《神奇树屋》 第十九册 Tigers at Twilight 10 Who Are You Really?

　　Jack¹ opened his eyes.

Late afternoon sunlight shined into the tree house.

"Our third gift," said Annie.

She put the lotus blossom beside the pocket watchfrom the Titanic² and the eagle's feather from theLakota Indians.

"One more gift," she said to Teddy, "and you'll befree from your spell."The little dog licked her hand.

"Hey, tell me this," said Jack. "How did you knowTeddy wanted us to hide behind that rock?"Annie shrugged³.

20"I just knew," she said. "I think I saw it in his eyes.""You did?" Jack looked into Teddy's eyes.

The little dog tilted⁴ his head and stared back atJack.

Teddy's eyes twinkled, as if they held many secrets.

"Who are you, really?" whispered Jack.

Teddy just smiled a doggy smile and wagged histail.

"Come for us again soon," Annie said. "Okay?"Teddy sneezed, as if to say, Of course! Jack grabbedhis pack. Then he and Annie climbed down the ropeladder.

When they stood on the ground, they looked up. Alittle black nose was poking⁵ out the tree housewindow.

"Bye!" they called. Arf! Arf!

Jack and Annie took off between the trees. Birdssang in the twilight⁶. Squirrels scampered⁷ playfullythrough the leaves.

The Frog Creek⁸ woods were very tame after theforest in India.

Soon they came to their street. As they walked totheir house, the last bit of daylight was slipping away.

Before they went inside, Jack and Annie sat ontheir steps.

"I have two questions," said Jack. "If the hermitcouldn't see, how did he know about the tree house?

And how did he know that we had traveled all nightwith the elephants?""Easy," said Annie. "The one great voice of theforest told him.""Hmm," said Jack.

He closed his eyes for a moment and listened.

He heard a car going down the street.

He heard a woodpecker pecking.

He heard crickets chirping⁹.

He heard a screen door opening.

He heard a mom saying, "Time for dinner, kids."All the sounds were like one great voice-- the onegreat voice of home.

MORE FACTS FOR YOU AND JACK1) Adult elephants are plant eaters. They feed for 15hours a day and can eat more than 400 pounds ofvegetation every day.

2) The average weight of an Indian rhino¹⁰ is 4,000pounds.

3) A giant python can grow up to 30 feet in length.

4) India has 238 kinds of snakes, ranging from thegiant python to the worm snake, which is just over 4inches long.

21The Sacred LangurHinduism is the main religion of the people ofIndia. It is a religion with many gods and goddesses.

One of its important gods is Hanuman, who saved aHindu goddess named Sita.

Hanuman has the body of a man and the face andtail of a langur monkey. Followers¹¹ of Hinduismbelieve that Hanuman's spirit is alive in the langurs ofIndia. Hindu temples dedicated¹² to Hanuman treat alllangurs as special guests.

Endangered SpeciesIn the nineteenth century, there were more than40,000 tigers in India. Today there are fewer than4,000. For this reason, the tiger is considered to be acritically endangered species.

The Indian rhino is also a highly endangeredspecies.

The Wildlife Protection Society of India has beenformed to help save India's endangered animals. Thesociety arrests illegal hunters and seizes wildlifeproducts, such as tiger skins and bones, rhino horn,and elephant ivory. It also helps to alert other peoplearound the world to India's wildlife crisis.

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 titanic   

adj.巨人的，庞大的，强大的

参考例句：

• We have been making titanic effort to achieve our purpose.我们一直在作极大的努力，以达到我们的目的。
• The island was created by titanic powers and they are still at work today.台湾岛是由一个至今仍然在运作的巨大力量塑造出来的。

3 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 tilted   

v. 倾斜的

参考例句：

• Suddenly the boat tilted to one side. 小船突然倾向一侧。
• She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。

5 poking   

n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• He was poking at the rubbish with his stick. 他正用手杖拨动垃圾。
• He spent his weekends poking around dusty old bookshops. 他周末都泡在布满尘埃的旧书店里。

6 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。

7 scampered   

v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The cat scampered away. 猫刺棱一下跑了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The rabbIt'scampered off. 兔子迅速跑掉了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

9 chirping   

鸟叫，虫鸣( chirp的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The birds,chirping relentlessly,woke us up at daybreak. 破晓时鸟儿不断吱吱地叫，把我们吵醒了。
• The birds are chirping merrily. 鸟儿在欢快地鸣叫着。

10 rhino   

n.犀牛，钱, 现金

参考例句：

• The rhino charged headlong towards us.犀牛急速地向我们冲来。
• They have driven the rhino to the edge of extinction.他们已经令犀牛濒临灭绝。

11 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

12 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。