READING. - WE ARE TOWED BY STEAM LAUNCH. - IRRITATING BEHAVIOUR OF SMALLBOATS. - HOW THEY GET IN THE WAY OF STEAM LAUNCHES. - GEORGE AND HARRISAGAIN SHIRK THEIR WORK. - RATHER A HACKNEYED STORY. - STREATLEY ANDGORING.

　　WE came in sight of Reading about eleven. The river is dirty and dismalhere. One does not linger in the neighbourhood of Reading. The townitself is a famous old place, dating from the dim days of King Ethelred,when the Danes anchored their warships² in the Kennet, and started fromReading to ravage³ all the land of Wessex; and here Ethelred and hisbrother Alfred fought and defeated them, Ethelred doing the praying andAlfred the fighting.

　　In later years, Reading seems to have been regarded as a handy place torun down to, when matters were becoming unpleasant in London. Parliamentgenerally rushed off to Reading whenever there was a plague on atWestminster; and, in 1625, the Law followed suit, and all the courts wereheld at Reading. It must have been worth while having a mere⁴ ordinaryplague now and then in London to get rid of both the lawyers and theParliament.

　　During the Parliamentary struggle, Reading was besieged⁵ by the Earl ofEssex, and, a quarter of a century later, the Prince of Orange routedKing James's troops there.

　　Henry I. lies buried at Reading, in the Benedictine abbey founded by himthere, the ruins of which may still be seen; and, in this same abbey,great John of Gaunt was married to the Lady Blanche.

　　At Reading lock we came up with a steam launch, belonging to some friendsof mine, and they towed us up to within about a mile of Streatley. It isvery delightful⁶ being towed up by a launch. I prefer it myself torowing. The run would have been more delightful still, if it had notbeen for a lot of wretched small boats that were continually getting inthe way of our launch, and, to avoid running down which, we had to becontinually easing and stopping. It is really most annoying, the mannerin which these rowing boats get in the way of one's launch up the river;something ought to done to stop it.

　　And they are so confoundedly impertinent, too, over it. You can whistletill you nearly burst your

点击收听单词发音  

1 goring
v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破( gore的现在分词 )
参考例句：
General Goring spoke for about two hours. 戈林将军的发言持续了大约两个小时。 来自英汉非文学 - 新闻报道 Always do they talk that way with their arrogance before a goring. 他们挨牛角之前，总是这样吹大牛。 来自辞典例句

2 warships
军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只
参考例句：
The enemy warships were disengaged from the battle after suffering heavy casualties. 在遭受惨重伤亡后，敌舰退出了海战。 The government fitted out warships and sailors for them. 政府给他们配备了战舰和水手。

3 ravage
vt.使...荒废，破坏...；n.破坏，掠夺，荒废
参考例句：
Just in time to watch a plague ravage his village.恰好目睹了瘟疫毁灭了他的村庄。 For two decades the country has been ravaged by civil war and foreign intervention.20年来，这个国家一直被内战外侵所蹂躏。

4 mere
adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过
参考例句：
That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。 It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

5 besieged
包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。 The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

6 delightful
adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的
参考例句：
We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。 Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。

7 boiler
n.锅炉；煮器(壶，锅等)
参考例句：
That boiler will not hold up under pressure.那种锅炉受不住压力。 This new boiler generates more heat than the old one.这个新锅炉产生的热量比旧锅炉多。

8 quaint
adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的
参考例句：
There were many small lanes in the quaint village.在这古香古色的村庄里，有很多小巷。 They still keep some quaint old customs.他们仍然保留着一些稀奇古怪的旧风俗。

9 grotto
n.洞穴
参考例句：
We reached a beautiful grotto,whose entrance was almost hiden by the vine.我们到达了一个美丽的洞穴，洞的进口几乎被藤蔓遮掩著。 Water trickles through an underground grotto.水沿着地下岩洞流淌。

10 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。

11 procured
v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条
参考例句：
These cars are to be procured through open tender. 这些汽车要用公开招标的办法购买。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》 A friend procured a position in the bank for my big brother. 一位朋友为我哥哥谋得了一个银行的职位。 来自《用法词典》

12 erring
做错事的，错误的
参考例句：
Instead of bludgeoning our erring comrades, we should help them with criticism. 对犯错误的同志， 要批评帮助，不能一棍子打死。 She had too little faith in mankind not to know that they were erring. 她对男人们没有信心，知道他们总要犯错误的。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

13 mingled
混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系]
参考例句：
The sounds of laughter and singing mingled in the evening air. 笑声和歌声交织在夜空中。 The man and the woman mingled as everyone started to relax. 当大家开始放松的时候，这一男一女就开始交往了。

14 brink
n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿
参考例句：
The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。 The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

15 twilight
n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期
参考例句：
Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。 Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

16 bosom
n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的
参考例句：
She drew a little book from her bosom.她从怀里取出一本小册子。 A dark jealousy stirred in his bosom.他内心生出一阵恶毒的嫉妒。