《神奇树屋》 第十八册 Buffalo Before Breakfast 01 Teddy's Back!

　　Arf! Arf.' Arf!

Jack¹ finished tying his sneakers. Then he looked out hisbedroom window.

A small dog stood in the early sunlight. He had floppy² earsand scruffy³ brown fur.

"Teddy!" said Jack.

Just then, Annie ran into Jack's room.

"Teddy's back!" she said. "It's time."It was time for their second mission to help free the little dogfrom a spell.

Jack threw his notebook and pencil into his backpack. Then hefollowed Annie downstairs and past the kitchen.

"Where are you two going?" their mom called.

"Outside," said Jack.

"Breakfast will be ready soon," she said.

"And Grandmother will be here any minute."'We'll be right back," said Jack. He loved his grandmother'svisits. She was kind and funny. And she always taught themnew things.

Jack and Annie slipped out the front door.

Teddy was waiting for them.

Arf! Arf! he barked.

"Hey, where did you go last week?" Jack asked.

The small dog wagged⁴ his tail joyfully⁵.

Then he ran up the sidewalk.

'Wait for us!" Annie shouted.

She and Jack followed Teddy up the street and into the FrogCreek woods.

They ran between the trees. Wind rattled⁶ the leaves. Birdsswooped from branch to branch.

Teddy stopped at a rope ladder that hung from the tallest oaktree in the woods. At the top of the ladder was the magic treehouse.

Jack and Annie stared up at it.

"No sign of Morgan," said Annie.

"Let's go up," said Jack.

Annie picked up Teddy. She carried him carefully up theladder. Jack climbed after her.

Inside the tree house, Teddy sniffed⁷ a silver pocket watch onthe floor. Beside it was the note that Morgan had written to Jackand Annie.

Annie picked up the note and read it aloud:

This little dog is under a spell and needs your help. To freehim, you must be given four special things:

A gift from a ship lost at sea,A gift from the prairie blue,A gift from a forest far away,A gift from a kangaroo.

Be brave. Be wise. Be careful.

"We've got the first special thing," said Annie, "the gift from aship lost at sea.""Yeah," said Jack. He picked up the silver pocket watch.

The time on the watch was 2:20--the time the Titanic⁸ hadsunk.

Jack and Annie stared at the watch.

Arf! Arf!

Teddy's barking brought Jack back from his memories.

"Okay," Jack said. He sighed and pushed his glasses into place.

"Now it's time for the gift from the prairie blue.""What's that mean?" said Annie.

"I'm not sure," said Jack. He looked around the tree house.

"But I bet that book will take us there."He picked up a book in the corner. The cover was a picture ofa wide prairie. The title was The Great Plains.

"Ready?" Jack said.

Teddy yipped and wagged his tail.

"Let's go," said Annie. "The sooner we free Teddy, the better."Jack pointed⁹ at the cover.

"I wish we could go there," he said.

The wind started to blow.

The tree house started to spin.

It spun¹⁰ faster and faster.

Then everything was still.

Absolutely still.

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 floppy   

adj.松软的，衰弱的

参考例句：

• She was wearing a big floppy hat.她戴了顶松软的大帽子。
• Can you copy those files onto this floppy disk?你能把那些文件复制到这张软盘上吗？

3 scruffy   

adj.肮脏的，不洁的

参考例句：

• Despite her scruffy clothes,there was an air of sophistication about her.尽管她衣衫褴褛，但神态老练世故。
• His scruffy appearance does not reflect his character.他邋遢的外表并不反映他的性格。

4 wagged   

v.（使）摇动，摇摆( wag的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The dog wagged its tail with pleasure. 那条狗高兴得直摇尾巴。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She wagged her finger with mock severity. 她故作严厉地摆了摆手指。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 joyfully   

adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地

参考例句：

• She tripped along joyfully as if treading on air. 她高兴地走着，脚底下轻飘飘的。
• During these first weeks she slaved joyfully. 在最初的几周里，她干得很高兴。

6 rattled   

慌乱的，恼火的

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。

7 sniffed   

v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；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：

• When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 titanic   

adj.巨人的，庞大的，强大的

参考例句：

• We have been making titanic effort to achieve our purpose.我们一直在作极大的努力，以达到我们的目的。
• The island was created by titanic powers and they are still at work today.台湾岛是由一个至今仍然在运作的巨大力量塑造出来的。

9 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。

10 spun   

v.纺，杜撰，急转身

参考例句：

• His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
• Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。