2 Bill gets his way
　　Bill came along to lunch the next day. He had a ruddy face, twinkling eyes and a rather bald headwith plenty of hair at each side. The children rushed to meet him. Mrs Mannering smiled at him.
　　‘You gave the children a wonderful time yesterday,’ she said. ‘And now I hear that you want totake them on a night flight. I can’t think why you want to bother yourself with a pack of childrenlike these.’
　　‘Ah – you never know when they’re going to embark¹ on some wonderful adventure,’ said BillSmugs, grinning round at them. ‘I don’t want to be left out of it, you know. Besides, I feel sorryfor you, Mrs Mannering, having to put up with them for eight or nine weeks these summerholidays – I thought it would be a kind deed if I took them off your hands for a while.’
　　‘Well, what do you want them to do?’ asked Mrs Mannering. ‘Just go for a night flight, spendthe night at your old home and come back the next day?’
　　‘That was the first idea I had,’ said Bill. ‘But now I hear I’m due to have three or four days off –and I thought maybe you could spare the children for longer. We could fly to my old home, andthen stay there and mess about a bit. There are heaps of wild birds for Jack² to see, and I’ve nodoubt that Philip will find plenty of even wilder animals. The girls will enjoy the change too.’
　　‘Oh! It does sound good!’ cried Jack, and the others agreed. Mrs Mannering listened andthought for a moment.
　　‘Yes – I don’t see why they shouldn’t go with you, Bill. I know you’ll look after them all rightand see that they don’t get mixed up in any awful adventure again.’
　　‘I can promise you that,’ said Bill. ‘There are no adventures to be found anywhere near my oldhome. It’s a most peaceful, quiet place. Nothing doing at all.’
　　‘Well, if you promise not to rush into danger or trouble, you can go,’ said Mrs Mannering to thedelighted children. ‘When do you want them, Bill?’
　　‘Tomorrow, if possible,’ said Bill. ‘The job I am on seems to be hanging fire at the moment, so Imight as well take my few days now.’
　　‘What’s the job, Bill? Do, do tell us!’ begged Lucy-Ann. Bill laughed.
　　‘I couldn’t possibly tell,’ he said. ‘All my work is secret, you know that. I’ll tell you all aboutthe job when it’s over and done with, though. You’ll find it jolly interesting.’

点击收听单词发音  

1 embark
vi.乘船，着手，从事，上飞机
参考例句：
He is about to embark on a new business venture.他就要开始新的商业冒险活动。 Many people embark for Europe at New York harbor.许多人在纽约港乘船去欧洲。

2 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。

3 jerseys
n.运动衫( jersey的名词复数 )
参考例句：
The maximum quantity of cotton jerseys this year is about DM25,000. 平方米的羊毛地毯超过了以往的订货。 来自口语例句 The NBA is mulling the prospect of stitching advertising logos onto jerseys. 大意：NBA官方正在酝酿一个大煞风景的计划——把广告标志绣上球服！ 来自互联网

4 odds
n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别
参考例句：
The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。 Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

5 squint
v. 使变斜视眼, 斜视, 眯眼看, 偏移, 窥视; n. 斜视, 斜孔小窗; adj. 斜视的, 斜的
参考例句：
A squint can sometimes be corrected by an eyepatch. 斜视有时候可以通过戴眼罩来纠正。 The sun was shinning straight in her eyes which made her squint. 太阳直射着她的眼睛,使她眯起了眼睛。

6 poll
n.民意测验，民意调查，选举投票
参考例句：
The result of the poll won't be known until midnight.选举结果要到午夜才能揭晓。 They expected a heavy poll.他们期望会有很高的投票数。

7 screech
n./v.尖叫；(发出)刺耳的声音
参考例句：
He heard a screech of brakes and then fell down. 他听到汽车刹车发出的尖锐的声音,然后就摔倒了。 The screech of jet planes violated the peace of the afternoon. 喷射机的尖啸声侵犯了下午的平静。

8 nibble
n.轻咬，啃；v.一点点地咬，慢慢啃，吹毛求疵
参考例句：
Inflation began to nibble away at their savings.通货膨胀开始蚕食他们的存款。 The birds cling to the wall and nibble at the brickwork.鸟儿们紧贴在墙上，啄着砖缝。

9 decided
adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的
参考例句：
This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。 There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 hopped
跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花
参考例句：
He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。 He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车，向市区开去。

11 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。

12 jacks
n.抓子游戏；千斤顶( jack的名词复数 )；（电）插孔；[电子学]插座；放弃
参考例句：
Hydraulic jacks under the machine produce the movement. 是机器下面的液压千斤顶造成的移动。 来自《简明英汉词典》 The front end is equipped with hydraulic jacks used for grade adjustment. 前瑞安装有液压千斤顶用来调整坡度。 来自辞典例句

13 strap
n.皮带，带子；v.用带扣住，束牢；用绷带包扎
参考例句：
She held onto a strap to steady herself.她抓住拉手吊带以便站稳。 The nurse will strap up your wound.护士会绑扎你的伤口。

14 fuss
n.过分关心，过分体贴，大惊小怪，小题大作
参考例句：
My mother makes a fuss of me every time I come home.我每次回家，母亲总对我体贴备至。 Stop all this fuss and do your homework.别大惊小怪了，去做你的家庭作业吧。

15 revved
v.（使）加速( rev的过去式和过去分词 )；（数量、活动等）激增；（使发动机）快速旋转；（使）活跃起来
参考例句：
The taxi driver revved up his engine. 出租车司机把发动机发动起来。 The car revved up and roared away. 汽车发动起来，然后轰鸣着开走了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 standing
n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的
参考例句：
After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。 They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。