A LITTLE change in the weather. The rain still continues, but the wind is not quite so high. Have I any reason to believe, because it is calmer on land, that it is also calmer at sea? Perhaps not. But my mind is scarcely so uneasy to-day, nevertheless.

I had looked over the newspaper with the usual result, and had laid it down with the customary sense of disappointment, when Jessie handed me a letter which she had received that morning. It was written by her aunt, and it upbraided¹ her in the highly exaggerated terms which ladies love to employ, where any tender interests of their own are concerned, for her long silence and her long absence from home. Home! I thought of my poor boy and of the one hope on which all his happiness rested, and I felt jealous of the word when I saw it used persuasively² in a letter to our guest. What right had any one to mention “home” to her until George had spoken first?

“I must answer it by return of post,” said Jessie, with a tone of sorrow in her voice for which my heart warmed to her. “You have been very kind to me; you have taken more pains to interest and amuse me than I am worth. I can laugh about most things, but I can’t laugh about going away. I am honestly and sincerely too grateful for that.”

She paused, came round to where I was sitting, perched herself on the end of the table, and, resting her hands on my shoulders, added gently:

“It must be the day after to-morrow, must it not?”

I could not trust myself to answer. If I had spoken, I should have betrayed George’s secret in spite of myself.

“To-morrow is the tenth day,” she went on, softly. “It looks so selfish and so ungrateful to go the moment I have heard the last of the stories, that I am quite distressed³ at being obliged to enter on the subject at all. And yet, what choice is left me? what can I do when my aunt writes to me in that way?”

She took up the letter again, and looked at it so ruefully that I drew her head a little nearer to me, and gratefully kissed the smooth white forehead.

“If your aunt is only half as anxious to see you again, my love, as I am to see my son, I must forgive her for taking you away from us.” The words came from me without premeditation. It was not calculation this time, but sheer instinct that impelled

首页  上一页 [1] [2]  [3]  下一页  尾页

点击收听单词发音  

1 upbraided
v.责备，申斥，谴责( upbraid的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
The captain upbraided his men for falling asleep. 上尉因他的部下睡着了而斥责他们。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》 My wife upbraided me for not earning more money. 我的太太为了我没有赚更多的钱而责备我。 来自辞典例句

2 persuasively
adv.口才好地；令人信服地
参考例句：
Students find that all historians argue reasonably and persuasively. 学生们发现所有的历史学家都争论得有条有理，并且很有说服力。 来自辞典例句 He spoke a very persuasively but I smelled a rat and refused his offer. 他说得头头是道，但我觉得有些可疑，于是拒绝了他的建议。 来自辞典例句

3 distressed
痛苦的
参考例句：
He was too distressed and confused to answer their questions. 他非常苦恼而困惑，无法回答他们的问题。 The news of his death distressed us greatly. 他逝世的消息使我们极为悲痛。

4 impelled
v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
He felt impelled to investigate further. 他觉得有必要作进一步调查。 I feel impelled to express grave doubts about the project. 我觉得不得不对这项计划深表怀疑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 fixed
adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的
参考例句：
Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？ Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

6 constrainedly
不自然地，勉强地，强制地
参考例句：
Very constrainedly,she agreed a young doctor to operate on her. 她非常勉强地同意让一位年轻的医生为她做手术。

7 nervously
adv.神情激动地，不安地
参考例句：
He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。 He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

8 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。

9 affected
adj.不自然的，假装的
参考例句：
She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。 His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

10 incapable
adj.无能力的，不能做某事的
参考例句：
He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。 Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。

11 interpretation
n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理
参考例句：
His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。 Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

12 omission
n.省略，删节；遗漏或省略的事物，冗长
参考例句：
The omission of the girls was unfair.把女孩排除在外是不公平的。 The omission of this chapter from the third edition was a gross oversight.第三版漏印这一章是个大疏忽。

13 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。

14 prospect
n.前景，前途；景色，视野
参考例句：
This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。 The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

15 inclination
n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好
参考例句：
She greeted us with a slight inclination of the head.她微微点头向我们致意。 I did not feel the slightest inclination to hurry.我没有丝毫着急的意思。

16 desultory
adj.散漫的，无方法的
参考例句：
Do not let the discussion fragment into a desultory conversation with no clear direction.不要让讨论变得支离破碎，成为没有明确方向的漫谈。 The constables made a desultory attempt to keep them away from the barn.警察漫不经心地拦着不让他们靠近谷仓。

17 incessantly
ad.不停地
参考例句：
The machines roar incessantly during the hours of daylight. 机器在白天隆隆地响个不停。 It rained incessantly for the whole two weeks. 雨不间断地下了整整两个星期。

18 gathering
n.集会，聚会，聚集
参考例句：
He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。 He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

19 suspense
n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑
参考例句：
The suspense was unbearable.这样提心吊胆的状况实在叫人受不了。 The director used ingenious devices to keep the audience in suspense.导演用巧妙手法引起观众的悬念。

20 drawn
v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的
参考例句：
All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。 Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

21 eldest
adj.最年长的，最年老的
参考例句：
The King's eldest son is the heir to the throne.国王的长子是王位的继承人。 The castle and the land are entailed on the eldest son.城堡和土地限定由长子继承。

22 proceedings
n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报
参考例句：
He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。 to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

23 sarcasm
n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic）
参考例句：
His sarcasm hurt her feelings.他的讽刺伤害了她的感情。 She was given to using bitter sarcasm.她惯于用尖酸刻薄语言挖苦人。

24 perversely
adv. 倔强地
参考例句：
Intelligence in the mode of passion is always perversely. 受激情属性控制的智力，总是逆着活动的正确方向行事。 She continue, perversely, to wear shoes that damaged her feet. 她偏偏穿那双挤脚的鞋。

25 growled
v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说
参考例句：
\"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》 He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

26 briefly
adv.简单地，简短地
参考例句：
I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。 He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。