"Go on," said Cavor, as I sat across the edge of the manhole, and looked down into the black interior of the sphere. We two were alone. It was evening, the sun had set, and the stillness of the twilight¹ was upon everything.

I drew my other leg inside and slid down the smooth glass to the bottom of the sphere, then turned to take the cans of food and other impedimenta from Cavor. The interior was warm, the thermometer stood at eighty, and as we should lose little or none of this by radiation, we were dressed in shoes and thin flannels². We had, however, a bundle of thick woollen clothing and several thick blankets to guard against mischance.

By Cavor's direction I placed the packages, the cylinders³ of oxygen, and so forth⁴, loosely about my feet, and soon we had everything in. He walked about the roofless shed for a time seeking anything we had overlooked, and then crawled in after me. I noted⁵ something in his hand.

"What have you got there?" I asked.

"Haven't you brought anything to read?"

"Good Lord! No."

"I forgot to tell you. There are uncertainties-- The voyage may last-- We may be weeks!"

"But--"

"We shall be floating in this sphere with absolutely no occupation."

"I wish I'd known--"

He peered out of the manhole. "Look!" he said. "There's something there!"

"Is there time?"

"We shall be an hour."

I looked out. It was an old number of _Tit-Bits_ that one of the men must have brought. Farther away in the corner I saw a torn _Lloyd's News_. I scrambled⁶ back into the sphere with these things. "What have you got?" I said.

I took the book from his hand and read, "The Works of William Shakespeare".

He coloured slightly. "My education has been so purely⁷ scientific--" he said apologetically.

"Never read him?"

点击收听单词发音  

1 twilight
n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期
参考例句：
Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。 Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

2 flannels
法兰绒男裤； 法兰绒( flannel的名词复数 )
参考例句：
Erik had been seen in flannels and an imitation Panama hat. 人们看到埃里克身穿法兰绒裤，头戴仿制巴拿马草帽。 He is wearing flannels and a blue jacket. 他穿着一条法兰绒裤子和一件蓝夹克。

3 cylinders
n.圆筒( cylinder的名词复数 )；圆柱；汽缸；（尤指用作容器的）圆筒状物
参考例句：
They are working on all cylinders to get the job finished. 他们正在竭尽全力争取把这工作干完。 来自《简明英汉词典》 That jeep has four cylinders. 那辆吉普车有4个汽缸。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 forth
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。

5 noted
adj.著名的，知名的
参考例句：
The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。 Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 scrambled
v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞
参考例句：
Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》 He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 purely
adv.纯粹地，完全地
参考例句：
I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。 This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

8 precisely
adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地
参考例句：
It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。 The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

9 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。

10 impervious
adj.不能渗透的，不能穿过的，不易伤害的
参考例句：
He was completely impervious to criticism.他对批评毫不在乎。 This material is impervious to gases and liquids.气体和液体都透不过这种物质。

11 subsidies
n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )
参考例句：
European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。 Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 cowardice
n.胆小，怯懦
参考例句：
His cowardice reflects on his character.他的胆怯对他的性格带来不良影响。 His refusal to help simply pinpointed his cowardice.他拒绝帮助正显示他的胆小。

13 champagne
n.香槟酒；微黄色
参考例句：
There were two glasses of champagne on the tray.托盘里有两杯香槟酒。 They sat there swilling champagne.他们坐在那里大喝香槟酒。

14 countless
adj.无数的，多得不计其数的
参考例句：
In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。 I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

15 risky
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。

16 gulf
n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂
参考例句：
The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。 There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

17 stunned
adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词
参考例句：
The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。 The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

18 apoplectic
adj.中风的；愤怒的；n.中风患者
参考例句：
He died from a stroke of apoplexy.他死于中风。 My father was apoplectic when he discovered the truth.我父亲在发现真相后勃然大怒。

19 thumping
adj.重大的，巨大的；重击的；尺码大的；极好的adv.极端地；非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词)；狠打；怦怦地跳；全力支持
参考例句：
Her heart was thumping with emotion. 她激动得心怦怦直跳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》 He was thumping the keys of the piano. 他用力弹钢琴。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

20 vessels
n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人
参考例句：
The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》 All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

21 transparent
adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的
参考例句：
The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。 The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

22 pointed
adj.尖的，直截了当的
参考例句：
He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。 She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

23 spherical
adj.球形的；球面的
参考例句：
The Earth is a nearly spherical planet.地球是一个近似球体的行星。 Many engineers shy away from spherical projection methods.许多工程师对球面投影法有畏难情绪。

24 mere
adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过
参考例句：
That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。 It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

25 exterior
adj.外部的，外在的；表面的
参考例句：
The seed has a hard exterior covering.这种子外壳很硬。 We are painting the exterior wall of the house.我们正在给房子的外墙涂漆。

26 fixed
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。