儿童英语读物 The Mystery in the Snow CHAPTER 13 Too Many Suspects

Henry picked the green knit¹ hat off the tree branch. “It’s Freddy’s all right,” he said.

“She took Matt’s skis!” Benny exclaimed.

“She might have hid them somewhere,” Jessie reasoned. “Her hat must have gotten stuck on the branch as she passed by.”

“But she’d have known it had gotten stuck,” Henry said. “She’d feel it.”

“Not if she was in a hurry,” Violet argued.

Benny nodded. “She was probably scared someone would see her.”

“Remember, we also found her glove near the snow sculptures,” Henry said.

“But she didn’t act at all guilty when we gave it back to her,” Violet said.

That was true. And confusing. They had expected more of a reaction.

“She didn’t even want to know where we found the glove,” Jessie said.

“That’s because she knew where we found it,” Benny said.

A whistle sounded. The slalom race was about to begin.

Henry stuffed the cap in his pocket. “It’ll take a lot more than a glove and a hat to figure out this mystery,” he said. He snapped² on his skis and glided³ toward the hill.

It was Freddy’s turn, but Pete wasn’t ready to clock her. His earmuffs were missing. “I put them right here on the bench,” he complained loudly.

Someone volunteered to look for them while he did his job. Finally, he flagged Freddy and started the stopwatch. Her team skied very well.

“Do you suppose someone took Pete’s ear muffs?” Benny wondered aloud.

“There are certainly a lot of things missing lately,” Jessie said.

“Look,” Violet said. “Our team is skiing now.”

Jimmy didn’t do very well. He skipped one pole and knocked over another. He left the ski hill after his run. Matt cleared the poles, but he was slow. Henry made up for lost points.

The Aldens started for the lodge⁴.

Freddy caught up with them. “Is that my hat sticking out of your pocket?” she asked Henry.

Henry pulled it out and handed it to her.

Saying, “Thanks,” she took off the headband and put on the hat. “Where’d you find it?” she asked.

As Henry was about to answer her, Jimmy approached from the opposite direction. He was carrying a pail.

“Where are you going with that?” Freddy called.

Jimmy dropped the pail into the snow. “I’m returning it to the kitchen,” he said. “Someone left it out by our snow sculpture.”

Benny was surprised. “I thought Alan and Debbie took our buckets back,” he said.

Jimmy shrugged⁵. “They must’ve forgotten one. Unless someone else left it there…”

With so much going on this morning, that was certainly possible.

“What happened, Jimmy?” Freddy asked. “You blew the slalom.”

Jimmy’s cheeks reddened. “I know. I was really mad at myself. I guess I was worried about Matt — how he would do.”

“That’s too bad,” Freddy said. “But good for my team. Look, they found my hat. Every time I lose something, the Aldens find it. Pretty suspicious⁶ if you ask me.” Her tone⁷ was light and her eyes twinkled.

It made Benny mad. She was the guilty one. How could she accuse them of anything?

Freddy leaned over and picked up the bucket. “Come on, Jimmy,” she said, “I’ll walk you to the kitchen. We’ve hardly had any time to talk.”

As soon as they were gone, Benny said, “How could she accuse us that way?”

“She was only joking, Benny,” Violet said.

“She has a point, though,” Henry said. “If she isn’t guilty, it must look strange to her. First we find her glove, and then I’m walking around with her hat in my pocket.”

“She’s guilty all right,” Benny said.

“Watch didn’t destroy your snow sculptures,” Jessie reminded him. “But your friends thought he did.”

“And for a while you were sure Pete did it,” Henry said.

Violet sighed. The more she thought about this puzzle the more confusing it became. “Is there anything we can be sure of?” she asked.

“I’m sure of one thing,” Benny answered. “I can’t think another thought until I have something to eat.”
 

1 knit   

vt.编织，密接，结合，皱眉；vi.编织，变得紧凑，愈合；n.编织

参考例句：

• She could knit up a baby's coat in an afternoon.她能在一个下午织好一件婴儿的衣服。
• Our letters enabled us to knit up our old friendship.通信使我们恢复了旧日的友谊。

2 snapped   

v.猛地咬住( snap的过去式和过去分词 )；（使某物）发出尖厉声音地突然断裂[打开，关闭]；厉声地说；拍照

参考例句：

• The wind had snapped the tree in two. 风把树喀嚓一声刮断了。
• He lost his temper and snapped irritably at the children. 他发火了，暴躁地斥责孩子们。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 glided   

v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔

参考例句：

• The President's motorcade glided by. 总统的车队一溜烟开了过去。
• They glided along the wall until they were out of sight. 他们沿着墙壁溜得无影无踪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 lodge   

v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆

参考例句：

• Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗？
• I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。

5 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 suspicious   

adj.可疑的，容易引起怀疑的，猜疑的，疑心的

参考例句：

• A man was hanging about the house in a suspicious manner.一个男人在房子周围可疑地荡来荡去。
• He's so suspicious he would distrust his own mother.他这个人疑心太重，连自己的母亲也不相信。

7 tone   

n.语气，音调，气度，色调；vt.（up）增强

参考例句：

• There was a tone of mockery in his voice.他说话的语气含有嘲笑的意味。
• Holmes used an informal,chatty tone in his essays.霍姆斯在文章中语气轻松随便。