儿童英语读物《神奇树屋》 第十一册 Lions at Lunchtime 06 Spick and Span

　　"Be still," said Jack¹.

Jack and Annie stood frozen as an elephant steppedout of the shadows. It waded² into the pond anddipped its trunk into the water.

"Oh, wow," said Annie.

Jack breathed a sigh of relief. An elephant wasn'tgoing to chase them and eat them. Still, the elephantwas huge.

"Let's sneak³ away," said Jack.

"But I want to watch," said Annie.

"Fine," said Jack. He was tired of Annie gettingsidetracked. "I'm going to solve the riddle⁴ by myself.

I'll meet you back at the tree house."He turned to go. A spray of water rained down onhim. It came from behind. He shouted with surpriseand looked back.

The elephant's trunk was pointed⁵ straight at Annie.

"Cool!" she cried. "He's giving me a shower!"The elephant sprayed her again.. .then again. Themud slowly rolled off her face, her braids, her T-shirt,her shorts, her legs, and her sneakers.

"I guess the elephant doesn't like dirty kids!" saidAnnie, laughing. Her eyes were squeezed shut.

Finally, she was clean and soaking wet.

"Now it's your turn," she said to Jack.

Jack stepped forward and shut his eyes tight. Ablast of water hit him. It did feel like a shower--astrong shower.

When Jack was clean, the elephant let out a grunt⁶.

Then he started to splash himself with water.

"Thanks!" said Annie.

"Yeah, thanks!" said Jack.

"I'm spick-and-span now," said Annie.

"When the sun dries me off, I'll be like new.""Good," said Jack. "Now we can get serious.

He picked up his heavy pack. "We have to figureout the answer to the riddle. So we can leave thisplace.. .before we run into real trouble."He looked around nervously⁷. Where are the lions?

he wondered.

A small bird flitted near his head.

"Hi," Annie said to the bird.

Jack turned back to her "According to the riddle,we're looking for something gold and sweet.""What do you want?" Annie asked the bird.

The bird twittered and flew around Jack and Annie.

Its feathers were dull gray. But it had a bright, happymanner.

Annie, listen to me, not the bird," said Jack.

The bird kept fluttering around them.

"She's trying to tell us something," said Annie.

Jack let out a long sigh. "You are driving me crazytoday," he said.

"But I feel like she needs our help," said Annie.

"Maybe her babies fell out of the nest.""Annie, you can't save every animal in Africa," saidJack.

"This bird is important," said Annie. "Trust me."The bird darted⁸ toward the trees. It landed on abranch and cocked its head at them.

"She says follow," said Annie.

The bird headed into the forest. Annie started afterit.

"Don't go in there' said Jack. "You might run into--"There was no need to finish. The bird and Anniehad disappeared into the trees.

"--a snake or a lion," Jack said to himself.

"Come on!" Annie called.

Jack moaned. He pulled on his pack and ran. Thepeanut butter jar thumped⁹ against his back.

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 waded   

（从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She tucked up her skirt and waded into the river. 她撩起裙子蹚水走进河里。
• He waded into the water to push the boat out. 他蹚进水里把船推出来。

3 sneak   

vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行

参考例句：

• He raised his spear and sneak forward.他提起长矛悄悄地前进。
• I saw him sneak away from us.我看见他悄悄地从我们身边走开。

4 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。

5 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。

6 grunt   

v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝

参考例句：

• He lifted the heavy suitcase with a grunt.他咕噜着把沉重的提箱拎了起来。
• I ask him what he think,but he just grunt.我问他在想什麽，他只哼了一声。

7 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。

8 darted   

v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect. 蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 thumped   

v.重击， （指心脏）急速跳动( thump的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Dave thumped the table in frustration . 戴夫懊恼得捶打桌子。
• He thumped the table angrily. 他愤怒地用拳捶击桌子。