A ripple ˈrɪpl涟漪 of excited apprehension ˌæprɪˈhenʃn忧虑;疑惧 ran round the Retiring Room 休息室 as, under Lord Asriel's direction, two or three of the younger Scholars carried the wooden box to the front of the room. Lord Asriel took out the last slide but left the lantern on,and in the dramatic drəˈmætɪk巨大的;引人注目的 glare ɡleə(r)刺眼的光 of the circle of light he bent bent弯腰 to lever ˈliːvə(r)(用杠杆)撬动 open the box.Lyra heard the screech skriːtʃ尖锐刺耳的声音 of nails neɪlz钉子 coming out of damp dæmp潮湿的;微湿的;湿气重的 wood. The Master stood up to look,blocking ˈblɒkɪŋ挡住(某人的视线等) Lyra's view. Her uncle spoke again:
“If you remember, Grumman's expedition ˌekspəˈdɪʃn探险;考察队vanished ˈvænɪʃt(莫名其妙地)突然消失 eighteen months ago. The German ˈdʒɜːmən德国的 Academy əˈkædəmi学院 sent him up there to go as far north as the magnetic pole mæɡˈnetɪk pəʊl磁极 and make various ˈveəriəs各种各样的 celestial səˈlestiəl天空的;天上的 observations ˌɒbzə(ː)ˈveɪʃənz观察;观测.It was in the course of ɪn ðə kɔːs ɒv在…过程中；在…期间 that journey ˈdʒɜːni旅行;行程 that he observed əbˈzɜːvd看到;注意到;观察到 the curious ˈkjʊəriəs奇特;不寻常 phenomenon fəˈnɒmɪnən现象 we've already seen. Shortly不久 after that, he vanished.It's been assumed əˈsjuːmd假定;假设;认为 that he had an accident and that his body's been lying in a crevasse krəˈvæs(尤指冰川等的)裂缝,裂隙,冰隙 all this time.In fact,there was no accident.” “What have you got there?” said the Dean diːn院长. “Is that a vacuum container ˈvækjuːm kənˈteɪnə(r)真空容器?” Lord Asriel didn't answer at first. Lyra heard the snap snæp(尤指关上或断裂的声音)啪嗒声,咔嚓声 of metal clips ˈmetl klɪps金属卡子 and a hiss hɪs嘶嘶声;嘘声 as air rushed into a vessel ˈvesl容器, and then there was a silence.But the silence didn't last long. After a moment or two Lyra heard a confused kənˈfjuːzd困惑的 babble ˈbæbl嘈杂的人声 break out突然爆发: cries of horror ˈhɒrə(r)震惊;恐惧,loud protests prəˈtests抗议;反对, voices raised in anger and fear. “But what—” “—hardly human—” “—it's been—”“—what's happened to it?” The Master's voice cut through划破,打破,打断 them all. “Lord Asriel,what in God's name [ɪn ˈɡɒdz neɪm究竟,到底 have you got there?” “This is the head of Stanislaus Grumman(人名),” said Lord Asriel's voice.
