儿童英语读物 The Mystery in the Snow CHAPTER 10 Another Clue

Watch destroying the snowpeople? The idea made Henry laugh.

“Watch wouldn’t do that,” he said.

Benny was angry. “He didn’t do it,” he said. “He was in the lounge the whole time.” Benny reached under the table and patted Watch’s head.

“Then how’d the tracks get there?” Jason challenged.

“We took Watch with us when we went out to see your snow sculpture,” Violet explained.

“He went wild,” Jessie added. “He ran around sniffing¹ and barking. He knew something was wrong.”

“If Watch didn’t do it, who did?” Debbie asked.

“I’ll bet Watch knows,” Benny said.

“That’s silly,” Jason said.

“He’s right,” defended Violet. “Dogs’ noses are sensitive. Watch must have picked up the scent². He knows who did it.”

“A lot of good that does us,” Jason said.

“Did you see any other tracks out there?” Benny asked. He wanted to know if they had seen Pete’s boot prints.

“There were tracks all over the place,” Alan said.

“Lots of different tracks,” Jason put in.

Benny’s eyes widened. The only tracks he had seen were Pete’s. “Whose were they?” he asked.

Henry laughed. “They were probably ours, Benny.”

“Oh, right,” Benny said. “I forgot about that.”

Jason sank to a chair. “What’re we going to do now?” he asked. “We don’t have a chance of winning.”

“The judging isn’t until tomorrow afternoon,” Jessie said.

“But there’s so much work,” Jason argued.

Debbie sighed. “At least the forms are there. They weren’t destroyed.”

“And we have all morning to work,” Alan said.

“Why don’t we meet early?” Benny suggested.

“That’s a good idea,” Debbie agreed.

“Before breakfast,” Alan said.

“Before breakfast?” Benny repeated. He hadn’t meant that early.

“It’s the only way we have a chance of finishing,” Alan argued.

Alan was right, they finally decided³.

The Aldens took their plates to the kitchen. Then, they went to check on the other snow sculpture. Watch padded along beside them.

Freddy’s snow builders had not made much progress. It was hard to tell what the sculpture would be. But it was easy to see that no damage had been done to it.

Benny still thought that Pete was guilty.

“But Pete’s angry at Freddy, not Jimmy,” Jessie said, repeating her earlier doubt.

“Maybe he’s acting,” Violet suggested. “Maybe Pete is only pretending to be angry at Freddy.”

“Why would he do that?” Henry asked.

“To throw everybody off the track,” Violet said.

Benny shook his head. “I don’t get it.”

“Suppose Pete really wants Freddy’s team to win, but he doesn’t think they have a chance,” Violet explained.

“He might do anything to make sure the team wins. Is that what you’re saying, Violet?” Jessie asked.

Violet nodded. “If he acts as if he doesn’t care about his team, no one will suspect him.”

“If Pete had a plan like that, he would have remembered to cover his footprints,” Jessie said.

“And what about the missing keys and the flat tires?” Henry said. “I think they’re all connected.”

“Let’s go back to Benny’s snowpeople,” Violet suggested. “We might see something we missed.”

At the site, Watch ran this way and that, sniffing as he had before. Benny searched for Pete’s boot prints, but they were gone, covered over by other tracks.

“Our evidence has disappeared,” he said.

Watch stopped beside a large chunk⁴ of snow. He sniffed⁵. He scratched.

“What is it, Watch?” Jessie asked.

The dog kept scratching at the snow. Finally, he grabbed something orange, green, and yellow in his mouth, trotted⁶ over, and dropped it at Jessie’s feet.

“It’s a glove!” Violet identified.

“It’s Freddy’s glove!” Jessie said.

1 sniffing   

n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；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：

• We all had colds and couldn't stop sniffing and sneezing. 我们都感冒了，一个劲地抽鼻子，打喷嚏。
• They all had colds and were sniffing and sneezing. 他们都伤风了，呼呼喘气而且打喷嚏。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

5 sniffed   

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》

6 trotted   

小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走

参考例句：

• She trotted her pony around the field. 她骑着小马绕场慢跑。
• Anne trotted obediently beside her mother. 安妮听话地跟在妈妈身边走。