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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
The marlin had come to 300 yards when he walked again. This time the boat was in a trough and the Emperor burst the surface pointing straight towards them. He came in a climbing leap, shaking spray from his back. The arc of his leap was down the wake and the line suddenly went completely slack. Kilian was on his feet.
'Take line,' he screamed. 'He'll spit the hook.'
Murgatroyd's tired fingers worked in a blur3 on the handle of the drum to take up the slack. He managed just in time. The line went tight as the marlin dived back into the sea and he had gained 50 yards. Then the fish took it all back. Down in the still dark depths, fathoms5 beneath the waves and the sun, the great pelagic hunter with instincts honed by a million years of evolution turned against his enemy's pull, took the strain at the corner of his bony mouth and dived.
In his chair the small bank manager hunched6 himself again, squeezed aching fingers around the wet cork7 grip, felt the webbing sear into his shoulders like thin wires, and held on. He watched the still-wet nylon line running out, fathom4 after fathom, before his eyes. Fifty yards were gone and the fish was still diving.
'He'll have to turn and come up again,' said Kilian, watching from over Murgatroyd's shoulder. 'That will be the time to reel in.'
He stooped and peered at the brick-red, peeling face. Two tears squeezed out of the half-closed eyes and ran down Murgatroyd's sagging8 cheeks. The South African put a kindly9 hand on his shoulder.
'Look,' he said, 'you can't take any more. Why don't I sit in, just for an hour, eh? Then you can take over for the last part, when he's close and ready to give up.'
Murgatroyd watched the slowing line. He opened his mouth to speak. A split in his hp cracked wide and a trickle10 of blood ran onto his chin. The cork grip was becoming slick from
the blood coming from his palms.
Kilian stood up. 'All right, Engelsman, your fish,' he said.
It was two in the afternoon. The sun was using the afterdeck of the Avant as its private anvil13. The Emperor stopped diving and the line-strain eased to 40 pounds. Murgatroyd began again to haul in.
An hour later the marlin leapt out of the sea for the last time. He was only a hundred yards away. His jump brought Kilian and the boat boy to the transom to watch. For two seconds he hung suspended above the foam14, snapping his head from side to side like a terrier to shake the hook that drew him inexorably towards his enemies. From one corner of his mouth a loose strand15 of steel wire flickered16 in the sunlight as he shivered. Then with a boom of meat on water he hit the sea and vanished.
'That's him,' said Kilian in awe17, 'that's the Emperor. He's twelve hundred pounds if he's an ounce, he's twenty feet from tip to tail and that marlin-spike18 bill can go through ten inches of timber when he's moving at his full forty knots. What an animal.'
He called back to Monsieur Patient. 'Vous avez vu?'
The old man nodded.
'Que pensez vous? Il va venir vite?'
Kilian crouched20 beside Murgatroyd. 'The old man says he's tired now,' he said. 'But he'll still fight for maybe another couple of hours. Want to go on?'
Murgatroyd stared at where the fish had gone. His vision was blurring21 with tiredness and all his body was one searing ache. Shafts22 of sharper pain ran through his right shoulder where he had torn a muscle. He had never once had to call on his ultimate, last reserves of will, so he did not know. He nodded. The line was still, the rod arched. The Emperor was pulling, but not up to 100 pounds. The banker sat and held on.
For another ninety minutes they fought it out, the man from Ponder's End and the great marlin. Four times the fish lunged and took line, but his breaks were getting shorter as the strain of pulling 100 pounds against the clutch drag sapped even his primal23 strength. Four times Murgatroyd agonizingly pulled him back and gained a few yards each time. His exhaustion24 was moving close to delirium25. Muscles in his calves26 and thighs27 flickered crazily like light bulbs just before they fuse. His vision blurred28 more frequently. By half past four he had been fighting for seven and a half hours and no one should ask even a very fit man to do that. It was only a question of time, and not long. One of them had to break.
At twenty to five the line went slack. It caught Murgatroyd by surprise. Then he began to reel in. The line came more easily. The weight was still there, but it was passive. The shuddering29 had stopped. Kilian heard the rhythmic30 tickety-tickety-tick of the turning reel and came from the shade to the transom. He peered aft.
'He's coming,' he shouted, 'the Emperor's coining in.'
The whitecaps were gone, replaced by a quiet and easy swell32. Jean-Paul and Higgins, who was still queasy33 but no longer vomitting, came to watch. Monsieur Patient cut the engines and locked the wheel. Then he descended34 from his perch35 and joined them. In the silence the group watched the water astern.
Something broke the surface of the swell, something that rolled and swayed, but which moved towards the boat at the bidding of the nylon line. The crested36 fin2 jutted37 up for a moment, then rolled sideways. The long bill pointed38 upwards39, then sank beneath the surface.
At 20 yards they could make out the great bulk of the Emperor. Unless there was some last violent force left in his bones and sinews he would not break for freedom any more. He had conceded. At 20 feet the end of the steel wire trace came up to the tip of the rod. Kilian drew on a tough leather glove and seized it. He pulled it in manually. They all ignored Murgatroyd, slumped40 in his chair.
He let go of the rod for the first time in eight hours and it fell forward to the transom. Slowly and painfully he unbuckled his harness and the webbing fell away. He took the weight on his feet and tried to stand. His calves and thighs were too weak and he slumped in the scuppers beside the dead dorado. The other four were peering over the edge at what bobbed below the stern. As Kilian pulled slowly on the wire trace that passed through his glove, Jean-Paul leaped to stand on the transom, a great gaff hook held high above his head. Murgatroyd looked up to see the boy poised41 there, the spike and curved hook held high.
'No:
The boy froze and looked down. Murgatroyd was on his hands and knees looking down at the tackle box. On top lay a pair of wire cutters. He took them in the finger and thumb of his left hand and pressed them into the mashed43 meat of his right palm. Slowly the fingers closed over the handles. With his free hand he hauled himself upright and leaned across the stern.
The Emperor was lying just beneath him, exhausted44 almost to the point of death. The huge body lay athwart the boat's wake, on its side, mouth half open. Hanging from one corner was the steel trace of an earlier struggle with the game-fishermen, still bright in its newness. In the lower mandible another hook, long rusted45, jutted out. From Kilian's hand the steel wire ran to the third hook, his own, which was deep in the gristle of the upper hp. Only part of the shank was showing.
Succeeding waves washed over the marlin's blue-black body. From 2 feet away the fish stared back at Murgatroyd with one marbled saucer eye. It was alive but had no strength left to fight. The line from its mouth to Kilian's hand was taut46. Murgatroyd leaned slowly down, reaching out his right hand to the fish's mouth.
'You can pat him later, man,' said Kilian, 'let's get him home.'
Deliberately47 Murgatroyd placed the jaws48 of the cutters either side of the steel trace, where it was spliced49 to the shank of the hook. He squeezed. Blood came out of his palm and ran in the salt water over the marlin's head. He squeezed again and the steel wire parted.
'What are you doing? He'll get away,' shouted Higgins.
The Emperor stared at Murgatroyd as another wave ran over him. He shook his tired old head and pushed the spike of his beak50 into the cool water. The next wave rolled him back onto his belly51 and he dropped his head deeper. Away to the left his great crescent tail rose and fell, driving wearily at the water. When it made contact it flicked52 twice and pushed the body forward and down. The tail was the last they saw, laborious53 in its fatigue, driving the marlin back beneath the waves to the cold darkness of its home.
Murgatroyd tried to stand up, but too much blood had rushed to his head. He remembered the sky turning slowly once in a big circle and the dusk coming very fast. The decking rose up to hit him first in the knees and then in the face. He fainted. The sun hung suspended above the mountains of Mauritius in the west.
It had set by one hour when the Avantin cruised home across the lagoon55 and Murgatroyd had come awake. On the journey Kilian had taken back the trousers and sweater, so the cool evening air could play on the scorched56 limbs. Now Murgatroyd had drunk three beers in a row and sat slumped on one of the benches, shoulders hunched, his hands in a bucket of cleansing57 salt water. He took no notice when the boat moored58 beside the timber jetty and Jean-Paul scampered59 off towards the village.
Old Monsieur Patient closed the engines down and made sure the painters were secure.
He threw the large bonito and the dorado onto the pier60 and stowed the tackle and lures61. Kilian heaved the cold-box onto the jetty and jumped back into the open well.
'Time to go,' he said.
Murgatroyd pulled himself to his feet and Kilian helped him to the quay62. The hem1 of his shorts had fallen to below his knees and his shirt flapped open about him, dark with dried sweat. His plimsoles squelched63. A number of villagers were lining64 the narrow jetty, so they had to walk in single file. Higgins had gone ahead.
The first person in the line was Monsieur Patient. Murgatroyd would have shaken hands but they hurt too much. He nodded to the boatman and smiled.
'Merci,' he said.
The old man, who had recovered his chip hat, pulled it from his head. 'Salut, Maitre,' he replied.
Murgatroyd walked slowly up the jetty. Each of the villagers bobbed his head and said, 'Salut, Maitre.' They reached the end of the planking and stepped into the gravel65 of the village street. There was a large crowd of villagers grouped round the car. 'Salut, salut, salut, Maitre,' they said quietly.
Higgins was stowing the spare clothing and the empty brunch66 box. Kilian swung the cold-trunk over the tailboard and slammed the door. He came to the rear passenger side where Murgatroyd waited.
'What are they saying?' whispered Murgatroyd.
'They're greeting you,' said Kilian. 'They're calling you a master-fisherman.'
'Because of the Emperor?'
'He's something of a legend around here.'
'Because I caught the Emperor?'
Kilian laughed softly. 'No, Engelsman, because you gave him his life back.'
They climbed into the car, Murgatroyd in the back where he sank gratefully into the cushions, his hands cupped, palms burning, in his lap. Kilian took the wheel, Higgins next to him.
'I say, Murgatroyd,' said Higgins, 'these villagers seem to think you're the cat's whiskers.'
Murgatroyd stared out of the window at the smiling brown faces and waving children.
'Before we go back to the hotel we'd better stop by the hospital at Flacq and let the doctor have a look at you,' said Kilian.
The young Indian doctor asked Murgatroyd to strip down and clucked in concern at what he saw. The buttocks were blistered67 raw from the contact backwards68 and forwards with the seat of the fishing chair. Deep purple welts furrowed69 shoulders and back where the webbing had bitten in. Arms, thighs and shins were red and flaking70 from sunburn and the face was bloated from the heat. Both palms looked like raw steak.
'Oh, dear me,' said the doctor, 'it will take some time.'
'Shall I call back for him in, say, a couple of hours?' asked Kilian.
'There is no need,' said the doctor. 'The Hotel St Geran is close to my journey home. I will drop the gentleman off on my way.'
It was ten o'clock when Murgatroyd walked through the main doors of the St Geran and into the light of the hallway. The doctor was still with him. One of the guests saw him enter and ran into the dining room to tell the late eaters. Word spread to the pool bar outside. There was a scraping of chairs and clatter71 of cutlery. A crowd of holidaymakers soon surged round the corner and came down the hall to meet him. They stopped halfway72.
He looked a strange sight. His arms and legs were thickly smeared73 with calamine lotion74, which had dried to a chalky white. Both hands were mummified in white bandages. His face was brick red and gleamed from the cream applied75 to it. His hair was a wild halo to his face and his khaki shorts were still at knee-length. He looked like a photographic negative. Slowly he began to walk towards the crowd, which parted for him.
'Well done, old man,' said someone.
'Hear hear, absolutely,' said someone else.
Shaking hands was out of the question. Some thought of patting him on the back as he passed through, but the doctor waved them away. Some held glasses and raised them in toast. Murgatroyd reached the base of the stone stairway to the upper rooms and began to climb.
At this point Mrs Murgatroyd emerged from the hair-dressing salon76, brought by the hubbub77 of her husband's return. She had spent the day working herself into a towering rage since, in the mid-morning, puzzled by his absence from their usual spot on the beach, she had searched for him and learned where he had gone. She was red in the face, though from anger rather than sunburn. Her going-home perm had not been completed and rollers stuck out like Katyushka batteries from her scalp.
'Murgatroyd,' she boomed — she always called him by his surname when she was angry — 'where do you think you're going?'
At the midway landing Murgatroyd turned and looked down at the crowd and his wife. Kilian would tell colleagues later that he had a strange look in his eyes. The crowd fell silent.
The bank manager then did something he had not done in many years. He shouted.
'Quiet...'
'For twenty-five years, Edna,' said Murgatroyd quietly, 'you have been threatening to go and live with your sister in Bognor. You will be happy to know that I shall not detain you any longer. I shall not be returning with you tomorrow. I am going to stay here, on this island.'
The crowd stared up at him dumbfounded.
'You will not be destitute,' said Murgatroyd. 'I shall make over to you our house and my accrued80 savings81. I shall take my accumulated pension funds and cash in my exorbitant82 life-assurance policy.'
Higgins quavered, 'You can't leave London, old man. You'll have nothing to live on.'
'Yes, I can,' said the bank manager. 'I have made my decision and I am not going to go back on it. I was thinking all this out in hospital when Monsieur Patient came to see how I was. We agreed a deal. He will sell me his boat and I will have enough left over for a shack84 on the beach. He will stay on as captain and put his grandson through college. I will be his boat boy and for two years he will teach me the ways of the sea and the fish. After that, I shall take the tourists fishing and earn my living in that manner.'
It was Higgins who broke the silence again. 'But Murgatroyd, old man, what about the bank? What about Ponder's End?'
He considered each question judiciously88.
'To hell with the bank,' he said at length. 'To hell with Ponder's End. And, madam, to hell with you.'
With that he turned and mounted the last few steps. A burst of cheering broke out behind him. As he went down the corridor to his room he was pursued by a bibulous89 valediction90.
'Good on yer, Murgatroyd.'
点击收听单词发音
1 hem | |
n.贴边,镶边;vt.缝贴边;(in)包围,限制 | |
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2 fin | |
n.鳍;(飞机的)安定翼 | |
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3 blur | |
n.模糊不清的事物;vt.使模糊,使看不清楚 | |
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4 fathom | |
v.领悟,彻底了解 | |
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5 fathoms | |
英寻( fathom的名词复数 ) | |
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6 hunched | |
(常指因寒冷、生病或愁苦)耸肩弓身的,伏首前倾的 | |
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7 cork | |
n.软木,软木塞 | |
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8 sagging | |
下垂[沉,陷],松垂,垂度 | |
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9 kindly | |
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地 | |
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10 trickle | |
vi.淌,滴,流出,慢慢移动,逐渐消散 | |
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11 croak | |
vi.嘎嘎叫,发牢骚 | |
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12 croaked | |
v.呱呱地叫( croak的过去式和过去分词 );用粗的声音说 | |
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13 anvil | |
n.铁钻 | |
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14 foam | |
v./n.泡沫,起泡沫 | |
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15 strand | |
vt.使(船)搁浅,使(某人)困于(某地) | |
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16 flickered | |
(通常指灯光)闪烁,摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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17 awe | |
n.敬畏,惊惧;vt.使敬畏,使惊惧 | |
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18 spike | |
n.长钉,钉鞋;v.以大钉钉牢,使...失效 | |
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19 fatigue | |
n.疲劳,劳累 | |
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20 crouched | |
v.屈膝,蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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21 blurring | |
n.模糊,斑点甚多,(图像的)混乱v.(使)变模糊( blur的现在分词 );(使)难以区分 | |
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22 shafts | |
n.轴( shaft的名词复数 );(箭、高尔夫球棒等的)杆;通风井;一阵(疼痛、害怕等) | |
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23 primal | |
adj.原始的;最重要的 | |
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24 exhaustion | |
n.耗尽枯竭,疲惫,筋疲力尽,竭尽,详尽无遗的论述 | |
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25 delirium | |
n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋 | |
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26 calves | |
n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子,腓;腿肚子( calf的名词复数 );牛犊;腓;小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 );(冰川)崩解;生(小牛等),产(犊);使(冰川)崩解 | |
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27 thighs | |
n.股,大腿( thigh的名词复数 );食用的鸡(等的)腿 | |
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28 blurred | |
v.(使)变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 );(使)难以区分;模模糊糊;迷离 | |
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29 shuddering | |
v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 );发抖;(机器、车辆等)突然震动;颤动 | |
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30 rhythmic | |
adj.有节奏的,有韵律的 | |
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31 onset | |
n.进攻,袭击,开始,突然开始 | |
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32 swell | |
vi.膨胀,肿胀;增长,增强 | |
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33 queasy | |
adj.易呕的 | |
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34 descended | |
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的 | |
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35 perch | |
n.栖木,高位,杆;v.栖息,就位,位于 | |
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36 crested | |
adj.有顶饰的,有纹章的,有冠毛的v.到达山顶(或浪峰)( crest的过去式和过去分词 );到达洪峰,达到顶点 | |
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37 jutted | |
v.(使)突出( jut的过去式和过去分词 );伸出;(从…)突出;高出 | |
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38 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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39 upwards | |
adv.向上,在更高处...以上 | |
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40 slumped | |
大幅度下降,暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 ); 沉重或突然地落下[倒下] | |
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41 poised | |
a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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42 raucous | |
adj.(声音)沙哑的,粗糙的 | |
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43 mashed | |
a.捣烂的 | |
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44 exhausted | |
adj.极其疲惫的,精疲力尽的 | |
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45 rusted | |
v.(使)生锈( rust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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46 taut | |
adj.拉紧的,绷紧的,紧张的 | |
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47 deliberately | |
adv.审慎地;蓄意地;故意地 | |
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48 jaws | |
n.口部;嘴 | |
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49 spliced | |
adj.(针织品)加固的n.叠接v.绞接( splice的过去式和过去分词 );捻接(两段绳子);胶接;粘接(胶片、磁带等) | |
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50 beak | |
n.鸟嘴,茶壶嘴,钩形鼻 | |
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51 belly | |
n.肚子,腹部;(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分,膛 | |
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52 flicked | |
(尤指用手指或手快速地)轻击( flick的过去式和过去分词 ); (用…)轻挥; (快速地)按开关; 向…笑了一下(或瞥了一眼等) | |
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53 laborious | |
adj.吃力的,努力的,不流畅 | |
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54 bloody | |
adj.非常的的;流血的;残忍的;adv.很;vt.血染 | |
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55 lagoon | |
n.泻湖,咸水湖 | |
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56 scorched | |
烧焦,烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 ); 使(植物)枯萎,把…晒枯; 高速行驶; 枯焦 | |
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57 cleansing | |
n. 净化(垃圾) adj. 清洁用的 动词cleanse的现在分词 | |
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58 moored | |
adj. 系泊的 动词moor的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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59 scampered | |
v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑,惊惶奔跑( scamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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60 pier | |
n.码头;桥墩,桥柱;[建]窗间壁,支柱 | |
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61 lures | |
吸引力,魅力(lure的复数形式) | |
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62 quay | |
n.码头,靠岸处 | |
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63 squelched | |
v.发吧唧声,发扑哧声( squelch的过去式和过去分词 );制止;压制;遏制 | |
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64 lining | |
n.衬里,衬料 | |
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65 gravel | |
n.砂跞;砂砾层;结石 | |
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66 brunch | |
n.早午餐 | |
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67 blistered | |
adj.水疮状的,泡状的v.(使)起水泡( blister的过去式和过去分词 );(使表皮等)涨破,爆裂 | |
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68 backwards | |
adv.往回地,向原处,倒,相反,前后倒置地 | |
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69 furrowed | |
v.犁田,开沟( furrow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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70 flaking | |
刨成片,压成片; 盘网 | |
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71 clatter | |
v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
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72 halfway | |
adj.中途的,不彻底的,部分的;adv.半路地,在中途,在半途 | |
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73 smeared | |
弄脏; 玷污; 涂抹; 擦上 | |
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74 lotion | |
n.洗剂 | |
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75 applied | |
adj.应用的;v.应用,适用 | |
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76 salon | |
n.[法]沙龙;客厅;营业性的高级服务室 | |
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77 hubbub | |
n.嘈杂;骚乱 | |
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78 outrage | |
n.暴行,侮辱,愤怒;vt.凌辱,激怒 | |
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79 majesty | |
n.雄伟,壮丽,庄严,威严;最高权威,王权 | |
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80 accrued | |
adj.权责已发生的v.增加( accrue的过去式和过去分词 );(通过自然增长)产生;获得;(使钱款、债务)积累 | |
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81 savings | |
n.存款,储蓄 | |
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82 exorbitant | |
adj.过分的;过度的 | |
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83 harry | |
vt.掠夺,蹂躏,使苦恼 | |
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84 shack | |
adj.简陋的小屋,窝棚 | |
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85 stunned | |
adj. 震惊的,惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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86 amazement | |
n.惊奇,惊讶 | |
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87 wailed | |
v.哭叫,哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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88 judiciously | |
adv.明断地,明智而审慎地 | |
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89 bibulous | |
adj.高度吸收的,酗酒的 | |
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90 valediction | |
n.告别演说,告别词 | |
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