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儿童英语读物 The Mystery of the Mummy's Curse CHAPTER 5 A Thief in the Museum

时间:2017-10-19 07:42来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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The Aldens arrived early at the museum the next morning. But this time, the door to the prep room was locked.

“That’s good,” said Henry. “Now no one can go in and make a mess or steal something.”

While the children waited for Sam or Pete to arrive, they finished painting the last wall of the exhibit hall.

They were just cleaning their brushes when Sam appeared in the doorway1.

“Hello!” she called, heading into the prep room. The Aldens quickly put away all the painting supplies and followed Sam.

“Sam, we were wondering ...” Jessie began. “Are these all the pieces for the Egypt exhibit?”

“Yes,” Sam said, continuing to unload her bag.

“Are you sure everything’s here?” Jessie asked.

Sam looked quickly at Jessie. “What do you mean?”

“Well, the first day we were here, Pete showed us some of the artifacts. And there was a little baboon2 ...” Jessie said.

“Yes?” Sam said.

“Where’s the baboon now?” Jessie asked.

Sam’s eyebrows3 furrowed4. “The baboon? It’s ...” She went over to the tables holding the artifacts and walked slowly from one table to the next. “How odd,” she mumbled5 to herself. She walked around the tables again before walking quickly to the corner where the boxes were stacked. The Aldens watched as Sam picked up one box after another, making sure they were all empty.

At last, Sam turned around and looked back at the Aldens. “I don’t know where it is,” she said. She looked quickly around the room, but there was nowhere else that the baboon statue could have been.

“So you saw the baboon two days ago?” Sam asked.

“Yes,” said Henry. “It was right on the table with the other pieces you’d unpacked6.”

“I remember because it was my favorite piece,” said Benny sadly.

“When did you notice it was missing?” Sam asked.

“Yesterday,” Jessie said. “And remember, someone had come in and messed everything up... .”

“Oh, my goodness,” Sam said, sinking into her chair. “So we have a thief.”

Everyone was silent for a moment.

Then Sam spoke7. “We mustn’t jump to conclusions. The statue may just have been misplaced.”

“There may be other things missing, too,” Jessie pointed8 out. “I just happened to notice that piece because it was Benny’s favorite. Should I go through the list you have and see what else is missing?”

“No,” Sam said. “You kids have done enough work already. Take a break for lunch.”

“Shouldn’t we tell Pete and Dr. Snood?” Henry asked.

“Yes, definitely” said Sam. “But not until we’re really sure it’s missing. I don’t want to worry them if I don’t have to.”

When the Aldens came back from the café a short while later, they were pleased to see how bright and clean the exhibit hall looked with its fresh coat of paint.

“Now all we need to do is wash this filthy9 floor,” said Jessie.

“And dust the display cases,” Henry added.

Henry and Jessie each took a mop and a bucket from the supply closet and found a bottle of floor soap. Violet and Benny found rags and some glass cleaner.

They were returning to the exhibit hall when Sam appeared in the doorway. “Jessie, I’ve decided10 I could use your help. I’ve got too many other things to take care of.” She handed a set of papers to Jessie. “That’s the printout of all the items we’re supposed to have in the exhibit. You’ll see I made a little x next to the baboon. Would you make sure there’s nothing else missing?”

“Sure,” said Jessie. She followed Sam into the prep room.

Sam sat back down at her desk. Jessie walked slowly around the tables, checking off each item on the list when she’d spotted11 it. She noted12 the cups and pots, the doll, the beautiful gold cat statues.

As she flipped13 through the list, Jessie noted happily that every item had a checkmark next to it except for the baboon, which had an x. She was pleased to see that no other items were missing.

Or were they?

Jessie looked back at the table. There had been a wooden flute14, hadn’t there?

She looked all around the tables, but there was no flute to be seen.

Then she looked at the paper she was holding. Had she somehow missed the listing for the flute? She quickly scanned down the list. The flute was not listed.

“Sam, this is really weird,” she said.

“What is it?” Sam asked, looking up from her work. “Is there something missing?”

“No, everything on the list is here,” Jessie said.

“Great,” Sam said with relief.

“But I remember something that isn’t here,” Jessie said.

“What?” Sam asked, standing15 up.

“A wooden flute,” Jessie said.

“Yes, of course,” Sam said, going to look for herself. “I was planning to put that on display next to the harp16. It isn’t here?”

“No,” Jessie said. “And what’s even stranger, it’s not on the list, either.” She handed the list to Sam.

Sam flipped slowly through the list, looking carefully at each page. “You’re right, the flute isn’t listed.” Then she looked at the tables. “And I don’t see it anywhere.” Sam made a note at the bottom of the list. “Another missing piece.”

“Why isn’t it on the list?” Jessie asked.

“I’m not sure,” said Sam. “This is the list I got from the Egyptian Museum. Maybe they added the flute later and forgot to put it on the list.” Sam smiled at Jessie. “Lucky for me you have such a good memory.”

“Are you going to tell Pete about it?” Jessie asked.

“Yes, I’ll go right now.” Sam walked to the door. Then she turned around and looked back at Jessie. “Don’t say anything about this to him, though. I don’t think he’d want everyone to know that pieces of the exhibit were missing. You understand, don’t you? Bad publicity17 for the museum.”

“Yes, I understand,” Jessie said.

After Sam had left, Jessie went into the exhibit hall. She told the others about the missing flute and that it had never even been on the list.

“I can’t believe someone has been stealing things from the exhibit,” Benny said.

“What’s Sam going to do about it?” Henry asked.

“She went to talk to Pete, but she said we shouldn’t say anything about it,” Jessie said.

“Why not?” Benny asked.

“It would be bad publicity for the museum if people found out,” Jessie explained. “Sam figured Pete wouldn’t want everyone to know.”

“That makes sense,” Henry agreed.

“I can’t believe there’s a list of items that isn’t even accurate,” said Violet. “What good is that?”

“I have an idea,” Jessie said. “Let’s make our own list. Then we’ll be sure of everything that’s there—and we’ll know if anything else disappears.”

“Great idea,” said Violet. “I’ll help you.”

“Benny and I will finish cleaning the display cases,” said Henry.

Going to her backpack, which she’d left by Sam’s desk, Jessie pulled out a small, blue notebook and a pen. She had written her name on the inside cover, but other than that, the notebook was blank. Jessie flipped open to the first page and wrote at the top: Enter the Mummy’s Tomb. “You look at the table and tell me the items, and I’ll write them down,” Jessie said.

“Okay,” said Violet. “Two gold cat statues ...” she began. Slowly the girls worked their way around the tables, with Violet telling Jessie what was on each table, and Jessie writing the items in her notebook. She wrote down the name of the object and a short description so she’d remember what it was. It took a long time, but at last, they had an accurate list of everything that was there.

Sam returned as they were finishing the list.

“What did Pete say?” Jessie asked.

“He wasn’t in his office,” Sam said. “I’ll have to catch him later.” She looked at Jessie’s notebook, which Jessie was just closing up.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Since that list wasn’t accurate, Violet and I decided to make our own,” Jessie said. She handed the notebook over for Sam to see.

“What smart kids you are,” Sam said.

Just then they heard a deep voice in the next room. When they looked in, Pete was there talking with Henry and Benny.

“Hi, Pete,” Violet said as she and Jessie joined the others.

“I was just telling the boys how great it looks in here.” He walked around the room admiring the children’s hard work. “Our regular cleaning and painting crews couldn’t have done a better job.”

The children smiled proudly.

“They’ve done a fine job, haven’t they?” Sam said. “Pete, can I talk to you in here for a moment?”

“Sure,” Pete said. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he told the Aldens.

The kids knew that Sam was going to talk to Pete about the missing items. They wanted to stay and hear what he planned to do. But it was nearly dinnertime.

“See you tomorrow,” Henry called over his shoulder.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 doorway 2s0xK     
n.门口,(喻)入门;门路,途径
参考例句:
  • They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
  • Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。
2 baboon NuNzc     
n.狒狒
参考例句:
  • A baboon is a large monkey that lives in Africa.狒狒是一种生活在非洲的大猴子。
  • As long as the baboon holds on to what it wants,it's trapped.只要狒狒紧抓住想要的东西不放手,它就会被牢牢困住。
3 eyebrows a0e6fb1330e9cfecfd1c7a4d00030ed5     
眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
  • His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。
4 furrowed furrowed     
v.犁田,开沟( furrow的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Overhead hung a summer sky furrowed with the rash of rockets. 头顶上的夏日夜空纵横着急疾而过的焰火。 来自辞典例句
  • The car furrowed the loose sand as it crossed the desert. 车子横过沙漠,在松软的沙土上犁出了一道车辙。 来自辞典例句
5 mumbled 3855fd60b1f055fa928ebec8bcf3f539     
含糊地说某事,叽咕,咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He mumbled something to me which I did not quite catch. 他对我叽咕了几句话,可我没太听清楚。
  • George mumbled incoherently to himself. 乔治语无伦次地喃喃自语。
6 unpacked 78a068b187a564f21b93e72acffcebc3     
v.从(包裹等)中取出(所装的东西),打开行李取出( unpack的过去式和过去分词 );拆包;解除…的负担;吐露(心事等)
参考例句:
  • I unpacked my bags as soon as I arrived. 我一到达就打开行李,整理衣物。
  • Our guide unpacked a picnic of ham sandwiches and offered us tea. 我们的导游打开装着火腿三明治的野餐盒,并给我们倒了些茶水。 来自辞典例句
7 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
8 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。
9 filthy ZgOzj     
adj.卑劣的;恶劣的,肮脏的
参考例句:
  • The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories.整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。
  • You really should throw out that filthy old sofa and get a new one.你真的应该扔掉那张肮脏的旧沙发,然后再去买张新的。
10 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。
11 spotted 7FEyj     
adj.有斑点的,斑纹的,弄污了的
参考例句:
  • The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
  • Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。
12 noted 5n4zXc     
adj.著名的,知名的
参考例句:
  • The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
  • Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。
13 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。
14 flute hj9xH     
n.长笛;v.吹笛
参考例句:
  • He took out his flute, and blew at it.他拿出笛子吹了起来。
  • There is an extensive repertoire of music written for the flute.有很多供长笛演奏的曲目。
15 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。
16 harp UlEyQ     
n.竖琴;天琴座
参考例句:
  • She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。
  • He played an Irish melody on the harp.他用竖琴演奏了一首爱尔兰曲调。
17 publicity ASmxx     
n.众所周知,闻名;宣传,广告
参考例句:
  • The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
  • He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事,只当它是一种宣传手法。
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