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The man behind the desk moved a heavy glass paperweight four inches tothe right. His face was not so much thoughtful or abstracted as expression-less. He had the pale complexion1 that comes from living most of the day inartificial light. This man, you felt, was an indoor man. A man of desks andfiles. The fact that to reach his office you had to walk through long twist-ing underground corridors was somehow strangely appropriate. It wouldhave been difficult to guess his age. He looked neither old nor young. Hisface was smooth and unwrinkled, and in his eyes was a great tiredness.
The other man in the room was older. He was dark with a small militarymoustache. There was about him an alert nervous energy. Even now, un-able to sit still, he was pacing up and down, from time to time throwing offa remark in a jerky manner.
“Reports!” he said explosively. “Reports, reports and more reports, andnone of them any damn’ good!” The man at the desk looked down at thepapers in front of him. On top was an official card headed, “Betterton,Thomas Charles.” After the name was an interrogation mark. The man atthe desk nodded thoughtfully. He said:
“You’ve followed up these reports and none of them any good?” Theother shrugged2 his shoulders.
“How can one tell?” he asked.
The man behind the desk sighed.
“Yes,” he said, “there is that. One can’t tell, really.” The older man wenton with a kind of machine-gun volley abruptness3:
“Reports from Rome; reports from Touraine; seen on the Riviera; no-ticed in Antwerp; definitely identified in Oslo; positively4 seen in Biarritz;observed behaving suspiciously in Strasbourg; seen on the beach at Os-tend with a glamorous5 blonde; noticed walking in the streets in Brusselswith a greyhound! Hasn’t been seen yet in the Zoo with his arm round azebra, but I dare say that will come!”
“You’ve no particular fancy yourself, Wharton? Personally I had hopesof the Antwerp report, but it hasn’t led to anything. Of course by now—”
the young man stopped speaking and seemed to go into a
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1
complexion
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n.肤色;情况,局面;气质,性格 | |
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2
shrugged
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vt.耸肩(shrug的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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3
abruptness
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n. 突然,唐突 | |
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4
positively
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adv.明确地,断然,坚决地;实在,确实 | |
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5
glamorous
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adj.富有魅力的;美丽动人的;令人向往的 | |
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6
coma
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n.昏迷,昏迷状态 | |
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7
cryptically
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abruptly
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adv.突然地,出其不意地 | |
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9
insistently
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ad.坚持地 | |
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10
lasting
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adj.永久的,永恒的;vbl.持续,维持 | |
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11
fission
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n.裂开;分裂生殖 | |
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12
solicitor
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n.初级律师,事务律师 | |
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13
molecule
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n.分子,克分子 | |
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14
thoroughly
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adv.完全地,彻底地,十足地 | |
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15
cloistered
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adj.隐居的,躲开尘世纷争的v.隐退,使与世隔绝( cloister的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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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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perfectly
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adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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18
ravages
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劫掠后的残迹,破坏的结果,毁坏后的残迹 | |
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abstained
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v.戒(尤指酒),戒除( abstain的过去式和过去分词 );弃权(不投票) | |
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soothingly
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adv.抚慰地,安慰地;镇痛地 | |
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21
apparently
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adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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ascertained
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v.弄清,确定,查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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23
vehemence
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n.热切;激烈;愤怒 | |
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deliberately
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adv.审慎地;蓄意地;故意地 | |
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depressed
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adj.沮丧的,抑郁的,不景气的,萧条的 | |
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sewer
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n.排水沟,下水道 | |
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democrat
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n.民主主义者,民主人士;民主党党员 | |
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crux
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adj.十字形;难事,关键,最重要点 | |
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sifted
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v.筛( sift的过去式和过去分词 );筛滤;细查;详审 | |
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exacting
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adj.苛求的,要求严格的 | |
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stolidly
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adv.迟钝地,神经麻木地 | |
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qualms
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n.不安;内疚 | |
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constructive
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adj.建设的,建设性的 | |
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34
scrap
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n.碎片;废料;v.废弃,报废 | |
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reassuringly
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ad.安心,可靠 | |
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discreetly
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ad.(言行)审慎地,慎重地 | |
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jotted
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v.匆忙记下( jot的过去式和过去分词 );草草记下,匆匆记下 | |
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disarming
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adj.消除敌意的,使人消气的v.裁军( disarm的现在分词 );使息怒 | |
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placidity
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n.平静,安静,温和 | |
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disappearance
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n.消失,消散,失踪 | |
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labyrinth
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n.迷宫;难解的事物;迷路 | |
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42
fumbled
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(笨拙地)摸索或处理(某事物)( fumble的过去式和过去分词 ); 乱摸,笨拙地弄; 使落下 | |
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43
entirely
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ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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buzzer
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n.蜂鸣器;汽笛 | |
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