《神奇树屋》 第十九册 Tigers at Twilight 04 Swing Time

　　Annie grabbed a vine.

Jack¹ looked back at the python. The giant snakewas still winding² its way up the tree. It had almostreached their branch.

Jack took a deep breath. Then he grabbed a vine,too.

"Lean back, like Kah and Ko did," said Annie.

Jack and Annie leaned back.

"One, two, three--go!" said Annie.

They swung out of the tree.

Jack felt his stomach drop. Air rushed by. Leavesand branches slapped at him.

Suddenly, the forest shook with a great roar.

Like a flame, a tiger leaped up from the bushes!

His yellow eyes blazed. His teeth shone likedaggers. His claws barely missed Jack and Annie!

"AAAHHH!" they yelled.

The tiger crashed back down into the bushes.

Jack and Annie swung into the langurs' tree.

Jack threw one leg around the trunk. He let go ofhis vine and held on tightly to a branch.

"Oh, man!" he said. He was in shock.

The langurs patted him, as if to make sure he wasokay.

"Wow, that was fun," said Annie, sitting on a bigbranch.

"Fun? Are you nuts?" said Jack.

"The swinging was fun," said Annie. "The tiger wasscary."Just then, the tree began to shake. Branchessnapped below.

"Oh, no!" said Jack.

"Can tigers climb trees?" asked Annie.

"Probably," said Jack. He hugged the trunk andsqueezed his eyes shut.

From below came loud sounds of chewing,smacking, and crunching³.

Teddy growled⁴.

Jack groaned⁵.

"Now the tiger's eating the tree," he said. Annieburst into laughter.

Kah and Ko whooped⁶ as if they were laughing, too.

10Arf! Arf! barked Teddy.

"What?" said Jack, opening his eyes.

"Look!" Annie pointed⁷ at the twilight⁸. A thick graytube was waving in the air.

"Another snake?" said Jack, horrified⁹.

"No! An elephant trunk!" said Annie.

The trunk wiggled near Jack and Annie, as if itwere sniffing¹⁰ them. Then it picked leaves from thetree and disappeared.

"Let's go see!" said Annie.

With Teddy still in his backpack, Jack followedAnnie down to a lower branch.

They peered out at the twilight forest.

In the gray gloom, they saw a herd¹¹ of elephants.

One stood beneath their tree, eating leaves. Othersmunched grass.

"Hey, I've got a really cool idea," said Annie.

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 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

3 crunching   

v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的现在分词 )；嘎吱作响；（快速大量地）处理信息；数字捣弄

参考例句：

• The horses were crunching their straw at their manger. 这些马在嘎吱嘎吱地吃槽里的草。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog was crunching a bone. 狗正嘎吱嘎吱地嚼骨头。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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》

5 groaned   

v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦

参考例句：

• He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
• The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 whooped   

叫喊( whoop的过去式和过去分词 )； 高声说； 唤起

参考例句：

• The bill whooped through both houses. 此提案在一片支持的欢呼声中由两院匆匆通过。
• The captive was whooped and jeered. 俘虏被叱责讥笑。

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 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

9 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

10 sniffing   

n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• We all had colds and couldn't stop sniffing and sneezing. 我们都感冒了，一个劲地抽鼻子，打喷嚏。
• They all had colds and were sniffing and sneezing. 他们都伤风了，呼呼喘气而且打喷嚏。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

11 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。