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Chapter 4: Boredom and excitement ↵ Boredom as a

factor in human behaviour has received, in my

opinion, far less attention than it deserves. It

has been, I believe, one of the great motive

powers throughout the historical epoch, and is so

at the present day more than ever. Boredom would

seem to be a distinctively human emotion. Animals

in captivity, it is true, become listless, pace

up and down, and yawn, but in a state of nature I

do not believe that they experience anything

analogous to boredom. Most of the time they are

on the look-out for enemies, or food, or both;

sometimes they are mating, sometimes they are

trying to keep warm. But even when they are

unhappy, I do not think that they are bored.

Possibly anthropoid apes may resemble us in this

respect, as in so many others, but having never

lived with them I have not had the opportunity to

make the experiment. One of the essentials of

boredom consists in the contrast between present

circumstances and some other more agreeable

circumstances which force themselves irresistibly

upon the imagination. It is also one of the

essentials of boredom that one's faculties must

not be fully occupied. Running away from enemies

who are trying to take one's life is, I imagine,

unpleasant, but certainly not boring. A man would

not feel bored while he was being executed,

unless he had almost superhuman courage. In like

manner no one has ever yawned during his maiden

speech in the House of Lords, with the exception

of the late Duke of Devonshire, who was

reverenced by their Lordships in consequence.

Boredom is essentially a thwarted desire for

events, not necessarily pleasant ones, but just

occurrences such as will enable the victim of

ennui to know one day from another. The opposite

of boredom, in a word, is not pleasure, but

excitement. ↵ The desire for excitement is very

deep-seated in human beings, especially in males.

I suppose that in the hunting stage it was more

easily gratified than it has been since. The

chase was exciting, war was exciting, courtship

was exciting. A savage will manage to commit

adultery with a woman while her husband is asleep

beside her, knowing that it is instant death if

the husband wakes. This situation, I imagine, is

not boring. ↵ But with the coming of agriculture

life began to grow dull, except, of course, for

the aristocrats, who remained, and still remain,

in the hunting stage. We hear a great deal about

the tedium of machine-minding, but I think the

tedium of agriculture by old-fashioned methods is

at least as great. Indeed, contrary to what most

philanthropists maintain, I should say that the

machine age has enormously diminished the sum of

boredom in the world. Among wage-earners the

working hours are not solitary, while the evening

hours can be given over to a variety of

amusements that were impossible in an

old-fashioned country village. Consider again the

change in lower middle-class life. In old days,

after supper, when the wife and daughters had

cleared away the things, everybody sat round and

had what was called'a happy family time'. This

meant that paterfamilias went to sleep, his wife

knitted, and the daughters wished they were dead

or at Timbuktu. They were not allowed to read, or

to'1eave the room, because the theory was that

at that period their father conversed with them,

which must be a pleasure to all concerned. With

luck they ultimately married and had a chance to

inflict upon their children a youth as dismal as

their own had been. If they did not have luck,

they developed into old maids, perhaps ultimately

into decayed gentlewomen - a fate as horrible as

any that savages have bestowed upon their

victims. ↵ All this weight of boredom should be

borne in mind in estimating the world of a

hundred years ago, and when one goes further into

the past the boredom becomes still worse. Imagine

the monotony of winter in a mediaeval village.

People could not read or write, they had only

candles to give them light after dark, the smoke

of their one fire filled the only room that was

not bitterly cold. Roads were practically

impassable, so that one hardly ever saw anybody

from another village. It must have been boredom

as much as anything that led to the practice of

witch-hunts as the sole sport by which winter

evenings could be enlivened. ↵ We are less bored

than our ancestors were, but we are more afraid

of boredom. We have come to know, or rather to

believe, that boredom is not part of the natural

lot of man, but can be avoided by a sufficiently

vigorous pursuit of excitement. ↵ Girls nowadays

earn their own living, very largely because this

enables them to seek excitement in the evening

and to escape'the happy family time' that their

grandmothers had to endure. Everybody who can

lives in a town; in America, those who cannot,

have a car, or at the least a motor-bicycle, to

take them to the movies. And of course they have

the radio in their houses. Young men and young

women meet each other with much less difficulty

than was formerly the case, and every housemaid

expects at least once a week as much excitement

as would have lasted a Jane Austen heroine

throughout a whole novel. ↵ As we rise in the

social scale the pursuit of excitement becomes

more and more intense. Those who can afford it

are perpetually moving from place to place,

carrying with them as they go gaiety, dancing and

drinking, but for some reason always expecting to

enjoy these more in a new place. Those who have

to earn a living get their share of boredom, of

necessity, in working hours, but those who have

enough money to be freed from the need of work

have as their ideal a life completely freed from

boredom. It is a noble ideal, and far be it from

me to decry it, but I am afraid that like other

ideals it is more difficult to achievement than

the idealists suppose. After all, the mornings

are boring in proportion as the previous evenings

were amusing. There will be middle age, possibly

even old age. At twenty men think that life will

be over at thirty. ↵ I, at the age of

fifty-eight, can no longer take that view.

Perhaps it is as unwise to spend one's vital

capital as one's financial capital. Perhaps some

element of boredom is a necessary ingredient in

life. A wish to escape from boredom is natural;

indeed, all races of mankind have displayed it as

opportunity occurred. When savages have first

tasted liquor at the hands of the white men, they

have found at last an escape from age-old tedium,

and, except when the Government has interfered,

they have drunk themselves into a riotous death.

Wars, pogroms, and persecutions have all been

part of the flight from boredom; even quarrels

with neighbours have been found better than

nothing. Boredom is therefore a vital problem for

the moralist, since at least half the sins of

mankind are caused by the fear of it. ↵ Boredom,

however, is not to be regarded as wholly evil.

There are two sorts, of which one is fructifying,

while the other is stultifying. The fructifying

kind arises from the absence of drugs, and the

stultifying kind from the absence of vital

activities. I am not prepared to say that drugs

can play no good part in life whatsoever. There

are moments, for example, when an opiate will be

prescribed by a wise physician, and I think these

moments more frequent than prohibitionists

suppose. But the craving for drugs is certainly

something which cannot be left to the unfettered

operation of natural impulse. And the kind of

boredom which the person accustomed to drugs

experiences when deprived of them is something

for which I can suggest no remedy except time. ↵

Now what applies to drugs applies also, within

limits, to every kind of excitement. A life too

full of excitement is an exhausting life, in

which continually stronger stimuli are needed to

give the thrill that has come to be thought an

essential part of pleasure. A person accustomed

to too much excitement is like a person with a

morbid craving for pepper, who comes last to be

unable even to taste a quantity of pepper which

would cause anyone else to choke. There is an

element of boredom which is inseparable from the

avoidance of too much excitement, and too much

excitement not only undermines the health, but

dulls the palate for every kind of pleasure,

substituting titillations for profound organic

satisfactions, cleverness for wisdom, and jagged

surprises for beauty. I do not want to push to

extremes the objection to excitement. A certain

amount of it is wholesome, but, like almost

everything else, the matter is quantitative. Too

little may produce morbid cravings, too much will

produce exhaustion. A certain power of enduring

boredom is therefore essential to a happy life,

and is one of the things that ought to be taught

to the young. ↵ All great books contain boring

portions, and all great lives have contained

uninteresting stretches. Imagine a modern

American publisher confronted with the Old

Testament as a new manuscript submitted to him

for the first time. It is not difficult to think

what his comments would be, for example, on the

genealogies. ↵'My dear sir,' he would say,

'this chapter lacks pep; you can't expect your

reader to be interested in a mere string of

proper names of persons about whom you tell him

so little. You have begun your story, I will

admit, in fine style, and at first I was very

favourably impressed, but you have altogether too

much wish to tell it all. Pick out the

highlights, take out the superfluous matter, and

bring me back your manuscript when you have

reduced it to a reasonable length. ↵ So the

modern publisher would speak, knowing the modern

reader's fear of boredom. He would say the same

sort of thing about the Confucian classics, the

Koran, Marx's Capital, and all the other sacred

books which have proved to be bestsellers. Nor

does this apply only to sacred books. All the

best novels contain boring passages. A novel

which sparkles from the first page to the last is

pretty sure not to be a great book. Nor have the

lives of great men been exciting except at a few

great moments. Socrates could enjoy a banquet now

and again, and must have derived considerable

satisfaction from his conversations while the

hemlock was taking effect, but most of his life

he lived quietly with Xanthippe, taking a

constitutional in the afternoon, and perhaps

meeting a few friends by the way. Kant is said

never to have been more than ten miles from

Konigsberg in all his life. Darwin, after going

round the world, spent the whole of the rest of

his life in his own house. Marx, after stirring

up a few revolutions, decided to spend the

remainder of his days in the British Museum.

Altogether it will be found that a quiet life is

characteristic of great men, and that their

pleasures have not been of the sort that would

look exciting to the outward eye. No great

achievement is possible without persistent work,

so absorbing and so difficult that little energy

is left over for the more strenuous kinds of

amusement, except such as serve to recuperate

physical energy during holidays, of which Alpine

climbing may serve as the best example. ↵ The

capacity to endure a more or less monotonous life

is one which should be acquired in childhood.

Modern parents are greatly to blame in this

respect; they provide their children with far too

many passive amusements, such as shows and good

things to eat, and they do not realise the

importance to a child of having one day like

another, except, of course, for somewhat rare

occasions. ↵ The pleasures of childhood should

in the main be such as the child extracts from

his environment by means of some effort and

inventiveness. Pleasures which are exciting and

at the same time involve no physical exertion,

such, for example, as the theatre, should occur

very rarely. The excitement is in the nature of a

drug, of which more and more will come to be

required, and the physical passivity during the

excitement is contrary to instinct. A child

develops best when, like a young plant, he is

left undisturbed in the same soil. Too much

travel, too much variety of impressions, are not

good for the young, and cause them as they grow

up to become incapable of enduring fruitful

monotony. ↵ I do not mean that monotony has any

merits of its own; I mean only that certain good

things are not possible except where there is a

certain degree of monotony. Take, say,

Wordsworth's Prelude. It will be obvious to every

reader that whatever had any value in

Wordsworth's thoughts and feelings would have

been impossible to a sophisticated urban youth. A

boy or young man who has some serious

constructive purpose will endure voluntarily a

great deal of boredom if he finds that it is

necessary by the way. But constructive purposes

do not easily form themselves in a boy's mind if

he is living a life of distractions and

dissipations, for in that case his thoughts will

always be directed towards the next pleasure

rather than towards the distant achievement. For

all these reasons a generation that cannot endure

boredom will be a generation of little men, of

men unduly divorced from the slow processes of

nature, of men in whom every vital impulse slowly

withers, as though they were cut flowers in a

vase. ↵ I do not like mystical language, and yet

I hardly knows how to express what I mean without

employing phrases that sound poetic rather than

scientific. Whatever we may wish to think, we are

creatures of Earth; our life is part of the life

of the Earth, and we draw our nourishment from it

just as the plants and animals do. The rhythm of

Earth life is slow; autumn and winter are as

essential to it as spring and summer, the rest is

as essential as motion. To the child, even more

than to the man, it is necessary to preserve some

contact with the ebb and flow of terrestrial

life. The human body has been adapted through the

ages to this rhythm, and religion has embodied

something of it in the festival of Easter. ↵ I

have seen a boy of two years old, who had been

kept in London, taken out for the first time to

walk in green country. The season was winter, and

everything was wet and muddy. To the adult eye

there was nothing to cause delight, but in the

boy there sprang up a strange ecstasy; he kneeled

in the wet ground and put his face in the grass,

and gave utterance to half-articulate cries of

delight. The joy that he was experiencing was

primitive, simple and massive. The organic need

that was being satisfied is so profound that

those in whom it is starved are seldom completely

sane. ↵ Many pleasures, of which we may take

gambling as a good example, have in them no

element of this contact with Earth. Such

pleasures, in the instant when they cease, leave

a man feeling dusty and dissatisfied, hungry for

he knows not what. Such pleasures bring nothing

that can be called joy. Those, on the other hand,

that bring us into contact with the life of the

Earth have something in them profoundly

satisfying; when they cease, the happiness that

they brought remains, although their intensity

while they existed may have been less than that

of more exciting dissipations. ↵ The distinction

that I have in mind runs through the whole gamut

from the simplest to the most civilised

occupations. The two-year-old boy whom I spoke of

a moment ago displayed the most primitive

possible form of union with the life of Earth.

But in a higher form the same thing is to be

found in poetry. What makes Shakespeare's lyrics

supreme is that they are filled with this same

joy that made the two-year-old embrace the grass.

Consider'Hark, hark, the lark', or'Come unto

these yellow sands'; you will find in these poems

the civilised expression of the same emotion that

in our two-year-old could only find utterance in

inarticulate cries. Or, again, consider the

difference between love and mere sex attraction.

Love is an experience in which our whole being is

renewed and refreshed as is that of plants by

rain after drought. In sex intercourse without

love there is nothing of this. When the momentary

pleasure is ended, there is fatigue, disgust, and

a sense that life is hollow. Love is part of the

life of Earth; sex without love is not. ↵ The

special kind of boredom from which modern urban

populations suffer is intimately bound up with

their separation from the life of Earth. It makes

life hot and dusty and thirsty, like a pilgrimage

in the desert. Among those who are rich enough to

choose their way of life, the particular brand of

unendurable boredom from which they suffer is

due, paradoxical as this may seem, to their fear

of boredom. In flying from the fructifying kind

of boredom, they fall a prey to the other far

worse kind. A happy life must be to a great

extent a quiet life, for it is only in an

atmosphere of quiet that true joy can live. ↵


知识点

重点词汇
ecstasy [ˈekstəsi] n. 狂喜；入迷；忘形 {toefl gre :8057}

exhaustion [ɪgˈzɔ:stʃən] n. 枯竭；耗尽；精疲力竭 {cet4 toefl :8142}

alpine [ˈælpaɪn] adj. 阿尔卑斯山的，高山的 { :8239}

pilgrimage [ˈpɪlgrɪmɪdʒ] n. 漫游；朝圣之行 vi. 朝拜；漫游 { :8273}

thwarted [θwɔ:tid] v. 挫败（thwart的过去分词）；反对 adj. 挫败的 { :8327}

heroine [ˈherəʊɪn] n. 女主角；女英雄；女杰出人物 {gk cet4 cet6 ky ielts :8342}

unduly [ˌʌnˈdju:li] adv. 过度地；不适当地；不正当地 { :8416}

dissatisfied [dɪsˈsætɪsfaɪd] v. 使不满（dissatisfy的过去式和过去分词） adj. 不满意的；不高兴的；流露不满的 { :8469}

mystical [ˈmɪstɪkl] adj. 神秘的；神秘主义的 { :8509}

apes [eips] n. [脊椎] 猿；猩猩；类人猿（ape的复数） v. 模仿；仿效（ape的三单形式） {ielts :8577}

outward [ˈaʊtwəd] adj. 向外的；外面的；公开的；外服的；肉体的 adv. 向外（等于outwards）；在外；显而易见地 n. 外表；外面；物质世界 {gk cet4 cet6 ky toefl :8599}

avoidance [əˈvɔɪdəns] n. 逃避；废止；职位空缺 {toefl :8834}

persecutions [ ] n. 迫害（persecution的复数） { :8852}

civilised ['sɪvəlaɪzd] adj. 文明的 { :8881}

sparkles [ˈspɑ:klz] v. 发火花，闪耀( sparkle的第三人称单数 ); （饮料）发泡; 生气勃勃，热情奔放，神采飞扬 { :8882}

banquet [ˈbæŋkwɪt] n. 宴会，盛宴；宴请，款待 vt. 宴请，设宴款待 vi. 参加宴会 n. (Banquet)人名；(法)邦凯；(西)班克特 {cet6 ky toefl ielts gre :9056}

analogous [əˈnæləgəs] adj. 类似的；[昆] 同功的；可比拟的 {cet6 toefl gre :9154}

bestowed [biˈstəud] vt. 使用；授予；放置；留宿 { :9425}

jagged [ˈdʒægɪd] adj. 锯齿状的；参差不齐的 v. 使成缺口；使成锯齿状（jag的过去式） {ielts gre :9448}

dismal [ˈdɪzməl] n. 低落的情绪 adj. 凄凉的，忧郁的；阴沉的，沉闷的 {toefl gre :9459}

unwise [ˌʌnˈwaɪz] adj. 不明智的；愚蠢的；轻率的 { :9528}

intimately ['ɪntɪmɪtlɪ] adv. 熟悉地；亲切地；私下地 { :9539}

sane [seɪn] adj. 健全的；理智的；[临床] 神志正常的 n. (Sane)人名；(日)实(姓)；(日)实(名)；(芬、塞、冈、几比、塞内)萨内 {ky toefl gre :9556}

favourably ['feɪvərəblɪ] adv. 顺利地；有利地；好意地（等于favorably） { :9561}

agreeable [əˈgri:əbl] adj. 令人愉快的；适合的；和蔼可亲的 {cet6 ky toefl ielts gre :9587}

terrestrial [təˈrestriəl] n. 陆地生物；地球上的人 adj. 地球的；陆地的，[生物] 陆生的；人间的 {toefl ielts gre :9615}

unto [ˈʌntə] prep. 到，直到；向（等于to） n. (Unto)人名；(芬)温托 { :9647}

fruitful [ˈfru:tfl] adj. 富有成效的；多产的；果实结得多的 {cet4 cet6 ky toefl :9697}

prelude [ˈprelju:d] n. 前奏；序幕；前奏曲 vt. 成为…的序幕；演奏…作为前奏曲 vi. 作为序曲；奏序曲 {toefl ielts gre :9954}

captivity [kæpˈtɪvəti] n. 囚禁；被关 {toefl :10112}

thirsty [ˈθɜ:sti] adj. 口渴的，口干的；渴望的，热望的 {zk gk :10308}

reverenced [ˈrevərənst] v. 尊敬，崇敬( reverence的过去式和过去分词 ); 敬礼 { :10327}

courtship [ˈkɔ:tʃɪp] n. 求爱；求婚；求爱期 {toefl :10459}

yawned [jɔ:nd] v. 打呵欠( yawn的过去式和过去分词 ); 张开，裂开 { :10509}

yawn [jɔ:n] n. 哈欠；裂口 vt. 张开；打著哈欠说 vi. 打哈欠；裂开 {gk cet4 cet6 ky toefl ielts gre :10509}

Austen ['ɔ:stin] n. 奥斯丁（男子名） { :10676}

adultery [əˈdʌltəri] n. 通奸，通奸行为 { :10957}

strenuous [ˈstrenjuəs] adj. 紧张的；费力的；奋发的；艰苦的；热烈的 {ky toefl ielts :11142}

undisturbed [ˌʌndɪˈstɜ:bd] adj. 安静的；镇定的；未被扰乱的；泰然自若的 {toefl :11295}

refreshed ['rɪ'freʃt] adj. 恢复精神的 v. 使清凉；使重新提起精神；得到补充给养（refresh的过去分词） { :11300}

inseparable [ɪnˈseprəbl] n. 不可分离的事物；形影不离的朋友 adj. [数] 不可分割的；不能分离的 { :11336}

palate [ˈpælət] n. 味觉；上颚；趣味 {gre :11384}

conversed [kənˈvə:st] v. 交谈，谈话( converse的过去式 ) { :11468}

maiden [ˈmeɪdn] adj. 未婚的，处女的；初次的 n. 少女；处女 n. (Maiden)人名；(日)每田(姓) {cet6 ky ielts :11516}

decry [dɪˈkraɪ] vt. 责难，谴责；诽谤 {toefl gre :11621}

aristocrats [æ'rɪstəkræts] n. 贵族( aristocrat的名词复数 ) { :11646}

withers [ˈwɪðəz] n. [脊椎] 马肩隆（马肩骨间的隆起部）；感情，情绪 { :11732}

momentary [ˈməʊməntri] adj. 瞬间的；短暂的；随时会发生的 {cet6 ky :11937}

Koran [kɒ'rɑ:n] n. 《可兰经》，《古兰经》（伊斯兰教） { :11987}

exertion [ɪgˈzɜ:ʃn] n. 发挥；运用；努力 {toefl :12337}

paradoxical [ˌpærə'dɒksɪkl] adj. 矛盾的；诡论的；似非而是的 {ky :12338}

cravings [ ] n. 渴望（craving的复数） { :12347}

epoch [ˈi:pɒk] n. [地质] 世；新纪元；新时代；时间上的一点 {cet6 ky toefl ielts gre :12794}

wholesome [ˈhəʊlsəm] adj. 健全的；有益健康的；合乎卫生的；审慎的 {cet6 ky toefl ielts gre :12893}

pep [pep] n. 活力；锐气，劲头 vt. 激励；使充满活力，使精力充沛 n. (Pep)人名；(英)佩普 { :13045}

perpetually [pə'petʃʊəlɪ] adv. 永恒地，持久地 { :13089}

ebb [eb] n. 衰退；退潮；衰落 vi. 衰退；减少；衰落；潮退 {ky toefl gre :13680}

superfluous [su:ˈpɜ:fluəs] adj. 多余的；不必要的；奢侈的 {ky toefl ielts gre :13701}

monotonous [məˈnɒtənəs] adj. 单调的，无抑扬顿挫的；无变化的 {ky toefl ielts gre :13743}

hark [hɑ:k] vi. 听（常用于命令句） n. (Hark)人名；(德、瑞典)哈尔克 { :14009}

gamut [ˈgæmət] n. 全音阶；全音域；整个范围 {gre :14112}

morbid [ˈmɔ:bɪd] adj. 病态的；由病引起的；恐怖的；病变部位的 {toefl ielts gre :14213}

enlivened [enˈlaɪvənd] v. 使（某人或某物）更活跃或更愉快( enliven的过去式和过去分词 ) { :14217}

nourishment [ˈnʌrɪʃmənt] n. 食物；营养品；滋养品 {cet6 toefl ielts :14274}

philanthropists [fɪˈlænθrəpɪsts] n. 慈善家( philanthropist的名词复数 ) { :14413}

genealogies [ˌdʒi:niˈælədʒiz] n. 系谱，家系，宗谱( genealogy的名词复数 ) { :14582}

passivity [pæˈsɪvəti] n. 被动性；被动结构；无抵抗 { :14853}

monotony [məˈnɒtəni] n. 单调；千篇一律 {gre :15284}

mediaeval [ˌmi:di:ˈi:vəl, ˌmedi:-] adj. 中世纪的；中古的 { :15473}

Devonshire ['devәnʃiә] n. 德文郡(英国郡名) { :15497}

unfettered [ʌnˈfetəd] adj. 无拘无束的；被除去脚镣的 v. 使自由（unfetter的过去分词）；解开脚链；释放 { :15926}

recuperate [rɪˈku:pəreɪt] vi. 恢复，复原；挽回损失 vt. 恢复，使恢复健康 {gre :16025}


难点词汇
Socrates ['sɒkrәti:z] n. 苏格拉底（古希腊哲学家） { :17054}

kant [kænt] n. 康德（德国哲学家） { :17419}

hemlock [ˈhemlɒk] n. 铁杉；毒芹属植物；毒胡萝卜 n. (Hemlock)人名；(英)赫姆洛克 { :17438}

distinctively [dɪ'stɪŋktɪvlɪ] adv. 特殊地；区别地 {toefl :17675}

gratified [ˈgrætəˌfaɪd] adj. 称心的 v. 使满足；使高兴（gratify的过去式及过去分词形式） { :17764}

idealists [aɪ'dɪəlɪsts] n. 理想主义( idealism的名词复数 ); 唯心主义 { :17991}

uninteresting [ʌnˈɪntrəstɪŋ] adj. 无趣味的，乏味的；令人厌倦的 { :18414}

superhuman [ˌsu:pəˈhju:mən] n. 超人 adj. 超人的；人类能力所不能及的；属于神仙的 { :18506}

riotous [ˈraɪətəs] adj. 暴乱的；狂欢的；不受约束的；放荡的；茂盛的 {gre :18721}

tedium [ˈti:diəm] n. 沉闷；单调乏味；厌烦 {toefl gre :18839}

opiate [ˈəʊpiət] n. 鸦片制剂；麻醉剂；镇静剂 adj. 含鸦片的；安眠的 vt. 用鸦片麻醉；使缓和 {gre :18995}

gaiety [ˈgeɪəti] n. 快乐，兴高采烈；庆祝活动，喜庆；（服饰）华丽，艳丽 {gre :19032}

cleverness ['klevənəs] n. 聪明；机灵 { :19535}

irresistibly [ˌɪrɪ'zɪstəblɪ] adv. 无法抵抗地；不能压制地；极为诱惑人地 { :19856}

inventiveness [ɪn'ventɪvnəs] n. 创造性；发明的才能 { :19938}

listless [ˈlɪstləs] adj. 倦怠的；无精打采的；百无聊赖的 {toefl gre :20100}

impassable [ɪmˈpɑ:səbl] adj. 不能通行的（名词impassability，副词impassably）；无路可通的 { :20144}

Confucian [kәn'fju:ʃ(ә)n] n. 儒家，儒家学者；孔子的门徒 adj. 孔子的，儒家的；儒家学说的 { :20527}

inarticulate [ˌɪnɑ:ˈtɪkjələt] adj. 口齿不清的；说不出话的；[无脊椎] 无关节的 { :20680}

bestsellers ['bests'eləz] n. 畅销书（bestseller的复数形式） { :20822}

moralist [ˈmɒrəlɪst] n. 道德家；伦理学者 { :21627}

pogroms [ˈpɔɡrəmz] n. 大屠杀( pogrom的名词复数 ) { :22567}

housemaid [ˈhaʊsmeɪd] n. 女佣，女仆 { :22861}

dissipations [ ] (dissipation 的复数) n. 消散, 分散, 浪费 [化] 耗散; 能量耗散; 能量浪费 { :23552}

ennui [ɒnˈwi:] n. （法）厌倦，无聊；倦怠 {toefl gre :24297}

titillations [ ] (titillation 的复数) [医] 搔痒, 撩痒 { :28431}

stultifying [ˈstʌltɪfaɪɪŋ] adj. 极其单调乏味的；使人变迟钝的 v. 使迟钝；使无效（stultify的ing形式） { :31382}

unendurable [ˌʌnɪnˈdjʊərəbl] adj. 无法忍受的；不能持久的 { :33633}

gentlewomen [ ] n. 女士( gentlewoman的名词复数 ) { :34760}

prohibitionists [,prəʊhɪ'bɪʃənɪst] n. 禁酒主义者 { :36389}

paterfamilias [ˌpeɪtəfəˈmɪliæs] n. 家长 { :38251}

anthropoid [ˈænθrəpɔɪd] n. 类人猿 adj. 类人猿的；类人的；（猿等）似人类的 {gre :46868}

Timbuktu [ ] 廷巴克图 { :48646}


复习词汇
boredom [ˈbɔ:dəm] n. 厌倦；令人厌烦的事物 {toefl gre :7682}


生僻词
age-old [ˈeɪdʒˈəʊld] adj. 古老的；由来已久的

deep-seated ['di:ps'i:tɪd] adj. 深层的；根深蒂固的；深位的

fifty-eight [ ] 五十八

fructifying [ˈfrʌktəˌfaɪŋ] v. 结果实( fructify的现在分词 ); 使结果实，使多产，使土地肥沃

konigsberg [kɒ'nɪɡzbɜ:ɡ] [计] 哥尼斯堡

look-out ['lʊk'aʊt] n. 警戒; 搜寻; 注意; 了望台

middle-class [ˈmidlˈklɑ:s] adj. 中产阶级的；中层社会的

old-fashioned [ˈəuldˈfæʃənd] adj. 老式的；过时的；守旧的

two-year-old [ ] adj. 2岁的

wage-earners [ ] (wage-earner 的复数) n. 工薪族, 工薪阶层（者）, 靠工资生活的人

witch-hunts [ ] n. 猎女巫( witch-hunt的名词复数 )

xanthippe [zæn'θipi] n. 粘西比(苏格拉底之妻), 悍妇


词组
a savage [ ] None

accustom to [ ] un. 习惯于 [网络] 使习惯；使习惯于；习惯于某事

after supper [ ] na. 晚饭后 [网络] 晚饭之后；晚餐后；医生建议晚饭后散步

analogous to [ ] un. 类似于 [网络] 与……类似；类推为；与……相似

anthropoid ape [ˈænθrəˌpɔɪd eip] n. 人猿 [网络] 类人猿；似人猿

anthropoid apes [ ] 类人猿

bestow upon [ ] [网络] 赠与

bitterly cold [ ] [网络] 刺骨地寒冷；很冷；极其寒冷的

confucian classics [ ] [网络] 经书；儒家经书；指儒家经典

contrary to [ˈkɔntrəri tu:] na. 跟…相反[相违背] [网络] 与……相反；违反；和…相反

converse with [ ] 与…谈话

crave for [ ] v. 希冀 [网络] 渴望；渴望的；希望

deprive of [ ] un. 剥夺 [网络] 剥夺某人的；使失去；使丧失

divorce from [ ] [网络] 分离；脱离；与…离婚

ebb and flow [eb ænd fləu] na. 消长；潮涨退；盛衰 [网络] 退潮；潮起潮落；潮的涨落

extract from [ ] un. 榨出(汁等)；提取:；拔取；拔出 [网络] 从…拔出；从…中提取；文件的摘录

fall a prey to [ ] 成了…的牺牲品,落到…手中,受到…折磨

find utterance [ ] (思想,感情等)得到表达

give utterance to [ ] na. 讲出

hungry for [ ] v. 渴望…；渴求… [网络] 渴望i；一辈子的事

in captivity [ ] 人工驯养 受限制的 在囚禁的

in the hunt [ ] [网络] 海底大战争；有机会；求职篇

incapable of [ ] adj. 不会 [网络] 无能力；没有能力；没有……的能力

inflict upon [ ] 使…受痛苦;给…以(打击、惩罚)

Jane Austen [ ] [网络] 奥斯汀；简·奥斯汀；珍奥斯汀

morbid craving [ ] 《英汉医学词典》morbid craving 病态的渴求,病态渴求

more frequent [ ] [网络] 高频率

objection to [ ] [网络] 反对；反对某事；对……反对

old maid [əuld meid] n. 老姑娘；老处女 [网络] 老小姐；老丫环；长春花

particular brand [ ] [网络] 特别牌子

physical exertion [ˈfizikəl ɪgˈzɜ:ʃən] [网络] 强体力活动；操劳；身体运动

prey to [ ] 深受…...之害 被…...捕获

sacred book [ ] na. 圣曲 [网络] 圣书；圣典；神本神辞

the ebb [ ] [网络] 退潮；低潮

the ebb and flow [ ] [网络] 盛衰；潮涨潮落；生命的沉浮

the instant [ðə ˈinstənt] [网络] 刹那；瞬间；我认许刹那

the instant when [ ] conj.一...就

the outward eye [ ] 肉眼

to choke [ ] [网络] 呛；嗈；使呼吸困难

to endure [ ] [网络] 忍受；要么忍；忍耐

vital impulse [ ] 活力


惯用语
for example
of boredom



单词释义末尾数字为词频顺序
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