羊毛战记 Part 5 The Stranded 63
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  63
  • Silo 18 •
  Lukas sat at the little desk constructed from an embarrassment1 of wood and stared down at a bookstuffed with a fortune in crisp paper. The chair beneath him was probably worth more than he’d makein a lifetime, and he was sitting on it. If he moved, the joints2 of the dainty thing twisted and squeaked,like it could come apart at any moment.
  He kept his boots firmly planted on either side, his weight on his toes, just in case.
  Lukas flipped3 a page, pretending to read. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be reading, he just didn’twant to be reading this. Entire shelves of more interesting works seemed to mock him from withintheir tin boxes. They sang out to be perused4, for him to put away the Order with its rigid5 writing,bulleted lists, and internal labyrinth6 of page references that led in more circles than the great stairwellitself.
  Each entry in the Order pointed7 to another page, every page another entry. Lukas flipped througha few and wondered if Bernard was keeping tabs on him. The head of IT sat on the other side of thesmall study, just one room of many in the well-stocked hideaway beneath the servers. While Lukaspretended to shadow for his new job, Bernard alternated between fiddling8 with the small computer onthe other desk and going over to the radio mounted on the wall to give instructions to the securityforces in the down deep.
  Lukas pinched a thick chunk9 of the Order and flopped10 it to the side. He skipped past all the recipesfor averting11 silo disasters and checked out some of the more academic reference material toward theback. This stuff was even more frightening: chapters on group persuasion12, on mind control, on theeffects of fear during upbringing; graphs and tables dealing13 with population growth …He couldn’t take it. He adjusted his chair and watched Bernard for a while as the head of IT andacting mayor scrolled14 through screen after screen of text, his head notching15 back and forth16 as hescanned the words there.
  After a moment, Lukas dared to break the silence. “Hey, Bernard?”
  “Hm?”
  “Hey, why isn’t there anything in here about how all this came to be?”
  Bernard’s office chair squealed17 as he swiveled it around to face Lukas. “I’m sorry, what?”
  “The people who made all this, the people who wrote these books. Why isn’t there anything in theOrder about them? Like how they built all this stuff in the first place.”
  “Why would there be?” Bernard half turned back to his computer.
  “So we would know. I dunno, like all the stuff in the other books—”
  “I don’t want you reading those other books. Not yet.” Bernard pointed to the wooden desk.
  “Learn the Order first. If you can’t keep the silo together, the Legacy18 books are pulp19. They’re as goodas processed wood if no one’s around to read them.”
  “Nobody can read them but the two of us if they stay locked up down here—”
  “No one alive. Not today. But one day, there’ll be plenty of people who’ll read them. But only ifyou study.” Bernard nodded toward the thick and dreadful book before turning back to his keyboardand reaching for his mouse.
  Lukas sat there awhile, staring at Bernard’s back, the knotted cord of his master keys sticking outof the top of his undershirt.
  “I figure they must’ve known it was coming,” Lukas said, unable to stop himself fromperseverating about it. He had always wondered about these things, had suppressed them, had foundhis thrills in piecing together the distant stars that were so far away as to be immune to the hillsidetaboos. And now he lived in this vacuum, this hollow of the silo no one knew about where forbiddentopics were allowed and he had access to a man who seemed to know the precious truth.
  “You aren’t studying,” Bernard said. His head remained bent20 over his keyboard, but he seemed toknow that Lukas was watching him.
  “But they had to’ve seen it coming, right?” Lukas lifted his chair and turned it around a littlemore. “I mean, to have built all these silos before it got so bad out there …”
  Bernard turned his head to the side, his jaw21 clenching22 and unclenching. His hand fell away fromthe mouse and came up to smooth his mustache. “These are the things you want to know? How ithappened?”
  “Yes.” Lukas nodded. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “I want to know.”
  “Do you think it matters? What happened out there?” Bernard turned and looked up at theschematics on the wall, then at Lukas. “Why would it matter?”
  “Because it happened. And it only happened one way, and it kills me not to know. I mean, theysaw it coming, right? It would take years to build all—”
  “Decades,” Bernard said.
  “And then move all this stuff in, all the people—”
  “That took much less time.”
  “So you know?”
  Bernard nodded. “The information is stored here, but not in any of the books. And you’re wrong.
  It doesn’t matter. That’s the past, and the past is not the same thing as our Legacy. You’ll need tolearn the difference.”
  Lukas thought about the difference. For some reason, a conversation with Juliette sprang to mind,something she was forever telling him—
  “I think I know,” he said.
  “Oh?” Bernard pushed his glasses up his nose and stared at him. “Tell me what you think youknow.”
  “All our hope, the accomplishments23 of those before us, what the world can be like, that’s ourLegacy.”
  Bernard’s lips broke into a smile. He waved his hand for Lukas to continue.
  “And the bad things that can’t be stopped, the mistakes that got us here, that’s the past.”
  “And what does this difference mean? What do you think it means?”
  “It means we can’t change what’s already happened, but we can have an impact on what happensnext.”
  Bernard clapped his small hands together. “Very good.”
  “And this”—Lukas turned and rested one hand on the thick book, then continued, unbidden—“theOrder. This is a road map for how to get through all the bad that’s piled up between our past and thefuture’s hope. This is the stuff we can prevent, that we can fix.”
  Bernard raised his eyebrows24 at Lukas’s last statement, as if it were a new way of looking at an oldtruth. Finally, he smiled, his mustache curling up, his glasses rising on the wrinkled bridge of hisnose.
  “I think you’re almost ready,” he said. “Soon.” Bernard turned back to his computer, his handfalling to his mouse. “Very soon.”
 


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 embarrassment fj9z8     
n.尴尬;使人为难的人(事物);障碍;窘迫
参考例句:
  • She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
  • Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。
2 joints d97dcffd67eca7255ca514e4084b746e     
接头( joint的名词复数 ); 关节; 公共场所(尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所) (非正式); 一块烤肉 (英式英语)
参考例句:
  • Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on gas mains. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在煤气的总管道上了。
  • Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on steam pipes. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在蒸气管道上了。
3 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。
4 perused 21fd1593b2d74a23f25b2a6c4dbd49b5     
v.读(某篇文字)( peruse的过去式和过去分词 );(尤指)细阅;审阅;匆匆读或心不在焉地浏览(某篇文字)
参考例句:
  • I remained under the wall and perused Miss Cathy's affectionate composition. 我就留在墙跟底下阅读凯蒂小姐的爱情作品。 来自辞典例句
  • Have you perused this article? 你细读了这篇文章了吗? 来自互联网
5 rigid jDPyf     
adj.严格的,死板的;刚硬的,僵硬的
参考例句:
  • She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
  • The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严,几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。
6 labyrinth h9Fzr     
n.迷宫;难解的事物;迷路
参考例句:
  • He wandered through the labyrinth of the alleyways.他在迷宫似的小巷中闲逛。
  • The human mind is a labyrinth.人的心灵是一座迷宫。
7 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
8 fiddling XtWzRz     
微小的
参考例句:
  • He was fiddling with his keys while he talked to me. 和我谈话时他不停地摆弄钥匙。
  • All you're going to see is a lot of fiddling around. 你今天要看到的只是大量的胡摆乱弄。 来自英汉文学 - 廊桥遗梦
9 chunk Kqwzz     
n.厚片,大块,相当大的部分(数量)
参考例句:
  • They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
  • The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。
10 flopped e5b342a0b376036c32e5cd7aa560c15e     
v.(指书、戏剧等)彻底失败( flop的过去式和过去分词 );(因疲惫而)猛然坐下;(笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地)移动或落下;砸锅
参考例句:
  • Exhausted, he flopped down into a chair. 他筋疲力尽,一屁股坐到椅子上。
  • It was a surprise to us when his play flopped. 他那出戏一败涂地,出乎我们的预料。 来自《简明英汉词典》
11 averting edcbf586a27cf6d086ae0f4d09219f92     
防止,避免( avert的现在分词 ); 转移
参考例句:
  • The margin of time for averting crisis was melting away. 可以用来消弥这一危机的些许时光正在逝去。
  • These results underscore the value of rescue medications in averting psychotic relapse. 这些结果显示了救护性治疗对避免精神病复发的价值。
12 persuasion wMQxR     
n.劝说;说服;持有某种信仰的宗派
参考例句:
  • He decided to leave only after much persuasion.经过多方劝说,他才决定离开。
  • After a lot of persuasion,she agreed to go.经过多次劝说后,她同意去了。
13 dealing NvjzWP     
n.经商方法,待人态度
参考例句:
  • 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。
14 scrolled 313315b0796120af40f9657f89e85dc9     
adj.具有涡卷装饰的v.(电脑屏幕上)从上到下移动(资料等),卷页( scroll的过去式和过去分词 );(似卷轴般)卷起;(像展开卷轴般地)将文字显示于屏幕
参考例句:
  • Wherever the drop target can possibly be scrolled offscreen, the program needs to auto-scroll. 无论拖放的目标对象是否在屏幕之外,程序都需要自动滚动。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
  • If It'still is then you've not scrolled up enough lines. 如果还在说明你向上滚动的行数不够。 来自互联网
15 notching bcb9fc8bc348a029685ea95c235a3e79     
adj.多级的(指继电器)n.做凹口,开槽v.在(某物)上刻V形痕( notch的现在分词 );赢得;赢取;获得高分
参考例句:
  • Results are very linear and free from phase notching. 结果非常线性,没有相位凹口。 来自互联网
  • This means that the system only improves, always notching forward, never backsliding. 这意味着系统只能够被改进,总是向前的,从不会倒退。 来自互联网
16 forth Hzdz2     
adv.向前;向外,往外
参考例句:
  • The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
  • He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
17 squealed 08be5c82571f6dba9615fa69033e21b0     
v.长声尖叫,用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He squealed the words out. 他吼叫着说出那些话。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The brakes of the car squealed. 汽车的刹车发出吱吱声。 来自《简明英汉词典》
18 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。
19 pulp Qt4y9     
n.果肉,纸浆;v.化成纸浆,除去...果肉,制成纸浆
参考例句:
  • The pulp of this watermelon is too spongy.这西瓜瓤儿太肉了。
  • The company manufactures pulp and paper products.这个公司制造纸浆和纸产品。
20 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。
21 jaw 5xgy9     
n.颚,颌,说教,流言蜚语;v.喋喋不休,教训
参考例句:
  • He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
  • A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。
22 clenching 1c3528c558c94eba89a6c21e9ee245e6     
v.紧握,抓紧,咬紧( clench的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • I'll never get used to them, she thought, clenching her fists. 我永远也看不惯这些家伙,她握紧双拳,心里想。 来自飘(部分)
  • Clenching her lips, she nodded. 她紧闭着嘴唇,点点头。 来自辞典例句
23 accomplishments 1c15077db46e4d6425b6f78720939d54     
n.造诣;完成( accomplishment的名词复数 );技能;成绩;成就
参考例句:
  • It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
  • Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
24 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。
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