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儿童英语读物 The Mystery of the Spider's Clue CHAPTER 4 Wild-Goose Chase?

时间:2017-10-18 06:40来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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    (单词翻译:双击或拖选)

“Uh-oh!” said Benny. He paused as they entered the library. “We didn’t bring our library cards.”

“That’s okay, Benny” Henry told him. “We can look through some books right here. We don’t need a card for that.”

The lady behind the information desk looked up. When she recognized the Aldens, she smiled and waved. The children were regular visitors to the library.

Jessie led the way to a long table in the middle of the room with a row of computers on it. “Let’s browse1 through the computer catalog,” she said quietly. “We can do a subject search for any books with nursery rhymes in them.”

“Sounds good,” said Henry.

It wasn’t long before Jessie had found eight titles. In no time at all, they were able to locate the books in the children’s section.

As they claimed an empty table by the window, Jessie reminded everyone, “We’re looking for a nursery rhyme about a sheep and a cow and a—”

“Haystack,” finished Benny, taking a seat next to Violet.

“Right,” said Jessie, and she sat down beside Henry.

Benny opened a book. Then a frown crossed his round face.

Violet pulled her chair closer to her younger brother. “Why don’t we work together,” she suggested. She knew Benny would have trouble with the harder words.

Benny looked relieved. “Two heads are better than one,” he whispered. “Right?”

Violet smiled. “That’s just what I was thinking.”

They hadn’t been there very long before Jessie spotted2 a silver-haired man across the room. He was wearing faded jeans and a black T-shirt. Although his back was to them, he looked familiar.

Just then the man turned around. He stared right at Jessie, then he turned on his heel and hurried away. At that moment Jessie realized where she’d seen him before—he was the man who’d ducked behind the trees the other day!

Jessie tried to collect her thoughts. Why had the mystery man disappeared so quickly again? Had he followed them to the library?

The other Aldens still had their heads bent3 over their books, so Jessie decided4 not to say anything. She didn’t want to frighten the younger children. After taking a long and careful look around, she breathed a sigh of relief. The man was nowhere to be seen.

Although she kept glancing over her shoulder, Jessie returned her attention to the nursery rhymes. A short time later, Violet and Benny found a rhyme with a cow in it. But the cow was jumping over the moon. And there wasn’t any mention of sheep or haystacks. Then Henry showed them one about Little Bo Peep losing her sheep, but that wasn’t right, either.

“Maybe I was wrong,” Jessie whispered. “Maybe those lines weren’t from a nursery rhyme.”

Henry suddenly looked up. “You weren’t wrong,” he said. “Listen to this.” He began to read quietly from the book.

    Little Boy Blue,

    Come blow your horn.

    The sheep’s in the meadow5,

    The cow’s in the corn;

    But where is the boy

    Who looks after the sheep?

    He’s under a haystack,

    Fast asleep.

“Hooray!” Benny cried, almost shouting. Then he clamped6 a hand over his mouth.

He had forgotten where he was for a moment.

“You were right after all, Jessie,” Violet whispered, looking at her sister with admiration7.

Jessie agreed that they’d found another piece of the puzzle. But where did it fit into the mystery?

Henry didn’t know, either. “But I have a feeling,” he said, “that if we can figure out what this Little Boy Blue clue is trying to tell us, then we’ll know where to find the hollow tree.”

Jessie thought about this for a minute. Then she nodded. “I think you’re right, Henry.”

Outside, Benny said, “I can’t wait to tell Sam about this!”

“Let’s tell him right now,” suggested Violet, and the others nodded.

As they rode their bikes back through town, Henry noticed that Jessie was unusually quiet. He could see something was troubling her. “Is anything wrong?” he asked.

Jessie slowed her bike to a stop at a red light. When she was sure the younger children were out of earshot, she told him about seeing the mystery man again.

“Are you sure it was the same man?” he asked.

“I can’t be certain,” admitted Jessie. “But I think so.”

“You might be right, Jessie,” Henry said thoughtfully. “But even if it was the same man, it could just be a coincidence that he happened to be at the library, too.”

Jessie had to agree Henry had a point. “Maybe I am making too much of this. I suppose it could be a coincidence.” But there was a small part of her that didn’t believe it for a minute.

“Watch is a good buddy8 of mine,” Sam said when the Aldens arrived with their dog. “Feel free to bring him along with you anytime.”

At the sound of his name, Watch ran over to the couch9 where Sam was resting. The little dog jumped up and began to lick10 Sam’s face.

Sam laughed as he scratched Watch between the ears. “What’d I tell you?” he said, looking over at the Aldens.

“Watch always likes coming here,” said Henry.

Benny was bouncing up and down in his chair. “Guess what.” He couldn’t wait to tell Sam all about their day. “We figured out two clues already!”

“Did you really?” Sam asked, surprised to hear this.

The children took turns telling Sam all that had happened. Henry finished by saying, “The first few lines really were from a nursery rhyme. The one about Little Boy Blue.”

“What . . .?” Sam looked startled11. For a moment, he just stared off into space as if in a trance.

Henry and Jessie exchanged glances. Why was Sam surprised by the nursery rhyme?

“Is anything wrong, Sam?” Violet asked.

Sam didn’t answer.

“Sam?” Jessie asked.

Suddenly Sam jerked12 his head around. “Oh!” He seemed to have forgotten for a moment that he had company. “I’m sorry. I . . . I was lost in thought.”

“Is everything okay?” Henry wondered.

Sam didn’t answer right away. He had a faraway look in his eye. “Everything’s fine,” he said at last. “I just couldn’t help remembering something. You see, that was my brother’s favorite nursery rhyme. When he was small, I mean. That’s how Simon got the nickname13 Blue.” Sam smoothed his droopy mustache. “We all had colors for nicknames14 back then. Everybody called me Red, and Thomas was Brown. And then of course there was Pinky.” Sam’s voice had dropped so low, the Aldens could hardly hear him.

“Was Pinky your dog?” asked Benny.

“I don’t let the past bother me anymore,” said Sam as if he hadn’t even heard Benny’s question. “No point in crying over spilled milk.”

“Oh,” said Benny, still not sure who Pinky was.

Violet felt awful. It was plain that the past did bother Sam. Their visit was supposed to cheer him up. Instead, Sam’s eyes were suddenly filled with sadness.

The children tried to change the subject. They asked Sam about washing windows instead, and he gave them some tips. By the time the Aldens were ready to leave, he was his usual cheery self again.

“I’ve got a hunch,” he told them, “if you can figure out that Little Boy Blue clue, it’ll lead you right to the hollow tree.”

Jessie nodded. “That’s what we thought, too.”

But outside, Violet said, “It’s a very strange clue. How are we ever going to figure it out?”

The other Aldens looked at one another. Nobody had an answer for that question.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 browse GSWye     
vi.随意翻阅,浏览;(牛、羊等)吃草
参考例句:
  • I had a browse through the books on her shelf.我浏览了一下她书架上的书。
  • It is a good idea to browse through it first.最好先通篇浏览一遍。
2 spotted 7FEyj     
adj.有斑点的,斑纹的,弄污了的
参考例句:
  • The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
  • Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。
3 bent QQ8yD     
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的
参考例句:
  • He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
  • We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
4 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。
5 meadow 3Riz3     
n.草地,牧草地
参考例句:
  • The children ran free across the meadow.孩子们在草地里自由地奔跑。
  • The meadow is peopled with wild flowers.草地长满了野花。
6 clamped 48d7d3c7878090d92994ab974cb29653     
夹紧,夹住( clamp的过去式和过去分词 ); 紧紧抓住; 紧夹住; 被抓住
参考例句:
  • They clamped down on the newspapers. 他们施加压力制止报纸报道。
  • All with their eyes intently fastened on the iron-clamped oaken door. 他们一个个都紧盯着布满铁钉的橡木牢门。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
7 admiration afpyA     
n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕
参考例句:
  • He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
  • We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。
8 buddy 3xGz0E     
n.(美口)密友,伙伴
参考例句:
  • Calm down,buddy.What's the trouble?压压气,老兄。有什么麻烦吗?
  • Get out of my way,buddy!别挡道了,你这家伙!
9 couch mzfxf     
n.睡椅,长沙发椅;vt.表达,隐含
参考例句:
  • Lie down on the couch if you're feeling ill.如果你感觉不舒服就躺到沙发上去。
  • The rabbIt'sprang from its grassy couch.兔子从草丛中跳出。
10 lick y9UzW     
vt.舔(吃),打败,轻拍,吞卷;n.舔,少许
参考例句:
  • I think we could lick the best teams there.我想我们能打败那儿最好的队。
  • The house would look better with a lick of paint.这房子稍加颜色就好看了。
11 startled 651a5bec8a61bb5867cc270c8ec3c20b     
adj.受惊吓的v.使惊跳,使大吃一惊( startle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • A crowd of 2000 was startled near the end of the concert. 2000名观众在音乐会将近结束时大吃一惊。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Startled by the sudden whistle of the train, the horse broke away. 火车突然鸣笛,那匹马受惊脱逃。 来自《简明英汉词典》
12 jerked 0d2c5c8d25148069397b82ae34bff230     
猛拉( jerk的过去式和过去分词 ); (使…)猝然一动[颤动]
参考例句:
  • He jerked the phone away from her. 他猛然一下从她那儿把电话抢走。
  • When she heard the news, she jerked upright in surprise. 当听到这则消息时,她惊讶得跳了起来。
13 nickname aGuxJ     
n.绰号,昵称;v.给...取绰号,叫错名字
参考例句:
  • She called me by my nickname.她叫我的外号。
  • Why do you fasten such a nickname on her?你为什么给她取这样一个绰号?
14 nicknames a99bb88964c98d7b62bd1ea46a2705e7     
n.绰号,诨名,昵称( nickname的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The other children taunted him with nicknames. 其他的孩子用绰号取笑他。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He tried to amuse her by calling her the affectionate nicknames "Dark Sweetie" and "Miss Chocolate." 方鸿渐要博鲍小姐欢心,便把“黑甜”、“朱古力小姐”那些亲昵的称呼告诉她。 来自汉英文学 - 围城
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