The next morning, after a night which she could not have described, Constance found herself lying flat in bed, with all her limbs stretched out straight. She was conscious that her face was covered with perspiration¹. The bell-rope hung within a foot of her head, but she had decided² that, rather than move in order to pull it, she would prefer to wait for assistance until Mary came of her own accord. Her experiences of the night had given her a dread³ of the slightest movement; anything was better than movement. She felt vaguely⁴ ill, with a kind of subdued⁵ pain, and she was very thirsty and somewhat cold. She knew that her left arm and leg were extraordinarily⁶ tender to the touch. When Mary at length entered, clean and fresh and pale in all her mildness, she found the mistress the colour of a duck's egg, with puffed⁷ features, and a strangely anxious expression.

"Mary," said Constance, "I feel so queer. Perhaps you'd better run up and tell Miss Holl, and ask her to telephone for Dr. Stirling."

This was the beginning of Constance's last illness. Mary most impressively informed Miss Holl that her mistress had been out on the previous afternoon in spite of her sciatica, and Lily telephoned the fact to the Doctor. Lily then came down to take charge of Constance. But she dared not upbraid⁸ the invalid⁹.

"Is the result out?" Constance murmured.

"Oh yes," said Lily, lightly. "There's a majority of over twelve hundred against Federation¹⁰. Great excitement last night! I told you yesterday morning that Federation was bound to be beaten."

点击收听单词发音  

1 perspiration
n.汗水；出汗
参考例句：
It is so hot that my clothes are wet with perspiration.天太热了，我的衣服被汗水湿透了。 The perspiration was running down my back.汗从我背上淌下来。

2 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。

3 dread
vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧
参考例句：
We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。 Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。

4 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。

5 subdued
adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词
参考例句：
He seemed a bit subdued to me. 我觉得他当时有点闷闷不乐。 I felt strangely subdued when it was all over. 一切都结束的时候，我却有一种奇怪的压抑感。

6 extraordinarily
adv.格外地；极端地
参考例句：
She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。 The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

7 puffed
adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧
参考例句：
He lit a cigarette and puffed at it furiously. 他点燃了一支香烟，狂吸了几口。 来自《简明英汉词典》 He felt grown-up, puffed up with self-importance. 他觉得长大了，便自以为了不起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 upbraid
v.斥责，责骂，责备
参考例句：
The old man upbraided him with ingratitude.那位老人斥责他忘恩负义。 His wife set about upbraiding him for neglecting the children.他妻子开始指责他不照顾孩子。

9 invalid
n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的
参考例句：
He will visit an invalid.他将要去看望一个病人。 A passport that is out of date is invalid.护照过期是无效的。

10 federation
n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会
参考例句：
It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。 Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

11 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。

12 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。

13 inert
adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的
参考例句：
Inert gas studies are providing valuable information about other planets,too.对惰性气体的研究，也提供了有关其它行星的有价值的资料。 Elemental nitrogen is a very unreactive and inert material.元素氮是一个十分不活跃的惰性物质。

14 logic
n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性
参考例句：
What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？ I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

15 tart
adj.酸的；尖酸的，刻薄的；n.果馅饼；淫妇
参考例句：
She was learning how to make a fruit tart in class.她正在课上学习如何制作水果馅饼。 She replied in her usual tart and offhand way.她开口回答了，用她平常那种尖酸刻薄的声调随口说道。

16 lessened
减少的，减弱的
参考例句：
Listening to the speech through an interpreter lessened its impact somewhat. 演讲辞通过翻译的嘴说出来，多少削弱了演讲的力量。 The flight to suburbia lessened the number of middle-class families living within the city. 随着迁往郊外的风行，住在城内的中产家庭减少了。

17 sensational
adj.使人感动的，非常好的，轰动的，耸人听闻的
参考例句：
Papers of this kind are full of sensational news reports.这类报纸满是耸人听闻的新闻报道。 Their performance was sensational.他们的演出妙极了。

18 detriment
n.损害；损害物，造成损害的根源
参考例句：
Smoking is a detriment to one's health.吸烟危害健康。 His lack of education is a serious detriment to his career.他的未受教育对他的事业是一种严重的妨碍。

19 rheumatism
n.风湿病
参考例句：
The damp weather plays the very devil with my rheumatism.潮湿的天气加重了我的风湿病。 The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。

20 fatigued
adj. 疲乏的
参考例句：
The exercises fatigued her. 操练使她感到很疲乏。 The President smiled, with fatigued tolerance for a minor person's naivety. 总统笑了笑，疲惫地表现出对一个下级人员的天真想法的宽容。

21 agitation
n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动
参考例句：
Small shopkeepers carried on a long agitation against the big department stores.小店主们长期以来一直在煽动人们反对大型百货商店。 These materials require constant agitation to keep them in suspension.这些药剂要经常搅动以保持悬浮状态。

22 precisely
adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地
参考例句：
It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。 The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

23 surmise
v./n.猜想，推测
参考例句：
It turned out that my surmise was correct.结果表明我的推测没有错。 I surmise that he will take the job.我推测他会接受这份工作。

24 desperately
adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地
参考例句：
He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。 He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

25 incessant
adj.不停的，连续的
参考例句：
We have had incessant snowfall since yesterday afternoon.从昨天下午开始就持续不断地下雪。 She is tired of his incessant demands for affection.她厌倦了他对感情的不断索取。

26 watchfulness
警惕，留心； 警觉（性）
参考例句：
The escort and the universal watchfulness had completely isolated him. 护送和普遍一致的监视曾经使他完全孤立。 A due watchfulness on the movements of the enemy was maintained. 他们对敌人的行动还是相当警惕的。

27 intensity
n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度
参考例句：
I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。 The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

28 compassion
n.同情，怜悯
参考例句：
He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。 Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

29 sling
vt.扔；悬挂；n.挂带；吊索，吊兜；弹弓
参考例句：
The boy discharged a stone from a sling.这个男孩用弹弓射石头。 By using a hoist the movers were able to sling the piano to the third floor.搬运工人用吊车才把钢琴吊到3楼。

30 charily
小心谨慎地，节俭地，俭省地
参考例句：

31 remarkably
ad.不同寻常地，相当地
参考例句：
I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。 He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

32 sane
adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的
参考例句：
He was sane at the time of the murder.在凶杀案发生时他的神志是清醒的。 He is a very sane person.他是一个很有头脑的人。

33 meditations
默想( meditation的名词复数 )； 默念； 沉思； 冥想
参考例句：
Each sentence seems a quarry of rich meditations. 每一句话似乎都给人以许多冥思默想。 I'm sorry to interrupt your meditations. 我很抱歉，打断你思考问题了。

34 exhausted
adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的
参考例句：
It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。 Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

35 chamber
n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所
参考例句：
For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。 The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

36 sterile
adj.不毛的，不孕的，无菌的，枯燥的，贫瘠的
参考例句：
This top fits over the bottle and keeps the teat sterile.这个盖子严实地盖在奶瓶上，保持奶嘴无菌。 The farmers turned the sterile land into high fields.农民们把不毛之地变成了高产田。

37 recurred
再发生，复发( recur的过去式和过去分词 )； 治愈
参考例句：
Old memories constantly recurred to him. 往事经常浮现在他的脑海里。 She always winced when he recurred to the subject of his poems. 每逢他一提到他的诗作的时候，她总是有点畏缩。

38 invincible
adj.不可征服的，难以制服的
参考例句：
This football team was once reputed to be invincible.这支足球队曾被誉为无敌的劲旅。 The workers are invincible as long as they hold together.只要工人团结一致，他们就是不可战胜的。

39 commonsense
adj.有常识的；明白事理的；注重实际的
参考例句：
It is commonsense to carry an umbrella in this weather.这种天气带把伞是很自然的。 These results are no more than a vindication of commonsense analysis.这些结果只不过是按常理分析得出的事实。

40 kindliness
n.厚道，亲切，友好的行为
参考例句：
Martha looked up into a strange face and dark eyes alight with kindliness and concern. 马撒慢慢抬起头，映入眼帘的是张陌生的脸，脸上有一双充满慈爱和关注的眼睛。 来自辞典例句 I think the chief thing that struck me about Burton was his kindliness. 我想，我对伯顿印象最深之处主要还是这个人的和善。 来自辞典例句

41 triumphant
adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的
参考例句：
The army made a triumphant entry into the enemy's capital.部队胜利地进入了敌方首都。 There was a positively triumphant note in her voice.她的声音里带有一种极为得意的语气。

42 possessed
adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的
参考例句：
He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。 He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

43 knuckle
n.指节；vi.开始努力工作；屈服，认输
参考例句：
They refused to knuckle under to any pressure.他们拒不屈从任何压力。 You'll really have to knuckle down if you want to pass the examination.如果想通过考试，你确实应专心学习。

44 unduly
adv.过度地，不适当地
参考例句：
He did not sound unduly worried at the prospect.他的口气听上去对前景并不十分担忧。 He argued that the law was unduly restrictive.他辩称法律的约束性有些过分了。

45 contemplating
深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想
参考例句：
You're too young to be contemplating retirement. 你考虑退休还太年轻。 She stood contemplating the painting. 她站在那儿凝视那幅图画。

46 appreciation
n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨
参考例句：
I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。 I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

47 condescension
n.自以为高人一等，贬低(别人)
参考例句：
His politeness smacks of condescension. 他的客气带有屈尊俯就的意味。 Despite its condescension toward the Bennet family, the letter begins to allay Elizabeth's prejudice against Darcy. 尽管这封信对班纳特家的态度很高傲，但它开始消除伊丽莎白对达西的偏见。

48 admiration
n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕
参考例句：
He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。 We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

49 perfectly
adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地
参考例句：
The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。 Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

50 backbone
n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气
参考例句：
The Chinese people have backbone.中国人民有骨气。 The backbone is an articulate structure.脊椎骨是一种关节相连的结构。

51 grit
n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关
参考例句：
The soldiers showed that they had plenty of grit. 士兵们表现得很有勇气。 I've got some grit in my shoe.我的鞋子里弄进了一些砂子。

52 delirium
n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋
参考例句：
In her delirium, she had fallen to the floor several times. 她在神志不清的状态下几次摔倒在地上。 For the next nine months, Job was in constant delirium.接下来的九个月，约伯处于持续精神错乱的状态。

53 infancy
n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期
参考例句：
He came to England in his infancy.他幼年时期来到英国。 Their research is only in its infancy.他们的研究处于初级阶段。

54 immortal
adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的
参考例句：
The wild cocoa tree is effectively immortal.野生可可树实际上是不会死的。 The heroes of the people are immortal!人民英雄永垂不朽！

55 sardonic
adj.嘲笑的，冷笑的，讥讽的
参考例句：
She gave him a sardonic smile.她朝他讥讽地笑了一笑。 There was a sardonic expression on her face.她脸上有一种嘲讽的表情。

56 fabulously
难以置信地，惊人地
参考例句：
The couple are said to be fabulously wealthy. 据说这对夫妇家财万贯。 I should say this shirt matches your trousers fabulously. 我得说这衬衫同你的裤子非常相配。

57 faculty
n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员
参考例句：
He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。 He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

58 catastrophe
n.大灾难，大祸
参考例句：
I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。 This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

59 contentedly
adv.心满意足地
参考例句：
My father sat puffing contentedly on his pipe.父亲坐着心满意足地抽着烟斗。 "This is brother John's writing,"said Sally,contentedly,as she opened the letter.

60 naught
n.无，零 [=nought]
参考例句：
He sets at naught every convention of society.他轻视所有的社会习俗。 I hope that all your efforts won't go for naught.我希望你的努力不会毫无结果。

61 relic
n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物
参考例句：
This stone axe is a relic of ancient times.这石斧是古代的遗物。 He found himself thinking of the man as a relic from the past.他把这个男人看成是过去时代的人物。

62 sniffed
v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说
参考例句：
When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》 The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

63 deranged
adj.疯狂的
参考例句：
Traffic was stopped by a deranged man shouting at the sky.一名狂叫的疯子阻塞了交通。 A deranged man shot and killed 14 people.一个精神失常的男子开枪打死了14人。

64 inspection
n.检查，审查，检阅
参考例句：
On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。 The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。