"HULLO, Woloda! So we are going to dance to-night," said Seriosha, issuing from the drawing-room and taking out of his pocket a brand new pair of gloves. "I suppose it IS necessary to put on gloves? "

"Goodness! What shall I do? We have no gloves," I thought to myself. "I must go upstairs and search about." Yet though I rummaged¹ in every drawer, I only found, in one of them, my green travelling mittens², and, in another, a single lilac-coloured glove, a thing which could be of no use to me, firstly, because it was very old and dirty, secondly³, because it was much too large for me, and thirdly (and principally), because the middle finger was wanting--Karl having long ago cut it off to wear over a sore nail.

However, I put it on--not without some diffident contemplation of the blank left by the middle finger and of the ink-stained edges round the vacant space.

"If only Natalia Savishna had been here," I reflected, "we should certainly have found some gloves. I can't go downstairs in this condition. Yet, if they ask me why I am not dancing, what am I to say? However, I can't remain here either, or they will be sending upstairs to fetch me. What on earth am I to do?" and I wrung⁴ my hands.

"What are you up to here?" asked Woloda as he burst into the room. "Go and engage a partner. The dancing will be beginning directly."

"Woloda," I said despairingly, as I showed him my hand with two fingers thrust into a single finger of the dirty glove,

"Woloda, you, never thought of this."

"Of what? " he said impatiently. "Oh, of gloves," he added with a careless glance at my hand. "That's nothing. We can ask Grandmamma what she thinks about it," and without further ado he departed downstairs. I felt a trifle relieved by the coolness with which he had met a situation which seemed to me so grave, and hastened back to the drawing-room, completely forgetful of the unfortunate glove which still adorned⁵ my left hand.

Cautiously approaching Grandmamma's arm-chair, I asked her in a whisper:

"Grandmamma, what are we to do? We have no gloves."

"What, my love?"

点击收听单词发音  

1 rummaged
翻找，搜寻( rummage的过去式和过去分词 )； 已经海关检查
参考例句：
I rummaged through all the boxes but still could not find it. 几个箱子都翻腾遍了也没有找到。 The customs officers rummaged the ship suspected to have contraband goods. 海关人员仔细搜查了一艘有走私嫌疑的海轮。

2 mittens
不分指手套
参考例句：
Cotton mittens will prevent the baby from scratching his own face. 棉的连指手套使婴儿不会抓伤自己的脸。 I'd fisted my hands inside their mittens to keep the fingers warm. 我在手套中握拳头来保暖手指。

3 secondly
adv.第二，其次
参考例句：
Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。 Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

4 wrung
绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水）
参考例句：
He has wrung the words from their true meaning. 他曲解这些字的真正意义。 He wrung my hand warmly. 他热情地紧握我的手。

5 adorned
[计]被修饰的
参考例句：
The walls were adorned with paintings. 墙上装饰了绘画。 And his coat was adorned with a flamboyant bunch of flowers. 他的外套上面装饰着一束艳丽刺目的鲜花。

6 scowled
怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
He scowled his displeasure. 他满脸嗔色。 The teacher scowled at his noisy class. 老师对他那喧闹的课堂板着脸。

7 embarrassment
n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫
参考例句：
She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。 Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

8 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。

9 humiliation
n.羞辱
参考例句：
He suffered the humiliation of being forced to ask for his cards.他蒙受了被迫要求辞职的羞辱。 He will wish to revenge his humiliation in last Season's Final.他会为在上个季度的决赛中所受的耻辱而报复的。

10 dreaded
adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词)
参考例句：
The dreaded moment had finally arrived. 可怕的时刻终于来到了。 He dreaded having to spend Christmas in hospital. 他害怕非得在医院过圣诞节不可。 来自《用法词典》

11 loutish
adj.粗鲁的
参考例句：
He was not as loutish as his manner suggested.他举止粗野，但人不是那样的。 I was appalled by the loutish behaviour.这种粗野行为令我大为震惊。

12 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。

13 naively
adv. 天真地
参考例句：
They naively assume things can only get better. 他们天真地以为情况只会变好。 In short, Knox's proposal was ill conceived and naively made. 总而言之，诺克斯的建议考虑不周，显示幼稚。

14 crumpled
adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式
参考例句：
She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一团扔进了火里。 She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在写字台上把皱巴巴的信展平。

15 heartily
adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很
参考例句：
He ate heartily and went out to look for his horse.他痛快地吃了一顿，就出去找他的马。 The host seized my hand and shook it heartily.主人抓住我的手，热情地和我握手。

16 interval
n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息
参考例句：
The interval between the two trees measures 40 feet.这两棵树的间隔是40英尺。 There was a long interval before he anwsered the telephone.隔了好久他才回了电话。

17 decided
adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的
参考例句：
This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。 There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

18 counteract
vt.对…起反作用，对抗，抵消
参考例句：
The doctor gave him some medicine to counteract the effect of the poison.医生给他些药解毒。 Our work calls for mutual support.We shouldn't counteract each other's efforts.工作要互相支持，不要互相拆台。

19 esteem
n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作
参考例句：
I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。 The veteran worker ranks high in public love and esteem.那位老工人深受大伙的爱戴。

20 undoubtedly
adv.确实地，无疑地
参考例句：
It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。 He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。

21 derived
vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取
参考例句：
Many English words are derived from Latin and Greek. 英语很多词源出于拉丁文和希腊文。 来自《简明英汉词典》 He derived his enthusiasm for literature from his father. 他对文学的爱好是受他父亲的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 abash
v.使窘迫，使局促不安
参考例句：
Nothing could abash him.没有什么可以使他感到难堪。 When the child see all the room fille with strangers,he is much abash.那小孩一看到满屋子都是陌生人，感到非常局促不安。

23 salon
n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室
参考例句：
Do you go to the hairdresser or beauty salon more than twice a week?你每周去美容院或美容沙龙多过两次吗？ You can hear a lot of dirt at a salon.你在沙龙上会听到很多流言蜚语。

24 irritation
n.激怒，恼怒，生气
参考例句：
He could not hide his irritation that he had not been invited.他无法掩饰因未被邀请而生的气恼。 Barbicane said nothing,but his silence covered serious irritation.巴比康什么也不说，但是他的沉默里潜伏着阴郁的怒火。