英语读物《神奇树屋》 第十三册 Vacation Under the Volcano 10 A Simple Explanation
时间:2019-02-17 作者:英语课 分类:汪培珽儿童英文分级书单《神奇树屋》
Jack 1 didn't move. He had never been so tired in allhis life.
"Breathe," said Annie.
Jack gulped 2 in cool, clean air. He opened his eyes.
He couldn't see a thing.
"Take off your glasses," said Annie. "They're filthy 3."Jack took off his glasses. The first thing he saw washis backpack. The white tunics 4 and lace-up sandalswere gone. So were their pillow hats and the leatherbag.
Jack let out a long, deep breath. As he cleaned hisglasses on his shirt, a voice came from behind him.
"I'm very glad to see you safe and sound."Morgan le Fay stood in the corner of the tree house.
She looked as lovely and mysterious as ever.
"Happy to be home?" she asked.
Jack nodded. The sound of the erupting volcano stillechoed in his ears.
"It--it was pretty scary," he said in a hoarse 5 voice.
"I know. But you were truly brave," said Morgan.
"You witnessed a famous event in history. Nowadays,scientists study the remains 6 of Pompeii to find outmore about Roman times.""I feel bad for all those people," said Annie.
"Yes," said Morgan. "But most of the people ofPompeii did escape. The city wasn't completely buriedby ash until the next day.""We were almost trapped," said Annie.
"But we asked the ancient story to save us. Then ahuge gladiator helped us."Jack reached into his pack. He breathed a sigh ofrelief. The scroll 7 was still there! He took it out. It wascovered with dust and ashes.
"Here's the story," said Jack.
He handed it to Morgan.
"I am deeply grateful," she said softly. "You riskedeverything to bring this to me. I can never thank youenough.""Don't worry about it," said Jack. He didn't wantMorgan to know how scared he had been.
"Yeah, no problem," said Annie.
Morgan smiled. "You are amazing MasterLibrarians," she said. "Do you think you're up torescuing another ancient story?""Yes!" said Annie.
"Now?" said Jack. Actually he was a little tirednow.
Morgan laughed. "No. Take a nice vacation. Comeback two weeks from today. Then you will take a tripto ancient China,"16she said.
"Ancient China? Wow," said Anme. "Oh, man," saidJack.
"Go home now and rest," said Morgan. She handedJack his pack.
"Thanks," he said. "Bye.""Bye," said Annie.
Morgan gave them a little wave. Then Annie andJack left the tree house and head-ed down the ropeladder. When they reached the ground, Jack lookedup.
"Morgan," he called. "What is that story about--theone we just rescued?""It's called The Strongest Man in the World," saidMorgan. "It's a lost tale about Hercules.""Hercules?" said Jack.
"Yes, he was one of the heroes of the Greeks andthe Romans," said Morgan. "He was a son of Jupiter.""Oh, wow. Now I get it," said Annie.
"I'm taking it back now to Camelot's library," saidMorgan. "Everyone will be so excited to read it,thanks to you." She waved to them. "Good-bye fornow!"As she waved, the wind began to whirl. The treehouse began to spin. In a blur 8 of shadow and light,Morgan and the magic tree house were gone.
Jack and Annie started walking through the woods.
"Get it? Get it?" said Annie.
"Get what?" said Jack.
"We were saved by Hercules!" said Annie. "Weasked the story to save us--and Hercules appeared!""That's not possible," said Jack. "It was just somegladiator guy. The story of Hercules is a myth. Thatmeans he never really lived."They left the woods and started up their street.
"I know it's a myth," said Annie. "But I have asimple explanation.""What?" said Jack.
"Hercules is a myth to people in this time," saidAnnie. "But in Roman times, lots of people believedhe was real. So, since we were in Roman times, hewas real to us.""I don't know..." said Jack.
"Did you ever hear the saying?" said Annie. "Whenin Rome, do as the Romans do."Jack laughed. "Yeah." He looked up at the sky.
"Thanks, Hercules," he said softly, "whatever youare.""Jack! Annie!" their dad called from their frontporch. "Time to go!""Oh, brother, I forgot," said Jack.
"Yeah, I hope nothing exciting happens on ourvacation," said Annie17"Yeah," said Jack. "I hope it's really, really boring.""Hurry!" their dad said. "Coming!" they called. Thenthey took off running for home--and a restfulvacation.
More Facts for You and Jack1) Pompeii was forgotten after it was buried in ashand pumice. In 1594, the ruined city was discoveredby workmen who were digging a tunnel. Later, anearby town called Herculaneum was also discovered.
It had been buried by boiling mud after the volcanoerupted. Many things from everyday life have beenuncovered in both Pompeii and Herculaneum.
Recently, a library of scrolls 9 was found.
2) The language of the ancient Romans was calledLatin. Many words in the English, French, andSpanish languages come from Latin. For example,liber means "book" and libri means "books" in Latin.
The word "book" in Spanish is libro and in French islivre. In English we have the word "library."3) Mount Vesuvius erupted in the year A.D. 79. Theletters "A.D." stand for the words ann,o Domini.
Anno Domini means "in the year of the Lord" inLatin, which refers to the year Jesus Christ was born-about 2,000 years ago.
4) The Romans took their name from the city ofRome, which was the capital of their empire. Rome isnow the capital of the country of Italy.
5) In A.D. 79, the Romans had a powerful army.
They ruled all of Western Europe, the Near East, andNorth Africa.
6) Hercules is the Roman name for the hero fromthe Greek myths known as Heracles. After theRomans conquered ancient Greece, they adoptedmany of Greece's heroes and gods and goddesses.
Heracles--who became Hercules--was one of them.
Don't miss the next Magic Tree House book, whenJack and Annie are whisked back to ancient China tofind another story in DAY OF THE DRAGON KING
- 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。
- He gulped down the rest of his tea and went out. 他把剩下的茶一饮而尽便出去了。
- She gulped nervously, as if the question bothered her. 她紧张地咽了一下,似乎那问题把她难住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories.整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。
- You really should throw out that filthy old sofa and get a new one.你真的应该扔掉那张肮脏的旧沙发,然后再去买张新的。
- After work colourful clothes replace the blue tunics. 下班后,蓝制服都换成了色彩鲜艳的衣服。 来自辞典例句
- The ancient Greeks fastened their tunics with Buttons and loops. 古希腊人在肩部用钮扣与环圈将束腰外衣扣紧。 来自互联网
- He asked me a question in a hoarse voice.他用嘶哑的声音问了我一个问题。
- He was too excited and roared himself hoarse.他过于激动,嗓子都喊哑了。
- He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
- The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。
- As I opened the scroll,a panorama of the Yellow River unfolded.我打开卷轴时,黄河的景象展现在眼前。
- He was presented with a scroll commemorating his achievements.他被授予一幅卷轴,以表彰其所做出的成就。
- The houses appeared as a blur in the mist.房子在薄雾中隐隐约约看不清。
- If you move your eyes and your head,the picture will blur.如果你的眼睛或头动了,图像就会变得模糊不清。
- Either turn it off or only pick up selected stuff like wands, rings and scrolls. 把他关掉然后只捡你需要的物品,像是魔杖(wand),戒指(rings)和滚动条(scrolls)。 来自互联网
- Ancient scrolls were found in caves by the Dead Sea. 死海旁边的山洞里发现了古代的卷轴。 来自辞典例句