神奇树屋8中文版故事内容（神奇树屋之恐龙谷历险记第2章精读笔记）

继续读《Dinosaur Before Dark》，神奇树屋系列读物的第一本第2章“The Monster"。

在主角Jack和Annie进入树林后，他们开始了他们的神奇冒险之旅。

还是老规矩，我们主要通过剧情，从写作的谋篇布局与遣词造句两方面进行分析。

Jack crawled through a hole in the tree house floor.

Wow. The tree house was filled with books. Books everywhere. Very old books with dusty covers. New books with shiny, bright covers.

Annie进入神奇树屋后，Jack尾随其后，推了推眼镜（Jack pushed his glasses into place)，紧握绳梯，通过树屋地板上的一个洞，爬进了树屋。接着，他发现树屋里果然到处是书，有落满灰尘的旧书，也有崭新发亮的新书。

得明显，这里的写作顺序是先对某种行为或者动作进行动态叙述，然后接着对所见的环境进行静态描写。值得我们学习的是这种先动态后静态相结合的写作手法。

词汇方面需要注意新旧书籍的细节对比：dusty covers & shiny bright covers.

"Look. You can see far, far way, " Said Annie. She was peering out the tree house window.

Jack looked out the window with her. Down below were the tops of the other trees. In the distance he saw the Frog Creek library, The elementary school, (and) the park.

Annie pointed in the other direction.

"There's our house, " she said.

Sure enough. There was their white wooden house with the green porch. Next door was their neighbor's black dog, Henry. He looked very tiny.

上了树屋后，孩子们通常第一件喜欢做的事情就是从树屋里向外眺望。Annie说，快看远处！于是，Jack和Annie一起从窗子向外看。他先看到了窗下其他的树顶，然后望向远处，看见了图书馆、小学和公园。Annie这时指向另一边，她看到了自己带有绿色门廊的白色木房子和邻居家的黑狗亨利。黑狗看上去特别小。

这里需要注意静态环境描写的顺序，先看下，再看一边，最后再看另一边。而看向另一边时，使用了人物对白的方法， 自然而然地转向了另一边。

另外，要注意的语言点主要是同义词的替换使用。向窗外望去，出现了两个近义表达：look out, peer out. look out the window是美式英语表达，而英式英语表达则为look out of the window。

其中，有几个倒装的句子值得在写作中学习与运用：

Down below were the tops of the other trees.

Next door was their neighor's black dog, Henry.

There's our house.

以上几句分别是以下句子的倒装：

The tops of the other trees were down below.

Their neighbor's black dog, Henry was next door.

Our house is there.

倒装主要是对特定成分进行强调。

值得注意的另一个句子：Annie指向另一边。

Annie pointed ___ the other direction.

注意__线处用介词in.

porch一词用来指门廊，房子入口处有门檐的部分。

"Hi, Henry!" shouted Annie.

"Shush!" said Jack. "We're not supposed to bu up here. "

He glanced around the tree house again.

"I wonder who owns all these books, " he said. He noticed bookmarks were sticking out of many of them.

"I like this one, " said Annie. She held up a book with a castle on the cover.

"Here's a book about Pennsylvania, " said Jack. He turned to the page with the bookmark.

"Hey, there' s a picture of Frog Creek in here, " said Jack. "It's a picture of these woods!"

"Oh, here's a book for you, " said Annie. She held up a book about dinosaurs. A blue silk bookmark was sticking out of it.

"Let me see it. " Jack set down his backpack and grabbed the book from her.

"You look at that one, and I'll look at the one about castles, " said Annie.

"No, we better not, " said Jack. "We don't know who these books belong to. "

作者利用Annie所熟悉的邻居家的狗，让她说话，从而与Jack进行对话的互动。她大声地喊，Jack对此行为不是很满意，说他们本不应该在树屋里，现在你还喊上了。

只要他们一说话，作者就得让他们俩杠上，这就是一个常见的写作套路， 突出他们的不同性格以及由此产生的冲突。

之后, Jack收回了他向外看的视线，开始审视起树屋。他先大致扫了一眼，然后注意到树屋里，有很多书都有书签在里面。Annie拿起了一本封面上有城堡的书，她再给Jack选了一本有恐龙的书。看到有恐龙的书，Jack迫不及待地把书从她手里夺了过来。

这段中需要注意的有这几个表达。 一是看的表达：glance, notice. glance强调扫一眼，所谓环顾四周，而目光落在一个具体的东西上时，可用notice，注意到。

二是谈到书签从书里露出或探出它们的小脑袋:

the bookmarks were _____ sticking out of the books.

注意stick out of ...的用法，还记得第1章里Annie从树屋的窗里探出她的小脑袋怎么说吗？对了，she poked her head out of the tree house window.

因此，stick out of 与poke one's head out of...的用法基本一致，可以替换使用。

三是set down his backpack中set down的用法，表示“放下，卸下”, unload something， 文章中与它对应的词汇是“拿起”， Annie拿起一本封面上有城堡的书，Annie held up a book with a castle on the cover.

所以，set down 和hold up可视为一对常见的反义词。

But even as he said this, Jack opened the dinosaur book to where the bookmark was. He couldn't help himself.

He turned to a picture of an ancient flying reptile. A Pteranodon.

He touched the huge bat-like wings.

"Wow, " whisptered Jack. " I wish I could see a Pteranodon for real. "

Jack studied the picture of the odd-looking creature soaring through the sky.

"Ahhh!" screamed Annie.

"What?" said Jack.

"A monster!" Annie cried. She pointed to the tree house window.

"Stop pretending, Annie, " said Jack.

"No, really!" said Annie.

Jack looked out the window.

A giant creature was gliding above the treetops! He had a long, weird crest on the back of his head. A skinny beak. And huge bat-like wings!

It was a real live Pteranodon!

The creature curved through the sky. He was coming straight toward the tree house. He looked like a glider plane!

Jack尽管说这些书的主人不明，最好还是不要翻看，但他还是没忍住。他翻到一页有会飞的爬行动物的图片，是翼龙。他告诉自己真希望看到一只真的翼龙。别说，还真变成了现实。很快Annie说看见了一只怪物，与第一章开头的伏笔呼应。Jack开始还不信，说Annie你就别装了，可往窗外一看，果然是只会飞的怪物。这只怪物在树顶上滑翔。头的后面长着长长的怪异头冠，尖尖瘦长的鸟嘴，还有像蝙蝠般巨大的翅膀。它在天空中划出美丽的弧线后，直接朝树屋冲了过来，就像一架滑翔机。

这段中首先要注意“even as..."的用法，这里相当于”even if"的作用，表示尽管的意思。

同样，我们也可以从这段里总结出很多近义词的用法。例如，谈到怪物时，我们可说a flying reptile, odd-looking creature, monster， 还可以对怪物进行细节化的描述：

He has a long, weird crest on the back of his head. A skinny beak. And huge bat-like wings.

所有这些，其实都最终指向一个词: Pteranodon， 翼龙。

说到“飞行”时，这段中使用了三个不同的词汇来表达：soar(翱翔）, glide(滑翔）， curve(划出弧线），都是同一个意思。

Jack想看“真”翼龙时，文中前后使用两句话来呼应“真”：

I wish I could see a Pteranodon for real.

It was a real live Pteranondon.

"for real"一词表示“来真的”，例如：

他使得投票者相信了他是严肃认真的。

He managed to convince voters that he was for real.

后面真翼龙果然来了，是一只不仅真，还活生生的翼龙呢， a real live Pteranondon.

The tree trembled.

Suddenly the creature soared up. High into the sky. Jack nearly fell out the window trying to see it.

The wind picked up. It was whistling now.

The tree house started to spin.

"What's happening?" cried Jack.

"Get down!" shouted Annie.

She pulled him back from the window.

The tree house was spinning. Faster and Faster.

Jack squeezed his eyes shut. He held on to Annie.

Then everything was still.

Absolutely still.

Jack opened his eyes. Sunlight slanted through the window. There was Annie. The books. His backpack.

The tree house was still high up in an oak tree. But it wasn't the SAME oak tree.

这段中的写作技巧是关于气氛的烘托。为了营造一种诡异恐怖的气氛，可以从环境、人物话语等多方面进行烘托，最后才慢慢揭开可能出现的意外情况， 有点类似于先抑后扬的手法。

由于翼龙要撞向树屋，作者写到树叶都为之颤抖了。而Jack差一点都要从窗边掉下去了，幸亏Annie把他拉了回来。这时，起风了，发出呼啸的声音，而树屋也开始不停地旋转起来，Jack紧闭双眼，抓紧Annie。

当他再次睁眼时，一切都归于平静，他发现一切如常，只是树屋不再在原来的那棵橡树上了。读到此处，是不是有一种网文穿越的感觉来了？

这段中需要注意的词pick up, 在这里表示起风了。记得《Peppa Pig》小猪佩奇一集里，猪妈妈告诉佩奇，如果要放风筝，一定得等起风了才行, you have to wait for the wind to pick up a little bit.

另外，还可以学到短语“紧闭双眼”， 你可能会说close one's eyes tightly, 但更为地道的说法是：squeeze one's eyes shut.

可以掌握的另一个比较好的写作句子是：阳光照进了窗户。

The sun ______ ________ the window.

对了，文中使用了slanted through, slant through表示“斜照”之意。但是，如果指强烈的阳光普照大地，我们可以考虑：

The sun was beating down relentlessly.

最后，作一个简单的小结，能从此章中学到的写作小技巧主要有两个：

1. 行为动态描述和静态环境描写相结合

2. 注意使用环境、人物的话语与情绪反应来烘托气氛。

而遣词造句方面，主要是几个的同义词表达：

1 看 look, peer, glance, notice, catch sight of

2 怪物 odd-looking creature, monster, flying reptile

3 飞 soar, glide, curve, fly

还有几个精彩的习惯表语：

1 起风 pick up

2 闭眼 squeeze one's eyes shut

可以在今后的英语写作中尝试使用这些技巧和同义语表达，祝好心情~

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