英语 英语 日语 日语 韩语 韩语 法语 法语 德语 德语 西班牙语 西班牙语 意大利语 意大利语 阿拉伯语 阿拉伯语 葡萄牙语 葡萄牙语 越南语 越南语 俄语 俄语 芬兰语 芬兰语 泰语 泰语 泰语 丹麦语 泰语 对外汉语

儿童英语读物 The Ghost at the Drive-In Movie CHAPTER 5 A Popping Good Idea

时间:2017-12-06 06:08来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
特别声明:本栏目内容均从网络收集或者网友提供,供仅参考试用,我们无法保证内容完整和正确。如果资料损害了您的权益,请与站长联系,我们将及时删除并致以歉意。
    (单词翻译:双击或拖选)

The children hadn’t had any luck finding clues at the theater that morning. They were glad when Uncle Flick1 and Grandfather offered to take them out to lunch in Oakdale. The Aldens knew they needed a break.

On their way into town the children watched the signs and billboards2 along the way.

“Wow,” said Jessie. “I’ve counted three billboards for Dan Brinker’s Auto3 Emporium!”

As they drove into town, they could see even more ads for Dan’s business. One was painted on the side of a building. There was even a sidewalk bench painted with the words

WHY WAIT? GET SPEEDY DEALS AT BRINKER’S AUTO.

“He’s everywhere!” Henry said, laughing.

“He certainly is,” said Uncle Flick. “He’d put an ad up on the water tower in the middle of town if he could!”

Grandfather found a parking spot in front of a family restaurant.

“I can’t wait to have lunch!” Benny said as they walked up to the door of the restaurant.

“You’ll have to wash your hands first,” said Henry. “What on Earth did you get on them?”

Benny looked down at his palms, which were covered with gritty red-brown dust. “I don’t know!” he said.

Jessie took Benny’s hand and looked closer. “It looks like rust4. I bet you got it when you were playing on that old metal ladder behind the movie screen.”

“Oops,” said Benny. “I’ll wash up!”

At the restaurant table a few minutes later, Jessie smiled as Benny reached for a basket of rolls with clean hands. It reminded her of something she’d noticed the day before, but she couldn’t remember what.

The waiter brought out bowls of macaroni and cheese, bacon-lettuce-and-tomato sandwiches, and salads with big croutons. Everything was so good, they forgot about the strange things that had been happening at the drive-in theater. It wasn’t until lunch was nearly over that Uncle Flick even mentioned the theater at all.

“I’ve got some news to share,” he said. He put down his napkin. “This afternoon I’m visiting the bank. I’m going to talk to my banker about selling the Diamond Drive-in.”

Benny stopped with his fork in the air. Violet, Jessie, and Henry fell silent, too.

“Is there someone who wants to buy it, Flick?” Grandfather asked.

“As a matter of fact, there is,” Uncle Flick answered. “Dan Brinker.”

Grandfather raised an eyebrow5. “That car salesman? He wants to run the movie theater?”

“That’s what he told the banker,” said Uncle Flick.

“He told us he loves movies!” Benny said.

Uncle Flick nodded. “I know it seems a bit odd that Dan would want to run the theater. But he seems to love the place. And he’s a good businessman, too. I trust him.”

“Yes, but—” Jessie spoke6 up. “What about Joey? Couldn’t he run the theater? He’s almost old enough.”

Uncle Flick looked thoughtful. “I would be so happy if Joey took over the business. But I don’t think he wants to. He works hard, but he’s always disappearing on the job. I think it means he doesn’t want to be there. But Dan, on the other hand—he comes to the theater because he likes it. Of course, I haven’t made my final decision. That will take time. This is only the first meeting with my banker.”

“It’s a big decision,” Grandfather said.

The children agreed.

While Uncle Flick met with the banker, the Aldens went shopping along the main street of the little town. Then they all drove back to the drive-in theater in the afternoon.

As the minivan drove up along the road at the edge of the theater, they saw something was very wrong. There was a police car parked by the snack bar! Grandfather drove straight across the lot to the little building.

Joey and Amy were standing7 near the police car taking with the policewoman. Uncle Flick rushed over to join them. The Aldens could see that Joey looked very upset.

“There’s been another prank8! It’s the worst yet,” he cried.

The Aldens, Uncle Flick, Joey, and Amy walked with the police officer around the kitchen of the snack bar. It was a mess! The refrigerators had been unplugged and left open for hours, and the food inside was spoiled. Someone had dumped oil all over the popcorn10 bags and ruined them. Worst of all, the cord to the popcorn machine had been cut.

“Joey! Why weren’t you keeping an eye on things?” Uncle Flick shouted.

“Now, Mr. Fletcher,” the policewoman said. “Your nephew tells me he came in here at the same time he always does, and he found it this way. Whoever did this broke in here hours ago.”

“They must have done it when we left to go to lunch,” Jessie said.

“Sometimes I come in here early,” Joey said. “I wish I’d done that today! Maybe if I had, I could’ve stopped the person who did this! But I was off working on … something else. I wish I’d been here earlier!”

The children saw that Joey felt just awful. Maybe he really did care about the movie theater, more than Uncle Flick realized.

“It’s all right,” Uncle Flick told Joey, patting him on the shoulder. “We never thought someone would do something like this.”

“But what do we do now?” asked Amy. “The theater opens in less than two hours. The popcorn machine is broken, and we won’t have any food to sell!”

Jessie opened a cabinet door under the counter. Inside was a big bin11 full of popcorn kernels12. “Uncle Flick,” she asked. “Can this popcorn be popped on the stove?”

“Sure it can,” said Uncle Flick. “Popcorn’s popcorn!”

Jessie looked around at her brothers and sisters and said, “We’ve got an idea.”

A few minutes later, the Aldens, Uncle Flick, and Joey were in the kitchen at the Fletcher house. They had brought the popcorn and a bottle of oil. They searched the kitchen cabinets and found two very big pots. Henry measured the oil and soon one of the big pots was heating up the kernels. It wasn’t long before they heard the first pop! The pops came faster and faster. Pop! Pop! Pop-pop-pop-pop! Then Henry started heating up the second pot.

“We’re going to need a really big bowl!” said Benny.

“No, something even bigger!” said Jessie. “Big like a bathtub!”

Uncle Flick brought in a very large plastic storage tub. “I just bought it to store holiday decorations,” he said. “Though it’s not quite as big as a bathtub.”

“It’s big enough to be my bathtub!” Benny said.

When the first batches14 of popcorn were finished, Henry dumped them into the tub.

“What are we going to put on it?” Violet asked. “Is there enough butter in the fridge?”

“No, and it’s too messy anyway,” said Jessie. “I have a better idea.” She had gathered things from the pantry—Parmesan cheese, herbs, spices, salt. She poured a little of each into a plastic bag, then shook the bag. She sprinkled the mixture over the popcorn. Everyone tasted it.

“Delicious!” said Uncle Flick. The others agreed.

“Now all we have to do is make a lot more!” said Jessie.

Violet found an old coffee can and made holes in the plastic lid to make a big shaker for the popcorn seasoning15.

While Joey and Henry worked at the stove popping popcorn, Violet shook seasoning mixture over the popcorn while Jessie scooped16 it into small paper bags. Then Grandfather and Benny loaded the golf cart with the bags and drove them to the theater.

Uncle Flick lined them up on the counter of the snack bar to sell. He put up a sign that Violet made. It said:

No snack bar service tonight.

We are sorry!

But please enjoy fresh cheese popcorn!

Only 75 cents a bag.

By now the drive-in theater had opened for the evening. The customers who came to the snack bar were surprised to see the sign, but they were glad to have popcorn.

“It’s delicious,” said one woman. “And such a good price.”

The children and Joey worked in the kitchen of the Fletcher house for another hour, popping as much popcorn as they could. When there was one last big batch13 in the tub, they took it over to the snack bar, where it would be ready to be scooped into bags. And Benny had found something even better than bags.

“Wow,” he said, holding up two of the plastic buckets that said GET SPEEDY DEALS AT BRINKER’S AUTO on them. “These are perfect for popcorn!”

“You’re right, Benny,” said Jessie. She spotted17 Dan Brinker walking by the snack bar. She grabbed one of the buckets and ran after him. “Mr. Brinker! Do you have any more of these buckets that we can use for serving popcorn?”

“Sure,” said Dan. “I’ve got plenty more! I’ll dash across the street and bring them over in a jiffy!” He winked18 and hurried off.

“Thanks!” Jessie called. She turned around and went back inside the snack bar. She helped her sister and brothers serve popcorn while Joey rang up customers.

Uncle Flick grinned. “You really saved the day, kids,” he said.

“We’re glad we could help,” said Violet.

“Maybe I can help, too,” said a voice from the doorway19 of the snack bar. It was Mr. Duke. He was carrying a cooler and a bag of ice. “I … I heard what happened. And I brought over some soda20 from my stand.”

Uncle Flick scratched his head. “Why, thank you, Duke. But you know, I’m letting folks bring in food from your place tonight. You didn’t have to do this.”

“I know,” Mr. Duke said. “But I’m sorry about last night, too. I lost my temper. And I know that you didn’t break my sign.” He lugged9 the cooler and ice to the snack bar counter.

“Yes,” said Uncle Flick. “Whoever’s playing tricks around here is playing them on both of us.”

As the Aldens scooped bags of popcorn, Mr. Duke and Uncle Flick opened sodas21 and filled cups with ice. The children listened as the two men talked for the first time in a long time.

“Is it true you might sell the theater, Flick?” Mr. Duke asked, as he got ready to leave.

“Yes it is,” Uncle Flick replied. “But I’m going to make sure it doesn’t close down.”

“That’s good to hear,” said Mr. Duke. “Because I can’t imagine life without the Diamond Drive-in. I don’t know what would happen to my hot dog stand if the theater wasn’t around.” He chuckled22. “Though it’s not going to be as much fun without you around to argue with.”

Uncle Flick laughed, too.

Henry whispered to Jessie, “We’re not any closer to solving the mystery,” he said. “But at least we’ve helped fix a friendship.”
 


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 flick mgZz1     
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。
2 billboards 984a8d026956f1fd68b7105fc9074edf     
n.广告牌( billboard的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Large billboards have disfigured the scenery. 大型告示板已破坏了景色。 来自辞典例句
  • Then, put the logo in magazines and on billboards without telling anyone what it means. 接着我们把这个商标刊在杂志和广告看板上,却不跟任何人透漏它的涵意。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年4月号
3 auto ZOnyW     
n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车
参考例句:
  • Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
  • The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。
4 rust XYIxu     
n.锈;v.生锈;(脑子)衰退
参考例句:
  • She scraped the rust off the kitchen knife.她擦掉了菜刀上的锈。
  • The rain will rust the iron roof.雨水会使铁皮屋顶生锈。
5 eyebrow vlOxk     
n.眉毛,眉
参考例句:
  • Her eyebrow is well penciled.她的眉毛画得很好。
  • With an eyebrow raised,he seemed divided between surprise and amusement.他一只眉毛扬了扬,似乎既感到吃惊,又觉有趣。
6 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。
7 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。
8 prank 51azg     
n.开玩笑,恶作剧;v.装饰;打扮;炫耀自己
参考例句:
  • It was thought that the fire alarm had been set off as a prank.人们认为火警报警器响是个恶作剧。
  • The dean was ranking the boys for pulling the prank.系主任正在惩罚那些恶作剧的男学生。
9 lugged 7fb1dd67f4967af8775a26954a9353c5     
vt.用力拖拉(lug的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • She lugged the heavy case up the stairs. 她把那只沉甸甸的箱子拖上了楼梯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • They used to yell that at football when you lugged the ball. 踢足球的时候,逢着你抢到球,人们总是对你这样嚷嚷。 来自辞典例句
10 popcorn 8lUzJI     
n.爆米花
参考例句:
  • I like to eat popcorn when I am watching TV play at home.当我在家观看电视剧时,喜欢吃爆米花。
  • He still stood behind his cash register stuffing his mouth with popcorn.他仍站在收银机后,嘴里塞满了爆米花。
11 bin yR2yz     
n.箱柜;vt.放入箱内;[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件
参考例句:
  • He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
  • He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。
12 kernels d01b84fda507090bbbb626ee421da586     
谷粒( kernel的名词复数 ); 仁; 核; 要点
参考例句:
  • These stones contain kernels. 这些核中有仁。
  • Resolving kernels and standard errors can also be computed for each block. 还可以计算每个块体的分辨核和标准误差。
13 batch HQgyz     
n.一批(组,群);一批生产量
参考例句:
  • The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
  • I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。
14 batches f8c77c3bee0bd5d27b9ca0e20c216d1a     
一批( batch的名词复数 ); 一炉; (食物、药物等的)一批生产的量; 成批作业
参考例句:
  • The prisoners were led out in batches and shot. 这些囚犯被分批带出去枪毙了。
  • The stainless drum may be used to make larger batches. 不锈钢转数设备可用来加工批量大的料。
15 seasoning lEKyu     
n.调味;调味料;增添趣味之物
参考例句:
  • Salt is the most common seasoning.盐是最常用的调味品。
  • This sauce uses mushroom as its seasoning.这酱油用蘑菇作调料。
16 scooped a4cb36a9a46ab2830b09e95772d85c96     
v.抢先报道( scoop的过去式和过去分词 );(敏捷地)抱起;抢先获得;用铲[勺]等挖(洞等)
参考例句:
  • They scooped the other newspapers by revealing the matter. 他们抢先报道了这件事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The wheels scooped up stones which hammered ominously under the car. 车轮搅起的石块,在车身下发出不吉祥的锤击声。 来自《简明英汉词典》
17 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。
18 winked af6ada503978fa80fce7e5d109333278     
v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 );递眼色(表示友好或高兴等);(指光)闪烁;闪亮
参考例句:
  • He winked at her and she knew he was thinking the same thing that she was. 他冲她眨了眨眼,她便知道他的想法和她一样。
  • He winked his eyes at her and left the classroom. 他向她眨巴一下眼睛走出了教室。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
19 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。
20 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。
21 sodas c10ddd4eedc33e2ce63fa8dfafd61880     
n.苏打( soda的名词复数 );碱;苏打水;汽水
参考例句:
  • There are plenty of sodas in the refrigerator. 冰箱里有很多碳酸饮料。 来自辞典例句
  • Two whisky and sodas, please. 请来两杯威士忌苏打。 来自辞典例句
22 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。
本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎点击提交分享给大家。
------分隔线----------------------------
顶一下
(0)
0%
踩一下
(0)
0%
最新评论 查看所有评论
发表评论 查看所有评论
请自觉遵守互联网相关的政策法规,严禁发布色情、暴力、反动的言论。
评价:
表情:
验证码:
听力搜索
推荐频道
论坛新贴