英语读物《神奇树屋》 第十五册 Viking Ships at Sunrise 07 Fogbound

　　At the rocks, the sea gulls¹ still screeched². Jack³ couldbarely see the steep path leading down into the fog.

"Go slowly," Jack whispered to Annie as theystarted down.

"Whoops⁴!" said Annie. She slipped and fell forward,bumping into Jack. "My foot got caught in my stupiddress--""Shh!" said Jack.

He held on to Annie. They listened as pebbles⁵ androcks rolled down the cliff. Jack took a deep breath.

'We've got to watch out for Vikings, too," hewhispered.

They started down the steep path again. They wentone step at a time. The sound of the waves against therocks grew louder.

Finally, they stepped down onto a flat strip ofpebbles.

"Where are we?" whispered Annie.

"I don't know," said Jack.

"Oh, look!" said Annie. She pointed⁶ to the shoreline.

Through the fog rose the serpent prows⁸ of theViking ships!

Jack and Annie crept closer to the ships. Their sailswere down. Each ship had been tied to a tall jaggedrock. They seemed deserted⁹ as they bobbed in theshallow waves. Jack really wanted to check out theships.

But he was afraid of wasting time.

"We'd better find the tree house," he said to Annie.

They crept away from the three Viking ships.

Suddenly, they both froze.

Through the mist, they saw a group of Vikingwarriors. The Vikings were looking at the top of thecliff.

Their long yellow hair hung down from beneaththeir iron helmets. They carried round woodenshields and swords and axes.

"It looks like they're planning to climb the cliff,"whispered Annie.

"We need to hide until they go," whispered Jack.

"Then we can look for the tree house.""Let's hide in a ship!" said Annie. "Good idea," saidJack. They crept back to where the ships were tied.

Jack was happy to see that the sides of the smallestship were very low. They would easily be able toclimb over them.

"You go first," said Annie.

Jack waded¹¹ through the shallow water. It was cold!

He reached the ship and grabbed one side. Hepushed himself up and onto the ship's deck.

The ship jerked forward. Jack looked at the shore. Itwas now thirty feet away. The ship's anchoring ropewas pulled tight. The serpent prow⁷ bobbed up anddown with the waves.

The fog and the movement of the ship made Jackfeel as if he was in a dream. For a moment, he forgotto be scared of the Vikings.

"This is so cool," he called. "Come on, Annie!"Annie started to wade¹⁰ out to the ship. Suddenly,she disappeared.

"Annie?" called Jack.

Her head popped out of the water. She splashedwith her arms.

"It--it's deep!" she gasped¹². "My dress-- too heavy!""Use the rope!" called Jack. "Like when we climbedthe stairs!"Annie grabbed the rope that stretched from ship toshore. It held her weight as she began inching alongit.

"Hold on tight!" cried Jack.

"I--I am!" gasped Annie.

She kept going, hand over hand, along the rope,toward the ship.

When Annie got close to the ship, Jack reached outto help her. As he pulled her in, the side of the shipdipped down.

Then the rope went slack, and the Viking ship slidout to sea.

1 gulls   

n.鸥( gull的名词复数 )v.欺骗某人( gull的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A flock of sea gulls are hovering over the deck. 一群海鸥在甲板上空飞翔。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The gulls which haunted the outlying rocks in a prodigious number. 数不清的海鸥在遥远的岩石上栖息。 来自辞典例句

2 screeched   

v.发出尖叫声( screech的过去式和过去分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫

参考例句：

• She screeched her disapproval. 她尖叫着不同意。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The car screeched to a stop. 汽车嚓的一声停住了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 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。

4 whoops   

int.呼喊声

参考例句：

• Whoops! Careful, you almost spilt coffee everywhere. 哎哟！小心点，你差点把咖啡洒得到处都是。
• We were awakened by the whoops of the sick baby. 生病婴儿的喘息声把我们弄醒了。

5 pebbles   

[复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pebbles of the drive crunched under his feet. 汽车道上的小石子在他脚底下喀嚓作响。
• Line the pots with pebbles to ensure good drainage. 在罐子里铺一层鹅卵石，以确保排水良好。

6 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。

7 prow   

n.(飞机)机头，船头

参考例句：

• The prow of the motor-boat cut through the water like a knife.汽艇的船头像一把刀子劈开水面向前行驶。
• He stands on the prow looking at the seadj.他站在船首看着大海。

8 prows   

n.船首( prow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The prows of the UNSC ships flared as their magnetic accelerator cannons fired. UNSC战舰的舰首展开，磁力大炮开火了。 来自互联网

9 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

10 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

11 waded   

（从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She tucked up her skirt and waded into the river. 她撩起裙子蹚水走进河里。
• He waded into the water to push the boat out. 他蹚进水里把船推出来。

12 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》