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Chapter 27
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Andrew had called the meeting, was in charge from start to finish. No one disputed his authority now to take control of the council meetings. Barry watched him from a side chair and tried to feel some of the excitement the younger brother showed.

“Those of you who want to look over the charts and records, please do so. I have given you the barest summary, not our methods. We can reproduce indefinitely through cloning. We have finally solved the problem that has plagued us from the beginning, the problem of the fifth-generation decline. The fifth, sixth, tenth, one-hundredth, they’ll all be perfect now.”

“But only those clones from our youngest people survive,” Miriam said drily.

“We’ll work that out too,” Andrew said impatiently. “In manipulating the enzymes1 there are some organisms that react with what appears to be almost an allergic2 collapse3. We’ll find out why and take care of it.”

Miriam was looking very old, Barry realized suddenly. He hadn’t noticed it before, but her hair was white and her face was thin, with fine lines around her eyes, and she looked tired unto death.

She looked at Andrew with a disarming4 smile. “I expect you to be able to solve the problem you have created, Andrew,” she said, “but will the younger doctors be able to?”

“We shall continue to use the breeders,” Andrew said with a touch of impatience5. “We’ll use them to clone those children who are particularly intelligent. We’ll go to implantations of clones using the breeders as hosts to ensure a continuing population of capable adults to carry on affairs . . .”

Barry found his attention wandering. The doctors had gone over it all before the council meeting; nothing new would come out here. Two castes, he thought. The leaders, and the workers, who were always expendable. Was that what they had foreseen in the beginning? He knew it was not possible to find any answers to his question. The clones wrote the books, and each generation had felt free to change the books to conform to their own beliefs. He had made a few such changes himself, in fact. And now Andrew would change them again. And this would be the final change; none of the new people would ever think of altering anything.

“. . . even more costly7 in terms of manpower than we expected,” Andrew was saying. “The glaciers8 are moving into Philadelphia at an accelerating rate. We may have only two or three more years to bring out what is salvageable9, and it is costing us dearly. We will need hundreds of foragers to go south and east to the coastal10 cities. We now have some excellent models—the Edward brothers proved especially adept11 at foraging12, as did your own little sisters, the Ella sisters. We’ll use them.”

“My little Ella sisters couldn’t transcribe13 a landscape to a map if you strung them by the heels and threatened to slice them inch by inch until they did,” Miriam said sharply. “That’s exactly what I’m talking about. They can do only those things they have been taught, exactly as they’ve been taught.”

“They can’t draw maps, but they can return to where they’ve been,” Andrew said, no longer trying to conceal14 his displeasure at the turn the meeting had taken. “That’s all we require of them. The implanted clones will do the thinking for them.”

“Then it’s true,” Miriam said. “If you change the formula, you can produce only those clones you are talking about.”

“Right. We can’t handle two different chemical processes, two formulae, two kinds of clones. We’ve decided15 this is the best way to proceed at this time, and meanwhile we’ll be working on the process, I can assure you. We shall wait until the tanks are empty, in seven months, then make the changes. And we are working out a timetable to plan for the best time to clone the council members and those others who are needed in leadership capacities. We are not rushing into a new procedure without considering every aspect, I promise you, Miriam. At each step we will inform this group of our progress . . .”

 

 

In a tightly thatched lean-to near the mill Mark rested on his elbow and looked at the girl at his side. She was his age, nineteen. “You’re cold,” he said.

She nodded. “We won’t be able to do this much longer.”

“You could meet me in the old farmhouse16,” he said.

“You know I can’t.”

“What happens if you try to cross the line? A dragon comes out and breathes fire on you?”

She laughed

“Really, what happens? Have you ever tried?”

Now she sat up and hugged her arms about her bare body. “I’m really cold. I should get dressed.”

Mark held her tunic17 out of reach. “First tell me what happens.”

She snatched, missed, and fell across him, and for a moment they lay close together. He pulled a cover over her and stroked her back. “What happens?”

She sighed and drew away from him. “I tried it once,” she said. “I wanted to go home, to my sisters. I cried and cried, and that didn’t help. I could see the lights, and knew they were just a few hundred feet away. I ran at first, then I began to feel strange, faint, I guess. I had to stop. I was determined18 to get to the dorm. I walked then, not very fast, ready to grab something if I started to faint. When I got closer to the off-limits line—it’s a hedge, you know, just a rose hedge, open at both ends so it’s no trouble at all to go around. When I got close to it, the feeling came over me again and everything began to spin. I waited a long time and it didn’t stop, but I thought, if I kept my eyes on my feet and didn’t pay any attention to anything else, I could walk anyway. I began to walk again.” She was lying rigidly19 beside him now, and her voice was almost inaudible when she went on. “And I started to vomit20. I kept vomiting21, until I didn’t have anything left in me, and then I threw up blood. And I suppose I really did faint. I woke up back in the breeders’ room.”

Gently Mark touched her cheek and drew her close to him. She was trembling violently. “Shh, shh,” Mark soothed22 her. “It’s all right. You’re all right now.”

No walls held them in, he thought, stroking her hair. No fence restrained them, yet they could not approach the river; they could not get nearer the mill than she was now; they could not pass the rose hedge, or go into the woods. But Molly did it, he thought grimly. And they would too.

“I have to go back,” she said presently. The haunted look had come over her face. The emptiness, she had called it. “You wouldn’t know what it means,” she said, trying to explain. “We aren’t separate, you see. My sisters and I were like one thing, one creature, and now I’m a fragment of that creature. Sometimes I can forget it for a short time, when I’m with you I can forget for a while, but it always comes back, and the emptiness comes again. If you turned me inside out, there wouldn’t be anything at all there.”

“Brenda, I have to talk to you first,” Mark said. “You’ve been here four years, haven’t you? And you’ve had two pregnancies23. It’s almost time again, isn’t it?”

She nodded and pulled on her tunic.

“Listen, Brenda. This time it won’t be like before. They plan to use the breeders to clone themselves through implantations of cloned cells. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

She shook her head, but she was listening, watching.

“All right. They’ve changed something in the chemicals they use for the clones in the tanks. Now they can keep on cloning the same person over and over, but he’s a neuter. The new clones can’t think for themselves; they can’t conceive, can’t impregnate, they’ll never have children of their own. And the council members are afraid they’ll lose the scientific skills, the craftsmanship24, Miriam’s skill at drawing, her eidetic visual memory—all that might be lost if they don’t ensure it in the next generation through cloning. Since they can’t use the tanks, they’ll use the fertile women as hosts. They’ll implant6 you with clones, triplets. And in nine months you’ll have three new Andrews, or three new Miriams, or Lawrences, or whatever. They’ll use the strongest, healthiest young women for this. And they’ll continue to use artificial insemination for the others. When they produce another new talent they can use, they’ll clone him several times, implant the clones in your bodies and produce more of him.”

She was staring at him now, openly puzzled by his intensity25. “What difference does it make?” she asked. “If that’s how we can best serve the community, that’s what we have to do.”

“The new babies from the tanks won’t even have names,” Mark said. “They’ll be the Bennies, or the Bonnies, or the Annes, all of them, and their clones will be called that, and theirs.”

She laced her sandal without speaking.

“And you, how many sets of triplets do you think your body can produce? Three? Four?”

She was no longer listening.

 

 

Mark climbed the hill over the valley and sat on a limestone26 rock, looking at the people below, at the sprawling27 farm that had grown year by year until it filled the whole valley all the way to the bend in the river. Only the old house was an oasis28 of trees in the autumn fields, which looked like a desert now. Livestock29 were moving slowly toward the large barns. A group of small boys swept into view, playing something that involved a lot of running, falling down, and running again. Twenty or more of them played together. He was too far away to hear them, but he knew they were laughing.

“What’s wrong with it?” he said aloud, and was surprised by the sound of his voice. The wind stirred the trees, but there were no words, no answer.

They were content, happy even, and he, the outsider, in his discontent would destroy that to satisfy what had to be selfish desires. In his loneliness he would disrupt an entire community that was thriving and satisfied.

Below him the Ella sisters came into view, ten of them, each a physical carbon copy of his mother. For a moment the vision of Molly peeking30 out from behind a bush, laughing with him, came to mind. It vanished, and he watched the girls walk toward the dormitory. Three of the Miriam sisters came out, and the two groups stopped and talked.

Mark remembered how Molly had made people come to life on paper, a touch here, another there, an eyebrow31 raised too much, a dimple drawn32 too deep, always something not just right, but which made the sketch33 take on life. They couldn’t do that, he knew. Not Miriam, not her little Ella sisters, none of them. That was gone, lost forever maybe. Each generation lost something; sometimes it couldn’t be regained35, sometimes it couldn’t be identified immediately. Everett’s little brothers couldn’t cope with a new emergency with the computer terminal; they couldn’t improvise36 long enough to save the growing fetuses37 in the tanks if the electricity failed for several days. As long as the elders could foresee the probable troubles that might arise and train the young clones in how to handle them, they were safe enough, but accidents had a way of not being foreseen, catastrophes38 had a way of not being predictable, and a major accident might destroy everything in the valley simply because none of them had been trained to deal with that specific situation.

He remembered a conversation he had had with Barry. “We’re living on the top of a pyramid,” he had said, “supported by the massive base, rising above it, above everything that has made it possible. We’re responsible for nothing, not the structure itself, not anything above us. We owe nothing to the pyramid, and are totally dependent on it. If the pyramid crumbles39 and returns to dust, there is nothing we can do to prevent it, or even to save ourselves. When the base goes, the top goes with it, no matter how elaborate the life is that has developed there. The top will return to dust along with the base when the collapse comes. If a new structure is to rise, it must start at the ground, not on top of what has been built during the centuries past.”

“You’d drag everyone back into savagery40!”

“I would help them down from the point of the pyramid. It’s rotting away. The snow and ice from one direction, weather and age from the others. It will collapse, and when it does, the only ones who can survive will be those who are free from it, in no way dependent on it.”

The cities are dead; Molly had told him, and it was true. Ironically, the technology that made life in the valley possible might be able to sustain that life only long enough to doom41 any chance of recovery after the pyramid started to tilt42. The top would slide down one of the sides and sink into the debris43 at the bottom, along with all the other technologies that had seemed perfect and infinite.

No one understood the computer, Mark thought, just as no one but the Lawrence brothers understood the paddle-wheel boat and the steam engine that drove it. The younger brothers could repair it, restore it to its original condition, as long as the materials were at hand, but they didn’t know how either one worked, the computer or the boat, and if a screw was missing, none of them would be able to fashion a substitute. In that fact lay the inevitable44 destruction of the valley and everyone in it.

But they were happy, he reminded himself, as lights began to come on in the valley. Even the breeders were content; they were well cared for, pampered45 compared to the women who foraged46 each summer and those who worked long hours in the fields and gardens. And if they became too lonely, there was the comfort of drugs.

They were happy because they didn’t have enough imagination to look ahead, he thought, and anyone who tried to tell them there were dangers was by definition an enemy of the community. In disrupting their perfect existence, he had become an enemy.

His restless gaze moved over the valley, and finally stopped on the mill, and like his ancestor before him he understood that was the weak spot, the place where the valley was vulnerable.

Wait until you’re a man, Molly had said. But she hadn’t realized that each day he was in more danger, that each time Andrew and his brothers discussed his future they were less inclined to grant him a future. He studied the mill broodingly. It was weathered almost silver, surrounded by russets and browns and golds, and the permanent green of the pines and spruces. He would like to paint it; the thought came suddenly, and he laughed and stood up. No time for that. Time had become the goal; he had to have more time, and they might decide any day that allowing him time was endangering them all. Abruptly47 he sat down once more, and now when he studied the mill and the surrounding area his eyes were narrowed in thought, and there was no smile on his face.

 

 

The council meeting had gone on most of the day, and when it ended Miriam asked Barry to walk with her. He looked at her questioningly, but she shook her head. They walked by the river, and when they were out of sight of the others she said, “I would like you to do me a favor, if you will. I would like to visit the old farmhouse. Can you get inside?”

Barry stopped in surprise. “Why?”

“I don’t know why. I keep thinking I want to see Molly’s paintings. I never did see them, you know.”

“But why?”

“Can you get in?”

He nodded, and they started to walk again. When do you want to go?”

“Is it too late now?”

The rear door of the farmhouse was loosely boarded. They didn’t even need a crowbar to open it. Barry led the way up the stairs, carrying the oil lamp high, casting strange shadows on the wall beside him. The house felt very empty, as if Mark had not been there for a long time.

Miriam looked at the paintings quietly, not touching48 them, holding her hands tightly clasped before her as she went from one to another. “They should be moved,” she said finally. “They will rot away to nothing in here.”

When she came to the carving49 of Molly that Mark had made, she touched it, almost reverently50. “It is she,” she said softly. “He has her gift, doesn’t he?”

“He has the gift,” Barry said.

Miriam rested her hand on the head. “Andrew plans to kill him.”

“I know.”

“He has served his purpose, and now he is a threat and must go.” She ran her finger down the cheek of walnut51. “Look, it’s too high and sharp, but that makes it more like her instead of less. I don’t understand why that is, do you?”

Barry shook his head.

“Will he try to save himself?” Miriam asked, not looking at him, her voice tightly controlled.

“I don’t know. How can he? He can’t survive alone in the woods. Andrew won’t allow him to remain in the community many more months.”

Miriam sighed and withdrew her hand from the carved head. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, and it was not clear whether she spoke52 to him or to Molly.

Barry went to the window overlooking the valley and looked through the peephole Mark had made in the boards. How pretty it was, he thought, the gathering53 dusk, with pale lights glowing in the distance and the black hills encircling it all. “Miriam,” he asked, “if you knew a way to help him, would you?”

For a long time she was silent, and he thought she would not answer. Then she said, “No. Andrew is right. He is not a physical threat now, but his presence is painful. It is as if he is a reminder54 of something that is too elusive55 to grasp, something that is hurtful, even deadly, and in his presence we try to regain34 it and fail over and over. We will stop feeling this pain when he is gone, not before then.” She joined him at the window. “In a year or two he will threaten us in other ways. That is what is important,” she said, nodding toward the valley. “Not any individual, even if his death kills us both.”

Barry put his arm about her shoulder then, and they stood looking out together. Suddenly Miriam stiffened56 and said, “Look, a fire!”

There was a faint line of brightness that grew as they watched, spreading in both directions, becoming two lines, moving downward and upward. Something erupted, blazed brightly, then subsided57, and the lines moved onward58.

“It will burn down the mill!” Miriam cried, and ran from the window to the stairs. “Come on, Barry! It’s just above the mill!”

Barry stood by the window as if transfixed by the moving lines of fire. He had done it, Barry thought. Mark was trying to burn down the mill.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 enzymes 7881ad8ce9c83424f7874e70266ed2d8     
n. 酶,酵素
参考例句:
  • It was said that washing powders containing enzymes remove stains more efficiently. 据说加酶洗衣粉除污更有效。
  • Among the enzymes which are particularly effective are pepsin, papain. 在酶当中特别有效的是胃朊酶、木瓜酶。
2 allergic 4xozJ     
adj.过敏的,变态的
参考例句:
  • Alice is allergic to the fur of cats.艾丽斯对猫的皮毛过敏。
  • Many people are allergic to airborne pollutants such as pollen.许多人对空气传播的污染物过敏,比如花粉。
3 collapse aWvyE     
vi.累倒;昏倒;倒塌;塌陷
参考例句:
  • The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
  • The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。
4 disarming Muizaq     
adj.消除敌意的,使人消气的v.裁军( disarm的现在分词 );使息怒
参考例句:
  • He flashed her a disarming smile. 他朝她笑了一下,让她消消气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • We will agree to disarming troops and leaving their weapons at military positions. 我们将同意解除军队的武装并把武器留在军事阵地。 来自辞典例句
5 impatience OaOxC     
n.不耐烦,急躁
参考例句:
  • He expressed impatience at the slow rate of progress.进展缓慢,他显得不耐烦。
  • He gave a stamp of impatience.他不耐烦地跺脚。
6 implant YaBxT     
vt.注入,植入,灌输
参考例句:
  • A good teacher should implant high ideals in children.好教师应该把高尚理想灌输给孩子们。
  • The operation to implant the artificial heart took two hours.人工心脏植入手术花费了两小时。
7 costly 7zXxh     
adj.昂贵的,价值高的,豪华的
参考例句:
  • It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
  • This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用,左不过贵了些。
8 glaciers e815ddf266946d55974cdc5579cbd89b     
冰河,冰川( glacier的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Glaciers gouged out valleys from the hills. 冰川把丘陵地带冲出一条条山谷。
  • It has ice and snow glaciers, rainforests and beautiful mountains. 既有冰川,又有雨林和秀丽的山峰。 来自英语晨读30分(高一)
9 salvageable salvageable     
adj. 可抢救的(可打捞的)
参考例句:
  • Tank wrecks found on maps are no longer salvageable. 地图上自带的坦克残骸将不能被轴心国工兵回收。
  • Their marriage was not salvageable. 他们的婚姻已不可挽回。
10 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。
11 adept EJIyO     
adj.老练的,精通的
参考例句:
  • When it comes to photography,I'm not an adept.要说照相,我不是内行。
  • He was highly adept at avoiding trouble.他十分善于避开麻烦。
12 foraging 6101d89c0b474e01becb6651ecd4f87f     
v.搜寻(食物),尤指动物觅(食)( forage的现在分词 );(尤指用手)搜寻(东西)
参考例句:
  • They eke out a precarious existence foraging in rubbish dumps. 他们靠在垃圾场捡垃圾维持着朝不保夕的生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The campers went foraging for wood to make a fire. 露营者去搜寻柴木点火。 来自辞典例句
13 transcribe tntwJ     
v.抄写,誉写;改编(乐曲);复制,转录
参考例句:
  • We need volunteers to transcribe this manuscript.我们需要自愿者来抄写这个文稿。
  • I am able to take dictation in English and transcribe them rapidly into Chinese.我会英文记录,还能立即将其改写成中文。
14 conceal DpYzt     
v.隐藏,隐瞒,隐蔽
参考例句:
  • He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方,他只好隐瞒身份。
  • He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。
15 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
16 farmhouse kt1zIk     
n.农场住宅(尤指主要住房)
参考例句:
  • We fell for the farmhouse as soon as we saw it.我们对那所农舍一见倾心。
  • We put up for the night at a farmhouse.我们在一间农舍投宿了一夜。
17 tunic IGByZ     
n.束腰外衣
参考例句:
  • The light loose mantle was thrown over his tunic.一件轻质宽大的斗蓬披在上衣外面。
  • Your tunic and hose match ill with that jewel,young man.你的外套和裤子跟你那首饰可不相称呢,年轻人。
18 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。
19 rigidly hjezpo     
adv.刻板地,僵化地
参考例句:
  • Life today is rigidly compartmentalized into work and leisure. 当今的生活被严格划分为工作和休闲两部分。
  • The curriculum is rigidly prescribed from an early age. 自儿童时起即已开始有严格的课程设置。
20 vomit TL9zV     
v.呕吐,作呕;n.呕吐物,吐出物
参考例句:
  • They gave her salty water to make her vomit.他们给她喝盐水好让她吐出来。
  • She was stricken by pain and began to vomit.她感到一阵疼痛,开始呕吐起来。
21 vomiting 7ed7266d85c55ba00ffa41473cf6744f     
参考例句:
  • Symptoms include diarrhoea and vomiting. 症状有腹泻和呕吐。
  • Especially when I feel seasick, I can't stand watching someone else vomiting." 尤其晕船的时候,看不得人家呕。”
22 soothed 509169542d21da19b0b0bd232848b963     
v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 );抚慰;使舒服;减轻痛苦
参考例句:
  • The music soothed her for a while. 音乐让她稍微安静了一会儿。
  • The soft modulation of her voice soothed the infant. 她柔和的声调使婴儿安静了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
23 pregnancies 2fedeb45162c233ee9e28d81888a2d2c     
怀孕,妊娠( pregnancy的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Since the wartime population needed replenishment, pregnancies were a good sign. 最后一桩倒不失为好现象,战时人口正该补充。
  • She's had three pregnancies in four years. 她在四年中怀孕叁次。
24 craftsmanship c2f81623cf1977dcc20aaa53644e0719     
n.手艺
参考例句:
  • The whole house is a monument to her craftsmanship. 那整座房子是她技艺的一座丰碑。
  • We admired the superb craftsmanship of the furniture. 我们很欣赏这个家具的一流工艺。
25 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。
26 limestone w3XyJ     
n.石灰石
参考例句:
  • Limestone is often used in building construction.石灰岩常用于建筑。
  • Cement is made from limestone.水泥是由石灰石制成的。
27 sprawling 3ff3e560ffc2f12f222ef624d5807902     
adj.蔓生的,不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 );蔓延;杂乱无序地拓展;四肢伸展坐着(或躺着)
参考例句:
  • He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
  • a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇
28 oasis p5Kz0     
n.(沙漠中的)绿洲,宜人的地方
参考例句:
  • They stopped for the night at an oasis.他们在沙漠中的绿洲停下来过夜。
  • The town was an oasis of prosperity in a desert of poverty.该镇是贫穷荒漠中的一块繁荣的“绿洲”。
29 livestock c0Wx1     
n.家畜,牲畜
参考例句:
  • Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
  • The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。
30 peeking 055254fc0b0cbadaccd5778d3ae12b50     
v.很快地看( peek的现在分词 );偷看;窥视;微露出
参考例句:
  • I couldn't resist peeking in the drawer. 我不由得偷看了一下抽屉里面。
  • They caught him peeking in through the keyhole. 他们发现他从钥匙孔里向里窥视。 来自辞典例句
31 eyebrow vlOxk     
n.眉毛,眉
参考例句:
  • Her eyebrow is well penciled.她的眉毛画得很好。
  • With an eyebrow raised,he seemed divided between surprise and amusement.他一只眉毛扬了扬,似乎既感到吃惊,又觉有趣。
32 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。
33 sketch UEyyG     
n.草图;梗概;素描;v.素描;概述
参考例句:
  • My sister often goes into the country to sketch. 我姐姐常到乡间去写生。
  • I will send you a slight sketch of the house.我将给你寄去房屋的草图。
34 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。
35 regained 51ada49e953b830c8bd8fddd6bcd03aa     
复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 ); 赢回; 重回; 复至某地
参考例句:
  • The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
  • She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻,但很快恢复了镇静。
36 improvise 844yf     
v.即兴创作;临时准备,临时凑成
参考例句:
  • If an actor forgets his words,he has to improvise.演员要是忘记台词,那就只好即兴现编。
  • As we've not got the proper materials,we'll just have to improvise.我们没有弄到合适的材料,只好临时凑合了。
37 fetuses eae25b106f4ed68558631a5bf44c9293     
n.胎,胎儿( fetus的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • DNA was extracted from fetuses at mid-gestation, about 10 days past conception. DNA从受孕大约10天后的中期妊娠胚胎中提取。 来自互联网
  • Brucellosis is a disease that causes fetuses to abort in cattle. 普鲁士菌病是一种可以导致牲畜胎儿夭折的疾病。 来自互联网
38 catastrophes 9d10f3014dc151d21be6612c0d467fd0     
n.灾祸( catastrophe的名词复数 );灾难;不幸事件;困难
参考例句:
  • Two of history's worst natural catastrophes occurred in 1970. 1970年发生了历史上最严重两次自然灾害。 来自辞典例句
  • The Swiss deposits contain evidence of such catastrophes. 瑞士的遗址里还有这种灾难的证据。 来自辞典例句
39 crumbles e8ea0ea6a7923d1b6dbd15280146b393     
酥皮水果甜点( crumble的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • This cake crumbles too easily. 这种蛋糕太容易碎了。
  • This bread crumbles ever so easily. 这种面包非常容易碎。
40 savagery pCozS     
n.野性
参考例句:
  • The police were shocked by the savagery of the attacks.警察对这些惨无人道的袭击感到震惊。
  • They threw away their advantage by their savagery to the black population.他们因为野蛮对待黑人居民而丧失了自己的有利地位。
41 doom gsexJ     
n.厄运,劫数;v.注定,命定
参考例句:
  • The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
  • The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。
42 tilt aG3y0     
v.(使)倾侧;(使)倾斜;n.倾侧;倾斜
参考例句:
  • She wore her hat at a tilt over her left eye.她歪戴着帽子遮住左眼。
  • The table is at a slight tilt.这张桌子没放平,有点儿歪.
43 debris debris     
n.瓦砾堆,废墟,碎片
参考例句:
  • After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
  • Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上,导致蛀牙。
44 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。
45 pampered pampered     
adj.饮食过量的,饮食奢侈的v.纵容,宠,娇养( pamper的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The lazy scum deserve worse. What if they ain't fed up and pampered? 他们吃不饱,他们的要求满足不了,这又有什么关系? 来自飘(部分)
  • She petted and pampered him and would let no one discipline him but she, herself. 她爱他,娇养他,而且除了她自己以外,她不允许任何人管教他。 来自辞典例句
46 foraged fadad0c0b6449a2cf267529b6c940462     
v.搜寻(食物),尤指动物觅(食)( forage的过去式和过去分词 );(尤指用手)搜寻(东西)
参考例句:
  • He foraged about in the cupboard. 他在碗橱里到处寻找食物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She foraged about in her handbag, but she couldn't find her ticket. 她在她的手提包里搜寻,但她没能找到她的票子。 来自辞典例句
47 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。
48 touching sg6zQ9     
adj.动人的,使人感伤的
参考例句:
  • It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
  • His letter was touching.他的信很感人。
49 carving 5wezxw     
n.雕刻品,雕花
参考例句:
  • All the furniture in the room had much carving.房间里所有的家具上都有许多雕刻。
  • He acquired the craft of wood carving in his native town.他在老家学会了木雕手艺。
50 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。
51 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。
52 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。
53 gathering ChmxZ     
n.集会,聚会,聚集
参考例句:
  • He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
  • He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。
54 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。
55 elusive d8vyH     
adj.难以表达(捉摸)的;令人困惑的;逃避的
参考例句:
  • Try to catch the elusive charm of the original in translation.翻译时设法把握住原文中难以捉摸的风韵。
  • Interpol have searched all the corners of the earth for the elusive hijackers.国际刑警组织已在世界各地搜查在逃的飞机劫持者。
56 stiffened de9de455736b69d3f33bb134bba74f63     
加强的
参考例句:
  • He leaned towards her and she stiffened at this invasion of her personal space. 他向她俯过身去,这种侵犯她个人空间的举动让她绷紧了身子。
  • She stiffened with fear. 她吓呆了。
57 subsided 1bda21cef31764468020a8c83598cc0d     
v.(土地)下陷(因在地下采矿)( subside的过去式和过去分词 );减弱;下降至较低或正常水平;一下子坐在椅子等上
参考例句:
  • After the heavy rains part of the road subsided. 大雨过后,部分公路塌陷了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • By evening the storm had subsided and all was quiet again. 傍晚, 暴风雨已经过去,四周开始沉寂下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
58 onward 2ImxI     
adj.向前的,前进的;adv.向前,前进,在先
参考例句:
  • The Yellow River surges onward like ten thousand horses galloping.黄河以万马奔腾之势滚滚向前。
  • He followed in the steps of forerunners and marched onward.他跟随着先辈的足迹前进。


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