英语 英语 日语 日语 韩语 韩语 法语 法语 德语 德语 西班牙语 西班牙语 意大利语 意大利语 阿拉伯语 阿拉伯语 葡萄牙语 葡萄牙语 越南语 越南语 俄语 俄语 芬兰语 芬兰语 泰语 泰语 泰语 丹麦语 泰语 对外汉语

儿童英语读物 The Great Bicycle Race Mystery CHAPTER 4 Ready, Set, GO!

时间:2017-09-27 06:14来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
特别声明:本栏目内容均从网络收集或者网友提供,供仅参考试用,我们无法保证内容完整和正确。如果资料损害了您的权益,请与站长联系,我们将及时删除并致以歉意。
    (单词翻译:双击或拖选)

“We’ll get it fixed,” declared Jessie. “Louis at the bike shop said that Thelma can fix anything.”

“She might be able to fix it,” said Henry, looking a little more hopeful.

The Aldens walked with Henry and his broken bicycle into Greenfield to the bike shop. But this time, when Louis popped out from the repair room in the back, his eyes widened in surprise. “Your bike!” he said to Henry. “It looks as if a car backed over it.”

“Maybe one did,” Henry answered glumly1. “We’re not sure what happened. Can you fix it?”

“Hey we’re the best bike shop around. We can fix anything,” Louis said. He turned and called, “Thelma!”

“Coming, coming, coming,” said Thelma. She walked out and stopped short. She looked at the wrecked2 bike, then at Henry. “I hope you were wearing your helmet when you were in the bike accident,” she said in a stern voice.

“We always wear our helmets,” Henry said. “But I’m afraid my bike had the accident without me.” He told the bike shop owners the story. “So can you fix it for me before the race?” Henry concluded.

Thelma said, “Fix it, yes. Before the race, no.

“No?” repeated Henry. His shoulders slumped3.

Thelma and Louis exchanged glances. Then Louis spoke4 up. “I tell you what,” he said. “We’ll lend you a bike for the race.”

Henry’s face brightened. “You will?”

“We will,” said Louis. “We rent bikes, you know, and we have several good, solid bikes that should do fine during the race. We’ll find one just right for you.”

As he spoke, Louis rolled a bike out from behind the counter.

“That’s got two seats!” objected Benny.

“It’s a bicycle built for two people,” Louis explained. “It’s called a tandem5. And this is a special tandem, because the backseat and pedals of the bicycle can be adjusted to a smaller size.”

“Smaller like me?” Benny asked.

“Exactly,” said Louis.

“So Henry and I could ride together?” asked Benny.

“That’s the idea,” Louis agreed.

“It’s a good idea,” said Benny. He leaned toward Louis as if he were telling him a secret. “You know, my legs get a little tired on the long bike rides.”

“I thought they might,” Louis said with a smile. “This should solve the problem.”

“Is it expensive to rent?” asked Jessie.

Thelma said, “No. I think you’ll find the price is just right. We’ll put our store’s name on the bicycle. And we’ll give you all T-shirts with our store’s name on them, too. You wear the T-shirts on one of the days of the race, and you can use the bike for free!”

“Really?” said Violet.

“We get free advertising6. You have a bike to ride. What could be better?” Louis said.

“Thank you,” said Henry.

“Hooray!” said Benny. “Come on, Henry. Let’s go get ready for the race!”

Benny and Henry waited while Louis adjusted the back pedals, then they rode the bike home to practice on it. Jessie, Violet, and Soo Lee walked home, carrying the new T-shirts. The front of the shirts had bicycle wheels in all different sizes on them. The backs of the shirts said, THELMA AND LOUIS AT GREENFIELD WHEELS SAY “KEEP ON PEDALING!”

The children went on a short bike ride and then Soo Lee rode her bike home to pack for the race. They planned to get up very early the next morning to make sure they were at the starting line on time. So they finished packing right after dinner and got ready to go to bed early.

But first they went outside to check on their bicycles. Henry rattled7 the lock on the garage door, just to make sure it was fastened.

“I’m not taking any chances,” he said. “Whoever did it might come back and take someone else’s bike.”

“Or our new tandy,” said Benny.

“Tandem,” corrected Jessie.

“I’m going to call the bike Tandy,” said Benny. “That way I can remember.”

“Tandy it is,” said Henry.

Violet sighed. She looked up at the pale stars that were just beginning to come out. “I wonder who took your bike, Henry. And why.”

Henry sighed. “This is one mystery we may never solve.”

“Well, we shouldn’t worry about that now,” said Jessie. “Now we just need to get a good night’s sleep, so we can get to the bike race on time.”

“We got here early,” said Violet the next morning. “And so did everybody else!”

The Alden children, their cousin Soo Lee, and their grandfather stared around at the crowd of bicyclists and spectators. The bikes and the riders came in all shapes and sizes. Bike helmets of every color bobbed up and down in the crowd.

Reaching into her pocket, Jessie patted the envelope. “I think I’d better go turn our money in,” she said.

“We’ll come, too,” said Violet, glancing at Soo Lee. Soo Lee nodded.

Grandfather took Benny’s hand. “We’ll go and get us all signed in,” he said.

“I’ll stay under this oak tree with our bicycles,” Henry said. “We can meet back here.”

Henry sat down by the bicycles to wait. He yawned. He leaned back. They had gotten up awfully8 early that morning. His eyelids9 began to close.

“Hey! Wake up, sleepyhead!” Jessie said.

Henry sat up with a jerk. “I wasn’t asleep,” he protested.

“Yes, you were. Anyone could have just ridden off on one of our bicycles,” teased Soo Lee.

But Henry didn’t laugh. He jumped up and inspected the bicycles anxiously. They were all there and they were all fine. He sighed with relief.

“Attention, riders,” came a voice over a loudspeaker. “The ride will begin in fifteen minutes.”

“Uh-oh!” said Jessie, sounding worried. “Where are Grandfather and Benny?”

But just then Grandfather and Benny appeared. Benny was skipping with excitement. “We all get numbers,” he said. “We put the big numbers on our bicycles, and we stick the little numbers on our helmets, one for each of you and one for me,” he explained.

Benny handed the numbers around.

Grandfather gave out maps and explained the rules. “I’ve handed in our sleeping bags and gear,” he said. “You just show your number and they’ll give them back to you at the end of the ride each day. And remember, every rider has to be in camp by half an hour before sunset. If you don’t make it by then, the sweep wagon10 will pick you up.”

“The sweep wagon?” asked Benny.

“It’s a van to pick up riders who can’t finish the ride each day,” explained Grandfather, “either because they are too tired to go on or because their bikes broke down. If you have to ride in the sweep wagon during the ride, you aren’t eligible11 for the raffle12 for the new bike at the end.”

Just then, the man with the microphone began to speak. “Attention. You all have maps. The route will also be marked with signs that look like this.” He held up a sign that looked like the jagged peak of a mountain, in bright lime green. To one side of the sign was a red arrow. “Just follow the arrows and you won’t get lost. We’ll have water stops at the places marked on the map. And of course, you can stop and rest anytime you want. Remember, this isn’t a race to beat everyone else, but a race to save our mountain!”

Cheers broke out.

The man smiled and nodded. Then he directed the riders to begin to line up behind the starting line. “I’ll blow the whistle in about five minutes. When I do, the ride will begin. Keep in mind the rules of safety, and remember: You MUST wear your helmets at all times.”

Eagerly, the riders began to wheel their bikes toward the starting line.

Suddenly a bicyclist near them glanced over and said, “What are you doing here?”

Henry looked up. The voice sounded familiar. It was the bicyclist who’d stopped by the lemonade stand and made fun of Henry’s bike. Henry stared at the boy hard. Was this the person who had stolen his bike and ruined it?

He said, “We’re riding in the bike race, just like you.”

The boy’s eyes dropped to Henry’s bike. “Well, well, well. A tandem. How ... interesting. At least it’s not an old bomb like that red bike of yours.”

Benny scowled13 fiercely at the boy. But before anyone could speak, a girl just ahead of the boy turned. “Don’t be such a poor sport, Al,” she said in a cool voice.

Al’s cheeks reddened.

The girl went on, “You’re no one to talk. Your bike isn’t all that great.”

“Who asked you, Nan?” Al muttered.

He tried to push his bike away from them, but the crowd was too thick.

The girl smiled at Henry and Benny. “I’m Nan Bellini. Al and I are in the same bike club. Sometimes I let him beat me in bike races.”

“I’d beat you all the time if I had a bike like yours,” said Al. “Or like the bike they’re raffling14 for this ride.”

“It’s not the bike, it’s the rider,” Nan retorted.

“Your bike is beautiful,” said Jessie.

“You think so?” Nan looked down at her bike with a little frown. She shrugged15. “It’s okay, I guess,” she said. “It’s not titanium or anything.”

“Almost as pretty as the one Henry had,” insisted Benny. “I’m Benny Alden, and that’s Henry, and my sister Jessie. Oh, and there’s my sister Violet and my cousin Soo Lee and my grandfather. Our dog couldn’t come. He’s waiting for us at home in Greenfield. But he wanted to come.”

Nan laughed. “You can take him to the park, though, after you save it.”

“We will,” said Benny. He liked the idea.

Glancing at Henry, Nan said, “What happened to your bike?”

They told Nan what had happened. When they finished, she shook her head. “That is awful,” she said. “Who would do that to a bike? And to another bike rider! Only the worst kind of person. A true bike creep!”

“Yes! A bike creep!” repeated Benny. He liked the sound of it. “A big, mean, bad-sport bike creep!”

Al muttered something they couldn’t hear and forced his bike through the crowd away from them.

Laughing a little, Nan said, “Speaking of people who might be bike creeps, isn’t that May Whatney over there?”

They all turned to stare across the crowd. Sure enough, standing16 by her car was Ms. Whatney and her chauffeur17, Ronald.

“That’s Ms. Whatney, all right,” said Henry. “And her chauffeur, Ronald.”

“I wonder what she’s doing here,” Jessie said, half to herself.

Ms. Whatney was staring at the riders, her expression more curious than angry. Beside her, Ronald was talking and gesturing. Just then, a man in a thin windbreaker split at one elbow, wearing a backward baseball cap and dark glasses, stopped at Ms. Whatney’s other side. The three of them talked for a few minutes. Then the man drifted away.

“Maybe she’s trying to sabotage18 the race, the same way someone sabotaged19 your bicycle, Henry,” said Violet.

“Could be,” Henry said. “After all, she only wins if we all lose.”

“I gotta go,” said Nan.

The man with the microphone hopped20 up on the chair. “Riders!” he called. “Fasten your helmets.”

The crowd of bicycle riders grew quiet.

“Are you ready?” the man called out.

“Yes!” roared the riders all together. Cheers broke out. Jessie put two fingers to her lips and let out a piercing whistle.

The man raised his air horn. “Go!” he shouted and blew a blast on the horn.

The riders surged forward. Henry let out a whoop21. Benny hunched22 over and began to pedal furiously.

The great bike race had begun.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 glumly glumly     
adv.忧郁地,闷闷不乐地;阴郁地
参考例句:
  • He stared at it glumly, and soon became lost in thought. 他惘然沉入了瞑想。 来自子夜部分
  • The President sat glumly rubbing his upper molar, saying nothing. 总统愁眉苦脸地坐在那里,磨着他的上牙,一句话也没有说。 来自辞典例句
2 wrecked ze0zKI     
adj.失事的,遇难的
参考例句:
  • the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
  • the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞
3 slumped b010f9799fb8ebd413389b9083180d8d     
大幅度下降,暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 ); 沉重或突然地落下[倒下]
参考例句:
  • Sales have slumped this year. 今年销售量锐减。
  • The driver was slumped exhausted over the wheel. 司机伏在方向盘上,疲惫得睡着了。
4 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
5 tandem 6Ibzp     
n.同时发生;配合;adv.一个跟着一个地;纵排地;adj.(两匹马)前后纵列的
参考例句:
  • Malcolm's contract will run in tandem with his existing one.马尔科姆的合同将与他手头的合同同时生效。
  • He is working in tandem with officials of the Serious Fraud Office.他正配合欺诈重案办公室的官员工作。
6 advertising 1zjzi3     
n.广告业;广告活动 a.广告的;广告业务的
参考例句:
  • Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
  • The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。
7 rattled b4606e4247aadf3467575ffedf66305b     
慌乱的,恼火的
参考例句:
  • The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
  • Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里,窗户都格格作响。
8 awfully MPkym     
adv.可怕地,非常地,极端地
参考例句:
  • Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
  • I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。
9 eyelids 86ece0ca18a95664f58bda5de252f4e7     
n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 );眼睛也不眨一下;不露声色;面不改色
参考例句:
  • She was so tired, her eyelids were beginning to droop. 她太疲倦了,眼睑开始往下垂。
  • Her eyelids drooped as if she were on the verge of sleep. 她眼睑低垂好像快要睡着的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
10 wagon XhUwP     
n.四轮马车,手推车,面包车;无盖运货列车
参考例句:
  • We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
  • The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。
11 eligible Cq6xL     
adj.有条件被选中的;(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的
参考例句:
  • He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
  • Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。
12 raffle xAHzs     
n.废物,垃圾,抽奖售卖;v.以抽彩出售
参考例句:
  • The money was raised by the sale of raffle tickets.这笔款子是通过出售购物彩券筹集的。
  • He won a car in the raffle.他在兑奖售物活动中赢得了一辆汽车。
13 scowled b83aa6db95e414d3ef876bc7fd16d80d     
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。
14 raffling 227d57cd5ed0b54bc52371e76acc352b     
v.以抽彩方式售(物)( raffle的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • During each show we will be raffling a fabulous prize. 每场表演期间,我们将以抽彩方法送出大奖。 来自柯林斯例句
15 shrugged 497904474a48f991a3d1961b0476ebce     
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》
16 standing 2hCzgo     
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。
17 chauffeur HrGzL     
n.(受雇于私人或公司的)司机;v.为…开车
参考例句:
  • The chauffeur handed the old lady from the car.这个司机搀扶这个老太太下汽车。
  • She went out herself and spoke to the chauffeur.她亲自走出去跟汽车司机说话。
18 sabotage 3Tmzz     
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。
19 sabotaged 033e2d75029aeb415d2358fe4bf61adb     
阴谋破坏(某事物)( sabotage的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The main pipeline supplying water was sabotaged by rebels. 供水主管道被叛乱分子蓄意破坏了。
  • They had no competition because competitors found their trucks burned and sabotaged. 他们之所以没有竞争对象,那是因为竞争对象老是发现自己的卡车遭火烧或被破坏。 来自教父部分
20 hopped 91b136feb9c3ae690a1c2672986faa1c     
跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 ); 单足蹦跳; 齐足(或双足)跳行; 摘葎草花
参考例句:
  • He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
  • He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车,向市区开去。
21 whoop qIhys     
n.大叫,呐喊,喘息声;v.叫喊,喘息
参考例句:
  • He gave a whoop of joy when he saw his new bicycle.他看到自己的新自行车时,高兴得叫了起来。
  • Everybody is planning to whoop it up this weekend.大家都打算在这个周末好好欢闹一番。
22 hunched 532924f1646c4c5850b7c607069be416     
(常指因寒冷、生病或愁苦)耸肩弓身的,伏首前倾的
参考例句:
  • He sat with his shoulders hunched up. 他耸起双肩坐着。
  • Stephen hunched down to light a cigarette. 斯蒂芬弓着身子点燃一支烟。
本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎点击提交分享给大家。
------分隔线----------------------------
顶一下
(0)
0%
踩一下
(0)
0%
最新评论 查看所有评论
发表评论 查看所有评论
请自觉遵守互联网相关的政策法规,严禁发布色情、暴力、反动的言论。
评价:
表情:
验证码:
听力搜索
推荐频道
论坛新贴