儿童英语读物 迈克的谜案 Mike's Mystery Chapter 5 闲置的屋子

CHAPTER 5
The Empty Room

I have to go up to the uranium mine,” said Mr. Carter¹. “You can all come with me if you want.”

“I think I’ll go to my neighbor’s,” said Mrs. Wood. “I’m all tired out with Mike’s doings.”

“Yes, I’ll go with you, Ma,” said Pat². “Maybe I can help around the place, to pay for taking us in.”

“The rest of us will go with you, Mr. Carter,” said Benny. “It’s our own mine after all, and we haven’t seen it yet. You come too, Mike.”

“Well, Benny, you are asking for trouble,” said Henry laughing.

“I’m no trouble,” cried Mike. “I might help you. I know a lot of things.”

Soon they were on their way to the mine in Mr. Carter’s car. When they arrived, they could see great machines at work. Workmen³ were everywhere. Mr. Carter stopped his car at a large building. It had a small office in one corner.

“I’m going into the office for a few minutes,” said Mr. Carter. “You may stay in the car and watch the men. But you must not go any closer than you are now.”

“Can’t we go into the big building?” asked Benny.

Mr. Carter said, “Oh, yes, you can do that. But it is empty. Just one big room. Nothing to see. I’ll be back soon.”

When Mr. Carter had shut the office door, Mike said, “I bet⁴ he’s going to find out about insurance on our things and tell someone in there about the blue hat.”

“Yes,” said Benny. “Let’s see what is in that empty room.”

Benny got out of the car and quietly walked into the big, empty room. Jessie followed him. They stood looking around.

“A big room going to waste, Jessie!” said Benny.

“Yes, Benny,” said his sister. For a minute they said nothing more. Jessie was thinking about what Benny had said—a big room going to waste.

“Look, Benny!” she said excitedly. “Do you remember what Mrs. Wood said about baking?”

“Yes, I do. She said she loved to bake pies and she didn’t like to wash.”

“That’s just right, Benny! Now listen! If we could get a good stove—”

“Mrs. Wood could bake in it,” finished Benny.

“And right here in this very room,” said Henry. One by one the others had come inside, too.

Then another gentle voice said, “I’m sure Grandfather would let us buy a stove.” It was Violet⁵. She was smiling.

“My mother likes to make pies the best,” said Mike. “On pies she is a wizard⁶.”

Henry laughed. “Well, now that we are all here, let’s get together on this.”

“My mother could sell pies to the miners,” said Mike. “There’s about a million men, I should say. We could make money. And I could eat pies whenever I wanted to,” Mike finished.

“If we had a stove,” said Benny.

“Not quite a million men,” said Henry. “Maybe a hundred or more.”

“Maybe we could all live up here,” said Mike.

“You wouldn’t want to live here, Mike,” said Benny. “Wait till you see your room at Aunt Jane’s. Right next to me.”

“We’ll ask Mr. Carter what he thinks,” said Jessie. He knows everything and he will settle⁷ it.”

But it was really Mrs. Wood who settled⁸ it.

1 carter   

n.运货马车夫，赶大车的人；卡车司机

参考例句：

• Although fatigue shows readily on Carter, he bounces back quickly. 卡特虽然容易显出疲劳的样子，但他恢复得很快。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 pat   

n.轻拍，拍打声；vt.轻拍，拍打；vi.轻跑，轻击；adv.适时，彻底；adj.油腔滑调的，恰好的，合适的

参考例句：

• Could you hear the pat?你能听到轻轻的拍击声吗？
• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。

3 workmen   

n.技术工人，工匠( workman的名词复数 )；工人；工匠；工作者；体力劳动者

参考例句：

• The workmen sawed and hammered all day. 工人又锯又锤，干了整整一天。
• workmen with picks and shovels 手拿镐铲的工人

4 bet   

v.打赌，以(与)...打赌；n.赌注，赌金；打赌

参考例句：

• I bet you can't do this puzzle.我敢说，你解决不了这个难题。
• I offered to bet with him.我提出与他打赌。

5 violet   

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。

6 wizard   

n.男巫，术士，鬼才；adj.男巫的，巫术的

参考例句：

• Edison was a wizard at invention.爱迪生是一个发明奇才。
• That's a fairy story about a wizard.那是讲一个男巫的童话。

7 settle   

vi.安家；定居；停留；vt.使定居；安排；解决

参考例句：

• I have to settle my affairs before leaving here.离开这儿以前，我得把一些私人的事情安排妥当。
• She has decided how she should settle the matter.她已做出决定如何来了解这件事。

8 settled   

a.固定的；稳定的

参考例句：

• The dispute was settled without acrimony. 没有唇枪舌剑，这场纠纷就解决了。
• a settled way of life 安定的生活方式