"It would be quite safe," Kate Charlock had said to herself. John was so foolish about the boy. He always took the gloomiest view of everything. She would retire to her bedroom and would pretend to be asleep. She could dress herself and slip across to Mrs. Bromley-Martin's and pass the night in the fascinating pursuit of bridge. Nobody would know. She would be back by daylight. And then she could take her husband's place by the boy's bedside.

 

She had forgotten everything in the excitement of the moment. She leant forward as the game finished.

 

"Mrs. Charlock cuts out," the dealer¹ murmured.

 

She rose reluctantly and another gambler eagerly took her place. The subdued² lights of the shaded candles touched drawn³ faces. Now and again came a cry of annoyance⁴ from some plunger whose luck was past bearing. Outside, the silence of the night was coming to an end. The trees murmured with the first touch of the morning breeze. As Kate Charlock crossed the room towards one of the French windows a man followed her. One of the card-players elevated his eyebrows⁵ and smiled significantly at his partner, who happened also to be his hostess. Her eyes twinkled in reply.

 

"Who is the man?" he asked.

 

"Arnold Rent," was the reply. "They say he is going to be President of the Royal Society. He is a man of various attainments⁶. He is writing a series of essays on the follies⁷ of Society. I believe electricity is his specialty⁸. But he says he came here to-night to gain experience."

 

"That was ingenious of him," the questioner said sarcastically

首页  上一页 [1] [2]  [3]  下一页  尾页

点击收听单词发音  

1 dealer
n.商人，贩子
参考例句：
The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。 The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。

2 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。

3 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。

4 annoyance
n.恼怒，生气，烦恼
参考例句：
Why do you always take your annoyance out on me?为什么你不高兴时总是对我出气？ I felt annoyance at being teased.我恼恨别人取笑我。

5 eyebrows
眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )
参考例句：
Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。 His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

6 attainments
成就，造诣； 获得( attainment的名词复数 )； 达到； 造诣； 成就
参考例句：
a young woman of impressive educational attainments 一位学业成就斐然的年轻女子 He is a scholar of the highest attainments in this field. 他在这一领域是一位颇有造就的学者。

7 follies
罪恶，时事讽刺剧； 愚蠢，蠢笨，愚蠢的行为、思想或做法( folly的名词复数 )
参考例句：
He has given up youthful follies. 他不再做年轻人的荒唐事了。 The writings of Swift mocked the follies of his age. 斯威夫特的作品嘲弄了他那个时代的愚人。

8 specialty
n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长
参考例句：
Shell carvings are a specialty of the town.贝雕是该城的特产。 His specialty is English literature.他的专业是英国文学。

9 sarcastically
adv.挖苦地，讽刺地
参考例句：
'What a surprise!' Caroline murmured sarcastically.“太神奇了!”卡罗琳轻声挖苦道。 Pierce mocked her and bowed sarcastically. 皮尔斯嘲笑她，讽刺地鞠了一躬。

10 placidly
adv.平稳地，平静地
参考例句：
Hurstwood stood placidly by, while the car rolled back into the yard. 当车子开回场地时，赫斯渥沉着地站在一边。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹 The water chestnut floated placidly there, where it would grow. 那棵菱角就又安安稳稳浮在水面上生长去了。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

11 awfully
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 cynical
adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的
参考例句：
The enormous difficulty makes him cynical about the feasibility of the idea.由于困难很大，他对这个主意是否可行持怀疑态度。 He was cynical that any good could come of democracy.他不相信民主会带来什么好处。

13 libertine
n.淫荡者；adj.放荡的，自由思想的
参考例句：
The transition from libertine to prig was so complete.一个酒徒色鬼竟然摇身一变就成了道学先生。 I believe John is not a libertine any more.我相信约翰不再是个浪子了。

14 positively
adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实
参考例句：
She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。 The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

15 blessings
n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福
参考例句：
Afflictions are sometimes blessings in disguise. 塞翁失马，焉知非福。 来自《简明英汉词典》 We don't rely on blessings from Heaven. 我们不靠老天保佑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

16 deliberately
adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地
参考例句：
The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。 They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

17 infinitely
adv.无限地，无穷地
参考例句：
There is an infinitely bright future ahead of us.我们有无限光明的前途。 The universe is infinitely large.宇宙是无限大的。

18 vice
n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的
参考例句：
He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。 They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

19 gambling
n.赌博；投机
参考例句：
They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。 The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

20 verge
n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临
参考例句：
The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。 She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

21 breakdown
n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌
参考例句：
She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。 The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

22 attained
（通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况）
参考例句：
She has attained the degree of Master of Arts. 她已获得文学硕士学位。 Lu Hsun attained a high position in the republic of letters. 鲁迅在文坛上获得崇高的地位。

23 boor
n.举止粗野的人；乡下佬
参考例句：
I'm a bit of a boor,so I hope you won't mind if I speak bluntly.我是一个粗人，说话直来直去，你可别见怪。 If he fears the intellectual,he despises the boor.他对知识分子有戒心，但是更瞧不起乡下人。

24 savage
adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人
参考例句：
The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。 He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

25 brute
n.野兽，兽性
参考例句：
The aggressor troops are not many degrees removed from the brute.侵略军简直象一群野兽。 That dog is a dangerous brute.It bites people.那条狗是危险的畜牲，它咬人。

26 cynically
adv.爱嘲笑地，冷笑地
参考例句：
"Holding down the receiver,'said Daisy cynically. “挂上话筒在讲。”黛西冷嘲热讽地说。 来自英汉文学 - 盖茨比 The Democrats sensibly (if cynically) set about closing the God gap. 民主党在明智（有些讽刺）的减少宗教引起的问题。 来自互联网

27 darted
v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔
参考例句：
The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect. 蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》 The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

28 pounced
v.突然袭击( pounce的过去式和过去分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击）
参考例句：
As soon as I opened my mouth, the teacher pounced on me. 我一张嘴就被老师抓住呵斥了。 来自《简明英汉词典》 The police pounced upon the thief. 警察向小偷扑了过去。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

29 shrieked
v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
She shrieked in fright. 她吓得尖叫起来。 Li Mei-t'ing gave a shout, and Lu Tzu-hsiao shrieked, "Tell what? 李梅亭大声叫，陆子潇尖声叫：“告诉什么？ 来自汉英文学 - 围城

30 jaded
adj.精疲力竭的；厌倦的；（因过饱或过多而）腻烦的；迟钝的
参考例句：
I felt terribly jaded after working all weekend. 整个周末工作之后我感到疲惫不堪。 Here is a dish that will revive jaded palates. 这道菜简直可以恢复迟钝的味觉。 来自《简明英汉词典》

31 rustle
v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声
参考例句：
She heard a rustle in the bushes.她听到灌木丛中一阵沙沙声。 He heard a rustle of leaves in the breeze.他听到树叶在微风中发出的沙沙声。

32 dexterously
adv.巧妙地，敏捷地
参考例句：
He operates the machine dexterously. 他操纵机器动作非常轻巧。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》 How dexterously he handled the mite. 他伺候小家伙，有多么熟练。 来自辞典例句

33 platonic
adj.精神的；柏拉图（哲学）的
参考例句：
Their friendship is based on platonic love.他们的友情是基于柏拉图式的爱情。 Can Platonic love really exist in real life?柏拉图式的爱情，在现实世界里到底可能吗？

34 auspices
n.资助，赞助
参考例句：
The association is under the auspices of Word Bank.这个组织是在世界银行的赞助下办的。 The examination was held under the auspices of the government.这次考试是由政府主办的。

35 maker
n.制造者，制造商
参考例句：
He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。 A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

36 indifference
n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎
参考例句：
I was disappointed by his indifference more than somewhat.他的漠不关心使我很失望。 He feigned indifference to criticism of his work.他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。

37 attired
adj.穿着整齐的v.使穿上衣服，使穿上盛装( attire的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
The bride was attired in white. 新娘穿一身洁白的礼服。 来自《简明英汉词典》 It is appropriate that everyone be suitably attired. 人人穿戴得体是恰当的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

38 flannel
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。

39 disorder
n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调
参考例句：
When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。 It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

40 sinister
adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的
参考例句：
There is something sinister at the back of that series of crimes.在这一系列罪行背后有险恶的阴谋。 Their proposals are all worthless and designed out of sinister motives.他们的建议不仅一钱不值，而且包藏祸心。

41 faltered
（嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃
参考例句：
He faltered out a few words. 他支吾地说出了几句。 "Er - but he has such a longhead!" the man faltered. 他不好意思似的嚅嗫着：“这孩子脑袋真长。”

42 originality
n.创造力，独创性；新颖
参考例句：
The name of the game in pop music is originality.流行音乐的本质是独创性。 He displayed an originality amounting almost to genius.他显示出近乎天才的创造性。

43 chatter
vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战
参考例句：
Her continuous chatter vexes me.她的喋喋不休使我烦透了。 I've had enough of their continual chatter.我已厌烦了他们喋喋不休的闲谈。

44 intruding
v.侵入，侵扰，打扰( intrude的现在分词)；把…强加于
参考例句：
Does he find his new celebrity intruding on his private life? 他是否感觉到他最近的成名侵扰了他的私生活？ After a few hours of fierce fighting,we saw the intruding bandits off. 经过几小时的激烈战斗，我们赶走了入侵的匪徒。 来自《简明英汉词典》