儿童英语读物 The Mystery in the Cave CHAPTER 9 Trapped Underground!

After saying good-bye to Joe Caveman, the Aldens spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the new cave.

“Know what?” Benny asked as he walked along with his brother and sisters. “Joe Caveman never told us his real name.”

“I like the name you gave him way better than any real name,” Violet said. “Henry, why are you stopping?”

“Because we hit a dead end,” Henry said when he came to a rock wall.

Jessie checked her watch. “It’s four o’clock. We should get back before Mr. Howe worries about us. And don’t forget. Grandfather will be back tonight. We have to pack for Greenfield.”

“Nuts!” Benny said when they turned back. “I didn’t find a Rockville diamond or any silver or figure out any mysteries to tell Grandfather.”

“We found out about Joe Caveman,” Henry said. “That was a mystery we solved.”

“That wasn’t a real mystery. He was just a plain old person reading his book in a cave,” Benny complained.

When the Aldens spotted¹ the last piece of tape, Henry pulled it down. “Wait a minute. Is this where we started? I don’t see the exit. There’s no light in here except for our flashlights.”

Jessie went over to the far wall of the cave. “The entrance is blocked!”

Henry came over and began to dig out rocks and dirt from the opening.

“What’s the matter, Henry?” Violet asked.

Henry waited a long time before answering. “There’s a boulder² or something very heavy pushed against the outside. It’s way too heavy for me to move.”

“Are we trapped?” Benny asked, his voice cracking.

Jessie tried not to sound scared. “I’ve got an idea. Let’s go back to where we saw Joe Caveman leave. He went out a different way. We’ll just follow his footprints, and I know we’ll get out.”

The Aldens walked quickly back through the dark cave.

“Benny, you stick up the tape this time,” Henry said. “And Violet can drag the stick along and mark our turns with an ‘X.’ Let’s get a move on.”

Finally, they were back in Joe Caveman’s “living room.”

“Okay,” Jessie said, “here are Joe Caveman’s footprints. Let’s just follow them until we see daylight.”

“Wait, I think I hear something,” Henry said.

“Stop! I hear water rushing near here,” said Jessie.

“Is it a flood, Jessie?” Benny asked. “What if there’s a big thunderstorm outside?”

“Let’s check where the sound is coming from,” Jessie said as calmly as she could. “Maybe it’s just an underground stream. That would be good because it could lead us out of here.”

Everyone listened very carefully. Sure enough, there was a whooshing³, gurgling sound nearby, so the Aldens headed in that direction.

“See, an underground stream!” Jessie whispered when they found water. “Let’s walk along this ledge⁴ and see where it goes.”

Henry led everyone alongside⁵ the stream. The Aldens hadn’t gone far when they heard men’s voices shouting in the distance.

“This is your dumbest idea ever,” Ed Lyme said to Randall Pitt. “I’m not getting into that thing. I can’t swim.”

Mr. Pitt was blowing up a large raft with an air pump.

“Hey, what are you kids doing here?” Mr. Lyme shouted when he saw the Aldens standing⁶ there.

“It’s us, Mr. Lyme,” Henry explained. “Even though you tried to scare us, we decided⁷ to explore these caves anyway.”

“What are you staring at?” Mr. Pitt asked when he noticed Henry staring at his head.

“So you’re the one who broke into our cabin and stole my headlamp. I can see the initials⁸ I marked on it—H.A. And that’s not all you stole. Nelly Stoner said a raft was taken from the Dragon’s Mouth Cavern⁹ a couple of days ago.”

Mr. Pitt kicked the raft to one side and took the headlamp off his head. “What are you talking about, kid?”

Mr. Lyme shifted from one foot to the other. “Come on, Randy. We need to talk. In private, without four pairs of ears listening in.”

Then the two men moved several feet away so the Aldens wouldn’t hear them.

Henry and Jessie didn’t waste any time. “Come on,” Jessie whispered to Benny and Violet. “Hop on the raft. First, let’s put on these life jackets.”

With barely¹⁰ a splash¹¹, the four children climbed onto the raft. Henry pushed off with the oars¹² and quickly began rowing.

The next thing the Aldens heard was a lot of yelling¹³. “Hey! They took our raft!” Mr. Pitt screamed.

“Hey! They took our raft,” the cave walls echoed¹⁴ back.

“Go after it!” Mr. Lyme shouted at Mr. Pitt.

But it was too late. The Aldens were soon floating along the current of a small stream.

1 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

2 boulder   

n.巨砾；卵石，圆石

参考例句：

• We all heaved together and removed the boulder.大家一齐用劲，把大石头搬开了。
• He stepped clear of the boulder.他从大石头后面走了出来。

3 whooshing   

v.（使）飞快移动( whoosh的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I love deadlines. I especially like the whooshing sound they make as they go flying by. 我喜欢最后期待。我尤其喜欢它们飞驰而过时发出的嗖嗖声。 来自互联网
• The constant whooshing of the wind across the roof wouldn't fade into the background. 不断跑车疾速的风雨整个屋顶不会褪色的背景。 来自互联网

4 ledge   

n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁

参考例句：

• They paid out the line to lower him to the ledge.他们放出绳子使他降到那块岩石的突出部分。
• Suddenly he struck his toe on a rocky ledge and fell.突然他的脚趾绊在一块突出的岩石上，摔倒了。

5 alongside   

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。

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 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。

8 initials   

n.首字母，姓名

参考例句：

• a glass tankard with his initials etched on it 刻有他姓名首字母的玻璃大酒杯
• All the towels were personalized with their initials. 所有毛巾上都标有物主姓名的首字母。

9 cavern   

n.洞穴，大山洞

参考例句：

• The cavern walls echoed his cries.大山洞的四壁回响着他的喊声。
• It suddenly began to shower,and we took refuge in the cavern.天突然下起雨来，我们在一个山洞里避雨。

10 barely   

adv.仅仅，几乎没有，几乎不

参考例句：

• The male bird is barely distinguishable from the female.雄鸟和雌鸟几乎无法辨别。
• He took barely enough money to keep the children in bread.他赚很少的钱仅够孩子们勉强糊口。

11 splash   

v.溅，泼；n.溅泼声，溅出的水等，斑点

参考例句：

• I fell into the water with a splash.我跌入水中，激起水花四溅。
• There's a splash of paint on the white wall.白墙上溅上了一片油漆。

12 oars   

n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He pulled as hard as he could on the oars. 他拼命地划桨。
• The sailors are bending to the oars. 水手们在拼命地划桨。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 yelling   

v.叫喊，号叫，叫着说( yell的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The coach stood on the sidelines yelling instructions to the players. 教练站在场外，大声指挥运动员。
• He let off steam by yelling at a clerk. 他对一个职员大喊大叫，借以发泄怒气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 echoed   

重复，随声附和( echo的过去式和过去分词 )； 类似； 发射（声音等）； 发出回声

参考例句：

• Their shouts re-echoed through the darkness. 他们的喊声回荡在黑暗中。
• Their footsteps echoed in the silence. 他们的脚步声在一片寂静中回荡着。