兒童英語讀物《神奇樹屋》 第六冊 Afternoon on the Amazon 07

7 Freeze!

Jack and Annie jumped out of the canoe.

The rain was starting to fall harder.

The monkey took off. He swung from tree to tree， heading up the river bank.

He screeched and beckoned to Jack and Annie.

“He wants us to follow him!” said Annie.

“No! We have to find the special thing. Then go home!” said Jack.

“He wants to help us!” said Annie. She took off after the monkey.

The two of them vanished into the rain forest.

“Annie!”

Thunder shook the sky.

“Oh， brother，” said Jack.

He dashed after Annie and the monkey. Into the dark forest.

The forest seemed surprisingly dry.

Jack looked up. It was still raining. But the treetops acted like a huge umbrella.

“Annie?” called Jack.

“Jack! Jack!” cried Annie.

“Where are you?”

“Here!”

Jack hurried in the direction of Annie’s voice.

Soon he found the monkey. He was screeching and swinging from a tree.

Annie was kneeling on the forest floor. She was playing with an animal that looked like a giant kitten.

“What’s that?” Jack said.

“I don’t know， but I love it!” said Annie.

Annie batted the animal’s paws. It had gold fur and black spots.

“I’d better find out what it is，” said Jack. He pulled out the rain forest book and flipped through it.

“Oh， it’s so cute，” said Annie.

Jack found a picture of an animal with gold fur and black spots. He read：

The jaguar is the biggest predatorm in the western hemisphere.

“Forget cute，”Jack said.“That must be a baby jaguar. It’s going to grow up and be the biggest predator in—”

“What’s a predator?” asked Annie.

GRRR! There was a terrible growl.

Jack whirled around.

The mother jaguar was coming out from behind a tree. She was creeping over the dead leaves—right toward Annie.

“Freeze!” whispered Jack.

Annie froze. But the jaguar kept moving slowly toward her.

“Help，” said Jack weakly.

Suddenly the monkey swooped down from his tree. He grabbed the jaguar’

s tail!

The cat roared and spun around.

Annie jumped up.

The monkey pulled the jaguar’s tail again. Then he let go and took off.

The jaguar sprang after him.

“Run， Annie!” cried Jack.

Jack and Annie took off through the rain forest. They ran for their lives!

7別動!

杰克和安妮跳出了獨木舟，雨下得越來越大了。猴子跑出來，它在樹與樹之間不停地跳躍，朝著岸邊來了，它喊叫著朝杰克和安妮招手。

“它要我們跟著它!”安妮說。

“不行。我們必須去找那個特別的東西，然后回家!”杰克說。

“它想要幫助我們!”安妮說，她跟著猴子往前走去，消失在雨林中了。

“安妮!”

雷聲震天響。

“噢!真是的!”杰克說。他只好循著安妮和那只猴子沖進了陰暗的雨林。

雨林看上去出人意料的干。杰克抬頭看了看，此時仍然在下雨，可是厚密的樹梢就像一把巨大的雨傘擋住了雨水。

“安妮?”杰克叫道。

“杰克!杰克!”安妮喊道。

“你在哪兒?”

“這兒!”

杰克趕緊朝著安妮聲音的方向跑去，不久就看到了那只猴子，它正叫著在一棵樹上搖擺，而安妮正跪在地上，和一只看上去像大號的小貓咪一樣的動物玩耍呢。

“那是什么?”杰克說。

“我不知道，但是我喜歡它!”安妮說。

安妮拍了拍小動物的爪子，它有著金色的皮毛和黑色的斑點。

“我最好看看這是什么動物。”杰克說。他拿出熱帶雨林的書，在里面翻找著。

“噢!它太可愛了。”安妮說。

杰克找到了一張長著金色皮毛和黑色斑點的動物的圖片，他讀道：

美洲豹是西半球體形最大的食肉動物。

“別覺得可愛了!”杰克說，“那肯定是一只小美洲豹，不久就會長大變成這里最厲害的掠食者。”

“什么是掠食者?”安妮問道。

就在這時，傳來一聲可怕的吼叫聲，杰克一轉身，一只母美洲豹正從一棵樹后面出來，它正在落葉上躡手躡腳地爬著，朝著安妮過來了!

“別動!”杰克小聲說。

安妮不敢動了，可是那只母美洲豹仍然在緩緩地朝著她移動。

“救命。”杰克小聲說。

突然，那只猴子突然從一棵樹上飛撲下來抓住了美洲豹的尾巴!母豹咆哮著轉了個圈。

安妮一躍跳了起來。猴子又拉住了美洲豹的尾巴，然后放手跑開了，母豹一躍而起追趕那只猴子去了。

“快跑安妮!”杰克喊道。

杰克和安妮在雨林里拔腿狂奔，他們這可是在逃命哪!