儿童英语读物《神奇树屋》 第十一册 Lions at Lunchtime 05 Ha-Ha

　　"Oh, no! No! No!" Shouted Annie.

She raced down the bank, until she reached asandy, clear spot.

"Here! Here!" she called.

The wildebeests followed her with their wild eyes.

Jack¹ watched in disbelief as the swimmers changedtheir course. Slowly, all the wildebeests swam towhere Annie stood. She waved them in like a trafficpolicemanJack grabbed his backpack.

"Annie," he cried, "let's go before we get trampled²!""Keep it up," she shouted to the wildbeests as shetook off after Jack.

They ran farther up the river, away from theincoming wildebeests. Finally, they stopped to catchtheir breath. They looked back.

Everything seemed fine. The wildebeests werescrambling safely over the riverbank. Soon theywould graze on the grass prepared by the zebras.

"Good work," Jack said to Annie.

"Thanks," she said. "Okay, now for our riddle³...""No, first we've got to get clean," said Jack. "Youlook like you're in a mud suit."High-pitched laughter rang through the air. Itsounded mocking and mean.

Jack and Annie turned around. They saw twospotted brown animals standing⁴ in the tall grass.

The creatures had bodies like dogs, but with slopingbacks. They laughed again.

"Ha-ha," said Annie. "You don't look so greatyourself.""What are they?" said Jack. He took out the book.

He tried not to get mud on it as he looked for apicture. When he found it, he read aloud:

On the African plains, the hyena⁵ (hi-EE-nuh) is theruling predator⁶ after the lion. It makes a sound similarto a high-pitched human laugh.

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

"It means it catches things and eats them," saidJack.

"Oh," said Annie. "Yuck."The two hyenas⁷ laughed again. And they movedcloser to Jack and Annie.

Quietly, Jack read more:

The hyena has a reputation for being a thief and acoward.

"Let's see if they're cowards," whispered Annie.

"Let's try to scare them."The hyenas laughed and moved a little closer.

"How?" Jack asked.

"Act like a monster!" said Annie. "Now!"Jack and Annie made terrible monster faces. Theyput out their hands and rushed at the hyenas.

"AR GGGGHH!" they shouted.

The hyenas yelped⁸ and scurried⁹ off. "Scaredy-cats!"Annie shouted after them. "Come on," said Jack.

Annie and Jack took off in the other direction. Theyran around a bend in the river.

Jack heard the hyena laughter again. It sounded faraway.

"Good," he said, "they're gone.""Hey, maybe we can wash over there," said Annie.

She pointed¹⁰ to the edge of the forest. There was asmall pond surrounded by tall grass. Zebras weredrinking the water.

"Yeah," said Jack. "If it's safe enough for them todrink..."The zebras ignored them as they walked toward thepond.

When they reached the edge of the water, Jack sethis heavy pack down in the dry grass. He glancedaround. NO lions were in sight. But then he heardsomething.

On the far side of the pond something very big wascoming out of the trees.

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 trampled   

踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯

参考例句：

• He gripped his brother's arm lest he be trampled by the mob. 他紧抓着他兄弟的胳膊，怕他让暴民踩着。
• People were trampled underfoot in the rush for the exit. 有人在拼命涌向出口时被踩在脚下。

3 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。

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 hyena   

n.土狼，鬣狗

参考例句：

• African hyena noted for its distinctive howl.非洲鬣狗，以其特别的嚎叫而闻名。
• The hyena's public image is not aided by its ridiculous appearance.鬣狗滑稽的外表无助于改善它在公众心中的形象。

6 predator   

n.捕食其它动物的动物；捕食者

参考例句：

• The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
• Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴，它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。

7 hyenas   

n.鬣狗( hyena的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These animals were the prey of hyenas. 这些动物是鬣狗的猎物。 来自辞典例句
• We detest with horror the duplicity and villainy of the murderous hyenas of Bukharinite wreckers. 我们非常憎恨布哈林那帮两面三刀、杀人破坏，干尽坏事的豺狼。 来自辞典例句

8 yelped   

v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He yelped in pain when the horse stepped on his foot. 马踩了他的脚痛得他喊叫起来。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• A hound yelped briefly as a whip cracked. 鞭子一响，猎狗发出一阵嗥叫。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 scurried   

v.急匆匆地走( scurry的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She said goodbye and scurried back to work. 她说声再见，然后扭头跑回去干活了。
• It began to rain and we scurried for shelter. 下起雨来，我们急忙找地方躲避。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 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。