"'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I.
     "'Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper¹ Beeches², five miles on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.'
     "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would be.'
     "'One child -- one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if you could see him killing³ cockroaches⁴ with a slipper⁵! Smack⁶! smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink⁷!' He leaned back in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again.
     "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was joking.
     "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single child?'
     "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided always that they were such commands as a lady might with propriety⁸ obey. You see no difficulty, heh?'
     "'I should be happy to make myself useful.'
     "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you know -- faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim⁹. Heh?'
     "'No,' said I,

点击收听单词发音  

1 copper
n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的
参考例句：
The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。 Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

2 beeches
n.山毛榉( beech的名词复数 )；山毛榉木材
参考例句：
The beeches, oaks and chestnuts all belong to the same family. 山毛榉树、橡树和栗子树属于同科树种。 来自互联网 There are many beeches in this wood. 这片树林里有许多山毛榉。 来自互联网

3 killing
n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财
参考例句：
Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。 Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 cockroaches
n.蟑螂( cockroach的名词复数 )
参考例句：
At night, the cockroaches filled the house with their rustlings. 夜里，屋里尽是蟑螂窸窸瑟瑟的声音。 来自辞典例句 It loves cockroaches, and can keep a house clear of these hated insects. 它们好食蟑螂，可以使住宅免除这些讨厌昆虫的骚扰。 来自百科语句

5 slipper
n.拖鞋
参考例句：
I rescued the remains of my slipper from the dog.我从那狗的口中夺回了我拖鞋的残留部分。 The puppy chewed a hole in the slipper.小狗在拖鞋上啃了一个洞。

6 smack
vt.拍，打，掴；咂嘴；vi.含有…意味；n.拍
参考例句：
She gave him a smack on the face.她打了他一个嘴巴。 I gave the fly a smack with the magazine.我用杂志拍了一下苍蝇。

7 wink
n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁
参考例句：
He tipped me the wink not to buy at that price.他眨眼暗示我按那个价格就不要买。 The satellite disappeared in a wink.瞬息之间，那颗卫星就消失了。

8 propriety
n.正当行为；正当；适当
参考例句：
We hesitated at the propriety of the method.我们对这种办法是否适用拿不定主意。 The sensitive matter was handled with great propriety.这件机密的事处理得极为适当。

9 whim
n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想
参考例句：
I bought the encyclopedia on a whim.我凭一时的兴致买了这本百科全书。 He had a sudden whim to go sailing today.今天他突然想要去航海。

10 considerably
adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上
参考例句：
The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。 The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

11 peculiar
adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的
参考例句：
He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。 He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

12 tint
n.淡色，浅色；染发剂；vt.着以淡淡的颜色
参考例句：
You can't get up that naturalness and artless rosy tint in after days.你今后不再会有这种自然和朴实无华的红润脸色。 She gave me instructions on how to apply the tint.她告诉我如何使用染发剂。

13 chestnut
n.栗树，栗子
参考例句：
We have a chestnut tree in the bottom of our garden.我们的花园尽头有一棵栗树。 In summer we had tea outdoors,under the chestnut tree.夏天我们在室外栗树下喝茶。

14 artistic
adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的
参考例句：
The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。 These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

15 offhand
adj.临时，无准备的；随便，马虎的
参考例句：
I can't answer your request offhand.我不能随便答复你的要求。 I wouldn't want to say what I thought about it offhand.我不愿意随便说我关于这事的想法。

16 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。