August 10th.

　　August 10th.
　　Lord Cornelly, that rich and eccentric peer, was sitting at the monumental desk which was his especial pride and pleasure. It had been designed for him at immense expense and the whole furnishing of the room was subordinated to it. The effect was terrific and only slightly marred¹ by the unavoidable addition of Lord Cornelly himself, an insignificant² and rotund little man completely dwarfed³ by the desk's magnificence.
　　Into this scene of City splendour there entered a blonde secretary, also in harmony with the luxury furnishings.
　　Gliding silently across the floor, she laid a slip of paper before the great man. Lord Cornelly peered down at it.
　　"MacWhirter? MacWhirter? Who's he? Never heard of him. Has he got an appointment?"The blonde secretary indicated that such was the case.
　　"MacWhirter, eh? Oh! MacWhirter! That fellow! Of course! Send him in. Send him in at once."Lord Cornelly chuckled⁵ gleefully. He was in high good-humour.
　　Throwing himself back in his chair, he stared up into the dour⁴ unsmiling face of the man he had summoned to an interview.
　　"You're MacWhirter, eh? Angus MacWhirter?" "That's my name."MacWhirter spoke⁷ stiffly, standing⁸ erect⁹ and unsmiling. "You were with Herbert Clay? That's right, isn't it?""Yes."
　　Lord Cornelly began to chuckle⁶ again.
　　"I know all about you. Clay got his driving-licence endorsed¹⁰, all because you wouldn't back him up and swear he was going at twenty miles an hour! Livid about it, he was!" The chuckle increased. "Told us all about it in the Savoy Grill¹¹. That damned pig-headed Scot!' That's what he said! Went on and on. D'you know what I was thinking?""I have not the least idea."
　　MacWhirter's tone was repressive. Lord Cornelly took no notice. He was enjoying his remembrance of his own reactions.
　　"I thought to myself: ‘That's the kind of chap I could do with! Man who can't be bribed¹² to tell lies.' You won't have to tell lies for me. I don't do my business that way. I go about the world looking for honest men - and there are damned few of them!"The little peer cackled with shrill¹³ laughter, his shrewd monkey-like face wrinkled with mirth. MacWhirter stood stolidly¹⁴, not amused.
　　Lord Cornelly stopped laughing. His face became shrewd, alert. "If you want a job, MacWhirter, I've got one for you." "I could do with a job," said MacWhirter.
　　"It's an important job. It's a job that can only be given to a man with good qualifications - you've got those, all right - I've been into that - and to a man who can be trusted - absolutely."Lord Cornelly waited. MacWhirter did not speak. "Well, man, can I depend upon you absolutely?"MacWhirter said dryly: "You'll not know that from hearing me answer that of course you can."Lord Cornelly laughed.
　　"You'll do. You're the man I've been looking for. Do you know South America at all?"He went into details. Half an hour later MacWhirter stood on the pavement, a man who had landed an interesting and extremely well-paid job - and a job that promised a future.
　　Fate, after having frowned, had chosen to smile upon him. But he was in no mood to smile back. There was no exultation¹⁵ in him, though his sense of humour was grimly tickled¹⁶ when he thought back over the interview. There was a stern poetic¹⁷ justice in the fact that it was his former employer's diatribes¹⁸ against him that had actually got him his present advancement¹⁹!
　　He was a fortunate man, he supposed. Not that he cared! He was willing to address himself to the task of living, not with enthusiasm, not even with pleasure, but in a methodical day-after-day spirit. Seven months ago he had attempted to take his own life; chance and nothing but chance had intervened, but he was not particularly grateful. True, he felt no present disposition²⁰ to do away with himself. That phase was over for good. You could not, he admitted, take your life in cold blood. There had to be some extra fillip of despair, of grief, of desperation or of passion. You could not commit suicide merely because you felt that life was a dreary²¹ round of uninteresting happenings.
　　On the whole he was glad that his work would take him out of England. He was to sail for South America the end of September. The next few weeks he would be busy getting together certain equipment and being put in touch with the somewhat complicated ramifications²² of the business.
　　But there would be a week's leisure before he left the country. He wondered what he should do with that week. Stay in London? Go away?
　　An idea stirred nebulously in his brain. Saltcreek?
　　"I've a damned good mind to go down there," said MacWhirter to himself.
　　It would be, he thought, grimly amusing.

1 marred   

adj. 被损毁, 污损的

参考例句：

• The game was marred by the behaviour of drunken fans. 喝醉了的球迷行为不轨，把比赛给搅了。
• Bad diction marred the effectiveness of his speech. 措词不当影响了他演说的效果。

2 insignificant   

adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的

参考例句：

• In winter the effect was found to be insignificant.在冬季，这种作用是不明显的。
• This problem was insignificant compared to others she faced.这一问题与她面临的其他问题比较起来算不得什么。

3 dwarfed   

vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The old houses were dwarfed by the huge new tower blocks. 这些旧房子在新建的高楼大厦的映衬下显得十分矮小。
• The elephant dwarfed the tortoise. 那只乌龟跟那头象相比就显得很小。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 dour   

adj.冷酷的，严厉的；（岩石）嶙峋的；顽强不屈

参考例句：

• They were exposed to dour resistance.他们遭受到顽强的抵抗。
• She always pretends to be dour,in fact,she's not.她总表现的不爱讲话，事实却相反。

5 chuckled   

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。

6 chuckle   

vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑

参考例句：

• He shook his head with a soft chuckle.他轻轻地笑着摇了摇头。
• I couldn't suppress a soft chuckle at the thought of it.想到这个，我忍不住轻轻地笑起来。

7 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。

8 standing   

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。

9 erect   

n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的

参考例句：

• She held her head erect and her back straight.她昂着头，把背挺得笔直。
• Soldiers are trained to stand erect.士兵们训练站得笔直。

10 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 grill   

n.烤架，铁格子，烤肉；v.烧，烤，严加盘问

参考例句：

• Put it under the grill for a minute to brown the top.放在烤架下烤一分钟把上面烤成金黄色。
• I'll grill you some mutton.我来给你烤一些羊肉吃。

12 bribed   

v.贿赂( bribe的过去式和过去分词 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• They bribed him with costly presents. 他们用贵重的礼物贿赂他。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He bribed himself onto the committee. 他暗通关节，钻营投机挤进了委员会。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 shrill   

adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫

参考例句：

• Whistles began to shrill outside the barn.哨声开始在谷仓外面尖叫。
• The shrill ringing of a bell broke up the card game on the cutter.刺耳的铃声打散了小汽艇的牌局。

14 stolidly   

adv.迟钝地，神经麻木地

参考例句：

• Too often people sat stolidly watching the noisy little fiddler. 人们往往不动声色地坐在那里，瞧着这位瘦小的提琴手闹腾一番。 来自辞典例句
• He dropped into a chair and sat looking stolidly at the floor. 他坐在椅子上，两眼呆呆地望着地板。 来自辞典例句

15 exultation   

n.狂喜，得意

参考例句：

• It made him catch his breath, it lit his face with exultation. 听了这个名字，他屏住呼吸，乐得脸上放光。
• He could get up no exultation that was really worthy the name. 他一点都激动不起来。

16 tickled   

（使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐

参考例句：

• We were tickled pink to see our friends on television. 在电视中看到我们的一些朋友，我们高兴极了。
• I tickled the baby's feet and made her laugh. 我胳肢孩子的脚，使她发笑。

17 poetic   

adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的

参考例句：

• His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
• His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。

18 diatribes   

n.谩骂，讽刺( diatribe的名词复数 )

参考例句：

19 advancement   

n.前进，促进，提升

参考例句：

• His new contribution to the advancement of physiology was well appreciated.他对生理学发展的新贡献获得高度赞赏。
• The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning.大学的目标应是促进学术。

20 disposition   

n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署

参考例句：

• He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
• He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。

21 dreary   

adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的

参考例句：

• They live such dreary lives.他们的生活如此乏味。
• She was tired of hearing the same dreary tale of drunkenness and violence.她听够了那些关于酗酒和暴力的乏味故事。

22 ramifications   

n.结果，后果( ramification的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These changes are bound to have widespread social ramifications. 这些变化注定会造成许多难以预料的社会后果。
• What are the ramifications of our decision to join the union? 我们决定加入工会会引起哪些后果呢？ 来自《简明英汉词典》