英语读物《神奇树屋》 第十五册 Viking Ships at Sunrise 06 The Vikings Are Coming

　　"Annie!" Jack¹ cried. "Vikings!"Annie looked out the tree house window.

"Vikings?""They're headed straight for the island!" said Jack.

He turned back to the stone steps.

"Where are you going?" cried Annie.

"To warn the monks²!" Jack said.

"I'll come too!" cried Annie. She scrambled³ out ofthe tree house.

"Hurry!" said Jack.

Jack didn't even use the rope. He pulled himself upthe steep steps with his hands.

As Jack and Annie climbed up the face of the cliff,clouds began to cover the sun. When they reached thetop, a fog had almost hidden the serpent ships.

"Run!" cried Annie.

The fog blanketed the whole island. Jack and Anniecould barely⁴ see the path to the monastery⁵.

When they arrived at the gate, the misty⁶ whiteworld was silent.

"Vikings!" Jack cried. "Vikings!""The monks are still in church!" said Annie. Sheyanked the bell rope.

Dong! Dong!

Jack and Annie watched as Brother Patrick and theother monks ran out of the church.

"The Vikings are coming!" Jack shouted.

Brother Patrick's rosy⁷ face turned white.

"Make haste!" he said to the other monks. "Gatherthe books and hide."The monks ran into the library. Brother Patrickturned to Jack and Annie.

"We have a secret hiding place, a cave on the otherside of the island," he said. "You can come with us.

But I am not certain you will be safe.""Don't worry," said Jack. "We're going to try to gohome.""Do not use the steps," Brother Patrick said. "TheVikings will climb them.""Then how do we get down?" said Jack. "Go thatway," said Brother Patrick, pointing. "At the cliffsedge are two large rocks. A path between those rockswill take you down to the shore. Then you can walkaround to your boat.""Thanks!" said Annie.

"Be careful!" said Brother Patrick. He hurried insidethe library.

"Wait!" came a thin voice as Jack and Annie turnedto run.

It was Brother Michael. He hobbled over to them,holding out his book of Irish tales.

"Take it," he said.

"Are you sure?" Jack asked. He knew it was BrotherMichael's life's work.

"Please," said Brother Michael. "It is better that theworld should have some of it than none at all. Just incase...

"We'll take good care of it," said Jack. He gentlyplaced the jeweled book in his leather bag.

"Good luck!" said Annie.

Annie and Jack waved good-bye to the old man.

Then they raced to the rocks that Brother Patrick hadtold them about.

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 monks   

n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The monks lived a very ascetic life. 僧侣过着很清苦的生活。
• He had been trained rigorously by the monks. 他接受过修道士的严格训练。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 barely   

adv.仅仅，几乎没有，几乎不

参考例句：

• The male bird is barely distinguishable from the female.雄鸟和雌鸟几乎无法辨别。
• He took barely enough money to keep the children in bread.他赚很少的钱仅够孩子们勉强糊口。

5 monastery   

n.修道院，僧院，寺院

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• She was appointed the superior of the monastery two years ago.两年前她被任命为这个修道院的院长。

6 misty   

adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的

参考例句：

• He crossed over to the window to see if it was still misty.他走到窗户那儿，看看是不是还有雾霭。
• The misty scene had a dreamy quality about it.雾景给人以梦幻般的感觉。

7 rosy   

adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的

参考例句：

• She got a new job and her life looks rosy.她找到一份新工作，生活看上去很美好。
• She always takes a rosy view of life.她总是对生活持乐观态度。