《神奇树屋》 第二十三册 Twister on Tuesday 09 All clear

　　Jeb pushed open the cellar¹ door. Daylight streamedin. He looked out.

"All clear" he said.

Jeb crawled out of the cellar. Jack² followed him,then Annie, Will, Kate, and Miss Neely.

The sky was gray above them. The twister had tornthe roof off the dugout and sucked everything out,even the rug.

They all stared in shock at the empty space.

Then Miss Neely smiled.

"Well, at least we are all safe," she said.

They stepped out of the hut. The air was thick withdust and bits of grass.

The twister had cut a wide path of dirt anddestruction across the prairie. It was still whirlingaway on the horizon.

Everyone watched silently as the twister becamelong and thin, like a piece of rope. Then it vanishedcompletely.

Miss Neely turned to Jack and Annie. "You savedour lives," she said.

"Thank you!" said Will.

"Thank you!" said Kate, hugging Annie.

"Jeb actually opened the cellar door," said Jack.

"Yes! Thank you, too, Jeb!" said Miss Neely.

The older boy only scowled³.

"I hope you can get a new school," said Annie.

"We will," said Miss Neely. "Just as we planted ourfields again after the grasshopper⁴ attack, we'll buildour school again after the twister. If at first you don'tsucceed, try, try again."Jack thought Miss Neely was one of the bravestpeople he'd ever met.

"You're a good teacher," he said shyly.

"I love teaching," she said. "It's a job that lastsforever. Whatever you teach children today travelswith them far into the future.""That's true!" said Annie. Jack smiled.

"Well, we better leave--again," he said. "Bye!"Everyone waved, except Jeb.

Jack and Annie started across the prairie, backtoward the tree house.

They hadn't gone far when Jack heard someoneshout his name. He turned around.

It was Jeb.

"Wait!" the older boy yelled⁵. He had a fierce look onhis face. He started running toward them.

"Oh no," Jack breathed. Did Jeb still want to fight?

"Leave us alone!" Annie said angrily.

"Shh, Annie," said Jack. "Let's see what he wants."When Jeb got close to them, he stopped. He lookedright at Jack.

"Why did you come back?" he asked.

"We wanted to tell you about the storm cellar," saidJack.

"How did you know about that cellar?" he said.

Jack pulled their research book out of his leatherbag.

"We read about it in this book," he said. Jeb staredat the book. Then he sighed.

"I aim to read someday, too," he said. "That lookslike a good book."Jack didn't know what to say. He was still afraid ofmaking Jeb mad. So he just nodded.

"My ma and pa were too poor to go to school," saidJeb. "They want me to go. But I'm getting startedmighty late.""It's not too late," said Jack.

"It's never too late," said Annie.

Jeb narrowed his eyes.

"If you ever come back through here... he said.

"Yes... ?" Jack asked carefully. Was Jeb about tothreaten him again?

"Maybe I'll be able to read that book of yours," Jebsaid.

Jack sighed and smiled.

"I know you will," he said.

Jeb smiled back. He had a nice smile.

"Thanks for coming back to rescue us," he said toboth Jack and Annie. "Too bad you can't stay. Ireckon we'd all be good friends if you did.""I reckon⁶ we would," said Annie.

Jeb nodded. Then he turned and ran back to join theothers.

Suddenly, the sun broke through the clouds. Thewildflowers danced in a gentle breeze.

"Ready?" said Annie.

Jack just stood there, staring at the sunlit prairie.

"Jack? Ready to go?" Annie asked.

In that moment, Jack actually hated to leave. But henodded slowly and said, "Let's go."He and Annie took off through the bright, sparklinggrass. They ran to the small grove⁷ of trees near thecreek.

They climbed up the rope ladder and scrambled⁸ intothe tree house.

Annie picked up their Pennsylvania book.

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

This time the wind did not start to blow.

The tree house simply started to spin on its own.

It spun⁹ faster and faster.

Then everything was still.

Absolutely still.

1 cellar   

n.地窖，地下室，酒窖

参考例句：

• He took a bottle of wine from the cellar.他从酒窖里拿出一瓶酒。
• The little girl hid away in the cellar.小姑娘藏在地下室里。

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 scowled   

怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He scowled his displeasure. 他满脸嗔色。
• The teacher scowled at his noisy class. 老师对他那喧闹的课堂板着脸。

4 grasshopper   

n.蚱蜢，蝗虫，蚂蚱

参考例句：

• He thought he had made an end of the little grasshopper.他以为把那个小蚱蜢干掉了。
• The grasshopper could not find anything to eat.蚱蜢找不到任何吃的东西。

5 yelled   

v.叫喊，号叫，叫着说( yell的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He yelled at the other driver. 他冲着另一位司机大叫。
• The lost man yelled, hoping someone in the woods would hear him. 迷路的人大声喊着，希望林子里的人会听见。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 reckon   

vt.计算，估计，认为；vi.计（算），判断，依靠

参考例句：

• Don't reckon upon your relatives to help you out of trouble.不要指望你的亲戚会帮助你摆脱困境。
• I reckon that he is rather too old to marry again.我认为他的年龄太大，不太适于再婚。

7 grove   

n.林子，小树林，园林

参考例句：

• On top of the hill was a grove of tall trees.山顶上一片高大的树林。
• The scent of lemons filled the grove.柠檬香味充满了小树林。

8 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》

9 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。