《神奇树屋》 第二十六册 Good Morning, Gorillas 05 Silverback

　　Jack¹ felt something tugging² on his sleeve. Heopened his eyes.

Bu-bu. The small gorilla³ was staring at him in thedawn light.

Jack stood up. His arms and legs felt stiff and achy.

His wet clothes stuck to his skin.

He looked around the cloud forest. Misty⁴ sunlightshined through the tree branches.

"Where's Annie?" he asked the small gorilla.

Bu-bu waved her arms. Then she bounded offbetween the trees. Jack pulled on his pack andfollowed.

As the small gorilla led him through the cloudforest, her head bobbed above the leafy plants.

Finally, she stopped before a row of shrubs⁵.

Jack took a few steps forward and peered over theshrubs.

"Oh, man," he whispered.

Large dark figures were sleeping in an open, grassyarea--gorillas⁶! There were at least ten of them. Someslept on their backs. Some slept on their bellies⁷.

The gorillas were all sizes. The smallest was a babysleeping in its mother's arms. The biggest was a giantwith black and silver fur.

Jack pulled the book out of his pack. He found achapter on gorillas and read:

Mountain gorillas live together in families. Theleader of the family is a large male called a"silverback" because he has silver fur on his back andshoulders. Gorillas do not hunt other animals. Theymainly eat the plant growth of the forest. They areknown to be shy and gentle giants.

"Shy and gentle giants," Jack repeated. Thatsounded good.

He peered over the shrubs again. Bu-bu waved athim. She was standing⁸ at the far edge of the clearing.

She pointed⁹ to some-thing in the tall grass.

Annie was fast asleep in the grass!

Jack didn't know what to do. If he called her name,the gorillas would wake up. He had only one choice.

He had to sneak¹⁰ over to her.

Jack put his book in his pack. He pushed past theshrubs and stepped into the clearing. His heart waspounding. He thought of the words from the book-shyand gentle giants.

As he started toward Annie, he heard a grunt¹¹. Thegiant gorilla with silver fur opened his eyes. Whenthe gorilla saw Jack, he sat up.

Jack stopped in his tracks.

The gorilla just glared. This giant did not seem shyor gentle at all.

Jack saw a stick lying on the ground. He picked itup--just in case.

Jack's stick made the gorilla growl¹². He stood up. Hewas very tall and very wide.

Jack dropped his stick.

Bu-bu ran and hid behind a tree.

The silverback growled¹³ again. His long, shaggyarms touched the ground. His fingers curled under.

Walking on his knuckles¹⁴, he stepped toward Jack.

Jack stepped back.

The gorilla stepped forward.

Jack stepped back again.

The gorilla kept stepping forward. Jack keptstepping back until he had stepped out of the clearing.

But the silverback kept coming. Jack stumbled backthrough the brush until he came to a thick wall ofplants.

The gorilla kept coming. Jack couldn't move backanymore.

"Uh... hi," he said nervously¹⁵. He held up ~ his hand.

"I come in--"Before Jack could say "peace," the giant gorilla wentcrazy. He hooted¹⁶ and leaped to his feet.

Jack crouched¹⁷ down in a panic.

The gorilla kept hooting¹⁸. He grabbed a tree limb. Heshook it wildly. He ripped leaves from branches.

He gnashed his teeth. He cupped his hands. He beathis chest.

WRAAGH! he roared. WRAAGH!

The gorilla dropped on all fours. He charged backand forth¹⁹ past Jack. Then he threw himself on hisbelly. He began bashing the ground with his palms.

He bashed and bashed and bashed.

Jacks²⁰ scrambled²¹ on his hands and knees over to atree. He hid behind the trunk, hugging his head.

He waited for the maniac²² gorilla to find him andtear him to pieces.

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 tugging   

n.牵引感v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Tom was tugging at a button-hole and looking sheepish. 汤姆捏住一个钮扣眼使劲地拉，样子显得很害羞。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• She kicked him, tugging his thick hair. 她一边踢他，一边扯着他那浓密的头发。 来自辞典例句

3 gorilla   

n.大猩猩，暴徒，打手

参考例句：

• I was awed by the huge gorilla.那只大猩猩使我惊惧。
• A gorilla is just a speechless animal.猩猩只不过是一种不会说话的动物。

4 misty   

adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的

参考例句：

• He crossed over to the window to see if it was still misty.他走到窗户那儿，看看是不是还有雾霭。
• The misty scene had a dreamy quality about it.雾景给人以梦幻般的感觉。

5 shrubs   

灌木( shrub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gardener spent a complete morning in trimming those two shrubs. 园丁花了整个上午的时间修剪那两处灌木林。
• These shrubs will need more light to produce flowering shoots. 这些灌木需要更多的光照才能抽出开花的新枝。

6 gorillas   

n.大猩猩( gorilla的名词复数 )；暴徒，打手

参考例句：

• the similitude between humans and gorillas 人类和大猩猩的相像
• Each family of gorillas is led by a great silverbacked patriarch. 每个大星星家族都由一个魁梧的、长着银色被毛的族长带领着。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 bellies   

n.肚子( belly的名词复数 )；腹部；（物体的）圆形或凸起部份；腹部…形的

参考例句：

• They crawled along on their bellies. 他们匍匐前进。
• starving children with huge distended bellies 鼓着浮肿肚子的挨饿儿童

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 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。

10 sneak   

vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行

参考例句：

• He raised his spear and sneak forward.他提起长矛悄悄地前进。
• I saw him sneak away from us.我看见他悄悄地从我们身边走开。

11 grunt   

v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝

参考例句：

• He lifted the heavy suitcase with a grunt.他咕噜着把沉重的提箱拎了起来。
• I ask him what he think,but he just grunt.我问他在想什麽，他只哼了一声。

12 growl   

v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣

参考例句：

• The dog was biting,growling and wagging its tail.那条狗在一边撕咬一边低声吼叫，尾巴也跟着摇摆。
• The car growls along rutted streets.汽车在车辙纵横的街上一路轰鸣。

13 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 knuckles   

n.（指人）指关节( knuckle的名词复数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝v.（指人）指关节( knuckle的第三人称单数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝

参考例句：

• He gripped the wheel until his knuckles whitened. 他紧紧握住方向盘，握得指关节都变白了。
• Her thin hands were twisted by swollen knuckles. 她那双纤手因肿大的指关节而变了形。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

16 hooted   

（使）作汽笛声响，作汽车喇叭声( hoot的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• An owl hooted nearby. 一只猫头鹰在附近啼叫。
• The crowd hooted and jeered at the speaker. 群众向那演讲人发出轻蔑的叫嚣和嘲笑。

17 crouched   

v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He crouched down beside her. 他在她的旁边蹲了下来。
• The lion crouched ready to pounce. 狮子蹲下身，准备猛扑。

18 hooting   

（使）作汽笛声响，作汽车喇叭声( hoot的现在分词 )； 倒好儿； 倒彩

参考例句：

• He had the audience hooting with laughter . 他令观众哄堂大笑。
• The owl was hooting. 猫头鹰在叫。

19 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

20 jacks   

n.抓子游戏；千斤顶( jack的名词复数 )；（电）插孔；[电子学]插座；放弃

参考例句：

• Hydraulic jacks under the machine produce the movement. 是机器下面的液压千斤顶造成的移动。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The front end is equipped with hydraulic jacks used for grade adjustment. 前瑞安装有液压千斤顶用来调整坡度。 来自辞典例句

21 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 maniac   

n.精神癫狂的人；疯子

参考例句：

• Be careful!That man is driving like a maniac!注意！那个人开车像个疯子一样！
• You were acting like a maniac,and you threatened her with a bomb!你像一个疯子，你用炸弹恐吓她！