Chapter 13 A Conference
Conferences!
Much of my memories of the A B C case seem to be of conferences.
Conferences at Scotland Yard. At Poirot’s rooms. Official conferences. Unofficial conferences.
This particular conference was to decide whether or not the facts relative to the
anonymous1 letters should or should not be made public in the press.
The Bexhill murder had attracted much more attention than the Andover one.
It had, of course, far more elements of popularity. To begin with the victim was a young and good-looking girl. Also, it had taken place at a popular seaside resort
All the details of the crime were reported
fully2 and rehashed daily in thin disguises. The A B C railway guide came in for its share of attention. The favouritetheory was that it had been bought locally by the murderer and that it was a valuable clue to his identity. It also seemed to show that he had come to the place by train and was intending to leave for London.
The railway guide had not figured at all in the meagre accounts of the Andover murder, so there seemed at present little likelihood of the two crimes being connected in the public eye.
‘We’ve got to decide upon a policy,’ said the Assistant
Commissioner3. ‘The thing is—which way will give us the best results? Shall we give the public the facts—enlist their co-operation—after all, it’ll be the co-operation of several million people, looking out for a madman—’
‘He won’t look like a madman,’ interjected Dr Thompson.
‘—looking out for sales of A B C’s—and so on. Against that I suppose there’s the advantage of working in the dark—not letting our man know what we’re up to, but then there’s the fact that he knows very well that we know. He’s
drawn4 attention to himself
deliberately5 by his letters. Eh, Crome, what’s your opinion?’
‘I look at it this way, sir. If you make it public, you’re playing A B C’s game. That’s what he wants—
publicity
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收听单词发音
1
anonymous
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adj.无名的;匿名的;无特色的 |
参考例句: |
- Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
- The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。
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2
fully
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adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 |
参考例句: |
- The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气,然后全部呼出。
- They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。
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3
commissioner
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n.(政府厅、局、处等部门)专员,长官,委员 |
参考例句: |
- The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
- He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。
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4
drawn
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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。
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5
deliberately
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adv.审慎地;蓄意地;故意地 |
参考例句: |
- The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
- They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。
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6
publicity
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n.众所周知,闻名;宣传,广告 |
参考例句: |
- The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
- He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事,只当它是一种宣传手法。
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7
balking
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n.慢行,阻行v.畏缩不前,犹豫( balk的现在分词 );(指马)不肯跑 |
参考例句: |
- He picked up a stone and let fly at the balking dog. 他捡起一块石头朝那狂吠的狗扔去。 来自互联网
- Democrats won't pass the plan without votes from rank-and-file Republicans andof-and-file Republicans were reportedly balking. 没有普通共和党议员的支持,民主党人无法通过这项方案——到周四晚间,据悉那些普通共和党人在阻挡(该计划)。 来自互联网
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8
inspector
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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。
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9
craves
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渴望,热望( crave的第三人称单数 ); 恳求,请求 |
参考例句: |
- The tree craves calm but the wind will not drop. 树欲静而风不止。
- Victory would give him a passport to the riches he craves. 胜利将使他有机会获得自己梦寐以求的财富。
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10
promptly
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adv.及时地,敏捷地 |
参考例句: |
- He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
- She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。
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11
cleft
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n.裂缝;adj.裂开的 |
参考例句: |
- I hid the message in a cleft in the rock.我把情报藏在石块的裂缝里。
- He was cleft from his brother during the war.在战争期间,他与他的哥哥分离。
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12
purely
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adv.纯粹地,完全地 |
参考例句: |
- I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
- This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。
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13
speculation
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n.思索,沉思;猜测;投机 |
参考例句: |
- Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
- There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。
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14
spoke
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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。
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15
ironic
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adj.讽刺的,有讽刺意味的,出乎意料的 |
参考例句: |
- That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
- People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”,但他们是在挖苦我。
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16
tinge
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vt.(较淡)着色于,染色;使带有…气息;n.淡淡色彩,些微的气息 |
参考例句: |
- The maple leaves are tinge with autumn red.枫叶染上了秋天的红色。
- There was a tinge of sadness in her voice.她声音中流露出一丝忧伤。
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psychology
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n.心理,心理学,心理状态 |
参考例句: |
- She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
- He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。
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middle-aged
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adj.中年的 |
参考例句: |
- I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
- The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。
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scarlet
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n.深红色,绯红色,红衣;adj.绯红色的 |
参考例句: |
- The scarlet leaves of the maples contrast well with the dark green of the pines.深红的枫叶和暗绿的松树形成了明显的对比。
- The glowing clouds are growing slowly pale,scarlet,bright red,and then light red.天空的霞光渐渐地淡下去了,深红的颜色变成了绯红,绯红又变为浅红。
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20
halfway
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adj.中途的,不彻底的,部分的;adv.半路地,在中途,在半途 |
参考例句: |
- We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路,天就黑了。
- In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上,最忌讳的是有始无终。
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naval
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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。
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22
inquiry
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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。
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motive
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n.动机,目的;adv.发动的,运动的 |
参考例句: |
- The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
- He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。
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24
alphabetical
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adj.字母(表)的,依字母顺序的 |
参考例句: |
- Please arrange these books in alphabetical order.请把这些书按字母顺序整理一下。
- There is no need to maintain a strict alphabetical sequence.不必保持严格的字顺。
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25
sufficiently
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adv.足够地,充分地 |
参考例句: |
- It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
- The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。
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26
annoyance
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n.恼怒,生气,烦恼 |
参考例句: |
- Why do you always take your annoyance out on me?为什么你不高兴时总是对我出气?
- I felt annoyance at being teased.我恼恨别人取笑我。
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annoyances
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n.恼怒( annoyance的名词复数 );烦恼;打扰;使人烦恼的事 |
参考例句: |
- At dinner that evening two annoyances kept General Zaroff from perfect enjoyment one. 当天晚上吃饭时,有两件不称心的事令沙洛夫吃得不很香。 来自辞典例句
- Actually, I have a lot of these little annoyances-don't we all? 事实上我有很多类似的小烦恼,我们不都有这种小烦恼吗? 来自互联网
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qualms
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n.不安;内疚 |
参考例句: |
- He felt no qualms about borrowing money from friends.他没有对于从朋友那里借钱感到不安。
- He has no qualms about lying.他撒谎毫不内疚。
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sane
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adj.心智健全的,神志清醒的,明智的,稳健的 |
参考例句: |
- He was sane at the time of the murder.在凶杀案发生时他的神志是清醒的。
- He is a very sane person.他是一个很有头脑的人。
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30
justifiable
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adj.有理由的,无可非议的 |
参考例句: |
- What he has done is hardly justifiable.他的所作所为说不过去。
- Justifiable defense is the act being exempted from crimes.正当防卫不属于犯罪行为。
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killing
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n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财 |
参考例句: |
- Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
- Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。
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hygiene
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n.健康法,卫生学 (a.hygienic) |
参考例句: |
- Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。
- He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。
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deranged
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adj.疯狂的 |
参考例句: |
- Traffic was stopped by a deranged man shouting at the sky.一名狂叫的疯子阻塞了交通。
- A deranged man shot and killed 14 people.一个精神失常的男子开枪打死了14人。
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alphabetically
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adv.照字母顺序排列地 |
参考例句: |
- I've arranged the books alphabetically so don't muddle them up. 我已按字母顺序把这些书整理了,千万不要再弄乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- They are all filed alphabetically under author. 这些都是按照作者姓名的字母顺序归档的。 来自辞典例句
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35
condemned
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adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的
动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 |
参考例句: |
- He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
- The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。
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36
entirely
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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。
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37
haphazard
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adj.无计划的,随意的,杂乱无章的 |
参考例句: |
- The town grew in a haphazard way.这城镇无计划地随意发展。
- He regrerted his haphazard remarks.他悔不该随口说出那些评论话。
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38
random
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adj.随机的;任意的;n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 |
参考例句: |
- The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
- On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查,发现肉变质了。
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glibly
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adv.流利地,流畅地;满口 |
参考例句: |
- He glibly professed his ignorance of the affair. 他口口声声表白不知道这件事。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
- He put ashes on his head, apologized profusely, but then went glibly about his business. 他表示忏悔,满口道歉,但接着又故态复萌了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
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40
irritably
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ad.易生气地 |
参考例句: |
- He lost his temper and snapped irritably at the children. 他发火了,暴躁地斥责孩子们。
- On this account the silence was irritably broken by a reproof. 为了这件事,他妻子大声斥责,令人恼火地打破了宁静。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
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41
impunity
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n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除 |
参考例句: |
- You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
- The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。
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42
hatred
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n.憎恶,憎恨,仇恨 |
参考例句: |
- He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
- The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。
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43
vanquished
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v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 );战胜;克服;抑制 |
参考例句: |
- She had fought many battles, vanquished many foes. 她身经百战,挫败过很多对手。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- I vanquished her coldness with my assiduity. 我对她关心照顾从而消除了她的冷淡。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
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mettle
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n.勇气,精神 |
参考例句: |
- When the seas are in turmoil,heroes are on their mettle.沧海横流,方显出英雄本色。
- Each and every one of these soldiers has proved his mettle.这些战士个个都是好样的。
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45
determined
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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。
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