儿童英语读物《神奇树屋》 第十一册 Lions at Lunchtime 01 Before Lunch

        Jack¹ and Annie were walking home from thegrocery store. Jack's pack was heavy. It held a big jarof peanut butter and a loaf of bread.

"Are you going to have a peanut butter and jellysandwich?" said Annie. "Or a peanut butter andhoney sandwich?"Jack started to answer, but stopped. "Oh, man," hewhispered.

"What is it?" said Annie.

"Look at that!" said Jack.

He pointed² to the edge of the Frog Creek³ woods. Inthe shadows stood a small, delicate animal. It lookedlike a tiny deer.

"It's sign," whispered Annie. "Remember when wesaw the rabbit? He was a sign of the Wild West."The dear like creature leaped into the woods.

Jack and Annie didn't stop to think. They followedfast as they could. Jack's heavy pack thumped⁴ againsthis back as he ran.

Finally they stopped and looked around.

"Where did she go?" he said.

"I don't see her," said Annie.

"Oh wow,". said Annie. She pointed upThere was the. magic tree house. It was shinning inthe noon sun, at the top of the in the woods. Its ropeladder swayed in the shadows below.

"Where's Morgan?" said Annie.

Morgan le Fay wasn't waving at them from thewindow. She wasn't even at the window.

"I don't know. Let's go up," said Jack.

They climbed the ladder and went into the treehouse.

Sunlight streamed through the window. It lit astack of books and two scrolls⁶ in the corner. Theancient scrolls held the answers to riddles⁸ Jack andAnnie had solved earlier.

Jack took off his heavy pack.

"Did Morgan leave us a third riddle⁷?" said Annie.

"Looking for someone?" said a soft voice.

Jack and Annie whirled around.

"Morgan!" said Annie.

Morgan le Fay had appeared out of nowhere. Shelooked ancient and lovely in the bright light.

"Do you still want to become Master Librarians?"she asked Jack and Annie. "So you can help me in mywork?""Yes!" they said together.

"Wonderful," Morgan said. Then she reached intoher robe and pulled out a scroll⁵.

"You've solved two riddles so far," she said. "Here isyour third." She handed the scroll to Annie. "And foryour research--"She pulled a book out from her robe and handed itto Jack. The book's cover saidTHE PLAINS OF AFRICA.

"Africa?" said Jack. "Oh, man, I've always wanted togo there."He opened the book. He and Annie stared at apicture.

It showed hordes⁹ of zebras, tall giraffes, big animalswith horns, and tiny, deer like creatures.

"Hey, that's the animal that led us here!" saidAnnie.

"A Thomson's gazelle, I believe," Morgan said.

"Where are the lions?" said Jack.

"You'll find out," said Morgan.

"Um.. .maybe we need to plan this trip," said Jack.

Morgan smiled. "No. Go ahead. Make your wishnow."Annie pointed at the picture. "I wish we could gothere," she said.

"Be careful," said Morgan. "Just keep an eye out.""For what?" said Jack.

"The lions, of course," she said.

"Wait!" said Jack.

Too late.

The wind had started to blow. The tree house hadstarted to spin. Jack squeezed his eyes shut. The treehouse spun¹⁰ faster and faster. Then everything wasstill. Absolutely still.

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 pointed   

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。

3 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

4 thumped   

v.重击， （指心脏）急速跳动( thump的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Dave thumped the table in frustration . 戴夫懊恼得捶打桌子。
• He thumped the table angrily. 他愤怒地用拳捶击桌子。

5 scroll   

n.卷轴，纸卷；(石刻上的)漩涡

参考例句：

• As I opened the scroll,a panorama of the Yellow River unfolded.我打开卷轴时，黄河的景象展现在眼前。
• He was presented with a scroll commemorating his achievements.他被授予一幅卷轴，以表彰其所做出的成就。

6 scrolls   

n.（常用于录写正式文件的）纸卷( scroll的名词复数 )；卷轴；涡卷形（装饰）；卷形花纹v.（电脑屏幕上）从上到下移动（资料等），卷页( scroll的第三人称单数 )；（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：

• Either turn it off or only pick up selected stuff like wands, rings and scrolls. 把他关掉然后只捡你需要的物品，像是魔杖(wand)，戒指(rings)和滚动条(scrolls)。 来自互联网
• Ancient scrolls were found in caves by the Dead Sea. 死海旁边的山洞里发现了古代的卷轴。 来自辞典例句

7 riddle   

n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜

参考例句：

• The riddle couldn't be solved by the child.这个谜语孩子猜不出来。
• Her disappearance is a complete riddle.她的失踪完全是一个谜。

8 riddles   

n.谜（语）( riddle的名词复数 )；猜不透的难题，难解之谜

参考例句：

• Few riddles collected from oral tradition, however, have all six parts. 但是据收集的情况看，口头流传的谜语很少具有这完整的六部分。 来自英汉非文学 - 民俗
• But first, you'd better see if you can answer riddles. 但是你首先最好想想你会不会猜谜语。 来自辞典例句

9 hordes   

n.移动着的一大群( horde的名词复数 )；部落

参考例句：

• There are always hordes of tourists here in the summer. 夏天这里总有成群结队的游客。
• Hordes of journalists jostled for position outside the conference hall. 大群记者在会堂外争抢位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 spun   

v.纺，杜撰，急转身

参考例句：

• His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
• Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。