《神奇树屋》 第二十册 Dingoes at Dinnertime 04 Joey

　　"Oh, no!" cried Annie. "We have to save her!" Shetook off after the dogs.

Arf! Arf! Arf! Teddy barked over Jack¹'s shoulder.

Jack ran after Annie with the book under his arm.

He ran over the dry, cracked ground, past scrubbybushes and scattered² gum trees.

Jack kept his eye on Annie, running ahead of him.

He saw her stop suddenly.

She turned and dropped to her knees.

"What happened?" he shouted.

"Come look!" she said. Jack reached Annie. Besideher in the grass was the baby kangaroo. It wastrembling.

"Don't be scared," Annie was saying. Then shelooked at Jack. "Where's his mom? Why did she drophim?""I don't know," said Jack.

He put his pack on the ground and opened theAustralia book. Teddy jumped out of the pack.

The little dog tried to sniff³ the baby kangaroo.

"Don't scare him, Teddy," Annie said. Teddy satback and watched politely.

Jack opened the Australia book and found a pictureof a baby kangaroo. He read:

The biggest enemy of the kangaroo is the dingo, thewild dog of Australia. When a mother kangaroo ischased by dingoes, she may throw her joey out of her pouch⁴. Without the extra weight in her pouch, shecan leap faster and farther. She then leads the dingoesaway from her baby. If she escapes the dingoes, shereturns to the joey.

"Oh, Jack," Annie said sadly. "I hope his motherescapes from the dingoes.""Me, too," said Jack.

"Hi, Joey," said Annie. She gently patted the babykangaroo. "He's so soft, Jack."Jack knelt down and touched the brown fur. It wassoft, the softest fur he had ever felt.

The shy little kangaroo stared at Jack with bigbrown eyes and trembled.

"Don't be scared, Joey," Annie said. "Your mom'sgoing to come back for you."Joey jumped away from Jack and Annie. He hoppedtoward Jack's pack, which was sitting on the ground.

The baby kangaroo took a giant leap and divedheadfirst into the pack! His whole body went inside, but his big feet stuck out. Then he turned himselfover and peeked⁵ out at Jack and Annie.

They both laughed.

"He thinks your pack is a pouch!" said Annie. "Iknow. Put it on backward. It will feel like when hismom carries him."Jack put his Australia book on the ground. ThenAnnie helped him put the pack on his chest instead ofon his back. The joey was heavy!

"There," Annie said. "You look just like a motherkangaroo.""Oh, brother," said Jack.

But he patted the baby's soft fur.

"Don't worry," he said to Joey. "You can stay inthere till your mom gets back.""Here, Joey, would you like some grass to eat?"asked Annie.

Annie scooped⁶ up a handful of grass and gave it tothe kangaroo.

He munched⁷ the grass, keeping his big eyes onAnnie.

"I hope his mom comes back for him soon," she saidworriedly.

"Yeah," said Jack.

He looked around the dry forest. There was no signof the mother kangaroo.

But Jack saw something else. "Look," he said toAnnie. The wisp of smoke in the sky had turned intoa big black cloud. Jack noticed the smell of burningwood was much stronger.

"What are those campers doing?" said Annie. "Arethey making a bonfire now or what?"A feeling of dread⁸ came over Jack. "What if..." hesaid. "What if..." In the distance, a tree suddenly burstinto flames.

"We're looking at a wildfire!" he said.

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 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

3 sniff   

vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视

参考例句：

• The police used dogs to sniff out the criminals in their hiding - place.警察使用警犬查出了罪犯的藏身地点。
• When Munchie meets a dog on the beach, they sniff each other for a while.当麦奇在海滩上碰到另一条狗的时候，他们会彼此嗅一会儿。

4 pouch   

n.小袋，小包，囊状袋；vt.装...入袋中，用袋运输；vi.用袋送信件

参考例句：

• He was going to make a tobacco pouch out of them. 他要用它们缝制一个烟草袋。
• The old man is always carrying a tobacco pouch with him.这老汉总是随身带着烟袋。

5 peeked   

v.很快地看( peek的过去式和过去分词 )；偷看；窥视；微露出

参考例句：

• She peeked over the top of her menu. 她从菜单上往外偷看。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• On two occasions she had peeked at him through a crack in the wall. 她曾两次透过墙缝窥视他。 来自辞典例句

6 scooped   

v.抢先报道( scoop的过去式和过去分词 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等）

参考例句：

• They scooped the other newspapers by revealing the matter. 他们抢先报道了这件事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The wheels scooped up stones which hammered ominously under the car. 车轮搅起的石块，在车身下发出不吉祥的锤击声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 munched   

v.用力咀嚼（某物），大嚼( munch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She munched on an apple. 她在大口啃苹果。
• The rabbit munched on the fresh carrots. 兔子咯吱咯吱地嚼着新鲜胡萝卜。 来自辞典例句

8 dread   

vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧

参考例句：

• We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
• Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。