I laid down my bank book with a sigh.
'It is a curious thing,' I observed, 'but my overdraft1 never seems to grow any less.'
'And it perturbs2 you not? Me, if I had an overdraft, never should I close my eyes all night,'
declared Poirot.
'You deal in comfortable balances, I suppose!' I retorted.
'Four hundred and forty-four pounds, four and fourpence,' said Poirot with some complacency. 'Aneat figure, is it not?'
'It must be tact3 on the part of your bank manager. He is evidently acquainted with your passion forsymmetrical details. What about investing, say three hundred of it, in the Porcupine4 oil-fields?
Their prospectus5, which is advertised in the papers today, saya that they will pay one hundred percent in dividends6 next year.'
'Not for me,' said Poirot, shaking his head. 'I like not the sensational7. For me the safe, the prudentinvestment - les rentes, the consols, the - how do you call it? - the conversion8.'
'Have you never made a speculative9 investment?'
'No, mon ami,' replied Poirot severely10. 'I have not. And the only' shares I own which have notwhat you call the gilded11 edge are fourteen thousand shares in the Burma Mines Ltd.'
Poirot paused with an air of waiting to be encouraged to go on.
'Yes?' I prompted.
'And for them I paid no cash - no, they were the reward of the exercise of my little grey cells. Youwould like to hear the story?
Yes?'
'Of course I would.'
'These mines are situated12 in the interior, of Burma about two hundred miles inland from Rangoon.
They were discovered by the Chinese in the fifteenth century and worked down to the time of theMohammedan Rebellion, being finally abandoned i theyear x868. The Chinese extracted the rich lead-silver ore from the upper part of the ore body,smelting it for the silver alone, and leaving large quantities of rich lead-bearing slag13. This, ofcourse, was soon discovered whdn prospecting14 work was carried out in Burma, but owing to thefact that the old workings had become full of loose filling and water, all attempts to find the sourceof the ore proved fruitless. Many parties were sent out by syndicates, and they dug over a largearea, but this rich prize still eluded15 them. But a representative of one of the syndicates got on thetrack of a Chinese family who were supposed to have still kept a record of the situation of themine. The present head of the family was one Wu Ling.'
'What a fascinating page of commercial romance? I exclaimed.
'Is it not? Ah, mon ami, one can have romance without golden-haired girls of matchless beauty -no, I am wrong; it is auburn hair that so excites you always. You remember - '
'Go on with the story,' I said hastily.
'Eh bien, my friend, this Wu Ling was approached. He was an estimable merchant, much respectedin the province where he lived. He admitted at once that he owned the documents in question, andwas perfectly16 prepared to negotiate for this sale, but he objected to dealing17 with anyone other thanprincipals.
Finally it was arranged that he should journey to England and meet the directors of an importantcompany.
'Wu Ling made the journey to England in the S.S. Issunta, and the tssunta docked at Southamptonon a cold, foggy morning in November. One of the directors, Mr Pearson, went down toSouthampton to meet the boat, but owing to the fog, the train down was very much delayed, andby the time he arrived, Wu Ling had disembarked and left by special train for London.
Mr Pearson returned to town somewhat annoyed, as he had no idea where the Chinaman proposedto stay. Later in the day, however, the offices of the company were rung up on the telephone.
Wu Ling was staying at the Russell Square Hotel. He was feeling somewhat unwell after thevoyage, but declared himself perfectly able to attend the board meeting on the following day.
'The meeting of the board took place at eleven o'clock. When half past eleven came, and Wu Linghad not put in an appearance, the secretary rang up the Russell Hotel. In answer to his inquiries18, hewas told that the Chinaman had gone out with a friend about half past ten. It seemed clear that hehad started out with the intention of coming to the meeting, but the morning wore away, and hedid not appear. It was, of course, possible that he had lost his way, being unacquainted withLondon, but at a late hour that night he had not returned to the hotel. Thoroughly19 alarmed now, MrPearson put matters in the hands of the police. On the following day, there was still no trace of themissing man, but towards evening of the day after that again, a body was found in the Thameswhich proved to be that of the ill-fated Chinaman.
Neither on the body, nor in the luggage at the hotel, was there shy trace of the papers relating tothe mine.
'At this juncture20, mon am/, I was brought into the affair.
Mr Pearson called upon me. While profoundly shocked by the death of Wu Ling, his chief anxietywas to recover the papers which were the object of the Chinaman's visit to England. The mainanxiety of the police, of course, would be to track down the murderer - the recovery of the paperswould be a secondary consideration. What he wanted me to do was to co-operate with the policewhile acting21 min the interests of the company.
'I consented readily enough. It was clear that there were two fields of search open to me. On theone hand, I might look among the employees of the company who knew of the Chinaman'scoming; on the other, among the passengers on the boat who might have been acquainted with hismission. I started with the second, as being a narrower field of search. In this I coincided withInspector Miller23, who was in charge of the case - a man altogether different from our friend Japp,conceited, ill-mannered and quite insufferable. Together we interviewed the officers of the ship.
They had little to tell us. Wu Ling had kept much to himself on the voyage. He had been intimatewith but two of the other passengers - one a broken-down European named Dyer who appeared tobear a somewhat unsavoury reputation, the other a young bank clerk named Charles Lester, whowas returning from Hong Kong. We were lucky enough to obtain snapshots of both these men. Atthe moment there seemed little doubt that if either of the two was implicated24, Dyer was the man.
He was known to be mixed up with a gang of Chinese crooks25, and was altogether a most likelysuspect.
'Our next step was to visit the Russell Square Hotel. Shown a snapshot of Wu Ling, theyrecognized him at once. We then showed them the snapshot of Dyer, but to our disappointment,the hall porter declared positively26 that that was not the man who had come to the hotel on the fatalmorning. Almost as an afterthought, I produced the photograph, of Lester, and to my surprise theman at once recognized it.
' "Yes, sir," he asserted, "that's the gentleman who came in at half past ten and asked for Mr WuLing, and afterwards went out with him."
'The affair was progressing. Our next move was to interview Mr Charles Lester. He met us withthe utmost frankness, was desolated27 to hear of the Chinaman's untimely death, and put himself atour disposal in every way. His story was as follows: By arrangement with Wu Ling, he called forhim at the hotel at ten- thirty. Wu Ling, however, did not appear. Instead, his servant came,explained that his master had had to go out, and offered to conduct the young man to where hismaster now was. Suspecting nothing, Lester agreed, and the Chinaman procured28 a taxi. Theydrove for some time in the direction of the docks. Suddenly becoming mistrustful, Lester stoppedthe taxi and got out, dis-regarding the servant's protests. That, he assured us, was all he knew.
'Apparently29 satisfied, we thanked him and took our leave. His story was soon proved to be asomewhat inaccurate30 one. To begin with, Wu Ling had had no servant with him, either on the boator at the hotel. In the second place, the taxi-driver who had driven the two men on that morningcame forward. Far from Lester's having left the taxi en route, he and the Chinese gentleman haddriven to a certain unsavoury dwelling-place in Limehouse, right in the heart of Chinatown. Theplace in question was more or less well known as an opium31-den of the lowest description. The twogentlemen had gone in - about an hour later the English gentleman, whom he identified from thephotograph, came out alone. He looked very pale and ill, and directed the taxi-man to take him tothe nearest underground station.
'Inquiries were made about Charles Lester's standing32, and it was found that, though bearing anexcellent character, he wa heavily in debt, and had a secret passion for gambling33. Dyer, of course,was not lost sight of. It seemed just faintly possible that he might have impersonated the otherman, but that idea was proved utterly34 groundless. His alibi35 for the whole of the day in questionwas absolutely unimpeachable36. Of course, the proprietor37 of the opium-den denied everything withOriental stolidity38. He had never seen Wu Ling; he had never seen Charles Lester. No twogentlemen had been to the place that morning. In any case, the police were wrong: no opium wasever smoked there.
'His denials, however well meant, did little to help Charle Lester. He was arrested for the murderof Wu Ling. A search of his effects was made, but no papers relating to the mine were discovered.
The proprietor of the opium-den was also taken into custody39, but a cursory40 raid of his premisesyielded nothing. Not even a stick of opium rewarded the zeal41 of the police.
'In the meantime my friend Mr Pearson was in a great state of agitation42. He strode up and downmy room, uttering great lamentations.
' "But you must have some ideas, M. Poirotl" he kept urging.
"Surely you must have some ideas?" ' "Certainly I have ideas," I replied cautiously. "That is thetrouble - one has too many; therefore they all lead in different directions." ' "For instance?" hesuggested.
' "For instance - the taxi-driver. We have only his word for it that he drove the two men to thathouse. That is one idea. Then was it really that house they went to? Supposing that they left thetaxi there, passed through the house and out by another entrance and went elsewhere?" 'MrPearson seemed struck by that.
' "But you do nothing but sit and think? Can't we do something?" 'He was of an impatienttemperament, you comprehend.
' "Monsieur," I said with dignity, "it is not for Hercule Poirot to run up and down the evil-smellingstreets of Limehouse like a little dog of no breeding. Be calm. My agents are at work." 'On thefollowing day I had news for him. The two men had indeed passed through the house in question,but their real objective waz a small eating-house close to the river. They were seen to pass in there,and Lester came out alone.
'And then, figure to yourself, Hastings, an idea of the most unreasonable43 seized this Mr PearsonlNothing would suit him but that we should go ourselves to this eating- house and makeinvestigations. I argued and prayed, but he would not listen. He talked of disguising himself - heeven suggested that I - I should - I hesitate to say it - should shave off my moustachel Yes, rienque fal I pointed44 out to him that that was an idea ridiculous and absurd. One destroys not a thing ofbeauty wantonly. Besides, shall not a Belgian gentleman with a moustache desire to see life andsmoke the opium just as readily as one without a moustache?
'Eh b/eh, he gave in on that, but he still insisted on his project.
He turned up that evening - Mort Dieu, what a figure! He wore what he called the "pea-jacket", hischin, it was dirty and unshaved; he had a scarf of the vilest45 that offended the nose. And figure toyourself, he was enjoying himselfl Truly, the English are madl He made some changes in my ownappearance. I permitted it. Can one argue with a maniac46? We started out - after all, could I let himgo alone, a child dressed up to act the charades47?' 'Of course you couldn't,' I replied.
'To continue - we arrived. Mr Pearson talked English of the strangest. He represented himself to bea man of the sea. He talked of "lubbers" and "focselles" and I know not what. It was a low littleroom with many Chinese in it. We ate of peculiar48 dishes. /Ih, Dieu, mon estomac!' Poirot claspedthat portion of his anatomy49 tenderly before continuing. 'Then there came to us the proprietor, aChinaman with a face of evil smiles.
' "You gentlemen no likee food here," he said. "You come for what you likee better. Piecee pipe,eh?" 'Mr Pearson, he gave me the great kick under the table. (He had on the boots of the sea, tool)And he said: "I don't mind if I do, John. Lead ahead."'The Chinaman smiled, and he took us through a door and to a cellar and through a trapdoor, anddown some steps and up again into a room all full of divans50 and cushions of the most comfortable.
We lay down and a Chinese boy took off our boots. It was the best moment of the evening. Thenthey brought us the opium-pipes and cooked the opium-pills, and we pretended to smoke and thento sleep and dream. But when we were alone, Mr Pearson called softly to me, and immediately hebegan crawling along the floor. We went into another room where other people were asleep, andso on, until we heard two men talking. We stayed behind a curtain and listened. They werespeaking of Wu Ling.
' "What about the papers?" said one.
' "Mr Lester, he takee those," answered the other, who was a Chinaman. "He say, puttee them alicein saree place - where pleeceman no lookee."
' "Ah, but he's nabbed," said the first one.
' "He gettee free. Pleeceman not sure he done it."'There was more of the same kind of thing, then apparently the two men were coming our way,and we scuttled51 back to our beds.
' "We'd better get out of here," said Pearson, after a few minutes had elapsed. "This place isn'thealthy."
'"You are right, monsieur," I agreed. "We have played the farce52 long enough."'We succeeded in getting away, all right, paying handsomely for our smoke. Once clear ofLimehouse, Pearson drew a long breath.
' "I'm glad to get out of that," he said. "But it's something to be sure."' "It is indeed," I agreed. "And I fancy that we shall not have much difficulty in finding what wewant - after this evening', masquerade."
'And there was no difficulty whatsoever,' finished Poirot suddenly.
This abrupt53 ending seemed so extraordinary that I stared at him.
'But - but where were they?' I asked.
'In his pocket - tout54 simplement.' 'But in whose pocket?' 'Mr Pearson's, parbleul' Then, observingmy look of bewilderment, he continued gently: 'You do not yet see it? Mr Pearson, like CharlesLester, was in debt. Mr Pearson, like Charles Lester, was fond of gambling. And he conceived theidea of stealing the papers from the Chinaman. He met him all right at Southampton, came up toLondon with him, and took him straight to Limehouse.
It was foggy that day; the Chinaman would not notice where he was going. I fancy Mr Pearsonsmoked the opium fairly often down there and had some peculiar friends in consequence. I do notthink he meant murder. His idea was that one of the Chinamen should impersonate Wu Ling andreceive the money for the sale of the document. So far, so goodl But, to the Oriental mind, it wasinfinitely simpler to kill Wu [,ing and throw his body into the river, and Pearson's Chineseaccomplices followed their own methods without consulting him. Imagine, then, what you wouldcall the "funk bleu" of M. Pearson. Someone may have seen him in the train with Wu Ling -murder is a very different thing from simple abduction.
'His salvation55 lies with the Chinaman who is personating Wu Ling at the Russell Square Hotel. Ifonly the body is not discovered too soon! Probably Wu Ling had told him of the arrangementbetween him and Charles [,ester whereby the latter was to call for him at the hotel. Pearson seesthere an excellent way of diverting suspicion from himself. Charles Lester shall be the last personto be seen in company with Wu Ling. The impersonator has orders to represent himself to Lesteras the servant of Wu [,ing, and to bring him as speedily as possible to Limehouse.
There, very likely, he was offered a drink. The drink would be suitably drugged, and when Lesteremerged an hour later, he would have a very hazy56 impression of what had happened. 8o much wasthis the case, that as soon as Lester learned of Wu [,ing's death, he loses his nerve, and denies thathe ever reached [,imehouse.
'By that, of course, he plays right into Pearson's hands. But is Pearson content? No - my mannerdisquiets him, and he deter104
mines to complete the case against Lester. So he arranges an elaborate masquerade. Me, I am to begulled completely. Did I not say just now that he was as a child acting the charades? Eh bien, Iplay my part. He goes home rejoicing. But in the morning, Inspector22 Miller arrives on hisdoorstep. The papers are found on him; the game is up. Bitterly he regrets permitting himself toplay the farce with Hercule Poirot! There was only one real difficulty in the affair.' 'What wasthat?' I demanded curiously57.
'Convincing Inspector Millerl What an animal, thatl Both obstinate58 and imbecile. And in the endhe took all the credit?
'Too bad,' I cried.
'Ah, well, I had my compensations. The other director of the Burma Mines Ltd awarded mefourteen thousand shares as a small recompense for my services. Not so bad, eh? But wheninvesting money, keep, I beg of you, Hastings, strictly59 to the conservative. The things you. read inthe paper, they may not be true. The directors of the Porcupine - they may be so many MrPearsons!'

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收听单词发音

1
overdraft
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n.透支,透支额 | |
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2
perturbs
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v.使(某人)烦恼,不安( perturb的第三人称单数 ) | |
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tact
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n.机敏,圆滑,得体 | |
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porcupine
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n.豪猪, 箭猪 | |
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prospectus
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n.计划书;说明书;慕股书 | |
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dividends
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红利( dividend的名词复数 ); 股息; 被除数; (足球彩票的)彩金 | |
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7
sensational
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adj.使人感动的,非常好的,轰动的,耸人听闻的 | |
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conversion
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n.转化,转换,转变 | |
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speculative
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adj.思索性的,暝想性的,推理的 | |
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severely
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adv.严格地;严厉地;非常恶劣地 | |
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11
gilded
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a.镀金的,富有的 | |
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situated
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adj.坐落在...的,处于某种境地的 | |
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slag
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n.熔渣,铁屑,矿渣;v.使变成熔渣,变熔渣 | |
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prospecting
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n.探矿 | |
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15
eluded
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v.(尤指机敏地)避开( elude的过去式和过去分词 );逃避;躲避;使达不到 | |
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16
perfectly
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adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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dealing
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n.经商方法,待人态度 | |
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inquiries
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n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 );疑问;探究;打听 | |
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thoroughly
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adv.完全地,彻底地,十足地 | |
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juncture
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n.时刻,关键时刻,紧要关头 | |
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acting
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n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的 | |
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inspector
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n.检查员,监察员,视察员 | |
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miller
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n.磨坊主 | |
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implicated
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adj.密切关联的;牵涉其中的 | |
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crooks
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n.骗子( crook的名词复数 );罪犯;弯曲部分;(牧羊人或主教用的)弯拐杖v.弯成钩形( crook的第三人称单数 ) | |
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positively
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adv.明确地,断然,坚决地;实在,确实 | |
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desolated
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adj.荒凉的,荒废的 | |
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procured
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v.(努力)取得, (设法)获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 );拉皮条 | |
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apparently
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adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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inaccurate
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adj.错误的,不正确的,不准确的 | |
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opium
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n.鸦片;adj.鸦片的 | |
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standing
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n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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gambling
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n.赌博;投机 | |
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utterly
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adv.完全地,绝对地 | |
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alibi
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n.某人当时不在犯罪现场的申辩或证明;借口 | |
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unimpeachable
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adj.无可指责的;adv.无可怀疑地 | |
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proprietor
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n.所有人;业主;经营者 | |
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stolidity
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n.迟钝,感觉麻木 | |
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custody
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n.监护,照看,羁押,拘留 | |
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cursory
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adj.粗略的;草率的;匆促的 | |
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zeal
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n.热心,热情,热忱 | |
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agitation
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n.搅动;搅拌;鼓动,煽动 | |
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unreasonable
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adj.不讲道理的,不合情理的,过度的 | |
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pointed
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adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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vilest
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adj.卑鄙的( vile的最高级 );可耻的;极坏的;非常讨厌的 | |
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maniac
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n.精神癫狂的人;疯子 | |
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charades
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n.伪装( charade的名词复数 );猜字游戏 | |
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peculiar
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adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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anatomy
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n.解剖学,解剖;功能,结构,组织 | |
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divans
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n.(可作床用的)矮沙发( divan的名词复数 );(波斯或其他东方诗人的)诗集 | |
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scuttled
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v.使船沉没( scuttle的过去式和过去分词 );快跑,急走 | |
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52
farce
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n.闹剧,笑剧,滑稽戏;胡闹 | |
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abrupt
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adj.突然的,意外的;唐突的,鲁莽的 | |
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tout
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v.推销,招徕;兜售;吹捧,劝诱 | |
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salvation
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n.(尤指基督)救世,超度,拯救,解困 | |
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hazy
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adj.有薄雾的,朦胧的;不肯定的,模糊的 | |
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curiously
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adv.有求知欲地;好问地;奇特地 | |
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obstinate
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adj.顽固的,倔强的,不易屈服的,较难治愈的 | |
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59
strictly
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adv.严厉地,严格地;严密地 | |
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