Fache sprinted¹ down the Grand Gallery as Collet's radio blared over the distant sound of the alarm.

　　"He jumped!" Collet was yelling. "I'm showing the signal out on Place du Carrousel! Outside thebathroom window! And it's not moving at all! Jesus, I think Langdon has just committed suicide!"Fache heard the words, but they made no sense. He kept running. The hallway seemed never-ending. As he sprinted past Saunière's body, he set his sights on the partitions at the far end of theDenon Wing. The alarm was getting louder now.

　　"Wait!" Collet's voice blared again over the radio. "He's moving! My God, he's alive. Langdon'smoving!"Fache kept running, cursing the length of the hallway with every step.

　　"Langdon's moving faster!" Collet was still yelling on the radio. "He's running down Carrousel.

　　Wait... he's picking up speed. He's moving too fast!"Arriving at the partitions, Fache snaked his way through them, saw the rest room door, and ran forit.

　　The walkie-talkie was barely audible now over the alarm. "He must be in a car! I think he's in acar! I can't—"Collet's words were swallowed by the alarm as Fache finally burst into the men's room with his gundrawn. Wincing³ against the piercing shrill⁴, he scanned the area.

　　The stalls were empty. The bathroom deserted⁵. Fache's eyes moved immediately to the shatteredwindow at the far end of the room. He ran to the opening and looked over the edge. Langdon wasnowhere to be seen. Fache could not imagine anyone risking a stunt⁶ like this. Certainly if he haddropped that far, he would be badly injured.

　　The alarm cut off finally, and Collet's voice became audible again over the walkie-talkie.

　　"...moving south... faster... crossing the Seine on Pont du Carrousel!"Fache turned to his left. The only vehicle on Pont du Carrousel was an enormous twin-bed Trailordelivery truck moving southward away from the Louvre. The truck's open-air bed was coveredwith a vinyl tarp, roughly resembling a giant hammock. Fache felt a shiver of apprehension

点击收听单词发音  

1 sprinted
v.短距离疾跑( sprint的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
He sprinted for the line. 他向终点线冲去。 Sergeant Horne sprinted to the car. 霍恩中士全力冲向那辆汽车。 来自辞典例句

2 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。

3 wincing
赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的现在分词 )
参考例句：
She switched on the light, wincing at the sudden brightness. 她打开了灯，突如其来的强烈光线刺得她不敢睜眼。 "I will take anything," he said, relieved, and wincing under reproof. “我什么事都愿意做，"他说，松了一口气，缩着头等着挨骂。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

4 shrill
adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫
参考例句：
Whistles began to shrill outside the barn.哨声开始在谷仓外面尖叫。 The shrill ringing of a bell broke up the card game on the cutter.刺耳的铃声打散了小汽艇的牌局。

5 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。

6 stunt
n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长
参考例句：
Lack of the right food may stunt growth.缺乏适当的食物会阻碍发育。 Right up there is where the big stunt is taking place.那边将会有惊人的表演。

7 apprehension
n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑
参考例句：
There were still areas of doubt and her apprehension grew.有些地方仍然存疑，于是她越来越担心。 She is a girl of weak apprehension.她是一个理解力很差的女孩。

8 perimeter
n.周边，周长，周界
参考例句：
The river marks the eastern perimeter of our land.这条河标示我们的土地东面的边界。 Drinks in hands,they wandered around the perimeter of the ball field.他们手里拿着饮料在球场周围漫不经心地遛跶。

9 darted
v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔
参考例句：
The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect. 蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》 The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 blur
n.模糊不清的事物；vt.使模糊，使看不清楚
参考例句：
The houses appeared as a blur in the mist.房子在薄雾中隐隐约约看不清。 If you move your eyes and your head,the picture will blur.如果你的眼睛或头动了，图像就会变得模糊不清。

11 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。

12 mesh
n.网孔，网丝，陷阱；vt.以网捕捉，啮合，匹配；vi.适合； [计算机]网络
参考例句：
Their characters just don't mesh.他们的性格就是合不来。 This is the net having half inch mesh.这是有半英寸网眼的网。

13 cargo
n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物
参考例句：
The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。 A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

14 fumbled
（笨拙地）摸索或处理（某事物）( fumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 乱摸，笨拙地弄； 使落下
参考例句：
She fumbled in her pocket for a handkerchief. 她在她口袋里胡乱摸找手帕。 He fumbled about in his pockets for the ticket. 他（瞎）摸着衣兜找票。

15 metallic
adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的
参考例句：
A sharp metallic note coming from the outside frightened me.外面传来尖锐铿锵的声音吓了我一跳。 He picked up a metallic ring last night.昨夜他捡了一个金属戒指。

16 embedding
把…嵌入，埋入( embed的现在分词 )； 植入； 埋置； 包埋
参考例句：
Data embedding in scrambled Digital video complete source code, has been tested. 数据嵌入在炒数字视频完整的源代码，已经过测试。 Embedding large portions of C++ code in string literals is very awkward. 将大部分C++代码嵌入到字符串中是非常笨拙的。

17 retrieved
v.取回( retrieve的过去式和过去分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息）
参考例句：
Yesterday I retrieved the bag I left in the train. 昨天我取回了遗留在火车上的包。 来自《简明英汉词典》 He reached over and retrieved his jacket from the back seat. 他伸手从后座上取回了自己的夹克。 来自辞典例句

18 cylindrical
adj.圆筒形的
参考例句：
huge cylindrical gas tanks 巨大的圆柱形贮气罐 Beer cans are cylindrical. 啤酒罐子是圆筒形的。

19 ram
(random access memory)随机存取存储器
参考例句：
512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。

20 decibel
n.分贝(音量的单位)
参考例句：
The noise pollution reached a high decibel level.噪音污染达到了很高分贝。 In sound we use the decibel scale.在声学中我们采用分贝标度。

21 stationary
adj.固定的，静止不动的
参考例句：
A stationary object is easy to be aimed at.一个静止不动的物体是容易瞄准的。 Wait until the bus is stationary before you get off.你要等公共汽车停稳了再下车。

22 plummeted
v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
Share prices plummeted to an all-time low. 股票价格暴跌到历史最低点。 A plane plummeted to earth. 一架飞机一头栽向地面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 exodus
v.大批离去，成群外出
参考例句：
The medical system is facing collapse because of an exodus of doctors.由于医生大批离去，医疗系统面临崩溃。 Man's great challenge at this moment is to prevent his exodus from this planet.人在当前所遇到的最大挑战，就是要防止人从这个星球上消失。

24 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。