儿童英语读物 The Soccer Mystery CHAPTER 7 Pop Goes the Soccer Ball

“Catch it, Watch!” shouted Benny. He kicked the ball toward Watch. Watch ran after it and pushed it with his nose.

Watch, Benny, and Soo Lee were practicing soccer in front of the Aldens’ house. They were playing keep-away, trying to keep Watch from getting the ball. But Watch was too fast for them. Every time Soo Lee or Benny kicked the ball, Watch ran like a flash toward it and knocked it out of the way with his nose. Then Soo Lee and Benny had to chase him to get it back.

Soo Lee kicked a ball up in the air. Watch circled under it and when it landed, he pounced¹.

Then, suddenly, there was a popping sound, followed by a hiss².

“Oh, no!” cried Soo Lee. “Watch bit the ball!”

“He was just trying to catch it,” said Benny. The two of them ran toward Watch, and Watch ran away, carrying the ball in his teeth. They chased him all the way around the house before they caught him.

“Good boy, Watch,” Benny panted. He sat down on the front steps with the ball. He squeezed the ball between his hands. More air hissed³ out.

“Let me see,” said Soo Lee. She took the ball and examined it. “There,” she said. “See. There are two teeth marks in the ball. Those are Watch’s teeth marks.”

“I’m sorry,” said Benny. “But it was an accident.”

“I know. It’s okay,” Soo Lee said. She reached down and petted Watch. “He was just practicing. He’ll know next time not to bite the ball, won’t you, Watch?”

“Woof,” said Watch.

“We came out to play soccer with you,” said Jessie. She, Violet, and Henry came out of the house and down the front steps.

Soo Lee held up the ball. “We can’t. My soccer ball has a hole bitten in it.”

She and Benny told the others what had happened.

Henry inspected Soo Lee’s soccer ball. Then he said, “We should go to the Greenfield Sports Store and get you a new soccer ball, Soo Lee.”

“Yes,” said Jessie. “If we put all our money together, we can buy you a ball to replace the one Watch popped.”

“You don’t have to do that,” said Soo Lee.

“Yes, we do,” said Violet. “Besides, how can we practice soccer without a ball?”

“Okay,” said Soo Lee.

Benny took Watch inside to stay with Mrs. McGregor. Then they all got on their bicycles and pedaled into Greenfield.

The Sports Store was on a corner near the park. They parked their bikes outside and went in.

“Watch would like this store a lot,” said Benny. “It has all kinds of balls: soccer balls, baseballs, basketballs, even tennis balls and golf balls.”

“Do you think he would bite holes in all of them?” asked Soo Lee. She and Benny burst out laughing.

Jessie smiled. “It’s a good thing we didn’t bring Watch!” she said.

“There’s a ball like yours, Soo Lee,” said Henry. He and Soo Lee picked up the ball and examined it.

“It is just the same as the other ball,” Soo Lee agreed.

“Then that’s the one we should get,” said Jessie. The five children headed for the cash register. They had just paid for the ball and were about to leave the store when Soo Lee said, “Isn’t that our coach? Isn’t that Gillian over there?”

“It’s Gillian and Stan,” said Violet.

Gillian was standing⁴ next to a display of soccer cleats. Facing her, Stan had a matching sweatshirt and pants with the price tags dangling⁵ off of them.

As they watched, Stan shook his head and raised one eyebrow⁶.

Gillian put her hand on her hip⁷ and scowled⁸.

“I don’t think they are shopping together,” said Violet softly. “It looks as if they are having a fight.”

Stan shook his head again. Gillian raised her voice and suddenly they could hear her. “That’s not why I’m complaining and you know it, Stan. I like the Panthers. They are a good team. But you kept almost all the best players for yourself. You’ve made it nearly impossible for anyone else in the league to have a chance of winning.”

“You’re the one who wanted to let players of every skill level play together,” said Stan, raising his own voice.

“I have a good chance at that job as assistant coach with Coach Della at the university, as good a chance as you,” said Gillian angrily. “Or I had a good chance, until you did this.”

Stan smiled. It wasn’t a nice smile. He said, “If you’re such a good coach, Gillian, you’ll be able to make the Panthers into winners, won’t you?”

“You won’t get away with this, Stan,” Gillian said angrily. “I promise you, I’m going to find a way to stop you.” She turned and stormed down the aisle⁹.

Stan stood and watched her leave, both eyebrows¹⁰ raised, the unpleasant smile still on his face. “May the best coach win,” he said finally, and laughed nastily before turning and leaving the store.

“I thought Gillian liked being our coach!” cried Benny.

“She does, Benny. But she’s right. Stan did keep most of the best players for himself. There’s not a single beginner on his team,” said Henry.

“She really wants that coaching job at the university,” observed Soo Lee. “It sounds as if she would do almost anything to get it.”

“Anything?” asked Jessie quickly.

“Possibly,” said Henry. “Maybe even sabotage¹¹ her own team to cover up that she is sabotaging¹² other teams.”

“The only other team that has had bad luck is Craig’s,” said Violet. “And I don’t think Gillian is behind any of the things that have happened.”

“I don’t, either. And anyway Stan’s team is the one she’s mad about. Why hasn’t anything happened to Stan’s team?” said Benny.

“That’s a good question, Benny. I don’t know,” answered Jessie. The Aldens went outside and got on their bikes and pedaled slowly home. After getting a cool drink of lemonade from Mrs. McGregor, they went into the front yard to practice soccer. They practiced all the rest of the afternoon. Whenever they rested, they talked about the mystery.

By the end of the afternoon, they were all better soccer players. But they were no closer to solving the soccer mystery.
 

1 pounced   

v.突然袭击( pounce的过去式和过去分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击）

参考例句：

• As soon as I opened my mouth, the teacher pounced on me. 我一张嘴就被老师抓住呵斥了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The police pounced upon the thief. 警察向小偷扑了过去。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 hiss   

v.发出嘶嘶声；发嘘声表示不满

参考例句：

• We can hear the hiss of air escaping from a tire.我们能听到一只轮胎的嘶嘶漏气声。
• Don't hiss at the speaker.不要嘘演讲人。

3 hissed   

发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对

参考例句：

• Have you ever been hissed at in the middle of a speech? 你在演讲中有没有被嘘过？
• The iron hissed as it pressed the wet cloth. 熨斗压在湿布上时发出了嘶嘶声。

4 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。

5 dangling   

悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口

参考例句：

• The tooth hung dangling by the bedpost, now. 结果，那颗牙就晃来晃去吊在床柱上了。
• The children sat on the high wall,their legs dangling. 孩子们坐在一堵高墙上，摇晃着他们的双腿。

6 eyebrow   

n.眉毛，眉

参考例句：

• Her eyebrow is well penciled.她的眉毛画得很好。
• With an eyebrow raised,he seemed divided between surprise and amusement.他一只眉毛扬了扬，似乎既感到吃惊，又觉有趣。

7 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

8 scowled   

怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He scowled his displeasure. 他满脸嗔色。
• The teacher scowled at his noisy class. 老师对他那喧闹的课堂板着脸。

9 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

10 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

11 sabotage   

n.怠工，破坏活动，破坏；v.从事破坏活动，妨害，破坏

参考例句：

• They tried to sabotage my birthday party.他们企图破坏我的生日晚会。
• The fire at the factory was caused by sabotage.那家工厂的火灾是有人蓄意破坏引起的。

12 sabotaging   

阴谋破坏（某事物）( sabotage的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Mr Smith fiercely denied any question of sabotaging the talks. 史密斯先生坚决拒绝任何企图阻挠谈话的提问。
• Failed in sabotaging APEC summit in Sydney of Australia. 澳大利亚悉尼APEC会议遭遇惨败。