《神奇树屋》 第二十一册 Civil War on Sunday 01 A Light in the Woods

　　Jack¹ looked out his window.

It was a dreary² Sunday afternoon. There were dark clouds inthe sky.

Thunder rumbled³ in the distance.

Jack stared down the street at the Frog Creek⁴ woods.

When is the magic tree house coming back? he wondered.

"Hey, guess what!" Annie said. She charged into Jack's room.

"I saw a light flash in the woods!" "It was just lightning," said Jack.

"No, it was magic! A swirl⁵ of light!" said Annie. "I think thetree house just came back!""I'm sure it was just lightning," Jack said. "Didn't you hear thethunder?""Yeah," said Annie. "But let's go check anyway."She started out of Jack's room. Then she peeked⁶ back in.

"Bring your backpack, just in case!" she said.

Jack was always glad for a chance to look for the magic treehouse. He grabbed his backpack and followed Annie down thestairs.

"Where are you two going?" their mom called.

"Out to play," said Annie.

"Don't go far," said their mom. "And come in if it starts torain.""We will," said Jack. "Don't worry."They slipped out the front door. Then they ran up the streetand into the Frog Creek woods.

The woods were dark under the storm clouds. A cool windshook the leaves.

Soon Jack and Annie came to the tallest oak tree.

"Oh, man," said Jack. "You were right!"The magic tree house stood out against the gray sky.

"Morgan!" called Annie.

There was no sign of the enchantress. "Let's go up!" said Jack.

He grabbed the rope ladder and started up. Annie followed.

They climbed into the tree house. It was hard to see in the dimlight.

"Look," said Annie.

She pointed⁷ to a piece of paper and a book lying on the floor.

Jack picked up the paper. Annie picked up the book.

"Listen," said Jack. He held the paper close to the window andread aloud:

Dear Jack and Annie,Camelot is in trouble. To save the kingdom, please find thesefour special kinds of writing for my library:

Something to followSomething to sendSomething to learnSomething to lendThank you,Morgan"Camelot is in trouble?" said Jack. "What's that mean?""I don't know," said Annie. "But we better hurry and findthese writings. Let's go look for the first: Something to follow.""I wonder where we should look for it," said Jack. "What's thetitle of the book you're holding?"Annie held the book close to the window to read the title.

"Yikes," she said softly. She showed the book to Jack.

On the cover was a painting of a peaceful-looking field and ablue sky. The title said The Civil War.

"The Civil War?" said Jack. "Cool."Annie frowned.

"Cool?" she said. "War's not cool." "It sort of is," Jack said uncomfortably. He knew war was bad.

But some parts of it seemed fun, like a game.

"I guess we'll find out," said Annie. She pointed at the cover. "Iwish we could go there."Thunder boomed through the woods.

The wind started to blow.

The tree house started to spin.

It spun⁸ faster and faster.

Then everything was still.

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 dreary   

adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的

参考例句：

• They live such dreary lives.他们的生活如此乏味。
• She was tired of hearing the same dreary tale of drunkenness and violence.她听够了那些关于酗酒和暴力的乏味故事。

3 rumbled   

发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋）

参考例句：

• The machine rumbled as it started up. 机器轰鸣着发动起来。
• Things rapidly became calm, though beneath the surface the argument rumbled on. 事情迅速平静下来了，然而，在这种平静的表面背后争论如隆隆雷声，持续不断。

4 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。

5 swirl   

v.(使)打漩，(使)涡卷；n.漩涡，螺旋形

参考例句：

• The car raced roughly along in a swirl of pink dust.汽车在一股粉红色尘土的漩涡中颠簸着快速前进。
• You could lie up there,watching the flakes swirl past.你可以躺在那儿，看着雪花飘飘。

6 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

7 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。

8 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。