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儿童英语读物 The Guide Dog Mystery CHAPTER 6 A Crumpled Note

时间:2017-08-23 05:43来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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    (单词翻译:双击或拖选)

The next morning after breakfast, the children went to the kennel1 to help Jason bathe the dogs. But they were surprised to find the building locked up tight. When they knocked on the door, there was no answer.

“Jason must not be here yet,” Henry said.

The children sat down by the front door of the kennel to wait for him.

After several minutes, Jessie asked, “Where do you think he is? He’s usually here first thing in the morning.”

“Maybe he’s just running a little late,” Benny said.

The children waited a few more minutes before Violet said, “I think something might be wrong.”

“Let’s go to his room and see if he’s there,” Henry suggested.

When the children got to Jason’s room, he was just about to leave. He looked upset.

“Hi, Jason. Is everything okay?” Jessie asked.

“No, actually everything is not okay,” he said angrily, letting the children into his room. “I’ve spent the whole morning looking for my key to the kennel and I can’t find it anywhere. I was just on my way to Mrs. Carter’s office to borrow hers.”

“When was the last time you used your key?” Violet asked.

“Last night, around dinnertime. Then I left it in this box on my desk, like I always do.” Jason lifted the top of the box so the children could see that it was empty.

“Maybe if we helped you look, we could find it,” Henry suggested.

“I really need to get over there and feed the dogs,” said Jason. “But if you want to stay here and look, that would be great.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind us going through your things?” Jessie asked.

“Not at all!” Jason said. “I’ve got nothing to hide.”

Jessie recalled the conversation they’d overheard the day before and all the strange things that had been going on at the school, and she wondered if that was really true.

“Don’t worry, we’ll find it,” said Violet as Jason left.

The children looked everywhere in Jason’s room. Jessie looked under the bed. Violet searched the closet. Henry looked behind the chair and lamp. Benny searched the bookcase.

“Do you think it might have fallen in the wastebasket?” Benny asked, standing2 beside a small basket with a few crumpled3 pieces of paper inside.

 

“Maybe,” said Jessie.

Benny poked4 through the crumpled papers. “Hey, I think I’ve found something,” he called out suddenly.

“The key?” asked Henry.

“No . . . but I think it’s a clue,” said Benny.

The others came over to see what Benny was holding. “I know you aren’t supposed to read other people’s letters, but this was in the trash and I couldn’t help seeing what it says . . .”

“What is it, Benny?” Jessie asked.

Benny held out a crumpled piece of pink paper with the name Charlotte Davis printed at the top in gold letters.

Jessie took it and read the note aloud. “Meet me tonight at eleven o’clock at Joe’s Restaurant. It’s important I speak to you. Please don’t tell anyone.”

“Is there a date on it?” Henry wanted to know.

“Yes. It was written yesterday,” said Jessie.

“I wonder what was so important,” Violet said.

“And why she didn’t want him to tell anyone,” said Benny.

“Do you think Jason and Mrs. Davis are plotting something?” asked Henry.

“It certainly does sound like it,” Jessie said.

“Maybe that’s who he was talking to yesterday on the phone,” said Violet.

“We can talk about this later,” Henry said. “For now, we’d better look for Jason’s key.”

The children resumed their search. They looked everywhere, but they didn’t find the key.

“Well, I guess it’s not here,” said Jessie.

“We might as well go tell Jason,” Henry said.

The children were taking one last look around the room when suddenly Violet ran to the window.

“What is it?” asked Benny.

“Look!” Violet said.

“All I see is the other wing of the building,” said Jessie.

“That’s just it!” Violet said, her voice excited. “That’s the wing our rooms are in!”

“But what does that matter?” asked Jessie.

“That’s our window right there!” Violet said, pointing. “See, there’s my paint set on the windowsill!”

The others looked. Just as Violet said, in the window across the way they could see a paint box resting on the sill.

“That’s neat! Our room is right across from Jason’s!” Benny said.

“Don’t you get it?” asked Violet. “Last night, when we saw the strange light, it was here! In this room!”

“You’re right! We’d better get going, though,” Henry said, “or Jason is going to wonder what’s happened to us!”

The children hurried to the kennel, where Jason had already started washing the dogs. A German shepherd stood in a large tub of water. Jason was rubbing the dog’s black and tan fur with shampoo, making big soapy suds.

Jason looked up when the Aldens entered. “Did you find my key?” he asked hopefully.

“No, we didn’t,” Henry said.

“We looked everywhere,” Jessie added.

Jason shook his head and sighed. “Thanks for trying. I can’t imagine what could have happened to it. I guess I’ll have a copy made from Mrs. Carter’s.”

“What can we do to help you with the dogs?” asked Violet.

“Cleo is ready to be rinsed,” Jason said, handing Violet a hose. “Why don’t you do it, and then Benny can towel her off. I hope you don’t mind getting wet, Benny. Cleo usually shakes water all over me when I dry her.”

“Great!” Benny said with a laugh.

Violet took the hose and began to spray the lather5 off of the German shepherd’s back. Cleo shook, and sprayed water all over a laughing Benny, who stood by with a fluffy6 white towel.

“Meanwhile, Jessie and Henry can help me get another dog started,” Jason said.

Following Jason’s instructions, Jessie got another large tub and began filling it with water. Henry went with Jason to get a brown dog with a smooth, glossy7 coat.

“What kind of dog is that?” asked Benny. “It doesn’t have much fur.”

“This is Ali,” Jason said. “He’s a boxer8. Because boxers9 are short-haired, they can be used for people who are allergic10 to animals.”

While Jessie and Henry washed Ali, Benny and Violet helped Jason wash another German shepherd.

Benny said as he reached for the bottle of shampoo, “What do you do at night, Jason? Do you go into town?”

Jessie gave Benny a sharp look. She knew what he was up to.

“Funny you should ask,” Jason said. “Last night was unusual. I got a note from Charlotte Davis — you know, Ginger11’s former owner? She asked me to meet with her.”

“And did you?” asked Benny.

“Benny!” Jessie scolded. “Don’t be so nosy12!”

A strange look passed over Jason’s face. “I drove all the way to Joe’s Restaurant and waited a long time, but she never showed up. It was after midnight by the time I got home.”

“I wonder why she didn’t show up,” said Benny. But before he could say anything more, Jason changed the subject.

That night, when the Aldens sat down for dinner, Jessie turned to Benny. “I can’t believe you asked Jason what he did at night!” she said.

“We wanted to find out if he’d met with Mrs. Davis, didn’t we?” Benny asked.

“Yes, but . . .” Jessie began. She sighed and took a bite of her hamburger.

“But what?” Benny demanded.

“I think what Jessie’s trying to say is that you have to be a little more tactful,” Henry explained, taking a sip13 of his milk.

“What does ‘tactful’ mean?” asked Benny.

“You have to be more careful of what you say to people, and not pry14 into their private lives,” said Henry.

“Well, anyway, I wonder why Mrs. Davis didn’t show up,” Benny said. He dipped a french fry in ketchup15 and looked at it thoughtfully before popping it in his mouth.

“That is odd,” said Jessie. “Especially since she said in her note that it was important.”

“Remember what else Jason said? He said he didn’t get home until after midnight. So he couldn’t have been in his room when we saw those lights,” said Violet.

“That’s right! That means someone else was poking16 around here,” Henry said. “I wonder what they were looking for.”

“The key!” cried Jessie. She looked around and realized that several people at the other tables were looking over at her. “The kennel key,” she said more quietly.

“But how did the person know that Jason wouldn’t be home?” asked Violet. Then her eyes lit up. “Unless — ”

“Unless it was Mrs. Davis! Maybe she sent Jason that note just to get him out of his room!” Jessie said. “That would explain why she never showed up at the restaurant!”

The Aldens were all very excited about what they’d figured out. It was always fun trying to put together clues.

“But why would Mrs. Davis want the key to the kennel?” asked Violet.

“There is another possibility,” said Henry. “Maybe Jason wasn’t telling us the truth. He seemed very uncomfortable talking about last night, and he immediately changed the subject.”

“Hey, there’s Anna,” said Benny. “Come join us!” he called to her.

Henry pulled over an extra chair so that Anna could sit down. Ginger lay down under Anna’s chair. Violet asked how her day had been.

“It was fine,” Anna said. “But I don’t know . . .”

“Is something wrong?” asked Jessie.

“No — not with me,” Anna said. “But during our afternoon lesson, Jason seemed to be acting17 strangely.”

“What do you mean?” asked Henry.

“He just seemed kind of . . . nervous,” Anna explained.

“I wonder why he’d be nervous,” Violet said.

“Oh, never mind,” said Anna. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”

The Aldens looked at one another. They were all thinking the same thing. Was Jason up to something?


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 kennel axay6     
n.狗舍,狗窝
参考例句:
  • Sporting dogs should be kept out of doors in a kennel.猎狗应该养在户外的狗窝中。
  • Rescued dogs are housed in a standard kennel block.获救的狗被装在一个标准的犬舍里。
2 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
3 crumpled crumpled     
adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式
参考例句:
  • She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一团扔进了火里。
  • She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在写字台上把皱巴巴的信展平。
4 poked 87f534f05a838d18eb50660766da4122     
v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 );戳出;拨弄;与(某人)性交
参考例句:
  • She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. 她用胳膊肘顶他的肋部。
  • His elbow poked out through his torn shirt sleeve. 他的胳膊从衬衫的破袖子中露了出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
5 lather txvyL     
n.(肥皂水的)泡沫,激动
参考例句:
  • Soap will not lather in sea-water.肥皂在海水里不起泡沫。
  • He always gets in a lather when he has an argument with his wife.当他与妻子发生争论时他总是很激动。
6 fluffy CQjzv     
adj.有绒毛的,空洞的
参考例句:
  • Newly hatched chicks are like fluffy balls.刚孵出的小鸡像绒毛球。
  • The steamed bread is very fluffy.馒头很暄。
7 glossy nfvxx     
adj.平滑的;有光泽的
参考例句:
  • I like these glossy spots.我喜欢这些闪闪发光的花点。
  • She had glossy black hair.她长着乌黑发亮的头发。
8 boxer sxKzdR     
n.制箱者,拳击手
参考例句:
  • The boxer gave his opponent a punch on the nose.这个拳击手朝他对手的鼻子上猛击一拳。
  • He moved lightly on his toes like a boxer.他像拳击手一样踮着脚轻盈移动。
9 boxers a8fc8ea2ba891ef896d3ca5822c4405d     
n.拳击短裤;(尤指职业)拳击手( boxer的名词复数 );拳师狗
参考例句:
  • The boxers were goaded on by the shrieking crowd. 拳击运动员听见观众的喊叫就来劲儿了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The boxers slugged it out to the finish. 两名拳击手最后决出了胜负。 来自《简明英汉词典》
10 allergic 4xozJ     
adj.过敏的,变态的
参考例句:
  • Alice is allergic to the fur of cats.艾丽斯对猫的皮毛过敏。
  • Many people are allergic to airborne pollutants such as pollen.许多人对空气传播的污染物过敏,比如花粉。
11 ginger bzryX     
n.姜,精力,淡赤黄色;adj.淡赤黄色的;vt.使活泼,使有生气
参考例句:
  • There is no ginger in the young man.这个年轻人没有精神。
  • Ginger shall be hot in the mouth.生姜吃到嘴里总是辣的。
12 nosy wR0zK     
adj.鼻子大的,好管闲事的,爱追问的;n.大鼻者
参考例句:
  • Our nosy neighbours are always looking in through our windows.好管闲事的邻居总是从我们的窗口望进来。
  • My landlord is so nosy.He comes by twice a month to inspect my apartment.我的房东很烦人,他每个月都要到我公寓视察两次。
13 sip Oxawv     
v.小口地喝,抿,呷;n.一小口的量
参考例句:
  • She took a sip of the cocktail.她啜饮一口鸡尾酒。
  • Elizabeth took a sip of the hot coffee.伊丽莎白呷了一口热咖啡。
14 pry yBqyX     
vi.窥(刺)探,打听;vt.撬动(开,起)
参考例句:
  • He's always ready to pry into other people's business.他总爱探听别人的事。
  • We use an iron bar to pry open the box.我们用铁棍撬开箱子。
15 ketchup B3DxX     
n.蕃茄酱,蕃茄沙司
参考例句:
  • There's a spot of ketchup on the tablecloth.桌布上有一点番茄酱的渍斑。
  • Could I have some ketchup and napkins,please?请给我一些番茄酱和纸手巾?
16 poking poking     
n. 刺,戳,袋 vt. 拨开,刺,戳 vi. 戳,刺,捅,搜索,伸出,行动散慢
参考例句:
  • He was poking at the rubbish with his stick. 他正用手杖拨动垃圾。
  • He spent his weekends poking around dusty old bookshops. 他周末都泡在布满尘埃的旧书店里。
17 acting czRzoc     
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
参考例句:
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
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