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儿童英语读物 The Finders Keepers Mystery CHAPTER 4 Burglars and Bargains

时间:2017-11-13 07:22来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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The Aldens were on their way to the library the next morning when a green van pulled up next to them. It was Lina, and she didn’t have her usual smile on her face.

“Good morning!” Henry called. Then he noticed the worried look on Lina’s face. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Someone tried to break into my house last night,” said Lina.

Violet1 gasped2. “Oh, no!”

“Oh, yes,” said Lina.

“Who was it?” asked Benny.

“Did they steal the quilts?” asked Violet at the same time.

“I don’t know who it was, and no, nothing got stolen,” Lina answered. “The thief never made it inside. Whoever3 it was tried to force open the back door. But the lock is strong and the noise woke me up. I turned on the lights and went down to investigate4, but whoever it was had run off.”

“The lights must have scared him — or her — away,” said Jessie.

“I think you’re right,” said Lina.

“Do you think the burglar5 knew about the hidden treasure?” asked Benny.

“Or the quilts?” said Violet.

“Maybe. Maybe not,” said Lina. “But it is strange that suddenly, on the very day that Mr. Munsey told me how valuable those quilts are, someone tried to break into the house.”

“Yes,” agreed Henry. “Very strange.”

Benny frowned6. “Do you think it could have been Mr. Munsey?”

Lina shook her head. “I just don’t know,” she said. “I reported it to the police, and they’re going to keep an eye on things. I asked the neighbors to keep their eyes peeled, too. Meanwhile, I’m going to get an extra lock for each door, just in case.”

“Good idea,” said Henry.

After Lina had driven away, Jessie said, “Maybe we should talk to Mr. Munsey.”

“Yes! We’ll ask him if he tried to steal the quilts,” said Benny.

“Well, I don’t think we’ll ask him that,” Henry said. “It’s possible whoever tried to break in doesn’t even know about the quilts. But we will try to find out if he told anyone about them.”

Jessie nodded. “If anyone besides us knows about the quilts, Mr. Munsey must have told them.”

Violet’s eyes widened7. “Maybe Mr. Munsey told someone so they could steal the quilts for him.”

Benny hopped8 excitedly from one foot to the other. “We’re going to solve a mystery!”

Jessie smiled at her little brother. “First, let’s do our research — that will help Lina, too.”

When the Aldens reached Greenfield library, Jessie and Benny went to find books on quilts while Henry and Violet looked up quilts on the computer.

Soon Jessie and Benny had made a small pile of books on a table in a quiet corner of the library.

“We have lots of books,” said Benny.

“Yes, but most of them are about how to make quilts,” said Jessie. “We need to know about the quilts’ history and how much they’re worth.” She handed Benny some of the books. “Why don’t you look through these?”

“Okay,” said Benny. He opened the first book and looked at the pictures. Benny could read a little, but not much yet.

A few minutes later, Benny said, “I found something! Here’s a picture of a quilt like one of the ones in the attic9.” He pointed10 at the page.

“ ‘Flying Geese, a traditional pattern,’ ”

Jessie read over Benny’s shoulder. “It says the quilt in the picture is over a hundred years old and it’s hanging in a museum in New York. It says the quilt is valuable because of its age and condition, the skill of its maker11, and the fact that it’s signed and dated.”

Benny nodded as if he already knew all that. “That’s what makes Hope’s quilts worth a lot, too,” he said.

They found several more photographs of quilts much like the ones in the attic. Then they joined Violet and Henry, who were printing pages and pages of quilt facts they’d found on the computer.

“Mr. Munsey was telling the truth,” Violet announced, “at least about how valuable the quilts are. People buy and sell old quilts for lots of money — and most aren’t nearly as pretty as the ones we found.”

“Who buys them?” Benny asked.

“Museums and private collectors,” said Henry. “We read about auctions12 where people paid thousands of dollars for quilts.”

“That’s lots of money,” said Benny, his eyes growing round.

“Yes,” agreed Jessie. “If Lina wanted to sell the quilts, she could be rich.”

“And look what else we found,” said Violet. “This is called a Wedding Ring quilt. See? The pattern is of all these connected circles that look like rings.”

“I wonder if that’s the kind of quilt Lina’s Great-great-aunt Hope made for her own wedding,” said Jessie.

“And I wonder what happened to it,” Henry said.

“Maybe she gave it away because it was too sad for her when she looked at it,” Violet said.

“Maybe,” said Jessie. “Or maybe her wedding quilt is the treasure that people say she hid.”

Henry jumped up and began to gather books and papers13. “Let’s check out a few of these books,” he said. “Then let’s go home and — ”

“Have a snack?” asked Benny.

Henry smiled. “A snack,” he agreed. “And we’ll call Mr. Munsey, too.”

As they headed home, Benny said, “Someone should make a snack quilt.”

“Or cake,” said Violet.

“But real snacks are better,” said Benny. Working at the library had made him hungry.

While the others prepared the snack, Henry called Mr. Munsey.

He hung up the phone, looking discouraged14. “He’s not there,” he reported. “I told his assistant that we met him at Lina’s house and said I had some questions about quilts. The assistant said she’d tell Mr. Munsey we called, but I don’t think she knew who Lina was — I had to repeat her name three times.”

“It doesn’t sound as if Mr. Munsey told anyone about the quilts we found,” said Violet.

“At least not his assistant,” said Jessie.

The children ate their snack and headed to Lina’s house to show her what they had discovered at the library. They had just rounded the corner onto Lina’s block when Henry stopped short.

“What’s wrong?” Violet asked.

Henry stepped behind a bush15 and motioned16 for his brother and sisters to follow. “Look,” he said in a hushed voice.

The others turned and saw a small, beat-up old car parked directly17 across the street from Lina’s house.

“Who’s that inside?” asked Benny.

“I don’t know,” said Henry. “But whoever it is, he’s wearing dark glasses — and he seems to be watching the house.”


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 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。
2 gasped e6af294d8a7477229d6749fa9e8f5b80     
v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要
参考例句:
  • She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
  • People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
3 whoever 9gQwK     
pron.无论谁,不管谁;任何人
参考例句:
  • I'll find the person who did this,whoever he is.我要找出干这件事的人,不管他是谁。
  • Whoever does best will get the prize.谁做得最出色谁就得奖。
4 investigate mRlzq     
vt.调查,调查研究;vi.调查,调查研究
参考例句:
  • Police investigate the cause of car accident.警察调查车祸的原因。
  • The government of the United States began at once to investigate the case.美国政府立即开始调查此案。
5 burglar rssz2     
n.窃贼,破门盗窃者
参考例句:
  • The policeman took the burglar by surprise as he opened the window.当夜盗开窗时,警察冷不防地捉住了他。
  • The man glanced the burglar climbing out of the window.那人瞥见小偷从窗户爬出来。
6 frowned fdfd04918425477a66e031069e013e79     
皱眉( frown的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She frowned in puzzlement. 她迷惑地蹙着眉。
  • The mother frowned when her son failed in his exam. 儿子考试不及格时,母亲皱着眉。
7 widened b2d6902f43cf911469f3f14f235ddb8f     
放宽,加宽, (使)变宽( widen的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Her eyes widened in surprise. 她惊讶地睁大了眼睛。
  • The geographical scope of product markets has widened since the war. 战后产品市场的地理范围扩大了。
8 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。
9 attic Hv4zZ     
n.顶楼,屋顶室
参考例句:
  • Leakiness in the roof caused a damp attic.屋漏使顶楼潮湿。
  • What's to be done with all this stuff in the attic?顶楼上的材料怎么处理?
10 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
11 maker DALxN     
n.制造者,制造商
参考例句:
  • He is a trouble maker,You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼,你不要跟他在一起。
  • A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。
12 auctions 1c44b3008dd1a89803d9b2f2bd58e57a     
n.拍卖,拍卖方式( auction的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • They picked up most of the furniture at auctions in country towns. 他们大部分的家具都是在乡村镇上的拍卖处买的。 来自辞典例句
  • Our dealers didn't want these cars, so we had to dump them at auctions. 我们的承销商都不要这些车子,因此我们只好贱价拍卖。 来自辞典例句
13 papers qmQzJz     
n.文件,纸币,论文
参考例句:
  • I want to check with my secretary before I sign the papers.在签署这些文件前,我要与我的秘书商议。
  • The lawyer read all the papers relating to the case.律师阅读了与该案有关的全部文件。
14 discouraged xu8z84     
a.泄气的,沮丧的
参考例句:
  • She tactfully discouraged their uninvited guests from staying longer. 她巧妙地使这些不请自到的客人知趣儿,没有再呆下去。
  • Husbands are discouraged from voting as proxy for their wives. 不主张丈夫代妻子投票。
15 bush MSWyJ     
n.灌木,灌木丛,矮树
参考例句:
  • This bush has grown up a lot in the last few months.这矮树丛几个月来已向上长高了很多。
  • A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.一鸟在手,胜于二鸟在林。
16 motioned fc6cd66a5526f19cd714c2bcd23563a0     
vt.打手势(motion的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • When the doorman motioned them away, they took no notice. 当门卫示意让他们离开时,他们没注意。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He motioned me to a seat. 他示意我坐下。 来自《简明英汉词典》
17 directly DPIzn     
adv.直接地,径直地;马上,立即
参考例句:
  • I will telephone you directly I hear the news.我一听到消息,马上打电话给你。
  • She answered me very directly and openly.她非常坦率地、开门见山地答复了我。
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