The day she discovered the third letter, she had of course expected nothing unusual. It was a typical midsummer day in Boston-hot, humid, with the same news that usually accompanied such weather-a few assaults brought on by aggravated¹ tensions and two early afternoon murders by people who had taken it too far.

Theresa was in the newsroom, researching a topic on autistic children. The Boston Times had an excellent database of articles published in previous years from a variety of magazines. Through her computer she could also access the library at Harvard University or Boston University, and the addition of literally² hundreds of thousands of articles they had at their disposal made any search much easier and less time-consuming than it had been even a few years ago. In a couple of hours she had been able to find almost thirty articles written in the last three years that had been published in journals she had never heard of, and six of the titles looked interesting enough to possibly use. Since she would be passing by Harvard on the way home, she decided³ to pick them up then.

As she was about to turn off her computer, a thought suddenly crossed her mind and she stopped. Why not? she asked herself. It's a long shot, but what can I lose? She sat down at her desk, accessed the database at Harvard again, and typed in the words

MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE

Because articles in the library system were indexed by subject or headline, she chose to scan by headlines to speed up the search. Subject searches usually produced more articles, but weeding through them was a laborious⁴ process, and she didn't have time to do it now. After hitting the return key, she leaned back and waited for the computer to retrieve⁵ the information she requested.

The response surprised her-a dozen different articles had been written on the subject in the last few years. Most of those were published by scientific journals, and their titles seemed to suggest that bottles were being used in various endeavors to learn about ocean currents.

Three articles seemed interesting, though, and she jotted⁶ down the titles, deciding to pick those up as well.

点击收听单词发音  

1 aggravated
使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火
参考例句：
If he aggravated me any more I shall hit him. 假如他再激怒我，我就要揍他。 Far from relieving my cough, the medicine aggravated it. 这药非但不镇咳，反而使我咳嗽得更厉害。

2 literally
adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实
参考例句：
He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。 Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

3 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。

4 laborious
adj.吃力的，努力的，不流畅
参考例句：
They had the laborious task of cutting down the huge tree.他们接受了伐大树的艰苦工作。 Ants and bees are laborious insects.蚂蚁与蜜蜂是勤劳的昆虫。

5 retrieve
vt.重新得到，收回；挽回，补救；检索
参考例句：
He was determined to retrieve his honor.他决心恢复名誉。 The men were trying to retrieve weapons left when the army abandoned the island.士兵们正试图找回军队从该岛撤退时留下的武器。

6 jotted
v.匆忙记下( jot的过去式和过去分词 )；草草记下，匆匆记下
参考例句：
I jotted down her name. 我匆忙记下了她的名字。 来自《简明英汉词典》 The policeman jotted down my address. 警察匆匆地将我的地址记下。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 memorable
adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的
参考例句：
This was indeed the most memorable day of my life.这的确是我一生中最值得怀念的日子。 The veteran soldier has fought many memorable battles.这个老兵参加过许多难忘的战斗。

8 doomed
命定的
参考例句：
The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。 A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。

9 folly
n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话
参考例句：
Learn wisdom by the folly of others.从别人的愚蠢行动中学到智慧。 Events proved the folly of such calculations.事情的进展证明了这种估计是愚蠢的。

10 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。

11 flipped
轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥
参考例句：
The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转，撞毁了。 The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。

12 retrieved
v.取回( retrieve的过去式和过去分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息）
参考例句：
Yesterday I retrieved the bag I left in the train. 昨天我取回了遗留在火车上的包。 来自《简明英汉词典》 He reached over and retrieved his jacket from the back seat. 他伸手从后座上取回了自己的夹克。 来自辞典例句

13 winced
赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
He winced as the dog nipped his ankle. 狗咬了他的脚腕子，疼得他龇牙咧嘴。 He winced as a sharp pain shot through his left leg. 他左腿一阵剧痛疼得他直龇牙咧嘴。

14 tightened
收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧
参考例句：
The rope holding the boat suddenly tightened and broke. 系船的绳子突然绷断了。 His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again. 他的食指扣住扳机，然后又松开了。

15 formulate
v.用公式表示；规划；设计；系统地阐述
参考例句：
He took care to formulate his reply very clearly.他字斟句酌，清楚地做了回答。 I was impressed by the way he could formulate his ideas.他陈述观点的方式让我印象深刻。

16 rejection
n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃
参考例句：
He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。 The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

17 maneuvered
v.移动，用策略( maneuver的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵
参考例句：
I maneuvered my way among the tables to the back corner of the place. 我在那些桌子间穿行，来到那地方后面的角落。 来自辞典例句 The admiral maneuvered his ships in the battle plan. 舰队司令按作战计划进行舰队演习。 来自辞典例句

18 obsess
vt.使着迷，使心神不定，（恶魔）困扰
参考例句：
I must admit that maps obsess me.我得承认我对地图十分着迷。 A string of scandals is obsessing America.美国正被一系列丑闻所困扰。

19 odds
n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别
参考例句：
The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。 Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

20 participation
n.参与，参加，分享
参考例句：
Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。 The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

21 shrugged
vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）
参考例句：
Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。 She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 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。

23 strand
vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地）
参考例句：
She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ears.她把一缕散发夹到了耳后。 The climbers had been stranded by a storm.登山者被暴风雨困住了。

24 scribbled
v.潦草的书写( scribble的过去式和过去分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下
参考例句：
She scribbled his phone number on a scrap of paper. 她把他的电话号码匆匆写在一张小纸片上。 He scribbled a note to his sister before leaving. 临行前，他给妹妹草草写了一封短信。

25 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。

26 eyebrow
n.眉毛，眉
参考例句：
Her eyebrow is well penciled.她的眉毛画得很好。 With an eyebrow raised,he seemed divided between surprise and amusement.他一只眉毛扬了扬，似乎既感到吃惊，又觉有趣。

27 wafted
v.吹送，飘送，（使）浮动( waft的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
The sound of their voices wafted across the lake. 他们的声音飘过湖面传到了另一边。 A delicious smell of freshly baked bread wafted across the garden. 花园中飘过一股刚出炉面包的香味。 来自《简明英汉词典》

28 profusely
ad.abundantly
参考例句：
We were sweating profusely from the exertion of moving the furniture. 我们搬动家具大费气力，累得大汗淋漓。 He had been working hard and was perspiring profusely. 他一直在努力干活，身上大汗淋漓的。

29 victorious
adj.胜利的，得胜的
参考例句：
We are certain to be victorious.我们定会胜利。 The victorious army returned in triumph.获胜的部队凯旋而归。

30 accomplished
adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的
参考例句：
Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。 Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

31 smirk
n.得意地笑；v.傻笑；假笑着说
参考例句：
He made no attempt to conceal his smirk.他毫不掩饰自鸣得意的笑容。 She had a selfsatisfied smirk on her face.她脸上带着自鸣得意的微笑。