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首页 » 英文短篇小说 » The Real Fairy Folk » CHAPTER III RUTH AND THE WONDERFUL SPINNERS
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CHAPTER III RUTH AND THE WONDERFUL SPINNERS
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 She throws a web upon the air and soon
’Tis caught and lifted by the willing breezes,
Then, freed from trouble in her light balloon,
Our spinner travels wheresoe’re she pleases.
—Edith M. Thomas.
Ruth was in the garden counting colours among the hollyhocks when a little breeze hurried by.
 
“Come,” it said, kissing her cheek, “and hurry; things are going to happen.”
 
“It is my dear Wind,” cried Ruth, her eyes growing big with expectation, and, stopping just long enough to snatch up Belinda, who of course would wish to go, too, she followed where the little breeze led.
 
This was to a lovely spot on the edge of the wood, and one of the first things she saw was a big round spider’s web on the branches of a tall bush.
 
“Oh,” she said, going up closer, “who would ever think a spider could make anything like that?”
 
“Indeed,” said a voice which made her give a little jump, “who else but a spider could spin a web, I’d like to know? You haven’t any brains, I’m thinking.”
 
“Oh, please excuse me,” said Ruth. “I didn’t know you were there.”
 
“That’s because you don’t use your eyes properly,” was the answer of the large, handsome black and gold spider hanging head down from the centre of the big web.
 
Her eight long, slender legs were outstretched and rested by their tips on the bases of the taut1 radii2, and her eight eyes were staring at Ruth.
 
“I saw you as soon as you came,” she said.
 
“I suppose you will stay to the meeting. I’m to be chair-spider.”
 
“Chair-spider?” repeated Ruth, slightly confused by those eight bright eyes. “And please, what meeting?”
 
“Why, our meeting, of course. Mrs. Cobweb Weaver3 says men always have a chairman at their meetings, so why shouldn’t spiders have a chair-spider, I’d like to know?”
 
“I suppose they should,” agreed Ruth.
 
“Of course we should. Considering you are a human creature, with only two eyes, two legs, and no spinnerets, you really show a great deal of sense. Now sit down on the crotch of that little tree, then you will be near me and can hear all I say. What’s that thing you are carrying?”
 
“Why, it’s Belinda, my doll,” explained Ruth. “I tell her everything. I think she will like your—your—meeting.”
 
“Well, I don’t care whether she does or not,” said Madame Spider. “Now our friends are arriving, and as you can see, with even two 36eyes, they are all shapes and sizes. Long legged, short legged, plump, thin, grave and gay. All colours too—quite enough to satisfy any taste, I should say.”
 
Ruth looked about her in wide-eyed astonishment5.
 
“I never knew there were so many kinds of spiders,” she said at last, “or that they had such lovely colours. I thought spiders were mostly grayish or brownish.”
 
“That is because you haven’t used your eyes, as I said before; but you are only like others of your kind. Such ignorance! Because some spiders are dull and colourless, most people imagine that all are so. I suppose they think, if they stop to think at all, that all kinds of webs are spun6 by the same kind of spider, and that all spiders spin webs.”
 
“Don’t they?” asked Ruth, with some hesitation7, for Mrs. Spider’s indignation made her look quite fierce.
 
“They do not,” was the decided8 answer. “All spiders are spinners, but not all are web makers9.”
 
Ruth looked puzzled.
 
“You see,” explained Mrs. Spider, “it all depends upon the way they catch their prey10. Spider habits are as different as their looks. Some like the sun, others prefer the shade. Some live in the forest, and others with the house people. Many make their home in the bark of trees, and under stones.”
 
“I’ve seen that kind,” interrupted Ruth, eagerly, “and when you lift up the stone they run awfully11 fast. Sometimes they have a funny little gray bundle, just as the ants carry their babies. Maybe it’s their babies too. Is it?”
 
“Well, they will be babies if nothing happens. Those gray bundles are cocoons13 full of eggs. The mother spins the cocoon12 of silk from her own body.”
 
“Oh, now, I understand. They are spinners, but they don’t have any web. Isn’t that it?”
 
“Exactly. They do not need a web. They spring on their prey when the prey isn’t looking. We call them hunters, also runners.”
 
“Well, they can run,” said Ruth.
 
“The flower spiders are not web spinners either,” went on Madame Spider, who seemed to like nothing better than to talk. “They live among flowers, and eat the visiting insects. You can see some of them over there. Talk about colours! They are gay enough, just like flowers themselves. Perhaps you can guess why.”
 
Ruth thought a few minutes.
 
“Well,” she said, “if they were the same colour as the flower they couldn’t be seen so easily. I saw something walk out of an ear of corn once, and it looked like a kernel14 of corn on eight legs. It was awful funny. Was that a spider?”
 
“Very likely. We are wonderful enough for anything. I suppose you have never heard of the trapdoor spider and his silk-lined burrow15, with its little hinged door, nor of the spider who lives under the water, in a tiny silken house, which she spins herself, and fills with air carried down, bubble by bubble, from the surface. Don’t look as though you didn’t believe me. It isn’t polite. I am telling you the truth. Very likely you’ll doubt me when I say that we sail in balloons, of our own making, and cross streams of water on bridges, which we can fashion as we need them—that is, we orb16 weavers17 do, for, after all, we stand at the head of the spider clan18. Did you know I was an orb weaver?”
 
“I—I—haven’t thought about it,” said Ruth, slowly, for the question had come very suddenly, “but I’d like you to go on telling me things. Do you always hang with 40your head down? I should think it would make you dizzy.”
 
“Dizzy? Whoever heard of such a thing? Of course I keep my head down, and my toes on my telegraph lines. Then I can feel the least tremble in any one of them, and I’m pretty quick to run where I know my dinner is waiting. Sometimes I don’t hurry quite so fast. That is when the line trembles in a way which lets me know that something big has been caught. Indeed, there are times when I bite the threads around what might have been my dinner, and let it go; for it is wiser to lose a meal than run the chance of being a meal.” And Mrs. Orb Weaver winked19, not with one eye only, but with all eight. “Now it is time to talk to the company,” she added, “as I am chair-spider.”
 
She said the last words in a loud voice, intended for all to hear; then she looked around to see if any one objected.
 
“They had better not,” she said to Ruth, and in a louder voice, added: “My friends, 41we are not appreciated. Men talk about the wonderful bees, the wonderful wasps20, the wonderful ants, but few of them say anything about the wonderful spiders. Now we are wonderful, too, and we are honest, and we are industrious21. We eat flies and lots of other pests, and we do not hurt orchards22, or steal into pantries, or chew up clothes. Indeed, we do man no harm at all. But is he grateful? Tell me that. I’ll tell you he isn’t. Ask Mrs. Cobweb Weaver if there isn’t always some broom sweeping23 down the nice web she makes. I wonder she doesn’t hate a broom. No, my friends, man is not grateful. Even those who call themselves our friends are ready to pop us into bottles, or boxes, whenever they get a chance. They give us what they call a painless death in the cause of science. Now we would rather live in our own cause. At least I would.”
 
Mrs. Orb Weaver had become so excited that her whole web was shaking violently.
 
Ruth was excited, too.
 
“It’s rather horrid24 to do that way,” she said, “but maybe people don’t know about you. I didn’t until to-day. The wonderful things I mean, and I want to know lots more. How your web is made and—and—everything. Please tell me.”
 
“Why, certainly,” answered Mrs. Orb Weaver readily. “To begin with, my web is made of silk.”
 
“Who didn’t know that?” snapped a running spider.
 
“I didn’t,” answered Ruth.
 
“You! And who are you, pray?”
 
“Be quiet,” commanded Mrs. Orb Weaver. “She is my guest, and anything she wishes to know I shall be happy to tell her. Now, to get on, our webs are made of silk, and the silk comes from our own bodies, through little tubes called spinnerets. It is soft at first, but gets harder when it reaches the air, just like caterpillar25 silk. We guide each thread with our hind26 feet, making heavier strands27 by twisting a number of fine ones together. Of course, we spin the foundation lines first. They are the ones which fix the web to the bush. Then the ray lines, those like the spokes29 in a wheel. They are all heavy strands, and only after they are finished do we spin the real snare30, the lines which run around. They are very fine, and are covered with a sort of glue, for they have to catch and hold the flies and other insects that come on the web. We orb weavers are the only ones who have this glue. No other spiders use it. They trust to the meshes31 of the web to entangle32 their prey.”
 
“But why don’t the sticky parts catch you too?” asked Ruth, who had been listening with eager attention. “I’ve seen you run all over your web and——”
 
“We never get caught. Of course not,” finished Mrs. Orb Weaver. “And why? That’s a question. The wise men don’t know, and if we do, we are not telling. Now I am getting hungry, so I think I will tell a little story, then we will adjourn33. I am sorry there isn’t time for Mrs. Funnel34 Weaver to speak.”
 
“But there is,” declared a large brown spider, whose body looked as though it were set on a framework of legs. “I mean to speak too—if only to point out all those webs in the grass.”
 
“Oh, I’ve often seen webs like that,” said Ruth. “They are lovely with dew on them. But why do you call yourself a funnel weaver?”
 
“I don’t!” she snapped. “The men, who think they know everything, gave me that name, because at one side of my web is a funnel-shaped tube. It is our way to escape our enemies. We run through it into the grass when something too big for us to manage gets into our web.”
 
“I generally make my web in houses,” said a small, slender-legged, light-coloured spider.
 
She spoke28 in a hurry, as though she was 45afraid some one might stop her before she finished. “I have cousins who like fields and fences and outbuildings, but our webs are all the same pattern. Not so regular as yours, Mrs. Orb Weaver, but very fine and delicate.”
 
“Oh, everybody knows you, Mrs. Cobweb Weaver,” said a voice from a nearby twig35. “Now if you are speaking of legs——”
 
“We are not,” answered Mrs. Orb Weaver, “and I should like to know how you came here.”
 
“On my legs of course. Don’t you think they are long enough? And though I can neither spin nor weave, I am your relation, and I have as much right to be here as you have. I——”
 
“Why, it’s Daddy Long Legs,” interrupted Ruth, with a friendly smile of recognition. “I like daddies.”
 
“Well, I am not saying anything about my legs,” remarked a fat little spider, as Daddy tried to bow to Ruth, “though I have eight 46of them. I usually travel in a balloon, which I make myself. Oh, I tell you, it is fine to go
 
“Sailing mid36 the golden air
In skiffs of yielding gossamer37.”
 
“Poetry,” said a handsome spider, wheeling back and forth38 on a silken bridge swung between two bushes. “I could have learned some too, but I didn’t know it was allowed. Of course I can build bridges. Who is asking that idiotic39 question? You?” And eight glaring eyes were fixed40 upon Ruth. “Maybe you don’t know that spiders were the first bridge builders and when men suspend their great bridges to-day they follow our ideas and ways, without giving us the least credit; but that’s the way with men.”
 
“Well, we can’t expect to regulate men,” answered Mrs. Orb Weaver, “and, besides, it’s time to tell my story, and then you will know why we get our name, and why we are such wonderful spinners. Now listen, all of you:
 
“Once upon a time——”
 
Ruth chuckled41 contentedly42. All nice stories began, “Once upon a time.” “Please go on,” she whispered eagerly.
 
“Then don’t interrupt me,” said Mrs. Orb Weaver, and she began again:
 
“Once upon a time, ever so long ago, there lived in a beautiful land called Greece a maiden43 named Arachne. Arachne was not only fair to look upon, but she could also spin and weave in a fashion so wondrously44 fine that all who saw her work said that the great Athena herself must have been her teacher. Now this surely was praise enough, but Arachne was vain. ‘Nay,’ she said, ‘no one has taught me, and gladly will I weave with the great goddess herself, and thus prove 48the skill to be all my own.’ Her words only shocked all who heard them, but Arachne cared not, and again repeated her wish to try her skill with Athena.
 
“So it happened that as she sat spinning one day an old woman, leaning on a staff, stopped by her loom45.
 
“‘Child,’ she said in a gentle voice, ‘a great gift is yours.’
 
“Arachne tossed her head, and answered scornfully:
 
“‘Well do I know it, yet Athena dares not try her skill with mine.’
 
“‘Dares not?’ repeated the old dame4, in tones that should have made Arachne tremble. ‘Dares not, say you? Foolish maiden, be warned in time.’
 
“But Arachne was too proud to yield, and she still persisted, even though the old dame had dropped her mantle46, and stood revealed as the great goddess herself.
 
“‘Be it so,’ said Athena, sternly, and both began to weave.
 
“For hours their shuttles flew in and out. Arachne’s work was wonderful, but for her theme she had chosen the weakness and the failure of the gods. Athena pictured forth their greatness. The sky was her loom, and from the rainbow she chose her colours, and when her work was finished and its splendours spanned the heavens, Arachne realized that she had failed.
 
“Ashamed and miserable47, she sought to hang herself in the meshes of her web.
 
“‘Nay, rash maid,’ spoke Athena; ‘thou shalt not die, but live to be the mother of a great race, the most wonderful spinners on earth.’
 
“Even as Athena spoke, Arachne grew smaller and smaller, until not a maiden, but a spider, hung from that marvellous web.
 
“And now, my friends,” finished Mrs. Orb Weaver, “need I tell you that we are the wonderful race of which Athena spoke, and need I add that we have inherited Arachne’s marvellous skill, and are truly the most wonderful spinners on earth? Now I am hungry and the meeting is adjourned48.”
 
“So am I,” added Daddy Long Legs, “not adjourned, but hungry, and, by the way, do you imagine any one believes that old story?”
 
He winked at Ruth, and then moved away as fast as his long legs would carry him.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 taut iUazb     
adj.拉紧的,绷紧的,紧张的
参考例句:
  • The bowstring is stretched taut.弓弦绷得很紧。
  • Scarlett's taut nerves almost cracked as a sudden noise sounded in the underbrush near them. 思嘉紧张的神经几乎一下绷裂了,因为她听见附近灌木丛中突然冒出的一个声音。
2 radii 736eba6ae8f603ee16e88a83cdc35f90     
n.半径;半径(距离)( radius的名词复数 );用半径度量的圆形面积;半径范围;桡骨
参考例句:
  • Hence, the damage radii can not be determined from overpressure alone. 因此,破坏半径不能单单由超压力大小来决定。 来自辞典例句
  • It is now necessary to introduce a sign convention for radii of curvature. 现在必须介绍曲率半径的正负号规则。 来自辞典例句
3 weaver LgWwd     
n.织布工;编织者
参考例句:
  • She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快,而且布的质量很好。
  • The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。
4 dame dvGzR0     
n.女士
参考例句:
  • The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
  • If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会,你就要跟那个夫人结婚。
5 astonishment VvjzR     
n.惊奇,惊异
参考例句:
  • They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
  • I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。
6 spun kvjwT     
v.纺,杜撰,急转身
参考例句:
  • His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
  • Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。
7 hesitation tdsz5     
n.犹豫,踌躇
参考例句:
  • After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天,他终于直说了。
  • There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。
8 decided lvqzZd     
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。
9 makers 22a4efff03ac42c1785d09a48313d352     
n.制造者,制造商(maker的复数形式)
参考例句:
  • The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
  • The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》
10 prey g1czH     
n.被掠食者,牺牲者,掠食;v.捕食,掠夺,折磨
参考例句:
  • Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
  • The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。
11 awfully MPkym     
adv.可怕地,非常地,极端地
参考例句:
  • Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
  • I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。
12 cocoon 2nQyB     
n.茧
参考例句:
  • A cocoon is a kind of silk covering made by an insect.蚕茧是由昆虫制造的一种由丝组成的外包层。
  • The beautiful butterfly emerged from the cocoon.美丽的蝴蝶自茧中出现。
13 cocoons 5dceb05da0afff0d0dbbf29f10373b59     
n.茧,蚕茧( cocoon的名词复数 )v.茧,蚕茧( cocoon的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • The silkworms have gone into the bushes to spin their cocoons. 蚕上山了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • In two more days the " little darlings" would spin their cocoons. 再得两天,“宝宝”可以上山。 来自汉英文学 - 春蚕
14 kernel f3wxW     
n.(果实的)核,仁;(问题)的中心,核心
参考例句:
  • The kernel of his problem is lack of money.他的问题的核心是缺钱。
  • The nutshell includes the kernel.果壳裹住果仁。
15 burrow EsazA     
vt.挖掘(洞穴);钻进;vi.挖洞;翻寻;n.地洞
参考例句:
  • Earthworms burrow deep into the subsoil.蚯蚓深深地钻进底土。
  • The dog had chased a rabbit into its burrow.狗把兔子追进了洞穴。
16 orb Lmmzhy     
n.太阳;星球;v.弄圆;成球形
参考例句:
  • The blue heaven,holding its one golden orb,poured down a crystal wash of warm light.蓝蓝的天空托着金色的太阳,洒下一片水晶般明亮温暖的光辉。
  • It is an emanation from the distant orb of immortal light.它是从远处那个发出不灭之光的天体上放射出来的。
17 weavers 55d09101fa7c612133657b412e704736     
织工,编织者( weaver的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The Navajo are noted as stockbreeders and skilled weavers, potters, and silversmiths. 纳瓦霍人以豢养家禽,技术熟练的纺织者,制陶者和银匠而著名。
  • They made out they were weavers. 他们假装是织布工人。
18 clan Dq5zi     
n.氏族,部落,宗族,家族,宗派
参考例句:
  • She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。
  • The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以,中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。
19 winked af6ada503978fa80fce7e5d109333278     
v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 );递眼色(表示友好或高兴等);(指光)闪烁;闪亮
参考例句:
  • He winked at her and she knew he was thinking the same thing that she was. 他冲她眨了眨眼,她便知道他的想法和她一样。
  • He winked his eyes at her and left the classroom. 他向她眨巴一下眼睛走出了教室。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
20 wasps fb5b4ba79c574cee74f48a72a48c03ef     
黄蜂( wasp的名词复数 ); 胡蜂; 易动怒的人; 刻毒的人
参考例句:
  • There's a wasps' nest in that old tree. 那棵老树上有一个黄蜂巢。
  • We live in dread not only of unpleasant insects like spiders or wasps, but of quite harmless ones like moths. 我们不仅生活在对象蜘蛛或黄蜂这样的小虫的惧怕中,而且生活在对诸如飞蛾这样无害昆虫的惧怕中
21 industrious a7Axr     
adj.勤劳的,刻苦的,奋发的
参考例句:
  • If the tiller is industrious,the farmland is productive.人勤地不懒。
  • She was an industrious and willing worker.她是个勤劳肯干的员工。
22 orchards d6be15c5dabd9dea7702c7b892c9330e     
(通常指围起来的)果园( orchard的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • They turned the hills into orchards and plains into granaries. 他们把山坡变成了果园,把平地变成了粮仓。
  • Some of the new planted apple orchards have also begun to bear. 有些新开的苹果园也开始结苹果了。
23 sweeping ihCzZ4     
adj.范围广大的,一扫无遗的
参考例句:
  • The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
  • Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗?
24 horrid arozZj     
adj.可怕的;令人惊恐的;恐怖的;极讨厌的
参考例句:
  • I'm not going to the horrid dinner party.我不打算去参加这次讨厌的宴会。
  • The medicine is horrid and she couldn't get it down.这种药很难吃,她咽不下去。
25 caterpillar ir5zf     
n.毛虫,蝴蝶的幼虫
参考例句:
  • A butterfly is produced by metamorphosis from a caterpillar.蝴蝶是由毛虫脱胎变成的。
  • A caterpillar must pass through the cocoon stage to become a butterfly.毛毛虫必须经过茧的阶段才能变成蝴蝶。
26 hind Cyoya     
adj.后面的,后部的
参考例句:
  • The animal is able to stand up on its hind limbs.这种动物能够用后肢站立。
  • Don't hind her in her studies.不要在学业上扯她后腿。
27 strands d184598ceee8e1af7dbf43b53087d58b     
n.(线、绳、金属线、毛发等的)股( strand的名词复数 );缕;海洋、湖或河的)岸;(观点、计划、故事等的)部份v.使滞留,使搁浅( strand的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • Twist a length of rope from strands of hemp. 用几股麻搓成了一段绳子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She laced strands into a braid. 她把几股线编织成一根穗带。 来自《简明英汉词典》
28 spoke XryyC     
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。
29 spokes 6eff3c46e9c3a82f787a7c99669b9bfb     
n.(车轮的)辐条( spoke的名词复数 );轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动
参考例句:
  • Her baby caught his fingers in the spokes of the pram wheel. 她宝宝的手指被婴儿车轮的辐条卡住了。 来自辞典例句
  • The new edges are called the spokes of the wheel. 新的边称为轮的辐。 来自辞典例句
30 snare XFszw     
n.陷阱,诱惑,圈套;(去除息肉或者肿瘤的)勒除器;响弦,小军鼓;vt.以陷阱捕获,诱惑
参考例句:
  • I used to snare small birds such as sparrows.我曾常用罗网捕捉麻雀等小鸟。
  • Most of the people realized that their scheme was simply a snare and a delusion.大多数人都认识到他们的诡计不过是一个骗人的圈套。
31 meshes 1541efdcede8c5a0c2ed7e32c89b361f     
网孔( mesh的名词复数 ); 网状物; 陷阱; 困境
参考例句:
  • The net of Heaven has large meshes, but it lets nothing through. 天网恢恢,疏而不漏。
  • This net has half-inch meshes. 这个网有半英寸见方的网孔。
32 entangle DjnzO     
vt.缠住,套住;卷入,连累
参考例句:
  • How did Alice manage to entangle her hair so badly in the brambles?爱丽丝是怎么把头发死死地缠在荆棘上的?
  • Don't entangle the fishing lines.不要让钓鱼线缠在一起。
33 adjourn goRyc     
v.(使)休会,(使)休庭
参考例句:
  • The motion to adjourn was carried.休会的提议通过了。
  • I am afraid the court may not adjourn until three or even later.我担心法庭要到3点或更晚时才会休庭。
34 funnel xhgx4     
n.漏斗;烟囱;v.汇集
参考例句:
  • He poured the petrol into the car through a funnel.他用一个漏斗把汽油灌入汽车。
  • I like the ship with a yellow funnel.我喜欢那条有黄烟囱的船。
35 twig VK1zg     
n.小树枝,嫩枝;v.理解
参考例句:
  • He heard the sharp crack of a twig.他听到树枝清脆的断裂声。
  • The sharp sound of a twig snapping scared the badger away.细枝突然折断的刺耳声把獾惊跑了。
36 mid doTzSB     
adj.中央的,中间的
参考例句:
  • Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
  • He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。
37 gossamer ufQxj     
n.薄纱,游丝
参考例句:
  • The prince helped the princess,who was still in her delightful gossamer gown.王子搀扶着仍穿著那套美丽薄纱晚礼服的公主。
  • Gossamer is floating in calm air.空中飘浮着游丝。
38 forth Hzdz2     
adv.向前;向外,往外
参考例句:
  • The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
  • He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
39 idiotic wcFzd     
adj.白痴的
参考例句:
  • It is idiotic to go shopping with no money.去买东西而不带钱是很蠢的。
  • The child's idiotic deeds caused his family much trouble.那小孩愚蠢的行为给家庭带来许多麻烦。
40 fixed JsKzzj     
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。
41 chuckled 8ce1383c838073977a08258a1f3e30f8     
轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
  • She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情,她就轻轻地暗自发笑。
42 contentedly a0af12176ca79b27d4028fdbaf1b5f64     
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.
43 maiden yRpz7     
n.少女,处女;adj.未婚的,纯洁的,无经验的
参考例句:
  • The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。
  • The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。
44 wondrously 872e321e19f87f0c81ab2b66f27747d0     
adv.惊奇地,非常,极其
参考例句:
  • She grow wondrously fond of stealing off to corners by herself. 她变得出奇地喜欢独自躲在角落里。 来自辞典例句
  • If you but smile, spring zephyrs blow through my spirits, wondrously. 假使你只是仅仅对我微笑,春天的和风就会惊奇的吹过我的心灵间。 来自互联网
45 loom T8pzd     
n.织布机,织机;v.隐现,(危险、忧虑等)迫近
参考例句:
  • The old woman was weaving on her loom.那位老太太正在织布机上织布。
  • The shuttle flies back and forth on the loom.织布机上梭子来回飞动。
46 mantle Y7tzs     
n.斗篷,覆罩之物,罩子;v.罩住,覆盖,脸红
参考例句:
  • The earth had donned her mantle of brightest green.大地披上了苍翠欲滴的绿色斗篷。
  • The mountain was covered with a mantle of snow.山上覆盖着一层雪。
47 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。
48 adjourned 1e5a5e61da11d317191a820abad1664d     
(使)休会, (使)休庭( adjourn的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The court adjourned for lunch. 午餐时间法庭休庭。
  • The trial was adjourned following the presentation of new evidence to the court. 新证据呈到庭上后,审讯就宣告暂停。


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