《神奇树屋》 第十九册 Tigers at Twilight 03 Life or Death

　　"Tigers?" said Annie. "Cool." Jack¹ read more:

7A wild tiger eats almost 5,000 pounds of fresh rawmeat a year.

"Oh, not so cool," said Annie. Jack went on:

Tigers usually leave elephants alone. And likemany smaller cats, tigers often avoid wild dogs.

"What?" said Annie. She stopped and looked back atthe tree.

"See what I mean?" said .Jack. "Tigers live here.

And one of them just came this way."Teddy growled³.

"Wild dogs, not a shrimp⁴ like you," Jack said toTeddy. "A tiger would eat you in a minute."Teddy growled again.

Just then, Kah and Ko began hooting⁵. Koo-koo-koo!

The peacocks cried Kok! Kok!

The small deer made short barking sounds andstamped their hooves.

"What's going on?" said Annie.

"We better put Teddy in my pack," said Jack, "tokeep him safe."Jack slipped the dog into his pack. Teddy's headpoked out the top.

"All set?" Jack asked the little dog. Teddy growledagain.

This time, a deep, fierce growl² answered back. Itseemed to surround them. Jack's hair stood on end.

"Yikes!" said Annie. "A tiger!" said Jack.

Arf! Arf! Teddy barked.

Kah and Ko screeched⁶ at Jack and Annie from theirtree.

"They want us to join them!" said Annie. "Comeon!" She grabbed a branch and climbed up.

Jack's hands were shaking as he put his backpackon. He grabbed a branch and pushed off the ground.

He pulled himself into the tree.

Another growl shook the forest. "Oh, man," saidJack.

Koo-koo-koo! The langurs climbed higher up thetree.

Jack and Annie followed them, climbing frombranch to branch.

The sky above was no longer glowing. The brightorange had faded to a twilight⁷ gray.

Jack looked down. He couldn't see the ground at all.

He listened for another scary roar. Only the cries offrightened forest creatures filled the air.

"Maybe the tiger's gone," said Annie.

Jack glanced at Kah and Ko. The langurs cuddledtogether. Their dark faces looked worried.

"And maybe not," said Jack.

"How can we get through the forest with-outrunning into him?" said Annie.

"That's a problem," said Jack. "And it's getting dark.

Soon we won't be able to see anything."Kah and Ko hooted⁸ again. They pointed⁹ down thetree trunk.

Arf! Arf! Teddy barked from Jack's pack.

"Do they see the tiger?" Jack asked, his heartthumping again. He couldn't see any-thing but leavesand branches.

Then, far below, he saw the tree trunk move!

"A snake!" said Annie.

The snake was slithering around the trunk. It hadblack-and-tan markings. The snake's body was asthick as the tree trunk!

"A python," breathed Jack.

The python kept curling up the tree trunk. "Is itpoisonous?" asked Annie.

Jack pulled out their book. By the last light of day,he found a picture of a python. He read aloud:

The python is not a poisonous snake.

"Whew," said Annie"Not so fast," said Jack. He read more:

To kill its prey¹⁰, the python squeezes it to death,then swallows it whole. A python can swallow ananimal the size of a full-grown deer.

"Oh, yuck!" said Annie.

"This is more than just yuck, Annie," said Jack.

"This is life or death."Kah and Ko chattered¹¹ at Jack and Annie.

"Not now," said Jack. "We have to think." Thelangurs grabbed thick vines. They leaned back. Thenthey jumped out of the tree!

The langurs swung through the air like trapezeartists. They swung over bushes and tall grass andlanded in another tree.

They screeched at Jack and Annie and waved theirarms.

"I know what they're saying," said Annie. "Theywant us to copy them!"

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 growl   

v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣

参考例句：

• The dog was biting,growling and wagging its tail.那条狗在一边撕咬一边低声吼叫，尾巴也跟着摇摆。
• The car growls along rutted streets.汽车在车辙纵横的街上一路轰鸣。

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 shrimp   

n.虾，小虾；矮小的人

参考例句：

• When the shrimp farm is built it will block the stream.一旦养虾场建起来，将会截断这条河流。
• When it comes to seafood,I like shrimp the best.说到海鲜，我最喜欢虾。

5 hooting   

（使）作汽笛声响，作汽车喇叭声( hoot的现在分词 )； 倒好儿； 倒彩

参考例句：

• He had the audience hooting with laughter . 他令观众哄堂大笑。
• The owl was hooting. 猫头鹰在叫。

6 screeched   

v.发出尖叫声( screech的过去式和过去分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫

参考例句：

• She screeched her disapproval. 她尖叫着不同意。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The car screeched to a stop. 汽车嚓的一声停住了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

8 hooted   

（使）作汽笛声响，作汽车喇叭声( hoot的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• An owl hooted nearby. 一只猫头鹰在附近啼叫。
• The crowd hooted and jeered at the speaker. 群众向那演讲人发出轻蔑的叫嚣和嘲笑。

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 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

11 chattered   

（人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤

参考例句：

• They chattered away happily for a while. 他们高兴地闲扯了一会儿。
• We chattered like two teenagers. 我们聊着天，像两个十多岁的孩子。