For a moment Dorothy felt as if she must make her way back after her friends—it was so terrifying to find herself in such a press—but a glance at the wavering canvas that now hid from the public the company of players and helpers, inspired her with new courage. She would go behind the scenes and see if that girl was Tavia!

 

In a short time the theatre was emptied, save for the ushers² and the boys who dashed in and out among the rows of seats, picking up the scattered³ programmes, and making the place ready for the evening performance. One of the ushers, seeing Dorothy, walked over to her.

 

“Waiting for anybody?” he asked mechanically, without glancing up at her, but indicating that he was ready to turn up the seat before which she was standing⁴.

 

“Yes,” replied Dorothy.

 

“In the company?” he inquired next.

 

[173]

“Yes. The young lady who played Katherine.”

 

“This way,” the young man exclaimed snappily, but in no unpleasant tone. He led the way along the row of seats, down an isle⁵ and through a very narrow door that seemed to be made of black oil cloth.

 

Dorothy had no time to think of what was going to happen. It had all come about so quickly—she hardly knew how to proceed now—what name to ask for—or whether or not to give her own in case it was demanded. She wondered what the actress would think of her if Katherine did not turn out to be Tavia.

 

“You mean Miss Riceman,” the usher¹ went on as he closed the narrow door. “This way, please,” and, the next moment, Dorothy found herself behind the scenes in a big city theatre.

 

The place was a maze⁶ of doors and passageways. Wires and ropes were in a seeming tangle

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1 usher
n.带位员，招待员；vt.引导，护送；vi.做招待，担任引座员
参考例句：
The usher seated us in the front row.引座员让我们在前排就座。 They were quickly ushered away.他们被迅速领开。

2 ushers
n.引座员( usher的名词复数 )；招待员；门房；助理教员v.引，领，陪同( usher的第三人称单数 )
参考例句：
Seats clicked, ushers bowed while he looked blandly on. 座位发出啪啦啪啦的声响，领座员朝客人们鞠躬，而他在一边温和殷勤地看着。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹 The minister then offers a brief prayer of dedication, and the ushers return to their seats. 于是牧师又做了一个简短的奉献的祈祷，各招待员也各自回座位。 来自辞典例句

3 scattered
adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的
参考例句：
Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

4 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。

5 isle
n.小岛，岛
参考例句：
He is from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.他来自爱尔兰海的马恩岛。 The boat left for the paradise isle of Bali.小船驶向天堂一般的巴厘岛。

6 maze
n.迷宫，八阵图，混乱，迷惑
参考例句：
He found his way through the complex maze of corridors.他穿过了迷宮一样的走廊。 She was lost in the maze for several hours.一连几小时，她的头脑处于一片糊涂状态。

7 tangle
n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱
参考例句：
I shouldn't tangle with Peter.He is bigger than me.我不应该与彼特吵架。他的块头比我大。 If I were you, I wouldn't tangle with them.我要是你，我就不跟他们争吵。

8 theatrical
adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的
参考例句：
The final scene was dismayingly lacking in theatrical effect.最后一场缺乏戏剧效果，叫人失望。 She always makes some theatrical gesture.她老在做些夸张的手势。

9 outfit
n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装
参考例句：
Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。 His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。

10 depiction
n.描述
参考例句：
Double rhythms, resounding through the lyric depiction and connecting with each other, indicate the thespian place of mankind and the cognition of the writer to this thespian place. 这双重旋律互为表里，表明了人类的某种悲剧性处境以及作家对这种悲剧性处境的感受和认识。 A realistic depiction of scenes from everyday domestic life. 日常家居生活的写实画。

11 soda
n.苏打水；汽水
参考例句：
She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。 I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。

12 bass
n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴
参考例句：
He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。 The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

13 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。

14 dressing
n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料
参考例句：
Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。 The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

15 gracefully
ad.大大方方地；优美地
参考例句：
She sank gracefully down onto a cushion at his feet. 她优雅地坐到他脚旁的垫子上。 The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line. 新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

16 stuffy
adj.不透气的，闷热的
参考例句：
It's really hot and stuffy in here.这里实在太热太闷了。 It was so stuffy in the tent that we could sense the air was heavy with moisture.帐篷里很闷热，我们感到空气都是潮的。

17 tilting
倾斜，倾卸
参考例句：
For some reason he thinks everyone is out to get him, but he's really just tilting at windmills. 不知为什么他觉得每个人都想害他，但其实他不过是在庸人自扰。 So let us stop bickering within our ranks.Stop tilting at windmills. 所以，让我们结束内部间的争吵吧！再也不要去做同风车作战的蠢事了。

18 stammeringly
adv.stammering（口吃的）的变形
参考例句：

19 gasped
v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要
参考例句：
She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。 People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

20 kindly
adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地
参考例句：
Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。 A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

21 abominable
adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的
参考例句：
Their cruel treatment of prisoners was abominable.他们虐待犯人的做法令人厌恶。 The sanitary conditions in this restaurant are abominable.这家饭馆的卫生状况糟透了。

22 vapor
n.蒸汽，雾气
参考例句：
The cold wind condenses vapor into rain.冷风使水蒸气凝结成雨。 This new machine sometimes transpires a lot of hot vapor.这部机器有时排出大量的热气。

23 sifted
v.筛( sift的过去式和过去分词 )；筛滤；细查；详审
参考例句：
She sifted through her papers to find the lost letter. 她仔细在文件中寻找那封丢失的信。 来自《简明英汉词典》 She sifted thistles through her thistle-sifter. 她用蓟筛筛蓟。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 pitcher
n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手
参考例句：
He poured the milk out of the pitcher.他从大罐中倒出牛奶。 Any pitcher is liable to crack during a tight game.任何投手在紧张的比赛中都可能会失常。

25 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。

26 determinedly
adv.决意地；坚决地，坚定地
参考例句：
"Don't shove me,'said one of the strikers, determinedly. "I'm not doing anything." “别推我，"其中的一个罢工工人坚决地说，"我可没干什么。” 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹 Dorothy's chin set determinedly as she looked calmly at him. 多萝西平静地看着他，下巴绷得紧紧的，看来是打定主意了。 来自名作英译部分

27 sipped
v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
He sipped his coffee pleasurably. 他怡然地品味着咖啡。 I sipped the hot chocolate she had made. 我小口喝着她调制的巧克力热饮。 来自辞典例句

28 wig
n.假发
参考例句：
The actress wore a black wig over her blond hair.那个女演员戴一顶黑色假发罩住自己的金黄色头发。 He disguised himself with a wig and false beard.他用假发和假胡须来乔装。

29 artistic
adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的
参考例句：
The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。 These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

30 rascals
流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人
参考例句：
"Oh, but I like rascals. "唔，不过我喜欢流氓。 "They're all second-raters, black sheep, rascals. "他们都是二流人物，是流氓，是恶棍。

31 rattle
v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓
参考例句：
The baby only shook the rattle and laughed and crowed.孩子只是摇着拨浪鼓，笑着叫着。 She could hear the rattle of the teacups.她听见茶具叮当响。

32 rehearsal
n.排练，排演；练习
参考例句：
I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。 You can sharpen your skills with rehearsal.排练可以让技巧更加纯熟。

33 previously
adv.以前，先前（地）
参考例句：
The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。 Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

34 troupe
n.剧团，戏班；杂技团；马戏团
参考例句：
The art troupe is always on the move in frontier guards.文工团常年在边防部队流动。 The troupe produced a new play last night.剧团昨晚上演了一部新剧。

35 miserably
adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地
参考例句：
The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。 It was drizzling, and miserably cold and damp. 外面下着毛毛细雨，天气又冷又湿，令人难受。 来自《简明英汉词典》

36 improvised
a.即席而作的,即兴的
参考例句：
He improvised a song about the football team's victory. 他即席创作了一首足球队胜利之歌。 We improvised a tent out of two blankets and some long poles. 我们用两条毛毯和几根长竿搭成一个临时帐蓬。

37 peculiarities
n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪
参考例句：
the cultural peculiarities of the English 英国人的文化特点 He used to mimic speech peculiarities of another. 他过去总是模仿别人讲话的特点。

38 chestnut
n.栗树，栗子
参考例句：
We have a chestnut tree in the bottom of our garden.我们的花园尽头有一棵栗树。 In summer we had tea outdoors,under the chestnut tree.夏天我们在室外栗树下喝茶。

39 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。”

40 applied
adj.应用的；v.应用，适用
参考例句：
She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。 This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

41 memoranda
n. 备忘录, 便条 名词memorandum的复数形式
参考例句：
There were memoranda, minutes of meetings, officialflies, notes of verbal di scussions. 有备忘录，会议记录，官方档案，口头讨论的手记。 Now it was difficult to get him to address memoranda. 而现在，要他批阅备忘录都很困难。

42 gratitude
adj.感激，感谢
参考例句：
I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。 She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

43 entirely
ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地
参考例句：
The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。 His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

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