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I have the text in my book:

Chad Michaels bounded out of Mukluk Middle School in northern Alaska. He ran as fast as he could despite his huge boots, down-filled snow pants, mittens, and hooded parka.

I have two questions:

1) How do English people know that he bounded out of building of school? It is not "the Mukluk Middle School" which is meanining "building of school".

2) What does "down-filled snow pants" mean? Is it pants which filled with snow or something else?

2 Answers 2

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Bounding (leaping) is a physical action, so it obviously refers to his leaving the school building.

Alaska is a cold region. Snow pants are trousers designed to keep you warm and dry in the snow. Chad's are insulated with down (small, soft feathers from birds that live in cold climates).

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To address the issue raised in the title of your post: If it had said the "school building" then it would use the word "the" as a definitive. But since it used the name of the school, it didn't need to use the word "the."

compare: "Chad Michaels bounded out of Mukluk Middle School..." versus "Chad Michaels bounded out of the school building..."

When using the name of an item, it automatically is definite and you don't need to use 'the.'

(This is the same as: "I gave the book to Jane." vs "I gave the book to the girl."

regarding "down-filled snow pants" see @Kate Bunting 's answer ("down" usually refers to the soft feathers of geese, though it can refer to feathers from other birds as well.)

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  • Goose feathers are now often used, but the traditional material was "eider down" which came from eider ducks. The only way to harvest goose down is to kill the goose, but eider ducks insulate their own nests by plucking their own down feathers, and these can be collected without harming the ducks or interfering with their breeding. In fact "eiderdown" (all one word) was the original English name for what is now called a duvet - i.e. a bed covering filled with eider down feathers.
    – alephzero
    Apr 27, 2020 at 23:32

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