Mary had liked to look at her mother from a distanceand she had thought her very pretty, but as she knewvery little of her she could scarcely have been expectedto love her or to miss her very much when she was gone.

　　She did not miss her at all, in fact, and as she was aself-absorbed child she gave her entire thought to herself,as she had always done. If she had been older she wouldno doubt have been very anxious at being left alone inthe world, but she was very young, and as she had alwaysbeen taken care of, she supposed she always would be.

　　What she thought was that she would like to know if she wasgoing to nice people, who would be polite to her and giveher her own way as her Ayah and the other native servantshad done.

　　She knew that she was not going to stay at the Englishclergyman's house where she was taken at first. She didnot want to stay. The English clergyman was poor and hehad five children nearly all the same age and they woreshabby clothes and were always quarreling and snatchingtoys from each other. Mary hated their untidy bungalowand was so disagreeable to them that after the first dayor two nobody would play with her. By the second daythey had given her a nickname which made her furious.

　　It was Basil who thought of it first. Basil was a littleboy with impudent² blue eyes and a turned-up nose, and Maryhated him. She was playing by herself under a tree,just as she had been playing the day the cholera³ broke out.

　　She was making heaps of earth and paths for a gardenand Basil came and stood near to watch her. Presently hegot rather interested and suddenly made a suggestion.

　　"Why don't you put a heap of stones there and pretendit is a rockery?" he said. "There in the middle,"and he leaned over her to point.

　　"Go away!" cried Mary. "I don't want boys. Go away!"For a moment Basil looked angry, and then he began to tease.

　　He was always teasing his sisters. He danced roundand round her and made faces and sang and laughed.

　　"Mistress Mary, quite contrary,How does your garden grow?

　　With silver bells, and cockle shells,And marigolds all in a row."He sang it until the other children heard and laughed, too;and the crosser Mary got, the more they sang "Mistress Mary,quite contrary"; and after that as long as she stayedwith them they called her "Mistress Mary Quite Contrary"when they spoke⁴ of her to each other, and often when theyspoke to her.

　　"You are going to be sent home," Basil said to her,"at the end of the week. And we're glad of it.""I am glad of it, too," answered Mary. "Where is home?""She doesn't know where home is!" said Basil,with seven-year-old scorn. "It's England, of course.

点击收听单词发音  

1 bungalow
n.平房，周围有阳台的木造小平房
参考例句：
A bungalow does not have an upstairs.平房没有上层。 The old couple sold that large house and moved into a small bungalow.老两口卖掉了那幢大房子，搬进了小平房。

2 impudent
adj.鲁莽的，卑鄙的，厚颜无耻的
参考例句：
She's tolerant toward those impudent colleagues.她对那些无礼的同事采取容忍的态度。 The teacher threatened to kick the impudent pupil out of the room.老师威胁着要把这无礼的小学生撵出教室。

3 cholera
n.霍乱
参考例句：
The cholera outbreak has been contained.霍乱的发生已被控制住了。 Cholera spread like wildfire through the camps.霍乱在营地里迅速传播。

4 spoke
n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说
参考例句：
They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。 The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 desolate
adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂
参考例句：
The city was burned into a desolate waste.那座城市被烧成一片废墟。 We all felt absolutely desolate when she left.她走后，我们都觉得万分孤寂。

6 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。

7 afterward
adv.后来；以后
参考例句：
Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。 Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

8 manor
n.庄园，领地
参考例句：
The builder of the manor house is a direct ancestor of the present owner.建造这幢庄园的人就是它现在主人的一个直系祖先。 I am not lord of the manor,but its lady.我并非此地的领主，而是这儿的女主人。

9 stony
adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的
参考例句：
The ground is too dry and stony.这块地太干，而且布满了石头。 He listened to her story with a stony expression.他带着冷漠的表情听她讲经历。

10 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。

11 deserted
adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的
参考例句：
The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。 The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

12 housekeeper
n.管理家务的主妇，女管家
参考例句：
A spotless stove told us that his mother is a diligent housekeeper.炉子清洁无瑕就表明他母亲是个勤劳的主妇。 She is an economical housekeeper and feeds her family cheaply.她节约持家，一家人吃得很省。

14 mantle
n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红
参考例句：
The earth had donned her mantle of brightest green.大地披上了苍翠欲滴的绿色斗篷。 The mountain was covered with a mantle of snow.山上覆盖着一层雪。

15 bonnet
n.无边女帽；童帽
参考例句：
The baby's bonnet keeps the sun out of her eyes.婴孩的帽子遮住阳光，使之不刺眼。 She wore a faded black bonnet garnished with faded artificial flowers.她戴着一顶褪了色的黑色无边帽，帽上缀着褪了色的假花。

16 velvet
n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的
参考例句：
This material feels like velvet.这料子摸起来像丝绒。 The new settlers wore the finest silk and velvet clothing.新来的移民穿着最华丽的丝绸和天鹅绒衣服。

17 guardian
n.监护人；守卫者，保护者
参考例句：
The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。 The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

18 pettish
adj.易怒的，使性子的
参考例句：
I can't act in pettish to you any further.我再也不能对你撒娇了。 He was getting more and more pettish and hysterical.他变得越来越任性，越来越歇斯底里。

19 indifference
n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎
参考例句：
I was disappointed by his indifference more than somewhat.他的漠不关心使我很失望。 He feigned indifference to criticism of his work.他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。

20 moor
n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊
参考例句：
I decided to moor near some tourist boats.我决定在一些观光船附近停泊。 There were hundreds of the old huts on the moor.沼地上有成百上千的古老的石屋。

21 crooked
adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的
参考例句：
He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指，示意我们到他那儿去。 You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。

22 positively
adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实
参考例句：
She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。 The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

23 pitcher
n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手
参考例句：
He poured the milk out of the pitcher.他从大罐中倒出牛奶。 Any pitcher is liable to crack during a tight game.任何投手在紧张的比赛中都可能会失常。

24 dreary
adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的
参考例句：
They live such dreary lives.他们的生活如此乏味。 She was tired of hearing the same dreary tale of drunkenness and violence.她听够了那些关于酗酒和暴力的乏味故事。

25 slanting
倾斜的，歪斜的
参考例句：
The rain is driving [slanting] in from the south. 南边潲雨。 The line is slanting to the left. 这根线向左斜了。

26 panes
窗玻璃( pane的名词复数 )
参考例句：
The sun caught the panes and flashed back at him. 阳光照到窗玻璃上，又反射到他身上。 The window-panes are dim with steam. 玻璃窗上蒙上了一层蒸汽。

27 poking
n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢
参考例句：
He was poking at the rubbish with his stick. 他正用手杖拨动垃圾。 He spent his weekends poking around dusty old bookshops. 他周末都泡在布满尘埃的旧书店里。

28 steadily
adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地
参考例句：
The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。 Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。