THE SENTENCE COMMUTED¹.

"By-the-way, where are you staying?" asked the General as he was taking leave of Nekhludoff. "At Duke's? Well, it's horrid² enough there. Come and dine with us at five o'clock. You speak English?"

"Yes, I do."

"That's good. You see, an English traveller has just arrived here. He is studying the question of transportation and examining the prisons of Siberia. Well, he is dining with us to-night, and you come and meet him. We dine at five, and my wife expects punctuality. Then I shall also give you an answer what to do about that woman, and perhaps it may be possible to leave some one behind with the sick prisoner."

Having made his bow to the General, Nekhludoff drove to the post-office, feeling himself in an extremely animated³ and energetic frame of mind.

The post-office was a low-vaulted room. Several officials sat behind a counter serving the people, of whom there was quite a crowd. One official sat with his head bent⁴ to one side and kept stamping the envelopes, which he slipped dexterously⁵ under the stamp. Nekhludoff had not long to wait. As soon as he had given his name, everything that had come for him by post was at once handed to him. There was a good deal: letters, and money, and books, and the last number of Fatherland Notes. Nekhludoff took all these things to a wooden bench, on which a soldier with a book in his hand sat waiting for something, took the seat by his side, and began sorting the letters. Among them was one registered letter in a fine envelope, with a distinctly stamped bright red seal. He broke the seal, and seeing a letter from Selenin and some official paper inside the envelope, he felt the blood rush to his face, and his heart stood still. It was the answer to Katusha's petition. What would that answer be? Nekhludoff glanced hurriedly through the letter, written in an illegibly⁶ small, hard, and cramped⁷ hand, and breathed a sigh of relief. The answer was a

点击收听单词发音  

1 commuted
通勤( commute的过去式和过去分词 )； 减（刑）； 代偿
参考例句：
His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment. 他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。 The death sentence may be commuted to life imprisonment. 死刑可能減为无期徒刑。

2 horrid
adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的
参考例句：
I'm not going to the horrid dinner party.我不打算去参加这次讨厌的宴会。 The medicine is horrid and she couldn't get it down.这种药很难吃，她咽不下去。

3 animated
adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的
参考例句：
His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。 We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

4 bent
n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的
参考例句：
He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。 We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

5 dexterously
adv.巧妙地，敏捷地
参考例句：
He operates the machine dexterously. 他操纵机器动作非常轻巧。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》 How dexterously he handled the mite. 他伺候小家伙，有多么熟练。 来自辞典例句

6 illegibly
adv.难读地，暧昧地
参考例句：
Why? Because the project numbers are written illegibly on the folders. 为什么呢？因为项目成员把文件夹的名称写错了。 来自互联网 I do not know where family doctors acquired illegiBly perplexing handwriting. 我不知道家庭医生从哪儿学来的那种看不明白、令人迷惑的书法。 来自互联网

7 cramped
a.狭窄的
参考例句：
The house was terribly small and cramped, but the agent described it as a bijou residence. 房子十分狭小拥挤，但经纪人却把它说成是小巧别致的住宅。 working in cramped conditions 在拥挤的环境里工作

8 favourable
adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的
参考例句：
The company will lend you money on very favourable terms.这家公司将以非常优惠的条件借钱给你。 We found that most people are favourable to the idea.我们发现大多数人同意这个意见。

9 injustice
n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利
参考例句：
They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。 All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

10 imprisoned
下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。 They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

11 majesty
n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权
参考例句：
The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。 Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下，您必须赶快做出决定！

12 condescending
adj.谦逊的,故意屈尊的
参考例句：
He has a condescending attitude towards women. 他对女性总是居高临下。 He tends to adopt a condescending manner when talking to young women. 和年轻女子说话时，他喜欢摆出一副高高在上的姿态。

13 deigns
v.屈尊，俯就( deign的第三人称单数 )
参考例句：
She scarcely deigns a glance at me. 她简直不屑看我一眼。 来自辞典例句

14 joyful
adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的
参考例句：
She was joyful of her good result of the scientific experiments.她为自己的科学实验取得好成果而高兴。 They were singing and dancing to celebrate this joyful occasion.他们唱着、跳着庆祝这令人欢乐的时刻。

15 fictitious
adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的
参考例句：
She invented a fictitious boyfriend to put him off.她虚构出一个男朋友来拒绝他。 The story my mother told me when I was young is fictitious.小时候妈妈对我讲的那个故事是虚构的。

16 alleviate
v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)
参考例句：
The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。 Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

17 unravel
v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开
参考例句：
He was good with his hands and could unravel a knot or untangle yarn that others wouldn't even attempt.他的手很灵巧，其他人甚至都不敢尝试的一些难解的绳结或缠在一起的纱线，他都能解开。 This is the attitude that led him to unravel a mystery that long puzzled Chinese historians.正是这种态度使他解决了长期以来使中国历史学家们大惑不解的谜。

18 inspector
n.检查员，监察员，视察员
参考例句：
The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。 The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

19 naive
adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的
参考例句：
It's naive of you to believe he'll do what he says.相信他会言行一致，你未免太单纯了。 Don't be naive.The matter is not so simple.你别傻乎乎的。事情没有那么简单。

20 liberate
v.解放，使获得自由，释出，放出；vt.解放，使获自由
参考例句：
They did their best to liberate slaves.他们尽最大能力去解放奴隶。 This will liberate him from economic worry.这将消除他经济上的忧虑。

21 accomplished
adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的
参考例句：
Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。 Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

22 epidemic
n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的
参考例句：
That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。 The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。