At the hospital they say Janice has the baby with her for a moment and would he please wait? He is sitting in the chair with chrome arms leafing through a Woman's Day backwards¹ when a tall woman with backswept gray hair and somehow silver, finely wrinkled skin comes in and looks so familiar he stares. She sees this and has to speak; he feels she would have preferred to ignore him. Who is she? Her familiarity has touched him across a great distance. She looks into his face reluctantly and tells him, "You're an old student of Marty's. I'm Harriet Tothero. We had you to dinner once. I can almost think of your name."

Yes, of course, but it wasn't from that dinner he remembers her, it was from noticing her on the streets. The students at Mt. Judge High knew, most of them, that Tothero played around, and his wife appeared to their innocent eyes wreathed in dark flame, a walking martyr³, a breathing shadow of sin. It was less pity than morbid⁴ fascination⁵ that singled her out; Tothero was himself such a windbag⁶, such a speechifier, that the stain of his own actions slid from him, oil off a duck. It was the tall, silver, serious figure of his wife that accumulated the charge of his wrongdoing, and released it to their young minds with an electrical shock that snapped their eyes away from the sight of her, in fear as much as embarrassment⁷. Harry⁸ stands up, surprised to feel that the world she walks in is his world now. "I'm Harry Angstrom," he says.

"Yes, that's your name. He was so proud of you. He often talked to me about you. Even recently."

Recently. What did he tell her? Does she know about him? Does she blame him? Her long schoolmarmish face, as always, keeps its secrets in. "I've heard that he was sick."

"Yes, he is, Harry. Quite sick. He's had two strokes, one since he came into the hospital."

"He's here?"

点击收听单词发音  

1 backwards
adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地
参考例句：
He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。 All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

2 hem
n.贴边，镶边；vt.缝贴边；(in)包围，限制
参考例句：
The hem on her skirt needs sewing.她裙子上的褶边需要缝一缝。 The hem of your dress needs to be let down an inch.你衣服的折边有必要放长1英寸。

3 martyr
n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲
参考例句：
The martyr laid down his life for the cause of national independence.这位烈士是为了民族独立的事业而献身的。 The newspaper carried the martyr's photo framed in black.报上登载了框有黑边的烈士遗像。

4 morbid
adj.病的；致病的；病态的；可怕的
参考例句：
Some people have a morbid fascination with crime.一些人对犯罪有一种病态的痴迷。 It's morbid to dwell on cemeteries and such like.不厌其烦地谈论墓地以及诸如此类的事是一种病态。

5 fascination
n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋
参考例句：
He had a deep fascination with all forms of transport.他对所有的运输工具都很着迷。 His letters have been a source of fascination to a wide audience.广大观众一直迷恋于他的来信。

6 windbag
n.风囊，饶舌之人，好说话的人
参考例句：
Everyone knows he's a real windbag.大家都知道他是个很罗嗦的人。 Did you ever see such a windbag?你有见过这样饶舌的人?

7 embarrassment
n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫
参考例句：
She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。 Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

8 harry
vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼
参考例句：
Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。 Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

9 fully
adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地
参考例句：
The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。 They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

10 lizard
n.蜥蜴，壁虎
参考例句：
A chameleon is a kind of lizard.变色龙是一种蜥蜴。 The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect.蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。

11 exhale
v.呼气，散出，吐出，蒸发
参考例句：
Sweet odours exhale from flowers.花儿散发出花香。 Wade exhaled a cloud of smoke and coughed.韦德吐出一口烟，然后咳嗽起来。

12 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。

13 crunch
n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声
参考例句：
If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。 People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。

14 gravel
n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石
参考例句：
We bought six bags of gravel for the garden path.我们购买了六袋碎石用来铺花园的小路。 More gravel is needed to fill the hollow in the drive.需要更多的砾石来填平车道上的坑洼。

15 miraculous
adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的
参考例句：
The wounded man made a miraculous recovery.伤员奇迹般地痊愈了。 They won a miraculous victory over much stronger enemy.他们战胜了远比自己强大的敌人，赢得了非凡的胜利。

16 momentum
n.动力，冲力，势头；动量
参考例句：
We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。 The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

17 stunned
adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词
参考例句：
The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。 The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

18 spotted
adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的
参考例句：
The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。 Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

19 enunciation
n.清晰的发音；表明，宣言；口齿
参考例句：
He is always willing to enunciate his opinions on the subject of politics. 他总是愿意对政治问题发表意见。> enunciation / I9nQnsI5eIFn; I9nQnsI`eFEn/ n [C, U]。 来自辞典例句 Be good at communicating,sense of responsibility,the work is careful,the enunciation is clear. 善于沟通，责任心强，工作细致，口齿清晰。 来自互联网

20 sinister
adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的
参考例句：
There is something sinister at the back of that series of crimes.在这一系列罪行背后有险恶的阴谋。 Their proposals are all worthless and designed out of sinister motives.他们的建议不仅一钱不值，而且包藏祸心。

21 revolves
v.（使）旋转( revolve的第三人称单数 )；细想
参考例句：
The earth revolves both round the sun and on its own axis. 地球既公转又自转。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》 Thus a wheel revolves on its axle. 于是，轮子在轴上旋转。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 scattered
adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的
参考例句：
Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

23 scooped
v.抢先报道( scoop的过去式和过去分词 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等）
参考例句：
They scooped the other newspapers by revealing the matter. 他们抢先报道了这件事。 来自《简明英汉词典》 The wheels scooped up stones which hammered ominously under the car. 车轮搅起的石块，在车身下发出不吉祥的锤击声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 protrusive
adj.伸出的，突出的
参考例句：
Objective: How distant the condyle moved to protrusive and its function importance for incisors occlusion. 目的：推导切牙合功能时，髁状突向前下方运行的距离及生理意义。 来自互联网 A relatively slow developing trend was shown, however, good protrusive kinds of TCM aerosols not seldom. 中药气雾剂技术呈现缓慢发展的状况，但不乏个别表现突出的品种。 来自互联网

25 retracts
v.撤回或撤消( retract的第三人称单数 )；拒绝执行或遵守；缩回；拉回
参考例句：
A cat retracts its claws. 猫缩进它的爪子。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》 The split graph is given endomorphism images are retracts. 给出了任意自同态像图都是收缩核的分裂图的结构。 来自互联网

26 jaw
n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训
参考例句：
He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。 A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。

27 pucker
v.撅起，使起皱；n.（衣服上的）皱纹，褶子
参考例句：
She puckered her lips into a rosebud and kissed him on the nose.她双唇努起犹如一朵玫瑰花蕾，在他的鼻子上吻了一下。 Toby's face puckered.托比的脸皱了起来。

28 vowels
n.元音，元音字母( vowel的名词复数 )
参考例句：
Vowels possess greater sonority than consonants. 元音比辅音响亮。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》 Note the various sounds of vowels followed by r. 注意r跟随的各种元音的发音。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

29 squint
v. 使变斜视眼, 斜视, 眯眼看, 偏移, 窥视; n. 斜视, 斜孔小窗; adj. 斜视的, 斜的
参考例句：
A squint can sometimes be corrected by an eyepatch. 斜视有时候可以通过戴眼罩来纠正。 The sun was shinning straight in her eyes which made her squint. 太阳直射着她的眼睛,使她眯起了眼睛。

30 inflates
v.使充气（于轮胎、气球等）( inflate的第三人称单数 )；（使）膨胀；（使）通货膨胀；物价上涨
参考例句：
Mass advertising often inflates prices rather than reducing them. 大宗广告常常是抬高物价而不是降低。 来自辞典例句 The device periodically inflates the cuff and takes a blood pressure reading. 定期气囊打气及进行血压读数。 来自互联网

31 forth
adv.向前；向外，往外
参考例句：
The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。 He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

32 scentless
adj.无气味的，遗臭已消失的
参考例句：

33 drooping
adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词
参考例句：
The drooping willows are waving gently in the morning breeze. 晨风中垂柳袅袅。 The branches of the drooping willows were swaying lightly. 垂柳轻飘飘地摆动。

34 skull
n.头骨；颅骨
参考例句：
The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。 He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

35 flunked
v.( flunk的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）（考试、某学科的成绩等）不及格；评定（某人）不及格；（因不及格而） 退学
参考例句：
I flunked math in second grade. 我二年级时数学不及格。 He flunked out (of college) last year. 他去年（从大学）退学了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

36 repentance
n.懊悔
参考例句：
He shows no repentance for what he has done.他对他的所作所为一点也不懊悔。 Christ is inviting sinners to repentance.基督正在敦请有罪的人悔悟。

37 freckles
n.雀斑，斑点( freckle的名词复数 )
参考例句：
She had a wonderful clear skin with an attractive sprinkling of freckles. 她光滑的皮肤上有几处可爱的小雀斑。 来自《简明英汉词典》 When she lies in the sun, her face gets covered in freckles. 她躺在阳光下时，脸上布满了斑点。 来自《简明英汉词典》

38 bastard
n.坏蛋，混蛋；私生子
参考例句：
He was never concerned about being born a bastard.他从不介意自己是私生子。 There was supposed to be no way to get at the bastard.据说没有办法买通那个混蛋。

39 coffin
n.棺材，灵柩
参考例句：
When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。 The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

40 hips
abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的
参考例句：
She stood with her hands on her hips. 她双手叉腰站着。 They wiggled their hips to the sound of pop music. 他们随着流行音乐的声音摇晃着臀部。 来自《简明英汉词典》

41 starched
adj.浆硬的，硬挺的，拘泥刻板的v.把（衣服、床单等）浆一浆( starch的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
My clothes are not starched enough. 我的衣服浆得不够硬。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》 The ruffles on his white shirt were starched and clean. 白衬衫的褶边浆过了，很干净。 来自辞典例句

42 automobile
n.汽车，机动车
参考例句：
He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。 The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

43 tilt
v.(使)倾侧；(使)倾斜；n.倾侧；倾斜
参考例句：
She wore her hat at a tilt over her left eye.她歪戴着帽子遮住左眼。 The table is at a slight tilt.这张桌子没放平，有点儿歪.

44 tilted
v. 倾斜的
参考例句：
Suddenly the boat tilted to one side. 小船突然倾向一侧。 She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。

45 amazement
n.惊奇，惊讶
参考例句：
All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。 He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。

46 bosom
n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的
参考例句：
She drew a little book from her bosom.她从怀里取出一本小册子。 A dark jealousy stirred in his bosom.他内心生出一阵恶毒的嫉妒。

47 nostril
n.鼻孔
参考例句：
The Indian princess wore a diamond in her right nostril.印弟安公主在右鼻孔中戴了一颗钻石。 All South American monkeys have flat noses with widely spaced nostril.所有南美洲的猴子都有平鼻子和宽大的鼻孔。

48 miraculously
ad.奇迹般地
参考例句：
He had been miraculously saved from almost certain death. 他奇迹般地从死亡线上获救。 A schoolboy miraculously survived a 25 000-volt electric shock. 一名男学生在遭受2.5 万伏的电击后奇迹般地活了下来。

49 eyelid
n.眼睑，眼皮
参考例句：
She lifted one eyelid to see what he was doing.她抬起一只眼皮看看他在做什么。 My eyelid has been tumid since yesterday.从昨天起，我的眼皮就肿了。

50 tranquil
adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的
参考例句：
The boy disturbed the tranquil surface of the pond with a stick. 那男孩用棍子打破了平静的池面。 The tranquil beauty of the village scenery is unique. 这乡村景色的宁静是绝无仅有的。

51 protruding
v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的现在分词 )；凸
参考例句：
He hung his coat on a nail protruding from the wall. 他把上衣挂在凸出墙面的一根钉子上。 There is a protruding shelf over a fireplace. 壁炉上方有个突出的架子。 来自辞典例句

52 delightful
adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的
参考例句：
We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。 Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。

53 disdain
n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑
参考例句：
Some people disdain labour.有些人轻视劳动。 A great man should disdain flatterers.伟大的人物应鄙视献媚者。

54 veins
n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理
参考例句：
The blood flows from the capillaries back into the veins. 血从毛细血管流回静脉。 来自《简明英汉词典》 I felt a pleasant glow in all my veins from the wine. 喝过酒后我浑身的血都热烘烘的，感到很舒服。 来自《简明英汉词典》

55 machinery
n.(总称)机械，机器；机构
参考例句：
Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？ Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

56 flickering
adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的
参考例句：
The crisp autumn wind is flickering away. 清爽的秋风正在吹拂。 The lights keep flickering. 灯光忽明忽暗。

57 reassures
v.消除恐惧或疑虑，恢复信心( reassure的第三人称单数 )
参考例句：
A significant benefit of Undo is purely psychological: It reassures users. 撤销的一个很大好处纯粹是心理上的，它让用户宽心。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓 Direct eye contact reassures the person that you are confident and honest. 直接的目光接触让人相信你的自信和诚实。 来自口语例句

58 sleepless
adj.不睡眠的，睡不著的，不休息的
参考例句：
The situation gave her many sleepless nights.这种情况害她一连好多天睡不好觉。 One evening I heard a tale that rendered me sleepless for nights.一天晚上，我听说了一个传闻，把我搞得一连几夜都不能入睡。

59 outright
adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的
参考例句：
If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。 You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

60 swirling
v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 )
参考例句：
Snowflakes were swirling in the air. 天空飘洒着雪花。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》 She smiled, swirling the wine in her glass. 她微笑着，旋动着杯子里的葡萄酒。 来自辞典例句

61 scented
adj.有香味的；洒香水的；有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词)
参考例句：
I let my lungs fill with the scented air. 我呼吸着芬芳的空气。 来自《简明英汉词典》 The police dog scented about till he found the trail. 警犬嗅来嗅去，终于找到了踪迹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

62 gust
n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发
参考例句：
A gust of wind blew the front door shut.一阵大风吹来，把前门关上了。 A gust of happiness swept through her.一股幸福的暖流流遍她的全身。