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儿童英语读物 Schoolhouse Mystery CHAPTER 3 Wanted: A Schoolhouse

时间:2017-06-15 05:35来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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It was a few days later, and the girls were getting lunch. Grandfather came in from the store. He said, “While you were at the beach Mr. Fenton told me that the fishermen get up at three o’clock in the morning to take their boats out. That’s why we never see any men in the morning.”

Henry said, “Well, we know they come back at four or five in the afternoon. We’ve noticed that every day.”

“They look fine coming in one by one,” said Benny. “I’m going down to the beach to watch those boats. I don’t care if nobody speaks to me. But I’m going early. I don’t want to miss anything.”

Long before three o’clock the four Aldens went down to the sandy beach. Violet2 took her watercolors, brushes, and paper.

A few boats were coming in early. The fishermen started to shovel3 fish into boxes. Some of the fish were spread4 out in nets to dry. Others were packed in ice to go to Northport. Gulls6 were flying all around the wharf7, trying to get leftover8 fish. They made a great noise.

“Fish smells awful, doesn’t it?” said Benny.

“Well, there is so much of it the whole town smells of fish,” said Henry. “I suppose it is the fish drying that smells.”

Just then the red-haired girl and her brother came slowly out of their house next to the store. They passed the Aldens.

“Oh, hello there!” said Jessie.

“Hello,” said the girl, but she did not stop. In fact she seemed to walk faster.

Jessie said sadly9, “Nobody wants to be friends.”

“Maybe Max is right,” said Benny. “It will be dull if nobody is friendly.”

“Come on, Ben, don’t give up so easily,” Henry said. “If anyone can make friends, you can.”

After Violet had watched the boats for a while, she climbed up on the rocks. She could see the harbor10 better from there. The other Aldens stayed on the sand below.

“Oh, my!” Violet called down. “There are a lot of small pools of seawater all over the top of this rock. I’m going to use salt water for my watercolors!” So she washed her brushes in a pool of seawater.

She had just painted a blue band for the sea and some yellow sand, when she heard someone climbing up the rock behind her. She knew her family was sitting on the sand below her because she could see them. Who could this be? She turned her head to look. It was the red-haired girl!

“Oh, can I watch you? Do you mind?” asked the girl.

Violet was so surprised she could hardly answer. But she said, “Of course I don’t mind! I’m not much of a painter11, though.”

The girl climbed the last rock and sat down beside Violet. “I just couldn’t keep away when I saw you painting!” she said.

Then Violet saw that her twin brother was right behind her.

“Are you twins?” she asked.

“Yes,” said the girl. “My name is Marie Moss12, and Hal and I are just crazy about painting! There was a man up here when we were kids. He came here to paint the view. Ever since then, Hal and I have wanted to learn to paint.”

“Did the man show you how?” asked Violet. She looked from one to the other.

“Him? Oh, no! He chased13 us away,” said Hal with a frown14. “He didn’t like to have us watch him.”

Marie said, “He didn’t stay here long. He painted just two pictures. One was of the harbor and one was our house. They were beautiful!”

“Then I guess you did watch him,” said Violet.

“Yes, we did,” said Hal. “The man never guessed. We knew the rocks better than he did. So we got behind a rock only a few feet away. We saw everything he did. We saw just what colors he used15. He had oil16 paints.”

“And you remember all this time!” said Violet.

“Oh, yes!” said Marie. “He mixed a lovely blue with green. It looked just exactly like the water. Then he put purple in it! See? Under the rocks, it’s purple.”

“You know,” said Violet slowly, “you see things the way an artist would. Did you ever have any paints?”

“No,” said Hal. “We tried to make pictures with old crayons. But if we only had some paints—!”

The other Aldens heard what was going on. They climbed up the rocks and sat down.

“Are you going to stay very long?” asked Marie.

“Well, I think so,” said Jessie, smiling. “We like it here.”

“You see,” began the boy and stopped. He seemed to be having trouble with his words.

“Did you want something?” asked Benny.

The two strangers17 laughed a little. The girl said, “I guess we are scared.”

Benny said, “Say! You can’t be scared of us, can you?”

The twins looked at each other, and Marie said, “We aren’t supposed to talk to summer people.”

Henry said, “Come on! Don’t call us summer people. We just came up here to visit Port5 Elizabeth and see what it is like. A fishing village is new to us, you know.”

“We’ve been wanting to make friends with someone,” said Benny, “but it’s been very hard.”

Then Marie spoke18 very fast. “Everybody said you were stuck-up, but I said you weren’t. You aren’t stuck-up at all! I was right! I know we haven’t been very nice to you on this island, but Hal and I wondered....”

“What did you wonder?” asked Benny. “I’d like to know.”

The twins were quiet for a minute.

Then Marie said, “You see, we go to school in the winter. But the teachers don’t like it here. They don’t stay long. We had five teachers last year.”

“Imagine having five teachers in one year!” said Benny.

“It’s awful,” said Hal. “Every new teacher thinks we have forgotten everything. So they all start back at the beginning.”

“You don’t get very far that way,” said Henry.

“No,” said Marie. “The last teacher told us to study this summer, but we don’t know how. And we would love to learn to paint.”

Jessie said, “Violet learned19 to paint in school. She loves it, too.”

“Oh, would you teach us?” cried the twins.

“Of course,” said Violet. “I’ll do my best.”

“Oh, thank you,” said Marie, her eyes bright.

Hal said slowly, “We’d like to learn other things, too, but we don’t know how.”

Then Jessie woke up. Violet woke up. Henry woke up. As for Benny, he was already wide awake. They all saw what the twins really wanted.

Then the whole story came out. The Moss twins talked faster than ever.

Marie said, “The little children can’t read, and they love stories. All the children in this village ought20 to go to school. Even the little ones would love it if you taught it. And all our mothers would be so glad.”

“OK,” said Benny. “So you want to go to summer school. Henry, let’s teach school! Even I could teach. Just give me a few small kids, and I’ll teach ’em to read. And I could teach singing. Now how about that old schoolhouse? That’s empty, doing nothing.”

“That belongs to Miss Elizabeth Gray,” said Marie. “She has the key.”

“Is she cross?” asked Benny. “Would she let us use the schoolhouse?”

“She might. She isn’t cross, anyway. You could ask her. I wouldn’t dare21,” said Marie. “It would be grand1 if we could use the schoolhouse, wouldn’t it?”

Henry began to climb down the rock. He said, “Never mind your painting this time, Violet. Let’s go!”

“Oh, do you dare?” asked Hal.

“Why not?” said Benny. “She doesn’t bite22, does she?”

“No,” said Hal, laughing a little. “But we won’t go. You go.”

Henry smiled. He said, “Yes, I guess four of us will be enough. We’ll tell you later what she says.”

Just then a loud whistle23 sounded. It whistled24 and whistled.

“That’s for us!” cried Marie. “It’s the sardine25 factory! A school of sardines26 has come in. Sardines have to be canned quick. We have to go. Please don’t forget our school.”

“No, we won’t!” called Benny.

As they climbed down, Henry said to Jessie, “Remember my friend Larry in Adams College? He is going to live in a city this summer and help boys who live in a poor neighborhood catch up in school. Then they won’t be drop-outs. And here we are on an island, doing about the same thing.”

“I think it’s an exciting idea,” said Violet. “We didn’t think we would be schoolteachers this summer, did we?”

“That’s the last thing I thought of,” said Henry. “Just look at everybody going to work.”

Indeed27 somebody came out of every house. Sometimes there were three or four people from one house. They all hurried down to the factory.

“Well, well,” said Jessie. “We have made friends at last.”

“We made two, anyway,” said Benny.

By that time Marie and Hal were almost out of sight.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 grand 0fDx4     
adj.豪华的,宏伟的,壮丽的,主要的,重大的;n.(美俚)一千美元
参考例句:
  • The pianist played several pieces of music on a grand piano.钢琴家在一架大钢琴上弹了几首乐曲。
  • Come on,I'll give you the grand tour of the backyard.跟我来,我带你去后院来一次盛大的旅游。
2 violet 8h3wm     
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。
3 shovel cELzg     
n.铁锨,铲子,一铲之量;v.铲,铲出
参考例句:
  • He was working with a pick and shovel.他在用镐和铲干活。
  • He seized a shovel and set to.他拿起一把铲就干上了。
4 spread brsyD     
n.传播,散布,伸展;adj.扩延的,伸展的;vt.展开,铺开;传播,推广;伸出;涂,敷
参考例句:
  • The news spread very widely.这消息传播得很广。
  • She spread a cloth on the table.她用一块布铺在餐桌上。
5 port MOcxX     
n.港口,埠,舱门,避风港;左舷;炮眼,枪眼;举止,意义;vt.左转舵
参考例句:
  • The ship sailed into port.那艘船驶进了港口。
  • The new port has been opened to foreign ships.新建的港口已向外轮开放。
6 gulls 6fb3fed3efaafee48092b1fa6f548167     
n.鸥( gull的名词复数 )v.欺骗某人( gull的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • A flock of sea gulls are hovering over the deck. 一群海鸥在甲板上空飞翔。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • The gulls which haunted the outlying rocks in a prodigious number. 数不清的海鸥在遥远的岩石上栖息。 来自辞典例句
7 wharf RMGzd     
n.码头,停泊处
参考例句:
  • We fetch up at the wharf exactly on time.我们准时到达码头。
  • We reached the wharf gasping for breath.我们气喘吁吁地抵达了码头。
8 leftover V97zC     
n.剩货,残留物,剩饭;adj.残余的
参考例句:
  • These narrow roads are a leftover from the days of horse-drawn carriages.这些小道是从马车时代沿用下来的。
  • Wonder if that bakery lets us take leftover home.不知道那家糕饼店会不会让我们把卖剩的带回家。
9 sadly bjFz5L     
adv.悲痛地,悲惨地,悲伤地
参考例句:
  • She looked at him sadly.她难过地看着他。
  • Sadly the good times aren't returning any time soon.遗憾的是,好时光不会很快就回来。
10 harbor tlVyP     
n.海港,港口;vt.庇护,藏匿;心怀(怨恨等)
参考例句:
  • The harbor lies to the south of the city.港口在城市的南边。
  • At that time,our ship was tied up at this harbor.当时我们的船停靠在这个港口。
11 painter FKwx3     
n.画家,漆匠,油漆工
参考例句:
  • God must be a painter.上帝一定是个画家。
  • You look like a painter.你看起来像个画家。
12 moss X6QzA     
n.苔,藓,地衣
参考例句:
  • Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
  • He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。
13 chased 2c5612168d687dc7bc023e30a656a040     
vt.追捕(chase的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • The boy chased his sister in and out among the bushes. 那个男孩在灌木丛里跟着他姐姐追过来追过去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The enemy chased the decoys down to the place of ambush. 敌人将诱骗者一直追到伏兵所在地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
14 frown WfNzg     
vi.皱眉,不满,用皱眉对…表示不满(at)
参考例句:
  • Don't frown at me like that.不要那样对我皱眉。
  • Her frown gave him a speechless message.她眉头一皱给了他一个暗示。
15 used ajBwV     
adj.用旧了的,旧的;习惯于…;过去惯/经常
参考例句:
  • I used to work until nearly 6:00 o'clock each day.我过去常常工作到6:00左右。
  • He used to walk anywhere from two to five miles an hour.他过去经常一小时走二至五英里。
16 oil IIJx5     
n.油,油画颜料;v.涂油,溶化,加油
参考例句:
  • China is rich in oil resources.中国的石油资源丰富。
  • It might need some oil.它大概需要一些油。
17 strangers 9d41a5b52de6e05a67580085fdf92a27     
陌生人( stranger的名词复数 ); 外地人,初到者
参考例句:
  • The local people are very hospitable to strangers. 当地人对外来客人十分友好热情。
  • He was a paradox—a loner who loved to chat to strangers. 他真是个矛盾人物,生性孤僻却又喜欢和陌生人闲聊。
18 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。
19 learned m1oxn     
adj.有学问的,博学的;learn的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
  • In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里,他被视为有学问的人。
20 ought XJKx4     
v.aux.应该,大概;n.责任
参考例句:
  • Ought I to hand in the homework today?我应当在今天交上作业吗?
  • They ought to be here by now.他们这个时候该到了。
21 dare qybxH     
n.敢,挑战;aux.敢;vi.敢;vt.敢于,勇于面对
参考例句:
  • He didn't dare to look at her in the face.他不敢正眼看她。
  • How dare you?Take your hand off me at once.放肆!马上把你的手挪开。
22 bite lReyn     
n.咬,咬伤,一口,刺痛;(= byte)字节,位组,二进位组,信息组;v.咬,刺痛
参考例句:
  • The dog may bite at you.狗会咬你的。
  • Let me have a bite.让我咬一口。
23 whistle iM4z9     
n.口哨,汽笛,啸啸声,口哨声;vi. 吹口哨,鸣汽笛,发嘘嘘声;vt.用口哨通知
参考例句:
  • We heard the whistle of a train.我们听到了火车的汽笛声。
  • He gave a loud whistle of surprise.他吹了一声响亮的口哨表示惊讶。
24 whistled 407fd1807c847f21dd28c8c1ed41445d     
v.吹口哨( whistle的过去式和过去分词 );鸣笛;呼啸着前进;空指望
参考例句:
  • Norma looked at the parcel and whistled softly through her teeth. 诺尔玛看着包裹,轻柔地哼起了口哨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He whistled to his dog and it came running. 他吹口哨唤狗,狗跑了过来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
25 sardine JYSxK     
n.[C]沙丁鱼
参考例句:
  • Every bus arrives and leaves packed as fully as a sardine tin.每辆开来和开走的公共汽车都塞得像沙丁鱼罐头一样拥挤。
  • As we chatted,a brightly painted sardine boat dropped anchor.我们正在聊着,只见一条颜色鲜艳的捕捞沙丁鱼的船抛了锚。
26 sardines sardines     
n. 沙丁鱼
参考例句:
  • The young of some kinds of herring are canned as sardines. 有些种类的鲱鱼幼鱼可制成罐头。
  • Sardines can be eaten fresh but are often preserved in tins. 沙丁鱼可以吃新鲜的,但常常是装听的。
27 indeed 588x0     
adv.真正地,实际上;确实,实在;当然,固然;甚至;真的
参考例句:
  • I thank you very much indeed for this interview.我十分感谢您这次接见。
  • I didn't mind.Indeed,I was pleased.我不在意,甚至还很高兴。
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