儿童英语读物 Superstar Watch CHAPTER 8 Henry Explains

Everyone in the room turned toward Henry.

“Really?” Benny asked. “Who has been doing it, Henry? Who? And why?”

Henry walked to the center of the room. Mr. Lillipool and Timmy came over to stand by Ms. Werner, Lisa, and Dante. Mr. Benjamin stood apart from them, but he was also listening to Henry.

“I thought that someone was trying to ruin the audition¹ for Watch,” Henry explained.

“But that’s not it. Someone wanted to ruin the audition for Watch and another dog. So their dog would win.”

“But Buffalo² didn’t have any problems yesterday. Neither did Ninja,” Dante said. “So far only Watch has had the problems.”

“I know,” Henry said. “But I realized that Buffalo was supposed to go before Watch at the kitchen audition. Buffalo needed a walk, so Watch took his turn instead.”

“Oh!” Jessie said. “I get it! You think that the steak was meant to mess up Buffalo’s audition, not Watch’s. Watch already had trouble earlier on the obstacle course.”

Mr. Benjamin got all red faced and angry. “I didn’t ruin any auditions³. Ninja and I weren’t even in the room when Watch and Buffalo did their tasks. Both times we left right after we auditioned⁴, before any mishaps⁵ took place.”

“And that’s exactly how I figured it out,” Henry said. “Since you weren’t there, how did you know that Watch tipped over the bench and broke the slide?”

“Oh my,” Lisa said. “How did you know those things, Mr. Benjamin?”

“I—” Mr. Benjamin began. Suddenly he pointed⁶ at Dante. “That kid told me what happened.”

“No, I didn’t,” Dante said.

“I must have heard it from Ms. Werner then,” Mr. Benjamin said.

“No, you didn’t hear it from me either,” Ms. Werner replied.

“I just realized something else,” Jessie told Mr. Benjamin. “You said that Buffalo couldn’t stay on stage long enough to finish the kitchen audition. You thought Buffalo went after the steak. But Buffalo went out for a walk. You didn’t know that it was Watch who got distracted by the steak instead.”

“I—” Mr. Benjamin didn’t know what to say.

“I’ve heard enough,” Mr. Lillipool said. “Mr. Benjamin, you have behaved badly. Wundermutt Company will no longer consider Ninja to be a contestant⁷ for the commercial.”

“You all see that my dog is the best. I was just making sure you knew it!” Mr. Benjamin said.

Benny said softly to Ninja, “No matter what Mr. Benjamin did, you’re still my hero.” The black Lab wagged his tail.

Mr. Lillipool shook his head. He pointed to the exit.

“Hmph! Ninja will be a star again. Just you wait and see!” Mr. Benjamin told them. He put on Ninja’s leash⁸ and stomped⁹ out of the room.

Mr. Lillipool came over and shook Henry’s hand. “Good detective work, young man,” Mr. Lillipool said.

Henry pointed at his brother and sisters and said, “The Aldens work together as a team.”

Mr. Lillipool shook hands with Violet, Jessie, and Benny. He even shook Watch’s paw. “Tell you what,” he said. “Let’s forget about yesterday. We’ll have both Watch and Buffalo eat a bowl of Wundermutt food. It’ll be a race. Whoever finishes his bowl first, wins the audition. Agreed?”

The Aldens all nodded their heads yes. Dante’s eyes opened wide, then he also nodded his head in agreement.

“Come on, Watch,” Benny said. He guided Watch over to the bowl with his name on it. “This is your favorite food.”

Dante took Buffalo to his bowl.

“On your marks,” Mr. Lillipool said.

“Get set,” Lisa said.

“Go!” Ms. Werner said. Then, the eating race began. Buffalo dove into his bowl, chomping¹⁰ loudly.

“Eat up, Watch,” Benny told the dog. Watch poked¹¹ his nose in the bowl. But then, just like Ninja had done earlier, he turned and walked away. Watch was more interested in Buffalo’s food than his own. Jessie had to hold his collar to bring him back to his own bowl.

“What’s wrong with Watch?” Benny asked.

“He must be nervous,” Violet said.

Jessie bent¹² down and said, “Relax and eat, Watch.”

Watch refused. Buffalo kept on eating.

“Watch should be super hungry,” Benny said. “I mean, we’ve been here a whole hour already. I know that I’m so hungry, I could eat a bear!” Violet took a turn getting Watch up to his bowl.

“Something’s wrong,” Violet said. “Why won’t Watch eat?”

“I don’t know,” Henry replied. “But now Buffalo is more than halfway¹³ done. It looks like we’re not going to go to Hollywood.”

Benny frowned. “But I wanted to get Grandfather a chauffeur’s hat,” he said.

“Josh won’t get his bike fixed¹⁴, either,” Violet said sadly.

“The audition is over,” Ms. Werner suddenly announced. “Buffalo just finished his last bite of Wundermutt food. Buffalo is the winner of the Wundermutt Food Commercial!”

1 audition   

n.(对志愿艺人等的)面试(指试读、试唱等)

参考例句：

• I'm going to the audition but I don't expect I'll get a part.我去试音，可并不指望会给我个角色演出。
• At first,they said he was too young,but later they called him for an audition.起初，他们说他太小，但后来他们叫他去试听。

2 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

3 auditions   

n.（对拟做演员、歌手、乐师等人的）试听，试音( audition的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Find modeling auditions, casting calls& acting auditions, all in one place. 找一个立体感试听，铸造呼叫和表演试听一体的地方。 来自互联网
• We are now about to start auditions to find a touring guitarist. 我们现在准备找一个新的吉他手。 来自互联网

4 auditioned   

vi.试听（audition的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• None of the actresses we have auditioned is suitable. 我们试听的这些女演员都不合适。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• What is that, from some script you auditioned for in the '40s? 什么玩意儿是你40年代试的那些剧本吗？ 来自电影对白

5 mishaps   

n.轻微的事故，小的意外( mishap的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a series of mishaps 一连串的倒霉事
• In spite of one or two minor mishaps everything was going swimmingly. 尽管遇到了一两件小小的不幸，一切都进行得很顺利。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 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。

7 contestant   

n.竞争者，参加竞赛者

参考例句：

• The company will furnish each contestant with a free ticket.公司将为每个参赛者免费提供一张票。
• The personal appearance and interview of the contestant is another count.参加比赛者的个人仪表和谈话也是一项。

8 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。

9 stomped   

v.跺脚，践踏，重踏( stomp的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She stomped angrily out of the office. 她怒气冲冲，重步走出办公室。
• She slammed the door and stomped (off) out of the house. 她砰的一声关上了门，暮暮地走出了屋了。 来自辞典例句

10 chomping   

v.切齿，格格地咬牙，咬响牙齿( chomp的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Elizabeth and Lawrence are chomping at the bit to go on vacation. 伊莉莎白和劳伦斯迫不及待要去度假了。 来自互联网
• She was chomping away on a bagel. 她在嘎蹦嘎嘣地啃着一个硬面包圈。 来自互联网

11 poked   

v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交

参考例句：

• She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. 她用胳膊肘顶他的肋部。
• His elbow poked out through his torn shirt sleeve. 他的胳膊从衬衫的破袖子中露了出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

13 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

14 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。