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CHAPTER VI ON THE ROAD
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 Every day, at the easy walk or slack trot1 of One-eyed Magpie2, Dorothy's Circus moved on. In the afternoon they gave their performance; after it they strolled about those old towns of France, the picturesque3 charm of which appealed so strongly to the young girl. Domfront, Mortain, Avranches, Fougères, Vitré, feudal4 cities, girdled in places by their fortifications, or bristling5 with their ancient keeps.... Dorothy visited them with all the emotion of a creature who understands the past and evokes6 it with a passionate7 enthusiasm.
 
She visited them alone, even as she walked alone along the high roads, with so manifest a desire to keep to herself that the others, while watching her with anxious eyes and silently begging for a glance from their little mother, did not speak a word to her.
 
That lasted a week, a very dull week for the children. The pale Saint-Quentin walked at the head of One-eyed Magpie as he would have walked at the head of a horse drawing a hearse. Castor and Pollux fought no longer. As for the captain he buried himself in the perusal8 of his lesson-books and wore himself out over addition and subtraction9, knowing that Dorothy, the school-mistress of the troupe10, as a rule deeply appreciated these fits of industry. His efforts were vain. Dorothy was thinking of something else.
 
Every morning, at the first village they went through, she bought a newspaper, looked through it and crumpled11 it up with a movement of irritation12, as if she had failed to find what she was looking for. Saint-Quentin at once picked it up and in his turn ran his eye through it. Nothing. Nothing about the crime of which she had informed him in a few words. Nothing about the arrest of that infamous13 d'Estreicher whom the two of them had trussed up on his bed.
 
At last on the eighth day, as the sun shines after unceasing rain, the smile appeared. It did not spring from any outside cause. It was that life recovered its grip on her. Dorothy's spirit was throwing off the distant tragedy in which her father lost his life. She became the light-hearted, cheerful, and affectionate Dorothy of old. Castor, Pollux, and the captain were smothered14 with kisses. Saint-Quentin was thumped15 and shaken warmly by the hand. At the performance they gave under the ramparts of Vitré she displayed an astonishing energy and gayety. And when the audience had departed, she hustled16 off her four comrades on one of those mad rounds which were for them the most exquisite17 of treats.
 
Saint-Quentin wept with joy:
 
"I thought you didn't love us any more," he said.
 
"Why shouldn't I love my four brats18 any more?"
 
"Because you're a princess."
 
"Wasn't I a princess before, idiot?"
 
In taking them through the narrow streets of old Vitré, amid the huddle19 of wooden houses, roofed with rough tiles, by fits and starts she told them for the first time about her early years.
 
She had always been happy, never having known shackles20, boredom21, or discipline, things which cramp22 the free instincts and deform23 the disposition24. Not that she had been a rebel. She was quite ready to submit to rules and obligations, but she had had to choose them herself; they had had to be such that her child's reason, already very clear and direct, could accept them as just and necessary.
 
It had been the same with the education she had given herself: she had only learnt from others that which it had pleased her to know, extracting from the village priest at Argonne all the Latin he knew, and letting him keep his catechism to himself; learning many things with the schoolmaster, many others from the books she borrowed, and very many more from the old couple who farmed her father's land, in whose charge her parents had left her.
 
"I owe most to those two," she said. "But for them I should not know what a bird is, or a plant, or a tree—the meaning of real things."
 
"It wasn't them, however, who taught you to dance on a tight rope and manage a circus," said Saint-Quentin, chaffing her.
 
"I've always danced on the tight rope. Some people are born poets. I was born a rope-dancer. Dancing is part of me. I get that from my mother who was by no means a theatrical25 star, but simply a fine little dancer, a dancing-girl of the music-halls and the English circus. I see her still. She was adorable; she could never keep still; and she loved stuffs of gorgeous colors ... and beautiful jewels even more."
 
"Like you," said Saint-Quentin in a low voice.
 
"Like me," she said. "Yes: I take an extravagant26 pleasure in handling them and looking at them. I love things that shine. All these stones throw out flames which dazzle me. I should like to be very rich in order to have very fine ones that I should wear always—on my fingers and round my neck."
 
"And since you will never be rich?"
 
"Then I shall do without them."
 
For all that she had been brought up anyhow, deprived of mentors27 and good advice, having only before her eyes as example the frivolous28 life her parents led, she had acquired strong moral principles, always maintained a considerable natural dignity, and remained untroubled by the reproaches of conscience. That which is evil is evil—no traffic in it.
 
"One is happy," she said, "when one is in perfect agreement with good people. I am a good girl. If one lets one's self be guilty of a doubtful action, one repeats it without knowing it and one ends by yielding to temptation as one picks flowers and fruit over the hedge by the roadside."
 
Dorothy did not pick flowers and fruit over the hedge.
 
For a long while she went on telling them all about herself. Saint-Quentin listened open-mouthed.
 
"Goodness! Wherever did you learn all that? You're always surprising me, Dorothy. And then how do you guess what you do guess? Guess what is passing in people's minds? The other day at Roborey, I didn't understand what was going on, not a scrap29 of it."
 
"Ah, that's quite another matter. It's a need to combine, to organize, to command, a need to undertake and to succeed. When I was a child I gathered together all the urchins30 in the village and formed bands. I was always the chief of the band. Only the others used to rob the farm-yards and kitchen-gardens, and go poaching. With me, it was quite the opposite. We used to form a league against an evil-doer and hunt for the sheep or duck stolen from an old woman, or again we exercised our wits in making inquiries31. Oh those inquiries! They were my strong point. Before the police could be informed, I would unravel32 an affair in such a way that the country people roundabout came to consult the little girl of thirteen or fourteen that I was. 'A perfect little witch,' they used to say. Goodness, no! You know as well as I, Saint-Quentin, if I sometimes play the clairvoyant33 or tell fortunes by cards, everything I tell people I arrive at from facts which I observe and interpret. And I also arrive at those facts, I must admit, by a kind of intuition which shows me things under an aspect which does not at once appear to other people. Yes, very often I see, before comprehending. Then, most complicated affairs appear to me, at the first glance, very simple, and I am always astonished that no one has picked out such and such a detail which contains in it the whole of the truth."
 
Saint-Quentin, convinced, reflected. He threw back his head:
 
"That's it! That's it! Nothing escapes you; you think of everything. And that's how it came about that the earrings34, instead of having been stolen by Saint-Quentin, were stolen by d'Estreicher. And it is d'Estreicher and not Saint-Quentin who will go to prison because you willed it so."
 
She began to laugh:
 
"Perhaps I did will it so. But Justice shows no sign of submitting to my will. The newspapers do not speak of anything happening. There is no mention of the drama of Roborey."
 
"Then what has become of that scoundrel?"
 
"I don't know."
 
"And won't you be able to learn?"
 
"Yes," she said confidently.
 
"How?"
 
"From Raoul Davernoie."
 
"You're going to see him then?"
 
"I've written to him."
 
"Where to?"
 
"At Roborey."
 
"He answered you."
 
"Yes—a telegram which I went to the Post Office to find before the performance."
 
"And he's going to meet us?"
 
"Yes. On leaving Roborey and returning home, he is to meet us at Vitré at about three o'clock. It's three now."
 
They had climbed up to a point in the city from which one had a view of a road which wound in and out among meadows and woods.
 
"There," she said. "His car ought not to be long coming into sight. That's his road."
 
"You really believe——"
 
"I really believe that that excellent young fellow will not miss an opportunity of seeing me again," she said, smiling.
 
Saint-Quentin, always rather jealous and easily upset, sighed:
 
"All the people you talk to are like that, obliging and full of attention."
 
They waited several minutes. A car came into sight between two hedges. They went forward and so came close to the caravan35 round which the three urchins were playing.
 
Presently the car came up the ascent36 and emerged from a turning, driven by Raoul Davernoie. Running to meet him and preventing him by a gesture from getting out of the car, Dorothy called out to him:
 
"Well, what has happened? Arrested?"
 
"Who? D'Estreicher?" said Raoul, a little taken aback by this greeting.
 
"D'Estreicher of course.... He has been handed over to the police, hasn't he? He's under lock and key?"
 
"No."
 
"Why not?"
 
"He escaped."
 
The answer gave her a shock.
 
"D'Estreicher free!... Free to act!... It's frightful37!"
 
And under her breath she muttered:
 
"Good heavens! Why—why didn't I stay? I should have prevented this escape."
 
But repining was of no avail and Dorothy was not the girl to waste much time on it. Without further delay she began to question the young man.
 
"Why did you stay on at the château?"
 
"To be exact—because of d'Estreicher."
 
"Granted. But an hour after his escape you ought to have started for home."
 
"For what reason?"
 
"Your grandfather.... I warned you at Roborey."
 
Raoul Davernoie protested:
 
"First of all I have written to him to be on his guard for reasons which I would explain to him. And then, as a matter of fact, the risk that he runs is a trifle problematical."
 
"In what way? He is the possessor of that indispensable key to the treasure, the gold medal. D'Estreicher knows it. And you do not believe in his danger."
 
"But this key to the treasure, d'Estreicher also possesses it, since on the day he murdered your father, he stole the gold medal from him."
 
Dorothy stood beside the door of the car, her hand on the handle to prevent Raoul from opening it.
 
"Start at once, I beg you. I certainly don't understand the whole of the affair. Is d'Estreicher, who already is the possessor of the medal, going to try to steal a second? Has the one he stole from my father been stolen from him by an accomplice38? As yet I don't know anything about it. But I am certain that from now on the real ground of the struggle is younder, at your home. I'm so sure of it that I'm going there myself as well. Look: here is my road-map. Hillocks Manor39 near Clisson—still nearly a hundred miles to go—eight stages for the caravan. Be off; you will get there to-night. I shall be there in eight days."
 
Dominated by her, he gave way.
 
"Perhaps you're right. I ought to have thought of all this myself—especially since my father will be alone to-night."
 
"Alone?"
 
"Yes. All the servants are keeping holiday. One of them is getting married at a neighboring village."
 
She started.
 
"Does d'Estreicher know?"
 
"I think so. I fancy I spoke40 of this fête before him, during my stay at Roborey."
 
"And when did he escape?"
 
"The day before yesterday."
 
"So since the day before yesterday——"
 
She did not finish the sentence. She ran to the caravan, up the steps, into it. Almost on the instant she came out of it with a small suit-case and a cloak.
 
"I'm off," she said. "I'm coming with you. There isn't a moment to be lost!"
 
She cranked up the engine herself, giving her orders the while:
 
"I give the car and the three children into your charge, Saint-Quentin. Follow the red line I have drawn41 on the map. Double stages—no performances. You can be there in five days."
 
She took the seat beside Davernoie. The car was already starting when she caught up the captain who was stretching out his hands to her. She dropped him among the portmanteaux and bags in the tonneau.
 
"There—keep quiet. Au revoir, Saint-Quentin, Castor and Pollux—no fighting!"
 
She waved good-bye to them.
 
The whole scene had not lasted three minutes.
 
Raoul Davernoie's car was by way of being an old, old model. Therefore its pace was but moderate, and Raoul, delighted to be taking with him this charming creature, who was also his cousin, and his relations with whom, thanks to what had happened, were uncommonly42 intimate, was able to relate in detail what had taken place, the manner of their finding d'Estreicher, and the incidents of his captivity43.
 
"What saved him," said he, "was a rather deep wound he had made in his head by striking it against the iron bed-head in his efforts to rid himself of his bonds. He lost a lot of blood. Fever declared itself; and my cousin de Chagny—you must have noticed that he is of a timid disposition—at once said to us:
 
"'That gives us time.'"
 
"Time for what?" I asked him.
 
"'Time to think things over. You understand clearly enough that all this is going to give rise to an unheard-of scandal, and one which, for the honor of our families, we might perhaps be able to avoid.'"
 
"I opposed any delay. I wanted them to telephone at once to the police. But de Chagny was in his own house, you know. And the days passed waiting for him to come to a decision which he could not bring himself to make. They had told the servants that d'Estreicher was ill. Only the major-domo was in our confidence, brought him his food, and kept guard over him. Besides, the prisoner seemed so feeble. You would have declared that he had no strength left. How was one to distrust so sick a man?"
 
Dorothy asked:
 
"But what explanation of his conduct did he give?"
 
"None, because we didn't question him."
 
"Didn't he speak of me? Didn't he make any accusations44 against me?"
 
"No. He went on playing the part of a sick man, prostrated45 by pain and fever. During this time de Chagny wrote to Paris for information about him, for after all, his relations with his cousin only went back as far as 1915.
 
"Three days ago we received a telegram which said:
 
"'A very dangerous man. Wanted by the police. Letters follows.'
 
"At once de Chagny came to a decision and the day before yesterday, in the morning, he telephoned to the police. When the inspector46 arrived, he was too late. D'Estreicher had fled."
 
"Doubtless through the window of a pantry which looks down on the ravine?" said Dorothy.
 
"Yes, and down a fissure47 in the face of the cliff. How did you know?"
 
"It was the way Saint-Quentin and I took to get at d'Estreicher."
 
And forthwith, cutting short any questions, she added:
 
"Well, what was the information you got about him?"
 
"Extremely serious. Antoine d'Estreicher, formerly48 a naval49 officer, was dismissed the service for theft. Later, prosecuted50 for being an accomplice in a case of murder, he was released for lack of evidence. At the beginning of the war he deserted51. Evidence of it has come to hand and a fortnight ago an inquiry52 into the matter was begun. During the war he borrowed the personality of one of his relations, who had been dead some years; and it is actually under his new name of Maxime d'Estreicher that the police are hunting for him."
 
"What a pity! A scoundrel like that! To have him in one's hands and let him go!"
 
"We will find him again."
 
"Yes: always providing that it isn't too late."
 
Raoul quickened their pace. They were going at a fair rate, running through the villages without slackening their pace and bumping over the cobbles of the towns. The night was beginning to fall when they reached Nantes, where they had to stop to buy petrol.
 
"Still an hour's journey," said Raoul.
 
On the way she made him explain to her the exact topography of Hillocks Manor, the direction of the road which ran through the orchard53 to the house, the position of the hall and staircase. Moreover, he had to give her full information about his grandfather's habits, about the old man's age (he was seventy-five), and his dog Goliath—a huge beast, terrible to look at, with a terrific bark, but quite harmless and incapable54 of defending his master.
 
At the big market-town of Clisson, they entered La Vendée. When they had nearly reached the Manor Raoul would have liked to make a detour55 through the village where they would find the servants. They could take with them a couple of farm-laborers. Dorothy would not hear of it.
 
"But, after all," he exclaimed, "what are you afraid of?"
 
"Everything," she replied. "From that man—everything. We have no right to lose a minute."
 
They left the main road and turned down a lane which was more like a deep-rutted cart-track.
 
"There it is, over yonder," he said. "There is a light in the window of his room."
 
Almost at once he stopped the car and jumped out of it. A turreted56 gateway57, relic58 of a far-removed epoch59, rose in the high wall which encircled the estate. The gate was shut. While Raoul was engaged in opening it, they heard, dominating the dull noise of the engine, the barking of a dog.
 
From the clearness of the sound and the direction from which it came Raoul declared that Goliath was not inside the Manor, but outside it, at the foot of the steps, also that he was barking in front of a shut-up house.
 
"Well, are you never going to open that gate?" cried Dorothy.
 
He came back hurriedly to her.
 
"It's very disquieting60. Some one has shot the bolt and turned the key in the lock."
 
"Don't they always?"
 
"Never. Some stranger has done it.... And then you hear that barking."
 
"Well?"
 
"There's another gate two hundred yards further on."
 
"And suppose that's locked too. No: we must act at once."
 
She moved to the steering-wheel and drove the car close under the wall a little higher up, to the right of the gateway. Then she piled the four cushions on the seat and stood on the top of them.
 
"Montfaucon!" she called.
 
The Captain understood. In half-a-dozen movements he climbed up Dorothy's back and stood upright on her shoulders. With that advantage his hands touched the top of the wall. Clinging to it, with Dorothy's help, he pulled himself up. When he was astride it, Raoul threw a rope to him. He tied one end round his waist, Dorothy held the other. In a few seconds the child touched the ground on the other side of the wall, and Raoul had barely got back to the gate before the key grated in the lock and the bolts were drawn.
 
Raoul did not get back to the car. He dashed across the orchard, followed by Dorothy and the Captain. As she ran she said to the child:
 
"Go round the house and if you see a ladder against it, pull it down!"
 
As they expected, they found Goliath on the steps scratching at the closed door. They made him stop barking and in the silence they heard above them outcries and the sound of a struggle.
 
Instantly, to frighten the assailant, Raoul fired off his revolver. Then with his latch-key he opened the door; and they ran up the stairs.
 
One of the rooms facing them was lighted by two lamps. On the floor, face downwards61, Raoul's grandfather was writhing62 and uttering faint, hoarse63 cries.
 
Raoul dropped on his knees beside him. Dorothy seized one of the lamps and ran into the room on the opposite side of the corridor. She had noticed that the door of it was open.
 
The room was empty; through the open window stuck the top of a ladder.
 
She leant out:
 
"Montfaucon!"
 
"Here I am, mummy," the child replied.
 
"Did you see any one come down the ladder and run away?"
 
"From a distance, mummy—as I came round the corner of the house."
 
"Did you recognize the man?"
 
"The man was two, mummy."
 
"Ah, there were two, were there?"
 
"Yes ... another man ... and the nasty gentleman."
 
Raoul's grandfather was not dead; he was not even in any danger of dying. From certain details of the conflict it looked as if d'Estreicher and his confederate had tried by threats and violence to force the old man to reveal what he knew, and doubtless to hand over the gold piece. In particular his throat showed red finger-marks where they had gripped it. Had the ruffian and his confederate succeeded at the last moment?
 
The servants were not very late getting back. The doctor was summoned and declared that there was no fear of any complications. But in the course of the next day they found that the old man did not answer any questions, did not appear to understand them, and only expressed himself by an incomprehensible stuttering.
 
The agitation64, terror, and suffering had been too much for him.... He was mad.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 trot aKBzt     
n.疾走,慢跑;n.老太婆;现成译本;(复数)trots:腹泻(与the 连用);v.小跑,快步走,赶紧
参考例句:
  • They passed me at a trot.他们从我身边快步走过。
  • The horse broke into a brisk trot.马突然快步小跑起来。
2 magpie oAqxF     
n.喜欢收藏物品的人,喜鹊,饶舌者
参考例句:
  • Now and then a magpie would call.不时有喜鹊的叫声。
  • This young man is really a magpie.这个年轻人真是饶舌。
3 picturesque qlSzeJ     
adj.美丽如画的,(语言)生动的,绘声绘色的
参考例句:
  • You can see the picturesque shores beside the river.在河边你可以看到景色如画的两岸。
  • That was a picturesque phrase.那是一个形象化的说法。
4 feudal cg1zq     
adj.封建的,封地的,领地的
参考例句:
  • Feudal rulers ruled over the country several thousand years.封建统治者统治这个国家几千年。
  • The feudal system lasted for two thousand years in China.封建制度在中国延续了两千年之久。
5 bristling tSqyl     
a.竖立的
参考例句:
  • "Don't you question Miz Wilkes' word,'said Archie, his beard bristling. "威尔克斯太太的话,你就不必怀疑了。 "阿尔奇说。他的胡子也翘了起来。
  • You were bristling just now. 你刚才在发毛。
6 evokes d4c5d0beb1ad413369ccd9a98dfa9683     
产生,引起,唤起( evoke的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • The film evokes chilling reminders of the war. 这部电影使人们回忆起战争的可怕场景。
  • Each type evokes antibodies which protect against the homologous. 每一种类型都能产生抗同种病毒的抗体。
7 passionate rLDxd     
adj.热情的,热烈的,激昂的,易动情的,易怒的,性情暴躁的
参考例句:
  • He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
  • He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。
8 perusal mM5xT     
n.细读,熟读;目测
参考例句:
  • Peter Cooke undertook to send each of us a sample contract for perusal.彼得·库克答应给我们每人寄送一份合同样本供阅读。
  • A perusal of the letters which we have published has satisfied him of the reality of our claim.读了我们的公开信后,他终于相信我们的要求的确是真的。
9 subtraction RsJwl     
n.减法,减去
参考例句:
  • We do addition and subtraction in arithmetic.在算术里,我们作加减运算。
  • They made a subtraction of 50 dollars from my salary.他们从我的薪水里扣除了五十美元。
10 troupe cmJwG     
n.剧团,戏班;杂技团;马戏团
参考例句:
  • The art troupe is always on the move in frontier guards.文工团常年在边防部队流动。
  • The troupe produced a new play last night.剧团昨晚上演了一部新剧。
11 crumpled crumpled     
adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式
参考例句:
  • She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一团扔进了火里。
  • She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在写字台上把皱巴巴的信展平。
12 irritation la9zf     
n.激怒,恼怒,生气
参考例句:
  • He could not hide his irritation that he had not been invited.他无法掩饰因未被邀请而生的气恼。
  • Barbicane said nothing,but his silence covered serious irritation.巴比康什么也不说,但是他的沉默里潜伏着阴郁的怒火。
13 infamous K7ax3     
adj.声名狼藉的,臭名昭著的,邪恶的
参考例句:
  • He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
  • I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。
14 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。
15 thumped 0a7f1b69ec9ae1663cb5ed15c0a62795     
v.重击, (指心脏)急速跳动( thump的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Dave thumped the table in frustration . 戴夫懊恼得捶打桌子。
  • He thumped the table angrily. 他愤怒地用拳捶击桌子。
16 hustled 463e6eb3bbb1480ba4bfbe23c0484460     
催促(hustle的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • He grabbed her arm and hustled her out of the room. 他抓住她的胳膊把她推出房间。
  • The secret service agents hustled the speaker out of the amphitheater. 特务机关的代理人把演讲者驱逐出竞技场。
17 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。
18 brats 956fd5630fab420f5dae8ea887f83cd9     
n.调皮捣蛋的孩子( brat的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • I've been waiting to get my hands on you brats. 我等着干你们这些小毛头已经很久了。 来自电影对白
  • The charming family had turned into a parcel of brats. 那个可爱的家庭一下子变成了一窝臭小子。 来自互联网
19 huddle s5UyT     
vi.挤作一团;蜷缩;vt.聚集;n.挤在一起的人
参考例句:
  • They like living in a huddle.他们喜欢杂居在一起。
  • The cold wind made the boy huddle inside his coat.寒风使这个男孩卷缩在他的外衣里。
20 shackles 91740de5ccb43237ed452a2a2676e023     
手铐( shackle的名词复数 ); 脚镣; 束缚; 羁绊
参考例句:
  • a country struggling to free itself from the shackles of colonialism 为摆脱殖民主义的枷锁而斗争的国家
  • The cars of the train are coupled together by shackles. 火车的车厢是用钩链连接起来的。
21 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。
22 cramp UoczE     
n.痉挛;[pl.](腹)绞痛;vt.限制,束缚
参考例句:
  • Winston stopped writing,partly because he was suffering from cramp.温斯顿驻了笔,手指也写麻了。
  • The swimmer was seized with a cramp and had to be helped out of the water.那个在游泳的人突然抽起筋来,让别人帮着上了岸。
23 deform L9Byo     
vt.损坏…的形状;使变形,使变丑;vi.变形
参考例句:
  • Shoes that are too tight deform the feet.(穿)太紧的鞋子会使脚变形。
  • Ice crystals begin to deform measurably.冰晶就产生某种程度的变形了。
24 disposition GljzO     
n.性情,性格;意向,倾向;排列,部署
参考例句:
  • He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
  • He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。
25 theatrical pIRzF     
adj.剧场的,演戏的;做戏似的,做作的
参考例句:
  • The final scene was dismayingly lacking in theatrical effect.最后一场缺乏戏剧效果,叫人失望。
  • She always makes some theatrical gesture.她老在做些夸张的手势。
26 extravagant M7zya     
adj.奢侈的;过分的;(言行等)放肆的
参考例句:
  • They tried to please him with fulsome compliments and extravagant gifts.他们想用溢美之词和奢华的礼品来取悦他。
  • He is extravagant in behaviour.他行为放肆。
27 mentors 5f11aa0dab3d5db90b5a4f26c992ec2a     
n.(无经验之人的)有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的名词复数 )v.(无经验之人的)有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • Beacham and McNamara, my two mentors, had both warned me. 我的两位忠实朋友,比彻姆和麦克纳马拉都曾经警告过我。 来自辞典例句
  • These are the kinds of contacts that could evolve into mentors. 这些人是可能会成为你导师。 来自互联网
28 frivolous YfWzi     
adj.轻薄的;轻率的
参考例句:
  • This is a frivolous way of attacking the problem.这是一种轻率敷衍的处理问题的方式。
  • He spent a lot of his money on frivolous things.他在一些无聊的事上花了好多钱。
29 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。
30 urchins d5a7ff1b13569cf85a979bfc58c50045     
n.顽童( urchin的名词复数 );淘气鬼;猬;海胆
参考例句:
  • Some dozen barefooted urchins ganged in from the riverside. 几十个赤足的顽童从河边成群结队而来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • People said that he had jaundice and urchins nicknamed him "Yellow Fellow." 别人说他是黄胆病,孩子们也就叫他“黄胖”了。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说
31 inquiries 86a54c7f2b27c02acf9fcb16a31c4b57     
n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 );疑问;探究;打听
参考例句:
  • He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释,等候进一步调查。
  • I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
32 unravel Ajzwo     
v.弄清楚(秘密);拆开,解开,松开
参考例句:
  • He was good with his hands and could unravel a knot or untangle yarn that others wouldn't even attempt.他的手很灵巧,其他人甚至都不敢尝试的一些难解的绳结或缠在一起的纱线,他都能解开。
  • This is the attitude that led him to unravel a mystery that long puzzled Chinese historians.正是这种态度使他解决了长期以来使中国历史学家们大惑不解的谜。
33 clairvoyant aV5yE     
adj.有预见的;n.有预见的人
参考例句:
  • Love is blind,but friendship is clairvoyant.爱是盲目的,友谊则能洞察一切。
  • Those whom are clairvoyant have often come to understand past lives.那些能透视的人们已能经常理解死去的生命。
34 earrings 9ukzSs     
n.耳环( earring的名词复数 );耳坠子
参考例句:
  • a pair of earrings 一对耳环
  • These earrings snap on with special fastener. 这付耳环是用特制的按扣扣上去的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
35 caravan OrVzu     
n.大蓬车;活动房屋
参考例句:
  • The community adviser gave us a caravan to live in.社区顾问给了我们一间活动住房栖身。
  • Geoff connected the caravan to the car.杰弗把旅行用的住屋拖车挂在汽车上。
36 ascent TvFzD     
n.(声望或地位)提高;上升,升高;登高
参考例句:
  • His rapid ascent in the social scale was surprising.他的社会地位提高之迅速令人吃惊。
  • Burke pushed the button and the elevator began its slow ascent.伯克按动电钮,电梯开始缓慢上升。
37 frightful Ghmxw     
adj.可怕的;讨厌的
参考例句:
  • How frightful to have a husband who snores!有一个发鼾声的丈夫多讨厌啊!
  • We're having frightful weather these days.这几天天气坏极了。
38 accomplice XJsyq     
n.从犯,帮凶,同谋
参考例句:
  • She was her husband's accomplice in murdering a rich old man.她是她丈夫谋杀一个老富翁的帮凶。
  • He is suspected as an accomplice of the murder.他涉嫌为这次凶杀案的同谋。
39 manor d2Gy4     
n.庄园,领地
参考例句:
  • The builder of the manor house is a direct ancestor of the present owner.建造这幢庄园的人就是它现在主人的一个直系祖先。
  • I am not lord of the manor,but its lady.我并非此地的领主,而是这儿的女主人。
40 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。
41 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。
42 uncommonly 9ca651a5ba9c3bff93403147b14d37e2     
adv. 稀罕(极,非常)
参考例句:
  • an uncommonly gifted child 一个天赋异禀的儿童
  • My little Mary was feeling uncommonly empty. 我肚子当时正饿得厉害。
43 captivity qrJzv     
n.囚禁;被俘;束缚
参考例句:
  • A zoo is a place where live animals are kept in captivity for the public to see.动物园是圈养动物以供公众观看的场所。
  • He was held in captivity for three years.他被囚禁叁年。
44 accusations 3e7158a2ffc2cb3d02e77822c38c959b     
n.指责( accusation的名词复数 );指控;控告;(被告发、控告的)罪名
参考例句:
  • There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
  • He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。
45 prostrated 005b7f6be2182772064dcb09f1a7c995     
v.使俯伏,使拜倒( prostrate的过去式和过去分词 );(指疾病、天气等)使某人无能为力
参考例句:
  • He was prostrated by the loss of his wife. 他因丧妻而忧郁。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • They prostrated themselves before the emperor. 他们拜倒在皇帝的面前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
46 inspector q6kxH     
n.检查员,监察员,视察员
参考例句:
  • The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
  • The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。
47 fissure Njbxt     
n.裂缝;裂伤
参考例句:
  • Though we all got out to examine the fissure,he remained in the car.我们纷纷下车察看那个大裂缝,他却呆在车上。
  • Ground fissure is the main geological disaster in Xi'an city construction.地裂缝是西安市主要的工程地质灾害问题。
48 formerly ni3x9     
adv.从前,以前
参考例句:
  • We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
  • This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。
49 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。
50 prosecuted Wk5zqY     
a.被起诉的
参考例句:
  • The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
  • The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。
51 deserted GukzoL     
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的
参考例句:
  • The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
  • The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。
52 inquiry nbgzF     
n.打听,询问,调查,查问
参考例句:
  • Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
  • The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。
53 orchard UJzxu     
n.果园,果园里的全部果树,(美俚)棒球场
参考例句:
  • My orchard is bearing well this year.今年我的果园果实累累。
  • Each bamboo house was surrounded by a thriving orchard.每座竹楼周围都是茂密的果园。
54 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。
55 detour blSzz     
n.绕行的路,迂回路;v.迂回,绕道
参考例句:
  • We made a detour to avoid the heavy traffic.我们绕道走,避开繁忙的交通。
  • He did not take the direct route to his home,but made a detour around the outskirts of the city.他没有直接回家,而是绕到市郊兜了个圈子。
56 turreted 9f7zme     
a.(像炮塔般)旋转式的
参考例句:
57 gateway GhFxY     
n.大门口,出入口,途径,方法
参考例句:
  • Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
  • A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。
58 relic 4V2xd     
n.神圣的遗物,遗迹,纪念物
参考例句:
  • This stone axe is a relic of ancient times.这石斧是古代的遗物。
  • He found himself thinking of the man as a relic from the past.他把这个男人看成是过去时代的人物。
59 epoch riTzw     
n.(新)时代;历元
参考例句:
  • The epoch of revolution creates great figures.革命时代造就伟大的人物。
  • We're at the end of the historical epoch,and at the dawn of another.我们正处在一个历史时代的末期,另一个历史时代的开端。
60 disquieting disquieting     
adj.令人不安的,令人不平静的v.使不安,使忧虑,使烦恼( disquiet的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • The news from the African front was disquieting in the extreme. 非洲前线的消息极其令人不安。 来自英汉文学
  • That locality was always vaguely disquieting, even in the broad glare of afternoon. 那一带地方一向隐隐约约使人感到心神不安甚至在下午耀眼的阳光里也一样。 来自辞典例句
61 downwards MsDxU     
adj./adv.向下的(地),下行的(地)
参考例句:
  • He lay face downwards on his bed.他脸向下伏在床上。
  • As the river flows downwards,it widens.这条河愈到下游愈宽。
62 writhing 8e4d2653b7af038722d3f7503ad7849c     
(因极度痛苦而)扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • She was writhing around on the floor in agony. 她痛得在地板上直打滚。
  • He was writhing on the ground in agony. 他痛苦地在地上打滚。
63 hoarse 5dqzA     
adj.嘶哑的,沙哑的
参考例句:
  • He asked me a question in a hoarse voice.他用嘶哑的声音问了我一个问题。
  • He was too excited and roared himself hoarse.他过于激动,嗓子都喊哑了。
64 agitation TN0zi     
n.搅动;搅拌;鼓动,煽动
参考例句:
  • Small shopkeepers carried on a long agitation against the big department stores.小店主们长期以来一直在煽动人们反对大型百货商店。
  • These materials require constant agitation to keep them in suspension.这些药剂要经常搅动以保持悬浮状态。


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