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CHAPTER ONE Beyond the Earth
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 The rocket ship Shooting Star powered through the black deeps of space like a silver bullet. Inside a room of their parents’ suite1 aboard the vessel2, Ted3 Kenton and his sister Jill sat before a large window looking out at the wonders of space in the year A.D. 2003.
 
“It doesn’t seem as if we’re moving at all, does it, Sis?” Ted asked.
 
Jill shook her auburn head. “No, but it scares me to know how fast we’re going!” she replied.
 
10
Ted straightened his sturdy young shoulders and shook strands4 of brown hair out of his eyes. It was natural that girls should be scared of things connected with space travel, he thought. “Thousands of miles an hour isn’t much,” he said lightly.
 
“But what if we should hit something!” Jill complained. “It would be an awful crash!”
 
“The only things we have to worry about hitting are meteors,” Ted told her. “The Shooting Star has radar5 instruments that tell us when they’re headed straight at us.”
 
“Father says that sometimes meteors come so fast that space ships can’t get out of the way of them,” Jill returned, with solemn eyes.
 
In brotherly fashion Ted pressed the shoulder of his eleven-and-a-half-year-old sister, younger than he by a year. “Don’t start worrying about everything that can happen to us, Jill. We’ve got a lot ahead of us on Mars,” he advised.
 
“I—I’m not so sure I want to go to Mars,” Jill blurted6. “It’s so cold and bare and lonely there, Ted. Why did Father have to sign up with the Martian Archeology Society?”
 
Ted looked at her with some surprise. “Dad talked this over with us. You said you wanted to go.”
 
11
“It didn’t seem so scary then, although I didn’t really want to go, but out here in the dark where there’s never a sunrise and everything is so still and quiet, I—I feel afraid!”
 
“Does Dad or Mom know you feel this way?” Ted asked.
 
She shook her head. “Father’s counted so much on us going to Mars. He was so lonely there before without us. If he knew I didn’t want to go, he’d feel he had to get a job on Earth. But you know his first love is excavation7 on Mars.”
 
“You’ll be all right, Sis, when we get settled in our new home. They’ve got it all ready for us. Think of the fun it’ll be!” Ted said encouragingly.
 
Jill seemed to feel better and smiled. Both turned their attention to the wondrous8 misty9 veil of the Milky10 Way outside. It reminded Ted of a great caravan11 of countless12 tiny sheep trooping through the endless black of space night. Each one of those millions of light points he knew to be individual giant suns. How frighteningly huge and marvelous was God’s universe!
 
12
 
“The Earth!” She spoke13 in awe14.
 
13
Directly in front of them hung the wrinkled gray face of Luna, the Moon, which they would pass before long. Ted shuddered15 at its forbidding deep pits and miles of barren, dead plains.
 
Jill leaned forward eagerly on the window seat on which they were perched, her nose almost touching16 the clear plastic window. “Ted!” she exclaimed. “What’s that green ball below us?”
 
Ted looked, then grinned. “Don’t you even know your own planet when you see it?”
 
“The Earth!” She spoke in awe. “Of course!”
 
Ted was not surprised that his sister had not recognized the globe, in so far as neither of them had seen it before from this dramatic position. Ever since their fire-off from the Arizona space harbor, the Earth had been out of their view, beneath them.
 
“Look!” Jill cried. “I can make out the outline of Africa! It looks like it’s buried under fog. I didn’t know before that you could actually see the atmosphere!”
 
“I knew it,” Ted said, with mock superiority. “I bet you don’t know it’s hundreds of miles deep.”
 
14
“You’re not the only one who knows the answers, Ted Kenton, even if you are pretty smart,” she returned. “I know that it’s the lack of atmosphere out here in space that makes everything so crystal clear. That’s why we can see so many thousands more stars out here than we can from Earth under a layer of air.”
 
“That’s not bad for a girl,” Ted replied, with a tolerant grin.
 
She shoved him in playful displeasure. Although the push was not hard, it upset Ted’s balance, and he slipped off the window seat and rolled onto the metal floor. Jill gasped17 in alarm and darted18 to his side. As she tried to help him up, she too lost her equilibrium19 and fell beside him. Ted looked at her and laughed.
 
Their awkwardness was caused by the fact that they wore magnetized shoes that were attracted to the metal floor of the space ship. Even when sitting down, they had kept the soles of their shoes on the metal of the seat. Ted got to his feet and helped Jill up.
 
“Will we ever get used to these funny shoes?” Jill complained.
 
15
“We’ll have to,” Ted said. “If we didn’t wear them we’d go floating around in the air like a feather. That’s another disadvantage of leaving Earth. We don’t have any weight at all in space. If we wanted to, we could take off our shoes and stretch out in the air just like on a soft couch.”
 
“It might be fun to swim around in here just like a fish,” Jill mused20. “I think I’ll try it.”
 
Ted knew he should stop her, but his curiosity to see such an experiment prevented him from giving in to the tug22 of his conscience.
 
“Be careful!” Ted warned. “Any motion you make will be hard to stop.”
 
When her shoes were off, Jill pressed gently upward from her toes. She shrieked23 in pleasure as she rose gracefully24 into the air. Reaching the ceiling of the room, she pushed against it and floated downward again.
 
“That’s lots of fun!” she said. “Why don’t you try it, Ted?”
 
“Uh-uh. Another time. One of us had better keep his feet.”
 
16
Jill tried other movements, whirling and doing flip-overs. Then she grew bolder, moving more swiftly. She teased Ted into trying to catch her, and he finally got into the game. He lunged at her but missed her fleet form every time. The game grew more active. Presently both of them were scampering25 about in the space-ship compartment26, laughing and having great fun.
 
Jill paused in one corner beneath an air-vent21 box. “Try and catch me!” she taunted27, her eyes shiny with merriment. “I’ll let you get real close.”
 
Ted glided28 catlike across the floor, his metal-soled shoes clicking at every step. Only when he was nearly upon her did she move. She flexed29 her knees and soared off above him, laughing. His hands raked the air but missed her agile30 form.
 
Suddenly Ted’s heart seemed to stop dead. “Jill! Look out! You’ll hit that air vent!”
 
She saw the danger too late. She screamed and crashed heavily into the metal vent, head on. Her head lolled in unconsciousness, and her body hung limp as a broken toy against the ceiling of the space-ship room.

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1 suite MsMwB     
n.一套(家具);套房;随从人员
参考例句:
  • She has a suite of rooms in the hotel.她在那家旅馆有一套房间。
  • That is a nice suite of furniture.那套家具很不错。
2 vessel 4L1zi     
n.船舶;容器,器皿;管,导管,血管
参考例句:
  • The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
  • You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。
3 ted 9gazhs     
vt.翻晒,撒,撒开
参考例句:
  • The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
  • She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。
4 strands d184598ceee8e1af7dbf43b53087d58b     
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 )
参考例句:
  • Twist a length of rope from strands of hemp. 用几股麻搓成了一段绳子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She laced strands into a braid. 她把几股线编织成一根穗带。 来自《简明英汉词典》
5 radar kTUxx     
n.雷达,无线电探测器
参考例句:
  • They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
  • Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。
6 blurted fa8352b3313c0b88e537aab1fcd30988     
v.突然说出,脱口而出( blurt的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She blurted it out before I could stop her. 我还没来得及制止,她已脱口而出。
  • He blurted out the truth, that he committed the crime. 他不慎说出了真相,说是他犯了那个罪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 excavation RiKzY     
n.挖掘,发掘;被挖掘之地
参考例句:
  • The bad weather has hung up the work of excavation.天气不好耽误了挖掘工作。
  • The excavation exposed some ancient ruins.这次挖掘暴露出一些古遗迹。
8 wondrous pfIyt     
adj.令人惊奇的,奇妙的;adv.惊人地;异乎寻常地;令人惊叹地
参考例句:
  • The internal structure of the Department is wondrous to behold.看一下国务院的内部结构是很有意思的。
  • We were driven across this wondrous vast land of lakes and forests.我们乘车穿越这片有着湖泊及森林的广袤而神奇的土地。
9 misty l6mzx     
adj.雾蒙蒙的,有雾的
参考例句:
  • He crossed over to the window to see if it was still misty.他走到窗户那儿,看看是不是还有雾霭。
  • The misty scene had a dreamy quality about it.雾景给人以梦幻般的感觉。
10 milky JD0xg     
adj.牛奶的,多奶的;乳白色的
参考例句:
  • Alexander always has milky coffee at lunchtime.亚历山大总是在午餐时喝掺奶的咖啡。
  • I like a hot milky drink at bedtime.我喜欢睡前喝杯热奶饮料。
11 caravan OrVzu     
n.大蓬车;活动房屋
参考例句:
  • The community adviser gave us a caravan to live in.社区顾问给了我们一间活动住房栖身。
  • Geoff connected the caravan to the car.杰弗把旅行用的住屋拖车挂在汽车上。
12 countless 7vqz9L     
adj.无数的,多得不计其数的
参考例句:
  • In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
  • I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。
13 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
14 awe WNqzC     
n.敬畏,惊惧;vt.使敬畏,使惊惧
参考例句:
  • The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
  • The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。
15 shuddered 70137c95ff493fbfede89987ee46ab86     
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
参考例句:
  • He slammed on the brakes and the car shuddered to a halt. 他猛踩刹车,车颤抖着停住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I shuddered at the sight of the dead body. 我一看见那尸体就战栗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
16 touching sg6zQ9     
adj.动人的,使人感伤的
参考例句:
  • It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
  • His letter was touching.他的信很感人。
17 gasped e6af294d8a7477229d6749fa9e8f5b80     
v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要
参考例句:
  • She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
  • People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
18 darted d83f9716cd75da6af48046d29f4dd248     
v.投掷,投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 );向前冲,飞奔
参考例句:
  • The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect. 蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了,瞪了我一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
19 equilibrium jiazs     
n.平衡,均衡,相称,均势,平静
参考例句:
  • Change in the world around us disturbs our inner equilibrium.我们周围世界的变化扰乱了我们内心的平静。
  • This is best expressed in the form of an equilibrium constant.这最好用平衡常数的形式来表示。
20 mused 0affe9d5c3a243690cca6d4248d41a85     
v.沉思,冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 );沉思自语说(某事)
参考例句:
  • \"I wonder if I shall ever see them again, \"he mused. “我不知道是否还可以再见到他们,”他沉思自问。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • \"Where are we going from here?\" mused one of Rutherford's guests. 卢瑟福的一位客人忍不住说道:‘我们这是在干什么?” 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
21 vent yiPwE     
n.通风口,排放口;开衩;vt.表达,发泄
参考例句:
  • He gave vent to his anger by swearing loudly.他高声咒骂以发泄他的愤怒。
  • When the vent became plugged,the engine would stop.当通风口被堵塞时,发动机就会停转。
22 tug 5KBzo     
v.用力拖(或拉);苦干;n.拖;苦干;拖船
参考例句:
  • We need to tug the car round to the front.我们需要把那辆车拉到前面。
  • The tug is towing three barges.那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。
23 shrieked dc12d0d25b0f5d980f524cd70c1de8fe     
v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She shrieked in fright. 她吓得尖叫起来。
  • Li Mei-t'ing gave a shout, and Lu Tzu-hsiao shrieked, "Tell what? 李梅亭大声叫,陆子潇尖声叫:“告诉什么? 来自汉英文学 - 围城
24 gracefully KfYxd     
ad.大大方方地;优美地
参考例句:
  • She sank gracefully down onto a cushion at his feet. 她优雅地坐到他脚旁的垫子上。
  • The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line. 新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。
25 scampering 5c15380619b12657635e8413f54db650     
v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑,惊惶奔跑( scamper的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • A cat miaowed, then was heard scampering away. 马上起了猫叫,接着又听见猫逃走的声音。 来自汉英文学 - 家(1-26) - 家(1-26)
  • A grey squirrel is scampering from limb to limb. 一只灰色的松鼠在树枝间跳来跳去。 来自辞典例句
26 compartment dOFz6     
n.卧车包房,隔间;分隔的空间
参考例句:
  • We were glad to have the whole compartment to ourselves.真高兴,整个客车隔间由我们独享。
  • The batteries are safely enclosed in a watertight compartment.电池被安全地置于一个防水的隔间里。
27 taunted df22a7ddc6dcf3131756443dea95d149     
嘲讽( taunt的过去式和过去分词 ); 嘲弄; 辱骂; 奚落
参考例句:
  • The other kids continually taunted him about his size. 其他孩子不断地耻笑他的个头儿。
  • Some of the girls taunted her about her weight. 有些女孩子笑她胖。
28 glided dc24e51e27cfc17f7f45752acf858ed1     
v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 );掠过;(鸟或飞机 ) 滑翔
参考例句:
  • The President's motorcade glided by. 总统的车队一溜烟开了过去。
  • They glided along the wall until they were out of sight. 他们沿着墙壁溜得无影无踪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
29 flexed 703e75e8210e20f0cb60ad926085640e     
adj.[医]曲折的,屈曲v.屈曲( flex的过去式和过去分词 );弯曲;(为准备大干而)显示实力;摩拳擦掌
参考例句:
  • He stretched and flexed his knees to relax himself. 他伸屈膝关节使自己放松一下。 来自辞典例句
  • He flexed his long stringy muscles manfully. 他孔武有力地弯起膀子,显露出细长条的肌肉。 来自辞典例句
30 agile Ix2za     
adj.敏捷的,灵活的
参考例句:
  • She is such an agile dancer!她跳起舞来是那么灵巧!
  • An acrobat has to be agile.杂技演员必须身手敏捷。


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