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儿童英语读物 The Great Bicycle Race Mystery CHAPTER 5 On the Road

时间:2017-09-27 06:14来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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Wheels whirred and gears clicked as the swarm1 of bicyclists pedaled along the swooping2 road that led out of the park. The early morning sun danced over the riders. Violet and Soo Lee spun3 along the road side by side.

As they reached the entrance to the park, the riders began to spread out more. Violet saw a ribbon of riders filling one side of the road all the way up the next hill. A quick glance back told her she had just as many riders behind her.

“Coming through! On your left!” Jessie called out cheerfully. She passed Violet and Soo Lee, waved, and disappeared around the curve ahead with a group of cyclists.

“We’re right behind you,” Henry said. “You’re looking good, Violet, Soo Lee.”

“Thank you,” said Violet.

“Grandfather’s near the back,” reported Benny. “He said he was going to take it easy for a while.”

“That’s what Soo Lee and I are going to do, too,” said Violet.

“Not Jessie, though,” said Soo Lee, laughing. “I think she’s too excited to go slow yet.”

They pedaled onward4. They met a few cars, but it was too early for many to be on the road. A dog sat at the end of his driveway and barked at them as they went by.

A girl on a bicycle delivering morning newspapers waved and shouted, “Helloooo! Good luck!”

They passed farms and empty fields and ponds and heard roosters crowing from barns and hen yards. As they passed one house, a sprinkler began to spray water over the front lawn.

“I’m thirsty,” Soo Lee said.

“Me too,” said Benny.

Soo Lee reached down and took her water bottle off the holder5 on the frame of her bicycle. She kept pedaling as she squirted water into her mouth.

The sun rose higher. The roosters stopped crowing. Near the front of the riders, Jessie almost finished her water bottle. She wiped her sweaty face and kept going.

Then she saw someone holding a sign. It was a thin girl with a shirt that said RIDE VOLUNTEER. As each bicyclist approached her, the girl waved the sign. It said, FIRST WATER STOP AHEAD! YOU’RE DOING GREAT!

“Oh, good,” gasped6 Jessie. She could get water and refill her bottle.

The water stop had been set up in the parking lot of an office building that was closed for the day. Jessie followed the arrows tacked7 to the trees and turned into the lot. A few bikers were leaving as she got there, but many more were behind her. Members of the volunteer support crew had set out paper cups on rows of tables while other crew members were getting more jugs9 from the truck.

Jessie got off her bike and leaned it against a tree. She unbuckled her helmet and pushed it back. She wiped her forehead and squirted the very last of the water from her bottle over her hot face and sweat-soaked hair. Then she got her water bottle and headed for the refreshment10 table that had just been set up near her. She grabbed a cup of water that a volunteer had just poured out of a big jug8 and gulped11 down a giant swallow. Other riders were eagerly gulping12 down cups of water all around her.

“Oh, no!” shouted a volunteer. “What kind of a bad joke is this?”

He gestured at the jugs of water and fruit juice that volunteers were unloading from the truck. “All the jugs are either empty or leaking.”

Sabotage13, thought Jessie, but she didn’t say it aloud. She saw Nan arrive, jump off her bike, and go over to one of the jugs of water. She opened the spigot and held her water bottle underneath14 to refill it, but nothing came out.

“Hey!” she said. “This jug is empty.”

At that moment Benny, Henry, Violet, and Soo Lee came into the water stop. “I’m so thirsty. I could drink a million gallons of water!” Benny declared.

“You might not get anything to drink, Benny,” said Jessie.

“What do you mean?” Benny asked.

A gray-haired woman in a cap that said CREW CAPTAIN on it put her hands on her hips15 and said, “Almost all of our jugs are empty! Someone opened the spigots while they were in the truck.”

“They must have done it after we got here,” another crew member said. “The jugs were filled when we left.”

“Well, whenever it was done, we don’t have enough water for the riders!” the crew captain said. “It’s all on the floor of the truck.”

Sure enough, a thin sheet of water was pouring out of the back of the truck.

“Maybe there’s a water fountain in the building,” Henry suggested.

But the building was locked.

Other riders rode into the water stop.

“We have to find water somewhere. We can’t let the riders go thirsty, especially on such a hot day,” the crew captain said.

“I have extra water,” came Grandfather’s voice. He was standing16 by his bike, holding a water bottle that he had taken from his backpack. “I can share.”

“Me too,” said someone else.

“I have some, too,” said a third. “And some juice.”

Soon all the riders who had water were sharing it with the riders who didn’t. Along with the coolers that still had water in them, there was just enough water for everyone to have a drink.

“That’s wonderful,” the crew captain said as she watched all the riders sharing water.

“We’ll find more water along the way, anyway,” said Al, who was standing near the end of the table. He clipped his empty bottle into his bottle holder and swung his bike out of the water-stop parking lot.

Other riders began to follow. The parking lot emptied out.

“I’m still a little thirsty,” Benny said softly. But he got on the bike behind his older brother. They went up one hill and down another and Benny thought of how Watch panted on hot days when he was thirsty. He tried panting, but it didn’t help.

They rounded a curve. By the side of the road ahead was a clump17 of riders.

“Oh, no,” Violet said anxiously. “I hope no one had an accident.”

But it wasn’t an accident. As they slowed to a stop, they saw water squirt into the air in the midst of the stopped riders.

Someone laughed. Someone else said, “Feels good.”

“Missy! Don’t squirt people! Help me fill their water bottles,” said a girl with dark braided hair. She looked down at a smaller girl, who also had dark hair, in pigtails.

The smaller girl grinned, showing a missing front tooth. “Okay,” she said. She held a garden hose out and directed water into each rider’s bottle.

The Aldens saw that the two girls had brought the hose from the front of their house to fill water bottles for the riders. As each bottle was filled, the older girl said, “Good luck,” and the younger girl echoed her words. Their mother watched proudly from the porch of the house.

“Thank you,” said Benny to the younger girl as she filled his bottle.

She looked at him in surprise. “How old are you?” she asked.

“Six,” said Benny.

“Me too,” the younger girl said. “Good luck.”

“Thanks,” said Benny, waving as he and Henry pedaled away.

They kept riding. Then Jessie, who’d sprinted18 ahead, slowed down. She stopped her bike.

Her family stopped with her. She said, “Up ahead, beyond that hedge—isn’t that Ms. Whatney’s car?”

“I think it is,” said Henry. “I think we should ride by extra slowly and take a look.”

Sure enough, the car belonged to Ms. Whatney. They could see her in the back, talking on a phone.

She didn’t see them. But Ronald did. He was leaning against the front fender, watching the riders pass.

He surprised all of the Aldens as they went by, however. He didn’t frown or scowl19 at them. Instead he smiled.

Then he raised a cup to his lips and took a long drink. “Hot day,” he said. “Having something cool to drink sure is nice, isn’t it?”


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 swarm dqlyj     
n.(昆虫)等一大群;vi.成群飞舞;蜂拥而入
参考例句:
  • There is a swarm of bees in the tree.这树上有一窝蜜蜂。
  • A swarm of ants are moving busily.一群蚂蚁正在忙碌地搬家。
2 swooping ce659162690c6d11fdc004b1fd814473     
俯冲,猛冲( swoop的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • The wind were swooping down to tease the waves. 大风猛扑到海面上戏弄着浪涛。
  • And she was talking so well-swooping with swift wing this way and that. 而她却是那样健谈--一下子谈到东,一下子谈到西。
3 spun kvjwT     
v.纺,杜撰,急转身
参考例句:
  • His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
  • Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。
4 onward 2ImxI     
adj.向前的,前进的;adv.向前,前进,在先
参考例句:
  • The Yellow River surges onward like ten thousand horses galloping.黄河以万马奔腾之势滚滚向前。
  • He followed in the steps of forerunners and marched onward.他跟随着先辈的足迹前进。
5 holder wc4xq     
n.持有者,占有者;(台,架等)支持物
参考例句:
  • The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
  • That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。
6 gasped e6af294d8a7477229d6749fa9e8f5b80     
v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要
参考例句:
  • She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
  • People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
7 tacked d6b486b3f9966de864e3b4d2aa518abc     
用平头钉钉( tack的过去式和过去分词 ); 附加,增补; 帆船抢风行驶,用粗线脚缝
参考例句:
  • He tacked the sheets of paper on as carefully as possible. 他尽量小心地把纸张钉上去。
  • The seamstress tacked the two pieces of cloth. 女裁缝把那两块布粗缝了起来。
8 jug QaNzK     
n.(有柄,小口,可盛水等的)大壶,罐,盂
参考例句:
  • He walked along with a jug poised on his head.他头上顶着一个水罐,保持着平衡往前走。
  • She filled the jug with fresh water.她将水壶注满了清水。
9 jugs 10ebefab1f47ca33e582d349c161a29f     
(有柄及小口的)水壶( jug的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Two china jugs held steaming gravy. 两个瓷罐子装着热气腾腾的肉卤。
  • Jugs-Big wall lingo for Jumars or any other type of ascenders. 大岩壁术语,祝玛式上升器或其它种类的上升器。
10 refreshment RUIxP     
n.恢复,精神爽快,提神之事物;(复数)refreshments:点心,茶点
参考例句:
  • He needs to stop fairly often for refreshment.他须时不时地停下来喘口气。
  • A hot bath is a great refreshment after a day's work.在一天工作之后洗个热水澡真是舒畅。
11 gulped 4873fe497201edc23bc8dcb50aa6eb2c     
v.狼吞虎咽地吃,吞咽( gulp的过去式和过去分词 );大口地吸(气);哽住
参考例句:
  • He gulped down the rest of his tea and went out. 他把剩下的茶一饮而尽便出去了。
  • She gulped nervously, as if the question bothered her. 她紧张地咽了一下,似乎那问题把她难住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
12 gulping 0d120161958caa5168b07053c2b2fd6e     
v.狼吞虎咽地吃,吞咽( gulp的现在分词 );大口地吸(气);哽住
参考例句:
  • She crawled onto the river bank and lay there gulping in air. 她爬上河岸,躺在那里喘着粗气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • And you'll even feel excited gulping down a glass. 你甚至可以感觉到激动下一杯。 来自互联网
13 sabotage 3Tmzz     
n.怠工,破坏活动,破坏;v.从事破坏活动,妨害,破坏
参考例句:
  • They tried to sabotage my birthday party.他们企图破坏我的生日晚会。
  • The fire at the factory was caused by sabotage.那家工厂的火灾是有人蓄意破坏引起的。
14 underneath VKRz2     
adj.在...下面,在...底下;adv.在下面
参考例句:
  • Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
  • She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣,里面套着一条连衣裙。
15 hips f8c80f9a170ee6ab52ed1e87054f32d4     
abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯,耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 );[建筑学]屋脊;臀围(尺寸);臀部…的
参考例句:
  • She stood with her hands on her hips. 她双手叉腰站着。
  • They wiggled their hips to the sound of pop music. 他们随着流行音乐的声音摇晃着臀部。 来自《简明英汉词典》
16 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。
17 clump xXfzH     
n.树丛,草丛;vi.用沉重的脚步行走
参考例句:
  • A stream meandered gently through a clump of trees.一条小溪从树丛中蜿蜒穿过。
  • It was as if he had hacked with his thick boots at a clump of bluebells.仿佛他用自己的厚靴子无情地践踏了一丛野风信子。
18 sprinted cbad7fd28d99bfe76a3766a4dd081936     
v.短距离疾跑( sprint的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He sprinted for the line. 他向终点线冲去。
  • Sergeant Horne sprinted to the car. 霍恩中士全力冲向那辆汽车。 来自辞典例句
19 scowl HDNyX     
vi.(at)生气地皱眉,沉下脸,怒视;n.怒容
参考例句:
  • I wonder why he is wearing an angry scowl.我不知道他为何面带怒容。
  • The boss manifested his disgust with a scowl.老板面带怒色,清楚表示出他的厌恶之感。
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