小说搜索     点击排行榜   最新入库
首页 » 英文科幻小说 » 基地系列 Second Foundation 第二基地 » Chapter 8
选择底色: 选择字号:【大】【中】【小】
Chapter 8
关注小说网官方公众号(noveltingroom),原版名著免费领。
Anxiety

Poli placed the breakfast on the table, keeping one eye on the table news-recorder which quietly disgorged the bulletins of the day. It could be done easily enough without loss of efficiency, this one-eye-absent business. Since all items of food were sterilely1 packed in containers which served as discardable cooking units, her duties vis-a-vis breakfast consisted of nothing more than choosing the menu, placing the items on the table, and removing the residue2 thereafter.

She clacked her tongue at what she saw and moaned softly in retrospect3.

"Oh, people are so wicked," she said, and Darell merely hemmed4 in reply.

Her voice took on the high-pitched rasp which she automatically assumed when about to bewail the evil of the world. "Now why do these terrible Kalganese" ?she accented the second syIlable and gave it a long "a" ?"do like that? You'd think they'd give a body peace. But no, it's just trouble, trouble, all the time.

"Now look at that headline: 'Mobs Riot Before Foundation Consulate5.?Oh, would I like to give them a piece of my mind, if I could. That's the trouble with people; they just don't remember. They just don't remember, Dr. Darell ?got no memory at all. Look at the last war after the Mule6 died ?of course I was just a little girl then ?and oh, the fuss and trouble. My own uncle was killed, him being just in his twenties and only two years married, with a baby girl. I remember him even yet ?blond hair he had, and a dimple in his chin. I have a trimensional cube of him somewheres?

"And now his baby girl has a son of her own in the navy and most like if anything happens?

"And we had the bombardment patrols, and all the old men taking turns in the stratospheric defense7 ?I could imagine what they would have been able to do if the Kalganese had come that far. My mother used to tell us children about the food rationing8 and the prices and taxes. A body could hardly make ends meet?

"You'd think if they had sense people would just never want to start it again; just have nothing to do with it. And I suppose it's not people that do it, either; I suppose even Kalganese would rather sit at home with their families and not go fooling around in ships and getting killed. It's that awful man, Stettin. It's a wonder people like that are let live. He kills the old man ?what's his name ?Thallos, and now he's just spoiling to be boss of everything.

"And why he wants to fight us, I don't know. He's bound to lose ?like they always do. Maybe it's all in the Plan, but sometimes I'm sure it must be a wicked plan to have so much fighting and killing9 in it, though to be sure I haven't a word to say about Hari Seldon, who I'm sure knows much more about that than I do and perhaps I'm a fool to question him. And the other Foundation is as much to blame. They could stop Kalgan now and make everything fine. They'll do it anyway in the end, and you'd think they'd do it before there's any damage done."

Dr. Darell looked up. "Did you say something, Poli?"

Poli's eyes opened wide, then narrowed angrily. "Nothing, doctor, nothing at all. I haven't got a word to say. A body could as soon choke to death as say a word in this house. It's jump here, and jump there, but just try to say a word? and she went off simmering.

Her leaving made as little impression on Darell as did her speaking.

Kalgan! Nonsense! A merely physical enemy! Those had always been beaten!

Yet he could not divorce himself of the current foolish crisis. Seven days earlier, the mayor had asked him to be Administrator10 of Research and Development. He had promised an answer today.

Well?

He stirred uneasily. Why, himself! Yet could he refuse? It would seem strange, and he dared not seem strange. After all, what did he care about Kalgan. To him there was only one enemy. Always had been.

While his wife had lived, he was only too glad to shirk the task; to hide. Those long, quiet days on Trantor, with the ruins of the past about them! The silence of a wrecked11 world and the forgetfulness of it all!

But she had died. Less than five years, all told, it had been; and after that he knew that he could live only by fighting that vague and fearful enemy that deprived him of the dignity of manhood by controlling his destiny; that made life a miserable13 struggle against a foreordained end; that made all the universe a hateful and deadly chess game.

Call it sublimation14; he, himself did can it that ?but the fight gave meaning to his life.

First to the University of Santanni, where he had joined Dr. Kleise. It had been five years well-spent.

And yet Kleise was merely a gatherer of data. He could not succeed in the real task ?and when Darell had felt that as certainty, he knew it was time to leave.

Kleise may have worked in secret, yet he had to have men working for him and with him. He had subjects whose brains he probed. He had a University that backed him. All these were weaknesses.

Kleise could not understand that; and he, Darell, could not explain that. They parted enemies. It was well; they had to. He had to leave in surrender ?in case someone watched.

Where Kleise worked with charts; Darell worked with mathematical concepts in the recesses15 of his mind. Kleise worked with many; Darell with none. Kleise in a University; Darell in the quiet of a suburban16 house.

And he was almost there.

A Second Foundationer is not human as far as his cerebrum is concerned. The cleverest physiologist17, the most subtle neurochemist might detect nothing ?yet the difference must be there.

And since the difference was one of the mind, it was there that it must be detectable18.

Given a man like the Mule ?and there was no doubt that the Second Foundationers had the Mule's powers, whether inborn19 or acquired ?with the power of detecting and controlling human emotions, deduce from that the electronic circuit required, and deduce from that the last details of the encephalograph on which it could not help but be betrayed.

And now Kleise had returned into his life, in the person of his ardent20 young pupil, Anthor.

Folly21! Folly! With his graphs and charts of people who had been tampered22 with. He had learned to detect that years ago, but of what use was it. He wanted the arm; not the tool. Yet he had to agree to join Anthor, since it was the quieter course.

Just as now he would become Administrator of Research and Development. It was the quieter course! And so he remained a conspiracy23 within a conspiracy.

The thought of Arcadia teased him for a moment, and he shuddered24 away from it. Left to himself, it would never have happened. Left to himself, no one would ever have been endangered but himself. Left to himself?

He felt the anger rising-against the dead Kleise, the living Anthor, all the well-meaning fools?

Well, she could take care of herself. She was a very mature little girl.

She could take care of herself!

It was a whisper in his mind?

Yet could she?

At the moment, that Dr. Darell told himself mournfully that she could, she was sitting in the coldly austere25 anteroom of the Executive Offices of the First Citizen of the Galaxy26. For half an hour she had been sitting there, her eyes sliding slowly about the walls. There had been two armed guards at the door when she had entered with Homir Munn. They hadn't been there the other times.

She was alone, now, yet she sensed the unfriendliness of the very furnishings of the room. And for the first time.

Now, why should that be?

Homir was with Lord Stettin. Well, was that wrong?

It made her furious. In similar situations in the book-films and the videos, the hero foresaw the conclusion, was prepared for it when it came, and she ?she just sat there. Anything could happen. Anything! And she just sat there.

Well, back again. Think it back. Maybe something would come.

For two weeks, Homir had nearly lived inside the Mule's palace. He had taken her once, with Stettin's permission. It was large and gloomily massive, shrinking from the touch of life to lie sleeping within its ringing memories, answering the footsteps with a hollow boom or a savage27 clatter28. She hadn't liked it.

Better the great, gay highways of the capital city; the theaters and spectacles of a world essentially29 poorer than the Foundation, yet spending more of its wealth on display.

Homir would return in the evening, awed30?

"It's a dream-world for me," he would whisper. "If I could only chip the palace down stone by stone, layer by layer of the aluminum31 sponge. If I could carry it back to Terminus?What a museum it would make."

He seemed to have lost that early reluctance32. He was eager, instead; glowing. Arcadia knew that by the one sure sign; he practically never stuttered throughout that period.

One time, he said, "There are abstracts of the records of General Pritcher?

"I know him. He was the Foundation renegade, who combed the Galaxy for the Second Foundation, wasn't he?"

"Not exactly a renegade, Arkady. The Mule had Converted him."

"Oh, it's the same thing."

"Galaxy, that combing you speak of was a hopeless task. The original records of the Seldon Convention that established both Foundations five hundred years ago, make only one reference to the Second Foundation. They say if's located 'at the other end of the Galaxy at Star's End.' That's all the Mule and Pritcher had to go on. They had no method of recognizing the Second Foundation even if they found it. What madness!

"They have records" ?he was speaking to himself, but Arcadia listened eagerly ?"which must cover nearly a thousand worlds, yet the number of worlds available for study must have been closer to a million. And we are no better off?

Arcadia broke in anxiously, "Shhh-h" in a tight hiss33.

Homir froze, and slowly recovered. "Let's not talk," he mumbled34.

And now Homir was with Lord Stettin and Arcadia waited outside alone and felt the blood squeezing out of her heart for no reason at all. That was more frightening than anything else. That there seemed no reason.

On the other side of the door, Homir, too, was living in a sea of gelatin. He was fighting, with furious intensity35, to keep from stuttering and, of course, could scarcely speak two consecutive36 words clearly as a result.

Lord Stettin was in full uniform, six-feet-six, large-jawed, and hard-mouthed. His balled, arrogant37 fists kept a powerful time to his sentences.

"Well, you have had two weeks, and you come to me with tales of nothing. Come, sir, tell me the worst. Is my Navy to be cut to ribbons? Am I to fight the ghosts of the Second Foundation as well as the men of the First?"

"I ... I repeat, my lord, I am no p ... pre ... predictor. I ... I am at a complete ... loss."

"Or do you wish to go back to warn your countrymen? To deep Space with your play-acting. I want the truth or I抣l have it out of you along with half your guts38."

"I'm t ... telling only the truth, and I'll have you re ... remember, my l ... lord, that I am a citizen of the Foundation. Y ... you cannot touch me without harvesting m ... mmmmmmmore than you count on."

The Lord of Kalgan laughed uproariously. "A threat to frighten children. A horror with which to beat back an idiot. Come, Mr. Munn, I have been patient with you. I have listened to you for twenty minutes while you detailed39 wearisome nonsense to me which must have cost you sleepless40 nights to compose. It was wasted effort. I know you are here not merely to rake through the Mule's dead ashes and to warm over the cinders41 you findyou come here for more than you have admitted. Is that not true?"

Homir Munn could no more have quenched42 the burning horror that grew in his eyes than, at that moment, he could have breathed. Lord Stettin saw that, and clapped the Foundation man upon his shoulder so that he and the chair he sat on reeled under the impact.

"Good. Now let us be frank. You are investigating the Seldon Plan. You know that it no longer holds. You know, perhaps, that I am the inevitable43 winner now; I and my heirs. Well, man, what matters it who established the Second Empire, so long as it is established. History plays no favorites, eh? Are you afraid to tell me? You see that I know your mission."

Munn said thickly, "What is it y ... you w ... want?"

"Your presence. I would not wish the Plan spoiled through overconfidence. You understand more of these things than I do; you can detect small flaws that I might miss. Come, you will be rewarded in the end; you will have your fair glut44 of the loot. What can you expect at the Foundation? To turn the tide of a perhaps inevitable defeat? To lengthen45 the war? Or is it merely a patriotic46 desire to die for your country?"

"I ... I? He finally spluttered into silence. Not a word would come.

"You will stay," said the Lord of Kalgan, confidently. "You have no choice. Wait" ?an almost forgotten afterthought ?"I have information to the effect that your niece is of the family of Bayta Darell."

Homir uttered a startled: "Yes." He could not trust himself at this point to be capable of weaving anything but cold truth.

"It is a family of note on the Foundation?"

Homir nodded, "To whom they would certainly b ... brook47 no harm."

"Harm! Don't be a fool, man; I am meditating48 the reverse. How old is she?"

"Fourteen."

"Sol Well, not even the Second Foundation, or Hari Seldon, himself, could stop time from passing or girls from becoming women."

With that, he turned on his heel and strode to a draped door which he threw open violently.

He thundered, "What in Space have you dragged your shivering carcass here for?"

The Lady Callia blinked at him, and said in a small voice, "I didn't know anyone was with you."

"Well, there is. I'll speak to you later of this, but now I want to see your back, and quickly."

Her footsteps were a fading scurry49 in the corridor.

Stettin returned, "She is a remnant of an interlude that has lasted too long. It will end soon. Fourteen, you say?"

Homir stared at him with a brand-new horror!

Arcadia started at the noiseless opening of a door ?jumping at the jangling sliver50 of movement it made in the comer of her eye. The finger that crooked51 frantically52 at her met no response for long moments, and then, as if in response to the cautions enforced by the very sight of that white, trembling figure, she tiptoed her way across the floor.

Their footsteps were a taut54 whisper in the corridor. It was the Lady Callia, of course, who held her hand so tightly that it hurt, and for some reason, she did not mind following her. Of the Lady Callia, at least, she was not afraid.

Now, why was that?

They were in a boudoir now, all pink fluff and spun55 sugar. Lady Callia stood with her back against the door.

She said, "This was our private way to me ... to my room, you know, from his office. His, you know." And she pointed56 with a thumb, as though even the thought of him were grinding her soul to death with fear.

"It's so lucky ... it抯 so lucky? Her pupils had blackened out the blue with their size.

"Can you tell me? began Arcadia timidly.

And Callia was in frantic53 motion. "No, child, no. There is no time. Take off your clothes. Please. Please. I'll get you more, and they won't recognize you."

She was in the closet, throwing useless bits of flummery in reckless heaps upon the ground, looking madly for something a girl could wear without becoming a living invitation to dalliance.

"Here, this will do. It will have to. Do you have money? Here, take it all ?and this." She was stripping her ears and fingers. "Just go home ?go home to your Foundation."

"But Homir ... my uncle." She protested vainly through the muffling57 folds of the sweet-smelling and luxurious58 spun-metal being forced over heeeeead.

"He won't leave. Poochie will hold him forever, but you mustn't stay. Oh, dear, don't you understand?"

"No." Arcadia forced a standstill, "I don't understand."

Lady Callia squeezed her hands tightly together. "You must go back to warn your people there will be war. Isn't that clear?" Absolute terror seemed paradoxically to have lent a lucidity59 to her thoughts and words that was entirely60 out of character. "Now come!"

Out another way! Past officials who stared after them, but saw no reason to stop one whom only the Lord of Kalgan could stop with impunity61. Guards clicked heels and presented arms when they went through doors.

Arcadia breathed only on occasion through the years the trip seemed to take ?yet from the first crooking62 of the white finger to the time she stood at the outer gate, with people and noise and traffic in the distance was only twenty-five minutes.

She looked back, with a sudden frightened pity. "I ... I ... don't know why you're doing this, my lady, but thanks?What's going to happen to Uncle Homir?"

"I don't know," wailed63 the other. "Can't you leave? Go straight to the spaceport. Don't wait. He may be looking for you this very minute."

And still Arcadia lingered. She would be leaving Homir; and, belatedly, now that she felt the free air about her, she was suspicious. "But what do you care if he does?"

Lady Callia bit her lower lip and muttered, "I can't explain to a little girl like you. It would be improper64. Well, you'll be growing up and I ... I met Poochie when I was sixteen. I can't have you about, you know." There was a half-ashamed hostility65 in her eyes.

The implications froze Arcadia. She whispered: "What will he do to you when he finds out?"

And she whimpered back: "I don't know," and threw her arm to her head as she left at a half-run, back along the wide way to the mansion66 of the Lord of Kalgan.

But for one eternal second, Arcadia still did not move, for in that last moment before Lady Callia left, Arcadia had seen something. Those frightened, frantic eyes had momentarily ?flashingly ?lit up with a cold amusement.

A vast, inhuman67 amusement.

It was much to see in such a quick flicker68 of a pair of eyes, but Arcadia had no doubt of what she saw.

She was running now ?running wildly ?searching madly for an unoccupied public booth at which one could press a button for public conveyance69.

She was not running from Lord Stettin; not from him or from all the human hounds he could place at her heels ?not from all his twenty-seven worlds rolled into a single gigantic phenomenon, hallooing at her shadow.

She was running from a single, frail70 woman who had helped her escape. From a creature who had loaded her with money and jewels; who had risked her own life to save her. From an entity71 she knew, certainly and finally, to be a woman of the Second Foundation.

An air-taxi came to a soft clicking halt in the cradle. The wind of its coming brushed against Arcadia's face and stirred at the hair beneath the softly-furred hood12 Callia had given her.

"Where'll it be, lady?"

She fought desperately72 to low-pitch her voice to make it not that of a child. "How many spaceports in the city?"

"Two. Which one ya want?"

"Which is closer?"

He stared at her: "Kalgan Central, lady."

"The other one, please. I抳e got the money." She had a twenty-Kalganid note in her hand. The denomination73 of the note made little difference to her, but the taxi-man grinned appreciatively.

"Anything ya say, lady. Sky-line cabs take ya anywhere."

She cooled her cheek against the slightly musty upholstery. The lights of the city moved leisurely74 below her.

What should she do? What should she do?

It was in that moment that she knew she was a stupid, stupid little girl, away from her father, and frightened. Her eyes were full of tears, and deep down in her throat, there was a small, soundless cry that hurt her insides.

She wasn't afraid that Lord Stettin would catch her. Lady Callia would see to that. Lady Callia! Old, fat, stupid, but she held on to her lord, somehow. Oh, it was clear enough, now. Everything was clear.

That tea with Callia at which she had been so smart. Clever little Arcadia! Something inside Arcadia choked and hated itself. That tea had been maneuvered75, and then Stettin had probably been maneuvered so that Homir was allowed to inspect the Palace after all. She, the foolish Callia, has wanted it so, and arranged to have smart little Arcadia supply a foolproof excuse, one which would arouse no suspicions in the minds of the victims, and yet involve a minimum of interference on her part.

Then why was she free? Homir was a prisoner, of course?

Unless?

Unless she went back to the Foundation as a decoy ?a decoy to lead others into the hands of ... of them.

So she couldn't return to the Foundation?

"Spaceport, lady." The air-taxi had come to a halt. Strange! She hadn't even noticed.

What a dream-world it was.

"Thanks," she pushed the bill at him without seeing anything and was stumbling out the door, then running across the springy pavement.

Lights. Unconcerned men and women. Large gleaming bulletin boards, with the moving figures that followed every single spaceship that arrived and departed.

Where was she going? She didn't care. She only knew that she wasn't going to the Foundation! Anywhere else at all would suit.

Oh, thank Seldon, for that forgetful moment ?that last split-second when Callia wearied of her act because she had to do only with a child and had let her amusement spring through.

And then something else occurred to Arcadia, something that had been stirring and moving at the base of her brain ever since the flight began ?something that forever killed the fourteen in her.

And she knew that she must escape.

That above all. Though they located every conspirator76 on the Foundation; though they caught her own father; she could not dared not, risk a warning. She could not risk her own life ?not in the slightest ?for the entire realm of Terminus. She was the most important person in the Galaxy. She was the only important person in the Galaxy.

She knew that even as she stood before the ticket-machine and wondered where to go.

Because in all the Galaxy, she and she alone, except for they, themselves, knew the location of the Second Foundation.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 sterilely 811e4b895d84c860a3ddfd9606fce945     
不毛的,贫瘠的; 不生育的; 无菌的; 无效果的
参考例句:
  • The room felt cold and sterile. 那房间让人觉得阴冷而没有生气。
  • This top fits over the bottle and keeps the teat sterile. 这个盖子严实地盖在奶瓶上,保持奶嘴无菌。
2 residue 6B0z1     
n.残余,剩余,残渣
参考例句:
  • Mary scraped the residue of food from the plates before putting them under water.玛丽在把盘子放入水之前先刮去上面的食物残渣。
  • Pesticide persistence beyond the critical period for control leads to residue problems.农药一旦超过控制的临界期,就会导致残留问题。
3 retrospect xDeys     
n.回顾,追溯;v.回顾,回想,追溯
参考例句:
  • One's school life seems happier in retrospect than in reality.学校生活回忆起来显得比实际上要快乐。
  • In retrospect,it's easy to see why we were wrong.回顾过去就很容易明白我们的错处了。
4 hemmed 16d335eff409da16d63987f05fc78f5a     
缝…的褶边( hem的过去式和过去分词 ); 包围
参考例句:
  • He hemmed and hawed but wouldn't say anything definite. 他总是哼儿哈儿的,就是不说句痛快话。
  • The soldiers were hemmed in on all sides. 士兵们被四面包围了。
5 consulate COwzC     
n.领事馆
参考例句:
  • The Spanish consulate is the large white building opposite the bank.西班牙领事馆是银行对面的那栋高大的白色建筑物。
  • The American consulate was a magnificent edifice in the centre of Bordeaux.美国领事馆是位于波尔多市中心的一座宏伟的大厦。
6 mule G6RzI     
n.骡子,杂种,执拗的人
参考例句:
  • A mule is a cross between a mare and a donkey.骡子是母马和公驴的杂交后代。
  • He is an old mule.他是个老顽固。
7 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。
8 rationing JkGzDl     
n.定量供应
参考例句:
  • Wartime austerities included food rationing and shortage of fuel. 战时的艰苦包括食物配给和燃料短缺。
  • Food rationing was abolished in that country long ago. 那个国家早就取消了粮食配给制。
9 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。
10 administrator SJeyZ     
n.经营管理者,行政官员
参考例句:
  • The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
  • He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。
11 wrecked ze0zKI     
adj.失事的,遇难的
参考例句:
  • the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
  • the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞
12 hood ddwzJ     
n.头巾,兜帽,覆盖;v.罩上,以头巾覆盖
参考例句:
  • She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
  • The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。
13 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。
14 sublimation dhFyV     
n.升华,升华物,高尚化
参考例句:
  • Presently, entrepreneurship, innovation and excellence-creating are the sublimation of the spirit. 在新的历史条件下,“创业创新创优”的三创精神是新时期江苏人文精神的升华。 来自互联网
  • Luleng deems that public will is a sublimation of human's free volitions. 摘要卢梭认为,公意就是人类自由意志的升华。 来自互联网
15 recesses 617c7fa11fa356bfdf4893777e4e8e62     
n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 );(工作或业务活动的)中止或暂停期间;学校的课间休息;某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 );将(墙)做成凹形,在(墙)上做壁龛;休息,休会,休庭
参考例句:
  • I could see the inmost recesses. 我能看见最深处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I had continually pushed my doubts to the darker recesses of my mind. 我一直把怀疑深深地隐藏在心中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
16 suburban Usywk     
adj.城郊的,在郊区的
参考例句:
  • Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
  • There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。
17 physiologist 5NUx2     
n.生理学家
参考例句:
  • Russian physiologist who observed conditioned salivary responses in dogs (1849-1936). (1849-1936)苏联生理学家,在狗身上观察到唾液条件反射,曾获1904年诺贝尔生理学-医学奖。
  • The physiologist recently studied indicated that evening exercises beneficially. 生理学家新近研究表明,傍晚锻炼最为有益。
18 detectable tuXzmd     
adj.可发觉的;可查明的
参考例句:
  • The noise is barely detectable by the human ear.人的耳朵几乎是察觉不到这种噪音的。
  • The inflection point at this PH is barely detectable.在此PH值下,拐点不易发现。
19 inborn R4wyc     
adj.天生的,生来的,先天的
参考例句:
  • He is a man with an inborn love of joke.他是一个生来就喜欢开玩笑的人。
  • He had an inborn talent for languages.他有语言天分。
20 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。
21 folly QgOzL     
n.愚笨,愚蠢,蠢事,蠢行,傻话
参考例句:
  • Learn wisdom by the folly of others.从别人的愚蠢行动中学到智慧。
  • Events proved the folly of such calculations.事情的进展证明了这种估计是愚蠢的。
22 tampered 07b218b924120d49a725c36b06556000     
v.窜改( tamper的过去式 );篡改;(用不正当手段)影响;瞎摆弄
参考例句:
  • The records of the meeting had been tampered with. 会议记录已被人擅自改动。 来自辞典例句
  • The old man's will has been tampered with. 老人的遗嘱已被窜改。 来自辞典例句
23 conspiracy NpczE     
n.阴谋,密谋,共谋
参考例句:
  • The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
  • He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。
24 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》
25 austere GeIyW     
adj.艰苦的;朴素的,朴实无华的;严峻的
参考例句:
  • His way of life is rather austere.他的生活方式相当简朴。
  • The room was furnished in austere style.这间屋子的陈设都很简单朴素。
26 galaxy OhoxB     
n.星系;银河系;一群(杰出或著名的人物)
参考例句:
  • The earth is one of the planets in the Galaxy.地球是银河系中的星球之一。
  • The company has a galaxy of talent.该公司拥有一批优秀的人才。
27 savage ECxzR     
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人
参考例句:
  • The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
  • He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。
28 clatter 3bay7     
v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声
参考例句:
  • The dishes and bowls slid together with a clatter.碟子碗碰得丁丁当当的。
  • Don't clatter your knives and forks.别把刀叉碰得咔哒响。
29 essentially nntxw     
adv.本质上,实质上,基本上
参考例句:
  • Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
  • She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。
30 awed a0ab9008d911a954b6ce264ddc63f5c8     
adj.充满敬畏的,表示敬畏的v.使敬畏,使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The audience was awed into silence by her stunning performance. 观众席上鸦雀无声,人们对他出色的表演感到惊叹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I was awed by the huge gorilla. 那只大猩猩使我惊惧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
31 aluminum 9xhzP     
n.(aluminium)铝
参考例句:
  • The aluminum sheets cannot be too much thicker than 0.04 inches.铝板厚度不能超过0.04英寸。
  • During the launch phase,it would ride in a protective aluminum shell.在发射阶段,它盛在一只保护的铝壳里。
32 reluctance 8VRx8     
n.厌恶,讨厌,勉强,不情愿
参考例句:
  • The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
  • He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。
33 hiss 2yJy9     
v.发出嘶嘶声;发嘘声表示不满
参考例句:
  • We can hear the hiss of air escaping from a tire.我们能听到一只轮胎的嘶嘶漏气声。
  • Don't hiss at the speaker.不要嘘演讲人。
34 mumbled 3855fd60b1f055fa928ebec8bcf3f539     
含糊地说某事,叽咕,咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He mumbled something to me which I did not quite catch. 他对我叽咕了几句话,可我没太听清楚。
  • George mumbled incoherently to himself. 乔治语无伦次地喃喃自语。
35 intensity 45Ixd     
n.强烈,剧烈;强度;烈度
参考例句:
  • I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
  • The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。
36 consecutive DpPz0     
adj.连续的,联贯的,始终一贯的
参考例句:
  • It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
  • The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。
37 arrogant Jvwz5     
adj.傲慢的,自大的
参考例句:
  • You've got to get rid of your arrogant ways.你这骄傲劲儿得好好改改。
  • People are waking up that he is arrogant.人们开始认识到他很傲慢。
38 guts Yraziv     
v.狼吞虎咽,贪婪地吃,飞碟游戏(比赛双方每组5人,相距15码,互相掷接飞碟);毁坏(建筑物等)的内部( gut的第三人称单数 );取出…的内脏n.勇气( gut的名词复数 );内脏;消化道的下段;肠
参考例句:
  • I'll only cook fish if the guts have been removed. 鱼若已收拾干净,我只需烧一下即可。
  • Barbara hasn't got the guts to leave her mother. 巴巴拉没有勇气离开她妈妈。 来自《简明英汉词典》
39 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。
40 sleepless oiBzGN     
adj.不睡眠的,睡不著的,不休息的
参考例句:
  • The situation gave her many sleepless nights.这种情况害她一连好多天睡不好觉。
  • One evening I heard a tale that rendered me sleepless for nights.一天晚上,我听说了一个传闻,把我搞得一连几夜都不能入睡。
41 cinders cinders     
n.煤渣( cinder的名词复数 );炭渣;煤渣路;煤渣跑道
参考例句:
  • This material is variously termed ash, clinker, cinders or slag. 这种材料有不同的名称,如灰、炉渣、煤渣或矿渣。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Rake out the cinders before you start a new fire. 在重新点火前先把煤渣耙出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
42 quenched dae604e1ea7cf81e688b2bffd9b9f2c4     
解(渴)( quench的过去式和过去分词 ); 终止(某事物); (用水)扑灭(火焰等); 将(热物体)放入水中急速冷却
参考例句:
  • He quenched his thirst with a long drink of cold water. 他喝了好多冷水解渴。
  • I quenched my thirst with a glass of cold beer. 我喝了一杯冰啤酒解渴。
43 inevitable 5xcyq     
adj.不可避免的,必然发生的
参考例句:
  • Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
  • The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。
44 glut rflxv     
n.存货过多,供过于求;v.狼吞虎咽
参考例句:
  • The glut of coffee led to a sharp drop in prices.咖啡供过于求道致价格急剧下跌。
  • There's a glut of agricultural products in Western Europe.西欧的农产品供过于求。
45 lengthen n34y1     
vt.使伸长,延长
参考例句:
  • He asked the tailor to lengthen his coat.他请裁缝把他的外衣放长些。
  • The teacher told her to lengthen her paper out.老师让她把论文加长。
46 patriotic T3Izu     
adj.爱国的,有爱国心的
参考例句:
  • His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
  • The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。
47 brook PSIyg     
n.小河,溪;v.忍受,容让
参考例句:
  • In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
  • The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。
48 meditating hoKzDp     
a.沉思的,冥想的
参考例句:
  • They were meditating revenge. 他们在谋划进行报复。
  • The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics. 这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。
49 scurry kDkz1     
vi.急匆匆地走;使急赶;催促;n.快步急跑,疾走;仓皇奔跑声;骤雨,骤雪;短距离赛马
参考例句:
  • I jumped on the sofa after I saw a mouse scurry by.看到一只老鼠匆匆路过,我从沙发上跳了起来。
  • There was a great scurry for bargains.大家急忙着去抢购特价品。
50 sliver sxFwA     
n.裂片,细片,梳毛;v.纵切,切成长片,剖开
参考例句:
  • There was only one sliver of light in the darkness.黑暗中只有一点零星的光亮。
  • Then,one night,Monica saw a thin sliver of the moon reappear.之后的一天晚上,莫尼卡看到了一个月牙。
51 crooked xvazAv     
adj.弯曲的;不诚实的,狡猾的,不正当的
参考例句:
  • He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指,示意我们到他那儿去。
  • You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。
52 frantically ui9xL     
ad.发狂地, 发疯地
参考例句:
  • He dashed frantically across the road. 他疯狂地跑过马路。
  • She bid frantically for the old chair. 她发狂地喊出高价要买那把古老的椅子。
53 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。
54 taut iUazb     
adj.拉紧的,绷紧的,紧张的
参考例句:
  • The bowstring is stretched taut.弓弦绷得很紧。
  • Scarlett's taut nerves almost cracked as a sudden noise sounded in the underbrush near them. 思嘉紧张的神经几乎一下绷裂了,因为她听见附近灌木丛中突然冒出的一个声音。
55 spun kvjwT     
v.纺,杜撰,急转身
参考例句:
  • His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
  • Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。
56 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
57 muffling 2fa2a2f412823aa263383f513c33264f     
v.压抑,捂住( muffle的现在分词 );用厚厚的衣帽包着(自己)
参考例句:
  • Muffler is the conventional muffling device in the noise control of compressor. 消声器是压缩机噪声控制中常用的消声装置。 来自互联网
  • A ferocious face and a jet black muzzle, a muffling muzzle of long pistol. 一张狰狞的脸和他手中的乌黑枪口,那是长长的手枪销音器枪口。 来自互联网
58 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。
59 lucidity jAmxr     
n.明朗,清晰,透明
参考例句:
  • His writings were marked by an extraordinary lucidity and elegance of style.他的作品简洁明晰,文风典雅。
  • The pain had lessened in the night, but so had his lucidity.夜里他的痛苦是减轻了,但人也不那么清醒了。
60 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。
61 impunity g9Qxb     
n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除
参考例句:
  • You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
  • The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。
62 crooking 0c568d4e7ba69842d0bc9d34ff402e3b     
n.弯曲(木材等的缺陷)v.弯成钩形( crook的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • Objective: Observe effect of complex therapy for patients with peritendinitis on the muscle tendon for crooking. 目的:观察综合疗法治疗屈指肌腱腱鞘炎疗效。 来自互联网
63 wailed e27902fd534535a9f82ffa06a5b6937a     
v.哭叫,哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She wailed over her father's remains. 她对着父亲的遗体嚎啕大哭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • The women of the town wailed over the war victims. 城里的妇女为战争的死难者们痛哭。 来自辞典例句
64 improper b9txi     
adj.不适当的,不合适的,不正确的,不合礼仪的
参考例句:
  • Short trousers are improper at a dance.舞会上穿短裤不成体统。
  • Laughing and joking are improper at a funeral.葬礼时大笑和开玩笑是不合适的。
65 hostility hdyzQ     
n.敌对,敌意;抵制[pl.]交战,战争
参考例句:
  • There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
  • His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。
66 mansion 8BYxn     
n.大厦,大楼;宅第
参考例句:
  • The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
  • The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。
67 inhuman F7NxW     
adj.残忍的,不人道的,无人性的
参考例句:
  • We must unite the workers in fighting against inhuman conditions.我们必须使工人们团结起来反对那些难以忍受的工作条件。
  • It was inhuman to refuse him permission to see his wife.不容许他去看自己的妻子是太不近人情了。
68 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。
69 conveyance OoDzv     
n.(不动产等的)转让,让与;转让证书;传送;运送;表达;(正)运输工具
参考例句:
  • Bicycles have become the most popular conveyance for Chinese people.自行车已成为中国人最流行的代步工具。
  • Its another,older,usage is a synonym for conveyance.它的另一个更古老的习惯用法是作为财产转让的同义词使用。
70 frail yz3yD     
adj.身体虚弱的;易损坏的
参考例句:
  • Mrs. Warner is already 96 and too frail to live by herself.华纳太太已经九十六岁了,身体虚弱,不便独居。
  • She lay in bed looking particularly frail.她躺在床上,看上去特别虚弱。
71 entity vo8xl     
n.实体,独立存在体,实际存在物
参考例句:
  • The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
  • As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体,公司必须纳税。
72 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。
73 denomination SwLxj     
n.命名,取名,(度量衡、货币等的)单位
参考例句:
  • The firm is still operating under another denomination.这家公司改用了名称仍在继续营业。
  • Litre is a metric denomination.升是公制单位。
74 leisurely 51Txb     
adj.悠闲的;从容的,慢慢的
参考例句:
  • We walked in a leisurely manner,looking in all the windows.我们慢悠悠地走着,看遍所有的橱窗。
  • He had a leisurely breakfast and drove cheerfully to work.他从容的吃了早餐,高兴的开车去工作。
75 maneuvered 7d19f91478ac481ffdfcbdf37b4eb25d     
v.移动,用策略( maneuver的过去式和过去分词 );操纵
参考例句:
  • I maneuvered my way among the tables to the back corner of the place. 我在那些桌子间穿行,来到那地方后面的角落。 来自辞典例句
  • The admiral maneuvered his ships in the battle plan. 舰队司令按作战计划进行舰队演习。 来自辞典例句
76 conspirator OZayz     
n.阴谋者,谋叛者
参考例句:
  • We started abusing him,one conspirator after another adding his bitter words.我们这几个预谋者一个接一个地咒骂他,恶狠狠地骂个不停。
  • A conspirator is not of the stuff to bear surprises.谋反者是经不起惊吓的。


欢迎访问英文小说网

©英文小说网 2005-2010

有任何问题,请给我们留言,管理员邮箱:[email protected]  站长QQ :点击发送消息和我们联系56065533