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 Gymnastics Mystery CHAPTER 4 Mystery Man Returns

时间:2017-09-22 02:34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)

The sports arena1 was crowded this morning, Henry noticed as they walked inside with Katya. More athletes and coaches had arrived overnight.

A press center had been set up between two sections of bleachers. Men and women with badges that said PRESS walked among the gymnasts stretching on the blue mats.

Irina, Katya’s coach, came over. “You will do your beam sets first this morning. And, Katya, you must hit your mark on every routine today. The competition is three days away.”

Jessie helped Katya take off her warm-up suit. “Are you worried about Friday?” she asked.

“I will do my best,” Katya said matter-of-factly.

Then she began her exercises, followed by vigorous stretching. The Aldens were allowed to watch by the edge of the mat.

“You’re so flexible,” Henry remarked. “What is that pose you are doing?”

Katya was standing2 on her right leg. With ease, she picked up her left heel in her left hand and drew it up to shoulder-height, her left leg straight.

“It is called a Y scale,” she replied.

Benny decided3 to try it. He brought his foot up, but had to bend his knee. He wobbled like a top.

Violet began to giggle4. "You look like a pretzel!"

“My coach is waving me over,” Katya told the Aldens. “I must go.”

“We’ll be waiting,” Violet said. “Guess we’d better find a seat in the bleachers. They’re almost full today.”

As she turned, she glanced over at the press area. Tables and chairs had been placed behind a plastic chain so only journalists and photographers would use them.

Then Violet saw something that made her stop in her tracks.

Benny nearly ran into his sister. “What is it?” he asked.

“That man over there,” she said, pointing to the press section where a dark-haired man adjusted a camera. “It’s Al Stockton! Our mystery man!”

Jessie and Henry stared, too.

“You’re right!” Jessie declared. “It’s the same man we saw in the airport.”

“And the one who mistakenly took Katya’s bag and came to our house to get his,” Henry added. “What on earth is he doing here?”

As if he felt their attention, the man looked up. When he saw the Alden children, his face turned red.

Today he wasn’t wearing his yellow cap, but a wrinkled suit and a purple shirt. His press badge was clipped to an orange-and-purple tie. He was dressed differently from the way he had been at the airport, but the scowl5 that drew his brows together was the same.

Al Stockton unhooked the plastic chain and rushed over to the Aldens.

“What are you kids doing here?” he demanded.

Henry wondered why the man was always so rude but answered politely. “We’re with our houseguest. You remember, you had her bag. She’s a gymnast.”

“Well, you better stay out of the press box,” Al warned them. A camera was draped around his neck.

Benny looked over at the tables and chairs. “What box? I don’t see any box.”

“That’s what the press area is called,” Al told him. “It’s only for media people. No nosy6 kids allowed.”

Jessie was insulted at being called nosy. Like her older brother, she tried to be polite. “Are you a photographer?”

Al held up his camera. “What do you think? I was sent here to cover the competition for the Register. Now, if you kids don’t mind, I’ve got work to do.”

Then he stalked off across the floor.

Jessie put her hands on her hips7. “The nerve of that man! He was the one who came running over here to talk to us! I bet he’s not even a real photographer.”

“Can you tell, Violet?” asked Benny.

As the family photographer, Violet knew a lot about cameras and picture-taking. She observed Al kneeling to snap shots of boy gymnasts performing on the rings that dangled8 from the ceiling. As much as she disliked the man, he definitely knew how to use his camera.

“He’s a professional, all right,” she concluded.

“Look,” said Benny. “He’s taking pictures of Katya.”

Sure enough, the black-haired man was snapping picture after picture of Katya as she performed her complicated routine on the balance beam. He got so close that Katya missed an aerial somersault and fell to the mat.

Although the Aldens couldn’t hear from the bleachers, they could see Katya’s coach, Irina, shouting at Al and drawing an invisible line on the mat. Al stepped back, scowling9 even more.

When another of Katya’s teammates took her place on the beam, Katya came over for a quick break.

“That awful man is taking pictures of me!” she exclaimed, taking the water bottle Violet handed her.

“I know,” said Jessie. “We couldn’t believe it when we saw him. Of all the people to be here!”

“He’s covering the competition for a newspaper,” Henry said. “I hope he isn’t making you nervous.”

“Normally, people do not make me nervous,” said Katya. “But I think he is concentrating too much on me.”

Violet pulled Katya’s towel from her sports bag. “It probably seems that way. Photographers have to take a lot of pictures. Sometimes their pictures don’t turn out, so they snap roll after roll.”

Benny was watching the balance beam area. “He’s not there now. So he must be taking pictures someplace else. Katya, that fence rail you walk on looks awfully10 small.”

Katya laughed. “Benny you can always make me laugh! It’s a balance beam, not a fence rail. It is always four feet from the floor, sixteen feet long, and four inches wide. Our routines must have grace, poise11, and courage to be scored highly.”

Henry whistled. “It takes a lot of courage to do that somersault in the air like you did.”

“Yes,” agreed Katya. “Although I am used to it now. The difficult part about that move is that I do not know where the beam is when I am upside down. My feet could miss.”

“Four inches! Something that little is easy to miss,” Violet said. “Katya, your coach is waving.”

“I must go.” Katya gave them all a smile. “Thank you for staying with me during practice.”

This time Katya trotted12 over to the uneven13 parallel bars. She rubbed her hands with chalk, grabbed the lowest bar, and swung herself up.

Just then Al Stockton appeared and began taking pictures of Katya as she worked through her routine.

“There he is again!” Jessie cried. “Katya’s right. He seems to be taking more pictures of her than anyone else.”

“But why?” Violet wondered aloud. “He’s supposed to take pictures of all the gymnasts, not just one.”

“At least Katya is doing okay,” Henry put in. “She’s not looking at him.”

“I wouldn’t look at him, either,” a strange voice said behind them.

The Aldens turned to see a young man. He had light-colored hair and wore jeans and a dark blue sweater over a white shirt. Behind wire-framed glasses, his eyes were dark blue.

“Who are you?” Benny asked.

“Lucas Tripp,” said the young man. “I’m a reporter from the Greenfield Times. I’m covering the competition. And who might you be?”

Benny was confused by the question. “I might be anybody. But I’m really Benny Alden.”

Lucas threw his head back and laughed. “Great comeback, Benny Alden!”

Jessie held out a hand. “Our brother is never at a loss for words. I’m Jessie Alden. This is Violet and Henry.”

“Nice to meet you,” said the reporter.

“What did you say about the man who keeps taking pictures of our friend?” Henry wanted to know.

“I was just making a joke,” Lucas replied. “That dark-haired fellow doesn’t get along with the rest of us in the press box.”

“He took Katya’s bag at the airport,” Benny blurted14. “Then Katya took his by mistake. And then he came to our house and wasn’t very nice to Katya. He acted like she had looked in his suitcase. But she hadn’t.”

Lucas nodded thoughtfully. “That sounds like Mr. Al Stockton. He growls15 like a bear if anybody comes near his camera.”

Benny giggled16, then growled17 himself.

“Tell me about your friend,” Lucas said smoothly18. “I might use her as the focal point of my story.”

“What do you mean?” asked Jessie. She liked Lucas but was a bit suspicious of him. Everyone seemed interested in Katya. Maybe a little too interested.

“It’s a reporting technique,” Lucas replied. “When I cover a big event, such as this competition, it helps the reader understand if I concentrate on one athlete. Tell the story from his or her point of view.”

Henry looked at Jessie. He was wary19 of Lucas Tripp himself. “Here comes Katya now,” he said. “We’ll introduce you. You can ask her yourself if she wants to give an interview.”

Katya was tired from her bar routine. “I had to do it six times before I got it right,” she said. Then she saw Lucas and smiled shyly.

“This is Lucas Tripp,” said Violet. “He’s a reporter for the Greenfield Times. He wants to ask you questions.”

Instantly Katya stiffened20. “What questions?”

Lucas brought out his notebook and pen. “Just about your life in Russia.... Is that where you’re from? Your home, things like that.”

Katya’s eyes grew wary. “There is nothing to tell.”

“Well, of course there is!” Lucas said cheerfully. “Everyone has a family. What is yours like?”

Flicking21 a glance at the Aldens, Katya dropped her voice to a mumble22. “You should talk to someone more interesting than me. I do not have a very exciting life.”

“Our readers will think anything you say is interesting,” Lucas urged. “Now, tell me about your family and where you live.”

Katya’s voice became a monotone, as if she were reading from the phone book. “I live in a small town near St. Petersburg. I have a mother, a father, a brother, a sister and grandparents. I train at the gym every day. I go to school. Then I train some more.”

Lucas wrote quickly. “Very good. What else?”

“That is all I have to say, Mr. Tripp. I must go now.”

The Aldens and Lucas stared as Katya ran to the bleachers to pull on her warm-up suit.

“We have to go, too,” Henry said. “Excuse us.”

As they walked toward the bleachers, Violet said, “Katya didn’t want to talk again!”

“Why is she afraid to tell people about her life?” Violet wanted to know. “It’s almost like Katya isn’t who she says she is.”

“You’ve hit the nail on the head, Violet!” Jessie exclaimed. “Katya might be somebody else!”


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 arena Yv4zd     
n.竞技场,运动场所;竞争场所,舞台
参考例句:
  • She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
  • He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。
2 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。
3 decided lvqzZd     
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。
4 giggle 4eNzz     
n.痴笑,咯咯地笑;v.咯咯地笑着说
参考例句:
  • Both girls began to giggle.两个女孩都咯咯地笑了起来。
  • All that giggle and whisper is too much for me.我受不了那些咯咯的笑声和交头接耳的样子。
5 scowl HDNyX     
vi.(at)生气地皱眉,沉下脸,怒视;n.怒容
参考例句:
  • I wonder why he is wearing an angry scowl.我不知道他为何面带怒容。
  • The boss manifested his disgust with a scowl.老板面带怒色,清楚表示出他的厌恶之感。
6 nosy wR0zK     
adj.鼻子大的,好管闲事的,爱追问的;n.大鼻者
参考例句:
  • Our nosy neighbours are always looking in through our windows.好管闲事的邻居总是从我们的窗口望进来。
  • My landlord is so nosy.He comes by twice a month to inspect my apartment.我的房东很烦人,他每个月都要到我公寓视察两次。
7 hips f8c80f9a170ee6ab52ed1e87054f32d4     
abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯,耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 );[建筑学]屋脊;臀围(尺寸);臀部…的
参考例句:
  • She stood with her hands on her hips. 她双手叉腰站着。
  • They wiggled their hips to the sound of pop music. 他们随着流行音乐的声音摇晃着臀部。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 dangled 52e4f94459442522b9888158698b7623     
悬吊着( dangle的过去式和过去分词 ); 摆动不定; 用某事物诱惑…; 吊胃口
参考例句:
  • Gold charms dangled from her bracelet. 她的手镯上挂着许多金饰物。
  • It's the biggest financial incentive ever dangled before British footballers. 这是历来对英国足球运动员的最大经济诱惑。
9 scowling bbce79e9f38ff2b7862d040d9e2c1dc7     
怒视,生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • There she was, grey-suited, sweet-faced, demure, but scowling. 她就在那里,穿着灰色的衣服,漂亮的脸上显得严肃而忧郁。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
  • Scowling, Chueh-hui bit his lips. 他马上把眉毛竖起来。 来自汉英文学 - 家(1-26) - 家(1-26)
10 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。
11 poise ySTz9     
vt./vi. 平衡,保持平衡;n.泰然自若,自信
参考例句:
  • She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise.她犹豫片刻,但很快恢复了镇静。
  • Ballet classes are important for poise and grace.芭蕾课对培养优雅的姿仪非常重要。
12 trotted 6df8e0ef20c10ef975433b4a0456e6e1     
小跑,急走( trot的过去分词 ); 匆匆忙忙地走
参考例句:
  • She trotted her pony around the field. 她骑着小马绕场慢跑。
  • Anne trotted obediently beside her mother. 安妮听话地跟在妈妈身边走。
13 uneven akwwb     
adj.不平坦的,不规则的,不均匀的
参考例句:
  • The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
  • The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。
14 blurted fa8352b3313c0b88e537aab1fcd30988     
v.突然说出,脱口而出( blurt的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She blurted it out before I could stop her. 我还没来得及制止,她已脱口而出。
  • He blurted out the truth, that he committed the crime. 他不慎说出了真相,说是他犯了那个罪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
15 growls 6ffc5e073aa0722568674220be53a9ea     
v.(动物)发狺狺声, (雷)作隆隆声( growl的第三人称单数 );低声咆哮着说
参考例句:
  • The dog growls at me. 狗向我狂吠。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • The loudest growls have echoed around emerging markets and commodities. 熊嚎之声响彻新兴的市场与商品。 来自互联网
16 giggled 72ecd6e6dbf913b285d28ec3ba1edb12     
v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The girls giggled at the joke. 女孩子们让这笑话逗得咯咯笑。
  • The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
17 growled 65a0c9cac661e85023a63631d6dab8a3     
v.(动物)发狺狺声, (雷)作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 );低声咆哮着说
参考例句:
  • \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道:“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》
18 smoothly iiUzLG     
adv.平滑地,顺利地,流利地,流畅地
参考例句:
  • The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作,所以工作进展顺利。
  • Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。
19 wary JMEzk     
adj.谨慎的,机警的,小心的
参考例句:
  • He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
  • Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头,突然警惕起来。
20 stiffened de9de455736b69d3f33bb134bba74f63     
加强的
参考例句:
  • He leaned towards her and she stiffened at this invasion of her personal space. 他向她俯过身去,这种侵犯她个人空间的举动让她绷紧了身子。
  • She stiffened with fear. 她吓呆了。
21 flicking 856751237583a36a24c558b09c2a932a     
(尤指用手指或手快速地)轻击( flick的现在分词 ); (用…)轻挥; (快速地)按开关; 向…笑了一下(或瞥了一眼等)
参考例句:
  • He helped her up before flicking the reins. 他帮她上马,之后挥动了缰绳。
  • There's something flicking around my toes. 有什么东西老在叮我的脚指头。
22 mumble KwYyP     
n./v.喃喃而语,咕哝
参考例句:
  • Her grandmother mumbled in her sleep.她祖母含混不清地说着梦话。
  • He could hear the low mumble of Navarro's voice.他能听到纳瓦罗在小声咕哝。
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