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 Bus Station Mystery CHAPTER 2 Trouble Inside

时间:2017-07-03 05:27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 bus station really turned out to be a small lunchroom. There was a counter on one side, and along one wall were some small tables with chairs pushed up to them. There was one bigger table. Near the door was a bench where passengers could wait for the bus.

The man who had just slammed1 the door looked up as the door opened. He held a watering can, and he was watering a plant at one end of the room.

“You’re Frank2, aren’t you?” said Henry at once.

“Yes, I’m Frank,” the man said shortly. “What do you want? It’s too early for lunch. I haven’t made any sandwiches yet.” He didn’t smile.

The four Aldens were thinking the same thing. This man was not very polite. In fact, he was not a good man to run a lunch counter in a bus station.

“Do you sell bus tickets?” asked Benny as if nothing had happened.

“Yes,” answered Frank, “and I run this lunch counter.”

Benny explained, “We are going to Oakdale to the hobby fair. We have to change buses here to get to Oakdale. Is that right?”

“That’s right,” said Frank, not so crossly. “But the bus to Oakdale will be late today. You may have to wait here an hour.”

“Yes,” said Jessie, nodding. “We expected to wait here an hour, even before we started from Greenfield. We don’t mind.”

“This is a nice station to wait in,” added Violet3. She was thinking about the two boys Frank had told to wait outside.

Benny went over to the counter and said, “If you are Frank, I think this is your letter.”

Without saying thank you Frank took the letter and threw it on a shelf behind the counter. But he said to the Aldens, “You can wait here. Do anything you like. Sit down. Walk around. It’s pretty hot outside.”

His voice was pleasant now as he spoke4 to the Aldens. It was plain that he liked them better than the two young boys.

The Aldens folded their raincoats across the wooden bench. They all sat down.

Henry asked, “Can we buy our tickets now from you?”

“Yes, indeed,” said Frank.

“We want just one-way tickets,” Henry said quickly. “The bus driver told us we could buy our return tickets at Oakdale.”

“Right,” said Frank, handing four tickets to Henry.

Violet was looking out of a window. “Oh, dear,” she said, “I hope it doesn’t start to rain. Just the same, we’re lucky that we brought our raincoats.”

The others looked out. Dark clouds were beginning to fill the western sky. But the leaves on the trees hardly stirred5.

“No need to worry about the rain,” said Frank. “This won’t last long. You can keep dry if you wait inside.”

Benny suddenly remembered the bad smell outdoors. Now he said, “Oh, we’ll wait inside for sure. The air outside smells just terrible.”

Frank’s face changed. He looked angry. “That’s my new neighbor,” he said gruffly. “New neighbors—they have no business here. I don’t have any use for neighbors of that kind.”

The Aldens were puzzled. But they did not dare ask any questions. Did the man mean the two boys or did he mean someone else?

Frank turned his back to the Aldens. They sat still on the bench and watched him.

The telephone rang. In the quiet room it sounded loud. Violet jumped.

Frank went over to the wall telephone and picked up the receiver. “Frank speaking,” he said.

Someone began to talk and Frank started to frown6. “Yes, I just got your letter,” he said. “No, I haven’t opened it. I told you I wasn’t interested. You can’t offer me enough.”

Frank started to hang up, but the voice on the line didn’t give up.

“What?” Frank asked. “You’ll do what? Is that what you wrote in your letter? Well, I’d like to see you try. That’s all, I’d just like to see you try. You can’t do something like that to me. I’ll find a way to stop you.”

Frank put the receiver back in place without saying good-bye. He frowned7 angrily. Then his face changed. He had the saddest look that the Aldens had almost ever seen.

The Aldens looked at each other. Something was certainly going on. Here was a man who could be angry one minute and sad the next. Why was he so troubled?

Benny muttered8 in Henry’s ear, “A deep and dark secret.”

Frank reached up and turned on a radio. Jessie thought that Frank felt the music would be better than his silence.

No one said anything for a little while. Frank washed some cups at the sink behind the lunch counter.

Suddenly the music stopped in the middle of a song. A radio announcer’s voice broke in. “This is a National Weather Service warning. A tornado9 watch is in effect in York and Plain counties10. High winds expected, with some thunderstorms. We will give you more information when we have it. Stay tuned11 to this station for up-to-date12 storm bulletins13.”

Violet was pale. All the Aldens looked out at the day that now looked so dark and stormy.

Frank looked at Violet kindly14 and said, “A tornado watch only means we might have a bad storm. Now, if it were a tornado warning then it would be much worse.” He was trying to make Violet feel better.

Henry and Frank walked to the door and stepped outside. They saw that the wind had begun to blow the dust on the road in front of the station. The tree branches swayed15 in the strong wind.

Henry looked for the two boys under the tree, but they had gone.

Violet peeked16 outside. “Look at those black clouds, Jessie. They’re moving so fast!”

The sun had gone behind the clouds. The sky was growing darker by the minute.

Frank and Henry came back inside and shut the door. Frank turned to the Aldens. They could see he was worried.

“I have a little house on the river just a mile from here,” Frank said. “I think I left the windows open this morning. Maybe I should go back and close up the house before the storm hits. I have a small boat pulled up on the riverbank. I want to see that it is tied tightly17 to its post so that it won’t float off in the storm.”

“It’s all right with us if you go,” Benny said. “But is it safe for you outside?”

“Oh, don’t worry about me,” Frank said. “I’ll be safe. I have a car parked behind the building here. I can drive over to my house in just a few minutes. I can get there before the rain starts. If I get caught, I’ll stay in my house until it is over.”

“You’ll come back here, won’t you?” asked Violet.

“Oh, yes, I’ll come right back to the bus station. You’ll be all right if you stay in the station. This is a strong brick18 building. It doesn’t leak.”

“We’ll be fine,” Jessie said. “We won’t go outside unless the bus comes to take us to Oakdale.”

“Yes,” said Frank. “If the bus comes, you can just shut the station door as you leave. The door will lock if you shut it tight. When I come back, I can open the door with my key. I don’t expect anyone to stop at the station anyway. Everyone will see the storm coming and stay indoors19. Too bad for the hobby fair. There won’t be a crowd on a day like this.”

“We’ll keep the radio on and listen for the weather bulletins,” Henry said. “I’m sure everything will be all right. Don’t worry about us.”

Frank walked to the door to go out. Then he stopped as if he had remembered something. He turned to the Aldens and really smiled. “You four might get hungry while I’m gone. You can just look in the refrigerator and take whatever you’d like.”

“Why, thank you,” said Jessie. She was surprised. “That’s very good of you.”

Benny added, “We’ll look in the refrigerator the minute you’re gone. Be sure of that.”

Frank laughed. “You can just leave the money by the cash register,” he said. “I’ll know what it is for.”

He smiled again and waved good-bye. Then he walked out and shut the door behind him.

But a moment later the door opened. There stood Frank. This time he looked angry again.

“I forgot to tell you something,” he said. “If you see two boys hanging around, don’t let them in. They are troublemakers20. I don’t want to have anything to do with them.”

Then Frank turned around and went out. This time he passed the window, and in a minute or so the Aldens heard him start his car. He drove off down the road that ran close to the river.

“Well,” said Benny. “What do you make of that? First Frank is friendly and thinks we might get hungry. And then he gets angry and tells us to watch out for those boys he doesn’t like. I don’t understand what makes him act so.”

Jessie said thoughtfully21, “Frank knows those boys and we don’t. Nobody would order them out of a public bus station unless they had done something very annoying.”

Benny said, “Well, so far it’s a mystery to us. We don’t understand anything about it. But I know one thing. I’m not going to ask Frank about it and get my head taken off.”

Jessie glanced quickly around the bus station. She began to see a lot of interesting things.

“Look at those beautiful pink flowers on the windowsill,” she said. “They’re on all the windowsills. Frank must love flowers.”

“Birds, too,” added Benny, looking out of the window. “Just look at the bird houses. And there are some bird feeding stations, too.”

Violet said, “A man who likes birds and flowers can’t be all bad. Just look at that woodpecker! Isn’t his red head beautiful! Oh, it’s flying away. Something must have scared it.”

Henry was looking over Violet’s shoulder. He saw the bird, too. But he saw something else as well. He was sure that something moved behind one of the trees.

Henry continued to watch. He caught sight of a red shirt. It must be one of the two boys Frank had sent out of the bus station in such a hurry.

Henry had been wondering what had become of the boys. Had one of them been spying on the Aldens? Or maybe the boys were watching Frank. That was possible, too.

Henry didn’t want to say anything to frighten Violet or Jessie. But Benny exclaimed22, “Hey, I see somebody behind the station. Who is it? One of those kids! Sneaking23 around, that’s what. No wonder Frank is mad.”

“Wait a minute,” Jessie said. “I don’t think the boy is sneaking around. He has field glasses. He was watching the bird Violet saw.”

For a few minutes it seemed as if the storm was not going to be too bad. Perhaps the tornado watch was already over.

Then all at once the sky turned a deep purple. The wind which had died down suddenly returned with new strength. The bus station sign creaked and tree branches bent24 in the strong gusts25. The Aldens backed away from the windows.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 slammed 84b5bc3c8d817ee0d99387e3bc3042be     
v.砰地关上(门或窗)( slam的过去式和过去分词 );用力一放;使劲一推;猛劲一摔
参考例句:
  • He slammed on the brakes and the car juddered to a halt. 他猛踩刹车,汽车在剧烈震动中停下来。
  • He walked out of the room and slammed the door. 他走出房间,猛地关上了房门。
2 frank JibxK     
adj.坦白的,直率的,真诚的
参考例句:
  • A frank discussion can help to clear the air.坦率的谈论有助于消除隔阂。
  • She is frank and outgoing.她很爽朗。
3 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。
4 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。
5 stirred 5541e33a1b6fc5b13a368d6c2b41f06a     
v.(使)移动( stir的过去式和过去分词 );搅拌;(使)行动;(使)微动
参考例句:
  • She stirred her tea. 她搅了搅茶。
  • He stirred the coffee until it was a light reddish-brown. 直到咖啡成红褐色,他才停止搅拌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 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。
7 frowned fdfd04918425477a66e031069e013e79     
皱眉( frown的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She frowned in puzzlement. 她迷惑地蹙着眉。
  • The mother frowned when her son failed in his exam. 儿子考试不及格时,母亲皱着眉。
8 muttered 2764630c23cae6a012e2a09fc41abbd2     
轻声低语,咕哝地抱怨( mutter的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He muttered a curse at the other driver. 他低声咒骂另一位开车的人。
  • She turned away and muttered something unintelligible. 她转向一旁,嘴里不知咕哝些什么。
9 tornado inowl     
n.飓风,龙卷风
参考例句:
  • A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
  • The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。
10 counties c8f76bbca85e61a6ee1f46657a8397c9     
郡,县( county的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The deposits spread for 100 kilometers across four counties. 这些矿藏绵延一百公里,跨越四个县。
  • The Jinggang Mountains stand where the boundaries of four counties meet. 井冈山位于四县之交。
11 tuned b40b43fd5af2db4fbfeb4e83856e4876     
adj.调谐的,已调谐的v.调音( tune的过去式和过去分词 );调整;(给收音机、电视等)调谐;使协调
参考例句:
  • The resort is tuned in to the tastes of young and old alike. 这个度假胜地适合各种口味,老少皆宜。
  • The instruments should be tuned up before each performance. 每次演出开始前都应将乐器调好音。 来自《简明英汉词典》
12 up-to-date 7flzHE     
adj.现代化的,最新的;跟上时代的
参考例句:
  • The car is a beauty and quite up-to-date.那辆车子很漂亮是最新款的。
  • He bought an up-to-date textbook.他买了一本最新的教科书。
13 bulletins d414ba60f8ab5509b67d6745cb5b63ef     
n.公告( bulletin的名词复数 );新闻快报;小报;期刊
参考例句:
  • AP and UPI had flashed bulletins nationwide and overseas. 美联社和合众国际社已经火速地向全国和海外发布了新闻简报。 来自辞典例句
  • I just got BBC on shortwave. Same bulletins as last night. 我刚刚收听了英国广播电台的短波,和昨天晚上一样的新闻。 来自辞典例句
14 kindly tpUzhQ     
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地
参考例句:
  • Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
  • A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。
15 swayed 6bb8f599da801a711bb1df60cb27ccd4     
v.(使)摇摆, (使)摇动( sway的过去式和过去分词 );影响、改变…的观点[行动]
参考例句:
  • He swayed his head from side to side with worry. 他忧心忡忡地频频摇头。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The sailboat swayed on the stormy sea. 帆船在暴风雨的海面上摇晃。 来自《简明英汉词典》
16 peeked c7b2fdc08abef3a4f4992d9023ed9bb8     
v.很快地看( peek的过去式和过去分词 );偷看;窥视;微露出
参考例句:
  • She peeked over the top of her menu. 她从菜单上往外偷看。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • On two occasions she had peeked at him through a crack in the wall. 她曾两次透过墙缝窥视他。 来自辞典例句
17 tightly ZgbzD7     
adv.紧紧地,坚固地,牢固地
参考例句:
  • My child holds onto my hand tightly while we cross the street.横穿马路时,孩子紧拉着我的手不放。
  • The crowd pressed together so tightly that we could hardly breathe.人群挤在一起,我们几乎喘不过气来。
18 brick 3sQzu     
n.砖;vt.用砖砌,用砖堵住
参考例句:
  • She stared blankly at the brick wall in front of her.她面无表情地瞪着面前的砖墙。
  • I bought a brick of ice cream for my daughter.我给女儿买了块冰砖。
19 indoors q7Mxv     
adv.(在)室内,(在)户内
参考例句:
  • Because of the coldness of the weather we stayed indoors.我们因天气寒冷呆在家里。
  • It is very cold outside,you'd better come indoors across the board.外面很冷,你们所有人最好都进屋。
20 troublemakers 2d09f1f3c2345e9bf267eb0820a3b2ec     
n.惹是生非者,捣乱者( troublemaker的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • He was employed to chuck out any troublemakers. 他受雇把捣乱者赶走。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She had automatically labelled the boys as troublemakers. 她不假思索地认定这些男孩子是捣蛋鬼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
21 thoughtfully aoiwf     
ad.考虑周到地
参考例句:
  • She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. 她若有所思地抚摩着下巴。
  • The man pulled thoughtfully at his pipe before commenting on our proposal. 那人若有所思地吸了口烟,然后就我们的建议发表自己的见解。
22 exclaimed 68e477dcdab3965d2189fb7276ee5041     
vt.exclaim的过去式v.呼喊,惊叫,大声说( exclaim的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • "We have a good chance of winning," he exclaimed optimistically. “我们很可能获胜。”他乐观地喊道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She exclaimed in delight when she saw the presents. 她见到礼品高兴得叫了起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
23 sneaking iibzMu     
a.秘密的,不公开的
参考例句:
  • She had always had a sneaking affection for him. 以前她一直暗暗倾心于他。
  • She ducked the interviewers by sneaking out the back door. 她从后门偷偷溜走,躲开采访者。
24 bent QQ8yD     
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。
25 gusts 656c664e0ecfa47560efde859556ddfa     
一阵强风( gust的名词复数 ); (怒、笑等的)爆发; (感情的)迸发; 发作
参考例句:
  • Her profuse skirt bosomed out with the gusts. 她的宽大的裙子被风吹得鼓鼓的。
  • Turbulence is defined as a series of irregular gusts. 紊流定义为一组无规则的突风。
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
相关文章
论坛新贴