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儿童英语读物 The Disappearing Friend Mystery CHAPTER 9 Two Cats and a Key

时间:2017-07-21 08:14来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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Today we meet Ms. Singh’s cats,” announced Violet. “I can hardly wait.”

Henry, Violet, Jessie, and Beth were waiting for Benny on the front steps of the big old white house.

Just then, Benny came hurrying out of the door. “Here I am!” he announced cheerfully.

“We’re going to feed Ms. Singh’s cats, Benny,” said Jessie.

“Oh, good,” said Benny, getting on his bicycle. “I like cats. Watch does, too. Don’t you, Watch?”

Watch barked and began to trot1 happily alongside2 Benny’s bicycle as they headed for Garden Street.

It wasn’t very far away, a pleasant street that lived up to its name.

“Ms. Singh’s house has an apple tree in the front yard,” said Henry. “She said it’s the only one on the street.”

“Apples!” exclaimed Benny. “I love apples.” Suddenly he pointed3. “There it is.”

The five children left their bicycles under the apple tree and went around to the back door.

“Let’s see,” said Jessie. “The key should be under this doormat.” She raised the edge of the mat. But there was no key.

“Maybe if you lift up the whole mat,” suggested Beth.

Jessie picked up the mat. There was a clean space, slightly paler than the rest of the step, where the mat had been. But there was no key.

“That’s funny,” said Violet. “Are you sure Ms. Singh said the key would be under the mat?”

“Yes.” Jessie frowned. “Maybe I misunderstood her. Maybe it was the front door mat.”

The Aldens and Beth went around to the front door of the house. But when Jessie lifted the front doormat, no key was under it.

“Maybe Ms. Singh left the key somewhere else, like in the mailbox,” suggested Beth.

“I hope so,” said Violet, looking worried. “What if we can’t find the key? We won’t be able to feed the cats.”

“Oh, no,” cried Benny. “They’ll starve.”

Henry, who was the tallest, stood on his toes and looked into the mailbox. He reached his hand inside and felt the bottom of the box. “No,” Henry reported. “No key here.”

“Oh dear,” said Violet. “Do you think she forgot?”

“Maybe the key slid out from under the mat somehow,” Henry said. “Benny, why don’t you and Violet come with me and we’ll check around the back door.”

“Good idea,” said Jessie. “Beth and I will look here in front.”

Jessie and Beth searched all around the front door, from the top of the door sill to the flowerbeds on either side, but they found no key.

“It’s not here,” said Jessie.

“Maybe Henry and Violet and Benny found it,” said Beth. “Let’s go around to the back door and see.”

But the key was nowhere around the back door, either.

“Watch looked, too,” Benny announced. “He sniffed4 and sniffed, but he didn’t find a key. So maybe she did forget.”

“That’s hard to believe,” said Violet.

“How are we going to feed the cats?” asked Benny.

Henry said, “If Ms. Singh left a window unlocked5, we could open it and go inside that way.”

“I don’t like having to do something like that,” said Jessie. “But I guess it is an emergency.”

“Yes, we can’t let the cats starve,” said Violet.

The children checked the windows on the ground floor, but Ms. Singh had locked them all tightly6 before leaving. Benny, peering7 through the kitchen window, said, “I can see one of the cats now! It’s big and white, with one black spot right over her eye.”

The cat saw Benny, too. She leaped up on the windowsill and meowed. Watch, sitting on the grass, barked. The cat flattened8 her ears and jumped away from the window.

“You scared her, Watch,” scolded Benny.

Just then Jessie called, “Look! There’s the basement door! Maybe we can get in that way.”

The Aldens and Beth hurried to the back corner of the house and down the narrow stairs to the basement door. It was a little, low door and the basement inside was very dark.

“Ooh,” said Benny. “This is scary.”

Watch growled9 softly.

“Oh, no. You can’t come with us, Watch. You would chase the cats!” said Jessie scoldingly.

Benny had an idea. “I’ll take Watch outside and then meet you at the back door. You can let me in there.”

“Good idea, Benny,” said Violet.

Relieved, Benny hurried out of the dark basement.

The others made their way carefully across the basement. Then Henry and Jessie went up the creaking basement stairs.

Cautiously10, Henry tested the door at the top of the stairs. It was open!

“Thank goodness,” said Violet, following them up the stairs with Beth beside her. “Now we can feed the cats!”

The basement door opened into a short hall that led into the kitchen. Beth went to the back door and let Benny in.

“Look, here’s a note from Ms. Singh,” said Violet. She picked it up from the kitchen table and read aloud, “Dear Boxcar Helpers, welcome, and thank you for feeding my cats, Spot and Rover.”

“So she didn’t forget we were coming,” said Henry.

Violet nodded and kept reading: “The wet food is on the counter. They each get a small can of wet food, a fresh bowl of water, and please fill the big green bowl with dry food. The dry food is in the bucket with the lid by the refrigerator. Just leave the key under the back doormat where you found it when you are finished. Thank you.”

Jessie said, “She doesn’t sound like she forgot to leave the key.”

“It’s a mystery,” agreed Henry. “But we will solve it!”

Just then, the children heard a clock chime in the living room.

“Uh-oh,” exclaimed Beth.

“What is it?” asked Jessie.

“I should be going. My parents wanted me to be home early for lunch today.”

“It is almost lunchtime,” said Henry. “It took us so long to get inside, the morning is almost gone.”

“Well, I’ll see you later,” said Beth.

“I’ll walk you to your bicycle,” Jessie said.

When Jessie came back in the kitchen she was holding something and looking very puzzled.

“What is it, Jessie?” asked Henry.

“Look.” Jessie held out her hand. In the palm was a silver key.

“The house key?” asked Violet.

Jessie nodded. “It fits the door.”

“Where did you find it?” asked Benny.

“By the flowerpot at the foot of the back door steps.”

“We looked there!” said Benny. “We looked everywhere!”

“I suppose we could have overlooked11 it,” said Henry slowly. “But it doesn’t seem likely.”

Jessie shook her head. “I don’t think we did, either.”

“Then how did the key get there?” asked Violet.

Henry handed the key back to Jessie. “I’m surprised Beth didn’t see it on her way out,” he said.

“Well,” said Violet. “She was in a hurry.”

Jessie put the key in her pocket. “Anyway, we’ll just keep this key so we can get in tomorrow, and then after we feed Spot and Rover tomorrow, we’ll put it under the mat.”

“Good thinking,” said Henry.

“Like Beth said, this has been an adventure,” said Jessie.

“I guess so!” said Violet. “Let’s hope we don’t have any more!”


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 trot aKBzt     
n.疾走,慢跑;n.老太婆;现成译本;(复数)trots:腹泻(与the 连用);v.小跑,快步走,赶紧
参考例句:
  • They passed me at a trot.他们从我身边快步走过。
  • The horse broke into a brisk trot.马突然快步小跑起来。
2 alongside XLWym     
adv.在旁边;prep.和...在一起,在...旁边
参考例句:
  • There was a butcher's shop alongside the theatre.剧院旁边有一家肉店。
  • Alongside of him stood his uncle.他的身旁站着他叔叔。
3 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。
4 sniffed ccb6bd83c4e9592715e6230a90f76b72     
v.以鼻吸气,嗅,闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 );抽鼻子(尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气);抱怨,不以为然地说
参考例句:
  • When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣,吸了吸鼻子,擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
5 unlocked d821dbe5ef2db3d805cd0f7eea0ec33f     
v.开锁( unlock的过去式和过去分词 );开启;揭开;开着,解开
参考例句:
  • Don't leave your desk unlocked. 请不要忘记锁好办公桌。
  • On no account should you leave the door unlocked. 你无论如何也不应该不锁门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 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。
7 peering 72e9eac15aeff738ffda1b4c51092b24     
v.凝视( peer的现在分词 );盯着看;同等;比得上
参考例句:
  • He was peering down the well. 他细看下面的井。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • The sun was peering through the clouds. 太阳从云中隐约出现。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
8 flattened 1d5d9fedd9ab44a19d9f30a0b81f79a8     
[医](水)平扁的,弄平的
参考例句:
  • She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇紧贴着窗户。
  • I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身体紧靠着墙让他们通过。
9 growled 65a0c9cac661e85023a63631d6dab8a3     
v.(动物)发狺狺声, (雷)作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 );低声咆哮着说
参考例句:
  • \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道:“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》
10 cautiously 2w5zrW     
adv.小心地,谨慎地;小心翼翼;翼翼
参考例句:
  • She walked cautiously up the drive towards the door. 她小心翼翼地沿着车道向门口走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》
11 overlooked 65e0991d3d278eaae9d2c15d7b01c40a     
v.忽视( overlook的过去式和过去分词 );监督;俯视;(对不良现象等)不予理会
参考例句:
  • He seems to have overlooked one important fact. 他好像忽略了一个重要的事实。
  • This is a minor point, but it must not be overlooked. 此事虽小,然亦不可忽视。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
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