Chapter 15
　　‘My preparations are complete,’ said Hercule Poirot.
　　With a little sigh he stepped back a pace or two and contemplated¹ his arrangement of one of theunoccupied hotel bedrooms.
　　Colonel Carbury, leaning inelegantly against the bed which had been pushed against the wall,smiled as he puffed² at his pipe. ‘Funny feller, aren’t you, Poirot?’ he said. ‘Like to dramatize things.’
　　‘Perhaps—that is true,’ admitted the little detective. ‘But indeed it is not all self-indulgence. Ifone plays a comedy, one must first set the scene.’
　　‘Is this a comedy?’
　　‘Even if it is a tragedy—there, too, the décor must be correct.’
　　Colonel Carbury looked at him curiously³.
　　‘Well,’ he said, ‘it’s up to you! I don’t know what you’re driving at. I gather, though, thatyou’ve got something.’
　　‘I shall have the honour to present to you what you asked me for—the truth!’
　　‘Do you think we can get a conviction?’
　　‘That, my friend, I did not promise you.’
　　‘True enough. Maybe I’m glad you haven’t. It depends.’
　　‘My arguments are mainly psychological,’ said Poirot.
　　Colonel Carbury sighed. ‘I was afraid they might be.’
　　‘But they will convince you,’ Poirot reassured⁵ him. ‘Oh, yes, they will convince you. The truth,I have always thought, is curious and beautiful.’
　　‘Sometimes,’ said Colonel Carbury, ‘it’s damned unpleasant.’
　　‘No, no.’ Poirot was earnest. ‘You take there the personal view. Take instead the abstract, thedetached point of vision. Then the absolute logic⁴ of events is fascinating and orderly.’
　　‘I’ll try to look on it that way,’ said the Colonel.
　　Poirot glanced at his watch, a large grotesque

首页  上一页 [1] [2]  [3]  下一页  尾页

点击收听单词发音  

1 contemplated
adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式
参考例句：
The doctor contemplated the difficult operation he had to perform. 医生仔细地考虑他所要做的棘手的手术。 The government has contemplated reforming the entire tax system. 政府打算改革整个税收体制。

2 puffed
adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧
参考例句：
He lit a cigarette and puffed at it furiously. 他点燃了一支香烟，狂吸了几口。 来自《简明英汉词典》 He felt grown-up, puffed up with self-importance. 他觉得长大了，便自以为了不起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 curiously
adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地
参考例句：
He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。 He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

4 logic
n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性
参考例句：
What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？ I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

5 reassured
adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词)
参考例句：
The captain's confidence during the storm reassured the passengers. 在风暴中船长的信念使旅客们恢复了信心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》 The doctor reassured the old lady. 医生叫那位老妇人放心。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 grotesque
adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物）
参考例句：
His face has a grotesque appearance.他的面部表情十分怪。 Her account of the incident was a grotesque distortion of the truth.她对这件事的陈述是荒诞地歪曲了事实。

7 turnip
n.萝卜，芜菁
参考例句：
The turnip provides nutrition for you.芜菁为你提供营养。 A turnip is a root vegetable.芜菁是根茎类植物。

8 grunted
（猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说
参考例句：
She just grunted, not deigning to look up from the page. 她只咕哝了一声，继续看书，不屑抬起头来看一眼。 She grunted some incomprehensible reply. 她咕噜着回答了些令人费解的话。

9 prosecution
n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营
参考例句：
The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。 He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

10 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。

11 gathering
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。

12 pugnaciously
参考例句：

13 gracefully
ad.大大方方地；优美地
参考例句：
She sank gracefully down onto a cushion at his feet. 她优雅地坐到他脚旁的垫子上。 The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line. 新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

14 spoke
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。

15 eminent
adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的
参考例句：
We are expecting the arrival of an eminent scientist.我们正期待一位著名科学家的来访。 He is an eminent citizen of China.他是一个杰出的中国公民。

16 noted
adj.著名的，知名的
参考例句：
The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。 Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

17 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。

18 disappearance
n.消失，消散，失踪
参考例句：
He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。 Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

19 puncture
n.刺孔，穿孔；v.刺穿，刺破
参考例句：
Failure did not puncture my confidence.失败并没有挫伤我的信心。 My bicycle had a puncture and needed patching up.我的自行车胎扎了个洞，需要修补。

20 investigations
（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究
参考例句：
His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。 He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

21 huddled
挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式）
参考例句：
We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。 We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。

22 guilt
n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责
参考例句：
She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。 Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

23 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。

24 motive
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。

25 attain
vt.达到，获得，完成
参考例句：
I used the scientific method to attain this end. 我用科学的方法来达到这一目的。 His painstaking to attain his goal in life is praiseworthy. 他为实现人生目标所下的苦功是值得称赞的。

26 neatly
adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地
参考例句：
Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。 The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

27 pointed
adj.尖的，直截了当的
参考例句：
He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。 She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

28 recipient
a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器
参考例句：
Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。 Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。

29 possessed
adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的
参考例句：
He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。 He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

30 steadily
adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地
参考例句：
The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。 Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

31 irreconcilable
adj.（指人）难和解的，势不两立的
参考例句：
These practices are irreconcilable with the law of the Church.这种做法与教规是相悖的。 These old concepts are irreconcilable with modern life.这些陈旧的观念与现代生活格格不入。

32 mellowed
（使）成熟( mellow的过去式和过去分词 )； 使色彩更加柔和，使酒更加醇香
参考例句：
She's mellowed over the years. 这些年来他变得成熟了。 The colours mellowed as the sun went down. 随着太阳的落去，色泽变得柔和了。

33 softened
（使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰
参考例句：
His smile softened slightly. 他的微笑稍柔和了些。 The ice cream softened and began to melt. 冰淇淋开始变软并开始融化。

34 psychology
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。

35 deliberately
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。

36 idiotic
adj.白痴的
参考例句：
It is idiotic to go shopping with no money.去买东西而不带钱是很蠢的。 The child's idiotic deeds caused his family much trouble.那小孩愚蠢的行为给家庭带来许多麻烦。

37 flustered
adj.慌张的；激动不安的v.使慌乱，使不安( fluster的过去式和过去分词)
参考例句：
The honking of horns flustered the boy. 汽车喇叭的叫声使男孩感到慌乱。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》 She was so flustered that she forgot her reply. 她太紧张了，都忘记了该如何作答。 来自辞典例句

38 sweeping
adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的
参考例句：
The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。 Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

39 envisages
想像，设想( envisage的第三人称单数 )
参考例句：
The board envisages that there will be a high profit. 董事会预期将会获得高额利润。 The paper reviews and envisages the development trend of carbon electrode. 本文对炭电极的发展方向做了回顾与展望。

40 tout
v.推销，招徕；兜售；吹捧，劝诱
参考例句：
They say it will let them tout progress in the war.他们称这将有助于鼓吹他们在战争中的成果。 If your case studies just tout results,don't bother requiring registration to view them.如果你的案例研究只是吹捧结果，就别烦扰别人来注册访问了。

41 heroism
n.大无畏精神，英勇
参考例句：
He received a medal for his heroism.他由于英勇而获得一枚奖章。 Stories of his heroism resounded through the country.他的英雄故事传遍全国。

42 perfectly
adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地
参考例句：
The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。 Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

43 distressed
痛苦的
参考例句：
He was too distressed and confused to answer their questions. 他非常苦恼而困惑，无法回答他们的问题。 The news of his death distressed us greatly. 他逝世的消息使我们极为悲痛。

44 innocence
n.无罪；天真；无害
参考例句：
There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。 The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

45 scrupulously
adv.一丝不苟地；小心翼翼地，多顾虑地
参考例句：
She toed scrupulously into the room. 她小心翼翼地踮着脚走进房间。 来自辞典例句 To others he would be scrupulously fair. 对待别人，他力求公正。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史

46 expediency
n.适宜；方便；合算；利己
参考例句：
The government is torn between principle and expediency. 政府在原则与权宜之间难于抉择。 来自《简明英汉词典》 It was difficult to strike the right balance between justice and expediency. 在公正与私利之间很难两全。 来自辞典例句

47 liar
n.说谎的人
参考例句：
I know you for a thief and a liar!我算认识你了，一个又偷又骗的家伙！ She was wrongly labelled a liar.她被错误地扣上说谎者的帽子。

分享到：