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儿童英语读物 The Summer Camp Mystery CHAPTER 1 Shapes in the Fog

时间:2017-10-11 02:56来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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At five o’clock on an August morning, the sun hadn’t risen yet, but the Alden family was already up and about. The streetlamps were still on. In a few minutes, the headlights on James Alden’s car were on, too.

Four sleepy children trooped down the porch steps of the big white house where they lived. They joined their grandfather, who was already in the car.

“Buckle up, everyone,” Grandfather Alden said. “We want to get an early start driving to Maine.”

One by one, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and six-year-old Benny Alden slipped into Grandfather’s car. They buckled1 themselves in.

Mr. Alden backed out slowly. He didn’t want to scrape the bottom of his car. It was riding low, loaded down with camp trunks, backpacks, and the five Aldens.

The family housekeeper2, Mrs. McGregor, stood by the driveway holding on to Watch, the family dog. “Good-bye, children,” Mrs. McGregor said. “Have fun at Camp Seagull. Don’t eat too much lobster3!”

Twelve-year-old Jessie tried not to yawn. She’d barely had time to braid her long brown hair and find her Junior Counselor4 cap. “Good-bye, Mrs. McGregor. Take good care of Watch for me.”

“ ’Bye, Mrs. McGregor,” the other three children said.

Watch looked at the car with his saddest face. He whined5 softly, the way he always did when he was left behind.

“Watch wants to come to Camp Seagull with us, too,” Jessie said with a little catch in her voice. “I’m going to miss having him sleep at the foot of my bed.”

Benny took one last look at Watch and Mrs. McGregor before Mr. Alden pulled away. “Too bad Watch can’t be a camper, too. Remember how he found us in our boxcar in the woods — even before you found us, Grandfather?”

Mr. Alden smiled. Benny was quite a chatterbox, even at five o’clock in the morning. “You won’t need Watch for company, Benny. The camp is filled with children your age.”

“Jessie and I will be right there as Junior Counselors,” fourteen-year-old Henry told Benny. “Violet is a camper, too.”

“Don’t forget,” Grandfather Alden said to Benny, “at the end of each day at camp, you’ll be joining me at the Dark Harbor Inn.”

Violet, who was ten, thought about this. “But the rest of us will be away for the whole week since we’re overnight campers. I’m going to miss you, Grandfather.”

“And I’ll miss you,” Mr. Alden said in a quiet voice. “While I catch up on my reading, you can catch up on your painting and your crafts.”

Violet’s eyes brightened. “I’m going to spend as much time as I can in the art studio at camp.”

Jessie was bubbling with plans. “I’m so glad Ginny and Rich Gullen found room for us in this session of Camp Seagull, Grandfather. There’s so much going on. Last night, I looked over the counselor manual again. There’s waterskiing, Costume Night, swimming, storytelling, arts and crafts, sports — you name it.”

“Eating. You forgot to say eating,” Benny said.

Everyone in the car laughed. Who else in the Alden family would be thinking about food so early in the morning?

“Don’t worry, Benny, you won’t go hungry,” Henry said.

“I know. I never go hungry. See?” Benny pulled a bag from the backpack at his feet.

“Mrs. McGregor said it was a long way to Maine. I wanted to be ready, so I packed some trail mix.”

“But Benny, we’re not going on any trails today,” Henry pointed6 out. “Not until we get out to Claw Island, where Camp Seagull is. You don’t need trail mix riding in a car.”

Benny disagreed. “Trail mix is good anytime, even on long car rides.” He took out some sunflower seeds to munch7 on. “Especially on long car rides.”

Just as the sun came up, Mr. Alden turned onto the busy highway going north. “Off we go, children!”

“Good-bye, Greenfield,” Violet said. “See you next week.”

By the time Mr. Alden drove into northern Maine, the gas tank was nearly empty. As for the picnic basket Mrs. McGregor had sent along, that was nearly empty, too. And so was Benny’s trail mix bag.

Mr. Alden shifted in his seat. He’d been driving a long time. “We’re practically there, children. Now that we’re off the main highway, let’s look for road signs. There’s some fog rolling in. I don’t want to miss the turnoff for the Claw Island ferry. It’s just outside Dark Harbor. I went there all the time when I was a boy.”

“Now Henry and I are the boys!” Benny said proudly. “And we’re visiting Claw Island just like you did.”

“Right you are.” Grandfather smiled to himself. “Only there wasn’t a camp on the island back then, just the old Pines estate that the family owned, along with some deserted8 buildings. Many a time my chums and I would go out to Claw Island to explore and play games.”

“Just like us — if we ever get there.” Benny pressed his forehead against the window.

Violet stared out, too. “The fog has swallowed up everything except for the pointy pine trees.”

“Look! There’s a sign!” Benny made a claw with his hand. “Why is it called Claw Island, anyway?”

“If you look at a map, you can see the island is shaped like a lobster claw,” Jessie explained.

Mr. Alden turned onto a sandy beach road. “And so it was in my grandmother’s day. Only back then it was called Claw Point, not Claw Island. It was still connected to the mainland just outside Dark Harbor. One summer, Grandmother returned to discover the ocean had washed away the road. Two hurricanes later, the ocean covered over the beach and the dunes10 in between.”

Jessie flipped11 through the Camp Seagull manual. “It says here that after the second hurricane, the Pines family turned their property into a camp. Then last winter they sold it to Rich and Ginny Gullen, the new owners.”

Mr. Alden drove slowly down the dirt road. “I hope the Gullens make a go of it. Rich told me the Pines family found it difficult running a camp on the island. They had to sell it because they lost too much money. As you can see, it’s not an easy place to get to. It can only be reached by boat. People travel out on the small passenger ferry. Camp supplies go on the freight boat once a week.”

“We’re on the people boat,” Benny said. “I just hope the food boat doesn’t get lost.”

Grandfather smiled. “That’s not likely to happen. It’s only a ten-minute boat ride from here. Too bad it’s foggy right now. On a sunny day Claw Island is a very pretty sight.”

“But not today,” Violet said. “There’s no sign of the island, just dark shapes and fog everywhere.”

Grandfather Alden brought the car to a stop in a small parking area. “Here’s the ferry landing, just where it used to be. I see a few other camp families have already arrived.”

The Aldens scrambled12 from the car. They needed to stretch their legs after their long trip. They followed the sound of the lapping ocean right down to a small beach and an empty dock.

The children looked out at the gray water. A few seagulls bobbed in the cove9, ducking under now and then for a fish. Everything else was wrapped in fog and strangely silent.

The Aldens returned to the parking area. They looked shyly at the other families milling around in the mist. Some of the children already had on their Camp Seagull shirts. Most of the younger children stayed close to their families, just as Benny and Violet stayed next to Grandfather Alden. Everyone would be saying good-bye soon enough.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 buckled qxfz0h     
a. 有带扣的
参考例句:
  • She buckled her belt. 她扣上了腰带。
  • The accident buckled the wheel of my bicycle. 我自行车的轮子在事故中弄弯了。
2 housekeeper 6q2zxl     
n.管理家务的主妇,女管家
参考例句:
  • A spotless stove told us that his mother is a diligent housekeeper.炉子清洁无瑕就表明他母亲是个勤劳的主妇。
  • She is an economical housekeeper and feeds her family cheaply.她节约持家,一家人吃得很省。
3 lobster w8Yzm     
n.龙虾,龙虾肉
参考例句:
  • The lobster is a shellfish.龙虾是水生贝壳动物。
  • I like lobster but it does not like me.我喜欢吃龙虾,但它不适宜于我的健康。
4 counselor czlxd     
n.顾问,法律顾问
参考例句:
  • The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
  • Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。
5 whined cb507de8567f4d63145f632630148984     
v.哀号( whine的过去式和过去分词 );哀诉,诉怨
参考例句:
  • The dog whined at the door, asking to be let out. 狗在门前嚎叫着要出去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • He whined and pouted when he did not get what he wanted. 他要是没得到想要的东西就会发牢骚、撅嘴。 来自辞典例句
6 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
7 munch E1yyI     
v.用力嚼,大声咀嚼
参考例句:
  • We watched her munch through two packets of peanuts.我们看她津津有味地嚼了两包花生米。
  • Getting them to munch on vegetable dishes was more difficult.使他们吃素菜就比较困难了。
8 deserted GukzoL     
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的
参考例句:
  • The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
  • The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。
9 cove 9Y8zA     
n.小海湾,小峡谷
参考例句:
  • The shore line is wooded,olive-green,a pristine cove.岸边一带林木蓊郁,嫩绿一片,好一个山外的小海湾。
  • I saw two children were playing in a cove.我看到两个小孩正在一个小海湾里玩耍。
10 dunes 8a48dcdac1abf28807833e2947184dd4     
沙丘( dune的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The boy galloped over the dunes barefoot. 那男孩光着脚在沙丘间飞跑。
  • Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat. 将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。
11 flipped 5bef9da31993fe26a832c7d4b9630147     
轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 ); 按(开关); 快速翻转; 急挥
参考例句:
  • The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转,撞毁了。
  • The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。
12 scrambled 2e4a1c533c25a82f8e80e696225a73f2     
v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 );攀登;争夺;(军事飞机)紧急起飞
参考例句:
  • Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
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