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 Mountain Top Mystery CHAPTER 7 A Stranger

时间:2017-06-14 06:15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)

Henry and Jessie did not say any more about the Indian boy, but they did not forget him. Once in awhile they both wondered where he came from and why he was there. They also wondered why he did not want to be seen.

There was plenty to think about while they were still climbing. In some places the path was almost blocked by the fallen rocks. They had to climb over them or walk around them.

Benny called back, “It’s lucky nobody was on this trail when these rocks came down!”

Grandfather said, “I was just going to say we should be ready to dodge1 if any more come down.”

“I think somebody is behind us,” said Henry. “We’d better be careful not to send any more down on top of him.”

“I hope somebody is behind us,” said Mr. Alden with a laugh. “Otherwise we’ll have no lunch. John Carter is supposed to bring up enough lunch for us and the workmen2 and Dr. Osgood.”

“Well, he’ll have a heavy load,” said Benny. “That will be lunch for nine people!”

“Don’t worry about John Carter,” said Grandfather. “He’ll manage.”

When they were quite near the top, they heard noises. It sounded like chopping3 and pounding, and that was exactly what it was. The two workmen were soon seen chopping down bushes and small trees to the left of the path. There were no trees or bushes near the top; there it was all rock.

The workmen had cleared a spot that looked like a good place to sit and watch what was going on.

There was some lumber4, a strong ladder, and a long, flat plank5. The plank had been placed near the opening to the cave and was held down with rocks.

Dr. Osgood was standing6 on the plank and bending over to look into the dark hole.

Benny said, “I guess Dr. Osgood couldn’t wait.”

The explorer held a bright light in his hand. His glasses were pulled down and he was too busy to notice the Aldens.

Grandfather sat down on the dry grass. He said, “I think Dr. Osgood wants to see first what kind of a hole it is. Just see whether it will be worth exploring or not.”

“Oh, dear!” cried Benny. “I hope it turns out to be worth exploring. Wouldn’t it be awful if we had to give up and go home?”

“I don’t think we will,” said Henry. “Look at him now.”

Dr. Osgood had both arms and his head in the hole. The Aldens could see only a pair of legs.

Just then Dr. Osgood looked up from the hole and turned half around. He called to the workmen, but the Aldens could not hear what he said. However, the workmen did and called back, “Very good, sir!” They were used to working with Dr. Osgood.

Then Dr. Osgood started to climb down to talk to Grandfather. He sat down beside him and pushed up his glasses again.

“Well, Percy, what’s the good word?” asked Grandfather.

“A very good word,” said Dr. Osgood, nodding. He wiped his face with a big red handkerchief. “Now, you know I never saw Old Flat Top before it was flattened7.” He smiled at the young people. “But I have good reason to think the first cave was on the back of the mountain. Then something happened like a small earthquake. The back was pushed down and closed up that hole. But this front end of the cave was not squashed8. So it is just the same as it has been for many years.”

Benny said, “Then this front hole is really the back of the cave.”

“Right,” said Dr. Osgood. “You’ll be a cave-digger some day.”

“Are you going to blast9?” asked Benny.

“No, I don’t think so. We can drill as far as we need to. The other end is completely closed, they say. However, we’ll wait and see. Hello, here comes my help.”

“Oh, I thought it was my help,” said Grandfather, “with some lunch.”

“It’s both,” said Henry, who could see the trail. He looked down. Two more workmen were dragging a heavy load of lumber. John Carter was behind, a large knapsack on his back.

Henry said, “Dr. Osgood, what did you see when you put the light in the cave?”

“Well, I could see about ten feet with the light,” said Dr. Osgood. “The hole grows larger. I should say if we crawled10 in about fifteen feet we could stand up. It surely has not been touched by human hands for about two hundred years. Maybe a bit less; maybe a bit more. However, I saw no treasures. You must be willing to explore and find nothing. That’s why this job takes patience. Lots of my work goes for nothing. Wasted.”

“I wouldn’t like that,” said Benny.

“No, I can see that you wouldn’t,” said Dr. Osgood.

He got up quickly from the ground and climbed up to the workmen. He began to put blue chalk marks on many of the rocks.

When he had gone, Grandfather said quietly, “Did any of you notice an Indian boy in the crowd?”

“Yes!” they all cried.

Henry said, “We thought Lovan told us that she was the last Indian around here. That surprised us.”

“Maybe she doesn’t know about this boy,” said Mr. Alden.

John Carter sat down with the family. He said, “I did try to talk with the boy. But I had to order the lunch. I couldn’t take enough time. But I will.”

“Good!” said Mr. Alden. “Maybe he doesn’t live here anyway. Maybe he heard of this work on Flat Top.”

“He heard fast, then,” said Benny.

“Well, news travels fast,” said Grandfather thoughtfully11.

“I hope he won’t bother Lovan,” said Violet12.

“Well, after we get down we’ll see that he doesn’t,” said Mr. Alden. “Right now, we are trying to find Lovan’s treasure.”

“Wouldn’t it be awful if somebody stole it last night?” exclaimed13 Benny.

“Well, it is possible,” said John Carter. “They had all night, if they were good climbers and worked quietly.”


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 dodge q83yo     
v.闪开,躲开,避开;n.妙计,诡计
参考例句:
  • A dodge behind a tree kept her from being run over.她向树后一闪,才没被车从身上辗过。
  • The dodge was coopered by the police.诡计被警察粉碎了。
2 workmen cbc185b6c10cf82f8c2de0fa216e3d26     
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
3 chopping 3f690725ca5ed65ea6413a681243fcc1     
adj.波浪汹涌的,硕大强健的;削球;斩波;断续
参考例句:
  • He was preparing fodder, chopping finely and mixing thoroughly. 他在准备饲料,把它切碎,拌好。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • This fellow is always chopping and changing; he's very unreliable. 这个人反复无常,很不可靠。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
4 lumber a8Jz6     
n.木材,木料;v.以破旧东西堆满;伐木;笨重移动
参考例句:
  • The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。
  • They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。
5 plank p2CzA     
n.板条,木板,政策要点,政纲条目
参考例句:
  • The plank was set against the wall.木板靠着墙壁。
  • They intend to win the next election on the plank of developing trade.他们想以发展贸易的纲领来赢得下次选举。
6 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。
7 flattened 1d5d9fedd9ab44a19d9f30a0b81f79a8     
[医](水)平扁的,弄平的
参考例句:
  • She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇紧贴着窗户。
  • I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身体紧靠着墙让他们通过。
8 squashed 4fb4624aa9dd2928fbb889216563316e     
压碎的,压扁的
参考例句:
  • The tomatoes at the bottom of the bag had been squashed. 袋底的西红柿给压烂了。
  • I squashed a few more clothes into my case. 我往箱里多塞了几件衣服。
9 blast tR6yh     
v.炸毁,摧毁;n.爆炸,爆破,一阵,汽笛声
参考例句:
  • A huge bomb blast rocked central London last night.昨晚一次剧烈的炸弹爆炸震动了伦敦市中心。
  • Not until last week was the project in full blast.工程直到上星期才全部开工。
10 crawled a78e9c621de0ba13445c28d21d24a6d3     
v.爬( crawl的过去式和过去分词 );(昆虫)爬行;缓慢行进;巴结
参考例句:
  • They crawled along on their bellies. 他们匍匐前进。
  • She crawled onto the river bank and lay there gulping in air. 她爬上河岸,躺在那里喘着粗气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
11 thoughtfully aoiwf     
ad.考虑周到地
参考例句:
  • She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. 她若有所思地抚摩着下巴。
  • The man pulled thoughtfully at his pipe before commenting on our proposal. 那人若有所思地吸了口烟,然后就我们的建议发表自己的见解。
12 violet 8h3wm     
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。
13 exclaimed 68e477dcdab3965d2189fb7276ee5041     
vt.exclaim的过去式v.呼喊,惊叫,大声说( exclaim的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • "We have a good chance of winning," he exclaimed optimistically. “我们很可能获胜。”他乐观地喊道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She exclaimed in delight when she saw the presents. 她见到礼品高兴得叫了起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
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