAze     
v.生病,折磨,苦恼
参考例句:
  • It may provide answers to some of the problems that ail America.这一点可能解答困扰美国的某些问题。
  • Seek your sauce where you get your ail.心痛还须心药治。
2 profligate b15zV     
adj.行为不检的;n.放荡的人,浪子,肆意挥霍者
参考例句:
  • This young man had all the inclination to be a profligate of the first water.这个青年完全有可能成为十足的浪子。
  • Similarly Americans have been profligate in the handling of mineral resources.同样的,美国在处理矿产资源方面亦多浪费。
3 constellations ee34f7988ee4aa80f9502f825177c85d     
n.星座( constellation的名词复数 );一群杰出人物;一系列(相关的想法、事物);一群(相关的人)
参考例句:
  • The map of the heavens showed all the northern constellations. 这份天体图标明了北半部所有的星座。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • His time was coming, he would move in the constellations of power. 他时来运转,要进入权力中心了。 来自教父部分
4 puffs cb3699ccb6e175dfc305ea6255d392d6     
n.吸( puff的名词复数 );(烟斗或香烟的)一吸;一缕(烟、蒸汽等);(呼吸或风的)呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 );喷着汽(或烟)移动;吹嘘;吹捧
参考例句:
  • We sat exchanging puffs from that wild pipe of his. 我们坐在那里,轮番抽着他那支野里野气的烟斗。 来自辞典例句
  • Puffs of steam and smoke came from the engine. 一股股蒸汽和烟雾从那火车头里冒出来。 来自辞典例句
5 puff y0cz8     
n.一口(气);一阵(风);v.喷气,喘气
参考例句:
  • He took a puff at his cigarette.他吸了一口香烟。
  • They tried their best to puff the book they published.他们尽力吹捧他们出版的书。
6 lashing 97a95b88746153568e8a70177bc9108e     
n.鞭打;痛斥;大量;许多v.鞭打( lash的现在分词 );煽动;紧系;怒斥
参考例句:
  • The speaker was lashing the crowd. 演讲人正在煽动人群。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The rain was lashing the windows. 雨急打着窗子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 bleached b1595af54bdf754969c26ad4e6cec237     
漂白的,晒白的,颜色变浅的
参考例句:
  • His hair was bleached by the sun . 他的头发被太阳晒得发白。
  • The sun has bleached her yellow skirt. 阳光把她的黄裙子晒得褪色了。
8 mirages 63707d2009e5715d14e0761b5762a5e7     
n.海市蜃楼,幻景( mirage的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Through my half-closed eyelids I began to see mirages. 透过我半睁半闭的双眼,我看到了海市蜃楼。 来自辞典例句
  • There was for him only one trustworthy road through deceptions and mirages. 对他来说只有一条可靠的路能避开幻想和错觉。 来自辞典例句
9 desolately c2e77d1e2927556dd9117afc01cb6331     
荒凉地,寂寞地
参考例句:
  • He knows the truth and it's killing him,'she thought desolately. 他已经明白了,并且非常难过,"思嘉凄凉地思忖着。
  • At last, the night falling, they returned desolately to Hamelin. 最后,夜幕来临,他们伤心地回到了哈默林镇。
10 misty l6mzx     
adj.雾蒙蒙的,有雾的
参考例句:
  • He crossed over to the window to see if it was still misty.他走到窗户那儿,看看是不是还有雾霭。
  • The misty scene had a dreamy quality about it.雾景给人以梦幻般的感觉。
11 benediction 6Q4y0     
n.祝福;恩赐
参考例句:
  • The priest pronounced a benediction over the couple at the end of the marriage ceremony.牧师在婚礼结束时为新婚夫妇祈求上帝赐福。
  • He went abroad with his parents' benediction.他带着父母的祝福出国去了。
12 chrysanthemums 1ded1ec345ac322f70619ba28233b570     
n.菊花( chrysanthemum的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The cold weather had most deleterious consequences among the chrysanthemums. 寒冷的天气对菊花产生了极有害的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The chrysanthemums are in bloom; some are red and some yellow. 菊花开了, 有红的,有黄的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
13 gravel s6hyT     
n.砂跞;砂砾层;结石
参考例句:
  • We bought six bags of gravel for the garden path.我们购买了六袋碎石用来铺花园的小路。
  • More gravel is needed to fill the hollow in the drive.需要更多的砾石来填平车道上的坑洼。
14 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
15 gaping gaping     
adj.口的;张口的;敞口的;多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 );张开,张大
参考例句:
  • Ahead of them was a gaping abyss. 他们前面是一个巨大的深渊。
  • The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
16 judgment e3xxC     
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见
参考例句:
  • The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
  • He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。
17 underneath VKRz2     
adj.在...下面,在...底下;adv.在下面
参考例句:
  • Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
  • She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣,里面套着一条连衣裙。
18 bent QQ8yD     
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的
参考例句:
  • He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
  • We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
19 sinewy oyIwZ     
adj.多腱的,强壮有力的
参考例句:
  • When muscles are exercised often and properly,they keep the arms firm and sinewy.如果能经常正确地锻炼肌肉的话,双臂就会一直结实而强健。
  • His hard hands and sinewy sunburned limbs told of labor and endurance.他粗糙的双手,被太阳哂得发黑的健壮四肢,均表明他十分辛勤,非常耐劳。
20 progenitor 2iiyD     
n.祖先,先驱
参考例句:
  • He was also a progenitor of seven presidents of Nicaragua.他也是尼加拉瓜7任总统的祖先。
  • Schoenberg was a progenitor of modern music.勋伯格是一位现代音乐的先驱。
21 mien oDOxl     
n.风采;态度
参考例句:
  • He was a Vietnam veteran with a haunted mien.他是个越战老兵,举止总有些惶然。
  • It was impossible to tell from his mien whether he was offended.从他的神态中难以看出他是否生气了。
22 jack 53Hxp     
n.插座,千斤顶,男人;v.抬起,提醒,扛举;n.(Jake)杰克
参考例句:
  • I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
  • He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。
23 fealty 47Py3     
n.忠贞,忠节
参考例句:
  • He swore fealty to the king.他宣誓效忠国王。
  • If you are fealty and virtuous,then I would like to meet you.如果你孝顺善良,我很愿意认识你。
24 incapable w9ZxK     
adj.无能力的,不能做某事的
参考例句:
  • He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。
  • Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。
25 rudiments GjBzbg     
n.基础知识,入门
参考例句:
  • He has just learned the rudiments of Chinese. 他学汉语刚刚入门。
  • You do not seem to know the first rudiments of agriculture. 你似乎连农业上的一点最起码的常识也没有。
26 possessed xuyyQ     
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的
参考例句:
  • He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
  • He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。
27 entirely entirely     
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
  • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
28 aristocrat uvRzb     
n.贵族,有贵族气派的人,上层人物
参考例句:
  • He was the quintessential english aristocrat.他是典型的英国贵族。
  • He is an aristocrat to the very marrow of his bones.他是一个道道地地的贵族。
29 juvenile OkEy2     
n.青少年,少年读物;adj.青少年的,幼稚的
参考例句:
  • For a grown man he acted in a very juvenile manner.身为成年人,他的行为举止显得十分幼稚。
  • Juvenile crime is increasing at a terrifying rate.青少年犯罪正在以惊人的速度增长。
30 jacks 2b0facb0ce94beb5f627e3c22cc18d34     
n.抓子游戏;千斤顶( jack的名词复数 );(电)插孔;[电子学]插座;放弃
参考例句:
  • Hydraulic jacks under the machine produce the movement. 是机器下面的液压千斤顶造成的移动。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The front end is equipped with hydraulic jacks used for grade adjustment. 前瑞安装有液压千斤顶用来调整坡度。 来自辞典例句
31 flannel S7dyQ     
n.法兰绒;法兰绒衣服
参考例句:
  • She always wears a grey flannel trousers.她总是穿一条灰色法兰绒长裤。
  • She was looking luscious in a flannel shirt.她穿着法兰绒裙子,看上去楚楚动人。
32 shanty BEJzn     
n.小屋,棚屋;船工号子
参考例句:
  • His childhood was spent in a shanty.他的童年是在一个简陋小屋里度过的。
  • I want to quit this shanty.我想离开这烂房子。
33 chestnut XnJy8     
n.栗树,栗子
参考例句:
  • We have a chestnut tree in the bottom of our garden.我们的花园尽头有一棵栗树。
  • In summer we had tea outdoors,under the chestnut tree.夏天我们在室外栗树下喝茶。
34 mare Y24y3     
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。
35 hacks 7524d17c38ed0b02a3dc699263d3ce94     
黑客
参考例句:
  • But there are hacks who take advantage of people like Teddy. 但有些无赖会占类似泰迪的人的便宜。 来自电影对白
  • I want those two hacks back here, right now. 我要那两个雇工回到这儿,现在就回。 来自互联网
36 bleating ba46da1dd0448d69e0fab1a7ebe21b34     
v.(羊,小牛)叫( bleat的现在分词 );哭诉;发出羊叫似的声音;轻声诉说
参考例句:
  • I don't like people who go around bleating out things like that. 我不喜欢跑来跑去讲那种蠢话的人。 来自辞典例句
  • He heard the tinny phonograph bleating as he walked in. 他步入室内时听到那架蹩脚的留声机在呜咽。 来自辞典例句
37 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。
38 outlast dmfz8P     
v.较…耐久
参考例句:
  • The great use of life is to spend it doing something that will outlast it.人生的充分利用就是为争取比人生更长久的东西而度过一生。
  • These naturally dried flowers will outlast a bouquet of fresh blooms.这些自然风干的花会比一束鲜花更加持久。
39 fissures 7c89089a0ec5a3628fd80fb80bf349b6     
n.狭长裂缝或裂隙( fissure的名词复数 );裂伤;分歧;分裂v.裂开( fissure的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • Rising molten rock flows out on the ocean floor and caps the fissures, trapping the water. 上升熔岩流到海底并堵住了裂隙,结果把海水封在里面。 来自辞典例句
  • The French have held two colloquia and an international symposium on rock fissures. 法国已经开了两次岩石裂缝方面的报告会和一个国际会议。 来自辞典例句
40 parched 2mbzMK     
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。
41 saturation wCTzQ     
n.饱和(状态);浸透
参考例句:
  • The company's sales are now close to saturation in many western countries.这家公司的产品销售量在许多西方国家已接近饱和。
  • Road traffic has reached saturation point.公路交通已达到饱和点。
42 mangled c6ddad2d2b989a3ee0c19033d9ef021b     
vt.乱砍(mangle的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • His hand was mangled in the machine. 他的手卷到机器里轧烂了。
  • He was off work because he'd mangled his hand in a machine. 他没上班,因为他的手给机器严重压伤了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
43 flinch BgIz1     
v.畏缩,退缩
参考例句:
  • She won't flinch from speaking her mind.她不会讳言自己的想法。
  • We will never flinch from difficulties.我们面对困难决不退缩。
44 sentimental dDuzS     
adj.多愁善感的,感伤的
参考例句:
  • She's a sentimental woman who believes marriage comes by destiny.她是多愁善感的人,她相信姻缘命中注定。
  • We were deeply touched by the sentimental movie.我们深深被那感伤的电影所感动。
45 predator 11vza     
n.捕食其它动物的动物;捕食者
参考例句:
  • The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
  • Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴,它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。
46 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。
47 yearned df1a28ecd1f3c590db24d0d80c264305     
渴望,切盼,向往( yearn的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The people yearned for peace. 人民渴望和平。
  • She yearned to go back to the south. 她渴望回到南方去。
48 lavish h1Uxz     
adj.无节制的;浪费的;vt.慷慨地给予,挥霍
参考例句:
  • He despised people who were lavish with their praises.他看不起那些阿谀奉承的人。
  • The sets and costumes are lavish.布景和服装极尽奢华。
49 overture F4Lza     
n.前奏曲、序曲,提议,提案,初步交涉
参考例句:
  • The opera was preceded by a short overture.这部歌剧开始前有一段简短的序曲。
  • His overture led to nothing.他的提议没有得到什么结果。
50 precisely zlWzUb     
adv.恰好,正好,精确地,细致地
参考例句:
  • It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
  • The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。
51 defiant 6muzw     
adj.无礼的,挑战的
参考例句:
  • With a last defiant gesture,they sang a revolutionary song as they were led away to prison.他们被带走投入监狱时,仍以最后的反抗姿态唱起了一支革命歌曲。
  • He assumed a defiant attitude toward his employer.他对雇主采取挑衅的态度。
52 genes 01914f8eac35d7e14afa065217edd8c0     
n.基因( gene的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因,所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪
53 mingling b387131b4ffa62204a89fca1610062f3     
adj.混合的
参考例句:
  • There was a spring of bitterness mingling with that fountain of sweets. 在这个甜蜜的源泉中间,已经掺和进苦涩的山水了。
  • The mingling of inconsequence belongs to us all. 这场矛盾混和物是我们大家所共有的。
54 germinate hgSx1     
v.发芽;发生;发展
参考例句:
  • Seeds will not germinate without water.没有水,种子是不会发芽的。
  • Can thin and hollow seeds germinate?瘦瘪的种子能够发芽吗?
55 innate xbxzC     
adj.天生的,固有的,天赋的
参考例句:
  • You obviously have an innate talent for music.你显然有天生的音乐才能。
  • Correct ideas are not innate in the mind.人的正确思想不是自己头脑中固有的。
56 moth a10y1     
n.蛾,蛀虫
参考例句:
  • A moth was fluttering round the lamp.有一只蛾子扑打着翅膀绕着灯飞。
  • The sweater is moth-eaten.毛衣让蛀虫咬坏了。
57 dilate YZdzp     
vt.使膨胀,使扩大
参考例句:
  • At night,the pupils dilate to allow in more light.到了晚上,瞳孔就会扩大以接收更多光线。
  • Exercise dilates blood vessels on the surface of the brain.运动会使大脑表层的血管扩张。
58 minimal ODjx6     
adj.尽可能少的,最小的
参考例句:
  • They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
  • I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家,所以我的花费很小。
59 ordeal B4Pzs     
n.苦难经历,(尤指对品格、耐力的)严峻考验
参考例句:
  • She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
  • Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。
60 itch 9aczc     
n.痒,渴望,疥癣;vi.发痒,渴望
参考例句:
  • Shylock has an itch for money.夏洛克渴望发财。
  • He had an itch on his back.他背部发痒。
61 precipitate 1Sfz6     
adj.突如其来的;vt.使突然发生;n.沉淀物
参考例句:
  • I don't think we should make precipitate decisions.我认为我们不应该贸然作出决定。
  • The king was too precipitate in declaring war.国王在宣战一事上过于轻率。
62 overflowing df84dc195bce4a8f55eb873daf61b924     
n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的,充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式
参考例句:
  • The stands were overflowing with farm and sideline products. 集市上农副产品非常丰富。
  • The milk is overflowing. 牛奶溢出来了。
63 axe 2oVyI     
n.斧子;v.用斧头砍,削减
参考例句:
  • Be careful with that sharp axe.那把斧子很锋利,你要当心。
  • The edge of this axe has turned.这把斧子卷了刃了。
64 skull CETyO     
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。
65 feat 5kzxp     
n.功绩;武艺,技艺;adj.灵巧的,漂亮的,合适的
参考例句:
  • Man's first landing on the moon was a feat of great daring.人类首次登月是一个勇敢的壮举。
  • He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。
66 winced 7be9a27cb0995f7f6019956af354c6e4     
赶紧避开,畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He winced as the dog nipped his ankle. 狗咬了他的脚腕子,疼得他龇牙咧嘴。
  • He winced as a sharp pain shot through his left leg. 他左腿一阵剧痛疼得他直龇牙咧嘴。
67 tugged 8a37eb349f3c6615c56706726966d38e     
v.用力拉,使劲拉,猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She tugged at his sleeve to get his attention. 她拽了拽他的袖子引起他的注意。
  • A wry smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. 他的嘴角带一丝苦笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
68 lashes e2e13f8d3a7c0021226bb2f94d6a15ec     
n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 );鞭子;突然猛烈的一击;急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 );煽动;紧系;怒斥
参考例句:
  • Mother always lashes out food for the children's party. 孩子们聚会时,母亲总是给他们许多吃的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Never walk behind a horse in case it lashes out. 绝对不要跟在马后面,以防它突然猛踢。 来自《简明英汉词典》
69 crook NnuyV     
v.使弯曲;n.小偷,骗子,贼;弯曲(处)
参考例句:
  • He demanded an apology from me for calling him a crook.我骂他骗子,他要我向他认错。
  • She was cradling a small parcel in the crook of her elbow.她用手臂挎着一个小包裹。
70 bishop AtNzd     
n.主教,(国际象棋)象
参考例句:
  • He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
  • Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。
71 Mediterranean ezuzT     
adj.地中海的;地中海沿岸的
参考例句:
  • The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
  • Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。
72 chauffeured fa71fd6a533a20e5509df512054b30e0     
v.受雇于人的汽车司机( chauffeur的过去式 )
参考例句:
  • He was chauffeured to all his meetings. 他由司机开车送去参加所有的会议。
  • He was chauffeured away soon thereafter with no public statement. 在那之后他没有做出任何公开声明,很快被车送离。 来自互联网
73 dread Ekpz8     
vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧
参考例句:
  • We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
  • Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。
74 dreaded XuNzI3     
adj.令人畏惧的;害怕的v.害怕,恐惧,担心( dread的过去式和过去分词)
参考例句:
  • The dreaded moment had finally arrived. 可怕的时刻终于来到了。
  • He dreaded having to spend Christmas in hospital. 他害怕非得在医院过圣诞节不可。 来自《用法词典》
75 tar 1qOwD     
n.柏油,焦油;vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于
参考例句:
  • The roof was covered with tar.屋顶涂抹了一层沥青。
  • We use tar to make roads.我们用沥青铺路。
76 domes ea51ec34bac20cae1c10604e13288827     
n.圆屋顶( dome的名词复数 );像圆屋顶一样的东西;圆顶体育场
参考例句:
  • The domes are circular or ovoid in cross-section. 穹丘的横断面为圆形或卵圆形。 来自辞典例句
  • Parks. The facilities highlighted in text include sport complexes and fabric domes. 本书重点讲的设施包括运动场所和顶棚式结构。 来自互联网
77 plazas 93eacc5fe3acd076bd7c65c30c255640     
n.(尤指西班牙语城镇的)露天广场( plaza的名词复数 );购物中心
参考例句:
  • At focal points, there are seating plazas as rest points for users. 在主要主景点上,有空间较大的广场提供休息的地方。 来自互联网
  • Such products are suitable for lighting and decoration of plazas, courtyards, parks, residential district and roadside. 本产品适合于广场、庭院,公园、小区草坪和道路的装饰和照明。 来自互联网
78 sumptuous Rqqyl     
adj.豪华的,奢侈的,华丽的
参考例句:
  • The guests turned up dressed in sumptuous evening gowns.客人们身着华丽的夜礼服出现了。
  • We were ushered into a sumptuous dining hall.我们被领进一个豪华的餐厅。
79 monk 5EDx8     
n.和尚,僧侣,修道士
参考例句:
  • The man was a monk from Emei Mountain.那人是峨眉山下来的和尚。
  • Buddhist monk sat with folded palms.和尚合掌打坐。
80 fig L74yI     
n.无花果(树)
参考例句:
  • The doctor finished the fig he had been eating and selected another.这位医生吃完了嘴里的无花果,又挑了一个。
  • You can't find a person who doesn't know fig in the United States.你找不到任何一个在美国的人不知道无花果的。
81 worthy vftwB     
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的
参考例句:
  • I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
  • There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。
82 cardinal Xcgy5     
n.(天主教的)红衣主教;adj.首要的,基本的
参考例句:
  • This is a matter of cardinal significance.这是非常重要的事。
  • The Cardinal coloured with vexation. 红衣主教感到恼火,脸涨得通红。
83 tapestries 9af80489e1c419bba24f77c0ec03cf54     
n.挂毯( tapestry的名词复数 );绣帷,织锦v.用挂毯(或绣帷)装饰( tapestry的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • The wall of the banqueting hall were hung with tapestries. 宴会厅的墙上挂有壁毯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The rooms were hung with tapestries. 房间里都装饰着挂毯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
84 crimson AYwzH     
n./adj.深(绯)红色(的);vi.脸变绯红色
参考例句:
  • She went crimson with embarrassment.她羞得满脸通红。
  • Maple leaves have turned crimson.枫叶已经红了。
85 ruby iXixS     
n.红宝石,红宝石色
参考例句:
  • She is wearing a small ruby earring.她戴着一枚红宝石小耳环。
  • On the handle of his sword sat the biggest ruby in the world.他的剑柄上镶有一颗世上最大的红宝石。
86 avert 7u4zj     
v.防止,避免;转移(目光、注意力等)
参考例句:
  • He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
  • I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。
87 drawn MuXzIi     
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。
88 encompass WZJzO     
vt.围绕,包围;包含,包括;完成
参考例句:
  • The course will encompass physics,chemistry and biology.课程将包括物理、化学和生物学。
  • The project will encompass rural and underdeveloped areas in China.这项工程将覆盖中国的农村和不发达地区。
89 eminence VpLxo     
n.卓越,显赫;高地,高处;名家
参考例句:
  • He is a statesman of great eminence.他是个声名显赫的政治家。
  • Many of the pilots were to achieve eminence in the aeronautical world.这些飞行员中很多人将会在航空界声名显赫。
90 fluency ajCxF     
n.流畅,雄辩,善辩
参考例句:
  • More practice will make you speak with greater fluency.多练习就可以使你的口语更流利。
  • Some young children achieve great fluency in their reading.一些孩子小小年纪阅读已经非常流畅。
91 colloquial ibryG     
adj.口语的,会话的
参考例句:
  • It's hard to understand the colloquial idioms of a foreign language.外语里的口头习语很难懂。
  • They have little acquaintance with colloquial English. 他们对英语会话几乎一窍不通。
92 scarlet zD8zv     
n.深红色,绯红色,红衣;adj.绯红色的
参考例句:
  • The scarlet leaves of the maples contrast well with the dark green of the pines.深红的枫叶和暗绿的松树形成了明显的对比。
  • The glowing clouds are growing slowly pale,scarlet,bright red,and then light red.天空的霞光渐渐地淡下去了,深红的颜色变成了绯红,绯红又变为浅红。
93 guilt 9e6xr     
n.犯罪;内疚;过失,罪责
参考例句:
  • She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
  • Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。
94 aspired 379d690dd1367e3bafe9aa80ae270d77     
v.渴望,追求( aspire的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She aspired to a scientific career. 她有志于科学事业。
  • Britain,France,the United States and Japan all aspired to hegemony after the end of World War I. 第一次世界大战后,英、法、美、日都想争夺霸权。 来自《简明英汉词典》
95 realization nTwxS     
n.实现;认识到,深刻了解
参考例句:
  • We shall gladly lend every effort in our power toward its realization.我们将乐意为它的实现而竭尽全力。
  • He came to the realization that he would never make a good teacher.他逐渐认识到自己永远不会成为好老师。
96 humble ddjzU     
adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低
参考例句:
  • In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见,他将在选举中获胜。
  • Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。
97 vows c151b5e18ba22514580d36a5dcb013e5     
誓言( vow的名词复数 ); 郑重宣布,许愿
参考例句:
  • Matrimonial vows are to show the faithfulness of the new couple. 婚誓体现了新婚夫妇对婚姻的忠诚。
  • The nun took strait vows. 那位修女立下严格的誓愿。
98 bequest dWPzq     
n.遗赠;遗产,遗物
参考例句:
  • In his will he made a substantial bequest to his wife.在遗嘱里他给妻子留下了一大笔遗产。
  • The library has received a generous bequest from a local businessman.图书馆从当地一位商人那里得到了一大笔遗赠。
99 obedience 8vryb     
n.服从,顺从
参考例句:
  • Society has a right to expect obedience of the law.社会有权要求人人遵守法律。
  • Soldiers act in obedience to the orders of their superior officers.士兵们遵照上级军官的命令行动。
100 humility 8d6zX     
n.谦逊,谦恭
参考例句:
  • Humility often gains more than pride.谦逊往往比骄傲收益更多。
  • His voice was still soft and filled with specious humility.他的声音还是那么温和,甚至有点谦卑。
101 repentance ZCnyS     
n.懊悔
参考例句:
  • He shows no repentance for what he has done.他对他的所作所为一点也不懊悔。
  • Christ is inviting sinners to repentance.基督正在敦请有罪的人悔悟。
102 repent 1CIyT     
v.悔悟,悔改,忏悔,后悔
参考例句:
  • He has nothing to repent of.他没有什么要懊悔的。
  • Remission of sins is promised to those who repent.悔罪者可得到赦免。
103 villains ffdac080b5dbc5c53d28520b93dbf399     
n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 );罪犯;(小说、戏剧等中的)反面人物;淘气鬼
参考例句:
  • The impression of villains was inescapable. 留下恶棍的印象是不可避免的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Some villains robbed the widow of the savings. 有几个歹徒将寡妇的积蓄劫走了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
104 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。
105 gilded UgxxG     
a.镀金的,富有的
参考例句:
  • The golden light gilded the sea. 金色的阳光使大海如金子般闪闪发光。
  • "Friends, they are only gilded disks of lead!" "朋友们,这只不过是些镀金的铅饼! 来自英汉文学 - 败坏赫德莱堡
106 foresight Wi3xm     
n.先见之明,深谋远虑
参考例句:
  • The failure is the result of our lack of foresight.这次失败是由于我们缺乏远虑而造成的。
  • It required a statesman's foresight and sagacity to make the decision.作出这个决定需要政治家的远见卓识。
107 ascetic bvrzE     
adj.禁欲的;严肃的
参考例句:
  • The hermit followed an ascetic life-style.这个隐士过的是苦行生活。
  • This is achieved by strict celibacy and ascetic practices.这要通过严厉的独身生活和禁欲修行而达到。
108 resoluteness 4dad1979f7cc3e8d5a752ab8556a73dd     
参考例句:
  • His resoluteness carried him through the battle. 他的果敢使他通过了战斗考验。
109 addiction JyEzS     
n.上瘾入迷,嗜好
参考例句:
  • He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
  • Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。
110 binding 2yEzWb     
有约束力的,有效的,应遵守的
参考例句:
  • The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
  • Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。
111 zeal mMqzR     
n.热心,热情,热忱
参考例句:
  • Revolutionary zeal caught them up,and they joined the army.革命热情激励他们,于是他们从军了。
  • They worked with great zeal to finish the project.他们热情高涨地工作,以期完成这个项目。
112 ram dTVxg     
(random access memory)随机存取存储器
参考例句:
  • 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存,640K内存则更佳。
113 mitigate EjRyf     
vt.(使)减轻,(使)缓和
参考例句:
  • The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
  • Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。
114 wispy wispy     
adj.模糊的;纤细的
参考例句:
  • Grey wispy hair straggled down to her shoulders.稀疏的灰白头发披散在她肩头。
  • The half moon is hidden behind some wispy clouds.半轮月亮躲在淡淡的云彩之后。
115 confessions 4fa8f33e06cadcb434c85fa26d61bf95     
n.承认( confession的名词复数 );自首;声明;(向神父的)忏悔
参考例句:
  • It is strictly forbidden to obtain confessions and to give them credence. 严禁逼供信。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • Neither trickery nor coercion is used to secure confessions. 既不诱供也不逼供。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
116 vessels fc9307c2593b522954eadb3ee6c57480     
n.血管( vessel的名词复数 );船;容器;(具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的)人
参考例句:
  • The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
117 discreet xZezn     
adj.(言行)谨慎的;慎重的;有判断力的
参考例句:
  • He is very discreet in giving his opinions.发表意见他十分慎重。
  • It wasn't discreet of you to ring me up at the office.你打电话到我办公室真是太鲁莽了。
118 addicted dzizmY     
adj.沉溺于....的,对...上瘾的
参考例句:
  • He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
  • She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。
119 kit D2Rxp     
n.用具包,成套工具;随身携带物
参考例句:
  • The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
  • The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。
120 adamant FywzQ     
adj.坚硬的,固执的
参考例句:
  • We are adamant on the building of a well-off society.在建设小康社会这一点上,我们是坚定不移的。
  • Veronica was quite adamant that they should stay on.维罗妮卡坚信他们必须继续留下去。
121 secular GZmxM     
n.牧师,凡人;adj.世俗的,现世的,不朽的
参考例句:
  • We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
  • Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。
122 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。
123 condemn zpxzp     
vt.谴责,指责;宣判(罪犯),判刑
参考例句:
  • Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他,而有些人谴责他。
  • We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。
124 shimmering 0a3bf9e89a4f6639d4583ea76519339e     
v.闪闪发光,发微光( shimmer的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • The sea was shimmering in the sunlight. 阳光下海水波光闪烁。
  • The colours are delicate and shimmering. 这些颜色柔和且闪烁微光。 来自辞典例句
125 haughtily haughtily     
adv. 傲慢地, 高傲地
参考例句:
  • She carries herself haughtily. 她举止傲慢。
  • Haughtily, he stalked out onto the second floor where I was standing. 他傲然跨出电梯,走到二楼,我刚好站在那儿。
126 wireless Rfwww     
adj.无线的;n.无线电
参考例句:
  • There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
  • Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。
127 walnut wpTyQ     
n.胡桃,胡桃木,胡桃色,茶色
参考例句:
  • Walnut is a local specialty here.核桃是此地的土特产。
  • The stool comes in several sizes in walnut or mahogany.凳子有几种尺寸,材质分胡桃木和红木两种。
128 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。
129 speculation 9vGwe     
n.思索,沉思;猜测;投机
参考例句:
  • Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
  • There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。
130 Oxford Wmmz0a     
n.牛津(英国城市)
参考例句:
  • At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
  • This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。
131 prim SSIz3     
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:
  • She's too prim to enjoy rude jokes!她太古板,不喜欢听粗野的笑话!
  • He is prim and precise in manner.他的态度一本正经而严谨
132 melancholy t7rz8     
n.忧郁,愁思;adj.令人感伤(沮丧)的,忧郁的
参考例句:
  • All at once he fell into a state of profound melancholy.他立即陷入无尽的忧思之中。
  • He felt melancholy after he failed the exam.这次考试没通过,他感到很郁闷。
133 persistence hSLzh     
n.坚持,持续,存留
参考例句:
  • The persistence of a cough in his daughter puzzled him.他女儿持续的咳嗽把他难住了。
  • He achieved success through dogged persistence.他靠着坚持不懈取得了成功。
134 subdued 76419335ce506a486af8913f13b8981d     
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:
  • He seemed a bit subdued to me. 我觉得他当时有点闷闷不乐。
  • I felt strangely subdued when it was all over. 一切都结束的时候,我却有一种奇怪的压抑感。
135 avocations ced84b6cc413c20155f985ee94d0e492     
n.业余爱好,嗜好( avocation的名词复数 );职业
参考例句:
  • Most seem to come from technical avocations, like engineering, computers and sciences. 绝大多数人原有技术方面的爱好,比如工程、计算机和科学。 来自互联网
  • In terms of avocations, there is hardly anything in common between Jenny and her younger sister. 就业余爱好而言,珍妮和她妹妹几乎没什么共同之处。 来自互联网
136 compassion 3q2zZ     
n.同情,怜悯
参考例句:
  • He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
  • Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。
137 staple fGkze     
n.主要产物,常用品,主要要素,原料,订书钉,钩环;adj.主要的,重要的;vt.分类
参考例句:
  • Tea is the staple crop here.本地产品以茶叶为大宗。
  • Potatoes are the staple of their diet.土豆是他们的主要食品。
138 ammunition GwVzz     
n.军火,弹药
参考例句:
  • A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
  • They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。
139 staples a4d18fc84a927940d1294e253001ce3d     
n.(某国的)主要产品( staple的名词复数 );钉书钉;U 形钉;主要部份v.用钉书钉钉住( staple的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • The anvil onto which the staples are pressed was not assemble correctly. 订书机上的铁砧安装错位。 来自辞典例句
  • I'm trying to make an analysis of the staples of his talk. 我在试行分析他的谈话的要旨。 来自辞典例句
140 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。
141 awfully MPkym     
adv.可怕地,非常地,极端地
参考例句:
  • Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
  • I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。
142 enlist npCxX     
vt.谋取(支持等),赢得;征募;vi.入伍
参考例句:
  • They come here to enlist men for the army.他们来这儿是为了召兵。
  • The conference will make further efforts to enlist the support of the international community for their just struggle. 会议必将进一步动员国际社会,支持他们的正义斗争。
143 enlisting 80783387c68c6664ae9c56b399f6c7c6     
v.(使)入伍, (使)参军( enlist的现在分词 );获得(帮助或支持)
参考例句:
  • He thought about enlisting-about the Spanish legion-about a profession. 他想去打仗,想参加西班牙军团,想找个职业。 来自辞典例句
  • They are not enlisting men over thirty-five. 他们不召超过35岁的人入伍。 来自辞典例句
144 harry heBxS     
vt.掠夺,蹂躏,使苦恼
参考例句:
  • Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天,人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
  • Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。
145 intrude Lakzv     
vi.闯入;侵入;打扰,侵扰
参考例句:
  • I do not want to intrude if you are busy.如果你忙我就不打扰你了。
  • I don't want to intrude on your meeting.我不想打扰你们的会议。
146 intruded 8326c2a488b587779b620c459f2d3c7e     
n.侵入的,推进的v.侵入,侵扰,打扰( intrude的过去式和过去分词 );把…强加于
参考例句:
  • One could believe that human creatures had never intruded there before. 你简直会以为那是从来没有人到过的地方。 来自辞典例句
  • The speaker intruded a thin smile into his seriousness. 演说人严肃的脸上掠过一丝笑影。 来自辞典例句
147 valiantly valiantly     
adv.勇敢地,英勇地;雄赳赳
参考例句:
  • He faced the enemy valiantly, shuned no difficulties and dangers and would not hesitate to lay down his life if need be. 他英勇对敌,不避艰险,赴汤蹈火在所不计。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • Murcertach strove valiantly to meet the new order of things. 面对这个新事态,默克塔克英勇奋斗。 来自辞典例句
148 evacuated b2adcc11308c78e262805bbcd7da1669     
撤退者的
参考例句:
  • Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
  • The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。
149 creases adfbf37b33b2c1e375b9697e49eb1ec1     
(使…)起折痕,弄皱( crease的第三人称单数 ); (皮肤)皱起,使起皱纹
参考例句:
  • She smoothed the creases out of her skirt. 她把裙子上的皱褶弄平。
  • She ironed out all the creases in the shirt. 她熨平了衬衣上的所有皱褶。
150 enlisted 2d04964099d0ec430db1d422c56be9e2     
adj.应募入伍的v.(使)入伍, (使)参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 );获得(帮助或支持)
参考例句:
  • enlisted men and women 男兵和女兵
  • He enlisted with the air force to fight against the enemy. 他应募加入空军对敌作战。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
151 compartment dOFz6     
n.卧车包房,隔间;分隔的空间
参考例句:
  • We were glad to have the whole compartment to ourselves.真高兴,整个客车隔间由我们独享。
  • The batteries are safely enclosed in a watertight compartment.电池被安全地置于一个防水的隔间里。
152 stifled 20d6c5b702a525920b7425fe94ea26a5     
(使)窒息, (使)窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 ); 镇压,遏制; 堵
参考例句:
  • The gas stifled them. 煤气使他们窒息。
  • The rebellion was stifled. 叛乱被镇压了。
153 peculiar cinyo     
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的
参考例句:
  • He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
  • He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。
154 wrung b11606a7aab3e4f9eebce4222a9397b1     
绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 ); 握紧(尤指别人的手); 把(湿衣服)拧干; 绞掉(水)
参考例句:
  • He has wrung the words from their true meaning. 他曲解这些字的真正意义。
  • He wrung my hand warmly. 他热情地紧握我的手。
155 buffers 4d293ef273d93a5411725a8223efc83e     
起缓冲作用的人(或物)( buffer的名词复数 ); 缓冲器; 减震器; 愚蠢老头
参考例句:
  • To allocate and schedule the use of buffers. 分配和计划缓冲器的使用。
  • Number of times the stream has paused due to insufficient stream buffers. 由于流缓冲区不足导致流程暂停的次数。
156 streak UGgzL     
n.条理,斑纹,倾向,少许,痕迹;v.加条纹,变成条纹,奔驰,快速移动
参考例句:
  • The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
  • Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹?
157 rout isUye     
n.溃退,溃败;v.击溃,打垮
参考例句:
  • The enemy was put to rout all along the line.敌人已全线崩溃。
  • The people's army put all to rout wherever they went.人民军队所向披靡。
158 axis sdXyz     
n.轴,轴线,中心线;坐标轴,基准线
参考例句:
  • The earth's axis is the line between the North and South Poles.地轴是南北极之间的线。
  • The axis of a circle is its diameter.圆的轴线是其直径。
159 seesaw Xh3yf     
n.跷跷板
参考例句:
  • Prices have gone up and down like a seesaw this year.今年的价格像跷跷板一样时涨时跌。
  • The children are playing at seesaw.孩子们在玩跷跷板。
160 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。
161 ignominiously 06ad56226c9512b3b1e466b6c6a73df2     
adv.耻辱地,屈辱地,丢脸地
参考例句:
  • Their attempt failed ignominiously. 他们的企图可耻地失败了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She would be scolded, abused, ignominiously discharged. 他们会说她,骂她,解雇她,让她丢尽脸面的。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
162 detailed xuNzms     
adj.详细的,详尽的,极注意细节的,完全的
参考例句:
  • He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
  • A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。
163 hips f8c80f9a170ee6ab52ed1e87054f32d4     
abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯,耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 );[建筑学]屋脊;臀围(尺寸);臀部…的
参考例句:
  • She stood with her hands on her hips. 她双手叉腰站着。
  • They wiggled their hips to the sound of pop music. 他们随着流行音乐的声音摇晃着臀部。 来自《简明英汉词典》
164 sergeant REQzz     
n.警官,中士
参考例句:
  • His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
  • How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹?
165 query iS4xJ     
n.疑问,问号,质问;vt.询问,表示怀疑
参考例句:
  • I query very much whether it is wise to act so hastily.我真怀疑如此操之过急地行动是否明智。
  • They raised a query on his sincerity.他们对他是否真诚提出质疑。
166 bloody kWHza     
adj.非常的的;流血的;残忍的;adv.很;vt.血染
参考例句:
  • He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
  • He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。
167 belly QyKzLi     
n.肚子,腹部;(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分,膛
参考例句:
  • The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
  • His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。
168 flicking 856751237583a36a24c558b09c2a932a     
(尤指用手指或手快速地)轻击( flick的现在分词 ); (用…)轻挥; (快速地)按开关; 向…笑了一下(或瞥了一眼等)
参考例句:
  • He helped her up before flicking the reins. 他帮她上马,之后挥动了缰绳。
  • There's something flicking around my toes. 有什么东西老在叮我的脚指头。
169 sunbathing bb1a8564f9c25f1e1db56b2b14f574cb     
n.日光浴
参考例句:
  • tourists sunbathing on the beach 在海滩上沐浴着阳光的游客
  • We've been sunbathing on the beach. 我们一直在海滩上晒日光浴。
170 lizard P0Ex0     
n.蜥蜴,壁虎
参考例句:
  • A chameleon is a kind of lizard.变色龙是一种蜥蜴。
  • The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect.蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。
171 boredom ynByy     
n.厌烦,厌倦,乏味,无聊
参考例句:
  • Unemployment can drive you mad with boredom.失业会让你无聊得发疯。
  • A walkman can relieve the boredom of running.跑步时带着随身听就不那么乏味了。
172 perimeter vSxzj     
n.周边,周长,周界
参考例句:
  • The river marks the eastern perimeter of our land.这条河标示我们的土地东面的边界。
  • Drinks in hands,they wandered around the perimeter of the ball field.他们手里拿着饮料在球场周围漫不经心地遛跶。
173 doggedly 6upzAY     
adv.顽强地,固执地
参考例句:
  • He was still doggedly pursuing his studies.他仍然顽强地进行着自己的研究。
  • He trudged doggedly on until he reached the flat.他顽强地、步履艰难地走着,一直走回了公寓。
174 pebbles e4aa8eab2296e27a327354cbb0b2c5d2     
[复数]鹅卵石; 沙砾; 卵石,小圆石( pebble的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The pebbles of the drive crunched under his feet. 汽车道上的小石子在他脚底下喀嚓作响。
  • Line the pots with pebbles to ensure good drainage. 在罐子里铺一层鹅卵石,以确保排水良好。
175 spoke XryyC     
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。
176 beleaguered 91206cc7aa6944d764745938d913fa79     
adj.受到围困[围攻]的;包围的v.围攻( beleaguer的过去式和过去分词);困扰;骚扰
参考例句:
  • The beleaguered party leader was forced to resign. 那位饱受指责的政党领导人被迫辞职。
  • We are beleaguered by problems. 我们被许多困难所困扰。 来自《简明英汉词典》
177 implicitly 7146d52069563dd0fc9ea894b05c6fef     
adv. 含蓄地, 暗中地, 毫不保留地
参考例句:
  • Many verbs and many words of other kinds are implicitly causal. 许多动词和许多其他类词都蕴涵着因果关系。
  • I can trust Mr. Somerville implicitly, I suppose? 我想,我可以毫无保留地信任萨莫维尔先生吧?
178 harps 43af3ccaaa52a4643b9e0a0261914c63     
abbr.harpsichord 拨弦古钢琴n.竖琴( harp的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • She continually harps on lack of money. 她总唠叨说缺钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He could turn on the harps of the blessed. 他能召来天使的竖琴为他奏乐。 来自辞典例句
179 awe WNqzC     
n.敬畏,惊惧;vt.使敬畏,使惊惧
参考例句:
  • The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
  • The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。
180 accomplished UzwztZ     
adj.有才艺的;有造诣的;达到了的
参考例句:
  • Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
  • Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。
181 steadily Qukw6     
adv.稳定地;不变地;持续地
参考例句:
  • The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
  • Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。
182 swelling OUzzd     
n.肿胀
参考例句:
  • Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
  • There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。
183 emblem y8jyJ     
n.象征,标志;徽章
参考例句:
  • Her shirt has the company emblem on it.她的衬衫印有公司的标记。
  • The eagle was an emblem of strength and courage.鹰是力量和勇气的象征。
184 regiments 874816ecea99051da3ed7fa13d5fe861     
(军队的)团( regiment的名词复数 ); 大量的人或物
参考例句:
  • The three regiments are all under the command of you. 这三个团全归你节制。
  • The town was garrisoned with two regiments. 该镇有两团士兵驻守。
185 regiment JATzZ     
n.团,多数,管理;v.组织,编成团,统制
参考例句:
  • As he hated army life,he decide to desert his regiment.因为他嫌恶军队生活,所以他决心背弃自己所在的那个团。
  • They reformed a division into a regiment.他们将一个师整编成为一个团。
186 conspired 6d377e365eb0261deeef136f58f35e27     
密谋( conspire的过去式和过去分词 ); 搞阴谋; (事件等)巧合; 共同导致
参考例句:
  • They conspired to bring about the meeting of the two people. 他们共同促成了两人的会面。
  • Bad weather and car trouble conspired to ruin our vacation. 恶劣的气候连同汽车故障断送了我们的假日。
187 blight 0REye     
n.枯萎病;造成破坏的因素;vt.破坏,摧残
参考例句:
  • The apple crop was wiped out by blight.枯萎病使苹果全无收成。
  • There is a blight on all his efforts.他的一切努力都遭到挫折。
188 disastrous 2ujx0     
adj.灾难性的,造成灾害的;极坏的,很糟的
参考例句:
  • The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
  • Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨,血本无归。
189 emulating 0f2a15ac7cdd2c8dace3849370880337     
v.与…竞争( emulate的现在分词 );努力赶上;计算机程序等仿真;模仿
参考例句:
  • The possibilities of producing something entirely new by emulating nature's very wide crosses are enticing. 用自然界的非常广泛的杂交方法创造出全新植物种的可能性是诱人的。 来自辞典例句
  • The human emulating this archetypal patterning will be quite the accomplished businessperson. 这类原型模式者会是一个很成功的商人。 来自互联网
190 agrarian qKayI     
adj.土地的,农村的,农业的
参考例句:
  • People are leaving an agrarian way of life to go to the city.人们正在放弃农业生活方式而转向城市。
  • This was a feature of agrarian development in Britain.这是大不列颠土地所有制发展的一个特征。
191 pastor h3Ozz     
n.牧师,牧人
参考例句:
  • He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
  • We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师:教会的事是由五位执事管理的。
192 abysmally f09c9f99bc77a42cbc53f997b674d476     
adv.极糟地;可怕地;完全地;极端地
参考例句:
  • But the two-and-a-half-year-olds, much to my and their parents' surprise, failed abysmally. 但是两岁半的孩子根本不会找,我们与孩子的父母都很意外。 来自互联网
  • Research and development spending by existing firms is abysmally low. 该数据能衡量新增的商业业务量和对创业的态度。 来自互联网
193 replacements 1f6e0d51ec9f57961e86b4aa2e91ef29     
n.代替( replacement的名词复数 );替换的人[物];替代品;归还
参考例句:
  • They infiltrated behind the lines so as to annoy the emery replacements. 他们渗透敌后以便骚扰敌军的调度。 来自辞典例句
  • For oil replacements, cheap suddenly looks less of a problem. 对于石油的替代品来说,价格变得无足轻重了。 来自互联网
194 irritability oR0zn     
n.易怒
参考例句:
  • It was the almost furtive restlessness and irritability that had possessed him. 那是一种一直纠缠着他的隐秘的不安和烦恼。
  • All organisms have irritability while alive. 所有生物体活着时都有应激性。
195 fatigue PhVzV     
n.疲劳,劳累
参考例句:
  • The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
  • I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。
196 distress 3llzX     
n.苦恼,痛苦,不舒适;不幸;vt.使悲痛
参考例句:
  • Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
  • Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。
197 longing 98bzd     
n.(for)渴望
参考例句:
  • Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
  • His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。
198 habitual x5Pyp     
adj.习惯性的;通常的,惯常的
参考例句:
  • He is a habitual criminal.他是一个惯犯。
  • They are habitual visitors to our house.他们是我家的常客。
199 exasperated ltAz6H     
adj.恼怒的
参考例句:
  • We were exasperated at his ill behaviour. 我们对他的恶劣行为感到非常恼怒。
  • Constant interruption of his work exasperated him. 对他工作不断的干扰使他恼怒。
200 likeness P1txX     
n.相像,相似(之处)
参考例句:
  • I think the painter has produced a very true likeness.我认为这位画家画得非常逼真。
  • She treasured the painted likeness of her son.她珍藏她儿子的画像。
201 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。
202 reassurance LTJxV     
n.使放心,使消除疑虑
参考例句:
  • He drew reassurance from the enthusiastic applause.热烈的掌声使他获得了信心。
  • Reassurance is especially critical when it comes to military activities.消除疑虑在军事活动方面尤为关键。
203 reassuring vkbzHi     
a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的,使人放心的
参考例句:
  • He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
  • With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。
204 precocious QBay6     
adj.早熟的;较早显出的
参考例句:
  • They become precocious experts in tragedy.他们成了一批思想早熟、善写悲剧的能手。
  • Margaret was always a precocious child.玛格丽特一直是个早熟的孩子。
205 scrap JDFzf     
n.碎片;废料;v.废弃,报废
参考例句:
  • A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
  • Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。
206 ousted 1c8f4f95f3bcc86657d7ec7543491ed6     
驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 ); 革职; 罢黜; 剥夺
参考例句:
  • He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
  • He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。
207 buckle zsRzg     
n.扣子,带扣;v.把...扣住,由于压力而弯曲
参考例句:
  • The two ends buckle at the back.带子两端在背后扣起来。
  • She found it hard to buckle down.她很难专心做一件事情。
208 buck ESky8     
n.雄鹿,雄兔;v.马离地跳跃
参考例句:
  • The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
  • The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。
209 salvage ECHzB     
v.救助,营救,援救;n.救助,营救
参考例句:
  • All attempts to salvage the wrecked ship failed.抢救失事船只的一切努力都失败了。
  • The salvage was piled upon the pier.抢救出的财产被堆放在码头上。
210 affected TzUzg0     
adj.不自然的,假装的
参考例句:
  • She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
  • His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。
211 grasslands 72179cad53224d2f605476ff67a1d94c     
n.草原,牧场( grassland的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Songs were heard ringing loud and clear over the grasslands. 草原上扬起清亮激越的歌声。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • Grasslands have been broken and planted to wheat. 草原已经开垦出来,种上了小麦。 来自《简明英汉词典》
212 ardent yvjzd     
adj.热情的,热烈的,强烈的,烈性的
参考例句:
  • He's an ardent supporter of the local football team.他是本地足球队的热情支持者。
  • Ardent expectations were held by his parents for his college career.他父母对他的大学学习抱着殷切的期望。
213 loathed dbdbbc9cf5c853a4f358a2cd10c12ff2     
v.憎恨,厌恶( loathe的过去式和过去分词 );极不喜欢
参考例句:
  • Baker loathed going to this red-haired young pup for supplies. 面包师傅不喜欢去这个红头发的自负的傻小子那里拿原料。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Therefore, above all things else, he loathed his miserable self! 因此,他厌恶不幸的自我尤胜其它! 来自英汉文学 - 红字
214 loathe 60jxB     
v.厌恶,嫌恶
参考例句:
  • I loathe the smell of burning rubber.我厌恶燃着的橡胶散发的气味。
  • You loathe the smell of greasy food when you are seasick.当你晕船时,你会厌恶油腻的气味。
215 petroleum WiUyi     
n.原油,石油
参考例句:
  • The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
  • The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。
216 peril l3Dz6     
n.(严重的)危险;危险的事物
参考例句:
  • The refugees were in peril of death from hunger.难民有饿死的危险。
  • The embankment is in great peril.河堤岌岌可危。
217 poised SlhzBU     
a.摆好姿势不动的
参考例句:
  • The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋,准备俯冲。
  • Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张,手悬在电话机上。
218 descending descending     
n. 下行 adj. 下降的
参考例句:
  • The results are expressed in descending numerical order . 结果按数字降序列出。
  • The climbers stopped to orient themselves before descending the mountain. 登山者先停下来确定所在的位置,然后再下山。
219 descend descend     
vt./vi.传下来,下来,下降
参考例句:
  • I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
  • We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。
220 pendulum X3ezg     
n.摆,钟摆
参考例句:
  • The pendulum swung slowly to and fro.钟摆在慢慢地来回摆动。
  • He accidentally found that the desk clock did not swing its pendulum.他无意中发现座钟不摇摆了。
221 naval h1lyU     
adj.海军的,军舰的,船的
参考例句:
  • He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
  • The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。
222 swells e5cc2e057ee1aff52e79fb6af45c685d     
增强( swell的第三人称单数 ); 肿胀; (使)凸出; 充满(激情)
参考例句:
  • The waters were heaving up in great swells. 河水正在急剧上升。
  • A barrel swells in the middle. 水桶中部隆起。
223 wrath nVNzv     
n.愤怒,愤慨,暴怒
参考例句:
  • His silence marked his wrath. 他的沉默表明了他的愤怒。
  • The wrath of the people is now aroused. 人们被激怒了。
224 embarked e63154942be4f2a5c3c51f6b865db3de     
乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 ); 装载; 从事
参考例句:
  • We stood on the pier and watched as they embarked. 我们站在突码头上目送他们登船。
  • She embarked on a discourse about the town's origins. 她开始讲本市的起源。
225 delirious V9gyj     
adj.不省人事的,神智昏迷的
参考例句:
  • He was delirious,murmuring about that matter.他精神恍惚,低声叨念着那件事。
  • She knew that he had become delirious,and tried to pacify him.她知道他已经神志昏迷起来了,极力想使他镇静下来。
226 jolt ck1y2     
v.(使)摇动,(使)震动,(使)颠簸
参考例句:
  • We were worried that one tiny jolt could worsen her injuries.我们担心稍微颠簸一下就可能会使她的伤势恶化。
  • They were working frantically in the fear that an aftershock would jolt the house again.他们拼命地干着,担心余震可能会使房子再次受到震动。
227 promising BkQzsk     
adj.有希望的,有前途的
参考例句:
  • The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
  • We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。
228 hooted 8df924a716d9d67e78a021e69df38ba5     
(使)作汽笛声响,作汽车喇叭声( hoot的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • An owl hooted nearby. 一只猫头鹰在附近啼叫。
  • The crowd hooted and jeered at the speaker. 群众向那演讲人发出轻蔑的叫嚣和嘲笑。
229 hissed 2299e1729bbc7f56fc2559e409d6e8a7     
发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 ); 发嘘声表示反对
参考例句:
  • Have you ever been hissed at in the middle of a speech? 你在演讲中有没有被嘘过?
  • The iron hissed as it pressed the wet cloth. 熨斗压在湿布上时发出了嘶嘶声。
230 killing kpBziQ     
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财
参考例句:
  • Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
  • Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。
231 croaked 9a150c9af3075625e0cba4de8da8f6a9     
v.呱呱地叫( croak的过去式和过去分词 );用粗的声音说
参考例句:
  • The crow croaked disaster. 乌鸦呱呱叫预报灾难。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • 'she has a fine head for it," croaked Jacques Three. “她有一个漂亮的脑袋跟着去呢,”雅克三号低沉地说。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
232 hoarsely hoarsely     
adv.嘶哑地
参考例句:
  • "Excuse me," he said hoarsely. “对不起。”他用嘶哑的嗓子说。
  • Jerry hoarsely professed himself at Miss Pross's service. 杰瑞嘶声嘶气地表示愿为普洛丝小姐效劳。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
233 reassuringly YTqxW     
ad.安心,可靠
参考例句:
  • He patted her knee reassuringly. 他轻拍她的膝盖让她放心。
  • The doctor smiled reassuringly. 医生笑了笑,让人心里很踏实。
234 sweeping ihCzZ4     
adj.范围广大的,一扫无遗的
参考例句:
  • The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
  • Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗?
235 barrage JuezH     
n.火力网,弹幕
参考例句:
  • The attack jumped off under cover of a barrage.进攻在炮火的掩护下开始了。
  • The fierce artillery barrage destroyed the most part of the city in a few minutes.猛烈的炮火几分钟内便毁灭了这座城市的大部分地区。
236 diminution 2l9zc     
n.减少;变小
参考例句:
  • They hope for a small diminution in taxes.他们希望捐税能稍有减少。
  • He experienced no diminution of his physical strength.他并未感觉体力衰落。
237 gargantuan 4fvzJ     
adj.巨大的,庞大的
参考例句:
  • My gargantuan,pristine machine was good for writing papers and playing solitaire,and that was all.我那庞大的、早期的计算机只适合写文章和玩纸牌游戏,就这些。
  • Right away,I realized this was a mistake of gargantuan proportions.我立刻意识到这是一个巨大的错误。
238 trench VJHzP     
n./v.(挖)沟,(挖)战壕
参考例句:
  • The soldiers recaptured their trench.兵士夺回了战壕。
  • The troops received orders to trench the outpost.部队接到命令在前哨周围筑壕加强防卫。
239 trenches ed0fcecda36d9eed25f5db569f03502d     
深沟,地沟( trench的名词复数 ); 战壕
参考例句:
  • life in the trenches 第一次世界大战期间的战壕生活
  • The troops stormed the enemy's trenches and fanned out across the fields. 部队猛攻敌人的战壕,并在田野上呈扇形散开。
240 artillery 5vmzA     
n.(军)火炮,大炮;炮兵(部队)
参考例句:
  • This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
  • The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。
241 rations c925feb39d4cfbdc2c877c3b6085488e     
定量( ration的名词复数 ); 配给量; 正常量; 合理的量
参考例句:
  • They are provisioned with seven days' rations. 他们得到了7天的给养。
  • The soldiers complained that they were getting short rations. 士兵们抱怨他们得到的配给不够数。
242 mortar 9EsxR     
n.灰浆,灰泥;迫击炮;v.把…用灰浆涂接合
参考例句:
  • The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
  • The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。
243 mortars 2ee0e7ac9172870371c2735fb040d218     
n.迫击炮( mortar的名词复数 );砂浆;房产;研钵
参考例句:
  • They could not move their heavy mortars over the swampy ground. 他们无法把重型迫击炮移过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Where the hell are his mortars? 他有迫击炮吗? 来自教父部分
244 frantic Jfyzr     
adj.狂乱的,错乱的,激昂的
参考例句:
  • I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
  • He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。
245 recoil GA4zL     
vi.退却,退缩,畏缩
参考例句:
  • Most people would recoil at the sight of the snake.许多人看见蛇都会向后退缩。
  • Revenge may recoil upon the person who takes it.报复者常会受到报应。
246 impetus L4uyj     
n.推动,促进,刺激;推动力
参考例句:
  • This is the primary impetus behind the economic recovery.这是促使经济复苏的主要动力。
  • Her speech gave an impetus to my ideas.她的讲话激发了我的思绪。
247 stereotyped Dhqz9v     
adj.(指形象、思想、人物等)模式化的
参考例句:
  • There is a sameness about all these tales. They're so stereotyped -- all about talented scholars and lovely ladies. 这些书就是一套子,左不过是些才子佳人,最没趣儿。
  • He is the stereotyped monster of the horror films and the adventure books, and an obvious (though not perhaps strictly scientific) link with our ancestral past. 它们是恐怖电影和惊险小说中的老一套的怪物,并且与我们的祖先有着明显的(虽然可能没有科学的)联系。
248 anticlimactic 23fa1dd348820a89fdc1f11202f5b08c     
adj. 渐降法的, 虎头蛇尾的
参考例句:
  • Everything after the discovery of the murderer was anticlimactic. 找到谋杀者之后,人们对所有事情的兴趣都突减了。
  • The conclusion of the movie was anticlimactic. 电影的结局真没劲。
249 distended 86751ec15efd4512b97d34ce479b1fa7     
v.(使)膨胀,肿胀( distend的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • starving children with huge distended bellies 鼓着浮肿肚子的挨饿儿童
  • The balloon was distended. 气球已膨胀。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
250 unbearable alCwB     
adj.不能容忍的;忍受不住的
参考例句:
  • It is unbearable to be always on thorns.老是处于焦虑不安的情况中是受不了的。
  • The more he thought of it the more unbearable it became.他越想越觉得无法忍受。
251 pall hvwyP     
v.覆盖,使平淡无味;n.柩衣,棺罩;棺材;帷幕
参考例句:
  • Already the allure of meals in restaurants had begun to pall.饭店里的饭菜已经不像以前那样诱人。
  • I find his books begin to pall on me after a while.我发觉他的书读过一阵子就开始对我失去吸引力。
252 shrill EEize     
adj.尖声的;刺耳的;v尖叫
参考例句:
  • Whistles began to shrill outside the barn.哨声开始在谷仓外面尖叫。
  • The shrill ringing of a bell broke up the card game on the cutter.刺耳的铃声打散了小汽艇的牌局。
253 bellowing daf35d531c41de75017204c30dff5cac     
v.发出吼叫声,咆哮(尤指因痛苦)( bellow的现在分词 );(愤怒地)说出(某事),大叫
参考例句:
  • We could hear he was bellowing commands to his troops. 我们听见他正向他的兵士大声发布命令。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He disguised these feelings under an enormous bellowing and hurraying. 他用大声吼叫和喝采掩饰着这些感情。 来自辞典例句
254 barrages 1eba498e8e49cb13552e290170ac8811     
n.弹幕射击( barrage的名词复数 );火力网;猛烈炮火;河上的堰坝v.火力攻击(或阻击)( barrage的第三人称单数 );以密集火力攻击(或阻击)
参考例句:
  • In many Basidiomycetes barrages develop. 在许多担子菌中也发生一些栅栏。 来自辞典例句
  • It's fun to be able to run around and do instant Barrages. 一边瞬发奥术弹幕一边四处跑确实很有趣。 来自互联网
255 eerie N8gy0     
adj.怪诞的;奇异的;可怕的;胆怯的
参考例句:
  • It's eerie to walk through a dark wood at night.夜晚在漆黑的森林中行走很是恐怖。
  • I walked down the eerie dark path.我走在那条漆黑恐怖的小路上。
256 bagpipe xufz4     
n.风笛
参考例句:
  • The bagpipe is a sweet musical instrument.风笛是一种听起来很悦耳的乐器。
  • A wailful bagpipe played out in the night.夜幕中传来悲哭般的风笛声。
257 thigh RItzO     
n.大腿;股骨
参考例句:
  • He is suffering from a strained thigh muscle.他的大腿肌肉拉伤了,疼得很。
  • The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
258 trekking d6558e66e4927d4f7f2b7b0ba15c112e     
v.艰苦跋涉,徒步旅行( trek的现在分词 );(尤指在山中)远足,徒步旅行,游山玩水
参考例句:
  • She can't come pony trekking after all because she's in a delicate condition. 她结果还是不能坐小马车旅行,因为她已怀孕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • We spent the summer trekking in the foothills of the Himalayas. 我们整个夏天都在喜马拉雅山的山麓艰难跋涉。 来自互联网
259 lure l8Gz2     
n.吸引人的东西,诱惑物;vt.引诱,吸引
参考例句:
  • Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
  • He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。
260 raisin EC8y7     
n.葡萄干
参考例句:
  • They baked us raisin bread.他们给我们烤葡萄干面包。
  • You can also make raisin scones.你也可以做葡萄干烤饼。
261 relatively bkqzS3     
adv.比较...地,相对地
参考例句:
  • The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
  • The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。
262 shovel cELzg     
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。
263 growled 65a0c9cac661e85023a63631d6dab8a3     
v.(动物)发狺狺声, (雷)作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 );低声咆哮着说
参考例句:
  • \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道:“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》
264 toddle BJczq     
v.(如小孩)蹒跚学步
参考例句:
  • The baby has just learned to toddle.小孩子刚会走道儿。
  • We watched the little boy toddle up purposefully to the refrigerator.我们看著那小男孩特意晃到冰箱前。
265 brass DWbzI     
n.黄铜;黄铜器,铜管乐器
参考例句:
  • Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
  • Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。
266 deploy Yw8x7     
v.(军)散开成战斗队形,布置,展开
参考例句:
  • The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
  • The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。
267 fiat EkYx2     
n.命令,法令,批准;vt.批准,颁布
参考例句:
  • The opening of a market stall is governed by municipal fiat.开设市场摊位受市政法令管制。
  • He has tried to impose solutions to the country's problems by fiat.他试图下令强行解决该国的问题。
268 bombers 38202cf84a1722d1f7273ea32117f60d     
n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 );投弹手;安非他明胶囊;大麻叶香烟
参考例句:
  • Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》
269 tilting f68c899ac9ba435686dcb0f12e2bbb17     
倾斜,倾卸
参考例句:
  • For some reason he thinks everyone is out to get him, but he's really just tilting at windmills. 不知为什么他觉得每个人都想害他,但其实他不过是在庸人自扰。
  • So let us stop bickering within our ranks.Stop tilting at windmills. 所以,让我们结束内部间的争吵吧!再也不要去做同风车作战的蠢事了。
270 miserable g18yk     
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的
参考例句:
  • It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他,这是可耻的。
  • Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。
271 miser p19yi     
n.守财奴,吝啬鬼 (adj.miserly)
参考例句:
  • The miser doesn't like to part with his money.守财奴舍不得花他的钱。
  • The demon of greed ruined the miser's happiness.贪得无厌的恶习毁掉了那个守财奴的幸福。
272 defense AxbxB     
n.防御,保卫;[pl.]防务工事;辩护,答辩
参考例句:
  • The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
  • The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。
273 eastward CrjxP     
adv.向东;adj.向东的;n.东方,东部
参考例句:
  • The river here tends eastward.这条河从这里向东流。
  • The crowd is heading eastward,believing that they can find gold there.人群正在向东移去,他们认为在那里可以找到黄金。
274 permanently KluzuU     
adv.永恒地,永久地,固定不变地
参考例句:
  • The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
  • The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。
275 wring 4oOys     
n.扭绞;v.拧,绞出,扭
参考例句:
  • My socks were so wet that I had to wring them.我的袜子很湿,我不得不拧干它们。
  • I'll wring your neck if you don't behave!你要是不规矩,我就拧断你的脖子。
276 coconut VwCzNM     
n.椰子
参考例句:
  • The husk of this coconut is particularly strong.椰子的外壳很明显非常坚固。
  • The falling coconut gave him a terrific bang on the head.那只掉下的椰子砰地击中他的脑袋。
277 spotted 7FEyj     
adj.有斑点的,斑纹的,弄污了的
参考例句:
  • The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
  • Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。
278 unlimited MKbzB     
adj.无限的,不受控制的,无条件的
参考例句:
  • They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
  • There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。
279 mite 4Epxw     
n.极小的东西;小铜币
参考例句:
  • The poor mite was so ill.可怜的孩子病得这么重。
  • He is a mite taller than I.他比我高一点点。
280 digestions 63be359f6d908db153c52262db0b9869     
n.消化能力( digestion的名词复数 );消化,领悟
参考例句:
  • We have the capabilities of preparing samples from ashing to wet digestion to microwave digestions. 我们有能力从样品制备微波灰湿地消化消化。 来自互联网
  • Conclusion a reliable method, that suggested to instead of the determination of methanol digestions. 结论:方法可靠,建议以此法代替甲醇浸出物测定。 来自互联网
281 elicit R8ByG     
v.引出,抽出,引起
参考例句:
  • It was designed to elicit the best thinking within the government. 机构的设置是为了在政府内部集思广益。
  • Don't try to elicit business secrets from me. I won't tell you anything. 你休想从我这里套问出我们的商业机密, 我什么都不会告诉你的。
282 perpetuating 7c867dfb0f4f4d1e7954b7c103fb6cee     
perpetuate的现在进行式
参考例句:
  • Revenge leads to a self-perpetuating cycle of violence. 怨怨相报会导致永不休止的暴力。
  • It'set out to eradicate heresy, and ended by perpetuating it. 它的目的只是要根除异端邪说,结果却巩固了异端邪说。 来自英汉文学
283 ineffably b8f9e99edba025017f24f3131942b93c     
adv.难以言喻地,因神圣而不容称呼地
参考例句:
  • Why to always syare blankly ineffably, feel sadness namely next. 为什么总是莫名的发呆,然后就是感到悲伤。 来自互联网
284 hoarded fe2d6b65d7be4a89a7f38b012b9a0b1b     
v.积蓄并储藏(某物)( hoard的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • It owned great properties and often hoarded huge treasures. 它拥有庞大的财产,同时往往窖藏巨额的财宝。 来自辞典例句
  • Sylvia among them, good-naturedly applaud so much long-hoarded treasure of useless knowing. 西尔维亚也在他们中间,为那些长期珍藏的无用知识,友好地、起劲地鼓掌。 来自互联网
285 monopolized 4bb724103eadd6536b882e4d6ba0c3f6     
v.垄断( monopolize的过去式和过去分词 );独占;专卖;专营
参考例句:
  • Men traditionally monopolized jobs in the printing industry. 在传统上,男人包揽了印刷行业中的所有工作。
  • The oil combine monopolized the fuel sales of the country. 这家石油联合企业垄断了这个国家的原油销售。 来自互联网
286 veranda XfczWG     
n.走廊;阳台
参考例句:
  • She sat in the shade on the veranda.她坐在阳台上的遮荫处。
  • They were strolling up and down the veranda.他们在走廊上来回徜徉。
287 cane RsNzT     
n.手杖,细长的茎,藤条;v.以杖击,以藤编制的
参考例句:
  • This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。
  • English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。
288 tempted b0182e969d369add1b9ce2353d3c6ad6     
v.怂恿(某人)干不正当的事;冒…的险(tempt的过去分词)
参考例句:
  • I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚,但还是没开口。
  • I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。
289 itching wqnzVZ     
adj.贪得的,痒的,渴望的v.发痒( itch的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • The itching was almost more than he could stand. 他痒得几乎忍不住了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • My nose is itching. 我的鼻子发痒。 来自《简明英汉词典》
290 chuckling e8dcb29f754603afc12d2f97771139ab     
轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • I could hear him chuckling to himself as he read his book. 他看书时,我能听见他的轻声发笑。
  • He couldn't help chuckling aloud. 他忍不住的笑了出来。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
291 overthrown 1e19c245f384e53a42f4faa000742c18     
adj. 打翻的,推倒的,倾覆的 动词overthrow的过去分词
参考例句:
  • The president was overthrown in a military coup. 总统在军事政变中被赶下台。
  • He has overthrown the basic standards of morality. 他已摒弃了基本的道德标准。
292 relish wBkzs     
n.滋味,享受,爱好,调味品;vt.加调味料,享受,品味;vi.有滋味
参考例句:
  • I have no relish for pop music.我对流行音乐不感兴趣。
  • I relish the challenge of doing jobs that others turn down.我喜欢挑战别人拒绝做的工作。
293 mendicant 973z5     
n.乞丐;adj.行乞的
参考例句:
  • He seemed not an ordinary mendicant.他好象不是寻常的乞丐。
  • The one-legged mendicant begins to beg from door to door.独腿乞丐开始挨门乞讨。
294 intercede q5Zx7     
vi.仲裁,说情
参考例句:
  • He was quickly snubbed when he tried to intercede.当他试着说情时很快被制止了。
  • At a time like that there has to be a third party to intercede.这时候要有个第三者出来斡旋。
295 persecuted 2daa49e8c0ac1d04bf9c3650a3d486f3     
(尤指宗教或政治信仰的)迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 ); 烦扰,困扰或骚扰某人
参考例句:
  • Throughout history, people have been persecuted for their religious beliefs. 人们因宗教信仰而受迫害的情况贯穿了整个历史。
  • Members of these sects are ruthlessly persecuted and suppressed. 这些教派的成员遭到了残酷的迫害和镇压。
296 civilized UwRzDg     
a.有教养的,文雅的
参考例句:
  • Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
  • rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为
297 reprisal iCSyW     
n.报复,报仇,报复性劫掠
参考例句:
  • There is no political alternative but a big reprisal.政治上没有旁的选择只能是大规模报复。
  • They bombed civilian targets in reprisal.他们炮轰平民目标作为报复。
298 immediate aapxh     
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的
参考例句:
  • His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
  • We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。
299 martyrs d8bbee63cb93081c5677dc671dc968fc     
n.martyr的复数形式;烈士( martyr的名词复数 );殉道者;殉教者;乞怜者(向人诉苦以博取同情)
参考例句:
  • the early Christian martyrs 早期基督教殉道者
  • They paid their respects to the revolutionary martyrs. 他们向革命烈士致哀。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
300 obtuse 256zJ     
adj.钝的;愚钝的
参考例句:
  • You were too obtuse to take the hint.你太迟钝了,没有理解这种暗示。
  • "Sometimes it looks more like an obtuse triangle,"Winter said.“有时候它看起来更像一个钝角三角形。”温特说。
301 clenched clenched     
v.紧握,抓紧,咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He clenched his fists in anger. 他愤怒地攥紧了拳头。
  • She clenched her hands in her lap to hide their trembling. 她攥紧双手放在腿上,以掩饰其颤抖。 来自《简明英汉词典》
302 rebelliously cebb4afb4a7714d3d2878f110884dbf2     
adv.造反地,难以控制地
参考例句:
  • He rejected her words rebelliously. 他极力反对她的观点。 来自互联网
303 loyalty gA9xu     
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。
304 vowed 6996270667378281d2f9ee561353c089     
起誓,发誓(vow的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
  • I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。
305 biased vyGzSn     
a.有偏见的
参考例句:
  • a school biased towards music and art 一所偏重音乐和艺术的学校
  • The Methods: They employed were heavily biased in the gentry's favour. 他们采用的方法严重偏袒中上阶级。
306 discreetly nuwz8C     
ad.(言行)审慎地,慎重地
参考例句:
  • He had only known the perennial widow, the discreetly expensive Frenchwoman. 他只知道她是个永远那么年轻的寡妇,一个很会讲排场的法国女人。
  • Sensing that Lilian wanted to be alone with Celia, Andrew discreetly disappeared. 安德鲁觉得莉莲想同西莉亚单独谈些什么,有意避开了。
307 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。
308 straightforward fFfyA     
adj.正直的,坦率的;易懂的,简单的
参考例句:
  • A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
  • I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。
309 ideological bq3zi8     
a.意识形态的
参考例句:
  • He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
  • He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作,对我有很大帮助。
310 admiration afpyA     
n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕
参考例句:
  • He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
  • We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。
311 banished b779057f354f1ec8efd5dd1adee731df     
v.放逐,驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He was banished to Australia, where he died five years later. 他被流放到澳大利亚,五年后在那里去世。
  • He was banished to an uninhabited island for a year. 他被放逐到一个无人居住的荒岛一年。 来自《简明英汉词典》
312 fortresses 0431acf60619033fe5f4e5a0520d82d7     
堡垒,要塞( fortress的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • They will establish impregnable fortresses. 他们将建造坚不可摧的城堡。
  • Indra smashed through Vritra ninety-nine fortresses, and then came upon the dragon. 因陀罗摧毁了维他的九十九座城堡,然后与维他交手。 来自神话部分
313 eventual AnLx8     
adj.最后的,结局的,最终的
参考例句:
  • Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
  • Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。
314 caressed de08c4fb4b79b775b2f897e6e8db9aad     
爱抚或抚摸…( caress的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • His fingers caressed the back of her neck. 他的手指抚摩着她的后颈。
  • He caressed his wife lovingly. 他怜爱万分地抚摸着妻子。
315 preservation glnzYU     
n.保护,维护,保存,保留,保持
参考例句:
  • The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
  • The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。
316 antiquities c0cf3d8a964542256e19beef0e9faa29     
n.古老( antiquity的名词复数 );古迹;古人们;古代的风俗习惯
参考例句:
  • There is rest and healing in the contemplation of antiquities. 欣赏古物有休息和疗养之功。 来自辞典例句
  • Bertha developed a fine enthusiasm for the antiquities of London. 伯沙对伦敦的古迹产生了很大的热情。 来自辞典例句
317 inertia sbGzg     
adj.惰性,惯性,懒惰,迟钝
参考例句:
  • We had a feeling of inertia in the afternoon.下午我们感觉很懒。
  • Inertia carried the plane onto the ground.飞机靠惯性着陆。
318 passionately YmDzQ4     
ad.热烈地,激烈地
参考例句:
  • She could hate as passionately as she could love. 她能恨得咬牙切齿,也能爱得一往情深。
  • He was passionately addicted to pop music. 他酷爱流行音乐。
319 nuns ce03d5da0bb9bc79f7cd2b229ef14d4a     
n.(通常指基督教的)修女, (佛教的)尼姑( nun的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Ah Q had always had the greatest contempt for such people as little nuns. 小尼姑之流是阿Q本来视如草芥的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • Nuns are under vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. 修女须立誓保持清贫、贞洁、顺从。 来自辞典例句
320 withdrawn eeczDJ     
vt.收回;使退出;vi.撤退,退出
参考例句:
  • Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
  • All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。
321 rein xVsxs     
n.疆绳,统治,支配;vt.以僵绳控制,统治
参考例句:
  • The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
  • He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。
322 illuminated 98b351e9bc282af85e83e767e5ec76b8     
adj.被照明的;受启迪的
参考例句:
  • Floodlights illuminated the stadium. 泛光灯照亮了体育场。
  • the illuminated city at night 夜幕中万家灯火的城市
323 merged d33b2d33223e1272c8bbe02180876e6f     
(使)混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 ); 相融; 融入; 渐渐消失在某物中
参考例句:
  • Turf wars are inevitable when two departments are merged. 两个部门合并时总免不了争争权限。
  • The small shops were merged into a large market. 那些小商店合并成为一个大商场。
324 genuflected 17ee491957f0640c6d25349d451bb1d9     
v.屈膝(尤指宗教礼节中)( genuflect的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He genuflected in front of the altar. 他在祭坛前跪拜。 来自辞典例句
  • The simulagent genuflected for the remote eye of the sphere. \"My lord.\" 替身向球幕里遥远的目光屈单膝跪地。“我的陛下。” 来自互联网
325 gasp UfxzL     
n.喘息,气喘;v.喘息;气吁吁他说
参考例句:
  • She gave a gasp of surprise.她吃惊得大口喘气。
  • The enemy are at their last gasp.敌人在做垂死的挣扎。
326 stunned 735ec6d53723be15b1737edd89183ec2     
adj. 震惊的,惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
  • The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。
327 sparsely 9hyzxF     
adv.稀疏地;稀少地;不足地;贫乏地
参考例句:
  • Relative to the size, the city is sparsely populated. 与其面积相比,这个城市的人口是稀少的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The ground was sparsely covered with grass. 地面上稀疏地覆盖草丛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
328 humbly humbly     
adv. 恭顺地,谦卑地
参考例句:
  • We humbly beg Your Majesty to show mercy. 我们恳请陛下发发慈悲。
  • "You must be right, Sir,'said John humbly. “你一定是对的,先生,”约翰恭顺地说道。
329 patrician hL9x0     
adj.贵族的,显贵的;n.贵族;有教养的人;罗马帝国的地方官
参考例句:
  • The old patrician was buried in the family vault.这位老贵族埋在家族的墓地里。
  • Its patrician dignity was a picturesque sham.它的贵族的尊严只是一套华丽的伪装。
330 wavy 7gFyX     
adj.有波浪的,多浪的,波浪状的,波动的,不稳定的
参考例句:
  • She drew a wavy line under the word.她在这个词的下面画了一条波纹线。
  • His wavy hair was too long and flopped just beneath his brow.他的波浪式头发太长了,正好垂在他的眉毛下。
331 unearthing 00d1fee5b583e89f513b69e88ec55cf3     
发掘或挖出某物( unearth的现在分词 ); 搜寻到某事物,发现并披露
参考例句:
  • And unearthing the past often means literally and studying the evidence. 通常,探寻往事在字面上即意味着——刨根究底。
  • The unearthing of "Peking Man" was a remarkable discovery. “北京人”的出土是个非凡的发现。
332 orphan QJExg     
n.孤儿;adj.无父母的
参考例句:
  • He brought up the orphan and passed onto him his knowledge of medicine.他把一个孤儿养大,并且把自己的医术传给了他。
  • The orphan had been reared in a convent by some good sisters.这个孤儿在一所修道院里被几个好心的修女带大。
333 sipped 22d1585d494ccee63c7bff47191289f6     
v.小口喝,呷,抿( sip的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He sipped his coffee pleasurably. 他怡然地品味着咖啡。
  • I sipped the hot chocolate she had made. 我小口喝着她调制的巧克力热饮。 来自辞典例句
334 abruptly iINyJ     
adv.突然地,出其不意地
参考例句:
  • He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
  • I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。
335 persecution PAnyA     
n. 迫害,烦扰
参考例句:
  • He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
  • Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。
336 drowsily bcb5712d84853637a9778f81fc50d847     
adv.睡地,懒洋洋地,昏昏欲睡地
参考例句:
  • She turned drowsily on her side, a slow creeping blackness enveloping her mind. 她半睡半醒地翻了个身,一片缓缓蠕动的黑暗渐渐将她的心包围起来。 来自飘(部分)
  • I felt asleep drowsily before I knew it. 不知过了多久,我曚扙地睡着了。 来自互联网
337 elite CqzxN     
n.精英阶层;实力集团;adj.杰出的,卓越的
参考例句:
  • The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
  • We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。
338 grudgingly grudgingly     
参考例句:
  • He grudgingly acknowledged having made a mistake. 他勉强承认他做错了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Their parents unwillingly [grudgingly] consented to the marriage. 他们的父母无可奈何地应允了这门亲事。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
339 foundering 24c44e010d11eb56379454a2ad20f2fd     
v.创始人( founder的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • The lifeboat soon got abreast of the foundering ship. 救生艇很快就赶到了那艘正在下沉的船旁。 来自互联网
  • With global climate-change negotiations foundering, the prospects of raising cash for REDD that way look poor. 由于就全球气候变化的谈判破裂,通过这种方式来为REDD集资前景堪忧。 来自互联网
340 malaria B2xyb     
n.疟疾
参考例句:
  • He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
  • Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。
341 pneumonia s2HzQ     
n.肺炎
参考例句:
  • Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
  • Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。
342 chronic BO9zl     
adj.(疾病)长期未愈的,慢性的;极坏的
参考例句:
  • Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
  • Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。
343 survivors 02ddbdca4c6dba0b46d9d823ed2b4b62     
幸存者,残存者,生还者( survivor的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
  • survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者
344 emaciated Wt3zuK     
adj.衰弱的,消瘦的
参考例句:
  • A long time illness made him sallow and emaciated.长期患病使他面黄肌瘦。
  • In the light of a single candle,she can see his emaciated face.借着烛光,她能看到他的被憔悴的面孔。
345 greasy a64yV     
adj. 多脂的,油脂的
参考例句:
  • He bought a heavy-duty cleanser to clean his greasy oven.昨天他买了强力清洁剂来清洗油污的炉子。
  • You loathe the smell of greasy food when you are seasick.当你晕船时,你会厌恶油腻的气味。
346 spectral fvbwg     
adj.幽灵的,鬼魂的
参考例句:
  • At times he seems rather ordinary.At other times ethereal,perhaps even spectral.有时他好像很正常,有时又难以捉摸,甚至像个幽灵。
  • She is compelling,spectral fascinating,an unforgettably unique performer.她极具吸引力,清幽如鬼魅,令人着迷,令人难忘,是个独具特色的演员。
347 fungi 6hRx6     
n.真菌,霉菌
参考例句:
  • Students practice to apply the study of genetics to multicellular plants and fungi.学生们练习把基因学应用到多细胞植物和真菌中。
  • The lawn was covered with fungi.草地上到处都是蘑菇。
348 tangle yIQzn     
n.纠缠;缠结;混乱;v.(使)缠绕;变乱
参考例句:
  • I shouldn't tangle with Peter.He is bigger than me.我不应该与彼特吵架。他的块头比我大。
  • If I were you, I wouldn't tangle with them.我要是你,我就不跟他们争吵。
349 coastal WWiyh     
adj.海岸的,沿海的,沿岸的
参考例句:
  • The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
  • This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。
350 elevations cb4bbe1b6e824c996fd92d711884a9f2     
(水平或数量)提高( elevation的名词复数 ); 高地; 海拔; 提升
参考例句:
  • Weight of the crust changes as elevations are eroded and materials are deposited elsewhere. 当高地受到侵蚀,物质沉积到别的地方时,地壳的重量就改变。
  • All deck elevations are on the top of structural beams. 所有甲板标高线均指结构梁顶线。
351 impoverished 1qnzcL     
adj.穷困的,无力的,用尽了的v.使(某人)贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 );使(某物)贫瘠或恶化
参考例句:
  • the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
  • They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
352 panache t4KzB     
n.羽饰;假威风,炫耀
参考例句:
  • She dresses with great panache.她穿著十分浮华。
  • Her panache at dealing with the world's media is quite astonishing.她应付世界媒体的派头非常令人吃惊。
353 watershed jgQwo     
n.转折点,分水岭,分界线
参考例句:
  • Our marriage was at a watershed.我们的婚姻到了一个转折关头。
  • It forms the watershed between the two rivers.它成了两条河流的分水岭。
354 tawny tIBzi     
adj.茶色的,黄褐色的;n.黄褐色
参考例句:
  • Her black hair springs in fine strands across her tawny,ruddy cheek.她的一头乌发分披在健康红润的脸颊旁。
  • None of them noticed a large,tawny owl flutter past the window.他们谁也没注意到一只大的、褐色的猫头鹰飞过了窗户。
355 permissible sAIy1     
adj.可允许的,许可的
参考例句:
  • Is smoking permissible in the theatre?在剧院里允许吸烟吗?
  • Delay is not permissible,even for a single day.不得延误,即使一日亦不可。
356 muzzles d375173b442f95950d8ee6dc01a3d5cf     
枪口( muzzle的名词复数 ); (防止动物咬人的)口套; (四足动物的)鼻口部; (狗)等凸出的鼻子和口
参考例句:
  • Several muzzles at once aimed at the fleeing birds in the air. 好几支猎枪的枪口,同时瞄准了这些空中猎物。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译
  • All gun-ports were open and the muzzles peeped wickedly from them. 所有的炮眼都开着,炮口不怀好意地从炮眼里向外窥探。
357 flare LgQz9     
v.闪耀,闪烁;n.潮红;突发
参考例句:
  • The match gave a flare.火柴发出闪光。
  • You need not flare up merely because I mentioned your work.你大可不必因为我提到你的工作就动怒。
358 nostrils 23a65b62ec4d8a35d85125cdb1b4410e     
鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Her nostrils flared with anger. 她气得两个鼻孔都鼓了起来。
  • The horse dilated its nostrils. 马张大鼻孔。
359 reminder WkzzTb     
n.提醒物,纪念品;暗示,提示
参考例句:
  • I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
  • It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知,她才付应该交的房租。
360 elation 0q9x7     
n.兴高采烈,洋洋得意
参考例句:
  • She showed her elation at having finally achieved her ambition.最终实现了抱负,她显得十分高兴。
  • His supporters have reacted to the news with elation.他的支持者听到那条消息后兴高采烈。
361 tickling 8e56dcc9f1e9847a8eeb18aa2a8e7098     
反馈,回授,自旋挠痒法
参考例句:
  • Was It'spring tickling her senses? 是不是春意撩人呢?
  • Its origin is in tickling and rough-and-tumble play, he says. 他说,笑的起源来自于挠痒痒以及杂乱无章的游戏。
362 battered NyezEM     
adj.磨损的;v.连续猛击;磨损
参考例句:
  • He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
  • The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。
363 snare XFszw     
n.陷阱,诱惑,圈套;(去除息肉或者肿瘤的)勒除器;响弦,小军鼓;vt.以陷阱捕获,诱惑
参考例句:
  • I used to snare small birds such as sparrows.我曾常用罗网捕捉麻雀等小鸟。
  • Most of the people realized that their scheme was simply a snare and a delusion.大多数人都认识到他们的诡计不过是一个骗人的圈套。
364 shreds 0288daa27f5fcbe882c0eaedf23db832     
v.撕碎,切碎( shred的第三人称单数 );用撕毁机撕毁(文件)
参考例句:
  • Peel the carrots and cut them into shreds. 将胡罗卜削皮,切成丝。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I want to take this diary and rip it into shreds. 我真想一赌气扯了这日记。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说
365 supplication supplication     
n.恳求,祈愿,哀求
参考例句:
  • She knelt in supplication. 她跪地祷求。
  • The supplication touched him home. 这个请求深深地打动了他。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
366 ebbing ac94e96318a8f9f7c14185419cb636cb     
(指潮水)退( ebb的现在分词 ); 落; 减少; 衰落
参考例句:
  • The pain was ebbing. 疼痛逐渐减轻了。
  • There are indications that his esoteric popularity may be ebbing. 有迹象表明,他神秘的声望可能正在下降。
367 momentum DjZy8     
n.动力,冲力,势头;动量
参考例句:
  • We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
  • The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。
368 fragrant z6Yym     
adj.芬香的,馥郁的,愉快的
参考例句:
  • The Fragrant Hills are exceptionally beautiful in late autumn.深秋的香山格外美丽。
  • The air was fragrant with lavender.空气中弥漫薰衣草香。
369 thighs e4741ffc827755fcb63c8b296150ab4e     
n.股,大腿( thigh的名词复数 );食用的鸡(等的)腿
参考例句:
  • He's gone to London for skin grafts on his thighs. 他去伦敦做大腿植皮手术了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The water came up to the fisherman's thighs. 水没到了渔夫的大腿。 来自《简明英汉词典》
370 embedded lt9ztS     
a.扎牢的
参考例句:
  • an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
  • He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。
371 miraculous DDdxA     
adj.像奇迹一样的,不可思议的
参考例句:
  • The wounded man made a miraculous recovery.伤员奇迹般地痊愈了。
  • They won a miraculous victory over much stronger enemy.他们战胜了远比自己强大的敌人,赢得了非凡的胜利。
372 scattered 7jgzKF     
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的
参考例句:
  • Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来,塞进文件夹里。
373 abdomen MfXym     
n.腹,下腹(胸部到腿部的部分)
参考例句:
  • How to know to there is ascarid inside abdomen?怎样知道肚子里面有蛔虫?
  • He was anxious about an off-and-on pain the abdomen.他因时隐时现的腹痛而焦虑。
374 impaired sqtzdr     
adj.受损的;出毛病的;有(身体或智力)缺陷的v.损害,削弱( impair的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Much reading has impaired his vision. 大量读书损害了他的视力。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • His hearing is somewhat impaired. 他的听觉已受到一定程度的损害。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
375 regain YkYzPd     
vt.重新获得,收复,恢复
参考例句:
  • He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
  • The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。
376 boon CRVyF     
n.恩赐,恩物,恩惠
参考例句:
  • A car is a real boon when you live in the country.在郊外居住,有辆汽车确实极为方便。
  • These machines have proved a real boon to disabled people.事实证明这些机器让残疾人受益匪浅。
377 avid ponyI     
adj.热心的;贪婪的;渴望的;劲头十足的
参考例句:
  • He is rich,but he is still avid of more money.他很富有,但他还想贪图更多的钱。
  • She was avid for praise from her coach.那女孩渴望得到教练的称赞。
378 gaily lfPzC     
adv.欢乐地,高兴地
参考例句:
  • The children sing gaily.孩子们欢唱着。
  • She waved goodbye very gaily.她欢快地挥手告别。
379 toll LJpzo     
n.过路(桥)费;损失,伤亡人数;v.敲(钟)
参考例句:
  • The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
  • The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。
380 cynical Dnbz9     
adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的,不信世道向善的
参考例句:
  • The enormous difficulty makes him cynical about the feasibility of the idea.由于困难很大,他对这个主意是否可行持怀疑态度。
  • He was cynical that any good could come of democracy.他不相信民主会带来什么好处。
381 sniffing 50b6416c50a7d3793e6172a8514a0576     
n.探查法v.以鼻吸气,嗅,闻( sniff的现在分词 );抽鼻子(尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气);抱怨,不以为然地说
参考例句:
  • We all had colds and couldn't stop sniffing and sneezing. 我们都感冒了,一个劲地抽鼻子,打喷嚏。
  • They all had colds and were sniffing and sneezing. 他们都伤风了,呼呼喘气而且打喷嚏。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
382 unbearably 96f09e3fcfe66bba0bfe374618d6b05c     
adv.不能忍受地,无法容忍地;慌
参考例句:
  • It was unbearably hot in the car. 汽车里热得难以忍受。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She found it unbearably painful to speak. 她发现开口说话痛苦得令人难以承受。 来自《简明英汉词典》
383 crumbling Pyaxy     
adj.摇摇欲坠的
参考例句:
  • an old house with crumbling plaster and a leaking roof 一所灰泥剥落、屋顶漏水的老房子
  • The boat was tied up alongside a crumbling limestone jetty. 这条船停泊在一个摇摇欲坠的石灰岩码头边。
384 rumbling 85a55a2bf439684a14a81139f0b36eb1     
n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词
参考例句:
  • The earthquake began with a deep [low] rumbling sound. 地震开始时发出低沉的隆隆声。
  • The crane made rumbling sound. 吊车发出隆隆的响声。
385 twitching 97f99ba519862a2bc691c280cee4d4cf     
n.颤搐
参考例句:
  • The child in a spasm kept twitching his arms and legs. 那个害痉挛的孩子四肢不断地抽搐。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • My eyelids keep twitching all the time. 我眼皮老是跳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
386 cemetery ur9z7     
n.坟墓,墓地,坟场
参考例句:
  • He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
  • His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。
387 bland dW1zi     
adj.淡而无味的,温和的,无刺激性的
参考例句:
  • He eats bland food because of his stomach trouble.他因胃病而吃清淡的食物。
  • This soup is too bland for me.这汤我喝起来偏淡。
388 creek 3orzL     
n.小溪,小河,小湾
参考例句:
  • He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
  • People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。
389 withheld f9d7381abd94e53d1fbd8a4e53915ec8     
withhold过去式及过去分词
参考例句:
  • I withheld payment until they had fulfilled the contract. 他们履行合同后,我才付款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • There was no school play because the principal withheld his consent. 由于校长没同意,学校里没有举行比赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
390 poked 87f534f05a838d18eb50660766da4122     
v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 );戳出;拨弄;与(某人)性交
参考例句:
  • She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. 她用胳膊肘顶他的肋部。
  • His elbow poked out through his torn shirt sleeve. 他的胳膊从衬衫的破袖子中露了出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
391 burgeoned aa469e83f03e8794865101ffd0cbc4a3     
v.发芽,抽枝( burgeon的过去式和过去分词 );迅速发展;发(芽),抽(枝)
参考例句:
  • Willows have burgeoned forth. 柳树已经发芽。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • The town burgeoned into a city. 这个集镇很快发展成一座城市。 来自辞典例句
392 rippling b84b2d05914b2749622963c1ef058ed5     
起涟漪的,潺潺流水般声音的
参考例句:
  • I could see the dawn breeze rippling the shining water. 我能看见黎明的微风在波光粼粼的水面上吹出道道涟漪。
  • The pool rippling was caused by the waving of the reeds. 池塘里的潺潺声是芦苇摇动时引起的。
393 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。
394 petal IMIxX     
n.花瓣
参考例句:
  • Each white petal had a stripe of red.每一片白色的花瓣上都有一条红色的条纹。
  • A petal fluttered to the ground.一片花瓣飘落到地上。
395 savagely 902f52b3c682f478ddd5202b40afefb9     
adv. 野蛮地,残酷地
参考例句:
  • The roses had been pruned back savagely. 玫瑰被狠狠地修剪了一番。
  • He snarled savagely at her. 他向她狂吼起来。
396 nucleus avSyg     
n.核,核心,原子核
参考例句:
  • These young people formed the nucleus of the club.这些年轻人成了俱乐部的核心。
  • These councils would form the nucleus of a future regime.这些委员会将成为一个未来政权的核心。
397 rams 19ae31d4a3786435f6cd55e4afd928c8     
n.公羊( ram的名词复数 );(R-)白羊(星)座;夯;攻城槌v.夯实(土等)( ram的第三人称单数 );猛撞;猛压;反复灌输
参考例句:
  • A couple of rams are butting at each other. 两只羊正在用角互相抵触。 来自辞典例句
  • More than anything the rams helped to break what should have been on interminable marriage. 那些牡羊比任何东西都更严重地加速了他们那本该天长地久的婚姻的破裂。 来自辞典例句
398 payroll YmQzUB     
n.工资表,在职人员名单,工薪总额
参考例句:
  • His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
  • I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。
399 verandas 1a565cfad0b95bd949f7ae808a04570a     
阳台,走廊( veranda的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Women in stiff bright-colored silks strolled about long verandas, squired by men in evening clothes. 噼噼啪啪香槟酒的瓶塞的声音此起彼伏。
  • They overflowed on verandas and many were sitting on benches in the dim lantern-hung yard. 他们有的拥到了走郎上,有的坐在挂着灯笼显得有点阴暗的院子里。
400 mesh cC1xJ     
n.网孔,网丝,陷阱;vt.以网捕捉,啮合,匹配;vi.适合; [计算机]网络
参考例句:
  • Their characters just don't mesh.他们的性格就是合不来。
  • This is the net having half inch mesh.这是有半英寸网眼的网。
401 obdurate N5Dz0     
adj.固执的,顽固的
参考例句:
  • He is obdurate in his convictions.他执着于自己所坚信的事。
  • He remained obdurate,refusing to alter his decision.他依然固执己见,拒不改变决定。
402 contractor GnZyO     
n.订约人,承包人,收缩肌
参考例句:
  • The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
  • The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样,有几分要看地势而定。
403 electrify Sqkx4     
v.使充电;使电气化;使触电;使震惊;使兴奋
参考例句:
  • The country is now making effort to electrify and informationize manufacture.国家正在致力于制造业的电气化和信息化。
  • He needs money to electrify his surface lines.他需要钱把他的地面线路电气化。
404 shearing 3cd312405f52385b91c03df30d2ce730     
n.剪羊毛,剪取的羊毛v.剪羊毛( shear的现在分词 );切断;剪切
参考例句:
  • The farmer is shearing his sheep. 那农夫正在给他的羊剪毛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The result of this shearing force is to push the endoplasm forward. 这种剪切力作用的结果是推动内质向前。 来自辞典例句
405 diffusion dl4zm     
n.流布;普及;散漫
参考例句:
  • The invention of printing helped the diffusion of learning.印刷术的发明有助于知识的传播。
  • The effect of the diffusion capacitance can be troublesome.扩散电容会引起麻烦。
406 qualified DCPyj     
adj.合格的,有资格的,胜任的,有限制的
参考例句:
  • He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
  • We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。
407 garrulous CzQyO     
adj.唠叨的,多话的
参考例句:
  • He became positively garrulous after a few glasses of wine.他几杯葡萄酒下肚之后便唠唠叨叨说个没完。
  • My garrulous neighbour had given away the secret.我那爱唠叨的邻居已把秘密泄露了。
408 chuckle Tr1zZ     
vi./n.轻声笑,咯咯笑
参考例句:
  • He shook his head with a soft chuckle.他轻轻地笑着摇了摇头。
  • I couldn't suppress a soft chuckle at the thought of it.想到这个,我忍不住轻轻地笑起来。
409 drooping drooping     
adj. 下垂的,无力的 动词droop的现在分词
参考例句:
  • The drooping willows are waving gently in the morning breeze. 晨风中垂柳袅袅。
  • The branches of the drooping willows were swaying lightly. 垂柳轻飘飘地摆动。
410 smears ff795c29bb653b3db2c08e7c1b20f633     
污迹( smear的名词复数 ); 污斑; (显微镜的)涂片; 诽谤
参考例句:
  • His evidence was a blend of smears, half truths and downright lies. 他的证词里掺杂着诽谤、部份的事实和彻头彻尾的谎言。
  • Anything written with a soft pencil smears easily. 用软铅笔写成的东西容易污成一片。
411 gracefully KfYxd     
ad.大大方方地;优美地
参考例句:
  • She sank gracefully down onto a cushion at his feet. 她优雅地坐到他脚旁的垫子上。
  • The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line. 新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。
412 porcelain USvz9     
n.瓷;adj.瓷的,瓷制的
参考例句:
  • These porcelain plates have rather original designs on them.这些瓷盘的花纹很别致。
  • The porcelain vase is enveloped in cotton.瓷花瓶用棉花裹着。
413 freckled 1f563e624a978af5e5981f5e9d3a4687     
adj.雀斑;斑点;晒斑;(使)生雀斑v.雀斑,斑点( freckle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Her face was freckled all over. 她的脸长满雀斑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • Her freckled skin glowed with health again. 她长有雀斑的皮肤又泛出了健康的红光。 来自辞典例句
414 infancy F4Ey0     
n.婴儿期;幼年期;初期
参考例句:
  • He came to England in his infancy.他幼年时期来到英国。
  • Their research is only in its infancy.他们的研究处于初级阶段。
415 freckles MsNzcN     
n.雀斑,斑点( freckle的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • She had a wonderful clear skin with an attractive sprinkling of freckles. 她光滑的皮肤上有几处可爱的小雀斑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • When she lies in the sun, her face gets covered in freckles. 她躺在阳光下时,脸上布满了斑点。 来自《简明英汉词典》
416 remarkable 8Vbx6     
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的
参考例句:
  • She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
  • These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。
417 astringent re2yN     
adj.止血的,收缩的,涩的;n.收缩剂,止血剂
参考例句:
  • It has an astringent effect.这个有止血的作用。
  • Green persimmons are strongly astringent.绿柿子非常涩。
418 tussle DgcyB     
n.&v.扭打,搏斗,争辩
参考例句:
  • They began to tussle with each other for the handgun.他们互相扭打起来,抢夺那支手枪。
  • We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。
419 interfered 71b7e795becf1adbddfab2cd6c5f0cff     
v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 );调停;妨碍;干涉
参考例句:
  • Complete absorption in sports interfered with his studies. 专注于运动妨碍了他的学业。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I am not going to be interfered with. 我不想别人干扰我的事情。 来自《简明英汉词典》
420 treacle yGkyP     
n.糖蜜
参考例句:
  • Blend a little milk with two tablespoons of treacle.将少许牛奶和两大汤匙糖浆混合。
  • The fly that sips treacle is lost in the sweet.啜饮蜜糖的苍蝇在甜蜜中丧生。
421 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。
422 vomited 23632f2de1c0dc958c22b917c3cdd795     
参考例句:
  • Corbett leaned against the wall and promptly vomited. 科比特倚在墙边,马上呕吐了起来。
  • She leant forward and vomited copiously on the floor. 她向前一俯,哇的一声吐了一地。 来自英汉文学
423 ERECTED ERECTED     
adj. 直立的,竖立的,笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立,建立
参考例句:
  • A monument to him was erected in St Paul's Cathedral. 在圣保罗大教堂为他修了一座纪念碑。
  • A monument was erected to the memory of that great scientist. 树立了一块纪念碑纪念那位伟大的科学家。
424 opposition eIUxU     
n.反对,敌对
参考例句:
  • The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
  • The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。
425 amicably amicably     
adv.友善地
参考例句:
  • Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵,口吻也马上变得温和了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • The couple parted amicably. 这对夫妻客气地分手了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
426 pungent ot6y7     
adj.(气味、味道)刺激性的,辛辣的;尖锐的
参考例句:
  • The article is written in a pungent style.文章写得泼辣。
  • Its pungent smell can choke terrorists and force them out of their hideouts.它的刺激性气味会令恐怖分子窒息,迫使他们从藏身地点逃脱出来。
427 flakes d80cf306deb4a89b84c9efdce8809c78     
小薄片( flake的名词复数 ); (尤指)碎片; 雪花; 古怪的人
参考例句:
  • It's snowing in great flakes. 天下着鹅毛大雪。
  • It is snowing in great flakes. 正值大雪纷飞。
428 determined duszmP     
adj.坚定的;有决心的
参考例句:
  • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
  • He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
429 fronds f5152cd32d7f60e88e3dfd36fcdfbfa8     
n.蕨类或棕榈类植物的叶子( frond的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • You can pleat palm fronds to make huts, umbrellas and baskets. 人们可以把棕榈叶折叠起来盖棚屋,制伞,编篮子。 来自百科语句
  • When these breezes reached the platform the palm-fronds would whisper. 微风吹到平台时,棕榈叶片发出簌簌的低吟。 来自辞典例句
430 scotched 84a7ffb13ce71117da67c93f5e2877b8     
v.阻止( scotch的过去式和过去分词 );制止(车轮)转动;弄伤;镇压
参考例句:
  • Plans for a merger have been scotched. 合并计划停止实行。
  • The rebellion was scotched by government forces. 政府军已把叛乱镇压下去。 来自辞典例句
431 pallid qSFzw     
adj.苍白的,呆板的
参考例句:
  • The moon drifted from behind the clouds and exposed the pallid face.月亮从云朵后面钻出来,照着尸体那张苍白的脸。
  • His dry pallid face often looked gaunt.他那张干瘪苍白的脸常常显得憔悴。
432 ironic 1atzm     
adj.讽刺的,有讽刺意味的,出乎意料的
参考例句:
  • That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
  • People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”,但他们是在挖苦我。
433 sagged 4efd2c4ac7fe572508b0252e448a38d0     
下垂的
参考例句:
  • The black reticule sagged under the weight of shapeless objects. 黑色的拎包由于装了各种形状的东西而中间下陷。
  • He sagged wearily back in his chair. 他疲倦地瘫坐到椅子上。
434 accusation GJpyf     
n.控告,指责,谴责
参考例句:
  • I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
  • She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。
435 blessing UxDztJ     
n.祈神赐福;祷告;祝福,祝愿
参考例句:
  • The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
  • A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。
436 desperately cu7znp     
adv.极度渴望地,绝望地,孤注一掷地
参考例句:
  • He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
  • He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。
437 eyebrows a0e6fb1330e9cfecfd1c7a4d00030ed5     
眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
  • His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。
438 positively vPTxw     
adv.明确地,断然,坚决地;实在,确实
参考例句:
  • She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
  • The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。
439 idiocy 4cmzf     
n.愚蠢
参考例句:
  • Stealing a car and then driving it drunk was the ultimate idiocy.偷了车然后醉酒开车真是愚蠢到极点。
  • In this war there is an idiocy without bounds.这次战争疯癫得没底。
440 shuddered 70137c95ff493fbfede89987ee46ab86     
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
参考例句:
  • He slammed on the brakes and the car shuddered to a halt. 他猛踩刹车,车颤抖着停住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I shuddered at the sight of the dead body. 我一看见那尸体就战栗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
441 attachment POpy1     
n.附属物,附件;依恋;依附
参考例句:
  • She has a great attachment to her sister.她十分依恋她的姐姐。
  • She's on attachment to the Ministry of Defense.她现在隶属于国防部。
442 rusty hYlxq     
adj.生锈的;锈色的;荒废了的
参考例句:
  • The lock on the door is rusty and won't open.门上的锁锈住了。
  • I haven't practiced my French for months and it's getting rusty.几个月不用,我的法语又荒疏了。
443 delusion x9uyf     
n.谬见,欺骗,幻觉,迷惑
参考例句:
  • He is under the delusion that he is Napoleon.他患了妄想症,认为自己是拿破仑。
  • I was under the delusion that he intended to marry me.我误认为他要娶我。
444 shrugged 497904474a48f991a3d1961b0476ebce     
vt.耸肩(shrug的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀,什么也没说。
  • She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩,装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
445 justify j3DxR     
vt.证明…正当(或有理),为…辩护
参考例句:
  • He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
  • Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗?
446 attain HvYzX     
vt.达到,获得,完成
参考例句:
  • I used the scientific method to attain this end. 我用科学的方法来达到这一目的。
  • His painstaking to attain his goal in life is praiseworthy. 他为实现人生目标所下的苦功是值得称赞的。
447 deceptive CnMzO     
adj.骗人的,造成假象的,靠不住的
参考例句:
  • His appearance was deceptive.他的外表带有欺骗性。
  • The storyline is deceptively simple.故事情节看似简单,其实不然。
448 tandem 6Ibzp     
n.同时发生;配合;adv.一个跟着一个地;纵排地;adj.(两匹马)前后纵列的
参考例句:
  • Malcolm's contract will run in tandem with his existing one.马尔科姆的合同将与他手头的合同同时生效。
  • He is working in tandem with officials of the Serious Fraud Office.他正配合欺诈重案办公室的官员工作。
449 onlooker 7I8xD     
n.旁观者,观众
参考例句:
  • A handful of onlookers stand in the field watching.少数几个旁观者站在现场观看。
  • One onlooker had to be restrained by police.一个旁观者遭到了警察的制止。
450 unwilling CjpwB     
adj.不情愿的
参考例句:
  • The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
  • His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。
451 vehemently vehemently     
adv. 热烈地
参考例句:
  • He argued with his wife so vehemently that he talked himself hoarse. 他和妻子争论得很激烈,以致讲话的声音都嘶哑了。
  • Both women vehemently deny the charges against them. 两名妇女都激烈地否认了对她们的指控。
452 syrup hguzup     
n.糖浆,糖水
参考例句:
  • I skimmed the foam from the boiling syrup.我撇去了煮沸糖浆上的泡沫。
  • Tinned fruit usually has a lot of syrup with it.罐头水果通常都有许多糖浆。
453 belongings oy6zMv     
n.私人物品,私人财物
参考例句:
  • I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
  • Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。
454 tracts fcea36d422dccf9d9420a7dd83bea091     
大片土地( tract的名词复数 ); 地带; (体内的)道; (尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的)短文
参考例句:
  • vast tracts of forest 大片大片的森林
  • There are tracts of desert in Australia. 澳大利亚有大片沙漠。
455 compensated 0b0382816fac7dbf94df37906582be8f     
补偿,报酬( compensate的过去式和过去分词 ); 给(某人)赔偿(或赔款)
参考例句:
  • The marvelous acting compensated for the play's weak script. 本剧的精彩表演弥补了剧本的不足。
  • I compensated his loss with money. 我赔偿他经济损失。
456 persevere MMCxH     
v.坚持,坚忍,不屈不挠
参考例句:
  • They are determined to persevere in the fight.他们决心坚持战斗。
  • It is strength of character enabled him to persevere.他那坚强的性格使他能够坚持不懈。
457 filched 0900df4570c0322821bbf4959ff237d5     
v.偷(尤指小的或不贵重的物品)( filch的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Oliver filched a packet of cigarettes from a well-dressed passenger. 奥立佛从一名衣冠楚楚的乘客身上偷得一包香烟。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He filched a piece of chalk from the teacher's desk. 他从老师的书桌上偷取一支粉笔。 来自《简明英汉词典》
458 wields 735a5836610d6f7426fc4d6e28540faf     
手持着使用(武器、工具等)( wield的第三人称单数 ); 具有; 运用(权力); 施加(影响)
参考例句:
  • She wields enormous power within the party. 她操纵着党内大权。
  • He remains chairman, but wields little power at the company. 他还是主席,但在公司没有什么实权了。
459 actively lzezni     
adv.积极地,勤奋地
参考例句:
  • During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
  • We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。
460 fabrics 678996eb9c1fa810d3b0cecef6c792b4     
织物( fabric的名词复数 ); 布; 构造; (建筑物的)结构(如墙、地面、屋顶):质地
参考例句:
  • cotton fabrics and synthetics 棉织物与合成织物
  • The fabrics are merchandised through a network of dealers. 通过经销网点销售纺织品。
461 fibers 421d63991f1d1fc8826d6e71d5e15f53     
光纤( fiber的名词复数 ); (织物的)质地; 纤维,纤维物质
参考例句:
  • Thesolution of collagen-PVA was wet spined with the sodium sulfate as coagulant and collagen-PVA composite fibers were prepared. 在此基础上,以硫酸钠为凝固剂,对胶原-PVA共混溶液进行湿法纺丝,制备了胶原-PVA复合纤维。
  • Sympathetic fibers are distributed to all regions of the heart. 交感神经纤维分布于心脏的所有部分。
462 woolen 0fKw9     
adj.羊毛(制)的;毛纺的
参考例句:
  • She likes to wear woolen socks in winter.冬天她喜欢穿羊毛袜。
  • There is one bar of woolen blanket on that bed.那张床上有一条毛毯。
463 tribulation Kmywb     
n.苦难,灾难
参考例句:
  • Even in our awful tribulation we were quite optimistic.即使在极端痛苦时,我们仍十分乐观。
  • I hate the tribulation,I commiserate the sorrow brought by tribulation.我厌恶别人深重的苦难,怜悯苦难带来的悲哀。
464 fresco KQRzs     
n.壁画;vt.作壁画于
参考例句:
  • This huge fresco is extremely clear and just like nature itself.It is very harmonious.这一巨幅壁画,清晰有致且又浑然天成,十分和谐。
  • So it is quite necessary to study the influence of visual thinking over fresco.因此,研究视觉思维对壁画的影响和作用是十分必要的。
465 glossy nfvxx     
adj.平滑的;有光泽的
参考例句:
  • I like these glossy spots.我喜欢这些闪闪发光的花点。
  • She had glossy black hair.她长着乌黑发亮的头发。
466 dignified NuZzfb     
a.可敬的,高贵的
参考例句:
  • Throughout his trial he maintained a dignified silence. 在整个审讯过程中,他始终沉默以保持尊严。
  • He always strikes such a dignified pose before his girlfriend. 他总是在女友面前摆出这种庄严的姿态。
467 chuckled 8ce1383c838073977a08258a1f3e30f8     
轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
  • She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情,她就轻轻地暗自发笑。
468 ponies 47346fc7580de7596d7df8d115a3545d     
矮种马,小型马( pony的名词复数 ); £25 25 英镑
参考例句:
  • They drove the ponies into a corral. 他们把矮种马赶进了畜栏。
  • She has a mania for ponies. 她特别喜欢小马。
469 leash M9rz1     
n.牵狗的皮带,束缚;v.用皮带系住
参考例句:
  • I reached for the leash,but the dog got in between.我伸手去拿系狗绳,但被狗挡住了路。
  • The dog strains at the leash,eager to be off.狗拼命地扯拉皮带,想挣脱开去。
470 congestion pYmy3     
n.阻塞,消化不良
参考例句:
  • The congestion in the city gets even worse during the summer.夏天城市交通阻塞尤为严重。
  • Parking near the school causes severe traffic congestion.在学校附近泊车会引起严重的交通堵塞。
471 influenza J4NyD     
n.流行性感冒,流感
参考例句:
  • They took steps to prevent the spread of influenza.他们采取措施
  • Influenza is an infectious disease.流感是一种传染病。
472 paralysis pKMxY     
n.麻痹(症);瘫痪(症)
参考例句:
  • The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。
  • The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。
473 swoop nHPzI     
n.俯冲,攫取;v.抓取,突然袭击
参考例句:
  • The plane made a swoop over the city.那架飞机突然向这座城市猛降下来。
  • We decided to swoop down upon the enemy there.我们决定突袭驻在那里的敌人。
474 vaccines c9bb57973a82c1e95c7cd0f4988a1ded     
疫苗,痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
  • The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。
475 stimulation BuIwL     
n.刺激,激励,鼓舞
参考例句:
  • The playgroup provides plenty of stimulation for the children.幼儿游戏组给孩子很多启发。
  • You don't get any intellectual stimulation in this job.你不能从这份工作中获得任何智力启发。
476 mollycoddle D6yzk     
v.溺爱,娇养
参考例句:
  • Christopher accused me of mollycoddling Andrew.克里斯托弗指责我太宠着安德鲁。
  • You shouldn't mollycoddle your kids.你不应该溺爱你的孩子。
477 ambivalence ixVzV     
n.矛盾心理
参考例句:
  • She viewed her daughter's education with ambivalence.她看待女儿的教育问题态度矛盾。
  • She felt a certain ambivalence towards him.她对他的态度有些矛盾。
478 pranks cba7670310bdd53033e32d6c01506817     
n.玩笑,恶作剧( prank的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Frank's errancy consisted mostly of pranks. 法兰克错在老喜欢恶作剧。 来自辞典例句
  • He always leads in pranks and capers. 他老是带头胡闹和开玩笑。 来自辞典例句
479 exasperating 06604aa7af9dfc9c7046206f7e102cf0     
adj. 激怒的 动词exasperate的现在分词形式
参考例句:
  • Our team's failure is very exasperating. 我们队失败了,真是气死人。
  • It is really exasperating that he has not turned up when the train is about to leave. 火车快开了, 他还不来,实在急人。
480 schooling AjAzM6     
n.教育;正规学校教育
参考例句:
  • A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
  • Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。
481 herald qdCzd     
vt.预示...的来临,预告,宣布,欢迎
参考例句:
  • In England, the cuckoo is the herald of spring.在英国杜鹃鸟是报春的使者。
  • Dawn is the herald of day.曙光是白昼的先驱。
482 ordained 629f6c8a1f6bf34be2caf3a3959a61f1     
v.任命(某人)为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 );授予(某人)圣职;(上帝、法律等)命令;判定
参考例句:
  • He was ordained in 1984. 他在一九八四年被任命为牧师。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He was ordained priest. 他被任命为牧师。 来自辞典例句
483 baron XdSyp     
n.男爵;(商业界等)巨头,大王
参考例句:
  • Henry Ford was an automobile baron.亨利·福特是一位汽车业巨头。
  • The baron lived in a strong castle.男爵住在一座坚固的城堡中。
484 espoused e4bb92cfc0056652a51fe54370e2951b     
v.(决定)支持,拥护(目标、主张等)( espouse的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • They espoused the notion of equal opportunity for all in education. 他们赞同在教育方面人人机会均等的观念。
  • The ideas she espoused were incomprehensible to me. 她所支持的意见令我难以理解。 来自《简明英汉词典》
485 ordination rJQxr     
n.授任圣职
参考例句:
  • His ordination gives him the right to conduct a marriage or a funeral.他的晋升圣职使他有权主持婚礼或葬礼。
  • The vatican said the ordination places the city's catholics in a "very delicate and difficult decision."教廷说,这个任命使得这个城市的天主教徒不得不做出“非常棘手和困难的决定”。
486 hierarchy 7d7xN     
n.等级制度;统治集团,领导层
参考例句:
  • There is a rigid hierarchy of power in that country.那个国家有一套严密的权力等级制度。
  • She's high up in the management hierarchy.她在管理阶层中地位很高。
487 rumored 08cff0ed52506f6d38c3eaeae1b51033     
adj.传说的,谣传的v.传闻( rumor的过去式和过去分词 );[古]名誉;咕哝;[古]喧嚷
参考例句:
  • It is rumored that he cheats on his wife. 据传他对他老婆不忠。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • It was rumored that the white officer had been a Swede. 传说那个白人军官是个瑞典人。 来自辞典例句
488 adherence KyjzT     
n.信奉,依附,坚持,固着
参考例句:
  • He was well known for his adherence to the rules.他因遵循这些规定而出名。
  • The teacher demanded adherence to the rules.老师要求学生们遵守纪律。
489 truthful OmpwN     
adj.真实的,说实话的,诚实的
参考例句:
  • You can count on him for a truthful report of the accident.你放心,他会对事故作出如实的报告的。
  • I don't think you are being entirely truthful.我认为你并没全讲真话。
490 asylum DobyD     
n.避难所,庇护所,避难
参考例句:
  • The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
  • Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。
491 eulogy 0nuxj     
n.颂词;颂扬
参考例句:
  • He needs no eulogy from me or from any other man. 他不需要我或者任何一个人来称颂。
  • Mr.Garth gave a long eulogy about their achievements in the research.加思先生对他们的研究成果大大地颂扬了一番。
492 undoubtedly Mfjz6l     
adv.确实地,无疑地
参考例句:
  • It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
  • He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。
493 earnings rrWxJ     
n.工资收人;利润,利益,所得
参考例句:
  • That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
  • Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。
494 auctions 1c44b3008dd1a89803d9b2f2bd58e57a     
n.拍卖,拍卖方式( auction的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • They picked up most of the furniture at auctions in country towns. 他们大部分的家具都是在乡村镇上的拍卖处买的。 来自辞典例句
  • Our dealers didn't want these cars, so we had to dump them at auctions. 我们的承销商都不要这些车子,因此我们只好贱价拍卖。 来自辞典例句
495 withering 8b1e725193ea9294ced015cd87181307     
使人畏缩的,使人害羞的,使人难堪的
参考例句:
  • She gave him a withering look. 她极其蔑视地看了他一眼。
  • The grass is gradually dried-up and withering and pallen leaves. 草渐渐干枯、枯萎并落叶。
496 winked af6ada503978fa80fce7e5d109333278     
v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 );递眼色(表示友好或高兴等);(指光)闪烁;闪亮
参考例句:
  • He winked at her and she knew he was thinking the same thing that she was. 他冲她眨了眨眼,她便知道他的想法和她一样。
  • He winked his eyes at her and left the classroom. 他向她眨巴一下眼睛走出了教室。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
497 sniffed ccb6bd83c4e9592715e6230a90f76b72     
v.以鼻吸气,嗅,闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 );抽鼻子(尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气);抱怨,不以为然地说
参考例句:
  • When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣,吸了吸鼻子,擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
498 inhaled 1072d9232d676d367b2f48410158ae32     
v.吸入( inhale的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. 她合上双眼,深深吸了一口气。
  • Janet inhaled sharply when she saw him. 珍妮特看到他时猛地吸了口气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
499 noted 5n4zXc     
adj.著名的,知名的
参考例句:
  • The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
  • Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。
500 facade El5xh     
n.(建筑物的)正面,临街正面;外表
参考例句:
  • The entrance facade consists of a large full height glass door.入口正面有一大型全高度玻璃门。
  • If you look carefully,you can see through Bob's facade.如果你仔细观察,你就能看穿鲍勃的外表。
501 copper HZXyU     
n.铜;铜币;铜器;adj.铜(制)的;(紫)铜色的
参考例句:
  • The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
  • Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。
502 rambling MTfxg     
adj.[建]凌乱的,杂乱的
参考例句:
  • We spent the summer rambling in Ireland. 我们花了一个夏天漫游爱尔兰。
  • It was easy to get lost in the rambling house. 在布局凌乱的大房子里容易迷路。
503 shutters 74d48a88b636ca064333022eb3458e1f     
百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 ); (照相机的)快门
参考例句:
  • The shop-front is fitted with rolling shutters. 那商店的店门装有卷门。
  • The shutters thumped the wall in the wind. 在风中百叶窗砰砰地碰在墙上。
504 smothered b9bebf478c8f7045d977e80734a8ed1d     
(使)窒息, (使)透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 ); 覆盖; 忍住; 抑制
参考例句:
  • He smothered the baby with a pillow. 他用枕头把婴儿闷死了。
  • The fire is smothered by ashes. 火被灰闷熄了。
505 giggling 2712674ae81ec7e853724ef7e8c53df1     
v.咯咯地笑( giggle的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • We just sat there giggling like naughty schoolchildren. 我们只是坐在那儿像调皮的小学生一样的咯咯地傻笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I can't stand her giggling, she's so silly. 她吃吃地笑,叫我真受不了,那样子傻透了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
506 clump xXfzH     
n.树丛,草丛;vi.用沉重的脚步行走
参考例句:
  • A stream meandered gently through a clump of trees.一条小溪从树丛中蜿蜒穿过。
  • It was as if he had hacked with his thick boots at a clump of bluebells.仿佛他用自己的厚靴子无情地践踏了一丛野风信子。
507 squatting 3b8211561352d6f8fafb6c7eeabd0288     
v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的现在分词 );非法擅自占用(土地或房屋);为获得其所有权;而占用某片公共用地。
参考例句:
  • They ended up squatting in the empty houses on Oxford Road. 他们落得在牛津路偷住空房的境地。
  • They've been squatting in an apartment for the past two years. 他们过去两年来一直擅自占用一套公寓。 来自《简明英汉词典》
508 galloped 4411170e828312c33945e27bb9dce358     
(使马)飞奔,奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 ); 快速做[说]某事
参考例句:
  • Jo galloped across the field towards him. 乔骑马穿过田野向他奔去。
  • The children galloped home as soon as the class was over. 孩子们一下课便飞奔回家了。
509 unfamiliar uk6w4     
adj.陌生的,不熟悉的
参考例句:
  • I am unfamiliar with the place and the people here.我在这儿人地生疏。
  • The man seemed unfamiliar to me.这人很面生。
510 squealed 08be5c82571f6dba9615fa69033e21b0     
v.长声尖叫,用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He squealed the words out. 他吼叫着说出那些话。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The brakes of the car squealed. 汽车的刹车发出吱吱声。 来自《简明英汉词典》
511 calf ecLye     
n.小牛,犊,幼仔,小牛皮
参考例句:
  • The cow slinked its calf.那头母牛早产了一头小牛犊。
  • The calf blared for its mother.牛犊哞哞地高声叫喊找妈妈。
512 supple Hrhwt     
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
参考例句:
  • She gets along well with people because of her supple nature.她与大家相处很好,因为她的天性柔和。
  • He admired the graceful and supple movements of the dancers.他赞扬了舞蹈演员优雅灵巧的舞姿。
513 reverently FjPzwr     
adv.虔诚地
参考例句:
  • He gazed reverently at the handiwork. 他满怀敬意地凝视着这件手工艺品。
  • Pork gazed at it reverently and slowly delight spread over his face. 波克怀着愉快的心情看着这只表,脸上慢慢显出十分崇敬的神色。
514 Christian KVByl     
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒
参考例句:
  • They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
  • His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。
515 prawn WuGyU     
n.对虾,明虾
参考例句:
  • I'm not very keen on fish, but prawn.我不是特别爱吃鱼,但爱吃对虾。
  • Yesterday we ate prawn dish for lunch.昨天午餐我们吃了一盘对虾。
516 frankly fsXzcf     
adv.坦白地,直率地;坦率地说
参考例句:
  • To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说,我一点也不赞成这个主意。
  • Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说,我不反对改革。
517 necessitated 584daebbe9eef7edd8f9bba973dc3386     
使…成为必要,需要( necessitate的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Recent financial scandals have necessitated changes in parliamentary procedures. 最近的金融丑闻使得议会程序必须改革。
  • No man is necessitated to do wrong. 没有人是被迫去作错事的。
518 mellowed 35508a1d6e45828f79a04d41a5d7bf83     
(使)成熟( mellow的过去式和过去分词 ); 使色彩更加柔和,使酒更加醇香
参考例句:
  • She's mellowed over the years. 这些年来他变得成熟了。
  • The colours mellowed as the sun went down. 随着太阳的落去,色泽变得柔和了。
519 simultaneously 4iBz1o     
adv.同时发生地,同时进行地
参考例句:
  • The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
  • The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。
520 promotion eRLxn     
n.提升,晋级;促销,宣传
参考例句:
  • The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
  • The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级,加了薪。
521 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)
522 gasped e6af294d8a7477229d6749fa9e8f5b80     
v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要
参考例句:
  • She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
  • People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
523 plaques cc23efd076b2c24f7ab7a88b7c458b4f     
(纪念性的)匾牌( plaque的名词复数 ); 纪念匾; 牙斑; 空斑
参考例句:
  • Primary plaques were detectable in 16 to 20 hours. 在16到20小时内可查出原发溶斑。
  • The gondoliers wore green and white livery and silver plaques on their chests. 船夫们穿着白绿两色的制服,胸前别着银质徽章。
524 dwindled b4a0c814a8e67ec80c5f9a6cf7853aab     
v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Support for the party has dwindled away to nothing. 支持这个党派的人渐渐化为乌有。
  • His wealth dwindled to nothingness. 他的钱财化为乌有。 来自《简明英汉词典》
525 willows 79355ee67d20ddbc021d3e9cb3acd236     
n.柳树( willow的名词复数 );柳木
参考例句:
  • The willows along the river bank look very beautiful. 河岸边的柳树很美。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Willows are planted on both sides of the streets. 街道两侧种着柳树。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
526 tune NmnwW     
n.调子;和谐,协调;v.调音,调节,调整
参考例句:
  • He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子,并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
  • The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。
527 graveyards 8d612ae8a4fba40201eb72d0d76c2098     
墓地( graveyard的名词复数 ); 垃圾场; 废物堆积处; 收容所
参考例句:
  • He takes a macabre interest in graveyards. 他那么留意墓地,令人毛骨悚然。
  • "And northward there lie, in five graveyards, Calm forever under dewy green grass," 五陵北原上,万古青蒙蒙。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
528 bosom Lt9zW     
n.胸,胸部;胸怀;内心;adj.亲密的
参考例句:
  • She drew a little book from her bosom.她从怀里取出一本小册子。
  • A dark jealousy stirred in his bosom.他内心生出一阵恶毒的嫉妒。
529 cargo 6TcyG     
n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物
参考例句:
  • The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
  • A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。
530 saluted 1a86aa8dabc06746471537634e1a215f     
v.欢迎,致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 );赞扬,赞颂
参考例句:
  • The sergeant stood to attention and saluted. 中士立正敬礼。
  • He saluted his friends with a wave of the hand. 他挥手向他的朋友致意。 来自《简明英汉词典》
531 blandly f411bffb7a3b98af8224e543d5078eb9     
adv.温和地,殷勤地
参考例句:
  • There is a class of men in Bristol monstrously prejudiced against Blandly. 布里斯托尔有那么一帮人为此恨透了布兰德利。 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
  • \"Maybe you could get something in the stage line?\" he blandly suggested. “也许你能在戏剧这一行里找些事做,\"他和蔼地提议道。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
532 temerity PGmyk     
n.鲁莽,冒失
参考例句:
  • He had the temerity to ask for higher wages after only a day's work.只工作了一天,他就蛮不讲理地要求增加工资。
  • Tins took some temerity,but it was fruitless.这件事做得有点莽撞,但结果还是无用。
533 idols 7c4d4984658a95fbb8bbc091e42b97b9     
偶像( idol的名词复数 ); 受崇拜的人或物; 受到热爱和崇拜的人或物; 神像
参考例句:
  • The genii will give evidence against those who have worshipped idols. 魔怪将提供证据来反对那些崇拜偶像的人。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史
  • Teenagers are very sequacious and they often emulate the behavior of their idols. 青少年非常盲从,经常模仿他们的偶像的行为。
534 petrified 2e51222789ae4ecee6134eb89ed9998d     
adj.惊呆的;目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆,使惊呆;变僵硬;使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词)
参考例句:
  • I'm petrified of snakes. 我特别怕蛇。
  • The poor child was petrified with fear. 这可怜的孩子被吓呆了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
535 anonymity IMbyq     
n.the condition of being anonymous
参考例句:
  • Names of people in the book were changed to preserve anonymity. 为了姓名保密,书中的人用的都是化名。
  • Our company promises to preserve the anonymity of all its clients. 我们公司承诺不公开客户的姓名。
536 resounding zkCzZC     
adj. 响亮的
参考例句:
  • The astronaut was welcomed with joyous,resounding acclaim. 人们欢声雷动地迎接那位宇航员。
  • He hit the water with a resounding slap. 他啪的一声拍了一下水。
537 unduly Mp4ya     
adv.过度地,不适当地
参考例句:
  • He did not sound unduly worried at the prospect.他的口气听上去对前景并不十分担忧。
  • He argued that the law was unduly restrictive.他辩称法律的约束性有些过分了。
538 gaol Qh8xK     
n.(jail)监狱;(不加冠词)监禁;vt.使…坐牢
参考例句:
  • He was released from the gaol.他被释放出狱。
  • The man spent several years in gaol for robbery.这男人因犯抢劫罪而坐了几年牢。
539 mingled fdf34efd22095ed7e00f43ccc823abdf     
混合,混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 ); 混进,与…交往[联系]
参考例句:
  • The sounds of laughter and singing mingled in the evening air. 笑声和歌声交织在夜空中。
  • The man and the woman mingled as everyone started to relax. 当大家开始放松的时候,这一男一女就开始交往了。
540 labors 8e0b4ddc7de5679605be19f4398395e1     
v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 );苦干;详细分析;(指引擎)缓慢而困难地运转
参考例句:
  • He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors. 他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜,令人生厌。 来自辞典例句
  • Farm labors used to hire themselves out for the summer. 农业劳动者夏季常去当雇工。 来自辞典例句
541 mantle Y7tzs     
n.斗篷,覆罩之物,罩子;v.罩住,覆盖,脸红
参考例句:
  • The earth had donned her mantle of brightest green.大地披上了苍翠欲滴的绿色斗篷。
  • The mountain was covered with a mantle of snow.山上覆盖着一层雪。
542 vitality lhAw8     
n.活力,生命力,效力
参考例句:
  • He came back from his holiday bursting with vitality and good health.他度假归来之后,身强体壮,充满活力。
  • He is an ambitious young man full of enthusiasm and vitality.他是个充满热情与活力的有远大抱负的青年。
543 riveted ecef077186c9682b433fa17f487ee017     
铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 ); 把…固定住; 吸引; 引起某人的注意
参考例句:
  • I was absolutely riveted by her story. 我完全被她的故事吸引住了。
  • My attention was riveted by a slight movement in the bushes. 我的注意力被灌木丛中的轻微晃动吸引住了。
544 flicker Gjxxb     
vi./n.闪烁,摇曳,闪现
参考例句:
  • There was a flicker of lights coming from the abandoned house.这所废弃的房屋中有灯光闪烁。
  • At first,the flame may be a small flicker,barely shining.开始时,光辉可能是微弱地忽隐忽现,几乎并不灿烂。
545 dotage NsqxN     
n.年老体衰;年老昏聩
参考例句:
  • Even in his dotage,the Professor still sits on the committee.即便上了年纪,教授仍然是委员会的一员。
  • Sarah moved back in with her father so that she could look after him in his dotage.萨拉搬回来与父亲同住,好在他年老时照顾他。
546 forestalling d45327a760f7199d057caaf0ab24c9d3     
v.先发制人,预先阻止( forestall的现在分词 )
参考例句:
547 hunched 532924f1646c4c5850b7c607069be416     
(常指因寒冷、生病或愁苦)耸肩弓身的,伏首前倾的
参考例句:
  • He sat with his shoulders hunched up. 他耸起双肩坐着。
  • Stephen hunched down to light a cigarette. 斯蒂芬弓着身子点燃一支烟。
548 silhouette SEvz8     
n.黑色半身侧面影,影子,轮廓;v.描绘成侧面影,照出影子来,仅仅显出轮廓
参考例句:
  • I could see its black silhouette against the evening sky.我能看到夜幕下它黑色的轮廓。
  • I could see the silhouette of the woman in the pickup.我可以见到小卡车的女人黑色半身侧面影。
549 deliberately Gulzvq     
adv.审慎地;蓄意地;故意地
参考例句:
  • The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
  • They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。
550 luxurious S2pyv     
adj.精美而昂贵的;豪华的
参考例句:
  • This is a luxurious car complete with air conditioning and telephone.这是一辆附有空调设备和电话的豪华轿车。
  • The rich man lives in luxurious surroundings.这位富人生活在奢侈的环境中。
551 relinquished 2d789d1995a6a7f21bb35f6fc8d61c5d     
交出,让给( relinquish的过去式和过去分词 ); 放弃
参考例句:
  • She has relinquished the post to her cousin, Sir Edward. 她把职位让给了表弟爱德华爵士。
  • The small dog relinquished his bone to the big dog. 小狗把它的骨头让给那只大狗。
552 scones 851500ddb2eb42d0ca038d69fbf83f7e     
n.烤饼,烤小圆面包( scone的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • scones and jam with clotted cream 夹有凝脂奶油和果酱的烤饼
  • She makes scones and cakes for the delectation of visitors. 她烘制了烤饼和蛋糕供客人享用。 来自辞典例句
553 utterly ZfpzM1     
adv.完全地,绝对地
参考例句:
  • Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民,把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
  • I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。
554 marred 5fc2896f7cb5af68d251672a8d30b5b5     
adj. 被损毁, 污损的
参考例句:
  • The game was marred by the behaviour of drunken fans. 喝醉了的球迷行为不轨,把比赛给搅了。
  • Bad diction marred the effectiveness of his speech. 措词不当影响了他演说的效果。
555 resentment 4sgyv     
n.怨愤,忿恨
参考例句:
  • All her feelings of resentment just came pouring out.她一股脑儿倾吐出所有的怨恨。
  • She cherished a deep resentment under the rose towards her employer.她暗中对她的雇主怀恨在心。
556 stylish 7tNwG     
adj.流行的,时髦的;漂亮的,气派的
参考例句:
  • He's a stylish dresser.他是个穿着很有格调的人。
  • What stylish women are wearing in Paris will be worn by women all over the world.巴黎女性时装往往会引导世界时装潮流。
557 exhausted 7taz4r     
adj.极其疲惫的,精疲力尽的
参考例句:
  • It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长,到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
  • Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。
558 slumped b010f9799fb8ebd413389b9083180d8d     
大幅度下降,暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 ); 沉重或突然地落下[倒下]
参考例句:
  • Sales have slumped this year. 今年销售量锐减。
  • The driver was slumped exhausted over the wheel. 司机伏在方向盘上,疲惫得睡着了。
559 stony qu1wX     
adj.石头的,多石头的,冷酷的,无情的
参考例句:
  • The ground is too dry and stony.这块地太干,而且布满了石头。
  • He listened to her story with a stony expression.他带着冷漠的表情听她讲经历。
560 grassy DfBxH     
adj.盖满草的;长满草的
参考例句:
  • They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
  • Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。
561 devoid dZzzx     
adj.全无的,缺乏的
参考例句:
  • He is completely devoid of humour.他十分缺乏幽默。
  • The house is totally devoid of furniture.这所房子里什么家具都没有。
562 ramp QTgxf     
n.暴怒,斜坡,坡道;vi.作恐吓姿势,暴怒,加速;vt.加速
参考例句:
  • That driver drove the car up the ramp.那司机将车开上了斜坡。
  • The factory don't have that capacity to ramp up.这家工厂没有能力加速生产。
563 lighting CpszPL     
n.照明,光线的明暗,舞台灯光
参考例句:
  • The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
  • The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。
564 baggy CuVz5     
adj.膨胀如袋的,宽松下垂的
参考例句:
  • My T-shirt went all baggy in the wash.我的T恤越洗越大了。
  • Baggy pants are meant to be stylish,not offensive.松松垮垮的裤子意味着时髦,而不是无礼。
565 fixed JsKzzj     
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的
参考例句:
  • Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗?
  • Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定,我们就不应该随意改变。
566 aloof wxpzN     
adj.远离的;冷淡的,漠不关心的
参考例句:
  • Never stand aloof from the masses.千万不可脱离群众。
  • On the evening the girl kept herself timidly aloof from the crowd.这小女孩在晚会上一直胆怯地远离人群。
567 afterward fK6y3     
adv.后来;以后
参考例句:
  • Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏,然后吃饭。
  • Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来,这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。
568 burrows 6f0e89270b16e255aa86501b6ccbc5f3     
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
569 tartly 0gtzl5     
adv.辛辣地,刻薄地
参考例句:
  • She finished by tartly pointing out that he owed her some money. 她最后刻薄地指出他欠她一些钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Kay said tartly, "And you're more Yankee than Italian. 恺酸溜溜他说:“可你哪,与其说是意大利人,还不如说是新英格兰人。 来自教父部分
570 commonwealth XXzyp     
n.共和国,联邦,共同体
参考例句:
  • He is the chairman of the commonwealth of artists.他是艺术家协会的主席。
  • Most of the members of the Commonwealth are nonwhite.英联邦的许多成员国不是白人国家。
571 warfare XhVwZ     
n.战争(状态);斗争;冲突
参考例句:
  • He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
  • Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。
572 journalism kpZzu8     
n.新闻工作,报业
参考例句:
  • He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师,可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
  • He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。
573 abreast Zf3yi     
adv.并排地;跟上(时代)的步伐,与…并进地
参考例句:
  • She kept abreast with the flood of communications that had poured in.她及时回复如雪片般飞来的大批信件。
  • We can't keep abreast of the developing situation unless we study harder.我们如果不加强学习,就会跟不上形势。
574 niche XGjxH     
n.壁龛;合适的职务(环境、位置等)
参考例句:
  • Madeleine placed it carefully in the rocky niche. 玛德琳小心翼翼地把它放在岩石壁龛里。
  • The really talented among women would always make their own niche.妇女中真正有才能的人总是各得其所。


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