《神奇树屋》 第二十四册 Earthquake in the Early Morning 04 What's the Story?

　　"Maybe we should leave," Jack¹ said in a panic. Hewanted to get out of San Francisco before the firesspread.

"We can't," said Annie. "We have to find our specialwriting for Morgan's library, something to lend.""Let's find it fast," said Jack.

He and Annie started walking through the rubble².

They stepped over piles of bricks, chunks³ of concrete,and broken glass.

They passed fallen lamps and twisted trolley-cartracks.

They saw houses leaning to one side and peoplehauling their things out to the street.

"We can't worry about our mission now," Anniesaid. "We have to help.""Help? How?" said Jack. He was so shaky, he didn'tthink he could be much help to anyone.

"What about them?" said Annie. She pointed⁴ tosome men frantically⁵ dragging bags out of a buildingand piling them into a horse-drawn wagon⁶.

Annie ran over to the wagon. "What are youdoing?" she asked the men. "We're trying to get thesebank bags down to the harbor," said the wagondriver. "So a boat can take them out into the bay.""Why?" asked Jack.

"So we can save everyone's money from the fires!"the man said.

He pointed at the sky. The cloud of smoke wasgrowing bigger and blacker.

"Can we help?" asked Annie.

"We're done," said the driver. "You kids run hometo your parents. Then get out of the city."Jack wished he and Annie could ride with thedriver down to the bay and be safe from the fires, too.

But he could see the wagon didn't have room forthem.

"Good luck!" said Annie.

"Don't forget what I told you!" the driver said. Thenhe and his horses took off. The wagon turned onto themain street and disappeared over the hill.

"I wonder who we can help?" said Annie. Jack tooka deep breath.

"I don't know," he said. "Maybe I'll take somenotes."Jack pulled out his notebook. In wobblyhandwriting, he wrote:

28 29Bank money - wagons⁷ to bay, then to boat.

"Hey, what's the story?" a woman asked. Her voicesounded urgent.

Jack looked up.

A man and woman stood in front of them. Thewoman wore a long dress and carried a notebook. Theman wore a suit. He carried a big camera and a three-legged stand.

"What story?" said Annie.

"The story with the bank. My name's Betty. I'm areporter," said the woman.

"For television?" asked Annie.

"What's that?" said Betty.

"Never mind," said Jack. He whispered quickly toAnnie, "She's a newspaper reporter. TV hasn't beeninvented yet.""Oops," said Annie.

"So what's the story with the wagon that just leftthe bank?" Betty asked Jack and Annie.

Jack looked down at his notebook.

"They're going to save the money by taking it to thebay and putting it on a boat," he said.

"Good reporting work, sonny!" she said. "Get apicture of the bank, Fred."The photographer set his camera on the stand. Heput his head under a black curtain and took a picture.

"Got it," said Fred.

As the photographer packed up his equipment,Betty turned to Jack and Annie.

"Go home and get your parents, kids," she said.

"Fires are burning out of control.""We know," said Annie. "By the end of three days,the fires will burn down nearly all of San Francisco."Betty looked curious. "How do you know that?" sheasked.

"She's just guessing," Jack said quickly.

"Pretty gloomy guess," said Betty. "Tell your folksnot to catch the ferry. Thousands are crowding intothe ferry building. Go to Golden Gate Park.""Thanks for the tip," said Annie.

"Thanks for the story," said Betty. Then she andFred hurried away.

Jack and Annie looked around.

Now many people seemed to be fleeing theirhomes. Some were going up the hill. Some were goingdown.

An old woman was pushing a wheelbarrow filledwith pots and pans. A girl was carrying a suitcase anda cat. A boy was carrying a birdcage and a fish bowl.

"They're all going in different directions," saidAnnie.

"I wonder where Golden Gate Park is," said Jack.

"Maybe we should go there. Let's see if there's a mapin our book."Jack looked in their research book. He found a mapof San Francisco.

"Where are we now?" he said.

As he looked for a street sign, he saw a mancarrying an armload of books out of a beautifulbuilding. The man put the books into the back of ahorse-drawn wagon.

"What's he doing?" asked Jack.

"I bet he's saving those books," said Annie.

"Saving books?" said Jack. He books. For a moment,Jack forgot his He forgot about trying to save himself.

"We'd better help," he said. "Come on!"

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 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

3 chunks   

厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分

参考例句：

• a tin of pineapple chunks 一罐菠萝块
• Those chunks of meat are rather large—could you chop them up a bIt'smaller? 这些肉块相当大，还能再切小一点吗？

4 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。

5 frantically   

ad.发狂地, 发疯地

参考例句：

• He dashed frantically across the road. 他疯狂地跑过马路。
• She bid frantically for the old chair. 她发狂地喊出高价要买那把古老的椅子。

6 wagon   

n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车

参考例句：

• We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
• The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。

7 wagons   

n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车

参考例句：

• The wagons were hauled by horses. 那些货车是马拉的。
• They drew their wagons into a laager and set up camp. 他们把马车围成一圈扎起营地。