《神奇树屋》 第四十册 Eve of the Emperor Penguin 02 Lots of Ice

"Welcome to Antarctica," said Annie.

Jack¹ and Annie were bundled in cold-weather gear.

They both wore snow pants, gloves, boots withspikes, and thick red parkas with hoods³. Gogglescovered their eyes, and wool masks covered theirmouths and noses. A hiker's backpack had replacedJack's own pack.

Jack felt trapped by all the gear. He pulled his maskdown under his chin and pushed his goggles⁴ onto hisforehead. Annie did the same. Their breath madeclouds of mist in the freezing air.

2425"It's really cold here!" said Jack. The wind stung hisbare face and made his eyes water. But he kept hismask and goggles off as he looked out the windowwith Annie.

The tree house was on the ground. It was tuckedunder the overhang of an ice cliff near the ocean. Icyseawater sparkled in the sunlight. The shore wassilent and deserted⁵.

[Image: A lake.]

26"It looks totally empty out there," said Jack. "I stilldon't get it--how do we find the Cave of the AncientCrown here? No king or queen ever ruled Antarctica.

In fact, no people ever lived here at all until explorerscame in recent times.""Let's get started and try to figure it all out," saidAnnie.

"Not so fast," said Jack. He pulled off his glove andopened their research book to the first chapter. Heread aloud:

The continent of Antarctica is the coldest, driest,and windiest place on earth. Larger in area than theUnited States, it is a land filled with ice--ice cliffs, icebergs⁶, ice sheets, ice shelves-"Okay, lots of ice," said Annie. "Got it. Let'sgo.""In a minute." Jack kept reading:

But Antarctica was not always a land of ice. Eonsago, it was part of asupercontinent scientists have named27Gondwana. It had forests, flowers, and manyanimals, including dinosaurs⁷. But no people ever livedthere.

"See?" said Jack. "No kings, no queens, no crowns.""Yep, let's go," said Annie. But Jack kept reading:

Over millions ofyears,Antarctica broke off from Gondwana and driftedsouth.

"Okay, I'm drifting now myself, Jack," said Annie.

"Byeee--" She climbed out the window anddisappeared from the tree house.

Jack looked back at the book, but before he couldread further, he heard Annie whoop⁸ with laughter.

"Oh, wow! Jack, come look!" she yelled.

"What is it?" said Jack, closing the book.

"You won't believe this!" said Annie. "You have tocome see!"Jack put his glove back on and pulled on hisbackpack. He folded the paper with Morgan's28rhyme and put it in his pocket. Then, clutching theresearch book to his chest, he climbed out of thewindow.

Jack followed the sound of Annie's laughter beyondthe tree house. On the frozen seashore was a group ofpenguins, grown-ups and babies. The grown-ups hadorange streaks¹¹ on their cheeks, puffy white chests,and black wings they held straight by their sides. Thebabies were fluffy¹² balls of gray fuzz. All the penguinswere waddling¹³ toward Annie. They rocked from sideto side, taking funny little steps.

Jack burst out laughing. The big penguins¹⁰ lookedlike a committee of little men in black suits.

The group stopped in front of Annie and squawkedat her.

"Hi, guys," said Annie. "Glad to meet you!"The penguins stared back at her with friendlycuriosity.

"They're so cool," said Jack. He opened the29book and found a picture that looked like the groupof penguins around Annie. He read:

Emperor penguins are the tallest and heaviest of thepenguin species and are also the most ancient. Overthree feet tall, grown penguins can weigh up toninety pounds. Researchers say the penguin⁹'s closestancestors lived 40 million years ago.

"Forty million years!"said Jack. "So what time have we gone back to? Amillion years ago? A thousand years ago?""I don't know," said Annie. "But I'll take a picture ofthem for my family project. They look like a littlefamily, don't they?" She pulled her camera out of herpocket and aimed it at the penguins. "Smile,everyone."As Annie took a picture, a shadow moved over theice. The penguins squawked loudly and clusteredtogether.

Jack and Annie looked up. The shadow30belonged to a giant bird circling above them. Thebird was brownish gray with a long beak¹⁴. It let out aneerie cry.

"What is that?" Annie asked with alarm.

"I'll look it up," said Jack. He flipped¹⁵ through thepages of their book to find a photo. "Here!" He readquickly:

Giant petrels are the vultures of Antarctica. Theyeat dead birds and animals. Sometimes they evenattack young seals and pen"Oh, no!" cried Annie.

Jack looked up. The petrel was diving toward thepenguins. It hit the smallest one with its wing andswooped back into the air.

The penguin squawked and waddled¹⁷ away from thegroup. The petrel spread its wide wings and doveagain.

"NO!" Annie cried.

The petrel swooped¹⁶ away but circled back towardthem.

31Jack dropped the book and scooped¹⁸ up a handful ofsnow to make a snowball. Before he could throw it,the petrel attacked again. Jack leapt toward the smallpenguin. He fell on his knees and threw his armsaround the fluffy little body.

32Annie charged at the petrel. "Go! Get out of here!"she yelled, waving her arms.

The petrel cawed, then rose high into the sky anddisappeared over the ice cliff.

Jack let go of the small penguin and stood up. Thepenguin peeped and waggled its head at Jack.

Jack laughed. "You're welcome," he said. "Now goback to your family. Go--"He shooed the penguin back to the group. "All ofyou guys, back in the water now. You'll be saferthere. Go, go."The penguins squawked and flapped their wings asif saying good-bye. Then they waddled across the icyshore, taking quick, tiny steps toward the sea. Oneafter another, they dove between cracks in the iceuntil they all disappeared.

"Bye, guys," said Annie.

HONK¹⁹!

"What's that?" said Jack.

HONK!

33"It sounds like some kind of horn," said Annie.

"That's weird," said Jack.

"It's coming from over there," said Annie.

Jack picked up their book and followed Annie upthe side of an icy slope. The metal spikes² on his bootsdug into the ice and kept him from slipping. When heand Annie reached the top, they looked down.

"Oh, man," said Jack. "We haven't gone back in timeat all!"

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 spikes   

n.穗( spike的名词复数 )；跑鞋；（防滑）鞋钉；尖状物v.加烈酒于( spike的第三人称单数 )；偷偷地给某人的饮料加入（更多）酒精（ 或药物）；把尖状物钉入；打乱某人的计划

参考例句：

• a row of iron spikes on a wall 墙头的一排尖铁
• There is a row of spikes on top of the prison wall to prevent the prisoners escaping. 监狱墙头装有一排尖钉，以防犯人逃跑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 hoods   

n.兜帽( hood的名词复数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩v.兜帽( hood的第三人称单数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩

参考例句：

• Michael looked at the four hoods sitting in the kitchen. 迈克尔瞅了瞅坐在厨房里的四条汉子。 来自教父部分
• Eskimos wear hoods to keep their heads warm. 爱斯基摩人戴兜帽使头暖和。 来自辞典例句

4 goggles   

n.护目镜

参考例句：

• Skiers wear goggles to protect their eyes from the sun.滑雪者都戴上护目镜使眼睛不受阳光伤害。
• My swimming goggles keep steaming up so I can't see.我的护目镜一直有水雾，所以我看不见。

5 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

6 icebergs   

n.冰山，流冰( iceberg的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The drift of the icebergs in the sea endangers the ships. 海上冰山的漂流危及船只的安全。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The icebergs towered above them. 冰山高耸于他们上方。 来自辞典例句

7 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 whoop   

n.大叫，呐喊，喘息声；v.叫喊，喘息

参考例句：

• He gave a whoop of joy when he saw his new bicycle.他看到自己的新自行车时，高兴得叫了起来。
• Everybody is planning to whoop it up this weekend.大家都打算在这个周末好好欢闹一番。

9 penguin   

n.企鹅

参考例句：

• The penguin is a flightless bird.企鹅是一种不会飞的鸟。
• He walked with an awkward gait like a penguin.他走路的步子难看得就像企鹅。

10 penguins   

n.企鹅( penguin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why can penguins live in cold environment? 为什么企鹅能生活在寒冷的环境中？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Whales, seals, penguins, and turtles have flippers. 鲸、海豹，企鹅和海龟均有鳍形肢。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

11 streaks   

n.（与周围有所不同的）条纹( streak的名词复数 )；（通常指不好的）特征（倾向）；（不断经历成功或失败的）一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 )；使布满条纹

参考例句：

• streaks of grey in her hair 她头上的绺绺白发
• Bacon has streaks of fat and streaks of lean. 咸肉中有几层肥的和几层瘦的。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

12 fluffy   

adj.有绒毛的，空洞的

参考例句：

• Newly hatched chicks are like fluffy balls.刚孵出的小鸡像绒毛球。
• The steamed bread is very fluffy.馒头很暄。

13 waddling   

v.（像鸭子一样）摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Rhinoceros Give me a break, were been waddling every day. 犀牛甲：饶了我吧，我们晃了一整天了都。 来自互联网
• A short plump woman came waddling along the pavement. 有个矮胖女子一摇一摆地沿人行道走来。 来自互联网

14 beak   

n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻

参考例句：

• The bird had a worm in its beak.鸟儿嘴里叼着一条虫。
• This bird employs its beak as a weapon.这种鸟用嘴作武器。

15 flipped   

轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转，撞毁了。
• The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。

16 swooped   

俯冲，猛冲( swoop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The aircraft swooped down over the buildings. 飞机俯冲到那些建筑物上方。
• The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it. 鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来，并把它杀死。

17 waddled   

v.（像鸭子一样）摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A family of ducks waddled along the river bank. 一群鸭子沿河岸摇摇摆摆地走。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The stout old man waddled across the road. 那肥胖的老人一跩一跩地穿过马路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

18 scooped   

v.抢先报道( scoop的过去式和过去分词 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等）

参考例句：

• They scooped the other newspapers by revealing the matter. 他们抢先报道了这件事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The wheels scooped up stones which hammered ominously under the car. 车轮搅起的石块，在车身下发出不吉祥的锤击声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 honk   

n.雁叫声，汽车喇叭声

参考例句：

• Don't honk the horn indiscriminately.不要乱鸣喇叭！
• While passing another vehicle,you must honk your horn.通过另一部车时必须鸣按喇叭。