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首页 » 儿童英文小说 » The Red House Mystery » CHAPTER XVII. Mr. Beverley Takes the Water
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CHAPTER XVII. Mr. Beverley Takes the Water
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 Cayley seemed very fond of them that night. After dinner was over, he suggested a stroll outside. They walked up and down the gravel1 in front of the house, saying very little to each other, until Bill could stand it no longer. For the last twenty turns he had been slowing down hopefully each time they came to the door, but the hint had always been lost on his companions, and each time another turn had been taken. But in the end he had been firm.
 
“What about a little billiards2?” he said, shaking himself free from the others.
 
“Will you play?” said Antony to Cayley.
 
“I’ll watch you,” he said, and he had watched them resolutely3 until the game, and then another game after that, had been played.
 
They went into the hall and attacked the drinks.
 
“Well, thank heaven for bed,” said Bill; putting down his glass. “Are you coming?”
 
“Yes,” said Antony, and finished his drink. He looked at Cayley.
 
“I’ve just got one or two little things to do,” said Cayley. “I shan’t be long following you.”
 
“Well, good night, then.”
 
“Good night.”
 
“Good night,” called Bill from half-way up the stairs. “Good night, Tony.”
 
“Good night.”
 
Bill looked at his watch. Half-past eleven. Not much chance of anything happening for another hour. He pulled open a drawer and wondered what to wear on their expedition. Grey flannel5 trousers, flannel shirt, and a dark coat; perhaps a sweater, as they might be lying out in the copse for some time. And—good idea—a towel. He would want it later on, and meanwhile he could wear it round his waist.
 
Tennis-shoes.... There. Everything was ready. Now then for the dummy6 figure.
 
He looked at his watch again before getting into bed. Twelve-fifteen. How long to wait before Cayley came up? He turned out the light, and then, standing7 by the door in his pyjamas8, waited for his eyes to become accustomed to the new darkness.... He could only just make out the bed in the corner of the room. Cayley would want more light than that if he were to satisfy himself from the door that the bed was occupied. He pulled the curtains a little way back. That was about right. He could have another look later on, when he had the dummy figure in the bed.
 
How long would it be before Cayley came up? It wasn’t that he wanted his friends, Beverley and Gillingham, to be asleep before he started on his business at the pond; all that he wanted was to be sure that they were safely in their bedrooms. Cayley’s business would make no noise, give no sign, to attract the most wakeful member of the household, so long as the household was really inside the house. But if he wished to reassure9 himself about his guests, he would have to wait until they were far enough on their way to sleep not to be disturbed by him as he came up to reassure himself. So it amounted to the same thing, really. He would wait until they were asleep.... until they were asleep.... asleep....
 
With a great effort Bill regained10 the mastery over his wandering thoughts and came awake again. This would never do. It would be fatal if he went to sleep.... if he went to sleep.... to sleep .... And then, in an instant, he was intensely awake. Suppose Cayley never came at all!
 
Suppose Cayley was so unsuspicious that, as soon as they had gone upstairs, he had dived down into the passage and set about his business. Suppose, even now, he was at the pond, dropping into it that secret of his. Good heavens, what fools they had been! How could Antony have taken such a risk? Put yourself in Cayley’s place, he had said. But how was it possible? They weren’t Cayley. Cayley was at the pond now. They would never know what he had dropped into it.
 
Listen!.... Somebody at the door. He was asleep. Quite naturally now. Breathe a little more loudly, perhaps. He was asleep.... The door was opening. He could feel it opening behind him.... Good Lord, suppose Cayley really was a murderer! Why, even now he might be—no, he mustn’t think of that. If he thought of that, he would have to turn round. He mustn’t turn round. He was asleep; just peacefully asleep. But why didn’t the door shut? Where was Cayley now? Just behind him? And in his hand—no, he mustn’t think of that. He was asleep. But why didn’t the door shut?
 
The door was shutting. There was a sigh from the sleeper11 in the bed, a sigh of relief which escaped him involuntarily. But it had a very natural sound—a deep breath from a heavy sleeper. He added another one to it to make it seem more natural. The door was shut.
 
Bill counted a hundred slowly and then got up. As quickly and as noiselessly as possible he dressed himself in the dark. He put the dummy figure in the bed, arranged the clothes so that just enough but not too much of it was showing, and stood by the door looking at it. For a casual glance the room was just about light enough. Then very quietly, very slowly he opened the door. All was still. There was no light from beneath the door of Cayley’s room. Very quietly, very carefully he crept along the passage to Antony’s room. He opened the door and went in.
 
Antony was still in bed. Bill walked across to wake him up, and then stopped rigid12, and his heart thumped13 against his ribs14. There was somebody else in the room.
 
“All right, Bill,” said a whispering voice, and Antony stepped out from the curtains.
 
Bill gazed at him without saying anything.
 
“Rather good, isn’t it?” said Antony, coming closer and pointing to the bed. “Come on; the sooner we get out now, the better.”
 
He led the way out of the window, the silent Bill following him. They reached the ground safely and noiselessly, went quickly across the lawn and so, over the fence, into the park. It was not until they were out of sight of the house that Bill felt it safe to speak.
 
“I quite thought it was you in bed,” he said.
 
“I hoped you would. I shall be rather disappointed now if Cayley doesn’t call again. It’s a pity to waste it.”
 
“He came all right just now?”
 
“Oh, rather. What about you?”
 
Bill explained his feelings picturesquely15.
 
“There wouldn’t have been much point in his killing16 you,” said Antony prosaically17. “Besides being too risky18.”
 
“Oh!” said Bill. And then, “I had rather hoped that it was his love for me which restrained him.”
 
Antony laughed.
 
“I doubt it.... You didn’t turn up your light when you dressed?”
 
“Good Lord, no. Did you want me to?”
 
Antony laughed again and took him by the arm.
 
“You’re a splendid conspirator19, Bill. You and I could take on anything together.”
 
The pond was waiting for them, more solemn in the moonlight. The trees which crowned the sloping bank on the far side of it were mysteriously silent. It seemed that they had the world very much to themselves.
 
Almost unconsciously Antony spoke20 in a whisper.
 
“There’s your tree, there’s mine. As long as you don’t move, there’s no chance of his seeing you. After he’s gone, don’t come out till I do. He won’t be here for a quarter of an hour or so, so don’t be impatient.”
 
“Righto,” whispered Bill.
 
Antony gave him a nod and a smile, and they walked off to their posts.
 
The minutes went by slowly. To Antony, lying hidden in the undergrowth at the foot of his tree, a new problem was presenting itself. Suppose Cayley had to make more than one journey that night? He might come back to find them in the boat; one of them, indeed, in the water. And if they decided21 to wait in hiding, on the chance of Cayley coming back again, what was the least time they could safely allow? Perhaps it would be better to go round to the front of the house and watch for his return there, the light in his bedroom, before conducting their experiments at the pond. But then they might miss his second visit in this way, if he made a second visit. It was difficult.
 
His eyes were fixed22 on the boat as he considered these things, and suddenly, as if materialized from nowhere, Cayley was standing by the boat. In his hand was a small brown bag.
 
Cayley put the bag in the bottom of the boat, stepped in, and using an oar23 as a punt-pole, pushed slowly off. Then, very silently, he rowed towards the middle of the pond.
 
He had stopped. The oars24 rested on the water. He picked up the bag from between his feet, leant over the nose of the boat, and rested it lightly on the water for a moment. Then he let go. It sank slowly. He waited there, watching; afraid, perhaps, that it might rise again. Antony began to count....
 
And now Cayley was back at his starting-place. He tied up the boat, looked carefully round to see that he had left no traces behind him, and then turned to the water again. For a long time, as it seemed to the watchers, he stood there, very big, very silent, in the moonlight. At last he seemed satisfied. Whatever his secret was, he had hidden it; and so with a gentle sigh, as unmistakable to Antony as if he had heard it, Cayley turned away and vanished again as quietly as he had come.
 
Antony gave him three minutes, and stepped out from the trees. He waited there for Bill to join him.
 
“Six,” whispered Bill.
 
Antony nodded.
 
“I’m going round to the front of the house. You get back to your tree and watch, in case Cayley comes again. Your bedroom is the left-hand end one, and Cayley’s the end but one? Is that right?”
 
Bill nodded.
 
“Right. Wait in hiding till I come back. I don’t know how long I shall be, but don’t be impatient. It will seem longer than it is.” He patted Bill on the shoulder, and with a smile and a nod of the head he left him there.
 
What was in the bag? What could Cayley want to hide other than a key or a revolver? Keys and revolvers sink of themselves; no need to put them in a bag first. What was in the bag? Something which wouldn’t sink of itself; something which needed to be helped with stones before it would hide itself safely in the mud.
 
Well, they would find that out. There was no object in worrying about it now. Bill had a dirty night’s work in front of him. But where was the body which Antony had expected so confidently or, if there were no body, where was Mark?
 
More immediately, however, where was Cayley? As quickly as he could Antony had got to the front of the house and was now lying in the shrubbery which bordered the lawn, waiting for the light to go up in Cayley’s window. If it went up in Bill’s window, then they were discovered. It would mean that Cayley had glanced into Bill’s room, had been suspicious of the dummy figure in the bed, and had turned up the light to make sure. After that, it was war between them. But if it went up in Cayley’s room—
 
There was a light. Antony felt a sudden thrill of excitement. It was in Bill’s room. War!
 
The light stayed there, shining vividly25, for a wind had come up, blowing the moon behind a cloud, and casting a shadow over the rest of the house. Bill had left his curtains undrawn. It was careless of him; the first stupid thing he had done, but—
 
The moon slipped out again.... and Antony laughed to himself in the bushes. There was another window beyond Cayley’s, and there was no light in it. The declaration of war was postponed26.
 
Antony lay there, watching Cayley into bed. After all it was only polite to return Cayley’s own solicitude27 earlier in the night. Politeness demanded that one should not disport28 oneself on the pond until one’s friends were comfortably tucked up.
 
Meanwhile Bill was getting tired of waiting. His chief fear was that he might spoil everything by forgetting the number “six.” It was the sixth post. Six. He broke off a twig29 and divided it into six pieces. These he arranged on the ground in front of him. Six. He looked at the pond, counted up to the sixth post, and murmured “six” to himself again. Then he looked down at his twigs30. One—two—three—four—five—six—seven. Seven! Was it seven? Or was that seventh bit of a twig an accidental bit which had been on the ground anyhow? Surely it was six! Had he said “six” to Antony? If so, Antony would remember, and it was all right. Six. He threw away the seventh twig and collected the other six together. Perhaps they would be safer in his pocket. Six. The height of a tall man—well, his own height. Six feet. Yes, that was the way to remember it. Feeling a little safer on the point, he began to wonder about the bag, and what Antony would say to it, and the possible depth of the water and of the mud at the bottom; and was still so wondering, and saying, “Good Lord, what a life!” to himself, when Antony reappeared.
 
Bill got up and came down the slope to meet him.
 
“Six,” he said firmly. “Sixth post from the end.”
 
“Good,” smiled Antony. “Mine was the eighteenth—a little way past it.”
 
“What did you go off for?”
 
“To see Cayley into bed.”
 
“Is it all right?”
 
“Yes. Better hang your coat over the sixth post, and then we shall see it more easily. I’ll put mine on the eighteenth. Are you going to undress here or in the boat?”
 
“Some here, and some in the boat. You’re quite sure that you wouldn’t like to do the diving yourself?”
 
“Quite, thanks.”
 
They had walked round to the other side of the pond. Coming to the sixth post of the fence, Bill took off his coat and put it in position, and then finished his undressing, while Antony went off to mark the eighteenth post. When they were ready, they got into the boat, Antony taking the oars.
 
“Now, Bill, tell me as soon as I’m in a line with your two marks.”
 
He rowed slowly towards the middle of the pond.
 
“You’re about there now,” said Bill at last.
 
Antony stopped rowing and looked about him.
 
“Yes, that’s pretty well right.” He turned the boat’s nose round until it was pointing to the pine-tree under which Bill had lain. “You see my tree and the other coat?”
 
“Yes,” said Bill.
 
“Right. Now then, I’m going to row gently along this line until we’re dead in between the two. Get it as exact as you can—for your own sake.”
 
“Steady!” said Bill warningly. “Back a little.... a little more .... a little more forward again.... Right.” Antony left the oars on the water and looked around. As far as he could tell, they were in an exact line with each pair of landmarks31.
 
“Now then, Bill, in you go.”
 
Bill pulled off his shirt and trousers, and stood up.
 
“You mustn’t dive from the boat, old boy,” said Antony hastily. “You’ll shift its position. Slide in gently.”
 
Bill slid in from the stern and swam slowly round to Antony.
 
“What’s it like?” said Antony.
 
“Cold. Well, here’s luck to it.”
 
He gave a sudden kick, flashed for a moment in the water, and was gone. Antony steadied the boat, and took another look at his landmarks.
 
Bill came up behind him with a loud explosion. “It’s pretty muddy,” he protested.
 
“Weeds?”
 
“No, thank the Lord.”
 
“Well, try again.”
 
Bill gave another kick and disappeared. Again Antony coaxed32 the boat back into position, and again Bill popped up, this time in front of him.
 
“I feel that if I threw you a sardine,” said Antony, with a smile, “you’d catch it in your mouth quite prettily33.”
 
“It’s awfully34 easy to be funny from where you are. How much longer have I got to go on doing this?”
 
Antony looked at his watch.
 
“About three hours. We must get back before daylight. But be quicker if you can, because it’s rather cold for me sitting here.”
 
Bill flicked35 a handful of water at him and disappeared again. He was under for almost a minute this time, and there was a grin on his face when it was visible again.
 
“I’ve got it, but it’s devilish hard to get up. I’m not sure that it isn’t too heavy for me.”
 
“That’s all right,” said Antony. He brought out a ball of thick string from his pocket. “Get this through the handle if you can, and then we can both pull.”
 
“Good man.” He paddled to the side, took one end of the string and paddled back again. “Now then.”
 
Two minutes later the bag was safely in the boat. Bill clambered in after it, and Antony rowed back. “Well done, Watson,” he said quietly, as they landed. He fetched their two coats, and then waited, the bag in his hand, while Bill dried and dressed himself. As soon as the latter was ready, he took his arm and led him into the copse. He put the bag down and felt in his pockets.
 
“I shall light a pipe before I open it,” he said. “What about you?”
 
“Yes.”
 
With great care they filled and lit their pipes. Bill’s hand was a little unsteady. Antony noticed it and gave him a reassuring36 smile.
 
“Ready?”
 
“Yes.”
 
They sat down, and taking the bag between his knees, Antony pressed the catch and opened it.
 
“Clothes!” said Bill.
 
Antony pulled out the top garment and shook it out. It was a wet brown flannel coat.
 
“Do you recognize it?” he asked.
 
“Mark’s brown flannel suit.”
 
“The one he is advertised as having run away in?”
 
“Yes. It looks like it. Of course he had a dashed lot of clothes.”
 
Antony put his hand in the breast-pocket and took out some letters. He considered them doubtfully for a moment.
 
“I suppose I’d better read them,” he said. “I mean, just to see—” He looked inquiringly at Bill, who nodded. Antony turned on his torch and glanced at them. Bill waited anxiously.
 
“Yes. Mark.... Hallo!”
 
“What is it?”
 
“The letter that Cayley was telling the Inspector37 about. From Robert. ‘Mark, your loving brother is coming to see you—’ Yes, I suppose I had better keep this. Well, that’s his coat. Let’s have out the rest of it.” He took the remaining clothes from the bag and spread them out.
 
“They’re all here,” said Bill. “Shirt, tie, socks, underclothes, shoes—yes, all of them.”
 
“All that he was wearing yesterday?”
 
“Yes.”
 
“What do you make of it?”
 
Bill shook his head, and asked another question.
 
“Is it what you expected?”
 
Antony laughed suddenly.
 
“It’s too absurd,” he said. “I expected—well, you know what I expected. A body. A body in a suit of clothes. Well, perhaps it would be safer to hide them separately. The body here, and the clothes in the passage, where they would never betray themselves. And now he takes a great deal of trouble to hide the clothes here, and doesn’t bother about the body at all.” He shook his head. “I’m a bit lost for the moment, Bill, and that’s the fact.”
 
“Anything else there?”
 
Antony felt in the bag.
 
“Stones and—yes, there’s something else.” He took it out and held it up. “There we are, Bill.”
 
It was the office key.
 
“By Jove, you were right.”
 
Antony felt in the bag again, and then turned it gently upside down on the grass. A dozen large stones fell out—and something else. He flashed down his torch.
 
“Another key,” he said.
 
He put the two keys in his pocket, and sat there for a long time in silence, thinking. Bill was silent, too, not liking38 to interrupt his thoughts, but at last he said:
 
“Shall I put these things back?”
 
Antony looked up with a start.
 
“What? Oh, yes. No, I’ll put them back. You give me a light, will you?”
 
Very slowly and carefully he put the clothes back in the bag, pausing as he took up each garment, in the certainty, as it seemed to Bill, that it had something to tell him if only he could read it. When the last of them was inside, he still waited there on his knees, thinking.
 
“That’s the lot,” said Bill.
 
Antony nodded at him.
 
“Yes, that’s the lot,” he said; “and that’s the funny thing about it. You’re sure it is the lot?”
 
“What do you mean?”
 
“Give me the torch a moment.” He took it and flashed it over the ground between them. “Yes, that’s the lot. It’s funny.” He stood up, the bag in his hands. “Now let’s find a hiding-place for these, and then—” He said no more, but stepped off through the trees, Bill following him meekly39.
 
As soon as they had got the bag off their hands and were clear of the copse, Antony became more communicative. He took the two keys out of his pocket.
 
“One of them is the office key, I suppose, and the other is the key of the passage cupboard. So I thought that perhaps we might have a look at the cupboard.”
 
“I say, do you really think it is?”
 
“Well, I don’t see what else it can be.”
 
“But why should he want to throw it away?”
 
“Because it has now done its work, whatever it was, and he wants to wash his hands of the passage. He’d throw the passage away if he could. I don’t think it matters much one way or another, and I don’t suppose there’s anything to find in the cupboard, but I feel that we must look.”
 
“Do you still think Mark’s body might be there?”
 
“No. And yet where else can it be? Unless I’m hopelessly wrong, and Cayley never killed him at all.”
 
Bill hesitated, wondering if he dare advance his theory.
 
“I know you’ll think me an ass4—”
 
“My dear Bill, I’m such an obvious ass myself that I should be delighted to think you are too.”
 
“Well, then, suppose Mark did kill Robert, and Cayley helped him to escape, just as we thought at first. I know you proved afterwards that it was impossible, but suppose it happened in a way we don’t know about and for reasons we don’t know about. I mean, there are such a lot of funny things about the whole show that—well, almost anything might have happened.”
 
“You’re quite right. Well?”
 
“Well, then, this clothes business. Doesn’t that seem rather to bear out the escaping theory? Mark’s brown suit was known to the police. Couldn’t Cayley have brought him another one in the passage, to escape in, and then have had the brown one on his hands? And thought it safest to hide it in the pond?”
 
“Yes,” said Anthony thoughtfully. Then: “Go on.”
 
Bill went on eagerly:
 
“It all seems to fit in, you know. I mean even with your first theory—that Mark killed him accidentally and then came to Cayley for help. Of course, if Cayley had played fair, he’d have told Mark that he had nothing to be afraid of. But he isn’t playing fair; he wants to get Mark out of the way because of the girl. Well, this is his chance. He makes Mark as frightened as possible, and tells him that his only hope is to run away. Well, naturally, he does all he can to get him well away, because if Mark is caught, the whole story of Cayley’s treachery comes out.”
 
“Yes. But isn’t it overdoing40 it rather to make him change his underclothes and everything? It wastes a good deal of time, you know.”
 
Bill was pulled up short, and said, “Oh!” in great disappointment.
 
“No, it’s not as bad as that, Bill,” said Antony with a smile. “I daresay the underclothes could be explained. But here’s the difficulty. Why did Mark need to change from brown to blue, or whatever it was, when Cayley was the only person who saw him in brown?”
 
“The police description of him says that he is in a brown suit.”
 
“Yes, because Cayley told the police. You see, even if Mark had had lunch in his brown suit, and the servants had noticed it, Cayley could always have pretended that he had changed into blue after lunch, because only Cayley saw him afterwards. So if Cayley had told the Inspector that he was wearing blue, Mark could have escaped quite comfortably in his brown, without needing to change at all.”
 
“But that’s just what he did do,” cried Bill triumphantly41. “What fools we are!”
 
Antony looked at him in surprise, and then shook his head.
 
“Yes, yes!” insisted Bill. “Of course! Don’t you see? Mark did change after lunch, and, to give him more of a chance of getting away, Cayley lied and said that he was wearing the brown suit in which the servants had seen him. Well, then he was afraid that the police might examine Mark’s clothes and find the brown suit still there, so he hid it, and then dropped it in the pond afterwards.”
 
He turned eagerly to his friend, but Antony said nothing. Bill began to speak again, and was promptly42 waved into silence.
 
“Don’t say anything more, old boy; you’ve given me quite enough to think about. Don’t let’s bother about it to-night. We’ll just have a look at this cupboard and then get to bed.”
 
But the cupboard had not much to tell them that night. It was empty save for a few old bottles.
 
“Well, that’s that,” said Bill.
 
But Antony, on his knees with the torch in his hand, continued to search for something.
 
“What are you looking for?” asked Bill at last.
 
“Something that isn’t there,” said Antony, getting up and dusting his trousers. And he locked the door again.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 gravel s6hyT     
n.砂跞;砂砾层;结石
参考例句:
  • We bought six bags of gravel for the garden path.我们购买了六袋碎石用来铺花园的小路。
  • More gravel is needed to fill the hollow in the drive.需要更多的砾石来填平车道上的坑洼。
2 billiards DyBzVP     
n.台球
参考例句:
  • John used to divert himself with billiards.约翰过去总打台球自娱。
  • Billiards isn't popular in here.这里不流行台球。
3 resolutely WW2xh     
adj.坚决地,果断地
参考例句:
  • He resolutely adhered to what he had said at the meeting. 他坚持他在会上所说的话。
  • He grumbles at his lot instead of resolutely facing his difficulties. 他不是果敢地去面对困难,而是抱怨自己运气不佳。
4 ass qvyzK     
n.驴;傻瓜,蠢笨的人
参考例句:
  • He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。
  • An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。
5 flannel S7dyQ     
n.法兰绒;法兰绒衣服
参考例句:
  • She always wears a grey flannel trousers.她总是穿一条灰色法兰绒长裤。
  • She was looking luscious in a flannel shirt.她穿着法兰绒裙子,看上去楚楚动人。
6 dummy Jrgx7     
n.假的东西;(哄婴儿的)橡皮奶头
参考例句:
  • The police suspect that the device is not a real bomb but a dummy.警方怀疑那个装置不是真炸弹,只是一个假货。
  • The boys played soldier with dummy swords made of wood.男孩们用木头做的假木剑玩打仗游戏。
7 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
8 pyjamas 5SSx4     
n.(宽大的)睡衣裤
参考例句:
  • This pyjamas has many repairs.这件睡衣有许多修补过的地方。
  • Martin was in his pyjamas.马丁穿着睡衣。
9 reassure 9TgxW     
v.使放心,使消除疑虑
参考例句:
  • This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点,于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
  • The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。
10 regained 51ada49e953b830c8bd8fddd6bcd03aa     
复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 ); 赢回; 重回; 复至某地
参考例句:
  • The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
  • She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻,但很快恢复了镇静。
11 sleeper gETyT     
n.睡眠者,卧车,卧铺
参考例句:
  • I usually go up to London on the sleeper. 我一般都乘卧车去伦敦。
  • But first he explained that he was a very heavy sleeper. 但首先他解释说自己睡觉很沉。
12 rigid jDPyf     
adj.严格的,死板的;刚硬的,僵硬的
参考例句:
  • She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
  • The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严,几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。
13 thumped 0a7f1b69ec9ae1663cb5ed15c0a62795     
v.重击, (指心脏)急速跳动( thump的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Dave thumped the table in frustration . 戴夫懊恼得捶打桌子。
  • He thumped the table angrily. 他愤怒地用拳捶击桌子。
14 ribs 24fc137444401001077773555802b280     
n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 );(船或屋顶等的)肋拱;肋骨状的东西;(织物的)凸条花纹
参考例句:
  • He suffered cracked ribs and bruising. 他断了肋骨还有挫伤。
  • Make a small incision below the ribs. 在肋骨下方切开一个小口。
15 picturesquely 88c17247ed90cf97194689c93780136e     
参考例句:
  • In the building trade such a trader is picturesquely described as a "brass plate" merchant. 在建筑行业里,这样一个生意人可以被生动地描述为著名商人。
16 killing kpBziQ     
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财
参考例句:
  • Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
  • Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。
17 prosaically addf5fa73ee3c679ba45dc49f39e438f     
adv.无聊地;乏味地;散文式地;平凡地
参考例句:
  • 'We're not dead yet,'said Julia prosaically. “我们还没死哩,”朱莉亚干巴巴地答道。 来自英汉文学
  • I applied my attention prosaically to my routine. 我把我的注意力投入到了平淡无味的日常事务之中。 来自互联网
18 risky IXVxe     
adj.有风险的,冒险的
参考例句:
  • It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险,但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
  • He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。
19 conspirator OZayz     
n.阴谋者,谋叛者
参考例句:
  • We started abusing him,one conspirator after another adding his bitter words.我们这几个预谋者一个接一个地咒骂他,恶狠狠地骂个不停。
  • A conspirator is not of the stuff to bear surprises.谋反者是经不起惊吓的。
20 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。
21 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。
22 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。
23 oar EH0xQ     
n.桨,橹,划手;v.划行
参考例句:
  • The sailors oar slowly across the river.水手们慢慢地划过河去。
  • The blade of the oar was bitten off by a shark.浆叶被一条鲨鱼咬掉了。
24 oars c589a112a1b341db7277ea65b5ec7bf7     
n.桨,橹( oar的名词复数 );划手v.划(行)( oar的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • He pulled as hard as he could on the oars. 他拼命地划桨。
  • The sailors are bending to the oars. 水手们在拼命地划桨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
25 vividly tebzrE     
adv.清楚地,鲜明地,生动地
参考例句:
  • The speaker pictured the suffering of the poor vividly.演讲者很生动地描述了穷人的生活。
  • The characters in the book are vividly presented.这本书里的人物写得栩栩如生。
26 postponed 9dc016075e0da542aaa70e9f01bf4ab1     
vt.& vi.延期,缓办,(使)延迟vt.把…放在次要地位;[语]把…放在后面(或句尾)vi.(疟疾等)延缓发作(或复发)
参考例句:
  • The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
  • The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。
27 solicitude mFEza     
n.焦虑
参考例句:
  • Your solicitude was a great consolation to me.你对我的关怀给了我莫大的安慰。
  • He is full of tender solicitude towards my sister.他对我妹妹满心牵挂。
28 disport AtSxD     
v.嬉戏,玩
参考例句:
  • Every Sunday,they disport themselves either in the parks or in the mountains.每周日他们或去公园或去爬山。
  • A servant was washing the steps,and some crabs began to disport themselves in the little pools.一个仆人正在清洗台阶,一些螃蟹开始在小渠里玩耍。
29 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。
30 twigs 17ff1ed5da672aa443a4f6befce8e2cb     
细枝,嫩枝( twig的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Some birds build nests of twigs. 一些鸟用树枝筑巢。
  • Willow twigs are pliable. 柳条很软。
31 landmarks 746a744ae0fc201cc2f97ab777d21b8c     
n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 );目标;(标志重要阶段的)里程碑 ~ (in sth);有历史意义的建筑物(或遗址)
参考例句:
  • The book stands out as one of the notable landmarks in the progress of modern science. 这部著作是现代科学发展史上著名的里程碑之一。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • The baby was one of the big landmarks in our relationship. 孩子的出世是我们俩关系中的一个重要转折点。 来自辞典例句
32 coaxed dc0a6eeb597861b0ed72e34e52490cd1     
v.哄,用好话劝说( coax的过去式和过去分词 );巧言骗取;哄劝,劝诱
参考例句:
  • She coaxed the horse into coming a little closer. 她哄着那匹马让它再靠近了一点。
  • I coaxed my sister into taking me to the theatre. 我用好话哄姐姐带我去看戏。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
33 prettily xQAxh     
adv.优美地;可爱地
参考例句:
  • It was prettily engraved with flowers on the back.此件雕刻精美,背面有花饰图案。
  • She pouted prettily at him.她冲他撅着嘴,样子很可爱。
34 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。
35 flicked 7c535fef6da8b8c191b1d1548e9e790a     
(尤指用手指或手快速地)轻击( flick的过去式和过去分词 ); (用…)轻挥; (快速地)按开关; 向…笑了一下(或瞥了一眼等)
参考例句:
  • She flicked the dust off her collar. 她轻轻弹掉了衣领上的灰尘。
  • I idly picked up a magazine and flicked through it. 我漫不经心地拿起一本杂志翻看着。
36 reassuring vkbzHi     
a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的,使人放心的
参考例句:
  • He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
  • With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。
37 inspector q6kxH     
n.检查员,监察员,视察员
参考例句:
  • The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
  • The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。
38 liking mpXzQ5     
n.爱好;嗜好;喜欢
参考例句:
  • The word palate also means taste or liking.Palate这个词也有“口味”或“嗜好”的意思。
  • I must admit I have no liking for exaggeration.我必须承认我不喜欢夸大其词。
39 meekly meekly     
adv.温顺地,逆来顺受地
参考例句:
  • He stood aside meekly when the new policy was proposed. 当有人提出新政策时,他唯唯诺诺地站 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He meekly accepted the rebuke. 他顺从地接受了批评。 来自《简明英汉词典》
40 overdoing 89ebeb1ac1e9728ef65d83e16bb21cd8     
v.做得过分( overdo的现在分词 );太夸张;把…煮得太久;(工作等)过度
参考例句:
  • He's been overdoing things recently. 近来他做事过分努力。 来自辞典例句
  • You think I've been overdoing it with the work thing? 你认为我对工作的关注太过分了吗? 来自电影对白
41 triumphantly 9fhzuv     
ad.得意洋洋地;得胜地;成功地
参考例句:
  • The lion was roaring triumphantly. 狮子正在发出胜利的吼叫。
  • Robert was looking at me triumphantly. 罗伯特正得意扬扬地看着我。
42 promptly LRMxm     
adv.及时地,敏捷地
参考例句:
  • He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
  • She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。


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