英语读物《神奇树屋》 第十二册 Polar Bears Past Bedtime 07 spirit lights

　　"Jack¹, you can get up now," said Annie.

Jack opened his eyes. Annie was standing² over him.

She still had her mask on.

"We're on safe ground," she said.

Jack felt as if he'd been dreaming. He lookedaround. They had reached the tundra³ at the edge ofthe frozen sea.

The cubs⁴ were romping⁵ in the distance. But theirmother was sitting nearby, gazing at Jack and Annie.

"She waited to make sure we were safe," saidAnnie.

Jack stared at the polar bear in awe⁶. The words ofthe seal hunter came back to him:

Always thank the animal spirits.

"We should thank the polar bear spirit now," hesaid.

"Of course," said Annie.

Jack scrambled⁷ to his feet. Still wearing his bearmask, he stood before the polar bear and pressed hishands together.

"We thank you," he said, bowing.

"Yes, we thank you forever," said Annie, alsobowing.

"We thank you beyond the moon and the stars,"said Jack.

"And beyond the deepest sea," Annie added.

Then she threw out her arms and twirled around.

Jack did the same. They both danced around in thesnow, honoring the bear. Finally they stopped andbowed one last time.

When they looked up, the polar bear rose up on herhind legs. She was twice as tall as Jack. She loweredher huge head, as if she were bowing back to them.

At that moment, the sky exploded. The nightbecame a giant swirl⁸ of red, green, and purple lights.

It looked like a genie⁹ coming out of a magic lamp.

The sight took Jack's breath away. He stared inwonder as the dazzling lights lit the tundra.

"Is it the polar bear spirit?" Annie asked in a hushedvoice.

As far as Jack could see, the sky and snowshimmered. Even the bear's fur shimmered¹⁰ thestrange light.

"No, it's not a spirit," said Jack. "There's got to be ascientific reason. I'll find out."Shaking, he reached into his backpack and pulledout the Arctic book. He took off his bear mask andput on his glasses.

By the greenish glow, Jack found a picture of thesky lights. The picture didn't c e close to the realthing. He read aloud:

One of the most amazing sights in the Arctic is thenorthern lights. The swirl of light is caused byelectrically charged particles from the sun strikingatoms and molecules¹¹ in the earth's atmosphere.

"See, there is a scientific reason!" said Jack. "It's notthe spirits."Then suddenly all the dancing lights were gone, asif someone had blown out a candle.

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 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。

3 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。

4 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》

5 romping   

adj.嬉戏喧闹的，乱蹦乱闹的v.嬉笑玩闹( romp的现在分词 )；（尤指在赛跑或竞选等中）轻易获胜

参考例句：

• kids romping around in the snow 在雪地里嬉戏喧闹的孩子
• I found the general romping in the living room with his five children. 我发现将军在客厅里与他的五个小孩嬉戏。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

7 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》

8 swirl   

v.(使)打漩，(使)涡卷；n.漩涡，螺旋形

参考例句：

• The car raced roughly along in a swirl of pink dust.汽车在一股粉红色尘土的漩涡中颠簸着快速前进。
• You could lie up there,watching the flakes swirl past.你可以躺在那儿，看着雪花飘飘。

9 genie   

n.妖怪，神怪

参考例句：

• Now the genie of his darkest and weakest side was speaking.他心灵中最阴暗最软弱的部分有一个精灵在说话。
• He had to turn to the Genie of the Ring for help.他不得不向戒指神求助。

10 shimmered   

v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The sea shimmered in the sunlight. 阳光下海水闪烁着微光。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A heat haze shimmered above the fields. 田野上方微微闪烁着一层热气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。