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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
G entle waves rippled1 through the cove2 as Jack3 andAnnie swam to the foot of the cliff. They pulledthemselves onto the boulders4. Soaking wet, they satfor a moment in the warm sunlight and caught theirbreath.
"That was so cool!" said Annie.
"Yeah. But why--" Jack gasped5, "why did he dumpus way out here? What do we do now?""Check the rhyme," said Annie. "What happensafter we call for the help of the Water Knight6?"32Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out theseashell. He read aloud:
Call for the help of the Water KnightThen pass through the Cave of the Spider Queen.
"Oh. Right," said Annie. She took a deep breath.
"Spider Queen.""Sorry," Jack said softly. "But don't worry, maybethe Spider Queen is just a person. Maybe 'SpiderQueen' is her nickname.""But what if she's half a person and half a spider?"said Annie. "Like the Raven7 King was half a man andhalf a raven?"Jack shuddered8 at the memory of the monster ontheir last Merlin Mission. "Don't think about that," hesaid. "Time's running out. Let's just find this cave."Annie nodded and smiled bravely. "Okay, you'reright," she said.
They stood up and started climbing barefoot aroundthe craggy curves at the base of the cliff. As theyrounded a corner, they both gasped.
33In front of them was the mouth of a cave. Themouth was covered with thick, sticky white ropes.
The ropes were woven tightly together in a crisscrosscobweb pattern.
"If that's a spiderweb, we're in big trouble," saidAnnie.
Jack tried to sound calm. "Urn9, the size of the webdoesn't actually tell us the size of the spider," he said.
"Plus, I once read that no spider on earth is biggerthan a dinner plate.""Yeah, and no horse on earth has a giant fish's taileither," said Annie.
Good point,thought Jack. "Let's just concentrate onfinding the Sword of Light before nightfall," he said.
Jack picked up a stone the size of a softball. Hehurled it toward the mouth of the cave. The stonesailed through the giant cobweb and into the cave,pulling the sticky rope-like strands10 down with it.
Jack turned to Annie. "Ready?" he said.
34She didn't move.
Jack took her hand. "Don't worry, I won't let anymonster spiders get you," he said. He nodded towardthe mouth of the cave. "Onward11?""Onward," Annie repeated in a small voice. Thentogether she and Jack stepped over the fallen web andentered the Cave of the Spider Queen.
Inside the cave, the walls were black and shiny. Theground was wet and slippery under their bare feet.
"Yikes!" Annie said, jumping back. A pale pink crabscuttled sideways across the rocky floor.
"Don't be afraid," said Jack. "That's not a spider.""I know," said Annie. "Sorry."As they went deeper and deeper into the cave, itgrew darker and darker. Finally Jack saw a faint lightcoming from a wide, arched passage. "That way," hesaid.
36They stepped through the arch into a roundchamber with a high ceiling. There were several largecracks in the ceiling that let in beams of sunlight. Themisty light shined on mossy green ledges14 and on agreen, spongy-looking floor. Silver droplets15 drippedfrom above, ker-ploppinginto tiny pools. Squeaks16 andchirps came from crannies and hiding places in thewalls.
"What's that noise?" asked Annie.
"Probably just teeny cave crickets or baby bats,"said Jack.
"No, thatnoise," said Annie, "the whispering noise."Jack listened. Then he heard it: a low whispering.
He couldn't make out the words. It just sounded likewhisper-whisper-whisper-whisper.The hair stood upon the back of his neck. Now hebegan to feel scared.
"This place is really creepy," said Annie.
"No kidding," said Jack. "But we don't have to stayhere long. The rhyme says we just have37to pass through the cave. So let's hurry and passthrough it."Jack and Annie walked through the ghostly greenlight of the chamber12. The spongy floor squishedbeneath their bare feet. As they searched for an exitfrom the cave, they both kept an eye out for theSpider Queen.
"Hey, look at the starfish," said Annie. She pointedto a bright orange starfish clinging to the rockyceiling. "How'd he get up there?"Before Jack could answer, a wave crashed into thechamber. Water splashed over Jack and Annie.
"Yikes!" said Annie. She and Jack jumped onto amossy ledge13 jutting18 out from the wall.
The wave washed back out. There was a moment ofquiet. Then another wave surged into the chamber. Itsplashed against the cave walls, soaking Jack andAnnie again.
"Oh, man," said Jack. "The tide must be coming in!
Soon this whole cave will be flooded!"38The wave receded19. For a moment all was quietagain.
"We'd better leave now!" said Jack. "Quick! Go backthe way we came in!"39Jack and Annie jumped down from the ledge. Butbefore they could escape, another wave crashed intothe cave! This one swept them off their feet andpulled them down into the foamy20 water.
Jack grabbed Annie's hand. Fighting the swirlingcurrent, they climbed back up onto the mossy ledge.
The water churned and gurgled around the chamber.
"We can't go back the way we came in," said Jack.
"The waves will just keep knocking us down, andwe'll get caught in the current!"40"Maybe we can get out through that crack!" criedAnnie. She pointed17 to the widest crack in the caveceiling. It was high above the swirling21 water.
"It's too high!" said Jack. "We can't get up there!" Helooked frantically22 around the flooded cave, searchingfor another way out. Suddenly he froze in horror.
Clinging to a ledge near the ceiling crack was theSpider Queen. She had eight red glowing eyes. Shehad eight long, hairy legs. And she was muchbiggerthan a dinner plate.
The Spider Queen was bigger than Jack.
收听单词发音 |
1
rippled
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| 使泛起涟漪（ripple的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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cove
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| n.小海湾，小峡谷 | |
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jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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4
boulders
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| n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾 | |
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gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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7
raven
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| n.渡鸟，乌鸦；adj.乌亮的 | |
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shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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urn
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| n.（有座脚的）瓮；坟墓；骨灰瓮 | |
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strands
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| n.（线、绳、金属线、毛发等的）股( strand的名词复数 )；缕；海洋、湖或河的)岸；（观点、计划、故事等的）部份v.使滞留，使搁浅( strand的第三人称单数 ) | |
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onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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13
ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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14
ledges
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| n.（墙壁，悬崖等）突出的狭长部分( ledge的名词复数 )；（平窄的）壁架；横档；（尤指）窗台 | |
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droplets
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| n.小滴( droplet的名词复数 ) | |
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16
squeaks
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| n.短促的尖叫声，吱吱声( squeak的名词复数 )v.短促地尖叫( squeak的第三人称单数 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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jutting
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| v.（使）突出( jut的现在分词 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出 | |
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19
receded
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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foamy
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| adj.全是泡沫的，泡沫的，起泡沫的 | |
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swirling
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 ) | |
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frantically
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| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
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