Three
A D EATH IN THE H OTEL
M iss Marple had her breakfast brought to her in bed as usual. Tea, a boiled egg, and a slice of pawpaw.
The fruit on the island, thought Miss Marple, was rather disappointing. It seemed always to be pawpaw. If shecould have a nice apple now—but apples seemed to be unknown.
Now that she had been here a week, Miss Marple had cured herself of the impulse to ask what the weather waslike. The weather was always the same—fine. No interesting variations.
“The many-splendoured weather of an English day,” she murmured to herself and wondered if it was a quotation,or whether she had made it up.
There were, of course, hurricanes, or so she understood. But hurricanes were not weather in Miss Marple’s sense ofthe word. They were more in the nature of an Act of God. There was rain, short violent rainfall that lasted five minutesand stopped abruptly¹. Everything and everyone was wringing² wet, but in another five minutes they were dry again.
The black West Indian girl smiled and said Good Morning as she placed the tray on Miss Marple’s knees. Suchlovely white teeth and so happy and smiling. Nice natures, all these girls, and a pity they were so averse³ to gettingmarried. It worried Canon Prescott a good deal. Plenty of christenings, he said, trying to console himself, but noweddings.
Miss Marple ate her breakfast and decided⁴ how she would spend her day. It didn’t really take much deciding. Shewould get up at her leisure, moving slowly because it was rather hot and her fingers weren’t as nimble as they used tobe. Then she would rest for ten minutes or so, and she would take her knitting and walk slowly along towards the hoteland decide where she would settle herself. On the terrace overlooking the sea? Or should she go on to the bathingbeach to watch the bathers and the children? Usually it was the latter. In the afternoon, after her rest, she might take adrive. It really didn’t matter very much.
Today would be a day like any other day, she said to herself.
Only, of course, it wasn’t.
Miss Marple carried out her programme as planned and was slowly making her way along the path towards thehotel when she met Molly Kendal. For once that sunny young woman was not smiling. Her air of distress

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1 abruptly
adv.突然地，出其不意地
参考例句：
He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。 I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

2 wringing
淋湿的，湿透的
参考例句：
He was wringing wet after working in the field in the hot sun. 烈日下在田里干活使他汗流满面。 He is wringing out the water from his swimming trunks. 他正在把游泳裤中的水绞出来。

3 averse
adj.厌恶的；反对的，不乐意的
参考例句：
I don't smoke cigarettes,but I'm not averse to the occasional cigar.我不吸烟，但我不反对偶尔抽一支雪茄。 We are averse to such noisy surroundings.我们不喜欢这么吵闹的环境。

4 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。

5 distress
n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛
参考例句：
Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。 Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

6 horrid
adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的
参考例句：
I'm not going to the horrid dinner party.我不打算去参加这次讨厌的宴会。 The medicine is horrid and she couldn't get it down.这种药很难吃，她咽不下去。

7 depressed
adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的
参考例句：
When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。 His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

8 diabetes
n.糖尿病
参考例句：
In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。 Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

9 retired
adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的
参考例句：
The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。 Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

10 straightforward
adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的
参考例句：
A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。 I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

11 overdo
vt.把...做得过头，演得过火
参考例句：
Do not overdo your privilege of reproving me.不要过分使用责备我的特权。 The taxi drivers' association is urging its members,who can work as many hours as they want,not to overdo it.出租车司机协会劝告那些工作时长不受限制的会员不要疲劳驾驶。

12 kindly
adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地
参考例句：
Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。 A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

13 unnatural
adj.不自然的；反常的
参考例句：
Did her behaviour seem unnatural in any way?她有任何反常表现吗？ She has an unnatural smile on her face.她脸上挂着做作的微笑。

14 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。