《神奇树屋》 第二十册 Dingoes at Dinnertime 01 The Last Gift

       Annie sat on the porch¹ steps. She stared down thestreet at the Frog Creek² woods.

"Hey, Jack³," she said. "Do you hear it?"Jack sat next to her. He was reading a book.

"Hear what?" he said.

"Teddy's calling us," said Annie.

"You're kidding," said Jack. But he looked down thestreet and listened, too.

A faint bark came from the distance.

Arf! Aff.'

A big smile crossed Jack's face.

"You hear it!" Annie said.

"Yep," said Jack. "You're right. Time to go."He stood up and grabbed⁴ his backpack.

"Be back soon!" Annie shouted through the screendoor.

"Don't be late for dinner!" their dad called.

"We won't!" said Jack.

He and Annie ran down the street and into the FrogCreek woods.

Soon they came to the tallest oak⁵.

There was the magic tree house. A little black nosestuck out the window.

"Hi, silly!" Annie called. "We're coming!" Arf! came a happy bark.

Annie grabbed the rope ladder and started climbing.

Jack followed her up into the tree house.

A small dog sat in a circle of afternoon sunshine.

His tail wagged⁶.

"Hey, Teddy!" said Jack.

Jack and Annie hugged Teddy. And the dog lickedboth of them.

"Morgan's note is still here," said Annie.

"Yep," said Jack. He knew the note by heart now.

This little dog is under a spell and needs your help.

To free him, you must be given four special things:

A gift from a ship lost at sea,A gift from the prairie blue,A gift from a forest far away,A gift from a kangaroo.

Be wise. Be brave. Be careful.

Morgan Beside the note were the gifts from their first threetrips:

1. a pocket watch from the Titanic2. an eagle's feather from the prairie skies3. a lotus flower from a forest in India"We just need to get a gift from a kangaroo "'saidAnnie, "and Teddy will be free from his spell.""We must be going to Australia," said jack. "That'swhere kangaroos live.""Cool," said Annie.

Teddy whined⁷ and scratched at a book lying in thecorner.

Jack picked it up.

"What'd I tell you?" he said.

He showed the cover to Annie. The title wasAdventure in Australia.

"Great," said Annie. She looked at Teddy.

"Ready to meet a kangaroo?" Arf! Arf!

Jack opened the book. He found a page with smallpictures of different animals and a big picture of aforest. Jack pointed⁸ at the forest.

"I wish we could go there," he said.

The wind started to blow.

The tree house started to spin.

It spun⁹ faster and faster.

Then everything was still.

Absolutely still.

1 porch   

n.门廊，入口处，走廊，游廊

参考例句：

• There are thousands of pages of advertising on our porch.有成千上万页广告堆在我们的门廊上。
• The porch is supported by six immense pillars.门廊由六根大柱子支撑着。

2 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。

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 grabbed   

v.抢先，抢占( grab的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指匆忙地）取；攫取；（尤指自私、贪婪地）捞取

参考例句：

• He was grabbed by two men and frogmarched out of the hall. 他被两个男人紧抓双臂押出大厅。
• She grabbed the child's hand and ran. 她抓住孩子的手就跑。

5 oak   

n.栎树，橡树，栎木，橡木

参考例句：

• The chair is of solid oak.这把椅子是纯橡木的。
• The carpenter will floor this room with oak.木匠将用橡木铺设这个房间的地板。

6 wagged   

v.（使）摇动，摇摆( wag的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The dog wagged its tail with pleasure. 那条狗高兴得直摇尾巴。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She wagged her finger with mock severity. 她故作严厉地摆了摆手指。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 whined   

v.哀号( whine的过去式和过去分词 )；哀诉，诉怨

参考例句：

• The dog whined at the door, asking to be let out. 狗在门前嚎叫着要出去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He whined and pouted when he did not get what he wanted. 他要是没得到想要的东西就会发牢骚、撅嘴。 来自辞典例句

8 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。

9 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。