But Roberta's return to Lycurgus and her room at the Gilpins' Christmas night brought no sign of Clyde nor anyword of explanation. For in connection with the Griffiths in the meantime there had been a development relatingto all this which, could she or Clyde have known, would have interested both not a little. For subsequent to theSteele dance that same item read by Roberta fell under the eyes of Gilbert. He was seated at the breakfast tablethe Sunday morning after the party and was about to sip¹ from a cup of coffee when he encountered it. On theinstant his teeth snapped about as a man might snap his watch lid, and instead of drinking he put his cup downand examined the item with more care. Other than his mother there was no one at the table or in the room withhim, but knowing that she, more than any of the others, shared his views in regard to Clyde, he now passed thepaper over to her.

　　"Look at who's breaking into society now, will you?" he admonished² sharply and sarcastically³, his eyes radiatingthe hard and contemptuous opposition⁴ he felt. "We'll be having him up here next!""Who?" inquired Mrs. Griffiths, as she took the paper and examined the item calmly and judicially⁵, yet notwithout a little of outwardly suppressed surprise when she saw the name. For although the fact of Clyde's havingbeen picked up by Sondra in her car sometime before and later been invited to dinner at the Trumbulls', had beenconveyed to the family sometime before, still a society notice in The Star was different. "Now I wonder how itwas that he came to be invited to that?" meditated⁶ Mrs. Griffiths who was always conscious of her son's mood inregard to all this.

　　"Now, who would do it but that little Finchley snip⁷, the little smart aleck?" snapped Gilbert. "She's got the ideafrom somewhere--from Bella for all I know--that we don't care to have anything to do with him, and she thinksthis is a clever way to hit back at me for some of the things I've done to her, or that she thinks I've done. At anyrate, she thinks I don't like her, and that's right, I don't. And Bella knows it, too. And that goes for that littleCranston show-off, too. They're both always running around with her. They're a set of show-offs and wasters, thewhole bunch, and that goes for their brothers, too--Grant Cranston and

点击收听单词发音  

1 sip
v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量
参考例句：
She took a sip of the cocktail.她啜饮一口鸡尾酒。 Elizabeth took a sip of the hot coffee.伊丽莎白呷了一口热咖啡。

2 admonished
v.劝告( admonish的过去式和过去分词 )；训诫；（温和地）责备；轻责
参考例句：
She was admonished for chewing gum in class. 她在课堂上嚼口香糖，受到了告诫。 The teacher admonished the child for coming late to school. 那个孩子迟到，老师批评了他。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 sarcastically
adv.挖苦地，讽刺地
参考例句：
'What a surprise!' Caroline murmured sarcastically.“太神奇了!”卡罗琳轻声挖苦道。 Pierce mocked her and bowed sarcastically. 皮尔斯嘲笑她，讽刺地鞠了一躬。

4 opposition
n.反对，敌对
参考例句：
The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。 The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

5 judicially
依法判决地，公平地
参考例句：
Geoffrey approached the line of horses and glanced judicially down the row. 杰弗里走进那栏马，用审视的目的目光一匹接一匹地望去。 Not all judicially created laws are based on statutory or constitutional interpretation. 并不是所有的司法机关创制的法都以是以成文法或宪法的解释为基础的。

6 meditated
深思，沉思，冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 )； 内心策划，考虑
参考例句：
He meditated for two days before giving his answer. 他在作出答复之前考虑了两天。 She meditated for 2 days before giving her answer. 她考虑了两天才答复。

7 snip
n.便宜货，廉价货，剪，剪断
参考例句：
He has now begun to snip away at the piece of paper.现在他已经开始剪这张纸。 The beautifully made briefcase is a snip at £74.25.这个做工精美的公文包售价才74.25英镑，可谓物美价廉。

8 stew
n.炖汤，焖，烦恼；v.炖汤，焖，忧虑
参考例句：
The stew must be boiled up before serving.炖肉必须煮熟才能上桌。 There's no need to get in a stew.没有必要烦恼。

9 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。

10 estrange
v.使疏远，离间，使离开
参考例句：
His behaviour estrange him from his brother.他的行为使他与哥哥疏远了。 Madeleine was not trying to estrange her from the Herzogs.马德琳无意要使她和赫索格家的人疏远。

11 mingled
混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系]
参考例句：
The sounds of laughter and singing mingled in the evening air. 笑声和歌声交织在夜空中。 The man and the woman mingled as everyone started to relax. 当大家开始放松的时候，这一男一女就开始交往了。

12 offense
n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪
参考例句：
I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。 His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

13 justification
n.正当的理由；辩解的理由
参考例句：
There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。 In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。

14 previously
adv.以前，先前（地）
参考例句：
The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。 Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

15 sedate
adj.沉着的，镇静的，安静的
参考例句：
After the accident,the doctor gave her some pills to sedate her.事故发生后，医生让她服了些药片使她镇静下来。 We spent a sedate evening at home.我们在家里过了一个恬静的夜晚。

16 decided
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。

17 outrageous
adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的
参考例句：
Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。 Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

18 interfere
v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰
参考例句：
If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。 When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

19 acting
n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的
参考例句：
Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。 During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

20 contestant
n.竞争者，参加竞赛者
参考例句：
The company will furnish each contestant with a free ticket.公司将为每个参赛者免费提供一张票。 The personal appearance and interview of the contestant is another count.参加比赛者的个人仪表和谈话也是一项。