【英文短篇小说】SANCTUARY(1)
时间:2019-01-23 作者:英语课 分类:英文短篇小说
英语课
I
The vicar’s wife came round the corner of the vicarage with her arms full of chrysanthemums 1. A good deal of rich garden soil was attached to her strong brogue shoes and a few fragments of earth were adhering to her nose, but of that fact she was perfectly 2 unconscious.
She had a slight struggle in opening the vicarage gate which hung, rustily 3, half off its hinges. A puff 4 of wind caught at her battered 5 felt hat, causing it to sit even more rakishly than it had done before. ‘Bother!’ said Bunch.
Christened by her optimistic parents Diana, Mrs Harmon had become Bunch at an early age for somewhat obvious reasons and the name had stuck to her ever since. Clutching the chrysanthemums, she made her way through the gate to the churchyard, and so to the church door.
The November air was mild and damp. Clouds scudded 6 across the sky with patches of blue here and there. Inside, the church was dark and cold; it was unheated except at service times.
‘Brrrrrh!’ said Bunch expressively 7. ‘I’d better get on with this quickly. I don’t want to die of cold.’
With the quickness born of practice she collected the necessary paraphernalia 8: vases, water, flower-holders 9. ‘I wish we had lilies,’ thought Bunch to herself. ‘I get so tired of these scraggy chrysanthemums.’ Her nimble fingers arranged the blooms in their holders.
There was nothing particularly original or artistic 10 about the decorations, for Bunch Harmon herself was neither original nor artistic, but it was a homely 11 and pleasant arrangement. Carrying the vases carefully, Bunch stepped up the aisle 13 and made her way towards the altar. As she did so the sun came out.
It shone through the east window of somewhat crude coloured glass, mostly blue and red—the gift of a wealthy Victorian churchgoer. The effect was almost startling in its sudden opulence 14. ‘Like jewels,’ thought Bunch. Suddenly she stopped, staring ahead of her. On the chancel steps was a huddled 15 dark form.
Putting down the flowers carefully, Bunch went up to it and bent 16 over it. It was a man lying there, huddled over on himself. Bunch knelt down by him and slowly, carefully, she turned him over. Her fingers went to his pulse—a pulse so feeble and fluttering that it told its own story, as did the almost greenish pallor of his face. There was no doubt, Bunch thought, that the man was dying.
He was a man of about forty-five, dressed in a dark, shabby suit. She laid down the limp hand she had picked up and looked at his other hand. This seemed clenched 17 like a fist on his breast. Looking more closely she saw that the fingers were closed over what seemed to be a large wad or handkerchief which he was holding tightly to his chest. All round the clenched hand there were splashes of a dry brown fluid which, Bunch guessed, was dry blood. Bunch sat back on her heels, frowning.
Up till now the man’s eyes had been closed but at this point they suddenly opened and fixed 18 themselves on Bunch’s face. They were neither dazed nor wandering. They seemed fully 12 alive and intelligent. His lips moved, and Bunch bent forward to catch the words, or rather the word. It was only one word that he said:
‘Sanctuary 19.’
There was, she thought, just a very faint smile as he breathed out this word. There was no mistaking it, for after a moment he said it again, ‘Sanctuary…’
Then, with a faint, long-drawn-out sigh, his eyes closed again. Once more Bunch’s fingers went to his pulse. It was still there, but fainter now and more intermittent 20. She got up with decision.
‘Don’t move,’ she said, ‘or try to move. I’m going for help.’
The man’s eyes opened again but he seemed now to be fixing his attention on the coloured light that came through the east window. He murmured something that Bunch could not quite catch. She thought, startled, that it might have been her husband’s name.
‘Julian?’ she said. ‘Did you come here to find Julian?’ But there was no answer. The man lay with eyes closed, his breathing coming in slow, shallow fashion.
Bunch turned and left the church rapidly. She glanced at her watch and nodded with some satisfaction. Dr Griffiths would still be in his surgery. It was only a couple of minutes’ walk from the church. She went in, without waiting to knock or ring, passing through the waiting room and into the doctor’s surgery.
‘You must come at once,’ said Bunch. ‘There’s a man dying in the church.’
Some minutes later Dr Griffiths rose from his knees after a brief examination.
‘Can we move him from here into the vicarage? I can attend to him better there—not that it’s any use.’
‘Of course,’ said Bunch. ‘I’ll go along and get things ready. I’ll get Harper and Jones, shall I? To help you carry him.’
‘Thanks. I can telephone from the vicarage for an ambulance, but I’m afraid—by the time it comes…’ He left the remark unfinished.
Bunch said, ‘Internal bleeding?’
Dr Griffiths nodded. He said, ‘How on earth did he come here?’
‘I think he must have been here all night,’ said Bunch, considering. ‘Harper unlocks the church in the morning as he goes to work, but he doesn’t usually come in.’
It was about five minutes later when Dr Griffiths put down the telephone receiver and came back into the morning-room where the injured man was lying on quickly arranged blankets on the sofa. Bunch was moving a basin of water and clearing up after the doctor’s examination.
‘Well, that’s that,’ said Griffiths. ‘I’ve sent for an ambulance and I’ve notified the police.’ He stood, frowning, looking down on the patient who lay with closed eyes. His left hand was plucking in a nervous, spasmodic way at his side.
‘He was shot,’ said Griffiths. ‘Shot at fairly close quarters. He rolled his handkerchief up into a ball and plugged the wound with it so as to stop the bleeding.’
‘Could he have gone far after that happened?’ Bunch asked.
‘Oh, yes, it’s quite possible. A mortally wounded man has been known to pick himself up and walk along a street as though nothing had happened, and then suddenly collapse 21 five or ten minutes later. So he needn’t have been shot in the church. Oh no. He may have been shot some distance away. Of course, he may have shot himself and then dropped the revolver and staggered blindly towards the church. I don’t quite know why he made for the church and not for the vicarage.’
‘Oh, I know that,’ said Bunch. ‘He said it: “Sanctuary.” ’
The doctor stared at her. ‘Sanctuary?’
‘Here’s Julian,’ said Bunch, turning her head as she heard her husband’s steps in the hall. ‘Julian! Come here.’
The Reverend Julian Harmon entered the room. His vague, scholarly manner always made him appear much older than he really was. ‘Dear me!’ said Julian Harmon, staring in a mild, puzzled manner at the surgical 22 appliances and the prone 23 figure on the sofa.
Bunch explained with her usual economy of words. ‘He was in the church, dying. He’d been shot. Do you know him, Julian? I thought he said your name.’
The vicar came up to the sofa and looked down at the dying man. ‘Poor fellow,’ he said, and shook his head. ‘No, I don’t know him. I’m almost sure I’ve never seen him before.’
At that moment the dying man’s eyes opened once more. They went from the doctor to Julian Harmon and from him to his wife. The eyes stayed there, staring into Bunch’s face. Griffiths stepped forward.
‘If you could tell us,’ he said urgently.
But with eyes fixed on Bunch, the man said in a weak voice, ‘Please—please—’ And then, with a slight tremor 24, he died…
Sergeant 25 Hayes licked his pencil and turned the page of his notebook.
‘So that’s all you can tell me, Mrs Harmon?’
‘That’s all,’ said Bunch. ‘These are the things out of his coat pockets.’
On a table at Sergeant Hayes’s elbow was a wallet, a rather battered old watch with the initials W.S. and the return half of a ticket to London. Nothing more.
‘You’ve found out who he is?’ asked Bunch.
‘A Mr and Mrs Eccles phoned up the station. He’s her brother, it seems. Name of Sandbourne. Been in a low state of health and nerves for some time. He’s been getting worse lately. The day before yesterday he walked out and didn’t come back. He took a revolver with him.’
‘And he came out here and shot himself with it?’ said Bunch. ‘Why?’
‘Well, you see, he’d been depressed 26…’
Bunch interrupted him. ‘I don’t mean that. I mean, why here?’
Since Sergeant Hayes obviously did not know the answer to that one, he replied in an oblique 27 fashion, ‘Come out here, he did, on the five-ten bus.’
‘Yes,’ said Bunch again. ‘But why?’
‘I don’t know, Mrs Harmon,’ said Sergeant Hayes. ‘There’s no accounting 28. If the balance of the mind is disturbed—’
Bunch finished for him. ‘They may do it anywhere. But it still seems to me unnecessary to take a bus out to a small country place like this. He didn’t know anyone here, did he?’
‘Not so far as can be ascertained,’ said Sergeant Hayes. He coughed in an apologetic manner and said, as he rose to his feet, ‘It may be as Mr and Mrs Eccles will come out and see you, ma’am—if you don’t mind, that is.’
‘Of course I don’t mind,’ said Bunch. ‘It’s very natural. I only wish I had something to tell them.’
‘I’ll be getting along,’ said Sergeant Hayes.
‘I’m only so thankful,’ said Bunch, going with him to the front door, ‘that it wasn’t murder.’
A car had driven up at the vicarage gate. Sergeant Hayes, glancing at it, remarked: ‘Looks as though that’s Mr and Mrs Eccles come here now, ma’am, to talk with you.’
Bunch braced 29 herself to endure what, she felt, might be rather a difficult ordeal 30. ‘However,’ she thought, ‘I can always call Julian to help me. A clergyman’s a great help when people are bereaved 31.’
Exactly what she had expected Mr and Mrs Eccles to be like, Bunch could not have said, but she was conscious, as she greeted them, of a feeling of surprise. Mr Eccles was a stout 32 florid man whose natural manner would have been cheerful and facetious 33. Mrs Eccles had a vaguely 34 flashy look about her. She had a small, mean, pursed-up mouth. Her voice was thin and reedy.
‘It’s been a terrible shock, Mrs Harmon, as you can imagine,’ she said.
‘Oh, I know,’ said Bunch. ‘It must have been. Do sit down. Can I offer you—well, perhaps it’s a little early for tea—’
Mr Eccles waved a pudgy hand. ‘No, no, nothing for us,’ he said. ‘It’s very kind of you, I’m sure. Just wanted to…well…what poor William said and all that, you know?’
‘He’s been abroad a long time,’ said Mrs Eccles, ‘and I think he must have had some very nasty experiences. Very quiet and depressed he’s been, ever since he came home. Said the world wasn’t fit to live in and there was nothing to look forward to. Poor Bill, he was always moody 35.’
Bunch stared at them both for a moment or two without speaking.
‘Pinched my husband’s revolver, he did,’ went on Mrs Eccles. ‘Without our knowing. Then it seems he come here by bus. I suppose that was nice feeling on his part. He wouldn’t have liked to do it in our house.’
‘Poor fellow, poor fellow,’ said Mr Eccles, with a sigh. ‘It doesn’t do to judge.’
There was another short pause, and Mr Eccles said, ‘Did he leave a message? Any last words, nothing like that?’
His bright, rather pig-like eyes watched Bunch closely. Mrs Eccles, too, leaned forward as though anxious for the reply.
‘No,’ said Bunch quietly. ‘He came into the church when he was dying, for sanctuary.’
Mrs Eccles said in a puzzled voice. ‘Sanctuary? I don’t think I quite…’
Mr Eccles interrupted. ‘Holy place, my dear,’ he said impatiently. ‘That’s what the vicar’s wife means. It’s a sin—suicide, you know. I expect he wanted to make amends 36.’
‘He tried to say something just before he died,’ said Bunch. ‘He began, “Please,” but that’s as far as he got.’
Mrs Eccles put her handkerchief to her eyes and sniffed 37. ‘Oh, dear,’ she said. ‘It’s terribly upsetting, isn’t it?’
‘There, there, Pam,’ said her husband. ‘Don’t take on. These things can’t be helped. Poor Willie. Still, he’s at peace now. Well, thank you very much, Mrs Harmon. I hope we haven’t interrupted you. A vicar’s wife is a busy lady, we know that.’
They shook hands with her. Then Eccles turned back suddenly to say, ‘Oh yes, there’s just one other thing. I think you’ve got his coat here, haven’t you?’
‘His coat?’ Bunch frowned.
Mrs Eccles said, ‘We’d like all his things, you know. Sentimental 38-like.’
‘He had a watch and a wallet and a railway ticket in the pockets,’ said Bunch. ‘I gave them to Sergeant Hayes.’
‘That’s all right, then,’ said Mr Eccles. ‘He’ll hand them over to us, I expect. His private papers would be in the wallet.’
‘There was a pound note in the wallet,’ said Bunch. ‘Nothing else.’
‘No letters? Nothing like that?’
Bunch shook her head.
‘Well, thank you again, Mrs Harmon. The coat he was wearing—perhaps the sergeant’s got that too, has he?’
Bunch frowned in an effort of remembrance.
‘No,’ she said. ‘I don’t think…let me see. The doctor and I took his coat off to examine his wound.’ She looked round the room vaguely. ‘I must have taken it upstairs with the towels and basin.’
‘I wonder now, Mrs Harmon, if you don’t mind…We’d like his coat, you know, the last thing he wore. Well, the wife feels rather sentimental about it.’
‘Of course,’ said Bunch. ‘Would you like me to have it cleaned first? I’m afraid it’s rather—well—stained.’
‘Oh, no, no, no, that doesn’t matter.’
Bunch frowned. ‘Now I wonder where…excuse me a moment.’ She went upstairs and it was some few minutes before she returned.
‘I’m so sorry,’ she said breathlessly, ‘my daily woman must have put it aside with other clothes that were going to the cleaners. It’s taken me quite a long time to find it. Here it is. I’ll do it up for you in brown paper.’
Disclaiming 39 their protests she did so; then once more effusively 40 bidding her farewell the Eccleses departed.
Bunch went slowly back across the hall and entered the study. The Reverend Julian Harmon looked up and his brow cleared. He was composing a sermon and was fearing that he’d been led astray by the interest of the political relations between Judaea and Persia, in the reign 41 of Cyrus.
‘Yes, dear?’ he said hopefully.
‘Julian,’ said Bunch. ‘What’s Sanctuary exactly?’
Julian Harmon gratefully put aside his sermon paper.
‘Well,’ he said. ‘Sanctuary in Roman and Greek temples applied 42 to the cella in which stood the statue of a god. The Latin word for altar “ara” also means protection.’ He continued learnedly: ‘In three hundred and ninety-nine A.D. the right of sanctuary in Christian 43 churches was finally and definitely recognized. The earliest mention of the right of sanctuary in England is in the Code of Laws issued by Ethelbert in A.D. six hundred…’
He continued for some time with his exposition but was, as often, disconcerted by his wife’s reception of his erudite pronouncement.
‘Darling,’ she said. ‘You are sweet.’
Bending over, she kissed him on the tip of his nose. Julian felt rather like a dog who has been congratulated on performing a clever trick.
‘The Eccleses have been here,’ said Bunch.
The vicar frowned. ‘The Eccleses? I don’t seem to remember…’
‘You don’t know them. They’re the sister and her husband of the man in the church.’
‘My dear, you ought to have called me.’
‘There wasn’t any need,’ said Bunch. ‘They were not in need of consolation 44. I wonder now…’ She frowned. ‘If I put a casserole in the oven tomorrow, can you manage, Julian? I think I shall go up to London for the sales.’
‘The sails?’ Her husband looked at her blankly. ‘Do you mean a yacht or a boat or something?’
Bunch laughed. ‘No, darling. There’s a special white sale at Burrows 45 and Portman’s. You know, sheets, table cloths and towels and glass-cloths. I don’t know what we do with our glass-cloths, the way they wear through. Besides,’ she added thoughtfully, ‘I think I ought to go and see Aunt Jane.’
II
That sweet old lady, Miss Jane Marple, was enjoying the delights of the metropolis 46 for a fortnight, comfortably installed in her nephew’s studio flat.
‘So kind of dear Raymond,’ she murmured. ‘He and Joan have gone to America for a fortnight and they insisted I should come up here and enjoy myself. And now, dear Bunch, do tell me what it is that’s worrying you.’
Bunch was Miss Marple’s favourite godchild, and the old lady looked at her with great affection as Bunch, thrusting her best felt hat farther on the back of her head, started her story.
Bunch’s recital 47 was concise 48 and clear. Miss Marple nodded her head as Bunch finished. ‘I see,’ she said. ‘Yes, I see.’
‘That’s why I felt I had to see you,’ said Bunch. ‘You see, not being clever—’
‘But you are clever, my dear.’
‘No, I’m not. Not clever like Julian.’
‘Julian, of course, has a very solid intellect,’ said Miss Marple.
‘That’s it,’ said Bunch. ‘Julian’s got the intellect, but on the other hand, I’ve got the sense.’
‘You have a lot of common sense, Bunch, and you’re very intelligent.’
‘You see, I don’t really know what I ought to do. I can’t ask Julian because—well, I mean, Julian’s so full of rectitude…’
This statement appeared to be perfectly understood by Miss Marple, who said, ‘I know what you mean, dear. We women—well, it’s different.’ She went on. ‘You told me what happened, Bunch, but I’d like to know first exactly what you think.’
‘It’s all wrong,’ said Bunch. ‘The man who was there in the church, dying, knew all about Sanctuary. He said it just the way Julian would have said it. I mean, he was a well-read, educated man. And if he’d shot himself, he wouldn’t drag himself to a church afterwards and say “sanctuary”. Sanctuary means that you’re pursued, and when you get into a church you’re safe. Your pursuers can’t touch you. At one time even the law couldn’t get at you.’
She looked questioningly at Miss Marple. The latter nodded. Bunch went on, ‘Those people, the Eccleses, were quite different. Ignorant and coarse. And there’s another thing. That watch—the dead man’s watch. It had the initials W.S. on the back of it. But inside—I opened it—in very small lettering there was “To Walter from his father” and a date. Walter. But the Eccleses kept talking of him as William or Bill.’
Miss Marple seemed about to speak but Bunch rushed on. ‘Oh, I know you’re not always called the name you’re baptized by. I mean, I can understand that you might be christened William and called “Porgy” or “Carrots” or something. But your sister wouldn’t call you William or Bill if your name was Walter.’
‘You mean that she wasn’t his sister?’
‘I’m quite sure she wasn’t his sister. They were horrid—both of them. They came to the vicarage to get his things and to find out if he’d said anything before he died. When I said he hadn’t I saw it in their faces—relief. I think myself,’ finished Bunch, ‘it was Eccles who shot him.’
‘Murder?’ said Miss Marple.
‘Yes,’ said Bunch. ‘Murder. That’s why I came to you, darling.’
Bunch’s remark might have seemed incongruous to an ignorant listener, but in certain spheres Miss Marple had a reputation for dealing 49 with murder.
‘He said “please” to me before he died,’ said Bunch. ‘He wanted me to do something for him. The awful thing is I’ve no idea what.’
Miss Marple considered for a moment or two, and then pounced 50 on the point that had already occurred to Bunch. ‘But why was he there at all?’ she asked.
‘You mean,’ said Bunch, ‘if you wanted sanctuary you might pop into a church anywhere. There’s no need to take a bus that only goes four times a day and come out to a lonely spot like ours for it.’
‘He must have come there for a purpose,’ Miss Marple thought. ‘He must have come to see someone. Chipping Cleghorn’s not a big place, Bunch. Surely you must have some idea of who it was he came to see?’
Bunch reviewed the inhabitants of her village in her mind before rather doubtfully shaking her head. ‘In a way,’ she said, ‘it could be anybody.’
‘He never mentioned a name?’
‘He said Julian, or I thought he said Julian. It might have been Julia, I suppose. As far as I know, there isn’t any Julia living in Chipping Cleghorn.’
She screwed up her eyes as she thought back to the scene. The man lying there on the chancel steps, the light coming through the window with its jewels of red and blue light.
‘Jewels,’ said Miss Marple thoughtfully.
n.菊花( chrysanthemum的名词复数 )
- The cold weather had most deleterious consequences among the chrysanthemums. 寒冷的天气对菊花产生了极有害的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- The chrysanthemums are in bloom; some are red and some yellow. 菊花开了, 有红的,有黄的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
- The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
- Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
n.一口(气);一阵(风);v.喷气,喘气
- He took a puff at his cigarette.他吸了一口香烟。
- They tried their best to puff the book they published.他们尽力吹捧他们出版的书。
adj.磨损的;v.连续猛击;磨损
- He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
- The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。
v.(尤指船、舰或云彩)笔直、高速而平稳地移动( scud的过去式和过去分词 )
- White clouds scudded across the sky. 白云在天空疾驰而过。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
- Clouds scudded across the sky driven by high winds. 劲风吹着飞云掠过天空。 来自辞典例句
ad.表示(某事物)地;表达地
- She gave the order to the waiter, using her hands very expressively. 她意味深长地用双手把订单递给了服务员。
- Corleone gestured expressively, submissively, with his hands. "That is all I want." 说到这里,考利昂老头子激动而谦恭地表示:“这就是我的全部要求。” 来自教父部分
n.装备;随身用品
- Can you move all your paraphernalia out of the way?你可以把所有的随身物品移开吗?
- All my fishing paraphernalia is in the car.我的鱼具都在汽车里。
支持物( holder的名词复数 ); 持有者; (支票等)持有人; 支托(或握持)…之物
- Slaves were mercilessly ground down by slave holders. 奴隶受奴隶主的残酷压迫。
- It is recognition of compassion's part that leads the up-holders of capital punishment to accuse the abolitionists of sentimentality in being more sorry for the murderer than for his victim. 正是对怜悯的作用有了认识,才使得死刑的提倡者指控主张废除死刑的人感情用事,同情谋杀犯胜过同情受害者。
adj.艺术(家)的,美术(家)的;善于艺术创作的
- 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。
adj.家常的,简朴的;不漂亮的
- We had a homely meal of bread and cheese.我们吃了一顿面包加乳酪的家常便餐。
- Come and have a homely meal with us,will you?来和我们一起吃顿家常便饭,好吗?
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地
- 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。
n.(教堂、教室、戏院等里的)过道,通道
- The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
- The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。
n.财富,富裕
- His eyes had never beheld such opulence.他从未见过这样的财富。
- He owes his opulence to work hard.他的财富乃辛勤工作得来。
挤在一起(huddle的过去式与过去分词形式)
- We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
- We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的
- He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
- We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
v.紧握,抓紧,咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 )
- He clenched his fists in anger. 他愤怒地攥紧了拳头。
- She clenched her hands in her lap to hide their trembling. 她攥紧双手放在腿上,以掩饰其颤抖。 来自《简明英汉词典》
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的
- Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗?
- Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定,我们就不应该随意改变。
n.圣所,圣堂,寺庙;禁猎区,保护区
- There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
- Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。
adj.间歇的,断断续续的
- Did you hear the intermittent sound outside?你听见外面时断时续的声音了吗?
- In the daytime intermittent rains freshened all the earth.白天里,时断时续地下着雨,使整个大地都生气勃勃了。
vi.累倒;昏倒;倒塌;塌陷
- The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
- The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。
adj.外科的,外科医生的,手术上的
- He performs the surgical operations at the Red Cross Hospital.他在红十字会医院做外科手术。
- All surgical instruments must be sterilised before use.所有的外科手术器械在使用之前,必须消毒。
adj.(to)易于…的,很可能…的;俯卧的
- Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
- He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。
n.震动,颤动,战栗,兴奋,地震
- There was a slight tremor in his voice.他的声音有点颤抖。
- A slight earth tremor was felt in California.加利福尼亚发生了轻微的地震。
n.警官,中士
- 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?
adj.沮丧的,抑郁的,不景气的,萧条的
- When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
- His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。
adj.斜的,倾斜的,无诚意的,不坦率的
- He made oblique references to her lack of experience.他拐弯抹角地说她缺乏经验。
- She gave an oblique look to one side.她向旁边斜看了一眼。
n.会计,会计学,借贷对照表
- A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
- There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。
adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 );撑牢;使自己站稳;振作起来
- They braced up the old house with balks of timber. 他们用梁木加固旧房子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- The house has a wooden frame which is braced with brick. 这幢房子是木结构的砖瓦房。 来自《简明英汉词典》
n.苦难经历,(尤指对品格、耐力的)严峻考验
- She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
- Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。
adj.刚刚丧失亲人的v.使失去(希望、生命等)( bereave的过去式和过去分词);(尤指死亡)使丧失(亲人、朋友等);使孤寂;抢走(财物)
- The ceremony was an ordeal for those who had been recently bereaved. 这个仪式对于那些新近丧失亲友的人来说是一种折磨。
- an organization offering counselling for the bereaved 为死者亲友提供辅导的组织
adj.强壮的,粗大的,结实的,勇猛的,矮胖的
- He cut a stout stick to help him walk.他砍了一根结实的枝条用来拄着走路。
- The stout old man waddled across the road.那肥胖的老人一跩一跩地穿过马路。
adj.轻浮的,好开玩笑的
- He was so facetious that he turned everything into a joke.他好开玩笑,把一切都变成了戏谑。
- I became angry with the little boy at his facetious remarks.我对这个小男孩过分的玩笑变得发火了。
adv.含糊地,暖昧地
- He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
- He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面,对一切都视而不见。
adj.心情不稳的,易怒的,喜怒无常的
- He relapsed into a moody silence.他又重新陷于忧郁的沉默中。
- I'd never marry that girl.She's so moody.我决不会和那女孩结婚的。她太易怒了。
n. 赔偿
- He made amends for his rudeness by giving her some flowers. 他送给她一些花,为他自己的鲁莽赔罪。
- This country refuses stubbornly to make amends for its past war crimes. 该国顽固地拒绝为其过去的战争罪行赔罪。
v.以鼻吸气,嗅,闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 );抽鼻子(尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气);抱怨,不以为然地说
- When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣,吸了吸鼻子,擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
adj.多愁善感的,感伤的
- She's a sentimental woman who believes marriage comes by destiny.她是多愁善感的人,她相信姻缘命中注定。
- We were deeply touched by the sentimental movie.我们深深被那感伤的电影所感动。
v.否认( disclaim的现在分词 )
- The Act prohibits anyone who offers a written warranty from disclaiming or modifying implied warranties. 马莫法案禁止任何提供书面保证的人否认或修改默示保证。 来自互联网
adv.变溢地,热情洋溢地
- We were effusively welcomed by the patron and his wife. 我们受到老板和他妻子的热忱欢迎。 来自辞典例句
- The critics praised her effusively. 评论家们热情洋溢地表扬了她。 来自互联网
n.统治时期,统治,支配,盛行;v.占优势
- The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
- The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。
adj.应用的;v.应用,适用
- She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
- This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒
- They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
- His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。
n.安慰,慰问
- The children were a great consolation to me at that time.那时孩子们成了我的莫大安慰。
- This news was of little consolation to us.这个消息对我们来说没有什么安慰。
n.地洞( burrow的名词复数 )v.挖掘(洞穴),挖洞( burrow的第三人称单数 );翻寻
- The intertidal beach unit contains some organism burrows. 潮间海滩单元含有一些生物潜穴。 来自辞典例句
- A mole burrows its way through the ground. 鼹鼠会在地下钻洞前进。 来自辞典例句
n.首府;大城市
- Shanghai is a metropolis in China.上海是中国的大都市。
- He was dazzled by the gaiety and splendour of the metropolis.大都市的花花世界使他感到眼花缭乱。
n.朗诵,独奏会,独唱会
- She is going to give a piano recital.她即将举行钢琴独奏会。
- I had their total attention during the thirty-five minutes that my recital took.在我叙述的35分钟内,他们完全被我吸引了。
adj.简洁的,简明的
- The explanation in this dictionary is concise and to the point.这部词典里的释义简明扼要。
- I gave a concise answer about this.我对于此事给了一个简要的答复。
n.经商方法,待人态度
- This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
- His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。