英语读物《神奇树屋》 第十二册 Polar Bears Past Bedtime 06 Flying Bears

　　The cubs¹ whimpered louder.

"They want to go to her, but they're afraid of theice," whispered Jack².

Annie petted the cubs.

"Don't be afraid," she told them. "You'll get back toyour mother."The big polar bear growled³. She paced back andforth, sniffing⁴ the air.

Annie kept patting the two cubs and whispering tothem.

Jack looked in the book for anything that mighthelp. Finally he found something:

Even though a female polar bear can weigh asmuch as 750 pounds, she can walk on ice too thin tohold a person by balancing her weight and sliding herpaws over the ice.

"Oh, man, that's incredible," whispered Jack.

He watched the mother polar bear walk down thesnowbank.

On large silent feet, she crept about at the edge ofthe frozen sea.

She tried to step onto the ice. But each time she did,it cracked, and she had to retreat. At last, she found afirm spot.

Then the polar bear stretched out her four legs andlay on the ice. Slowly she moved forward, pushingherself with her claws.

"Is she coming for her babies?" said Jack. "Or is shecoming to get us?""I don't know," said Annie. "Hey, let's put on themasks.""What for?" said Jack.

"Maybe they'll protect us," said Annie. "Maybeshe'll think we're polar bears, too.""Oh, brother," said Jack.

But Annie gave him a bear mask. He took off hisglasses and slipped it on.

Jack peered through the mask holes. It was hard tosee the huge white bear sliding over the frozen sea.

He squinted⁵. That helped.

The polar bear looked at her cubs and let out a deepmoan.

The two little bears carefully went to their mother.

She licked the cubs and touched her nose against eachof theirs. Then they crawled onto her back.

"They're safe now," said Jack. "Even if the motherbreaks through the ice, she can swim with them tothe shore.""Yeah, I just wish she wouldn't leave us behind,"said Annie.

The mother bear slowly turned her body around.

Then she pushed off with her hind⁶ legs. With hercubs on her back, she began sliding away.

"Let's try moving like her " Annie said.

"But we could break through and freeze to death,"said Jack.

"If we just stay here, we'll freeze, too," said Annie.

"Remember, the seal hunter said his people hadlearned from the polar bears."Jack took a deep breath.

"Okay," he said. "Let's try it."He lay on his stomach. He spread out his arms andlegs.

Then he copied the bear. He pressed his mittensagainst the ice and pushed off, sliding his feet.

Amazingly, there was no cracking sound.

"Grrr," he growled. And he pushed off again.

Jack heard Annie sliding behind him. He keptgoing. He pushed and slid. He pushed again and slidagain.

He made the movements over and over, untilsomething happened: He didn't feel like a boyanymore. He felt like a polar bear.

Then Jack felt something even stranger. He felt likea flying polar Bear.

Jack swirled⁷ along as if his arms and legs weregiant wings--and the moonlit sea ice were a glassysky.

He remembered what the seal hunter had said:

Polar bears can fly.

1 cubs   

n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lioness guarding her cubs 守护幼崽的母狮
• Lion cubs depend on their mother to feed them. 狮子的幼仔依靠母狮喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 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。

3 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 sniffing   

n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• We all had colds and couldn't stop sniffing and sneezing. 我们都感冒了，一个劲地抽鼻子，打喷嚏。
• They all had colds and were sniffing and sneezing. 他们都伤风了，呼呼喘气而且打喷嚏。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 squinted   

斜视( squint的过去式和过去分词 )； 眯着眼睛； 瞟； 从小孔或缝隙里看

参考例句：

• Pulling his rifle to his shoulder he squinted along the barrel. 他把枪顶肩，眯起眼睛瞄准。
• I squinted through the keyhole. 我从锁眼窥看。

6 hind   

adj.后面的，后部的

参考例句：

• The animal is able to stand up on its hind limbs.这种动物能够用后肢站立。
• Don't hind her in her studies.不要在学业上扯她后腿。

7 swirled   

v.旋转，打旋( swirl的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The waves swirled and eddied around the rocks. 波浪翻滚着在岩石周围打旋。
• The water swirled down the drain. 水打着旋流进了下水道。