WHEN THE HOUSE BLEW we were crouched¹ behind the cover of a black-and-white, barely a hundred feet away.

There were bold orange flashes as the windows exploded. Then the house seemed to lift off its foundation, a fiery² cloud ripping the whole thing apart through the roof.

"Get down!" Molinari yelled. "Everybody down!"

The blast hurled³ us backward. I took Cindy, who'd been standing⁴ next to me, down to the ground, shielding her from the force of the blast and the shower of debris⁵.

We lay there as the searing gust⁶ lifted over us. A few cries of "Holy shit" and "Are you all right?"

Slowly, we got back up. "Oh, God... ," Cindy groaned⁷.

Where a second ago a white clapboard house had been standing, now there was only smoke, fire, and a crater⁸ of blown-out walls.

"Michelle," Cindy muttered. "Come on, Michelle."

We watched the fire rise as the wind whipped the flames. No one came out. No one could have lived through such a blast.

Sirens started up. Frantic⁹ radio transmissions filled the air. I heard cops shouting into walkie-talkies: "We have a major explosion at seven twenty-two Seventh Street...."

"Maybe she wasn't in there." Cindy shook her head, still staring at the devastated¹⁰ house.

I put my arm around her. "They killed Jill, Cindy."

Later, after the fire crews had doused

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1 crouched
v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
He crouched down beside her. 他在她的旁边蹲了下来。 The lion crouched ready to pounce. 狮子蹲下身，准备猛扑。

2 fiery
adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的
参考例句：
She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。 His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

3 hurled
v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂
参考例句：
He hurled a brick through the window. 他往窗户里扔了块砖。 The strong wind hurled down bits of the roof. 大风把屋顶的瓦片刮了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 debris
n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片
参考例句：
After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。 Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

6 gust
n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发
参考例句：
A gust of wind blew the front door shut.一阵大风吹来，把前门关上了。 A gust of happiness swept through her.一股幸福的暖流流遍她的全身。

7 groaned
v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦
参考例句：
He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。 The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 crater
n.火山口，弹坑
参考例句：
With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。 They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。

9 frantic
adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的
参考例句：
I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。 He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。

10 devastated
v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的
参考例句：
The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。 His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

11 doused
v.浇水在…上( douse的过去式和过去分词 )；熄灯[火]
参考例句：
The car was doused in petrol and set alight. 这辆汽车被浇上汽油点燃了。 He doused the lamp,and we made our way back to the house. 他把灯熄掉，我们就回到屋子里去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 cinders
n.煤渣( cinder的名词复数 )；炭渣；煤渣路；煤渣跑道
参考例句：
This material is variously termed ash, clinker, cinders or slag. 这种材料有不同的名称，如灰、炉渣、煤渣或矿渣。 来自《简明英汉词典》 Rake out the cinders before you start a new fire. 在重新点火前先把煤渣耙出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 charred
v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦
参考例句：
the charred remains of a burnt-out car 被烧焦的轿车残骸 The intensity of the explosion is recorded on the charred tree trunks. 那些烧焦的树干表明爆炸的强烈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 remains
n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹
参考例句：
He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。 The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

15 sifted
v.筛( sift的过去式和过去分词 )；筛滤；细查；详审
参考例句：
She sifted through her papers to find the lost letter. 她仔细在文件中寻找那封丢失的信。 来自《简明英汉词典》 She sifted thistles through her thistle-sifter. 她用蓟筛筛蓟。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 mounds
土堆，土丘( mound的名词复数 )； 一大堆
参考例句：
We had mounds of tasteless rice. 我们有成堆成堆的淡而无味的米饭。 Ah! and there's the cemetery' - cemetery, he must have meant. 'You see the mounds? 啊，这就是同墓，”——我想他要说的一定是公墓，“看到那些土墩了吗？

17 shrugged
vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）
参考例句：
Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。 She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 wreckage
n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏
参考例句：
They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。 New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

19 spotted
adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的
参考例句：
The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。 Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。