《神奇树屋》 第二十七册 Thanksgiving on Thursday 05 Eels and ClamsJack looked at Annie

　　"We can't stay here," he said.

"What?" she said. "We can't go home now. ThePilgrims need us to help them."9"But we don't know how to do anything!" Jack¹ said.

"And Squanto is going to figure out he doesn't reallyknow us. And--""Don't worry so much," said Annie. "We help Momand Dad make our Thanksgiving dinner every year,don't we? We can help the Pilgrims. But we'd betterhurry!"Clutching the big basket, she started runningtoward the bay. Jack sighed, then ran after her.

At the rocky shore, they stopped and lookedaround. Little waves rolled onto the short stretch ofsand. The salty air felt clean and fresh. Seagullsswooped over the water.

"I wonder where the eels³ are?" said Annie. "And theclams?""I'll look in the book," said Jack.

He pulled out their book and looked up eels in theindex. He turned to the right page and read aloud:

Squanto showed the Pilgrims a way to catch eels.

He showed them how to push the eels out of the wetsand with their bare feet, then grab them with theirhands.

"That sounds fun!" said Annie. She put down herbasket and pulled off her shoes and stockings. Sheheld up her long skirt with one hand. Then shewalked over the rocks to the edge of the water.

Jack put the research book into his bag. He pulledoff his shoes and stockings and Joined Annie.

They dug their bare feet into the wet sand.

"I don't feel anything," said Jack.

"Let's wade⁵ into the water," said Annie.

Together they Stepped forward.

"Brrr!" said Annie.

"No kidding!" said Jack with a shiver. He keptsquishing the muddy sand with his toes. He feltpebbles and shells. Then he felt something soft.

"Hey, I think I found one," he said. Annie splashedover to him. "Where?""Stand back," he said. "Here." Jack squished harderwith his feet. The soft thing moved! Jack squishedmore. An eel² slithered through the water.

Jack grabbed it with both hands! "AHH!" he yelled.

The eel was long and skinny like snake. It felt slimyand icky! It twisted and squirmed. Annie laughed asJack tried to hold on to it.

The eel wiggled out of Jack's hands fell and againstAnnie.

"Yikes!" she yelled, jumping away and they bothtumbled bumping into Jack.

10With more screams, into the cold water.

They scrambled⁶ up and splashed back to shore.

Annie was still laughing.

"Poor eel!" she said, trying to catch her breath. "Wescared him half to death!""Him?" said Jack.

"F-forget eels," said Annie, her teeth chattering⁷.

"What about c-clams⁴?"Jack was wet and cold. But he took out the bookagain and looked up clams. He turned to the rightpage and read aloud:

Squanto taught the Pilgrims how to dig for quahog(KO-hog) clams. Quahog clams are hard-shell clams.

They can live for sixty years or more. The oldest havebeen known to live for almost 100 years. They-. "Oh, forget it," Annie broke in.

"What?" said Jack.

"We can't catch them," she said. "They live to be soold. We can't just end their lives."Jack sighed. He sat down on a rock. Annie sat nextto him. Their clothes were soaking wet. Their feetwere caked with muddy sand. Their basket wasempty.

"What other things do Pilgrim kids help?" saidAnnie.

Jack opened the book again. He looked up Pilgrimchildren. He read aloud:

Pilgrim children worked very hard. They builtfences and cared for animals. They planted, harvested,and ground corn. They picked pumpkins⁸, peas, andbeans. They guarded the fields. They fished andhunted. They carried water. They collected nuts. Theycooked and cleaned. They did everything they weretold. They never complained about being tired.

"Oh, man, I feel tired just reading this," said Jack,closing the book. "We make lousy Pilgrim children.""Yeah, I know," said Annie. "Maybe we could dosomething like . . . like keep an eye on the turkey andtell them when it's ready. That's how I help Momevery year.""Annie, Thanksgiving in Frog Creek⁹ is a wholedifferent story from Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims,"said Jack.

"Annie! Jack!" a voice called.

Jack quickly put away their book. Then they turnedaround.

Priscilla was standing¹⁰ on a rock. She held apumpkin and carried a basket filled with yellowsquash and red corn.

"I was looking for you," she said.

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 eel   

n.鳗鲡

参考例句：

• He used an eel spear to catch an eel.他用一只捕鳗叉捕鳗鱼。
• In Suzhou,there was a restaurant that specialized in eel noodles.苏州有一家饭馆，他们那里的招牌菜是鳗鱼面。

3 eels   

abbr. 电子发射器定位系统（=electronic emitter location system）

参考例句：

• Eels have been on the feed in the Lower Thames. 鳗鱼在泰晤士河下游寻食。
• She bought some eels for dinner. 她买回一些鳗鱼做晚餐。

4 clams   

n.蛤；蚌，蛤( clam的名词复数 )v.（在沙滩上）挖蛤( clam的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The restaurant's specialities are fried clams. 这个餐厅的特色菜是炸蚌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We dug clams in the flats et low tide. 退潮时我们在浅滩挖蛤蜊。 来自辞典例句

5 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

6 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》

7 chattering   

n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The teacher told the children to stop chattering in class. 老师叫孩子们在课堂上不要叽叽喳喳讲话。
• I was so cold that my teeth were chattering. 我冷得牙齿直打战。

8 pumpkins   

n.南瓜( pumpkin的名词复数 )；南瓜的果肉，南瓜囊

参考例句：

• I like white gourds, but not pumpkins. 我喜欢吃冬瓜，但不喜欢吃南瓜。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they cut faces in the pumpkins and put lights inside. 然后在南瓜上刻出一张脸，并把瓜挖空。 来自英语晨读30分（高三）

9 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。

10 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。