英语读物《神奇树屋》 第十二册 Polar Bears Past Bedtime 02 The Howling!

　　The air was crisp and cold.

Jack¹ and Annie shivered. They looked out thewindow at a dark gray sky.

The tree house was on the ground. There were notrees and no houses--only an endless field of ice andsnow. Morgan and the owl² were gone.

"R-r-read the riddle³," said Annie, her teethchattering.

Jack unrolled the scroll⁴. He read:

I cover what's real and hide what's true. Butsometimes I bring out the courage in you. What am I?

"I'd better write it down," said Jack, shivering.

He pulled out his notebook and copied the riddle.

Then he opened the book. He found a picture of abarren white field. He read aloud:

The Arctic tundra⁵ is a treeless plain. During thedark winter, it is covered with snow and ice. In earlyspring, snow fails, but the sky begins to get lighter⁶.

During the summer season, the snow and ice meltand the sun shines 24 hours a day.

"It must be early spring now," said Jack. "There'ssnow, but the sky is a little light."He turned the page. There was a picture of a manwearing a hooded⁷ coat with fur trim.

"Look at this guy," said Jack. He showed Annie thepicture.

"We need his coat," said Annie.

Yeah," said Jack. "Listen to this..." He read aloud:

This seal hunter wears sealskin clothing to protecthim from icy winds. Before modern times, nativepeople of the Arctic lived by hunting seals, caribou,polar bears, and whales.

Jack took out his notebook. He wrote:

The ArcticSeal Hunters wear seal skinHe was too cold to write any more.

He clutched his pack against his chest and blew onhis fingers. He wished he were back home in bed.

"Morgan said someone was coming to meet us,"said Annie.

"If they don't come soon, we'll freeze to death," saidJack. "It's getting darker and colder.""Shh. Listen," said Annie.

A howling sound came from the distance. .thenmore howling sounds.. .and more.

"What's that?" said Jack.

They looked out the window. Snow was fallingnow. It was hard to see.

The howling grew louder. It was mixed withyipping and yelping⁸ noises. Jack andAnnie saw dark shapes coming through the snow.

They seemed to be running toward the tree house.

"Wolves?" said Annie.

"Great. That's all we need," said Jack. "We'refreezing, and now a pack of wolves is coming for us."Jack pulled Annie into the corner of the tree house.

They huddled⁹ close together.

The howling got louder and louder. It sounded as ifthe wolves were circling the tree house. They whinedand yelped¹⁰.

Jack couldn't stand it any longer. He grabbed theArctic book.

"Maybe this can help us," he said.

He searched for a picture of wolves.

"Oh--hi!" Annie said.

Jack looked up. He caught his breath.

A man was looking through the tree housewindow. His face was surrounded by fur.

It was the seal hunter from the Arctic book.

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 owl   

n.猫头鹰，枭

参考例句：

• Her new glasses make her look like an owl.她的新眼镜让她看上去像只猫头鹰。
• I'm a night owl and seldom go to bed until after midnight.我睡得很晚，经常半夜后才睡觉。

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 scroll   

n.卷轴，纸卷；(石刻上的)漩涡

参考例句：

• As I opened the scroll,a panorama of the Yellow River unfolded.我打开卷轴时，黄河的景象展现在眼前。
• He was presented with a scroll commemorating his achievements.他被授予一幅卷轴，以表彰其所做出的成就。

5 tundra   

n.苔原，冻土地带

参考例句：

• The arctic tundra is at the top of the world around the North Pole.北极冻原是指北极点周边的地区，是世界最高的地方。
• There is a large amount of methane gas under the Siberian tundra.西伯利亚的冻土地带之下有大量的甲烷气体。

6 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

7 hooded   

adj.戴头巾的；有罩盖的；颈部因肋骨运动而膨胀的

参考例句：

• A hooded figure waited in the doorway. 一个戴兜帽的人在门口等候。
• Black-eyed gipsy girls, hooded in showy handkerchiefs, sallied forth to tell fortunes. 黑眼睛的吉卜赛姑娘，用华丽的手巾包着头，突然地闯了进来替人算命。 来自辞典例句

8 yelping   

v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• In the middle of the table sat a little dog, shaking its paw and yelping. 在桌子中间有一只小狗坐在那儿，抖着它的爪子，汪汪地叫。 来自辞典例句
• He saved men from drowning and you shake at a cur's yelping. 他搭救了快要溺死的人们，你呢，听到一条野狗叫唤也瑟瑟发抖。 来自互联网

9 huddled   

挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
• We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。

10 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》