"Une plaisanterie numérique?" Bezu Fache was livid, glaring at Sophie Neveu in disbelief. A numeric joke? "Your professional assessment¹ of Saunière's code is that it is some kind of mathematical prank²?"

Fache was in utter incomprehension of this woman's gall³. Not only had she just barged in on Fache without permission, but she was now trying to convince him that Saunière, in his final moments of life, had been inspired to leave a mathematical gag?

"This code," Sophie explained in rapid French, "is simplistic to the point of absurdity⁴. Jacques Saunière must have known we would see through it immediately." She pulled a scrap⁵ of paper from her sweater pocket and handed it to Fache. "Here is the decryption."

Fache looked at the card.

1-1-2-3-5-8-13-21

"This is it?" he snapped. "All you did was put the numbers in increasing order!"

Sophie actually had the nerve to give a satisfied smile. "Exactly."

Fache's tone lowered to a guttural rumble⁶. "Agent Neveu, I have no idea where the hell you're going with this, but I suggest you get there fast." He shot an anxious glance at Langdon, who stood nearby with the phone pressed to his ear, apparently⁷ still listening to his phone message from the U.S. Embassy. From Langdon's ashen⁸ expression, Fache sensed the news was bad.

"Captain," Sophie said, her tone dangerously defiant⁹, "the sequence of numbers you have in your hand happens to be one of the most famous mathematical progressions in history."

Fache was not aware there even existed a mathematical progression that

点击收听单词发音  

1 assessment
n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额
参考例句：
This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。 What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

2 prank
n.开玩笑，恶作剧；v.装饰；打扮；炫耀自己
参考例句：
It was thought that the fire alarm had been set off as a prank.人们认为火警报警器响是个恶作剧。 The dean was ranking the boys for pulling the prank.系主任正在惩罚那些恶作剧的男学生。

3 gall
v.使烦恼，使焦躁，难堪；n.磨难
参考例句：
It galled him to have to ask for a loan.必须向人借钱使他感到难堪。 No gall,no glory.没有磨难，何来荣耀。

4 absurdity
n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论
参考例句：
The proposal borders upon the absurdity.这提议近乎荒谬。 The absurdity of the situation made everyone laugh.情况的荒谬可笑使每个人都笑了。

5 scrap
n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废
参考例句：
A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。 Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

6 rumble
n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说
参考例句：
I hear the rumble of thunder in the distance.我听到远处雷声隆隆。 We could tell from the rumble of the thunder that rain was coming.我们根据雷的轰隆声可断定，天要下雨了。

7 apparently
adv.显然地；表面上，似乎
参考例句：
An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。 He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

8 ashen
adj.灰的
参考例句：
His face was ashen and wet with sweat.他面如土色，汗如雨下。 Her ashen face showed how much the news had shocked her.她灰白的脸显示出那消息使她多么震惊。

9 defiant
adj.无礼的，挑战的
参考例句：
With a last defiant gesture,they sang a revolutionary song as they were led away to prison.他们被带走投入监狱时，仍以最后的反抗姿态唱起了一支革命歌曲。 He assumed a defiant attitude toward his employer.他对雇主采取挑衅的态度。

10 qualified
adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的
参考例句：
He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。 We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

11 relevance
n.中肯，适当，关联，相关性
参考例句：
Politicians' private lives have no relevance to their public roles.政治家的私生活与他们的公众角色不相关。 Her ideas have lost all relevance to the modern world.她的想法与现代社会完全脱节。

12 mathematician
n.数学家
参考例句：
The man with his back to the camera is a mathematician.背对着照相机的人是位数学家。 The mathematician analyzed his figures again.这位数学家再次分析研究了他的这些数字。

13 shrugged
vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）
参考例句：
Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。 She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 shuffling
adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式
参考例句：
Don't go shuffling along as if you were dead. 别像个死人似地拖着脚走。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹 Some one was shuffling by on the sidewalk. 外面的人行道上有人拖着脚走过。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

15 random
adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动
参考例句：
The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。 On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

16 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。

17 wrath
n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒
参考例句：
His silence marked his wrath. 他的沉默表明了他的愤怒。 The wrath of the people is now aroused. 人们被激怒了。

18 soliciting
v.恳求( solicit的现在分词 )；（指娼妇）拉客；索求；征求
参考例句：
A prostitute was soliciting on the street. 一名妓女正在街上拉客。 来自《简明英汉词典》 China Daily is soliciting subscriptions. 《中国日报》正在征求订户。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

19 depicting
描绘，描画( depict的现在分词 )； 描述
参考例句：
a painting depicting the Virgin and Child 一幅描绘童贞马利亚和圣子耶稣的画 The movie depicting the battles and bloodshed is bound to strike home. 这部描写战斗和流血牺牲的影片一定会取得预期效果。

20 stammered
v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
He stammered most when he was nervous. 他一紧张往往口吃。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》 Barsad leaned back in his chair, and stammered, \"What do you mean?\" 巴萨往椅背上一靠，结结巴巴地说，“你是什么意思？” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

21 reset
v.重新安排，复位；n.重新放置；重放之物
参考例句：
As soon as you arrive at your destination,step out of the aircraft and reset your wristwatch.你一到达目的地，就走出飞机并重新设置手表时间。 He is recovering from an operation to reset his arm.他做了一个手臂复位手术，正在恢复。

22 bellowed
v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的过去式和过去分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫
参考例句：
They bellowed at her to stop. 他们吼叫着让她停下。 He bellowed with pain when the tooth was pulled out. 当牙齿被拔掉时，他痛得大叫。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

23 premises
n.建筑物，房屋
参考例句：
According to the rules,no alcohol can be consumed on the premises.按照规定，场内不准饮酒。 All repairs are done on the premises and not put out.全部修缮都在家里进行，不用送到外面去做。

24 distractions
n.使人分心的事[人]( distraction的名词复数 )；娱乐，消遣；心烦意乱；精神错乱
参考例句：
I find it hard to work at home because there are too many distractions. 我发觉在家里工作很难，因为使人分心的事太多。 There are too many distractions here to work properly. 这里叫人分心的事太多，使人无法好好工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

25 knight
n.骑士，武士；爵士
参考例句：
He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。 A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

26 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。

27 curt
adj.简短的，草率的
参考例句：
He gave me an extremely curt answer.他对我作了极为草率的答复。 He rapped out a series of curt commands.他大声发出了一连串简短的命令。

28 spun
v.纺，杜撰，急转身
参考例句：
His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。 Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。

29 lighting
n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光
参考例句：
The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。 The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。