兒童英語讀物《神奇樹屋》 第六冊 Afternoon on the Amazon 03
Jack opened his eyes.
The air was hot and steamy.
“It looks like we landed in some bushes，” said Annie.
She was peeking out of the tree house window. Peanut was peeking out of Annie’s pocket.
Jack peeked out of the tree house too.
They had landed in a sea of shiny green leaves. Outside there were flowers， bright butterflies， and birds. Just as in the book.
“That’s strange，” said Jack. “I wonder why we didn’t land in a tree. The way we always do.”
“I don’t know，” said Annie. “But let’s hurry and find the thing
for Morgan. So we can get back home before we meet any big bugs.”
“Wait. This seems weird，” said Jack. “I don’t understand why we landed in bushes. I’d better read about this.”
“Oh， come on，” said Annie. “We don’t even need the ladder. We can just climb out the window.”
Annie put Peanut in her pocket. She stuck one leg out the window.
“Wait!” Jack grabbed Annie’s other leg. He read：
The rain forest is in three layers.Thick treetops， often over 150 feet in the air， make up the top layer. This is called the forest canopy.Below the canopy is the understory， then the forest floor.
“Get back in here!” cried Jack. “We’re probably more than 150 feet above the ground!In the forest canopy!”
“Yikes!” said Annie. She slipped back into the tree house.
“We have to use the ladder，” said Jack. He got on his hands and knees. He moved leaves away from the hole in the floor. He looked down.
The ladder seemed to fall between the branches of a giant tree. But Jack couldn’t see beyond that.
“I can’t tell what’s down there，” he said. “Be careful.”
Jack put the rain forest book in his backpack. Then he stepped onto the rope ladder.
He started down. Annie followed with Peanut in her pocket.
Jack pushed through the leaves.
He came to the understory below the canopy.
He looked down at the forest floor. It was very far away.
“Oh， man，” whispered Jack.
This world was completely different from the one above the treetops.
Now that they were out of the sun，it was cooler. It was also damp and very quiet.
Jack shivered. It was the spookiest place he had ever seen.
3媽呀!
杰克睜開了眼睛。
空氣又熱又濕。
“好像我們降落在一片灌木上了!”安妮說。她從樹屋的窗戶偷偷向外看，而花生呢，把頭伸出安妮的口袋，也在到處張望。
杰克也在往外看。
他們降落在一片亮閃閃的綠色樹葉組成的海洋里了!外面到處是花朵、漂亮的蝴蝶和鳥兒，就和書上畫的一樣。
“真奇怪!”杰克說，“我在想我們?yōu)槭裁礇]有像以前一樣降落在一棵樹上呢?”
“我不知道。”安妮說，“但是我們還是快點去幫摩根找東西吧，這樣我們就可以在遇到那些大臭蟲之前早點回家了!”
“等等，這看起來很不對勁!”杰克說，“我還是不明白我們?yōu)槭裁唇德湓诠嗄緟仓辛?。我最好還是看看書上是怎么說的。”
“噢，快來呀!”安妮說，“我們甚至都不需要梯子啦!我們可以從窗戶直接爬出去!”
安妮把花生放進她的口袋里，把一只腿伸出了窗戶。
“等等!”杰克抓住了安妮的另一只腿。他讀道：
熱帶雨林由三層組成：最上面是厚厚的樹梢，一般高聳于150英尺[注]以上的高空，被稱為樹冠層。在樹冠層的下面是灌木層，然后是雨林的地被層。
“快進來!”杰克大聲喊道，“我們現在很可能在150英尺(注：1英尺=0.3048
米)的高空呢!在雨林的樹冠層上!”
“媽呀!”安妮叫道。她趕快縮回了樹屋。
“我們必須用繩梯。”杰克說。他跪下，把樹葉從地板的洞口處撥開，朝下看了看。
梯子好像從一棵大樹的枝條之間垂下去了，杰克看不到底。
“我不知道底下是什么!”杰克說，“我們要小心!”
杰克把那本熱帶雨林的書放回他的背包里，然后就踏上了繩梯。
他開始往下爬，安妮也跟著下去了，口袋里裝著花生。杰克撥開樹葉，穿過樹冠層，來到下面的灌木層。他俯視著地面，那里看起來非常非常遠。
“噢，我的老天。”杰克小聲說。
底下這個世界和樹冠層上面的那個可完全不一樣。這里沒有陽光，感覺更涼爽。
這兒也很潮濕很安靜。
杰克打了個寒顫。這是他見過的最陰森的地方。
