儿童英语读物《神奇树屋》 第十一册 Lions at Lunchtime 02 Jump, Beasts! Jump!

　　Bright light flooded the tree house again A rustlingsound came from outside the window.

Annie peeked¹ out and laughed. "Hey, there," shesaidJack looked out, too. A giraffe was eating leaves offthe tree. It had a sweet, goofy face.

Jack² peered at the world beyond the giraffe Hecouldn't believe his eyes.

He saw a huge grassy³ plain, a wide river, and tonsof birds and animals--more than he had everimagined in one place.

Giraffes and zebras were on the side of the riverwhere Jack and Annie were. Thomson's gazelles andthe big horned animals were on the other side.

"Where are the lions?" said Jack.

"I don't know." said Annie. "Do you think it'salways this crowded?""Let's find out.". said Jack.

He picked up the book on Africa and looked at thepicture of the animals. He read aloud:

Every yes, in late spring, thousands of zebras andgazelles and millions of wildebeests (will- duh-beests)migrate from the dry plains of Tanzania to Kenya.

"What's 'migrate' mean?" said Annie.

Jack pushed his glasses into place. "It means they gosomeplace else for part of the year--like birds goingsouth for the winter.""Oh, right," said Annie.

Jack turned the page to read more.

Before they are safe in Kenya, the animals mustfirst cross the Mara River.

Zebras go first, then the wildebeests.

The tiny gazelles swim last.

"Ohh," said Annie in a sad voice.

"What's wrong?" said Jack.

"Poor beasts." She looked out the window. "Theyseem afraid."On the far side of the river, the horned animalswere standing⁴ at the edge of the steep bank of theriver. They stared down nervously⁵ at the rushingwater.

"Jump, beasts! Jump! " Annie shouted.

"Don't be silly. They can't hear you," said Jack.

He studied the board plain. "I wonder where thelions are," he said.

"I don't know. But I have to go," said Annie.

"Go where?" said Jack.

"To the river to help them," she said.

"Help who?" said Jack.

"Those wild beasts on the other side!" said Annie. "Ihave to help them migrate."'Annie handed Jack the scroll⁶ and started out of ht etree house.

"Wait a second!" said Jack. "We haven't even readMorgan's riddle⁷ yet!"Annie stopped on the ladder.

"Read it now," she said.

Jack unrolled the ancient scroll and read aloud:

I am the color of gold an das sweet as can be. Butbeware of the danger that's all around me. What amI?

Annie started down again.

"Annie!""We'll look for the answer in a minute," said Annie.

"What are you doing?" Jack called.

But there was no stopping her. Jack watched as shehopped off the ladder. Then she started to walkthrough the tall grass, between the zebras andgiraffes.

"I don't believe her " he said to himself. He quicklyput the Africa book into his pack.

He started down the ladder.

When he stepped onto the ground, he lookedaround carefully.

The giraffes were eating the tree leaves.

The zebras we grazing in the grass.

Tons of birds flapped overhead.

This is okay, he thought. He just had one littlequestion:

Where are the lions?

1 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

2 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。

3 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

4 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。

5 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。

6 scroll   

n.卷轴，纸卷；(石刻上的)漩涡

参考例句：

• As I opened the scroll,a panorama of the Yellow River unfolded.我打开卷轴时，黄河的景象展现在眼前。
• He was presented with a scroll commemorating his achievements.他被授予一幅卷轴，以表彰其所做出的成就。

7 riddle   

n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜

参考例句：

• The riddle couldn't be solved by the child.这个谜语孩子猜不出来。
• Her disappearance is a complete riddle.她的失踪完全是一个谜。