儿童英语读物 迈克的谜案 Mike's Mystery Chapter 1 黄色沙漠

CHAPTER¹ 1
Yellow Sands

The four Alden children could hardly wait to get back to Mystery² Ranch³. Henry, Jessie, Violet⁴ and Benny had planned for weeks what they would do.

“We’ll go on that dear old train!” said Violet. “Remember Mr. Carter⁵ who helped us carry our bags, Jessie?”

“I’ll carry the bags!” shouted Benny. “Mr. Carter won’t be on the train this time.”

“Maybe I’ll carry some of the bags, old boy,” said Henry. “But you know we won’t get off at Centerville.”

Jessie nodded⁶ at her older brother. “Yes, we will get off at Yellow Sands now. I think that is a beautiful name. Our uranium fields looked just like yellow sand.”

Grandfather said, “Sam will meet you. Maybe Sam will carry the bags.”

The children laughed. “Fighting over old bags,” said Benny.

“Too bad Watch has to ride in the baggage⁷ car,” said Henry. “But they don’t allow dogs anywhere else on the train.”

“I’ll ride in the baggage car, too,” said Benny. “Then he won’t mind.”

Mr. Alden laughed. He said, “I’m afraid you can’t do that. But you can go and see him once in a while. Then he will know you are near by.”

At last the day came when they were off to Mystery Ranch where Aunt Jane lived.

Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny loved Aunt Jane and they were to visit her for the summer vacation.

Once she had been a very cross old woman. But now she was a very pleasant lady.

When they got off the train at Yellow Sands, they all looked for the old black horse. But instead they saw Sam and Maggie with a station wagon⁸. Sam took care of the ranch, and Maggie took care of Aunt Jane.

“Hello, Sam!” cried Benny. “Where’s Snowball?”

“Snowball’s all right,” said Sam smiling. “I always thought that was a funny name for a black horse.”

“I named him,” said Benny. “I thought it was a funny name, too. Where is he?”

“He is taking it easy these days,” said Maggie. “He stays out in the field all the time eating grass. This car goes faster.”

“You mean you can drive it, Maggie?” asked Jessie.

“Yes,” said Maggie smiling. “Sam says I drive all right.”

“Let’s go,” said Sam. “Now that Watch is out of the baggage car, we are ready.”

Everyone carried a bag. In no time they were going through the new gate to Aunt Jane’s house. At the top of the gate were big letters saying, Mystery Ranch.

How glad Aunt Jane was to see them! Watch did not care much for Aunt Jane’s new dog, Lady. But when lunch was ready, Watch lay down at Jessie’s foot, and Lady lay down at Aunt Jane’s foot. So all was well.

“Oh, this place has changed in just this one year,” Aunt Jane said. “You would never know it. There is one long street down the middle of my old hay⁹ field.”

“Is it a real street?” asked Benny.

“Oh, my, yes! There are lots of stores and a church, and a school and a High School.”

“I can’t imagine it,” said Henry. “We shall¹⁰ have to go and see it soon.”

“Go any time you like,” said Aunt Jane. “I know you are just dying¹¹ to see that street.”

“We want to see you, too, Aunt Jane,” said Violet.

“Well, you’ve seen me now,” said Aunt Jane. “Lunch is over. So you go along and enjoy yourselves.”

“Be back for supper,” said Maggie. “We are going to have a fine supper.”

“Oh, we will get back long before supper,” said Jessie. “We just want to see what the old ranch looks like.”

1 chapter   

n.章，篇，重要章节

参考例句：

• I will skip the next chapter.我将略过下一章。
• Go and open a wonderful new chapter.去开启美好的新篇章。

2 mystery   

n.神秘，奥秘，秘密，玄妙，不可思议的事

参考例句：

• He often tells stories full of mystery.他常讲些充满神秘色彩的故事。
• The mystery was never solved.这个奥秘始终未得到解释。

3 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

4 violet   

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。

5 carter   

n.运货马车夫，赶大车的人；卡车司机

参考例句：

• Although fatigue shows readily on Carter, he bounces back quickly. 卡特虽然容易显出疲劳的样子，但他恢复得很快。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 nodded   

v.点头( nod的过去式和过去分词 )；打盹；打瞌睡；点头致意

参考例句：

• He nodded absently, his attention absorbed by the screen. 他专心注视着屏幕，只是心不在焉地点了点头。
• She nodded her head in agreement. 她点头表示同意。

7 baggage   

n.行李，包袱

参考例句：

• The youth gave me his hand when I was lifting my baggage.当我提行李时，那个年轻人来帮我。
• Can I put my baggage here?我能将行李放在这儿吗？

8 wagon   

n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车

参考例句：

• We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
• The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。

9 hay   

n.(用作饲料或覆盖的)干草

参考例句：

• Cows feed on hay.奶牛以干草为生。
• They usually keep the hay in the barn.他们通常将干草存放在谷仓中。

10 shall   

v.aux.（主要用于第一人称）将

参考例句：

• I shall always love you.我将永远爱你。
• Which club shall we join?我们要参加哪个社团？

11 dying   

adj.垂死的，临终的

参考例句：

• He was put in charge of the group by the dying leader.他被临终的领导人任命为集团负责人。
• She was shown into a small room,where there was a dying man.她被领进了一间小屋子，那里有一个垂死的人。