Mary Pope OsborneMTH 01Dinosaurs before Dark.docx

1、Mary Pope Osborne MTH 01Dinosaurs before DarkDinosaurs before Dark Contents 1. Into the Woods 2. The Monster 3. Where is Here? 4. Henry 5. Gold in the Grass 6. Dinosaur Valley 7. Ready, Set, Go! 8. A Giant Shadow 9. The Amazing Ride 10. Home Before Dark 1. Into the Woods Help, A monster!” said Annie

2、. Yeah, sure! said Jack. A real monster in Frog Creek, Pennsylvania. Run, Jack! said Annie. She ran up the road. Oh, brother. This is what he got for spending time with his seven-year-old sister. Annie loved pretend stuff. But Jack was eight and a half. He liked real things. Watch out, Jack! The mon

3、sters coming! Race you! No, thanks!” said Jack. Annie raced alone into the woods. Jack looked at the sky. The sun was about to set. Come on, Annie! Its time to go home! But Annie had disappeared. Jack waited. No Annie. Annie! he shouted again. Jack! Jack! Come here! Jack groaned. This better be good

4、,” he said. Jack left the road and headed into the woods. The trees were lit with a golden late-afternoon light. Come here! called Annie. There she was standing under a tall oak tree. Look, she said. She was pointing at a rope ladder. The longest rope ladder Jack had ever seen. Wow,” he whispered. T

5、he ladder went all the way up to the top of the tree. There at the top was a tree house. It was tucked between two branches. That must be the highest tree house in the world,” said Annie. Who built it? asked Jack. Ive never seen it before. I dont know. But Im going up, said Annie. No. We dont know w

6、ho it belongs to. said Jack. Just for a teeny minute, said Annie. She started up the ladder.Annie, come back! She kept climbing.Jack sighed. Annie, its almost dark. We have to go home. Annie disappeared inside the tree house. An-nie! Jack waited a moment. He was about to call again when Annie poked

7、her head out of the tree house window. Books!” she shouted. What?” Its filled with books! Oh, man! Jack loved books. He pushed his glasses into place. He gripped the sides of the rope ladder, and up he went. 2. The Monster Jack crawled through a hole in the tree house floor. Wow. The tree house was

8、filled with books. Books everywhere, very old books with dusty covers. New books with shiny, bright covers. Look. You can see far, far away, said Annie. She was peering out the tree house window. Jack looked out the window with her. Down below were the tops of the other trees. In the distance he saw

9、 the Frog Creek library, the elementary school, the Park. Annie pointed in the other direction. Theres our house! she said. Sure enough, there was their white wooden house with the green porch. Next door was their neighbors black dog Henry. He looked very tiny. Hi, Henry! shouted Annie. Shush! “ sai

10、d Jack . Were not supposed t o be up here.” He glanced around the tree house again. I wonder who owns all these books,” he said. He noticed bookmarks were sticking out of many of them. I like this one,” said Annie. She held up a book with a castle on the cover. Heres a book about Pennsylvania,” said

11、 Jack. He turned to the page with the bookmark. Hey, theres a picture of Frog Creek in here,” said Jack . Its a picture of these woods! Oh, heres a book for you, said Annie. She held up a book about dinosaurs. A blue silk bookmark was sticking out of it. Let me see it. Jack set down his backpack and

12、 grabbed the book from her. You look at that one, and Ill look at the one about castles, said Annie. No, we better not,” said Jack. We dont know who these books belong to. But even as he said this, Jack opened the dinosaur book to where the book mark was. He couldnt help himself. He turned to a pict

13、ure of an ancient flying reptile. A Pteranodon. He touched the huge bat-like wings. Wow,” whispered Jack. I wish I could see a Pteranodon for real.” Jack studied the picture of the odd-looking creature soaring through the sky. Ahhh! screamed Annie. What? said Jack . A monster! Annie cried. She point

14、ed to the tree house window. Stop pretending, Annie, said Jack. No, really! said Annie. Jack looked out the window. A giant creature was gliding above the treetops! He had a long, weird crest on the back of his head. A skinny beak, and huge bat-like wings! It was a real live Pteranodon! The creature

15、 curved through the sky. He was coming straight toward the tree house. He looked like a glider plane! The wind began to blow. The leaves trembled. Suddenly the creature soared up high into the sky. Jack nearly fell out the window trying to see it. The wind picked up. It was whistling now. The tree h

16、ouse started to spin. Whats happening? cried Jack . Get down! shouted Annie. She pulled him back from the window. The tree house was spinning faster and faster. Jack squeezed his eyes shut. He held on to Annie. Then everything was still, absolutely still. Jack opened his eyes. Sunlight slanted throu

17、gh the window. There was Annie, the books, his backpack. The tree house was still high up in an oak tree. But it wasnt the same oak tree. 3. Where is Here? Jack looked out the window. He looked down at the picture in the book. He looked back out the window. The world outside and the world in the pic

18、ture they were exactly the same. The Pteranodon was soaring through the sky. The ground was covered with ferns and tall grass. There was a winding stream, a sloping hill and volcanoes in the distance. Wh-where are we? stammered Jack. The Pteranodon glided down to the base of their tree. The creature

19、 coasted to a stop and stood very still. What happened to us?” said Annie. She looked at Jack. He looked at her. I dont k now, said Jack. I was looking at the picture in the book And you said, Wow, I wish I could see a Pteranodon for real, said Annie. Yeah, and then we saw one. In the Frog Creek woo

20、ds. said Jack. Yeah, and then the wind got loud. And the tree house started spinning, said Annie. And we landed here, said Jack. And we landed here, said Annie. So that means. said Jack. So that means. what? said Annie. Nothing, said Jack. He shook his head. None of this can be real. Annie looked ou

21、t the window again. But hes real, she said. Hes very real. Jack looked out the window with her. The Pteranodon was standing at the base of the oak tree like a guard. His giant wings were spread out on either side of him. Hi! Annie shouted. Shush! said Jack. Were not supposed to be here. But where is

22、 here? said Annie. I dont know, said Jack. Hi! Annie called again to the creature. The Pteranodon looked up at them. Where is here? Annie called down. Youre nuts. He cant talk, said Jack. But maybe the book can tell us. Jack looked down at the book. He read the words under the picture: This flying r

23、eptile lived in the Cretaceous period. It vanished 65 million years ago. No, Impossible. They couldnt have landed in a time 65 million years ago. Jack, said Annie. Hes nice. Nice? Yeah, I can tell. Lets go down and talk to him. Talk to him? Annie started down the rope ladder. Hey! shouted Jack. But

24、Annie kept going. Are you crazy? Jack called. Annie dropped to the ground. She stepped boldly up to the ancient creature. 4. Henry Jack gasped as Annie held out her hand. Oh, brother. She was always trying to make friends with animals. But this was going too far. Dont get too close to him, Annie!” J

25、ack shouted. But Annie touched the Pteranodons crest. She stroked his neck. She was talking to him. What in the world was she saying? Jack took a deep breath. Okay. He would go down too. It would be good to examine the creature. Take notes, like a scientist. Jack started down the rope ladder. When h

26、e got to the ground, Jack was only a few feet away from the creature. The creature stared at Jack. His eyes were bright and alert. Hes soft, Jack. said Annie. He feels like Henry. Jack snorted. Hes no dog, Annie. Feel him, Jack. said Annie. Jack didnt move. Dont think, Jack. Just do it. Jack stepped

27、 forward. He put out his arm, very cautiously. He brushed his hand down the creatures neck. Interesting! A thin layer of fuzz covered the Pteranodons skin. Soft, huh? said Annie. Jack reached into his backpack and pulled out a pencil and a notebook. He wrote: fuzzy skin. What are you doing? asked An

28、nie. Taking notes. said Jack . Were probably the first people in the whole world to ever see a real live Pteranodon. Jack looked at the Pteranodon again. The creature had a bony crest on top of his head. The crest was longer than Jacks arm. I wonder how smart he is, Jack said. Very smart! said Annie

29、. Dont count on it, said Jack. His brains probably no bigger than a bean. No, hes very smart. I can feel it! said Annie. Im going to call him Henry. Jack wrote in his notebook: small brain? Jack looked at the creature again. Maybe hes a mutant . he said. The creature tilted his head. Annie laughed.

30、Hes no mutant, Jack . Well, whats he doing here then? Where is this place? said Jack. Annie leaned close to the Pteranodon. Do you know where we are, Henry? she asked softly. The creature fixed his eyes on Annie. His long jaws were opening and closing, like a giant pair of scissors. Are you trying t

31、o talk to me, Henry? asked Annie. Forget it, Annie. Jack wrote in his notebook: mouth like scissors? Did we come to a time long ago, Henry? asked Annie. Is this a place from long ago? Suddenly she gasped. Jack! He looked up. Annie was pointing toward the hill. On top stood a huge dinosaur! 5. Gold in the Grass Go! Go! said Jack.