ON the 16th of April, nearly six months after the day just described, Papa entered our schoolroom and told us that that night we must start with him for our country house. I felt a pang¹ at my heart when I heard the news, and my thoughts at once turned to Mamma, The cause of our unexpected departure was the following letter:

"PETROVSKOE, 12th April.

"Only this moment (i.e. at ten o'clock in the evening) have I received your dear letter of the 3rd of April, but as usual, I answer it at once. Fedor brought it yesterday from town, but, as it was late, he did not give it to Mimi till this morning, and Mimi (since I was unwell) kept it from me all day. I have been a little feverish². In fact, to tell the truth, this is the fourth day that I have been in bed.

"Yet do not be uneasy. I feel almost myself again now, and if Ivan Vassilitch should allow me, I think of getting up to-morrow.

"On Friday last I took the girls for a drive, and, close to the little bridge by the turning on to the high road (the place which always makes me nervous), the horses and carriage stuck fast in the mud. Well, the day being fine, I thought that we would walk a little up the road until the carriage should be extricated³, but no sooner had we reached the chapel⁴ than I felt obliged to sit down, I was so tired, and in this way half-an-hour passed while help was being sent for to get the carriage dug out. I felt cold, for I had only thin boots on, and they had been wet through. After luncheon⁵ too, I had alternate cold and hot fits, yet still continued to follow our ordinary routine

"When tea was over I sat down to the piano to play a duct with Lubotshka. (you would be astonished to hear what progress she has made!), but imagine my surprise when I found that I could not count the beats! Several times I began to do so, yet always felt confused in my head, and kept hearing strange noises in my ears. I would begin 'One-two-three--' and then suddenly go on '-eight- fifteen,' and so on, as though I were talking nonsense and could not help it. At last Mimi came to my assistance and forced me to retire to bed. That was how my illness began, and it was all through my own fault. The next day I had a good deal of fever, and our good Ivan Vassilitch came. He has not left us since, but promises soon to restore me to the world."

点击收听单词发音  

1 pang
n.剧痛，悲痛，苦闷
参考例句：
She experienced a sharp pang of disappointment.她经历了失望的巨大痛苦。 She was beginning to know the pang of disappointed love.她开始尝到了失恋的痛苦。

2 feverish
adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的
参考例句：
He is too feverish to rest.他兴奋得安静不下来。 They worked with feverish haste to finish the job.为了完成此事他们以狂热的速度工作着。

3 extricated
v.使摆脱困难，脱身( extricate的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
The meeting seemed to be endless, but I extricated myself by saying I had to catch a plane. 会议好象没完没了，不过我说我得赶飞机，才得以脱身。 来自《简明英汉词典》 She extricated herself from her mingled impulse to deny and guestion. 她约束了自己想否认并追问的不可明状的冲动。 来自辞典例句

4 chapel
n.小教堂，殡仪馆
参考例句：
The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。 She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

5 luncheon
n.午宴，午餐，便宴
参考例句：
We have luncheon at twelve o'clock.我们十二点钟用午餐。 I have a luncheon engagement.我午饭有约。

6 delirious
adj.不省人事的，神智昏迷的
参考例句：
He was delirious,murmuring about that matter.他精神恍惚，低声叨念着那件事。 She knew that he had become delirious,and tried to pacify him.她知道他已经神志昏迷起来了，极力想使他镇静下来。

7 belle
n.靓女
参考例句：
She was the belle of her Sunday School class.在主日学校她是她们班的班花。 She was the belle of the ball.她是那个舞会中的美女。

8 attentive
adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的
参考例句：
She was very attentive to her guests.她对客人招待得十分周到。 The speaker likes to have an attentive audience.演讲者喜欢注意力集中的听众。

9 tiresome
adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的
参考例句：
His doubts and hesitations were tiresome.他的疑惑和犹豫令人厌烦。 He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors.他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜，令人生厌。

10 conceal
v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽
参考例句：
He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。 He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。

11 bereaves
v.使失去（希望、生命等）( bereave的第三人称单数 )；（尤指死亡）使丧失（亲人、朋友等）；使孤寂；抢走（财物）
参考例句：

12 beseech
v.祈求，恳求
参考例句：
I beseech you to do this before it is too late.我恳求你做做这件事吧，趁现在还来得及。 I beseech your favor.我恳求您帮忙。

13 juncture
n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头
参考例句：
The project is situated at the juncture of the new and old urban districts.该项目位于新老城区交界处。 It is very difficult at this juncture to predict the company's future.此时很难预料公司的前景。

14 accede
v.应允，同意
参考例句：
They are ready to accede to our request for further information.我们要是还需要资料，他们乐于随时提供。 In a word,he will not accede to your proposal in the meeting.总而言之，他不会在会中赞成你的提议。

15 transcribe
v.抄写，誉写；改编(乐曲)；复制，转录
参考例句：
We need volunteers to transcribe this manuscript.我们需要自愿者来抄写这个文稿。 I am able to take dictation in English and transcribe them rapidly into Chinese.我会英文记录，还能立即将其改写成中文。

16 calamity
n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件
参考例句：
Even a greater natural calamity cannot daunt us. 再大的自然灾害也压不垮我们。 The attack on Pearl Harbor was a crushing calamity.偷袭珍珠港(对美军来说)是一场毁灭性的灾难。

17 fortitude
n.坚忍不拔；刚毅
参考例句：
His dauntless fortitude makes him absolutely fearless.他不屈不挠的坚韧让他绝无恐惧。 He bore the pain with great fortitude.他以极大的毅力忍受了痛苦。

18 delusion
n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑
参考例句：
He is under the delusion that he is Napoleon.他患了妄想症，认为自己是拿破仑。 I was under the delusion that he intended to marry me.我误认为他要娶我。

19 perfectly
adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地
参考例句：
The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。 Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

20 despondent
adj.失望的，沮丧的，泄气的
参考例句：
He was up for a time and then，without warning,despondent again.他一度兴高采烈，但忽然又情绪低落下来。 I feel despondent when my work is rejected.作品被拒后我感到很沮丧。

21 deigned
v.屈尊，俯就( deign的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
Carrie deigned no suggestion of hearing this. 嘉莉不屑一听。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹 Carrie scarcely deigned to reply. 嘉莉不屑回答。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

22 awakened
v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到
参考例句：
She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。 The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 cleave
v．(clave；cleaved)粘着，粘住；坚持；依恋
参考例句：
It examines how the decision to quit gold or to cleave to it affected trade policies.论文分析了放弃或坚持金本位是如何影响贸易政策的。 Those who cleave to the latter view include many conservative American politicians.坚持后一种观点的大多是美国的保守派政客。

24 glean
v.收集(消息、资料、情报等)
参考例句：
The little information that we could glean about them was largely contradictory.我们能够收集到的有关它们的少量信息大部分是自相矛盾的。 From what I was able to glean,it appears they don't intend to take any action yet.根据我所收集到的资料分析，他们看来还不打算采取任何行动。

25 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。

26 delirium
n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋
参考例句：
In her delirium, she had fallen to the floor several times. 她在神志不清的状态下几次摔倒在地上。 For the next nine months, Job was in constant delirium.接下来的九个月，约伯处于持续精神错乱的状态。

27 scribble
v.潦草地书写，乱写，滥写；n.潦草的写法，潦草写成的东西，杂文
参考例句：
She can't write yet,but she loves to scribble with a pencil.她现在还不会写字，但她喜欢用铅笔乱涂。 I can't read this scribble.我看不懂这种潦草的字。

28 gushing
adj.迸出的；涌出的；喷出的；过分热情的v.喷，涌( gush的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话
参考例句：
blood gushing from a wound 从伤口冒出的血 The young mother was gushing over a baby. 那位年轻的母亲正喋喋不休地和婴儿说话。 来自《简明英汉词典》