儿童英语读物 The Box That Watch Found Chapter 1 The Strange Box

“Whoa! Slow down, Watch!” six-year-old Benny Alden cried as he held tight to his dog’s leash¹. “I can’t run that fast!”

Benny’s eight-year-old sister, Violet, laughed. “I don’t think Watch can slow down, Benny. He’s too excited!”

“That’s because he knows we’re going to the dog park,” twelve-year-old Jessie said.

It looked like the girls were right. Watch’s tongue lolled to the side of his mouth as he led the children up the hill. If dogs could smile, Watch was definitely smiling. But poor Benny could hardly keep up with him.

Fourteen-year-old Henry trotted² up alongside his younger brother. A Frisbee³ dangled⁴ from one hand. “Do you want me to take Watch for you, Benny?”

“No,” Benny said, huffing and puffing⁵. He gripped the leash so tight his knuckles⁶ were turning white. “I’ve got him.”

“Are you sure?” Jessie asked as she and Violet ran up behind Henry.

“Yes,” Benny said. “We’re almost there.” They could hear dogs yipping and barking in the distance.

A few minutes later, the Aldens entered a large fenced-in area that was bordered by woods. A sign on the fence read: Welcome to Greenfield Dog Park.

“Sit, Watch!” Benny commanded.

Watch let out a little whimper. He clearly wanted to run and play with the other dogs. But he sat right there on the path. His tail swished the dirt from side to side.

Watch had been with the Aldens since their days of living in the boxcar. Their parents had just died and the children were supposed to go and live with their grandfather, James Alden. But they didn’t know him. They were afraid he’d be mean. So they ran away and lived in an abandoned boxcar in the woods. Watch joined them soon after that.

Eventually, their grandfather found the children in the woods and took them to live with him. He let Watch come, too. The children found out Grandfather wasn’t mean at all. In fact, he was so nice that he even had the boxcar moved to his backyard so they could play in it anytime they wanted to.

Benny unsnapped Watch’s leash, then put it in his pocket. “Okay, boy,” he said cheerfully. “You’re free!”

That was all Watch needed. He dashed off toward a tall white poodle.

“Hey, that poodle looks a lot like Chester,” Violet said, shading her eyes.

Chester was a dog that belonged to their grandfather’s longtime friend, Cal Edwards. Cal ran the Greenfield Nature Center, which was located on the other side of the woods. He was also the person Grandfather called when he needed help fixing something.

“I think that is Chester,” Henry said as he watched the poodle and Watch nuzzle noses.

“If Chester’s here, then Cal must be here, too,” Jessie said.

“There he is!” Benny pointed⁷ at a man who was just walking from behind a tree. He carried a large black garbage bag in one hand and a small red ball in the other.

Henry waved to him. “Hello, Cal,” he called. The children hurried toward him.

Cal smiled. “Well, hello there!” he called back. “When I saw Watch, I figured you kids and James had to be here, too.”

“Grandfather’s not here,” Violet said. “He had a meeting this afternoon.”

“That’s too bad,” Cal said. “It’s a beautiful day for the dog park.”

“Yes, it is,” Jessie agreed. The others nodded.

Chester nuzzled the ball in Cal’s hand and Cal threw it as far as he could. Both Chester and Watch bolted after it.

“It’s nice that your job is so close that you can come to the dog park with Chester,” Henry said.

“It sure is,” said Cal. “We just cut through those woods over there. It takes us only a few minutes.”

“You must pick up lots of garbage on your way,” Benny said.

“What makes you say that, Benny?” Cal asked with surprise.

“Because you have such a big garbage bag,” Benny replied.

“Oh, this?” Cal said, lifting the big black bag. “This isn’t garbage. It’s—” But before Cal could explain what was in the bag, his cell phone rang.

“Excuse me,” he said. He reached into his front pocket and pulled out his phone. He flipped⁸ it open and put it to his ear. “Hello? Yes, this is Cal.” A look of concern flashed across his face. “Just a minute, please.”

Cal covered his phone with his hand and turned to the Aldens. “I’m sorry, kids, but I need to take this call. I’ll see you all later.”

Cal whistled for his dog, who came bounding over. Cal continued his telephone conversation while he walked. The children waved good-bye as Cal and his dog walked back toward the nature center.

“Anyone want to play Frisbee?” Henry asked, holding the Frisbee up in the air.

“Sure,” Jessie said.

They walked to the edge of the park, away from most of the other dogs, and Henry threw the disk to Jessie. Jessie threw it to Benny and Benny jumped as the Frisbee sailed over his head. But he couldn’t jump high enough. The Frisbee landed in the grass behind him.

“Sorry, Benny,” Jessie called.

“That’s okay,” Benny said. He and Watch raced to the fallen Frisbee and Watch barked eagerly when Benny stooped to pick it up.

“Do you want to try and catch it, Watch?” Benny asked the dog. The children had been trying to teach Watch to jump up and catch the Frisbee in his mouth.

Benny pulled his arm back and let the Frisbee go as hard as he could. The Frisbee wobbled in the air, bounced twice on the ground, then rolled until it hit the fence.

But Watch didn’t mind. He ran after it, his tail wagging.

“Cheer up, Benny,” Jessie said. “You’ll get the hang of throwing a Frisbee.”

“Watch me, Benny,” Violet said as she took the Frisbee from Watch. “You have to sort of flick⁹ your wrist like this.” She let the Frisbee go, then watched in horror as it sailed over the fence and into the woods.

“Oh, no,” Violet said, clasping her hands to her cheeks. “I didn’t mean to throw it out of the dog park!”

“That’s okay, Violet,” Jessie said. “We’ll just go and get it.” She pushed on the gate and Watch squeezed through the opening before she could hold him back. He plowed¹⁰ ahead of them into the woods.

“Uh-oh,” Benny said. “Shouldn’t Watch be on a leash when he’s not in the dog park?” He pulled Watch’s leash out of his pocket.

“I’ll get him,” Henry said. “He’s just going after the Frisbee. I’ll put his leash on and we’ll go right back to the park as soon as we find it.”

The children hurried into the woods. They found the Frisbee just a few feet in, but they didn’t see Watch anywhere.

“Where is Watch?” Violet asked, turning her head from side to side.

Henry leaned over to pick up the Frisbee. “I don’t know,” he said.

They were on a dirt path that was covered with pine needles. Trees and bushes grew all around them.

“He wasn’t that far ahead of us,” Jessie said.

“Yeah, but he runs fast,” Benny said, growing worried. “And he might have chased a squirrel or something off the path.”

“Don’t worry, Benny,” Jessie said. “We’ll find him.” She put her hands around her mouth and called, “Watch! Here, boy!”

They heard a short bark in response. It came from a cluster of trees off to the right.

“There he is,” Violet said with relief. They all hurried over to him. Benny snapped the leash to Watch’s collar.

Watch stood on his back legs, digging at something in a pile of brush between two trees. He hardly paid any attention to the children. He was more interested in whatever was in the middle of the brush.

“Hey, he’s got something!” Benny said as Watch uncovered a square metal object in the brush.

“What is it?” Jessie asked.

“I don’t know,” Henry said.

All four of them brushed the sticks and leaves away from the metal object and Henry lifted it out. “It’s a box of some kind,” he said. The box had some black lettering on the outside. “Official Geocache,” it read.

“Geo … geo …” Benny tried to sound the word out, then gave up. “What’s that word, Henry?”

“I think it’s pronounced ‘geo-cash,’ ” Henry said.

“Geocache?” Violet asked. “What’s that?”

“I don’t know,” Henry said. “I know cache means hiding place. But I don’t know what geocache means.”

“Since it’s pronounced geo-cash, maybe it means there’s money hidden in there?” Benny said.

“Maybe,” Violet said.

“Well, there’s only one way to find out,” Jessie said. “Let’s open it up and see what’s inside!”

1 leash   

n.牵狗的皮带，束缚；v.用皮带系住

参考例句：

• I reached for the leash,but the dog got in between.我伸手去拿系狗绳，但被狗挡住了路。
• The dog strains at the leash,eager to be off.狗拼命地扯拉皮带，想挣脱开去。

2 trotted   

小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走

参考例句：

• She trotted her pony around the field. 她骑着小马绕场慢跑。
• Anne trotted obediently beside her mother. 安妮听话地跟在妈妈身边走。

3 frisbee   

n.飞盘(塑料玩具)

参考例句：

• We always go to the park on weekends and play Frisbee.我们每个周末都会到公园玩飞盘。
• The frisbee is a light plastic disc,shaped like a plate.飞盘是一种碟形塑料盘。

4 dangled   

悬吊着( dangle的过去式和过去分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口

参考例句：

• Gold charms dangled from her bracelet. 她的手镯上挂着许多金饰物。
• It's the biggest financial incentive ever dangled before British footballers. 这是历来对英国足球运动员的最大经济诱惑。

5 puffing   

v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• He was puffing hard when he jumped on to the bus. 他跳上公共汽车时喘息不已。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My father sat puffing contentedly on his pipe. 父亲坐着心满意足地抽着烟斗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 knuckles   

n.（指人）指关节( knuckle的名词复数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝v.（指人）指关节( knuckle的第三人称单数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝

参考例句：

• He gripped the wheel until his knuckles whitened. 他紧紧握住方向盘，握得指关节都变白了。
• Her thin hands were twisted by swollen knuckles. 她那双纤手因肿大的指关节而变了形。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 pointed   

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。

8 flipped   

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。

9 flick   

n.快速的轻打，轻打声，弹开；v.轻弹，轻轻拂去，忽然摇动

参考例句：

• He gave a flick of the whip.他轻抽一下鞭子。
• By a flick of his whip,he drove the fly from the horse's head.他用鞭子轻抽了一下，将马头上的苍蝇驱走。

10 plowed   

v.耕( plow的过去式和过去分词 )；犁耕；费力穿过

参考例句：

• They plowed nearly 100,000 acres of virgin moorland. 他们犁了将近10万英亩未开垦的高沼地。 来自辞典例句
• He plowed the land and then sowed the seeds. 他先翻土，然后播种。 来自辞典例句