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【英文短篇小说】Grace Notes(2)

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 I collected my Trans Am from the doorman and drove down to the Golden Glow, the bar at the south end of the Loop owned by my friend Sal Barthele. My appearance with a good-looking stranger caused a stir among the regulars—as I’d hoped. Murray Ryerson, an investigative reporter whose relationship with me is compounded of friendship, competition, and a disastrous1 romantic episode, put down his beer with a snap and came over to our table. Sal Barthele emerged from her famous mahogany horseshoe bar. Under cover of Murray’s greetings and Ludovico’s accented English she muttered, “Girl, you are strutting2. You look indecent! Anyway, isn’t this cradle snatching? Boy looks young!”

I was glad the glow from the Tiffany table lamps was too dim for her to see me blushing. In the car coming over I had been calculating degrees of consanguinity3 and decided4 that as second cousins we were eugenically safe; I was embarrassed to show it so obviously. Anyway, he was only seven years younger than me.
“My newfound cousin,” I said, too abruptly5. “Ludovico Verazi—Sal Barthele, owner of the Glow.”
Ludovico shook her hand. “So, you are an old friend of this cousin of mine. You know her more than I do—give me ideas about her character.”
“Dangerous,” Murray said. “She breaks men in her soup like crackers7.”
“Only if they’re crackers to begin with,” I snapped, annoyed to be presented to my cousin in such a light.
“Crackers to begin with?” Ludovico asked.
“Slang—gergo—for ‘pazzo,’” I explained. “Also a cracker6 is an oaf—a cretino.”
Murray put an arm around me. “Ah, Vic—the sparkle in your eyes lights a fire in my heart.”
“It’s just the third beer, Murray—that’s heartburn,” Sal put in. “Ludovico, what do you drink—whiskey, like your cousin? Or something nice and Italian like Campari?”
“Whiskey before dinner, Cousin Vittoria? No, no, by the time you eat you have no—no tasting sensation. For me, Signora, a glass of wine please.”
Later over dinner at Filigree8 we became “Vic” and “Vico”—“Please, Veek, no one is calling me ‘Ludovico’ since the time I am a little boy in trouble—” And later still, after two bottles of Barolo, he asked me how much I knew about the Verazi family.
“Niente,” I said. “I don’t even know how many brothers and sisters Gabriella’s mother had. Or where you come into the picture. Or where I do, for that matter.”
His eyebrows9 shot up in surprise. “So your mother was never in touch with her own family after she moved here?”
I told him what I’d told Lotty, about the war, my grandmother’s estrangement10 from her family, and Gabriella’s depression on learning of her cousin Frederica’s death.
“But I am the grandson of that naughty Frederica, that girl who would have a baby with no father.” Vico shouted in such excitement that the wait staff rushed over to make sure he wasn’t choking to death. “This is remarkable11, Vic, this is amazing, that the one person in our family your mother is close to turns out to be my grandmother.
“Ah, it was sad, very sad, what happened to her. The family is moved to Florence during the war, my grandmother has a baby, maybe the father is a partisan12, my grandmother was the one person in the family to be supporting the partisans13. My great-grandparents, they are very prudish14, they say, this is a disgrace, never mind there is a war on and much bigger disgraces are happening all the time, so—poof!—off goes this naughty Frederica with her baby to Milano. And the baby becomes my mother, but she and my grandmother both die when I am ten, so these most respectable Verazi cousins, finally they decide the war is over, the grandson is after all far enough removed from the taint15 of original sin, they come fetch me and raise me with all due respectability in Florence.”
He broke off to order a cognac. I took another espresso: somehow after forty I no longer can manage the amount of alcohol I used to. I’d only drunk half of one of the bottles of wine.
“So how did you learn about Gabriella? And why did you want to try to find her?”
“Well, cam cugina, it is wonderful to meet you, but I have a confession16 I must make: it was in the hopes of finding—something—that I am coming to Chicago looking for my cousin Gabriella.”
“What kind of something?”
“You say you know nothing about our great-grandmother, Claudia Fortezza? So you are not knowing even that she is in a small way a composer?”
I couldn’t believe Gabriella never mentioned such a thing. If she didn’t know about it, the rift17 with the Verazis must have been more severe than she led me to believe. “But maybe that explains why she was given early musical training,” I added aloud. “You know my mother was a quite gifted singer. Although, alas18, she never had the professional career she should have.”
“Yes, yes, she trained with Francesca Salvini. I know all about that! Salvini was an important teacher, even in a little town like Pitigliano people came from Siena and Florence to train with her, and she had a connection to the Siena Opera. But anyway, Vic, I am wanting to collect Claudia Fortezza’s music. The work of women composers is coming into vogue19. I can find an ensemble20 to perform it, maybe to record it, so I am hoping Gabriella, too, has some of this music.”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. I kept all her music in a trunk, and I don’t think there’s anything from that period.”
“But you don’t know definitely, do you, so maybe we can look together.” He was leaning across the table, his voice vibrating with urgency.
I moved backward, the strength of his feelings making me uneasy. “I suppose so.”
“Then let us pay the bill and go.”
“Now? But, Vico, it’s almost midnight. If it’s been there all this while it will still be there in the morning.”
“Ah: I am being the cracker, I see.” We had been speaking in Italian all evening, but for this mangled21 idiom Vico switched to English. “Mi scusi, cara cugina: I have been so engaged in my hunt, through the papers of old aunts, through attics22 in Pitigliano, in used bookstores in Florence, that I forget not everyone shares my enthusiasm. And then last month, I find a diary of my grandmother’s, and she writes of the special love her cousin Gabriella has for music, her special gift, and I think—ah-ha, if this music lies anywhere, it is with this Gabriella.”
He picked up my right hand and started playing with my fingers. “Besides, confess to me, Vic: in your mind’s eye you are at your home feverishly23 searching through your mother’s music, whether I am present or not.”
I laughed, a little shakily: the intensity24 in his face made him look so like Gabriella when she was swept up in music that my heart turned over with yearning25.
“So I am right? We can pay the bill and leave?”
The wait staff, hoping to close the restaurant, had left the bill on our table some time earlier. I tried to pay it, but Vico snatched it from me. He took a thick stack of bills from his billfold. Counting under his breath he peeled off two hundreds and a fifty and laid them on the check. Like many Europeans he’d assumed the tip was included in the total: I added four tens and went to retrieve26 the Trans Am.
 
 
IV
As we got out of the car I warned Vico not to talk in the stairwell. “We don’t want the dogs to hear me and wake Mr. Contreras.”
“He is a malevolent27 neighbor? You need me perhaps to guard you?”
“He’s the best-natured neighbor in the world. Unfortunately, he sees his role in my life as Cerberus, with a whiff of Othello thrown in. It’s late enough without spending an hour on why I’m bringing you home with me.”
We managed to tiptoe up the stairs without rousing anyone. Inside my apartment we collapsed28 with the giggles29 of teenagers who’ve walked past a cop after curfew. Somehow it seemed natural to fall from laughter into each other’s arms. I was the first to break away. Vico gave me a look I couldn’t interpret—mockery seemed to dominate.
My cheeks stinging, I went to the hall closet and pulled out Gabriella’s trunk once more. I lifted out her evening gown again, fingering the lace panels in the bodice. They were silver, carefully edged in black. Shortly before her final illness Gabriella managed to organize a series of concerts that she hoped would launch her career again, at least in a small way, and it was for these that she had the dress made. Tony and I sat in the front row of Mandel Hall, almost swooning with our passion for her. The gown cost her two years of free lessons for the couturier’s daughter, the last few given when she had gone bald from chemotherapy.
As I stared at the dress, wrapped in melancholy30, I realized Vico was pulling books and scores from the trunk and going through them with quick careful fingers. I’d saved dozens of Gabriella’s books of operas and lieder, but nothing like her whole collection. I wasn’t going to tell Vico that, though: he’d probably demand that we break into old Mr. Fortieri’s shop to see if any of the scores were still lying about.
At one point Vico thought he had found something, a handwritten score tucked into the pages of Idomeneo. I came to look. Someone, not my mother, had meticulously31 copied out a concerto32. As I bent33 to look more closely, Vico pulled a small magnifying glass from his wallet and began to scrutinize34 the paper.
I eyed him thoughtfully. “Does the music or the notation35 look anything like our great-grandmother’s?”
He didn’t answer me, but held the score up to the light to inspect the margins36. I finally took the pages from him and scanned the clarinet line.
“I’m no musicologist, but this sounds baroque to me.” I flipped37 to the end, where the initials “CF” were inscribed38 with a flourish: Carlo Fortieri might have copied this for my mother—a true labor39 of love: copying music is a slow, painful business.
“Baroque?” Vico grabbed the score back from me and looked at it more intensely. “But this paper is not that old, I think.”
“I think not, also. I have a feeling it’s something one of my mother’s friends copied out for a chamber40 group they played in: she sometimes took the piano part.”
He put the score to one side and continued burrowing41 in the trunk. Near the bottom he came on a polished wooden box, big enough to fit snugly42 against the short side of the trunk. He grunted43 as he prised it free, then gave a little crow of delight as he saw it was filled with old papers.
“Take it easy, cowboy,” I said as he started tossing them to the floor. “This isn’t the city dump.”
He gave me a look of startling rage at my reproof44, then covered it so quickly with a laugh that I couldn’t be sure I’d seen it. “This old wood is beautiful. You should keep this out where you can look at it.”
“It was Gabriella’s, from Pitigliano.” In it, carefully wrapped in her winter underwear, she’d laid the eight Venetian glasses that were her sole legacy45 of home. Fleeing in haste in the night, she had chosen to transport a fragile load, as if that gained her control of her own fragile destiny.
Vico ran his long fingers over the velvet46 lining47 the case. The green had turned yellow and black along the creases48. I took the box away from him, and began replacing my school essays and report cards—my mother used to put my best school reports in the case.
At two Vico had to admit defeat. “You have no idea where it is? You didn’t sell it, perhaps to meet some emergency bill or pay for that beautiful sports car?”
“Vico! What on earth are you talking about? Putting aside the insult, what do you think a score by an unknown nineteenth-century woman is worth?”
“Ah, mi scusi, Vic—I forget that everyone doesn’t value these Verazi pieces as I do.”
“Yes, my dear cousin, and I didn’t just fall off a turnip49 truck, either.” I switched to English in my annoyance50. “Not even the most enthusiastic grandson would fly around the world with this much mystery. What’s the story—are the Verazis making you their heir if you produce her music? Or are you looking for something else altogether?”
“Turnip truck? What is this turnip truck?”
“Forget the linguistic51 excursion and come clean, Vico. Meaning, confession is good for the soul, so speak up. What are you really looking for?”
He studied his fingers, grimy from paging through the music, then looked up at me with a quick frank smile. “The truth is, Fortunato Magi may have seen some of her music. He was Puccini’s uncle, you know, and very influential52 among the Italian composers of the end of the century. My great-grandmother used to talk about Magi reading Claudia Fortezza’s music. She was only a daughter-in-law, and anyway, Claudia Fortezza was dead years before she married into the family, so I never paid any attention to it. But then when I found my grandmother’s diaries, it seemed possible that there was some truth to it. It’s even possible that Puccini used some of Claudia Fortezza’s music, so if we can find it, it might be valuable.”
I thought the whole idea was ludicrous—it wasn’t even as though the Puccini estate were collecting royalties53 that one might try to sue for. And even if they were—you could believe almost any highly melodic54 vocal55 music sounded like Puccini. I didn’t want to get into a fight with Vico about it, though: I had to be at work early in the morning.
“There wasn’t any time you can remember Gabriella talking about something very valuable in the house?” he persisted.
I was about to shut him off completely when I suddenly remembered my parents’ argument that I’d interrupted. Reluctantly, because he saw I’d thought of something, I told Vico about it.
“She was saying it wasn’t hers to dispose of. I suppose that might include her grandmother’s music. But there wasn’t anything like that in the house when my father died. And believe me, I went through all the papers.” Hoping for some kind of living memento56 of my mother, something more than her Venetian wineglasses.
Vico seized my arms in his excitement. “You see! She did have it, she must have sold it anyway. Or your father did, after she died. Who would they have gone to?”
I refused to give him Mr. Fortieri as a gift. If Gabriella had been worried about the ethics57 of disposing of someone else’s belongings58 she probably would have consulted him. Maybe even asked him to sell it, if she came to that in the end, but Vico didn’t need to know that.
“You know someone, I can tell,” he cried.
“No. I was a child. She didn’t confide59 in me. If my father sold it he would have been embarrassed to let me know. It’s going on three in the morning, Vico, and I have to work in a few hours. I’m going to call you a cab and get you back to the Garibaldi.”
“You work? Your long lost cousin Vico comes to Chicago for the first time and you cannot kiss off your boss?” He blew across his fingers expressively60.
“I work for myself.” I could hear the brusqueness creep into my voice—his exigency61 was taking away some of his charm. “And I have one job that won’t wait past tomorrow morning.”
“What kind of work is it you do that cannot be deferred62?”
“Detective. Private investigator63. And I have to be on a—a—”—I couldn’t think of the Italian, so I used English—“shipping dock in four hours.”
“Ah, a detective.” He pursed his lips. “I see now why this Murray was warning me about you. You and he are lovers? Or is that a shocking question to ask an American woman?”
“Murray’s a reporter. His path crosses mine from time to time.” I went to the phone and summoned a cab.
“And, Cousin, I may take this handwritten score with me? To study more leisurely64?”
“If you return it.”
“I will be here with it tomorrow afternoon—when you return from your detecting.”
I went to the kitchen for some newspaper to wrap it in, wondering about Vico. He didn’t seem to have much musical knowledge. Perhaps he was ashamed to tell me he couldn’t read music and was going to take it to some third party who could give him a stylistic comparison between this score and something of our grandmother’s.
The cab honked65 under the window a few minutes later. I sent him off on his own with a chaste66 cousinly kiss. He took my retreat from passion with the same mockery that had made me squirm earlier.
 
 
V
All during the next day, as I huddled67 behind a truck taking pictures of a handoff between the vice68 president of an electronics firm and a driver, as I tailed the driver south to Kankakee and photographed another handoff to a man in a sports car, traced the car to its owner in Libertyville and reported back to the electronics firm in Naperville, I wondered about Vico and the score. What was he really looking for?
Last night I hadn’t questioned his story too closely—the late night and pleasure in my new cousin had both muted my suspicions. Today the bleak69 air chilled my euphoria. A quest for a great-grandmother’s music might bring one pleasure, but surely not inspire such avidity as Vico displayed. He’d grown up in poverty in Milan without knowing who his father, or even his grandfather were. Maybe it was a quest for roots that was driving my cousin so passionately70.
I wondered, too, what item of value my mother had refused to sell thirty summers ago. What wasn’t hers to sell, that she would stubbornly sacrifice better medical care for it? I realized I felt hurt: I thought I was so dear to her she told me everything. The idea that she’d kept a secret from me made it hard for me to think clearly.
When my dad died, I’d gone through everything in the little house on Houston before selling it. I’d never found anything that seemed worth that much agony, so either she did sell it in the end—or my dad had done so—or she had given it to someone else. Of course, she might have buried it deep in the house. The only place I could imagine her hiding something was in her piano, and if that was the case I was out of luck: the piano had been lost in the fire that destroyed my apartment ten years ago.
But if it—whatever it was—was the same thing Vico was looking for, some old piece of music—Gabriella would have consulted Mr. Fortieri. If she hadn’t gone to him, he might know who else she would have turned to. While I waited in a Naperville mall for my prints to be developed I tried phoning him. He was eighty now, but still actively71 working, so I wasn’t surprised when he didn’t answer the phone.
I snoozed in the president’s antechamber until he could finally snatch ten minutes for my report. When I finished, a little after five, I stopped in his secretary’s office to try Mr. Fortieri again. Still no answer.
With only three hours sleep, my skin was twitching72 as though I’d put it on inside out. Since seven this morning I’d logged a hundred and ninety miles. I wanted nothing now more than my bed. Instead I rode the packed expressway all the way northwest to the O’Hare cutoff.
Mr. Fortieri lived in the Italian enclave along north Harlem Avenue. It used to be a day’s excursion to go there with Gabriella: we would ride the Number Six bus to the Loop, transfer to the Douglas line of the el, and at its end take yet another bus west to Harlem. After lunch in one of the storefront restaurants, my mother stopped at Mr. Fortieri’s to sing or talk while I was given an old clarinet to take apart to keep me amused. On our way back to the bus we bought polenta and olive oil in Frescobaldi’s Deli. Old Mrs. Frescobaldi would let me run my hands through the bags of cardamom, the voluptuous73 scent74 making me stomp75 around the store in an exaggerated imitation of the drunks along Commercial Avenue. Gabriella would hiss76 embarrassed invectives at me, and threaten to withhold77 my gelato if I didn’t behave.
The street today has lost much of its charm. Some of the old stores remain, but the chains have set out tendrils here as elsewhere. Mrs. Frescobaldi couldn’t stand up to Jewel, and Vespucci’s, where Gabriella bought all her shoes, was swallowed by the nearby mall.
Mr. Fortieri’s shop, on the ground floor of his dark-shuttered house, looked forlorn now, as though it missed the lively commerce of the street. I rang the bell without much hope: no lights shone from either story.
“I don’t think he’s home,” a woman called from the neighboring walk.
She was just setting out with a laundry-laden shopping cart. I asked her if she’d seen Mr. Fortieri at all today. She’d noticed his bedroom light when she was getting ready for work—he was an early riser, just like her, and this time of year she always noticed his bedroom light. In fact, she’d just been thinking it was strange she didn’t see his kitchen light on—he was usually preparing his supper about now, but maybe he’d gone off to see his married daughter in Wilmette.
I remembered Barbara Fortieri’s wedding. Gabriella had been too sick to attend, and had sent me by myself. The music had been sensational78, but I had been angry and uncomfortable and hadn’t paid much attention to anything—including the groom79. I asked the woman if she knew Barbara’s married name—I might try to call her father there.
“Oh, you know her?”
“My mother was a friend of Mr. Fortieri’s—Gabriella Sestieri—Warshawski, I mean.” Talking to my cousin had sunk me too deep in my mother’s past.
“Sorry, honey, never met her. She married a boy she met at college, I can’t think of his name, just about the time my husband and I moved in here, and they went off to those lakefront suburbs together.”
She made it sound like as daring a trip as any her ancestors had undertaken braving the Atlantic. Fatigue80 made it sound funny to me and I found myself doubling over to keep the woman from seeing me shake with wild laughter. The thought of Gabriella telling me “No gelato if you do not behave this minute” only made it seem funnier and I had to bend over, clutching my side.
“You okay there, honey?” The woman hesitated, not wanting to be involved with a stranger.
“Long day,” I gasped81. “Sudden—cramp—in my side.”
I waved her on, unable to speak further. Losing my balance, I reeled against the door. It swung open behind me and I fell hard into the open shop, banging my elbow against a chair.
The fall sobered me. I rubbed my elbow, crooning slightly from pain. Bracing82 against the chair I hoisted83 myself to my feet. It was only then that it dawned on me that the chair was overturned—alarming in any shop, but especially that of someone as fastidious as Mr. Fortieri.
Without stopping to reason I backed out the door, closing it by wrapping my hand in my jacket before touching84 the knob. The woman with the laundry cart had gone on down the street. I hunted in my glove compartment85 for my flashlight, then ran back up the walk and into the shop.
I found the old man in the back, in the middle of his workshop. He lay amid his tools, the stem of an oboe still in his left hand. I fumbled86 for his pulse. Maybe it was the nervous beating of my own heart, but I thought I felt a faint trace of life. I found the phone on the far side of room, buried under a heap of books that had been taken from the shelves and left where they landed.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 disastrous 2ujx0     
adj.灾难性的,造成灾害的;极坏的,很糟的
参考例句:
  • The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
  • Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨,血本无归。
2 strutting 2a28bf7fb89b582054410bf3c6bbde1a     
加固,支撑物
参考例句:
  • He, too, was exceedingly arrogant, strutting about the castle. 他也是非常自大,在城堡里大摇大摆地走。
  • The pompous lecturer is strutting and forth across the stage. 这个演讲者在台上趾高气扬地来回走着。
3 consanguinity TY4yJ     
n.血缘;亲族
参考例句:
  • Aside from a thorough medical family history,there is no need to offer any genetic testing on the basis of consanguinity alone.除了需要一份详尽的家庭病史之外,没有必要仅根据有血缘关系这一条理由就进行任何的基因测试。
  • The identity in the primitive society was based on consanguinity.原始社会存在的身份是建立在血缘基础之上的。
4 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
5 abruptly iINyJ     
adv.突然地,出其不意地
参考例句:
  • He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
  • I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。
6 cracker svCz5a     
n.(无甜味的)薄脆饼干
参考例句:
  • Buy me some peanuts and cracker.给我买一些花生和饼干。
  • There was a cracker beside every place at the table.桌上每个位置旁都有彩包爆竹。
7 crackers nvvz5e     
adj.精神错乱的,癫狂的n.爆竹( cracker的名词复数 );薄脆饼干;(认为)十分愉快的事;迷人的姑娘
参考例句:
  • That noise is driving me crackers. 那噪声闹得我简直要疯了。
  • We served some crackers and cheese as an appetiser. 我们上了些饼干和奶酪作为开胃品。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 filigree 47SyK     
n.金银丝做的工艺品;v.用金银细丝饰品装饰;用华而不实的饰品装饰;adj.金银细丝工艺的
参考例句:
  • The frost made beautiful filigree on the window pane.寒霜在玻璃窗上形成了美丽的花纹。
  • The art filigree tapestry is elegant and magnificent.嵌金银丝艺术挂毯,绚丽雅典。
9 eyebrows a0e6fb1330e9cfecfd1c7a4d00030ed5     
眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
  • His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。
10 estrangement 5nWxt     
n.疏远,失和,不和
参考例句:
  • a period of estrangement from his wife 他与妻子分居期间
  • The quarrel led to a complete estrangement between her and her family. 这一争吵使她同家人完全疏远了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
11 remarkable 8Vbx6     
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的
参考例句:
  • She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
  • These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。
12 partisan w4ZzY     
adj.党派性的;游击队的;n.游击队员;党徒
参考例句:
  • In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中,他们忘掉一切党派之争。
  • The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。
13 partisans 7508b06f102269d4b8786dbe34ab4c28     
游击队员( partisan的名词复数 ); 党人; 党羽; 帮伙
参考例句:
  • Every movement has its partisans. 每一运动都有热情的支持者。
  • He was rescued by some Italian partisans. 他被几名意大利游击队员所救。
14 prudish hiUyK     
adj.装淑女样子的,装规矩的,过分规矩的;adv.过分拘谨地
参考例句:
  • I'm not prudish but I think these photographs are obscene.我并不是假正经的人,但我觉得这些照片非常淫秽。
  • She was sexually not so much chaste as prudish.她对男女关系与其说是注重贞节,毋宁说是持身谨慎。
15 taint MIdzu     
n.污点;感染;腐坏;v.使感染;污染
参考例句:
  • Everything possible should be done to free them from the economic taint.应尽可能把他们从经济的腐蚀中解脱出来。
  • Moral taint has spread among young people.道德的败坏在年轻人之间蔓延。
16 confession 8Ygye     
n.自白,供认,承认
参考例句:
  • Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
  • The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。
17 rift bCEzt     
n.裂口,隙缝,切口;v.裂开,割开,渗入
参考例句:
  • He was anxious to mend the rift between the two men.他急于弥合这两个人之间的裂痕。
  • The sun appeared through a rift in the clouds.太阳从云层间隙中冒出来。
18 alas Rx8z1     
int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)
参考例句:
  • Alas!The window is broken!哎呀!窗子破了!
  • Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而,真理很少带有浪漫色彩。
19 Vogue 6hMwC     
n.时髦,时尚;adj.流行的
参考例句:
  • Flowery carpets became the vogue.花卉地毯变成了时髦货。
  • Short hair came back into vogue about ten years ago.大约十年前短发又开始流行起来了。
20 ensemble 28GyV     
n.合奏(唱)组;全套服装;整体,总效果
参考例句:
  • We should consider the buildings as an ensemble.我们应把那些建筑物视作一个整体。
  • It is ensemble music for up to about ten players,with one player to a part.它是最多十人演奏的合奏音乐,每人担任一部分。
21 mangled c6ddad2d2b989a3ee0c19033d9ef021b     
vt.乱砍(mangle的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • His hand was mangled in the machine. 他的手卷到机器里轧烂了。
  • He was off work because he'd mangled his hand in a machine. 他没上班,因为他的手给机器严重压伤了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
22 attics 10dfeae57923f7ba63754c76388fab81     
n. 阁楼
参考例句:
  • They leave unwanted objects in drawers, cupboards and attics. 他们把暂时不需要的东西放在抽屉里、壁橱中和搁楼上。
  • He rummaged busily in the attics of European literature, bringing to light much of interest. 他在欧洲文学的阁楼里忙着翻箱倒笼,找到了不少有趣的东西。
23 feverishly 5ac95dc6539beaf41c678cd0fa6f89c7     
adv. 兴奋地
参考例句:
  • Feverishly he collected his data. 他拼命收集资料。
  • The company is having to cast around feverishly for ways to cut its costs. 公司迫切须要想出各种降低成本的办法。
24 intensity 45Ixd     
n.强烈,剧烈;强度;烈度
参考例句:
  • I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
  • The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。
25 yearning hezzPJ     
a.渴望的;向往的;怀念的
参考例句:
  • a yearning for a quiet life 对宁静生活的向往
  • He felt a great yearning after his old job. 他对过去的工作有一种强烈的渴想。
26 retrieve ZsYyp     
vt.重新得到,收回;挽回,补救;检索
参考例句:
  • He was determined to retrieve his honor.他决心恢复名誉。
  • The men were trying to retrieve weapons left when the army abandoned the island.士兵们正试图找回军队从该岛撤退时留下的武器。
27 malevolent G8IzV     
adj.有恶意的,恶毒的
参考例句:
  • Why are they so malevolent to me?他们为什么对我如此恶毒?
  • We must thwart his malevolent schemes.我们决不能让他的恶毒阴谋得逞。
28 collapsed cwWzSG     
adj.倒塌的
参考例句:
  • Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
  • The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。
29 giggles 0aa08b5c91758a166d13e7cd3f455951     
n.咯咯的笑( giggle的名词复数 );傻笑;玩笑;the giggles 止不住的格格笑v.咯咯地笑( giggle的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • Her nervous giggles annoyed me. 她神经质的傻笑把我惹火了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I had to rush to the loo to avoid an attack of hysterical giggles. 我不得不冲向卫生间,以免遭到别人的疯狂嘲笑。 来自辞典例句
30 melancholy t7rz8     
n.忧郁,愁思;adj.令人感伤(沮丧)的,忧郁的
参考例句:
  • All at once he fell into a state of profound melancholy.他立即陷入无尽的忧思之中。
  • He felt melancholy after he failed the exam.这次考试没通过,他感到很郁闷。
31 meticulously AoNzN9     
adv.过细地,异常细致地;无微不至;精心
参考例句:
  • The hammer's silvery head was etched with holy runs and its haft was meticulously wrapped in blue leather. 锤子头是纯银制成的,雕刻着神圣符文,而握柄则被精心地包裹在蓝色的皮革中。 来自辞典例句
  • She is always meticulously accurate in punctuation and spelling. 她的标点和拼写总是非常精确。 来自辞典例句
32 concerto JpEzs     
n.协奏曲
参考例句:
  • The piano concerto was well rendered.钢琴协奏曲演奏得很好。
  • The concert ended with a Mozart violin concerto.音乐会在莫扎特的小提琴协奏曲中结束。
33 bent QQ8yD     
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的
参考例句:
  • 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。
34 scrutinize gDwz6     
n.详细检查,细读
参考例句:
  • Her purpose was to scrutinize his features to see if he was an honest man.她的目的是通过仔细观察他的相貌以判断他是否诚实。
  • She leaned forward to scrutinize their faces.她探身向前,端详他们的面容。
35 notation lv1yi     
n.记号法,表示法,注释;[计算机]记法
参考例句:
  • Music has a special system of notation.音乐有一套特殊的标记法。
  • We shall find it convenient to adopt the following notation.采用下面的记号是方便的。
36 margins 18cef75be8bf936fbf6be827537c8585     
边( margin的名词复数 ); 利润; 页边空白; 差数
参考例句:
  • They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
  • To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙,加左或者右的margins来定义链接。
37 flipped 5bef9da31993fe26a832c7d4b9630147     
轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 ); 按(开关); 快速翻转; 急挥
参考例句:
  • The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转,撞毁了。
  • The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。
38 inscribed 65fb4f97174c35f702447e725cb615e7     
v.写,刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 );内接
参考例句:
  • His name was inscribed on the trophy. 他的名字刻在奖杯上。
  • The names of the dead were inscribed on the wall. 死者的名字被刻在墙上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
39 labor P9Tzs     
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦
参考例句:
  • We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
  • He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后,他已经疲惫不堪了。
40 chamber wnky9     
n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所
参考例句:
  • For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说,牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
  • The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。
41 burrowing 703e0bb726fc82be49c5feac787c7ae5     
v.挖掘(洞穴),挖洞( burrow的现在分词 );翻寻
参考例句:
  • What are you burrowing around in my drawer for? 你在我抽屉里乱翻什么? 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The forepaws are also used for burrowing and for dragging heavier logs. 它们的前爪还可以用来打洞和拖拽较重的树干。 来自辞典例句
42 snugly e237690036f4089a212c2ecd0943d36e     
adv.紧贴地;贴身地;暖和舒适地;安适地
参考例句:
  • Jamie was snugly wrapped in a white woolen scarf. 杰米围着一条白色羊毛围巾舒适而暖和。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The farmyard was snugly sheltered with buildings on three sides. 这个农家院三面都有楼房,遮得很严实。 来自《简明英汉词典》
43 grunted f18a3a8ced1d857427f2252db2abbeaf     
(猪等)作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 ); (指人)发出类似的哼声; 咕哝着说
参考例句:
  • She just grunted, not deigning to look up from the page. 她只咕哝了一声,继续看书,不屑抬起头来看一眼。
  • She grunted some incomprehensible reply. 她咕噜着回答了些令人费解的话。
44 reproof YBhz9     
n.斥责,责备
参考例句:
  • A smart reproof is better than smooth deceit.严厉的责难胜过温和的欺骗。
  • He is impatient of reproof.他不能忍受指责。
45 legacy 59YzD     
n.遗产,遗赠;先人(或过去)留下的东西
参考例句:
  • They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
  • He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。
46 velvet 5gqyO     
n.丝绒,天鹅绒;adj.丝绒制的,柔软的
参考例句:
  • This material feels like velvet.这料子摸起来像丝绒。
  • The new settlers wore the finest silk and velvet clothing.新来的移民穿着最华丽的丝绸和天鹅绒衣服。
47 lining kpgzTO     
n.衬里,衬料
参考例句:
  • The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
  • Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。
48 creases adfbf37b33b2c1e375b9697e49eb1ec1     
(使…)起折痕,弄皱( crease的第三人称单数 ); (皮肤)皱起,使起皱纹
参考例句:
  • She smoothed the creases out of her skirt. 她把裙子上的皱褶弄平。
  • She ironed out all the creases in the shirt. 她熨平了衬衣上的所有皱褶。
49 turnip dpByj     
n.萝卜,芜菁
参考例句:
  • The turnip provides nutrition for you.芜菁为你提供营养。
  • A turnip is a root vegetable.芜菁是根茎类植物。
50 annoyance Bw4zE     
n.恼怒,生气,烦恼
参考例句:
  • Why do you always take your annoyance out on me?为什么你不高兴时总是对我出气?
  • I felt annoyance at being teased.我恼恨别人取笑我。
51 linguistic k0zxn     
adj.语言的,语言学的
参考例句:
  • She is pursuing her linguistic researches.她在从事语言学的研究。
  • The ability to write is a supreme test of linguistic competence.写作能力是对语言能力的最高形式的测试。
52 influential l7oxK     
adj.有影响的,有权势的
参考例句:
  • He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
  • He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。
53 royalties 1837cbd573d353f75291a3827b55fe4e     
特许权使用费
参考例句:
  • I lived on about £3,000 a year from the royalties on my book. 我靠着写书得来的每年约3,000英镑的版税生活。 来自辞典例句
  • Payments shall generally be made in the form of royalties. 一般应采取提成方式支付。 来自经济法规部分
54 melodic WorzFW     
adj.有旋律的,调子美妙的
参考例句:
  • His voice had a rich melodic quality.他的音色浑厚而优美。
  • He spoke with a soft husky voice in a melodic accent.他微微沙哑的声音带着一种悠扬的口音。
55 vocal vhOwA     
adj.直言不讳的;嗓音的;n.[pl.]声乐节目
参考例句:
  • The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
  • Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。
56 memento nCxx6     
n.纪念品,令人回忆的东西
参考例句:
  • The photos will be a permanent memento of your wedding.这些照片会成为你婚礼的永久纪念。
  • My friend gave me his picture as a memento before going away.我的朋友在离别前给我一张照片留作纪念品。
57 ethics Dt3zbI     
n.伦理学;伦理观,道德标准
参考例句:
  • The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
  • Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。
58 belongings oy6zMv     
n.私人物品,私人财物
参考例句:
  • I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
  • Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。
59 confide WYbyd     
v.向某人吐露秘密
参考例句:
  • I would never readily confide in anybody.我从不轻易向人吐露秘密。
  • He is going to confide the secrets of his heart to us.他将向我们吐露他心里的秘密。
60 expressively 7tGz1k     
ad.表示(某事物)地;表达地
参考例句:
  • 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
61 exigency Xlryv     
n.紧急;迫切需要
参考例句:
  • The president is free to act in any sudden exigency.在任何突发的紧急状况下董事长可自行采取行动。
  • Economic exigency obliged the govenunent to act.经济的紧急状态迫使政府采取行动。
62 deferred 43fff3df3fc0b3417c86dc3040fb2d86     
adj.延期的,缓召的v.拖延,延缓,推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 );服从某人的意愿,遵从
参考例句:
  • The department deferred the decision for six months. 这个部门推迟了六个月才作决定。
  • a tax-deferred savings plan 延税储蓄计划
63 investigator zRQzo     
n.研究者,调查者,审查者
参考例句:
  • He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
  • The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。
64 leisurely 51Txb     
adj.悠闲的;从容的,慢慢的
参考例句:
  • We walked in a leisurely manner,looking in all the windows.我们慢悠悠地走着,看遍所有的橱窗。
  • He had a leisurely breakfast and drove cheerfully to work.他从容的吃了早餐,高兴的开车去工作。
65 honked b787ca4a3834aa71da55df2b9bcafdfe     
v.(使)发出雁叫似的声音,鸣(喇叭),按(喇叭)( honk的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • I drove up in front of the house and honked. 我将车开到屋子前面然后按喇叭。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • He honked his horn as he went past. 他经过时按响了汽车喇叭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
66 chaste 8b6yt     
adj.贞洁的;有道德的;善良的;简朴的
参考例句:
  • Comparatively speaking,I like chaste poetry better.相比较而言,我更喜欢朴实无华的诗。
  • Tess was a chaste young girl.苔丝是一个善良的少女。
67 huddled 39b87f9ca342d61fe478b5034beb4139     
挤在一起(huddle的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • 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。
68 vice NU0zQ     
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的
参考例句:
  • He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
  • They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。
69 bleak gtWz5     
adj.(天气)阴冷的;凄凉的;暗淡的
参考例句:
  • They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
  • The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。
70 passionately YmDzQ4     
ad.热烈地,激烈地
参考例句:
  • She could hate as passionately as she could love. 她能恨得咬牙切齿,也能爱得一往情深。
  • He was passionately addicted to pop music. 他酷爱流行音乐。
71 actively lzezni     
adv.积极地,勤奋地
参考例句:
  • During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
  • We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。
72 twitching 97f99ba519862a2bc691c280cee4d4cf     
n.颤搐
参考例句:
  • The child in a spasm kept twitching his arms and legs. 那个害痉挛的孩子四肢不断地抽搐。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • My eyelids keep twitching all the time. 我眼皮老是跳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
73 voluptuous lLQzV     
adj.肉欲的,骄奢淫逸的
参考例句:
  • The nobility led voluptuous lives.贵族阶层过着骄奢淫逸的生活。
  • The dancer's movements were slow and voluptuous.舞女的动作缓慢而富挑逗性。
74 scent WThzs     
n.气味,香味,香水,线索,嗅觉;v.嗅,发觉
参考例句:
  • The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
  • The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。
75 stomp stomp     
v.跺(脚),重踩,重踏
参考例句:
  • 3.And you go to france, and you go to stomp! 你去法国,你去看跺脚舞!
  • 4.How hard did she stomp? 她跺得有多狠?
76 hiss 2yJy9     
v.发出嘶嘶声;发嘘声表示不满
参考例句:
  • We can hear the hiss of air escaping from a tire.我们能听到一只轮胎的嘶嘶漏气声。
  • Don't hiss at the speaker.不要嘘演讲人。
77 withhold KMEz1     
v.拒绝,不给;使停止,阻挡
参考例句:
  • It was unscrupulous of their lawyer to withhold evidence.他们的律师隐瞒证据是不道德的。
  • I couldn't withhold giving some loose to my indignation.我忍不住要发泄一点我的愤怒。
78 sensational Szrwi     
adj.使人感动的,非常好的,轰动的,耸人听闻的
参考例句:
  • Papers of this kind are full of sensational news reports.这类报纸满是耸人听闻的新闻报道。
  • Their performance was sensational.他们的演出妙极了。
79 groom 0fHxW     
vt.给(马、狗等)梳毛,照料,使...整洁
参考例句:
  • His father was a groom.他父亲曾是个马夫。
  • George was already being groomed for the top job.为承担这份高级工作,乔治已在接受专门的培训。
80 fatigue PhVzV     
n.疲劳,劳累
参考例句:
  • The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
  • I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。
81 gasped e6af294d8a7477229d6749fa9e8f5b80     
v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要
参考例句:
  • She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
  • People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
82 bracing oxQzcw     
adj.令人振奋的
参考例句:
  • The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
  • The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。
83 hoisted d1dcc88c76ae7d9811db29181a2303df     
把…吊起,升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He hoisted himself onto a high stool. 他抬身坐上了一张高凳子。
  • The sailors hoisted the cargo onto the deck. 水手们把货物吊到甲板上。
84 touching sg6zQ9     
adj.动人的,使人感伤的
参考例句:
  • It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
  • His letter was touching.他的信很感人。
85 compartment dOFz6     
n.卧车包房,隔间;分隔的空间
参考例句:
  • We were glad to have the whole compartment to ourselves.真高兴,整个客车隔间由我们独享。
  • The batteries are safely enclosed in a watertight compartment.电池被安全地置于一个防水的隔间里。
86 fumbled 78441379bedbe3ea49c53fb90c34475f     
(笨拙地)摸索或处理(某事物)( fumble的过去式和过去分词 ); 乱摸,笨拙地弄; 使落下
参考例句:
  • She fumbled in her pocket for a handkerchief. 她在她口袋里胡乱摸找手帕。
  • He fumbled about in his pockets for the ticket. 他(瞎)摸着衣兜找票。
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