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The (so-called) Vallambrosa Apartment-House is not an apartment-house. It is composed of two old-fashioned, brownstone-front residences welded into one. The parlor1 floor of one side is gay with the wraps and head-gear of a modiste; the other is lugubrious2 with the sophistical promises and grisly display of a painless dentist. You may have a room there for two dollars a week or you may have one for twenty dollars. Among the Vallambrosa's roomers are stenographers, musicians, brokers3, shop-girls, space-rate writers, art students, wire-tappers, and other people who lean far over the banister-rail when the door-bell rings.
This treatise4 shall have to do with but two of the Vallambrosians-- though meaning no disrespect to the others.
At six o'clock one afternoon Hetty Pepper came back to her third-floor rear $3.50 room in the Vallambrosa with her nose and chin more sharply pointed5 than usual. To be discharged from the department store where you have been working four years, and with only fifteen cents in your purse, does have a tendency to make your features appear more finely chiseled6.
And now for Hetty's thumb-nail biography while she climbs the two flights of stairs.
She walked into the Biggest Store one morning four years before with seventy-five other girls, applying for a job behind the waist department counter. The phalanx of wage-earners formed a bewildering scene of beauty, carrying a total mass of blond hair sufficient to have justified7 the horseback gallops8 of a hundred Lady Godivas.
The capable, cool-eyed, impersonal9, young, bald-headed man whose task it was to engage six of the
收听单词发音
1
parlor
n.店铺,营业室;会客室,客厅
2
lugubrious
adj.悲哀的,忧郁的
3
brokers
n.(股票、外币等)经纪人( broker的名词复数 );中间人;代理商;(订合同的)中人v.做掮客(或中人等)( broker的第三人称单数 );作为权力经纪人进行谈判;以中间人等身份安排…
4
treatise
n.专著;(专题)论文
5
pointed
adj.尖的,直截了当的
6
chiseled
adj.凿刻的,轮廓分明的v.凿,雕,镌( chisel的过去式 )
7
justified
a.正当的,有理的
8
gallops
(马等)奔驰,骑马奔驰( gallop的名词复数 )
9
impersonal
adj.无个人感情的,与个人无关的,非人称的
10
contestants
n.竞争者,参赛者( contestant的名词复数 )
11
suffocation
n.窒息
12
homely
adj.家常的,简朴的;不漂亮的
13
countenance
n.脸色,面容;面部表情;vt.支持,赞同
14
dynamite
n./vt.(用)炸药(爆破)
15
monotonous
adj.单调的,一成不变的,使人厌倦的
16
omniscient
adj.无所不知的;博识的
17
omnivorous
adj.杂食的
18
mileage
n.里程,英里数;好处,利润
19
aisles
n. (席位间的)通道, 侧廊
20
isles
岛( isle的名词复数 )
21
surfeit
v.使饮食过度;n.(食物)过量,过度
22
oasis
n.(沙漠中的)绿洲,宜人的地方
23
cloying
adj.甜得发腻的
24
kindly
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地
25
dime
n.(指美国、加拿大的钱币)一角
26
quotations
n.引用( quotation的名词复数 );[商业]行情(报告);(货物或股票的)市价;时价
27
rib
n.肋骨,肋状物
28
savor
vt.品尝,欣赏;n.味道,风味;情趣,趣味
29
savory
adj.风味极佳的,可口的,味香的
30
stew
n.炖汤,焖,烦恼;v.炖汤,焖,忧虑
31
earthenware
n.土器,陶器
32
oysters
牡蛎( oyster的名词复数 )
33
lobster
n.龙虾,龙虾肉
34
ambled
v.(马)缓行( amble的过去式和过去分词 );从容地走,漫步
35
faucets
n.水龙头( faucet的名词复数 )
36
artistic
adj.艺术(家)的,美术(家)的;善于艺术创作的
37
plaintive
adj.可怜的,伤心的
38
encyclopedia
n.百科全书
39
overalls
n.(复)工装裤;长罩衣
40
poke
n.刺,戳,袋;vt.拨开,刺,戳;vi.戳,刺,捅,搜索,伸出,行动散慢
41
riotous
adj.骚乱的;狂欢的
42
profusion
n.挥霍;丰富
43
punctiliously
44
butting
用头撞人(犯规动作)
45
scrap
n.碎片;废料;v.废弃,报废
46
soften
v.(使)变柔软;(使)变柔和
47
rigid
adj.严格的,死板的;刚硬的,僵硬的
48
chunk
n.厚片,大块,相当大的部分(数量)
49
lining
n.衬里,衬料
50
advertising
n.广告业;广告活动 a.广告的;广告业务的
51
monologue
n.长篇大论,(戏剧等中的)独白
52
poising
使平衡( poise的现在分词 ); 保持(某种姿势); 抓紧; 使稳定
53
bum
n.臀部;流浪汉,乞丐;vt.乞求,乞讨
54
sobbing
<主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的
55
indenting
n.成穴的v.切割…使呈锯齿状( indent的现在分词 );缩进排版
56
temperament
n.气质,性格,性情
57
scant
adj.不充分的,不足的;v.减缩,限制,忽略
58
babbling
n.胡说,婴儿发出的咿哑声adj.胡说的v.喋喋不休( babble的现在分词 );作潺潺声(如流水);含糊不清地说话;泄漏秘密
59
bosom
n.胸,胸部;胸怀;内心;adj.亲密的
60
bosoms
胸部( bosom的名词复数 ); 胸怀; 女衣胸部(或胸襟); 和爱护自己的人在一起的情形
61
sinewy
adj.多腱的,强壮有力的
62
metaphorically
adv. 用比喻地
63
pang
n.剧痛,悲痛,苦闷
64
consolation
n.安慰,慰问
65
melancholy
n.忧郁,愁思;adj.令人感伤(沮丧)的,忧郁的
66
waft
v.飘浮,飘荡;n.一股;一阵微风;飘荡
67
delectable
adj.使人愉快的;美味的
68
glorified
美其名的,变荣耀的
69
jersey
n.运动衫
70
dealer
n.商人,贩子
71
hyena
n.土狼,鬣狗
72
miserable
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的
73
numb
adj.麻木的,失去感觉的;v.使麻木
74
sopping
adj. 浑身湿透的
动词sop的现在分词形式
75
salvage
v.救助,营救,援救;n.救助,营救
76
exhaling
v.呼出,发散出( exhale的现在分词 );吐出(肺中的空气、烟等),呼气
77
shuddering
v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 );发抖;(机器、车辆等)突然震动;颤动
78
chauffeur
n.(受雇于私人或公司的)司机;v.为…开车
79
chauffeurs
n.受雇于人的汽车司机( chauffeur的名词复数 )
80
haughtily
adv. 傲慢地, 高傲地
81
disconsolately
adv.悲伤地,愁闷地;哭丧着脸
82
pitcher
n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐;(棒球)投手
83
woe
n.悲哀,苦痛,不幸,困难;int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌
84
marooned
adj.被围困的;孤立无援的;无法脱身的
85
assailed
v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 );困扰;质问;毅然应对
86
levied
征(兵)( levy的过去式和过去分词 ); 索取; 发动(战争); 征税
87
browbeaten
v.(以言辞或表情)威逼,恫吓( browbeat的过去分词 )
88
seaman
n.海员,水手,水兵
89
scurry
vi.急匆匆地走;使急赶;催促;n.快步急跑,疾走;仓皇奔跑声;骤雨,骤雪;短距离赛马
90
cargo
n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物
91
parley
n.谈判
92
dilute
vt.稀释,冲淡;adj.稀释的,冲淡的
93
acetic
adj.酸的
94
interval
n.间隔,间距;幕间休息,中场休息
95
pungent
adj.(气味、味道)刺激性的,辛辣的;尖锐的
96
waylayer
[法] 挡路抢劫者,埋伏者,挡截者
97
jack
n.插座,千斤顶,男人;v.抬起,提醒,扛举;n.(Jake)杰克
98
briefly
adv.简单地,简短地
99
shack
adj.简陋的小屋,窝棚
100
promptly
adv.及时地,敏捷地
101
mighty
adj.强有力的;巨大的
102
stewing
炖
103
protracted
adj.拖延的;延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词
104
automobiles
n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 )
105
standing
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
106
resolutely
adj.坚决地,果断地
107
sufficiently
adv.足够地,充分地
108
emphatic
adj.强调的,着重的;无可置疑的,明显的
109
inflexibly
adv.不屈曲地,不屈地
110
hoarse
adj.嘶哑的,沙哑的
111
jaw
n.颚,颌,说教,流言蜚语;v.喋喋不休,教训
112
twitches
n.(使)抽动, (使)颤动, (使)抽搐( twitch的名词复数 )