Chapter Fourteen THE SECRET WAY AT LAST!
　　THE four children crept downstairs through the dark and silent night. Nobody made a sound at all.
　　They made their way to the study. George softly closed the door and then switched on the light.
　　The children stared at the eight panels over the mantelpiece. Yes - there were exactly eight, four inone row and four in the row above. Julian spread the linen¹ roll out on the table, and the childrenpored over it.
　　'The cross is in the middle of the second panel in the top row,' said Julian, in a low voice. I’ll trypressing it. Watch, all of you!'
　　He went to the fireplace. The others followed him, their hearts beating fast with excitement.
　　Julian stood on tiptoe and began to press hard in the middle of the second panel. Nothing happened.
　　'Press harder! Tap it!' said Dick.
　　'I daren't make too much noise,' said Julian, feeling all over the panel to see if there was anyroughness that might tell of a hidden spring or lever.
　　Suddenly, under his hands, the panel slid silently back, just as the one had done at Kirrin Farmhousein the hall! The children stared at the space behind, thrilled.
　　'It's not big enough to get into,' said George. 'It can't be the entrance to the Secret Way.'
　　Julian got out his torch from his dressing-gown pocket. He put it inside the opening, and gave a lowexclamation.
　　74
　　'There's a sort of handle here - with strong wire or something attached to it. I'll pull it and see whathappens.'
　　He pulled - but he was not strong enough to move the handle that seemed to be embedded³ in the wall.
　　Dick put his hand in and the two boys then pulled together.
　　'It's moving - it's giving way a bit,' panted Julian. 'Go on, Dick, pull hard!'
　　The handle suddenly came away from the wall, and behind it came thick wire, rusty⁴ and old. At thesame time a curious grating noise came from below the hearthrug in front of the fireplace, and Annealmost fell.
　　'Julian! Something is moving under the rug!' she said, frightened. 'I felt it. Under the rug, quick!'
　　The handle could not be pulled out any farther. The boys let go, and looked down. To the right of thefireplace, under the rug, something had moved. There was no doubt of that. The rug sagged5

首页  上一页 [1] [2]  [3]  下一页  尾页

点击收听单词发音  

1 linen
n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的
参考例句：
The worker is starching the linen.这名工人正在给亚麻布上浆。 Fine linen and cotton fabrics were known as well as wool.精细的亚麻织品和棉织品像羊毛一样闻名遐迩。

2 exclamation
n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词
参考例句：
He could not restrain an exclamation of approval.他禁不住喝一声采。 The author used three exclamation marks at the end of the last sentence to wake up the readers.作者在文章的最后一句连用了三个惊叹号，以引起读者的注意。

3 embedded
a.扎牢的
参考例句：
an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术 He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。

4 rusty
adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的
参考例句：
The lock on the door is rusty and won't open.门上的锁锈住了。 I haven't practiced my French for months and it's getting rusty.几个月不用，我的法语又荒疏了。

5 sagged
下垂的
参考例句：
The black reticule sagged under the weight of shapeless objects. 黑色的拎包由于装了各种形状的东西而中间下陷。 He sagged wearily back in his chair. 他疲倦地瘫坐到椅子上。

6 downwards
adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地）
参考例句：
He lay face downwards on his bed.他脸向下伏在床上。 As the river flows downwards,it widens.这条河愈到下游愈宽。

7 hopping
n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式
参考例句：
The clubs in town are really hopping. 城里的俱乐部真够热闹的。 I'm hopping over to Paris for the weekend. 我要去巴黎度周末。

8 awfully
adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地
参考例句：
Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。 I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。

9 sagging
下垂[沉，陷]，松垂，垂度
参考例句：
The morale of the enemy troops is continuously sagging. 敌军的士气不断低落。 We are sagging south. 我们的船正离开航线向南漂流。

10 glided
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》

11 mechanism
n.机械装置；机构，结构
参考例句：
The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。 The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

12 smoothly
adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地
参考例句：
The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。 Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

13 thumping
adj.重大的，巨大的；重击的；尺码大的；极好的adv.极端地；非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词)；狠打；怦怦地跳；全力支持
参考例句：
Her heart was thumping with emotion. 她激动得心怦怦直跳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》 He was thumping the keys of the piano. 他用力弹钢琴。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

14 kennel
n.狗舍，狗窝
参考例句：
Sporting dogs should be kept out of doors in a kennel.猎狗应该养在户外的狗窝中。 Rescued dogs are housed in a standard kennel block.获救的狗被装在一个标准的犬舍里。

15 squeal
v.发出长而尖的声音；n.长而尖的声音
参考例句：
The children gave a squeal of fright.孩子们发出惊吓的尖叫声。 There was a squeal of brakes as the car suddenly stopped.小汽车突然停下来时，车闸发出尖叫声。

16 sitting-room
n.（BrE）客厅，起居室
参考例句：
The sitting-room is clean.起居室很清洁。 Each villa has a separate sitting-room.每栋别墅都有一间独立的起居室。

17 squealed
v.长声尖叫，用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
He squealed the words out. 他吼叫着说出那些话。 来自《简明英汉词典》 The brakes of the car squealed. 汽车的刹车发出吱吱声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 bent
n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的
参考例句：
He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。 We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

分享到：