XVI
SEASONS OF GROWTH
The days flew by; as summer had melted into autumn so autumn had given place to winter. Life in the brick house had gone on more placidly1 of late, for Rebecca was honestly trying to be more careful in the performance of her tasks and duties as well as more quiet in her plays, and she was slowly learning the power of the soft answer in turning away wrath2.
Miranda had not had, perhaps, quite as many opportunities in which to lose her temper, but it is only just to say that she had not fully availed herself of all that had offered themselves.
There had been one outburst of righteous wrath occasioned by Rebecca's over-hospitable habits, which were later shown in a still more dramatic and unexpected fashion.
On a certain Friday afternoon she asked her aunt Miranda if she might take half her bread and milk upstairs to a friend.
"What friend have you got up there, for pity's sake?" demanded aunt Miranda.
"The Simpson baby, come to stay over Sunday; that is, if you're willing, Mrs. Simpson says she is. Shall I bring her down and show her? She's dressed in an old dress of Emma Jane's and she looks sweet."
"You can bring her down, but you can't show her to me! You can smuggle3 her out the way you smuggled4 her in and take her back to her mother. Where on earth do you get your notions, borrowing a baby for Sunday!"
"You're so used to a house without a baby you don't know how dull it is," sighed Rebecca resignedly, as she moved towards the door; "but at the farm there was always a nice fresh one to play with and cuddle. There were too many, but that's not half as bad as none at all. Well, I'll take her back. She'll be dreadfully disappointed and so will Mrs. Simpson. She was planning to go to Milltown."
"She can un-plan then," observed Miss Miranda.
"Perhaps I can go up there and take care of the baby?" suggested Rebecca. "I brought her home so 't I could do my Saturday work just the same."
"You've got enough to do right here, without any borrowed babies to make more steps. Now, no answering back, just give the child some supper and carry it home where it belongs."
"You don't want me to go down the front way, hadn't I better just come through this room and let you look at her? She has yellow hair and big blue eyes! Mrs. Simpson says she takes after her father."
Miss Miranda smiled acidly as she said she couldn't take after her father, for he'd take any thing there was before she got there!
Aunt Jane was in the linen5 closet upstairs, sorting out the clean sheets and pillow cases for Saturday, and Rebecca sought comfort from her.
"I brought the Simpson baby home, aunt Jane, thinking it would help us over a dull Sunday, but aunt Miranda won't let her stay. Emma Jane has the promise of her next Sunday and Alice Robinson the next. Mrs. Simpson wanted I should have her first because I've had so much experience in babies. Come in and look at her sitting up in my bed, aunt Jane! Isn't she lovely? She's the fat, gurgly kind, not thin and fussy6 like some babies, and I thought I was going to have her to undress and dress twice each day. Oh dear! I wish I could have a printed book with everything set down in it that I COULD do, and then I wouldn't get disappointed so often."
"No book could be printed that would fit you, Rebecca," answered aunt Jane, "for nobody could imagine beforehand the things you'd want to do. Are you going to carry that heavy child home in your arms?"
"No, I'm going to drag her in the little soap-wagon. Come, baby! Take your thumb out of your mouth and come to ride with Becky in your go-cart." She stretched out her strong young arms to the crowing baby, sat down in a chair with the child, turned her upside down unceremoniously, took from her waistband and scornfully flung away a crooked7 pin, walked with her (still in a highly reversed position) to the bureau, selected a large safety pin, and proceeded to attach her brief red flannel8 petticoat to a sort of shirt that she wore. Whether flat on her stomach, or head down, heels in the air, the Simpson baby knew she was in the hands of an expert, and continued gurgling placidly while aunt Jane regarded the pantomime with a kind of dazed awe9.
"Bless my soul, Rebecca," she ejaculated, "it beats all how handy you are with babies!"
"I ought to be; I've brought up three and a half of 'em," Rebecca responded cheerfully, pulling up the infant Simpson's stockings.
"I should think you'd be fonder of dolls than you are," said Jane.
"I do like them, but there's never any change in a doll; it's always the same everlasting10 old doll, and you have to make believe it's cross or sick, or it loves you, or can't bear you. Babies are more trouble, but nicer."
Miss Jane stretched out a thin hand with a slender, worn band of gold on the finger, and the baby curled her dimpled fingers round it and held it fast.
"You wear a ring on your engagement finger, don't you, aunt Jane? Did you ever think about getting married?"
"Yes, dear, long ago."
"What happened, aunt Jane?"
"He died—just before."
"Oh!" And Rebecca's eyes grew misty11.
"He was a soldier and he died of a gunshot wound, in a hospital, down South."
"Oh! aunt Jane!" softly. "Away from you?"
"No, I was with him."
"Was he young?"
"Yes; young and brave and handsome, Rebecca; he was Mr. Carter's brother Tom."
"Oh! I'm so glad you were with him! Wasn't he glad, aunt Jane?"
Jane looked back across the half-forgotten years, and the vision of Tom's gladness flashed upon her: his haggard smile, the tears in his tired eyes, his outstretched arms, his weak voice saying, "Oh, Jenny! Dear Jenny! I've wanted you so, Jenny!" It was too much! She had never breathed a word of it before to a human creature, for there was no one who would have understood. Now, in a shamefaced way, to hide her brimming eyes, she put her head down on the young shoulder beside her, saying, "It was hard, Rebecca!"
The Simpson baby had cuddled down sleepily in Rebecca's lap, leaning her head back and sucking her thumb contentedly12. Rebecca put her cheek down until it touched her aunt's gray hair and softly patted her, as she said, "I'm sorry, aunt Jane!"
The girl's eyes were soft and tender and the heart within her stretched a little and grew; grew in sweetness and intuition and depth of feeling. It had looked into another heart, felt it beat, and heard it sigh; and that is how all hearts grow.
Episodes like these enlivened the quiet course of every-day existence, made more quiet by the departure of Dick Carter, Living Perkins, and Huldah Meserve for Wareham, and the small attendance at the winter school, from which the younger children of the place stayed away during the cold weather.
Life, however, could never be thoroughly13 dull or lacking in adventure to a child of Rebecca's temperament14. Her nature was full of adaptability15, fluidity, receptivity. She made friends everywhere she went, and snatched up acquaintances in every corner.
It was she who ran to the shed door to take the dish to the "meat man" or "fish man;" she who knew the family histories of the itinerant17 fruit venders and tin peddlers; she who was asked to take supper or pass the night with children in neighboring villages—children of whose parents her aunts had never so much as heard. As to the nature of these friendships, which seemed so many to the eye of the superficial observer, they were of various kinds, and while the girl pursued them with enthusiasm and ardor18, they left her unsatisfied and heart-hungry; they were never intimacies19 such as are so readily made by shallow natures. She loved Emma Jane, but it was a friendship born of propinquity and circumstance, not of true affinity20. It was her neighbor's amiability21, constancy, and devotion that she loved, and although she rated these qualities at their true value, she was always searching beyond them for intellectual treasures; searching and never finding, for although Emma Jane had the advantage in years she was still immature22. Huldah Meserve had an instinctive23 love of fun which appealed to Rebecca; she also had a fascinating knowledge of the world, from having visited her married sisters in Milltown and Portland; but on the other hand there was a certain sharpness and lack of sympathy in Huldah which repelled24 rather than attracted. With Dick Carter she could at least talk intelligently about lessons. He was a very ambitious boy, full of plans for his future, which he discussed quite freely with Rebecca, but when she broached25 the subject of her future his interest sensibly lessened26. Into the world of the ideal, Emma Jane, Huldah, and Dick alike never seemed to have peeped, and the consciousness of this was always a fixed27 gulf28 between them and Rebecca.
"Uncle Jerry" and "aunt Sarah" Cobb were dear friends of quite another sort, a very satisfying and perhaps a somewhat dangerous one. A visit from Rebecca always sent them into a twitter of delight. Her merry conversation and quaint16 comments on life in general fairly dazzled the old couple, who hung on her lightest word as if it had been a prophet's utterance29; and Rebecca, though she had had no previous experience, owned to herself a perilous30 pleasure in being dazzling, even to a couple of dear humdrum31 old people like Mr. and Mrs. Cobb. Aunt Sarah flew to the pantry or cellar whenever Rebecca's slim little shape first appeared on the crest32 of the hill, and a jelly tart33 or a frosted cake was sure to be forthcoming. The sight of old uncle Jerry's spare figure in its clean white shirt sleeves, whatever the weather, always made Rebecca's heart warm when she saw him peer longingly34 from the kitchen window. Before the snow came, many was the time he had come out to sit on a pile of boards at the gate, to see if by any chance she was mounting the hill that led to their house. In the autumn Rebecca was often the old man's companion while he was digging potatoes or shelling beans, and now in the winter, when a younger man was driving the stage, she sometimes stayed with him while he did his evening milking. It is safe to say that he was the only creature in Riverboro who possessed35 Rebecca's entire confidence; the only being to whom she poured out her whole heart, with its wealth of hopes, and dreams, and vague ambitions. At the brick house she practiced scales and exercises, but at the Cobbs' cabinet organ she sang like a bird, improvising36 simple accompaniments that seemed to her ignorant auditors37 nothing short of marvelous. Here she was happy, here she was loved, here she was drawn38 out of herself and admired and made much of. But, she thought, if there were somebody who not only loved but understood; who spoke39 her language, comprehended her desires, and responded to her mysterious longings40! Perhaps in the big world of Wareham there would be people who thought and dreamed and wondered as she did.
In reality Jane did not understand her niece very much better than Miranda; the difference between the sisters was, that while Jane was puzzled, she was also attracted, and when she was quite in the dark for an explanation of some quaint or unusual action she was sympathetic as to its possible motive41 and believed the best. A greater change had come over Jane than over any other person in the brick house, but it had been wrought42 so secretly, and concealed43 so religiously, that it scarcely appeared to the ordinary observer. Life had now a motive utterly44 lacking before. Breakfast was not eaten in the kitchen, because it seemed worth while, now that there were three persons, to lay the cloth in the dining-room; it was also a more bountiful meal than of yore, when there was no child to consider. The morning was made cheerful by Rebecca's start for school, the packing of the luncheon45 basket, the final word about umbrella, waterproof46, or rubbers; the parting admonition and the unconscious waiting at the window for the last wave of the hand. She found herself taking pride in Rebecca's improved appearance, her rounder throat and cheeks, and her better color; she was wont47 to mention the length of Rebecca's hair and add a word as to its remarkable48 evenness and lustre49, at times when Mrs. Perkins grew too diffuse50 about Emma Jane's complexion51. She threw herself wholeheartedly on her niece's side when it became a question between a crimson52 or a brown linsey-woolsey dress, and went through a memorable53 struggle with her sister concerning the purchase of a red bird for Rebecca's black felt hat. No one guessed the quiet pleasure that lay hidden in her heart when she watched the girl's dark head bent54 over her lessons at night, nor dreamed of her joy in, certain quiet evenings when Miranda went to prayer meeting; evenings when Rebecca would read aloud Hiawatha or Barbara Frietchie, The Bugle55 Song, or The Brook56. Her narrow, humdrum existence bloomed under the dews that fell from this fresh spirit; her dullness brightened under the kindling57 touch of the younger mind, took fire from the "vital spark of heavenly flame" that seemed always to radiate from Rebecca's presence.
Rebecca's idea of being a painter like her friend Miss Ross was gradually receding58, owing to the apparently59 insuperable difficulties in securing any instruction. Her aunt Miranda saw no wisdom in cultivating such a talent, and could not conceive that any money could ever be earned by its exercise, "Hand painted pictures" were held in little esteem60 in Riverboro, where the cheerful chromo or the dignified61 steel engraving62 were respected and valued. There was a slight, a very slight hope, that Rebecca might be allowed a few music lessons from Miss Morton, who played the church cabinet organ, but this depended entirely63 upon whether Mrs. Morton would decide to accept a hayrack in return for a year's instruction from her daughter. She had the matter under advisement, but a doubt as to whether or not she would sell or rent her hayfields kept her from coming to a conclusion. Music, in common with all other accomplishments64, was viewed by Miss Miranda as a trivial, useless, and foolish amusement, but she allowed Rebecca an hour a day for practice on the old piano, and a little extra time for lessons, if Jane could secure them without payment of actual cash.
The news from Sunnybrook Farm was hopeful rather than otherwise. Cousin Ann's husband had died, and John, Rebecca's favorite brother, had gone to be the man of the house to the widowed cousin. He was to have good schooling65 in return for his care of the horse and cow and barn, and what was still more dazzling, the use of the old doctor's medical library of two or three dozen volumes. John's whole heart was set on becoming a country doctor, with Rebecca to keep house for him, and the vision seemed now so true, so near, that he could almost imagine his horse ploughing through snowdrifts on errands of mercy, or, less dramatic but none the less attractive, could see a physician's neat turncut trundling along the shady country roads, a medicine case between his, Dr. Randall's, feet, and Miss Rebecca Randall sitting in a black silk dress by his side.
Hannah now wore her hair in a coil and her dresses a trifle below her ankles, these concessions66 being due to her extreme height. Mark had broken his collar bone, but it was healing well. Little Mira was growing very pretty. There was even a rumor67 that the projected railroad from Temperance to Plumville might go near the Randall farm, in which case land would rise in value from nothing-at-all an acre to something at least resembling a price. Mrs. Randall refused to consider any improvement in their financial condition as a possibility. Content to work from sunrise to sunset to gain a mere68 subsistence for her children, she lived in their future, not in her own present, as a mother is wont to do when her own lot seems hard and cheerless.
1
placidly ['plæsɪdlɪ]
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adv.平稳地,平静地 | |
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2
wrath [rɒθ]
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n.愤怒,愤慨,暴怒 | |
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3
smuggle [ˈsmʌgl]
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vt.私运;vi.走私 | |
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4
smuggled [ˈsmʌɡld]
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水货 | |
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5
linen [ˈlɪnɪn]
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n.亚麻布,亚麻线,亚麻制品;adj.亚麻布制的,亚麻的 | |
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6
fussy [ˈfʌsi]
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adj.为琐事担忧的,过分装饰的,爱挑剔的 | |
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crooked [ˈkrʊkɪd]
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adj.弯曲的;不诚实的,狡猾的,不正当的;v.弯成钩形(crook的过去式和过去分词) | |
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flannel [ˈflænl]
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n.法兰绒;法兰绒衣服 | |
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awe [ɔ:]
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n.敬畏,惊惧;vt.使敬畏,使惊惧 | |
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10
everlasting [ˌevəˈlɑ:stɪŋ]
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adj.永恒的,持久的,无止境的 | |
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misty [ˈmɪsti]
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adj.雾蒙蒙的,有雾的 | |
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12
contentedly [kən'tentɪdlɪ]
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adv.心满意足地 | |
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13
thoroughly [ˈθʌrəli]
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adv.完全地,彻底地,十足地 | |
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temperament [ˈtemprəmənt]
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n.气质,性格,性情 | |
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15
adaptability [ə'dæptə'biliti]
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n.适应性 | |
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16
quaint [kweɪnt]
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adj.古雅的,离奇有趣的,奇怪的 | |
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itinerant [aɪˈtɪnərənt]
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adj.巡回的;流动的 | |
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18
ardor ['ɑ:də]
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n.热情,狂热 | |
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19
intimacies [ˈɪntəməsi:z]
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亲密( intimacy的名词复数 ); 密切; 亲昵的言行; 性行为 | |
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affinity [əˈfɪnəti]
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n.亲和力,密切关系 | |
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21
amiability [ˌeɪmɪə'bɪlətɪ]
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n.和蔼可亲的,亲切的,友善的 | |
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immature [ˌɪməˈtjʊə(r)]
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adj.未成熟的,发育未全的,未充分发展的 | |
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23
instinctive [ɪnˈstɪŋktɪv]
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adj.(出于)本能的;直觉的;(出于)天性的 | |
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24
repelled [rɪ'peld]
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v.击退( repel的过去式和过去分词 );使厌恶;排斥;推开 | |
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25
broached [brəʊtʃt]
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v.谈起( broach的过去式和过去分词 );打开并开始用;用凿子扩大(或修光);(在桶上)钻孔取液体 | |
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26
lessened ['lesnd]
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减少的,减弱的 | |
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fixed [fɪkst]
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adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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gulf [gʌlf]
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n.海湾;深渊,鸿沟;分歧,隔阂 | |
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utterance [ˈʌtərəns]
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n.用言语表达,话语,言语 | |
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perilous [ˈperələs]
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adj.危险的,冒险的 | |
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humdrum [ˈhʌmdrʌm]
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adj.单调的,乏味的 | |
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32
crest [krest]
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n.顶点;饰章;羽冠;vt.达到顶点;vi.形成浪尖 | |
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tart [tɑ:t]
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adj.酸的;尖酸的,刻薄的;n.果馅饼;淫妇 | |
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longingly ['lɒŋɪŋlɪ]
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adv. 渴望地 热望地 | |
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possessed [pəˈzest]
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adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的 | |
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improvising []
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即兴创作(improvise的现在分词形式) | |
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auditors ['ɔ:dɪtəz]
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n.审计员,稽核员( auditor的名词复数 );(大学课程的)旁听生 | |
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drawn [drɔ:n]
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v.(draw的过去式)拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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spoke [spəʊk]
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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 | |
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longings [ˈlɔ:ŋɪŋz]
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渴望,盼望( longing的名词复数 ) | |
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motive [ˈməʊtɪv]
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n.动机,目的;adv.发动的,运动的 | |
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wrought [rɔ:t]
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v.(wreak的过去分词)引起;以…原料制作;运转;adj.制造的 | |
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43
concealed [kən'si:ld]
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a.隐藏的,隐蔽的 | |
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44
utterly ['ʌtəli:]
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adv.完全地,绝对地 | |
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45
luncheon [ˈlʌntʃən]
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n.午宴,午餐,便宴 | |
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46
waterproof [ˈwɔ:təpru:f]
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n.防水材料;adj.防水的;vt.使...能防水 | |
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47
wont [wəʊnt]
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adj.习惯于;vi.习惯;vt.使习惯于;n.习惯 | |
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remarkable [rɪˈmɑ:kəbl]
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adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
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49
lustre [ˈlʌstə(r)]
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n.光亮,光泽;荣誉;vi.有光泽,发亮;vt.使有光泽 | |
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diffuse [dɪˈfju:s]
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vt.&vi.扩散;传播;adj.冗长的;四散的,弥漫的 | |
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51
complexion [kəmˈplekʃn]
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n.肤色;情况,局面;气质,性格 | |
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52
crimson [ˈkrɪmzn]
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n./adj.深(绯)红色(的);vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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memorable [ˈmemərəbl]
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adj.值得回忆的,难忘的,特别的,显著的 | |
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54
bent [bent]
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n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的;v.(使)弯曲,屈身(bend的过去式和过去分词) | |
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55
bugle [ˈbju:gl]
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n.军号,号角,喇叭;vt.&vi.吹号,吹号召集 | |
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brook [brʊk]
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n.小河,溪;vt.忍受,容让 | |
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kindling [ˈkɪndlɪŋ]
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n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式 | |
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58
receding [riˈsi:dɪŋ]
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v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 );向后倾斜;自原处后退或避开别人的注视;尤指问题 | |
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apparently [əˈpærəntli]
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adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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60
esteem [ɪˈsti:m]
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n.尊敬,尊重;vt.尊重,敬重;把…看作 | |
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61
dignified ['dignifaid]
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a.可敬的,高贵的 | |
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engraving [ɪn'ɡreɪvɪŋ]
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n.版画;雕刻(作品);雕刻艺术;镌版术v.在(硬物)上雕刻(字,画等)( engrave的现在分词 );将某事物深深印在(记忆或头脑中) | |
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entirely [ɪnˈtaɪəli]
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ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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accomplishments [ə'kʌmplɪʃmənts]
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n.造诣;完成( accomplishment的名词复数 );技能;成绩;成就 | |
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schooling [ˈsku:lɪŋ]
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n.教育;正规学校教育 | |
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concessions [kən'seʃənz]
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n.(尤指由政府或雇主给予的)特许权( concession的名词复数 );承认;减价;(在某地的)特许经营权 | |
参考例句: |
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