Thirteen
Although Tuppence went to bed in an optimistic frame of mind, shesuffered a severe reaction in those waking hours of early dawn when hu-man morale¹ sinks to its lowest.
On descending² to breakfast, however, her spirits were raised by thesight of a letter sitting on her plate addressed in a painfully backhandedscript.
This was no communication from Douglas, Raymond or Cyril, or anyother of the camouflaged³ correspondence that arrived punctually for her,and which included this morning a brightly coloured Bonzo postcard witha scrawled⁴, “Sorry I haven’t written before. All well, Maudie,” on it.
Tuppence thrust this aside and opened the letter.
“Dear Patricia (it ran),
“Auntie Grace is, I am afraid, much worse today. The doc-tors do not actually say she is sinking, but I am afraid thatthere cannot be much hope. If you want to see her beforethe end I think it would be well to come today. If you willtake the 10:20 train to Yarrow, a friend will meet you withhis car.
“Shall look forward to seeing you again, dear, in spite ofthe melancholy⁵ reason.
“Yours ever,
“Penelope Playne.”
It was all Tuppence could do to restrain her jubilation⁶.
Good old Penny Plain!
With some difficulty she assumed a mourning expression—and sighedheavily as she laid the letter down.
To the two sympathetic listeners present, Mrs. O’Rourke and Miss Min-ton, she imparted the contents of the letter, and enlarged freely on the per-sonality of Aunt Gracie, her indomitable spirit, her indifference⁷ to airraids and danger, and her vanquishment by illness. Miss Minton tended tobe curious as to the exact nature of Aunt Gracie’s sufferings, and com-pared them interestedly with the diseases of her own cousin Selina. Tup-pence, hovering

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1 morale
n.道德准则，士气，斗志
参考例句：
The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。 He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

2 descending
n. 下行 adj. 下降的
参考例句：
The results are expressed in descending numerical order . 结果按数字降序列出。 The climbers stopped to orient themselves before descending the mountain. 登山者先停下来确定所在的位置，然后再下山。

3 camouflaged
v.隐蔽( camouflage的过去式和过去分词 )；掩盖；伪装，掩饰
参考例句：
We camouflaged in the bushes and no one saw us. 我们隐藏在灌木丛中没有被人发现。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》 They camouflaged in bushes. 他们隐蔽在灌木丛中。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 scrawled
乱涂，潦草地写( scrawl的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
I tried to read his directions, scrawled on a piece of paper. 我尽量弄明白他草草写在一片纸上的指示。 Tom scrawled on his slate, "Please take it -- I got more." 汤姆在他的写字板上写了几个字：“请你收下吧，我多得是哩。”

5 melancholy
n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的
参考例句：
All at once he fell into a state of profound melancholy.他立即陷入无尽的忧思之中。 He felt melancholy after he failed the exam.这次考试没通过，他感到很郁闷。

6 jubilation
n.欢庆，喜悦
参考例句：
The goal was greeted by jubilation from the home fans.主场球迷为进球欢呼。 The whole city was a scene of jubilation.全市一片欢腾。

7 indifference
n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎
参考例句：
I was disappointed by his indifference more than somewhat.他的漠不关心使我很失望。 He feigned indifference to criticism of his work.他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。

8 hovering
鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫
参考例句：
The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。 I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。

9 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。

10 avid
adj.热心的；贪婪的；渴望的；劲头十足的
参考例句：
He is rich,but he is still avid of more money.他很富有,但他还想贪图更多的钱。 She was avid for praise from her coach.那女孩渴望得到教练的称赞。

11 pecuniarily
adv.在金钱上，在金钱方面
参考例句：

12 harassed
adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词
参考例句：
He has complained of being harassed by the police. 他投诉受到警方侵扰。 harassed mothers with their children 带着孩子的疲惫不堪的母亲们

13 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。

14 outraged
a.震惊的，义愤填膺的
参考例句：
Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。 He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

15 spasm
n.痉挛，抽搐；一阵发作
参考例句：
When the spasm passed,it left him weak and sweating.一阵痉挛之后，他虚弱无力，一直冒汗。 He kicked the chair in a spasm of impatience.他突然变得不耐烦，一脚踢向椅子。

16 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。

17 doorway
n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径
参考例句：
They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。 Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

18 aperture
n.孔，隙，窄的缺口
参考例句：
The only light came through a narrow aperture.仅有的光亮来自一个小孔。 We saw light through a small aperture in the wall.我们透过墙上的小孔看到了亮光。

19 slate
n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订
参考例句：
The nominating committee laid its slate before the board.提名委员会把候选人名单提交全体委员会讨论。 What kind of job uses stained wood and slate? 什么工作会接触木头污浊和石板呢？

20 wretches
n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 )；可怜的人；恶棍；坏蛋
参考例句：
The little wretches were all bedraggledfrom some roguery. 小淘气们由于恶作剧而弄得脏乎乎的。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》 The best courage for us poor wretches is to fly from danger. 对我们这些可怜虫说来，最好的出路还是躲避危险。 来自辞典例句

21 fascist
adj.法西斯主义的；法西斯党的；n.法西斯主义者，法西斯分子
参考例句：
The strikers were roughed up by the fascist cops.罢工工人遭到法西斯警察的殴打。 They succeeded in overthrowing the fascist dictatorship.他们成功推翻了法西斯独裁统治。

22 intrigued
adj.好奇的，被迷住了的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的过去式)；激起…的兴趣或好奇心；“intrigue”的过去式和过去分词
参考例句：
You've really intrigued me—tell me more! 你说的真有意思—再给我讲一些吧！ He was intrigued by her story. 他被她的故事迷住了。

23 vaguely
adv.含糊地，暖昧地
参考例句：
He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。 He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面，对一切都视而不见。

24 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。

25 vexing
adj.使人烦恼的，使人恼火的v.使烦恼( vex的现在分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论
参考例句：
It is vexing to have to wait a long time for him. 长时间地等他真使人厌烦。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》 Lately a vexing problem had grown infuriatingly worse. 最近发生了一个讨厌的问题，而且严重到令人发指的地步。 来自辞典例句

26 surmising
v.臆测，推断( surmise的现在分词 )；揣测；猜想
参考例句：
Fanny's heart beat quick, and she felt quite unequal to surmising or soliciting any more. 范妮的心跳得快了起来，她不敢猜测她往下讲些什么，也不敢求她再往下讲。 来自辞典例句

27 ferocious
adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的
参考例句：
The ferocious winds seemed about to tear the ship to pieces.狂风仿佛要把船撕成碎片似的。 The ferocious panther is chasing a rabbit.那只凶猛的豹子正追赶一只兔子。

28 mischievous
adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的
参考例句：
He is a mischievous but lovable boy.他是一个淘气但可爱的小孩。 A mischievous cur must be tied short.恶狗必须拴得短。

29 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。

30 artistically
adv.艺术性地
参考例句：
The book is beautifully printed and artistically bound. 这本书印刷精美，装帧高雅。 The room is artistically decorated. 房间布置得很美观。

31 dressing
n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料
参考例句：
Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。 The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

32 puddle
n.(雨)水坑，泥潭
参考例句：
The boy hopped the mud puddle and ran down the walk.这个男孩跳过泥坑，沿着人行道跑了。 She tripped over and landed in a puddle.她绊了一下，跌在水坑里。

33 apparently
adv.显然地；表面上，似乎
参考例句：
An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。 He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

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