英语 英语 日语 日语 韩语 韩语 法语 法语 德语 德语 西班牙语 西班牙语 意大利语 意大利语 阿拉伯语 阿拉伯语 葡萄牙语 葡萄牙语 越南语 越南语 俄语 俄语 芬兰语 芬兰语 泰语 泰语 泰语 丹麦语 泰语 对外汉语

儿童英语读物 Bus Station Mystery CHAPTER 7 The Snooper

时间:2017-07-03 05:37来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
特别声明:本栏目内容均从网络收集或者网友提供,供仅参考试用,我们无法保证内容完整和正确。如果资料损害了您的权益,请与站长联系,我们将及时删除并致以歉意。
    (单词翻译:双击或拖选)

The next morning Benny lay in bed wondering what excuse he could give to get back to the bus station. He couldn’t think of anything.

He wondered what had happened to Jud and Troy after Mr. Pickett had driven off with them. Would they get to the town meeting? What were they planning to do?

Benny wondered about Frank1, too. Frank had said someone was too big for him to fight. What did that mean? He was a chemist. Maybe he had a new kind of paint he wanted Mr. Pickett to make.

There was a lot going on that Benny did not understand. He wanted to listen, to ask questions, maybe to help.

Then Benny thought, “Our raincoats! We left our raincoats at the bus station. Hooray!”

He dressed quickly for breakfast. But to his surprise he found everyone dressed and eating breakfast, too.

Benny began, “Henry, guess what? We forgot—”

“Our raincoats,” finished Henry. “We were just talking about that. We’ll have to go back and get them.”

“We should call Frank before we start off,” Jessie suggested. “We have to be sure that our raincoats are still at the bus station.”

The telephone lines had been repaired after the big storm. Soon Benny was speaking to Frank on the telephone.

“Yes,” Frank told him. The raincoats were there. He was wondering if he should mail them to the Aldens.

“Oh, no,” Benny said. “That’s too much trouble. My big brother Henry can drive over today and get them. Will this morning be all right?”

To Benny’s surprise, Frank didn’t like that idea at all. He said he had planned to be away from the station for two hours.

“I’m sorry,” Benny said. He didn’t want Frank to be angry with the Aldens. “We don’t want to be any bother. We can come later and get our raincoats.”

This time Frank agreed.

Benny hung up the telephone and turned around to the others. He said, “I don’t understand Frank at all. You’d think he’d be glad to have us get the raincoats. I don’t think he wants us to come at all. He sounds as if—as if he’s hiding something. I wonder what’s going on.”

“Perhaps he wants to go fishing,” Jessie suggested. “I don’t think the bus station keeps him very busy.”

Benny shook his head. “Why wouldn’t he say he’s going fishing? There’s nothing wrong with that. We would understand.”

Henry had been thinking. He said, “There is that big town meeting about the paint factory tonight. I wonder if Frank plans to go.”

“Remember how we saw Mr. Pickett at the bus station last night,” Benny said. “Maybe he came to see Frank. It was an accident he caught the boys passing out those papers2.”

“Frank doesn’t trust those boys,” Jessie said. “He likes to keep his own secrets.”

Benny agreed. “You remember how he asked what in the world we were doing when he came back after the storm and saw the chair under the shelf. He thought we were fussing3 around with his things. Really, we were wrong. We had no right to look at Frank’s things, even if we didn’t touch them.”

“Do you think those chemistry books have anything to do with this mystery?” asked Jessie.

“Well, we won’t find out what’s going on while we sit here,” Henry said. “We’ve never even seen Mr. Pickett’s paint factory. Maybe we should visit it and then get our raincoats from Frank.”

“Good idea,” said Benny. “Let’s go.”

It was a fine summer day. The storm of yesterday seemed like a bad dream. The Aldens were glad to have an excuse to drive out in the country and visit the bus station again.

“I’m glad we decided4 to do something,” Violet5 said. “I can’t stay at home on a day like this.”

“Neither can I,” said Benny, laughing.

Henry did not follow the road the bus took to Plainville Junction6. He chose a back road that crossed the red bridge near the bus station.

“It is a lovely river,” Jessie said. “Grandfather called this country empty. But it isn’t really. Remember Jud and Troy’s wildlife exhibit7 at the fair? I never knew so many kinds of plants and animals could be found in such a little space.”

Suddenly they noticed a flight of wild ducks overhead8. The ducks all dropped down into the river and dived to the bottom to find food. However, they came up right away, flapped9 their wet wings, and flew up the river, flying very low.

Honk10! Honk!” they cried.

Jessie said, “Look at that! The river is spoiled. The ducks can’t find food. I hope the chemicals won’t hurt them.”

“I don’t think they stayed long enough,” said Henry. “Just look at that triangle of ducks. They always follow the leader.”

All the ducks except the leader were honking11. Then all at once they stopped and the leader honked12 all alone. “Honk! Honk! Honk!”

Benny laughed and said, “The leader keeps saying, ‘Well, if you all want to pass, go on!’ ”

Henry looked up the road toward13 the bus station. He slowed down suddenly. He saw a bright-colored pickup14 truck parked beside the road near the station. He could just make out the words “Pickett’s Perfect Paints” on the back of the truck.

Benny saw the truck, too. “Looks as if Frank has company,” he said. “Do you think that’s why he didn’t want us to come?”

“I don’t know,” Henry said. “Might be. I’ll drive past the station slowly. Let’s see if it looks closed.”

Violet could see the bus station better than the others.

“There’s a card in the window,” Violet reported. “It says ‘Buy tickets on bus.’ I think the station is closed.”

“That’s funny,” Benny said. “I’m sure I saw somebody going around the station.”

“I’ll park the car where it can’t be seen from the station,” Henry said. “Then we’ll walk back and take a look around.”

“Maybe someone’s up to some mischief,” Benny said. He thought about the weeds and the chemistry books. Did they have something to do with the paint factory? Or were they for something else? Perhaps someone from the paint factory wanted to find out.

The big trees along the road hid the Aldens as they walked toward the bus station. No one talked. They didn’t know what to expect. Perhaps nothing at all was going on.

“Look!” whispered15 Benny, and he pulled Jessie out of sight behind a tree.

A man who moved like a gray shadow came around the small building. When the Aldens could see him better, they found he was wearing gray coveralls. It was a work uniform of some sort. A big paint can was stitched16 on the back of the suit.

Yes, it had to be somebody from the paint factory, Benny decided. Then he had an idea. Could it be Mr. Pickett dressed up as a worker? What could he want?

The man stood on tiptoe and looked in the window at the side. He knocked gently against the glass. Was he planning to break it?

The stranger walked around to the front door. He tried to open it. The door was locked. He pushed. Then he used his shoulder, but the door did not open.

The Aldens watched from behind the trees. Suddenly the man seemed to give up. He turned around and sat down on the doorstep.

“What now?” Benny whispered.

The man felt in a pocket. He pulled out a piece of paper. Then he felt in other pockets until he found a pencil. He sat still for a moment, then he began to write.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 frank JibxK     
adj.坦白的,直率的,真诚的
参考例句:
  • A frank discussion can help to clear the air.坦率的谈论有助于消除隔阂。
  • She is frank and outgoing.她很爽朗。
2 papers qmQzJz     
n.文件,纸币,论文
参考例句:
  • I want to check with my secretary before I sign the papers.在签署这些文件前,我要与我的秘书商议。
  • The lawyer read all the papers relating to the case.律师阅读了与该案有关的全部文件。
3 fussing f6d59891f357ab342e61f7da180237c4     
小题大做,大惊小怪( fuss的现在分词 ); 烦恼,激动(尤指对小事); 瞎忙一气,过分关心
参考例句:
  • Stop fussing about; the bus will arrive on time. 别慌,公共汽车会准时到达。
  • I wish you would stop fussing me about. I'm quite able to look after myself. 但愿你不要为我过于操心了,我挺能照顾我自己。
4 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
5 violet 8h3wm     
adj.紫色的;n.紫罗兰
参考例句:
  • She likes to wear violet dresses.他喜欢穿紫色的衣服。
  • Violet is the color of wisdom,peace and strength.紫色是智慧的,和平的和力量的颜色。
6 junction N34xH     
n.连接,接合;交叉点,接合处,枢纽站
参考例句:
  • There's a bridge at the junction of the two rivers.两河的汇合处有座桥。
  • You must give way when you come to this junction.你到了这个路口必须让路。
7 exhibit 2mNxl     
vt.展览,展出,陈列;n.展览品;陈列品
参考例句:
  • Next week those goods will exhibit in that shop. 下个星期,这些货物将在那家商店展出。
  • The economy continued to exhibit signs of decline in September.9月份,经济继续呈现出衰退的迹象。
8 overhead bjhyZ     
adj.在头顶上的,悬空的;n.间接开支
参考例句:
  • A number of birds are circling overhead.很多鸟在头顶上空盘旋。
  • Many stars overhead are invisible to the naked eye.天上的许多星星是肉眼看不到的。
9 flapped 3dc9eb645ec67302f44beec300083cdf     
(使)上下左右移动( flap的过去式和过去分词 ); 轻拍; 焦急,焦虑; 振(翅)
参考例句:
  • The swan flapped its wings noisily. 天鹅大声地拍打着翅膀。
  • He flapped the flies away with a fan. 他用扇子把苍蝇拍走。
10 honk TdizI     
n.雁叫声,汽车喇叭声
参考例句:
  • Don't honk the horn indiscriminately.不要乱鸣喇叭!
  • While passing another vehicle,you must honk your horn.通过另一部车时必须鸣按喇叭。
11 honking 69e32168087f0fd692f761e62a361acf     
v.(使)发出雁叫似的声音,鸣(喇叭),按(喇叭)( honk的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • Cars zoomed helter-skelter, honking belligerently. 大街上来往车辆穿梭不停,喇叭声刺耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Flocks of honking geese flew past. 雁群嗷嗷地飞过。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
12 honked b787ca4a3834aa71da55df2b9bcafdfe     
v.(使)发出雁叫似的声音,鸣(喇叭),按(喇叭)( honk的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • I drove up in front of the house and honked. 我将车开到屋子前面然后按喇叭。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • He honked his horn as he went past. 他经过时按响了汽车喇叭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
13 toward on6we     
prep.对于,关于,接近,将近,向,朝
参考例句:
  • Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
  • Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了,并跑了过去。
14 pickup ANkxA     
n.拾起,获得
参考例句:
  • I would love to trade this car for a pickup truck.我愿意用这辆汽车换一辆小型轻便卡车。||The luck guy is a choice pickup for the girls.那位幸运的男孩是女孩子们想勾搭上的人。
15 whispered ac3eda029cd72fefda0d32abc42aa001     
adj.耳语的,低语的v.低声说( whisper的过去式和过去分词 );私语;小声说;私下说
参考例句:
  • She sidled up to me and whispered something in my ear. 她悄悄走上前来,对我耳语了几句。
  • His ill luck has been whispered about the neighborhood. 他的不幸遭遇已在邻居中传开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
16 stitched 7c52528538d819884d621cf16ac853da     
v.缝,缝补,缝合( stitch的过去式和过去分词 );[引申]把某物连在一起
参考例句:
  • If the wound is stitched up skillfully,it will hardly leave a mark. 如果伤口缝合得好,不会落下什么伤疤。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She stitched a pocket on the new apron. 她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎点击提交分享给大家。
------分隔线----------------------------
顶一下
(0)
0%
踩一下
(0)
0%
最新评论 查看所有评论
发表评论 查看所有评论
请自觉遵守互联网相关的政策法规,严禁发布色情、暴力、反动的言论。
评价:
表情:
验证码:
听力搜索
推荐频道
论坛新贴