Plague - Feb 27

The instructions began with a ________(赤裸裸的/直截了当的) statement that a few cases of a malignant fever had been reported in Oran; it was not possible as yet to say if this fever was contagious.

________(这样一来), the Prefect felt no doubt that everybody ________(在他的辖区内) would wholeheartedly second his personal efforts.

The notice outlined the general program that the authorities had ________(起草). It included a systematic extermination of the ________(老鼠数量) by injecting poison gas into the sewers, and a strict supervision of the water-supply.

“Your view, I take it,” the Prefect put in, “is this. Even if it isn’t plague, the prophylactic measures ________(命令/促使)by law for coping with a state of plague should be put into force immediately?”

“It doesn’t matter to me,” Rieux said, “how you phrase it. My point is that we should not act as if ________(绝无可能发生某事) that half the population would be wiped out; for then it would be.”

________(这种处置方式) ________(获得了大多数人的同意).

It was hard to find in these notices any indication that the authorities were ________(明确应对当前的情况).

On the day after the committee meeting the fever ________(获得了另一个小进展). It even found its way into the papers, but discreetly; only a few brief references to it were made.

On the following day, however, Rieux observed that small official ________(已经张贴了告示) about the town, though in places where they would not attract much attention.

________(尽管如此), guided by a spirit of prudence that all would appreciate, the Prefect was putting into force some precautionary measures. If these measures were carefully studied and properly applied, they would obviate any risk of an epidemic.

Also heads of households were ordered promptly to report any fever case diagnosed by their doctors and to permit the isolation of sick members of their families in special wards at the hospital. These wards, it was explained, were equipped to provide patients with immediate treatment and ensure the maximum ________(治愈的希望).

For the rest, the Prefect ________(限制于做某事) advising all who had been in contact with the patient to consult the sanitary inspector and strictly to follow his advice.

Dr. Rieux ________(突然转身) brusquely from the poster and ________(突然退缩/动身返回) to his surgery. Grand, who was awaiting him there, raised his arms dramatically when the doctor entered.

But the thing that had struck him most about the man was his aloofness, ________(虽然说不上) his mistrust of everyone he met.

Sometimes in the evening he would go to a movie ________(街对面). ________(在这一点上) Grand mentioned a detail he had noticed—that Cottard seemed to have a preference for ________(警匪片).

But Cottard was a silent, secretive man, with something about him that made Grand think of a wild boar. His bedroom, meals at a cheap restaurant, some rather mysterious comings and goings—________(这些事就是Cottard一天的全部活动).