The People of the Abyss 深渊居民
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Chapter 17 Inefficiency

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I stopped a moment to listen to an argument on the Mile End Waste. It was night-time, and they were all workmen of the better class. They had surrounded one of their number, a pleasant-faced man of thirty, and were giving it to him rather heatedly.

“But ’ow about this ’ere cheap immigration?” one of them demanded. “The Jews of Whitechapel, say, a-cutting our throats right along?”

“You can’t blame them,” was the answer. “They’re just like us, and they’ve got to live. Don’t blame the man who offers to work cheaper than you and gets your job.”

“But ’ow about the wife an’ kiddies?” his interlocutor demanded.

“There you are,” came the answer. “How about the wife and kiddies of the man who works cheaper than you and gets your job? Eh? How about his wife and kiddies? He’s more interested in them than in yours, and he can’t see them starve. So he cuts the price of labour and out you go. But you mustn’t blame him, poor devil. He can’t help it. Wages always come down when two men are after the same job. That’s the fault of competition, not of the man who cuts the price.”

“But wyges don’t come down where there’s a union,” the objection was made.

“And there you are again, right on the head. The union cheeks competition among the labourers, but makes it harder where there are no unions. There’s where your cheap labour of Whitechapel comes in. They’re unskilled, and have no unions, and cut each other’s throats, and ours in the bargain, if we don’t belong to a strong union.”

Without going further into the argument, this man on the Mile End Waste pointed1 the moral that when two men were after the one job wages were bound to fall. Had he gone deeper into the matter, he would have found that even the union, say twenty thousand strong, could not hold up wages if twenty thousand idle men were trying to displace the union men. This is admirably instanced, just now, by the return and disbandment of the soldiers from South Africa. They find themselves, by tens of thousands, in desperate straits in the army of the unemployed2. There is a general decline in wages throughout the land, which, giving rise to labour disputes and strikes, is taken advantage of by the unemployed, who gladly pick up the tools thrown down by the strikers.

Sweating, starvation wages, armies of unemployed, and great numbers of the homeless and shelterless are
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1 pointed Il8zB4     
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。
2 unemployed lfIz5Q     
adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的
参考例句：
  • There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
  • The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。
3 inevitable 5xcyq     
adj.不可避免的，必然发生的
参考例句：
  • Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
  • The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。
4 spikes jhXzrc     
n.穗( spike的名词复数 )；跑鞋；（防滑）鞋钉；尖状物v.加烈酒于( spike的第三人称单数 )；偷偷地给某人的饮料加入（更多）酒精（ 或药物）；把尖状物钉入；打乱某人的计划
参考例句：
  • a row of iron spikes on a wall 墙头的一排尖铁
  • There is a row of spikes on top of the prison wall to prevent the prisoners escaping. 监狱墙头装有一排尖钉，以防犯人逃跑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
5 pegs 6e3949e2f13b27821b0b2a5124975625     
n.衣夹( peg的名词复数 )；挂钉；系帐篷的桩；弦钮v.用夹子或钉子固定( peg的第三人称单数 )；使固定在某水平
参考例句：
  • She hung up the shirt with two (clothes) pegs. 她用两只衣夹挂上衬衫。 来自辞典例句
  • The vice-presidents were all square pegs in round holes. 各位副总裁也都安排得不得其所。 来自辞典例句
6 sufficiently 0htzMB     
adv.足够地，充分地
参考例句：
  • It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
  • The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。
7 depicted f657dbe7a96d326c889c083bf5fcaf24     
描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述
参考例句：
  • Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
  • They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。
8 exhaustion OPezL     
n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述
参考例句：
  • She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
  • His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了，显然是太累了。
9 ward LhbwY     
n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开
参考例句：
  • The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
  • During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。
10 miserable g18yk     
adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的
参考例句：
  • It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
  • Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。
11 shun 6EIzc     
vt.避开，回避，避免
参考例句：
  • Materialists face truth,whereas idealists shun it.唯物主义者面向真理，唯心主义者则逃避真理。
  • This extremist organization has shunned conventional politics.这个极端主义组织有意避开了传统政治。
12 aged 6zWzdI     
adj.年老的，陈年的
参考例句：
  • He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
  • He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。
13 mightily ZoXzT6     
ad.强烈地；非常地
参考例句：
  • He hit the peg mightily on the top with a mallet. 他用木槌猛敲木栓顶。
  • This seemed mightily to relieve him. 干完这件事后，他似乎轻松了许多。
14 abominably 71996a6a63478f424db0cdd3fd078878     
adv. 可恶地，可恨地，恶劣地
参考例句：
  • From her own point of view Barbara had behaved abominably. 在她看来，芭芭拉的表现是恶劣的。
  • He wanted to know how abominably they could behave towards him. 他希望能知道他们能用什么样的卑鄙手段来对付他。
15 inefficiency N7Xxn     
n.无效率，无能；无效率事例
参考例句：
  • Conflict between management and workers makes for inefficiency in the workplace. 资方与工人之间的冲突使得工厂生产效率很低。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • This type of inefficiency arises because workers and management are ill-equipped. 出现此种低效率是因为工人与管理层都能力不足。 来自《简明英汉词典》
16 descend descend     
vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降
参考例句：
  • I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
  • We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。
17 fabric 3hezG     
n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织
参考例句：
  • The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
  • I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。
18 shambles LElzo     
n.混乱之处；废墟
参考例句：
  • My room is a shambles.我房间里乱七八糟。
  • The fighting reduced the city to a shambles.这场战斗使这座城市成了一片废墟。
19 miserably zDtxL     
adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地
参考例句：
  • The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。
  • It was drizzling, and miserably cold and damp. 外面下着毛毛细雨，天气又冷又湿，令人难受。 来自《简明英汉词典》
20 inefficient c76xm     
adj.效率低的，无效的
参考例句：
  • The inefficient operation cost the firm a lot of money.低效率的运作使该公司损失了许多钱。
  • Their communication systems are inefficient in the extreme.他们的通讯系统效率非常差。
21 wrecks 8d69da0aee97ed3f7157e10ff9dbd4ae     
n.沉船( wreck的名词复数 )；（事故中）遭严重毁坏的汽车（或飞机等）；（身体或精神上）受到严重损伤的人；状况非常糟糕的车辆（或建筑物等）v.毁坏[毁灭]某物( wreck的第三人称单数 )；使（船舶）失事，使遇难，使下沉
参考例句：
  • The shores are strewn with wrecks. 海岸上满布失事船只的残骸。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • My next care was to get together the wrecks of my fortune. 第二件我所关心的事就是集聚破产后的余财。 来自辞典例句
22 wrecking 569d12118e0563e68cd62a97c094afbd     
破坏
参考例句：
  • He teed off on his son for wrecking the car. 他严厉训斥他儿子毁坏了汽车。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Instead of wrecking the valley, the waters are put to use making electricity. 现在河水不但不在流域内肆疟，反而被人们用来生产电力。 来自辞典例句
23 wrenched c171af0af094a9c29fad8d3390564401     
v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛
参考例句：
  • The bag was wrenched from her grasp. 那只包从她紧握的手里被夺了出来。
  • He wrenched the book from her hands. 他从她的手中把书拧抢了过来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
24 fouled e3aea4b0e24d5219b3ee13ab76c137ae     
v.使污秽( foul的过去式和过去分词 )；弄脏；击球出界；（通常用废物）弄脏
参考例句：
  • Blue suit and reddish-brown socks!He had fouled up again. 蓝衣服和红褐色短袜！他又搞错了。
  • The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories. 整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。
25 elimination 3qexM     
n.排除，消除，消灭
参考例句：
  • Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
  • I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。
26 stamina br8yJ     
n.体力；精力；耐力
参考例句：
  • I lacked the stamina to run the whole length of the race.我没有跑完全程的耐力。
  • Giving up smoking had a magical effect on his stamina.戒烟神奇地增强了他的体力。
27 numbing ae96aa62e5bdbc7fc11dd1b0f158c93e     
adj.使麻木的，使失去感觉的v.使麻木，使麻痹( numb的现在分词 )
参考例句：
  • Watching television had a numbing effect on his mind. 看电视使他头脑麻木。
  • It was numbing work, requiring patience and dedication. 这是一种令人麻木的工作，需要有耐心和忘我精神。 来自辞典例句
28 frightful Ghmxw     
adj.可怕的；讨厌的
参考例句：
  • How frightful to have a husband who snores!有一个发鼾声的丈夫多讨厌啊！
  • We're having frightful weather these days.这几天天气坏极了。
29 asylum DobyD     
n.避难所，庇护所，避难
参考例句：
  • The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
  • Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。
30 tempted b0182e969d369add1b9ce2353d3c6ad6     
v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）
参考例句：
  • I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
  • I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。
31 inmate l4cyN     
n.被收容者；(房屋等的)居住人；住院人
参考例句：
  • I am an inmate of that hospital.我住在那家医院。
  • The prisoner is his inmate.那个囚犯和他同住一起。
32 stationary CuAwc     
adj.固定的，静止不动的
参考例句：
  • A stationary object is easy to be aimed at.一个静止不动的物体是容易瞄准的。
  • Wait until the bus is stationary before you get off.你要等公共汽车停稳了再下车。
33 revolved b63ebb9b9e407e169395c5fc58399fe6     
v.（使）旋转( revolve的过去式和过去分词 )；细想
参考例句：
  • The fan revolved slowly. 电扇缓慢地转动着。
  • The wheel revolved on its centre. 轮子绕中心转动。 来自《简明英汉词典》
34 superfluous EU6zf     
adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的
参考例句：
  • She fined away superfluous matter in the design. 她删去了这图案中多余的东西。
  • That request seemed superfluous when I wrote it.我这样写的时候觉得这个请求似乎是多此一举。
35 determined duszmP     
adj.坚定的；有决心的
参考例句：
  • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
  • He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
36 equilibrium jiazs     
n.平衡，均衡，相称，均势，平静
参考例句：
  • Change in the world around us disturbs our inner equilibrium.我们周围世界的变化扰乱了我们内心的平静。
  • This is best expressed in the form of an equilibrium constant.这最好用平衡常数的形式来表示。
37 previously bkzzzC     
adv.以前，先前（地）
参考例句：
  • The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
  • Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。
38 doomed EuuzC1     
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。

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