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儿童英语读物 The Great Detective Race CHAPTER 5 Does Spelling Count?

时间:2017-12-05 06:13来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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    (单词翻译:双击或拖选)

“Where are we going, Jessie?” Benny wanted to know. He held the door open for the others as they stepped outside.

Jessie grinned. “There’s a turkey wandering around Greenfield,” she told him, “and it’s time to track him down.”

Violet’s eyebrows1 shot up. “A turkey in Greenfield?”

“Not just an ordinary turkey,” Jessie added mysteriously. “I’m talking about a giant turkey.”

Henry gave Jessie a sideways glance. “A giant turkey by the name of Dennis Howe, you mean?”

Jessie laughed. “Well, Dennis is dressed up like a turkey”

“A giant turkey!” cried Benny. He sounded excited.

“It’s a long shot,” Jessie admitted, “but we have to check out everything.”

It took them a while, but the Aldens finally spotted2 Dennis in the town square. He was sitting on a bench beside the Minuteman statue.

Dennis waved as the children hurried over. “I had a hunch3 you’d be back,” he said, fanning his face with a flyer.

“Guess what, Dennis?” said Benny. “We listen to the Big G!”

“Ah, the magic words!” Dennis chuckled4 as he reached into a feathered pocket. He tugged5 out an envelope and handed it to the youngest Alden.

Benny’s face lit up. “We found the next clue!”

“Gobble, gobble,” said Dennis.

“Thanks, Dennis,” Henry said, laughing.

As they headed back across the brick pavement, Benny wasted no time opening the envelope. He pulled out a slip of paper and frowned.

“What is it, Benny?” Violet wanted to know.

Benny shrugged6. “I’ve never seen a clue like this before.”

Benny passed the note to Violet. Violet passed it to Henry. Then Henry passed it to Jessie. But nobody could make any sense of it.

“It’s just some alphabet letters,” said Violet. “H … I … J … K … L … M … N … O.”

Jessie added, “And a picture of a slide.”

“It’s not much to go on.” Benny crinkled his brow.

“What do you make of it, Henry?” Violet asked.

Henry thought for a second. “I’m not sure what the letters mean,” he said, “but playgrounds have slides and swings.”

“Hello again!” said a voice behind them.

They turned to see Amber7 Madison coming over.

“Oh, hello!” Jessie quickly shoved the clue into her pocket.

Amber laughed a little. “Our paths keep crossing, don’t they? Bound to happen in a small town, I guess.” Her gaze dropped to the envelope in Benny’s hand. “Getting closer to the finish line?”

“The finish line?” Benny looked puzzled.

“I’m talking about the Great Detective Race,” Amber explained. “I have a hunch you kids are ahead. Am I right?”

“Well, we did just find another clue,” Benny said.

“No kidding!” Amber gave the Aldens a sharp look. “What kind of clue?”

Benny opened his mouth to answer, but Henry spoke8 first. “Actually, it doesn’t make any sense to us yet,” he said.

Jessie nodded. “It’s a bit confusing.”

“Well, let’s see what you’ve got there.” Amber held out a hand. “Maybe I can help.”

Jessie caught Henry’s eye. Why was Amber so interested in the race, they wondered.

“Thanks, anyway,” Violet said. “I know you mean well, but we have fun figuring things out on our own.” She said this as nicely as she could.

Amber frowned. “I see,” she said in an icy voice. “I have better things to do with my time anyway.” The author’s heels clicked along the brick pavement as she hurried away.

Henry let out a low whistle. “Wow,” he said. “Amber Madison sure is interested in the Great Detective Race.”

Jessie nodded. “It’s funny how we keep running into her.”

“Greenfield is a small town,” Violet pointed9 out.

“That’s true,” Jessie agreed. Still, she couldn’t help wondering if it wasn’t more than just a coincidence. Was Amber following them?

The next morning, Jessie made a list of all the playgrounds in Greenfield. Then they set off to check every slide in town. When they finally stopped at a concession10 stand for lunch, Jessie pulled her notebook from her back pocket.

“Three more playgrounds to go,” she said, glancing at their list, “and that’s all.”

“Don’t worry,” Benny said, as they made their way to an empty park bench. “We’ll find the next clue.”

“How can you be so sure, Benny?” asked Violet, sitting down beside Jessie.

“Because when you’re looking for something,” Benny explained, “it’s always in the last place you look.” He swallowed a bite of his hot dog.

Henry laughed. “That makes sense,” he said. “When you find something, you don’t bother looking anymore.”

“What I can’t figure out,” Violet said, “is what the letters of the alphabet mean.”

Jessie nodded. “I’ve been wondering about that, too.”

“What were the letters again?” asked Benny, licking mustard from the corner of his mouth.

Violet answered, “H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O.”

Jessie sipped11 her soda12 thoughtfully. “But why only H to O? That’s the part I don’t get.”

“You got me,” said Henry

“Maybe there’s another way of looking at it,” Violet said.

The others looked at her. “Such as?”

“What if we switch the letters around?” Violet reasoned. “Maybe they’ll spell out a message of some kind.”

Henry thought about this. “Anything’s possible.”

The four Aldens put their heads together and came up with a list of words using the letters in the clue. After Jessie jotted13 them down in her notebook, she read them aloud: MILK   OINK   KILN   OIL   HIM   LIMO

“It doesn’t amount to much,” Henry remarked.

Violet agreed. “I guess it was a bit of a leap.”

Jessie looked at her watch. “Time’s ticking away,” she said, “and we still have three more playgrounds to check out.”

After tossing their napkins and empty cups into a trashcan, the children wheeled their bikes back onto the road and set off again.

They hadn’t gone very far before Jessie slowed her bike to a stop.

Henry came up beside her. “What is it, Jessie?”

“I left my notebook on the park bench,” Jessie said with a frown.

Circling back, the Aldens found the notebook right where Jessie had left it. Only, something wasn’t quite right.

“A page is missing,” Jessie pointed out. “See? Somebody tore out our list of playgrounds!”

They all looked at Jessie’s notebook in astonishment14. “I can’t believe it!” said Henry.

“Who would do such a thing?” Violet wondered.

Benny had an answer. “Somebody looking for a clue,” he said. “That’s who.”

The youngest Alden had a point. It had to be somebody who was tracking down the code word. And now that person knew as much as they did.

Henry gave Jessie a quick glance. Had she been right the other day? Was somebody really following them?

“Never mind,” said Jessie. “I remember what was on the list. The next playground’s in the Morningside neighborhood.”

“Let’s go,” said Henry. “The race is on!”

When the Aldens arrived at the Morningside playground, they found children playing on the swings, on the monkey bars, and in the sandbox. But nobody was around the slide. They quickly checked it out, top to bottom. But they couldn’t find anything unusual.

“Well, let’s head for the next playground,” Henry suggested, not wanting to waste any time.

But Benny saw something the others didn’t. “What’s that?”

The others looked in the direction he was pointing. A hopscotch15 game had been outlined in chalk on the pavement close by. A message was scrawled16 in one of the squares.

Taking a closer look, the children read what it said: You will find something weerd at Potter’s Creek17.

“Hooray!” Benny cheered. “We found the clue!”

“That’s odd,” Jessie said, as she jotted the message in her notebook. “The word ‘weerd’ is spelled wrong.”

Benny frowned. “It is?”

“It should be w-e-i-r-d. Not w-e-e-r-d,” Henry pointed out. “You’re right, Jessie. That is kind of strange.”

But Violet didn’t think it was strange at all. “Debra said she wasn’t a very good speller, remember?”

“It’s too late to go all the way out to Potter’s Creek today,” Henry noted18, glancing at his watch.

Jessie nodded. “It’ll take at least an hour to get there. Let’s wait until the morning.”

“Hey!” Something caught Henry’s eye.

“Isn’t that the boy from the mall?”

The others looked over. A boy wearing baggy19 pants and a red T-shirt was zooming20 away on a skateboard.

“Yes, I’m sure of it,” said Jessie. “He was signing up for the Great Detective Race.”

Benny nodded. “He’s even wearing a WGFD baseball cap.”

Jessie and Henry exchanged puzzled glances. How odd that the boy was at the park the same time they were. Was he following the list of playgrounds torn from Jessie’s notebook?
 


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 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。
2 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。
3 hunch CdVzZ     
n.预感,直觉
参考例句:
  • I have a hunch that he didn't really want to go.我有这么一种感觉,他并不真正想去。
  • I had a hunch that Susan and I would work well together.我有预感和苏珊共事会很融洽。
4 chuckled 8ce1383c838073977a08258a1f3e30f8     
轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
  • She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情,她就轻轻地暗自发笑。
5 tugged 8a37eb349f3c6615c56706726966d38e     
v.用力拉,使劲拉,猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She tugged at his sleeve to get his attention. 她拽了拽他的袖子引起他的注意。
  • A wry smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. 他的嘴角带一丝苦笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 shrugged 497904474a48f991a3d1961b0476ebce     
vt.耸肩(shrug的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀,什么也没说。
  • She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩,装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 amber LzazBn     
n.琥珀;琥珀色;adj.琥珀制的
参考例句:
  • Would you like an amber necklace for your birthday?你过生日想要一条琥珀项链吗?
  • This is a piece of little amber stones.这是一块小小的琥珀化石。
8 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。
9 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。
10 concession LXryY     
n.让步,妥协;特许(权)
参考例句:
  • We can not make heavy concession to the matter.我们在这个问题上不能过于让步。
  • That is a great concession.这是很大的让步。
11 sipped 22d1585d494ccee63c7bff47191289f6     
v.小口喝,呷,抿( sip的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He sipped his coffee pleasurably. 他怡然地品味着咖啡。
  • I sipped the hot chocolate she had made. 我小口喝着她调制的巧克力热饮。 来自辞典例句
12 soda cr3ye     
n.苏打水;汽水
参考例句:
  • She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
  • I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。
13 jotted 501a1ce22e59ebb1f3016af077784ebd     
v.匆忙记下( jot的过去式和过去分词 );草草记下,匆匆记下
参考例句:
  • I jotted down her name. 我匆忙记下了她的名字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The policeman jotted down my address. 警察匆匆地将我的地址记下。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
14 astonishment VvjzR     
n.惊奇,惊异
参考例句:
  • They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
  • I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。
15 hopscotch 4rAzYB     
n.小孩独脚跳踢石子的游戏,“跳房子”游戏
参考例句:
  • The children squared off the sidewalk to play hopscotch.孩子们在人行道上划出方格,做“跳房子”的游戏。
  • At hopscotch,the best hoppers are the children.在跳房子的游戏中,孩子是最优秀的单足跳者。
16 scrawled ace4673c0afd4a6c301d0b51c37c7c86     
乱涂,潦草地写( scrawl的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • I tried to read his directions, scrawled on a piece of paper. 我尽量弄明白他草草写在一片纸上的指示。
  • Tom scrawled on his slate, "Please take it -- I got more." 汤姆在他的写字板上写了几个字:“请你收下吧,我多得是哩。”
17 creek 3orzL     
n.小溪,小河,小湾
参考例句:
  • He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
  • People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。
18 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。
19 baggy CuVz5     
adj.膨胀如袋的,宽松下垂的
参考例句:
  • My T-shirt went all baggy in the wash.我的T恤越洗越大了。
  • Baggy pants are meant to be stylish,not offensive.松松垮垮的裤子意味着时髦,而不是无礼。
20 zooming 2d7d75756aa4dd6b055c7703ff35c285     
adj.快速上升的v.(飞机、汽车等)急速移动( zoom的过去分词 );(价格、费用等)急升,猛涨
参考例句:
  • Zooming and panning are navigational tools for exploring 2D and 3D information. 缩放和平移是浏览二维和三维信息的导航工具。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
  • Panning and zooming, especially when paired together, create navigation difficulties for users. 对于用户来说,平移和缩放一起使用时,产生了更多的导航困难。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
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