Eleven
James’s large frightened eyes travelled slowly round the room.
The creatures, some sitting on chairs, others reclining on a sofa, were all watching him intently.
Creatures?
Or were they insects?
An insect is usually something rather small, is it not? A grasshopper¹, for example, is an insect.
So what would you call it if you saw a grasshopper as large as a dog? As large as a large dog. Youcould hardly call that an insect, could you?
There was an Old-Green-Grasshopper as large as a large dog sitting directly across the room fromJames now.
And next to the Old-Green-Grasshopper, there was an enormous Spider.
And next to the Spider, there was a giant Ladybird with nine black spots on her scarlet² shell.
Each of these three was squatting³ upon a magnificent chair.
On a sofa near by, reclining comfortably in curled-up positions, there were a Centipede and anEarthworm.
On the floor over in the far corner, there was something thick and white that looked as though itmight be a Silkworm. But it was sleeping soundly and nobody was paying any attention to it.
Every one of these ‘creatures’ was at least as big as James himself, and in the strange greenish lightthat shone down from somewhere in the ceiling, they were absolutely terrifying to behold⁴.
‘I‘m hungry!’ the Spider announced suddenly, staring hard at James.
‘I‘m famished⁵!’ the Old-Green-Grasshopper said.
‘So am I!’ the Ladybird cried.
The Centipede sat up a little straighter on the sofa. ‘Everyone’s famished!’ he said. ‘We need food!’
Four pairs of round black glassy eyes were all fixed⁶ upon James.
The Centipede made a wriggling⁷ movement with his body as though he were about to glide

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1 grasshopper
n.蚱蜢，蝗虫，蚂蚱
参考例句：
He thought he had made an end of the little grasshopper.他以为把那个小蚱蜢干掉了。 The grasshopper could not find anything to eat.蚱蜢找不到任何吃的东西。

2 scarlet
n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的
参考例句：
The scarlet leaves of the maples contrast well with the dark green of the pines.深红的枫叶和暗绿的松树形成了明显的对比。 The glowing clouds are growing slowly pale,scarlet,bright red,and then light red.天空的霞光渐渐地淡下去了，深红的颜色变成了绯红，绯红又变为浅红。

3 squatting
v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的现在分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。
参考例句：
They ended up squatting in the empty houses on Oxford Road. 他们落得在牛津路偷住空房的境地。 They've been squatting in an apartment for the past two years. 他们过去两年来一直擅自占用一套公寓。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 behold
v.看，注视，看到
参考例句：
The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。 The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

5 famished
adj.饥饿的
参考例句：
When's lunch?I'm famished!什么时候吃午饭？我饿得要死了！ My feet are now killing me and I'm absolutely famished.我的脚现在筋疲力尽，我绝对是极饿了。

6 fixed
adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的
参考例句：
Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？ Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

7 wriggling
v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的现在分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等）；蠕蠕
参考例句：
The baby was wriggling around on my lap. 婴儿在我大腿上扭来扭去。 Something that looks like a gray snake is wriggling out. 有一种看来象是灰蛇的东西蠕动着出来了。 来自辞典例句

8 glide
n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝
参考例句：
We stood in silence watching the snake glide effortlessly.我们噤若寒蝉地站着，眼看那条蛇逍遥自在地游来游去。 So graceful was the ballerina that she just seemed to glide.那芭蕾舞女演员翩跹起舞，宛如滑翔。

9 positively
adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实
参考例句：
She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。 The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

10 kindly
adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地
参考例句：
Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。 A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

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