THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR¹.

When Nekhludoff knew Selenin as a student, he was a good son, a true friend, and for his years an educated man of the world, with much tact²; elegant, handsome, and at the same time truthful³ and honest. He learned well, without much exertion⁴ and with no pedantry⁵, receiving gold medals for his essays. He considered the service of mankind, not only in words but in acts, to be the aim of his young life. He saw no other way of being useful to humanity than by serving the State. Therefore, as soon as he had completed his studies, he systematically⁶ examined all the activities to which he might devote his life, and decided⁷ to enter the Second Department of the Chancellerie, where the laws are drawn⁸ up, and he did so. But, in spite of the most scrupulous⁹ and exact discharge of the duties demanded of him, this service gave no satisfaction to his desire of being useful, nor could he awake in himself the consciousness that he was doing "the right thing."

This dissatisfaction was so much increased by the friction¹⁰ with his very small-minded and vain fellow officials that he left the Chancellerie and entered the Senate. It was better there, but the same dissatisfaction still pursued him; he felt it to be very different from what he had expected, and from what ought to be.

And now that he was in the Senate his relatives obtained for him the post of Gentleman of the Bedchamber, and he had to go in a carriage, dressed in an embroidered

点击收听单词发音  

1 prosecutor
n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人
参考例句：
The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。 The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

2 tact
n.机敏，圆滑，得体
参考例句：
She showed great tact in dealing with a tricky situation.她处理棘手的局面表现得十分老练。 Tact is a valuable commodity.圆滑老练是很有用处的。

3 truthful
adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的
参考例句：
You can count on him for a truthful report of the accident.你放心，他会对事故作出如实的报告的。 I don't think you are being entirely truthful.我认为你并没全讲真话。

4 exertion
n.尽力，努力
参考例句：
We were sweating profusely from the exertion of moving the furniture.我们搬动家具大费气力，累得大汗淋漓。 She was hot and breathless from the exertion of cycling uphill.由于用力骑车爬坡，她浑身发热。

5 pedantry
n.迂腐，卖弄学问
参考例句：
The book is a demonstration of scholarship without pedantry.这本书表现出学术水平又不故意卖弄学问。 He fell into a kind of pedantry.他变得有点喜欢卖弄学问。

6 systematically
adv.有系统地
参考例句：
This government has systematically run down public services since it took office.这一屆政府自上台以来系统地削减了公共服务。 The rainforest is being systematically destroyed.雨林正被系统地毀灭。

7 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。

8 drawn
v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的
参考例句：
All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。 Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

9 scrupulous
adj.审慎的，小心翼翼的，完全的，纯粹的
参考例句：
She is scrupulous to a degree.她非常谨慎。 Poets are not so scrupulous as you are.诗人并不像你那样顾虑多。

10 friction
n.摩擦，摩擦力
参考例句：
When Joan returned to work,the friction between them increased.琼回来工作后，他们之间的摩擦加剧了。 Friction acts on moving bodies and brings them to a stop.摩擦力作用于运动着的物体，并使其停止。

11 embroidered
adj．绣花的
参考例句：
She embroidered flowers on the cushion covers. 她在这些靠垫套上绣了花。 She embroidered flowers on the front of the dress. 她在连衣裙的正面绣花。

12 linen
n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的
参考例句：
The worker is starching the linen.这名工人正在给亚麻布上浆。 Fine linen and cotton fabrics were known as well as wool.精细的亚麻织品和棉织品像羊毛一样闻名遐迩。

13 apron
n.围裙；工作裙
参考例句：
We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。 She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。

14 lackey
n.侍从；跟班
参考例句：
I'm not staying as a paid lackey to act as your yes-man.我不要再做拿钱任你使唤的应声虫。 Who would have thought that Fredo would become a lackey of women?谁能料到弗烈特竟堕落成女人脚下的哈叭狗？

15 deference
n.尊重，顺从；敬意
参考例句：
Do you treat your parents and teachers with deference?你对父母师长尊敬吗？ The major defect of their work was deference to authority.他们的主要缺陷是趋从权威。

16 luxurious
adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的
参考例句：
This is a luxurious car complete with air conditioning and telephone.这是一辆附有空调设备和电话的豪华轿车。 The rich man lives in luxurious surroundings.这位富人生活在奢侈的环境中。

17 derive
v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自
参考例句：
We derive our sustenance from the land.我们从土地获取食物。 We shall derive much benefit from reading good novels.我们将从优秀小说中获得很大好处。

18 perseveringly
坚定地
参考例句：
The Chinese people perseveringly support the just struggles of the oppressed people and nations the world over. 中国人民坚持不渝地支持全世界被压迫人民和民族的正义斗争。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》 Men should have high aspirations; students should study perseveringly. 人贵有志，学贵有恒。 来自互联网

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 warfare
n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突
参考例句：
He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。 Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

21 superstitions
迷信，迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 )
参考例句：
Old superstitions seem incredible to educated people. 旧的迷信对于受过教育的人来说是不可思议的。 Do away with all fetishes and superstitions. 破除一切盲目崇拜和迷信。

22 intimacy
n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行
参考例句：
His claims to an intimacy with the President are somewhat exaggerated.他声称自己与总统关系密切，这有点言过其实。 I wish there were a rule book for intimacy.我希望能有个关于亲密的规则。

23 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。

24 rejection
n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃
参考例句：
He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。 The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

25 confession
n.自白，供认，承认
参考例句：
Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。 The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

26 hostility
n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争
参考例句：
There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。 His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。

27 unreasonable
adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的
参考例句：
I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。 They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。

28 philosophical
adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的
参考例句：
The teacher couldn't answer the philosophical problem.老师不能解答这个哲学问题。 She is very philosophical about her bad luck.她对自己的不幸看得很开。

29 vindication
n.洗冤，证实
参考例句：
There is much to be said in vindication of his claim.有很多理由可以提出来为他的要求作辩护。 The result was a vindication of all our efforts.这一结果表明我们的一切努力是必要的。

30 sophistries
n.诡辩术( sophistry的名词复数 )；（一次）诡辩
参考例句：
They refuted the "sophistries of the economists". 他们驳斥了“经济学家们似是而非的观点”。 来自柯林斯例句

31 icons
n.偶像( icon的名词复数 )；（计算机屏幕上表示命令、程序的）符号，图像
参考例句：
Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons. 用图标来区分重要的文本项。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓 Daemonic icons should only be employed persistently if they provide continuous, useful status information. 只有会连续地提供有用状态信息的情况下，后台应用程序才应该一直使用图标。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓