These things are Life's Little Difficulties. One can never tellprecisely how one will act in a sudden emergency. The right thing forMike to have done at this crisis was to have ignored the voice,carried on up the water-pipe, and through the study window, and goneto bed. It was extremely unlikely that anybody could have recognisedhim at night against the dark background of the house. The positionthen would have been that somebody in Mr. Outwood's house had beenseen breaking in after lights-out; but it would have been verydifficult for the authorities to have narrowed the search down anyfurther than that. There were thirty-four boys in Outwood's, of whomabout fourteen were much the same size and build as Mike.

　　The suddenness, however, of the call caused Mike to lose his head. Hemade the strategic error of sliding rapidly down the pipe, andrunning.

　　There were two gates to Mr. Outwood's front garden. The carriage driveran in a semicircle, of which the house was the centre. It was fromthe right-hand gate, nearest to Mr. Downing's house, that the voicehad come, and, as Mike came to the ground, he saw a stout¹ figuregalloping towards him from that direction. He bolted like a rabbit forthe other gate. As he did so, his pursuer again gave tongue.

　　"Oo-oo-oo yer!" was the exact remark.

　　Whereby Mike recognised him as the school sergeant².

　　"Oo-oo-oo yer!" was that militant³ gentleman's habitual⁴ way ofbeginning a conversation.

　　With this knowledge, Mike felt easier in his mind. Sergeant Collardwas a man of many fine qualities, (notably a talent for what he waswont to call "spott'n," a mysterious gift which he exercised on therifle range), but he could not run. There had been a time in his hotyouth when he had sprinted⁵ like an untamed mustang in pursuit ofvolatile Pathans in Indian hill wars, but Time, increasing his girth,had taken from him the taste for such exercise. When he moved now itwas at a stately walk. The fact that he ran to-night showed how theexcitement of the chase had entered into his blood.

　　"Oo-oo-oo yer!" he shouted again, as Mike, passing through the gate,turned into the road that led to the school. Mike's

点击收听单词发音  

2 sergeant
n.警官，中士
参考例句：
His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。 How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

3 militant
adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士
参考例句：
Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。 He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

4 habitual
adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的
参考例句：
He is a habitual criminal.他是一个惯犯。 They are habitual visitors to our house.他们是我家的常客。

5 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

6 sprint
n.短距离赛跑；vi. 奋力而跑，冲刺；vt.全速跑过
参考例句：
He put on a sprint to catch the bus.他全速奔跑以赶上公共汽车。 The runner seemed to be rallied for a final sprint.这名赛跑者似乎在振作精神作最后的冲刺。

7 attentive
adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的
参考例句：
She was very attentive to her guests.她对客人招待得十分周到。 The speaker likes to have an attentive audience.演讲者喜欢注意力集中的听众。

8 toil
vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事
参考例句：
The wealth comes from the toil of the masses.财富来自大众的辛勤劳动。 Every single grain is the result of toil.每一粒粮食都来之不易。

9 trot
n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧
参考例句：
They passed me at a trot.他们从我身边快步走过。 The horse broke into a brisk trot.马突然快步小跑起来。

10 lurking
潜在
参考例句：
Why are you lurking around outside my house? 你在我房子外面鬼鬼祟祟的，想干什么？ There is a suspicious man lurking in the shadows. 有一可疑的人躲在阴暗中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

11 lighting
n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光
参考例句：
The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。 The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

12 groaning
adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式
参考例句：
She's always groaning on about how much she has to do. 她总抱怨自己干很多活儿。 The wounded man lay there groaning, with no one to help him. 受伤者躺在那里呻吟着，无人救助。

13 legitimate
adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法
参考例句：
Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。 That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

14 scourge
n.灾难，祸害；v.蹂躏
参考例句：
Smallpox was once the scourge of the world.天花曾是世界的大患。 The new boss was the scourge of the inefficient.新老板来了以后，不称职的人就遭殃了。

15 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。

16 sprinting
v.短距离疾跑( sprint的现在分词 )
参考例句：
Stride length and frequency are the most important elements of sprinting. 步长和步频是短跑最重要的因素。 来自互联网 Xiaoming won the gold medal for sprinting in the school sports meeting. 小明在学校运动会上夺得了短跑金牌。 来自互联网

17 guilt
n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责
参考例句：
She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。 Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

18 sprinter
n.短跑运动员，短距离全速奔跑者
参考例句：
He is more a sprinter than a swimmer. 他是短跑健将，而不是游泳选手。 来自辞典例句 The sprinter himself thinks he can run the race at 9.4 seconds. 这位短跑运动员自认为可以用9.4秒跑完比赛。 来自互联网

19 Oxford
n.牛津（英国城市）
参考例句：
At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。 This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

20 retired
adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的
参考例句：
The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。 Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

21 digestions
n.消化能力( digestion的名词复数 )；消化，领悟
参考例句：
We have the capabilities of preparing samples from ashing to wet digestion to microwave digestions. 我们有能力从样品制备微波灰湿地消化消化。 来自互联网 Conclusion a reliable method, that suggested to instead of the determination of methanol digestions. 结论：方法可靠，建议以此法代替甲醇浸出物测定。 来自互联网

22 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。

23 gist
n.要旨；梗概
参考例句：
Can you give me the gist of this report?你能告诉我这个报告的要点吗？ He is quick in grasping the gist of a book.他敏于了解书的要点。

24 tangle
n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱
参考例句：
I shouldn't tangle with Peter.He is bigger than me.我不应该与彼特吵架。他的块头比我大。 If I were you, I wouldn't tangle with them.我要是你，我就不跟他们争吵。

25 tug
v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船
参考例句：
We need to tug the car round to the front.我们需要把那辆车拉到前面。 The tug is towing three barges.那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。

26 distressed
痛苦的
参考例句：
He was too distressed and confused to answer their questions. 他非常苦恼而困惑，无法回答他们的问题。 The news of his death distressed us greatly. 他逝世的消息使我们极为悲痛。

27 crammed
adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式)
参考例句：
He crammed eight people into his car. 他往他的车里硬塞进八个人。 All the shelves were crammed with books. 所有的架子上都堆满了书。

28 tugged
v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
She tugged at his sleeve to get his attention. 她拽了拽他的袖子引起他的注意。 A wry smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. 他的嘴角带一丝苦笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》