《神奇树屋》 第二十五册 Stage Fright On A Summer Night 02 London Bridge

　　Warm daylight flooded into the tree house. Jackopened his eyes.

Annie was wearing a long dress with an apron².

Jack¹ was wearing a shirt with puffy sleeves, knee-length pants, and tights. Their shoes were leatherslippers. Jack's backpack was now a leather bag.

"These clothes are weird," said Jack. His voice wasnearly drowned out by the sound of thunderingwagon wheels coming from below.

"What's going on?" said Annie. She and Jack lookedout.

The tree house had landed in a patch³ of trees near awide brown river. Wagons⁴, carts, and people wereheading toward⁵' the river.

Ferryboats, sailing ships, and white swans glidedacross the water.

"Wow, it's so busy," said Annie. Jack opened theirresearch book and read:

In 1600, over 100,000 people lived in London,England. At that time, England was ruled by QueenElizabeth the First. She was much loved by herpeople.

"A queen? Cool," said Annie.

Jack took out his notebook and wrote:

London 1600Queen Elizabeth the First"I've never seen a bridge like that," said Annie,looking to the left.

Jack looked with her. A giant stone bridge crossedthe river. The bridge looked like a small town. It wascrowded with houses, shops, and even a church.

Jack found a picture of the bridge in their researchbook. He read aloud:

At the heart of London was London Bridge. Thebridge crossed the Thames (say TEMZ) River. Atdifferent times in history, the bridge fell down. But itwas always built again.

"Oh, wow," said Annie. "That must be where thesong comes from." She sang, "London Bridge is fallingdown, falling down....

While Annie sang, Jack took out his note-book andwrote:

London Bridge- crosses Thames (TEMZ) River,crowded with stores and houses"Let's go look for the magic," said Annie. She readMorgan's note again:

To find a special magic,You must step into the lightAnd without wand, spell, or charm,Turn daytime into night.

Jack squinted⁶ up at the sky. It was very blue,without even a cloud.

"It's just not possible," he said, shaking his head.

But he threw the research book and his notebookinto his leather bag. Then he followed Annie downthe rope ladder. When they reached the ground, theystarted walking toward the river.

"P-U!" Annie said, holding her nose. The riversmelled terrible.

No one else seemed to mind the smell, though.

People were cheerfully⁷ piling into ferryboats orheading for the bridge. They all seemed happy, as ifthey were going someplace fun.

A group of ragged⁸ boys brushed past Jack andAnnie. They were about twelve or thirteen years old.

They were laughing and out of breath.

"Hurry! We'll be late!" one shouted.

The boys ran toward the stone gateway⁹ leadingonto the bridge.

"Late for what?" said Annie. "What's on the otherside of that bridge? Why are they in such a hurry toget there?""I don't know," said Jack. He pulled out theirresearch book. "I'll see what the book says.""No, let's just go--or we'll be late!" said Annie. Shetook off running.

"Okay, okay," said Jack.

He put away the book and ran after her towardLondon Bridge.

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 apron   

n.围裙；工作裙

参考例句：

• We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。
• She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。

3 patch   

n.补丁；斑；一小块地；vt.补，修补

参考例句：

• This patch looks a bit unprofessional.这块补丁有点像出自外行之手。
• We managed to patch our quarrel.我们设法平息争吵。

4 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。

5 toward   

prep.对于，关于，接近，将近，向，朝

参考例句：

• Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
• Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了，并跑了过去。

6 squinted   

斜视( squint的过去式和过去分词 )； 眯着眼睛； 瞟； 从小孔或缝隙里看

参考例句：

• Pulling his rifle to his shoulder he squinted along the barrel. 他把枪顶肩，眯起眼睛瞄准。
• I squinted through the keyhole. 我从锁眼窥看。

7 cheerfully   

adv.高兴地，愉快地

参考例句：

• The train rolled cheerfully into the station.火车欢呼着驶进车站。
• He takes our advice quite cheerfully.他欣然接受我们的劝告。

8 ragged   

adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的

参考例句：

• A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。
• Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。

9 gateway   

n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法

参考例句：

• Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
• A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。