《神奇树屋》 第二十四册 Earthquake in the Early Morning 07 Dynamite!

　　'We'd better be careful," said Annie.

They stepped in their sock feet over the brokencobblestones, trying not to cut them-selves.

They headed down the hillside. On their way, theypassed policemen carrying stretchers with injuredpeople on them.

They passed soldiers directing all those trying toescape the fires.

One man was trying to push a piano down thestreet. Another man was wearing a bunch of hats, allpiled on top of one another. A woman carried herthree little dogs in a bag.

"Everyone's trying to save what's important tothem," said Annie.

"Like the librarian," said Jack¹. "And us-- we'retrying to save this sign." He clutched the piece ofwood.

When they were halfway² down the hill, a soldieron a horse galloped³ in front of them.

"Get off the street! We're setting off dynamite⁴!" heshouted.

"Dynamite?" said Jack.

"Yikes," said Annie.

People started running in all directions. Jack andAnnie looked around wildly for a safe place to go.

Jack saw an alley⁵.

"There!" he said.

They ran into the alley and crouched⁶ on theground.

Jack reached into his bag for their research book.

He looked in the index for the word "dynamite." Hefound it. Then he turned to the right page numberand read:

After the fires started, the mayor had an idea. Hethought that if some buildings were destroyed, thesparks would not fly from one wooden roof to thenext. he ordered some buildings to be blown up bydynamite. His plan did not work. The firestorm ragedfrom building to building, from street to street.

Firestorm, Jack thought. The word sounded terrible.

Just as he put the book away, a huge blast ofdynamite shook the ground.

Dust and dirt flew everywhere, even down thealley.

Jack clutched their sign with one hand. He coveredhis eyes with the other. Annie did the same.

Another huge blast rocked the ground.

Jack tasted grit⁷ in his mouth. He looked at Annie.

She was caked with dust from head to toe. He lookeddown at himself. He was just as dirty as she was.

"Hey, would you look at those two!" some-one said.

"Now, that's a story!"Jack looked up. Betty, the newspaper reporter, andFred, the photographer, were standing⁸ in front ofthem.

Even though they were also covered with dirt, Fredwas setting up his camera. And Betty was takingnotes in her notebook.

Another dynamite blast shook the ground. "Comewith us! We're headed for the park!" said Betty.

"We can't. We're on our way home, to our parents,"said Annie.

"Well, get going! And be careful!" said Betty. "Let'sbeat it, Fred!"The photographer grabbed his camera equipment,and the two of them rushed off.

"I don't think Betty and Fred recognized us," saidAnnie.

"I don't recognize us," said Jack. Another blastshook the ground.

"Come on," said Annie. "Let's beat it!" Jack andAnnie jumped up. Jack put their sign in his bag. Thenthey started back down the hill.

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 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

3 galloped   

（使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事

参考例句：

• Jo galloped across the field towards him. 乔骑马穿过田野向他奔去。
• The children galloped home as soon as the class was over. 孩子们一下课便飞奔回家了。

4 dynamite   

n./vt.(用)炸药(爆破)

参考例句：

• The workmen detonated the dynamite.工人们把炸药引爆了。
• The philosopher was still political dynamite.那位哲学家仍旧是政治上的爆炸性人物。

5 alley   

n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路

参考例句：

• We live in the same alley.我们住在同一条小巷里。
• The blind alley ended in a brick wall.这条死胡同的尽头是砖墙。

6 crouched   

v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He crouched down beside her. 他在她的旁边蹲了下来。
• The lion crouched ready to pounce. 狮子蹲下身，准备猛扑。

7 grit   

n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关

参考例句：

• The soldiers showed that they had plenty of grit. 士兵们表现得很有勇气。
• I've got some grit in my shoe.我的鞋子里弄进了一些砂子。

8 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。