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儿童英语读物 The Rock N Roll Mystery CHAPTER 6 The Girl with the Ponytail

时间:2017-11-27 06:19来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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“Jessie, tell us again why you think we should talk to Zoey,” Henry said, as he and Violet and Benny followed their sister out of the public library. Jessie had insisted they look up the address of Glenwood Studios in the local business directory1.

“Because the studio is just two blocks away from here,” she said. “And I’m sure the police will get to the bottom of all this soon enough, but …”

“But what?” said Violet.

“But I keep getting this feeling that the person who stole all these instruments is right under our noses somehow,” Jessie said.

“I know what you mean,” said Henry.

“Me too,” Violet added.

“Me three,” said Benny.

“And what’s more,” Jessie went on, “I don’t think this is just a case of someone stealing things to make money. Someone is trying to really hurt the Greenfield Four and ruin their show at the festival tomorrow.”

“I wish we knew why,” said Violet.

“Exactly,” said Jessie. “And what if we’re close to finding out?”

“Let’s talk to Zoey!” Benny exclaimed.

Glenwood Studios was a small building with a tiny parking lot next to it. Inside, the lobby2 was decorated with framed photos of musicians who had recorded here. A young man was sitting at the front desk, wearing a GLENWOOD STUDIOS T-shirt.

“Is Zoey here?” she asked the young man.

“Studio A,” he said, pointing to the right.

As the children walked down the hallway, they could hear a vacuum cleaner in one of the recording3 rooms. They peered4 in and found the girl with the long ponytail there. “That must be Zoey,” Jessie said.

Zoey didn’t notice them at first, and continued to vacuum the carpet as well as the walls, which were covered with a funny foam5 material.

“Why are the walls soft?” Benny asked.

“They help absorb noise,” replied Henry. “It helps the music sound better while it’s being recorded.”

“THEN WHY IS THAT VACUUM SO LOUD?” Benny shouted.

Just then, Zoey noticed the children and shut off the vacuum cleaner.

At first she seemed surprised, then she smiled and said, “Oh, hi. Do you have an appointment?”

“No,” Jessie said. “Actually, we wanted to talk to you.”

“To me?”

“Yes. Did you sell a used keyboard to Tim, the boy who works at Lessenger’s music store, earlier today?”

Suddenly Zoey seemed worried. “Yes, I did,” she said. “Is there a problem with it?”

“Well …” Jessie said. She and Henry told Zoey how the Greenfield Four’s rehearsal6 studio had been robbed. “They’re our friends,” Jessie said.

“Oh, no!” Zoey moaned7, rolling her eyes. “I knew it!”

“Knew what?” Violet asked.

“I knew there had to be a catch!” she said. “Here, I’ll show you.”

The children followed her outside to the parking lot where her small red car was parked. She opened the trunk, and inside was a second keyboard. The Aldens recognized it immediately. They looked near the on/off switch and found the name “Amy Keller” again, scratched into the metal.

“I bought this keyboard this morning, along with the other one that I sold to Tim. I didn’t need two, so I figured I’d sell one. I made enough money selling the first one to pay for both of them, so I sort of got this one for free.” She sighed. “Or so I thought. I guess I’ll have to give the money back to Lessenger’s and give both keyboards to the Greenfield Four.”

“Who sold the keyboards to you?” Jessie asked.

“I didn’t get his name,” Zoey said, taking a deep breath, “but here’s what happened. I pulled into the parking lot this morning, and a van pulled in behind me. A man got out and started talking to me. I normally don’t talk to strangers, but he seemed to know Glenn, my boss, so I figured he was okay. Anyway, he wanted to know if I wanted to buy some instruments—cheap. He opened the back of the van, and there were the two keyboards.”

“Were there any other instruments inside?” Henry asked.

“Yes,” Zoey said, “some guitars and other things. He said he was giving up music and moving out west, and he wanted to sell his equipment to raise money for the trip. I took the keyboards inside, plugged them in, and they both worked great. So I gave him the money, and off he went.”

“What did he look like?” Jessie asked.

“He was tall and thin. He had very dark hair, and a beard and mustache. He was also wearing glasses.”

“Hmm,” Henry said. “That could be a lot of people. Anything else?”

“Well, the van he was driving was white,” Zoey replied. “And it had a big blue stripe running across the sides. It was all beat-up, too. Kind of old.”

Jessie was carefully writing down Zoey’s description on a spare page in Violet’s sketchbook. Beard and mustache, glasses, white van—it wasn’t much to go on. Was it someone the children had seen working at the festival? Jessie tried to remember. Maybe this person isn't right under our noses after all, she thought. Was there anything else she could ask Zoey?

“What was the man wearing?” she asked.

“Oh, my goodness, I almost forgot!” said Zoey. “He was wearing a beret. One of those funny little hats that artists wear.”

Jessie nodded excitedly and looked at Henry. They were both sure they’d seen someone wearing a beret recently. But who?

“I’m glad you asked me,” Zoey went on. “I guess I don’t tend to imagine hats on people, because so few people wear them. But I did notice the beret. And I’m definitely going to remember it when I call the police and tell them what I know. In fact, I’d better do that now.” She reached for her cell phone.

“That’s a good idea,” Henry said. “And thank you for talking to us, too.”

Zoey waved good-bye to the children from the parking lot as they walked back to the street.

“I know we saw a man wearing a beret sometime today,” said Violet. “Was it at the festival?”

“I think so,” said Jessie. “But we saw a lot of people there.”

“Whoever the man in the beret is,” said Henry, “he certainly didn’t steal any of those instruments for the money.”

Jessie agreed. “He sold those keyboards for nearly nothing. He must have some other motive8, which is—”

“—to ruin things for the Greenfield Four,” Violet finished.

Benny had been quiet all this time.

“What does a beret look like?” he asked finally. “Because that man we talked to this morning, the one with the beard—he had something funny on his head.”

The children stopped in their tracks.

“You mean, the man who was working around the stage?” Violet asked. She remembered how he’d stopped to admire the sign she’d painted.

“And then later we asked him if he’d seen Raymond,” Jessie said, remembering.

“He was friendly,” Henry noted9. “But you know what’s odd? First he said he didn’t know who the Greenfield Four were. But then when we talked to him again, he knew Raymond was their roadie.”

“That is strange,” Jessie said. “Very strange. We ought to tell the band that this man might be the thief. We can tell the police, too! If only …” her voice trailed off. “If only we knew his name.”

The other children nodded sadly. There wasn’t much they could do without knowing the man’s name.

“Maybe the Greenfield Four will know who he is,” Violet said, hopeful. “We can describe him.”

“That’s true,” said Henry.

“Speaking of the Greenfield Four,” Benny thought of something. “What happened to their poster?”

He pointed10 to a nearby phone pole. The children could see that a poster had been torn off recently—only a few scraps11 at the corners remained. Even from the torn pieces they could tell it had been a poster for the Greenfield Four’s show at the festival. The children had helped design the poster, and they could recognize Violet’s artwork in the corners.

“Look! There’s another one,” Benny said as he spotted12 a second torn poster on the fence across the street. As the children continued down the street, they could see that nearly all the Greenfield Four’s posters had been torn down.

“What happened to them?” Violet wondered. “Did the band take them down because they aren’t going to be playing?”

“I hope not,” Jessie replied. “I hope they’re not giving up yet.”

“Maybe someone else did it,” Henry suggested. He was about to say something else as they turned the corner. Just then, though, they saw a van pull to the side of the road half a block ahead of them. Then a hand reached out, grabbed13 one of the posters from a telephone pole, and ripped14 it off. After that the driver hit the gas, and with screeching15 tires, the van disappeared.

“Did you see that?” Henry said.

“I sure did,” Jessie answered. “And did you see what the van looked like?”

“It was white,” Benny said, “with a blue stripe.”

“Just like the one Zoey told us about!” Violet said.

“That’s right,” Henry nodded. “I think that was our thief.”


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 directory xusxf     
n.目录,工商名录,指南;n.目录
参考例句:
  • Her name is listed in the telephone directory.她的名字被列在了电话号码簿上。
  • You can check the directory near the elevator over there.您可以到电梯旁的指南上查找。
2 lobby lobby     
n.前厅,(剧院的)门廊
参考例句:
  • As he walked through the lobby,he skirted a group of ladies.他穿过门厅时,绕过了一群女士。
  • The delegates entered the assembly hall by way of the lobby.代表们通过大厅进入会场。
3 recording UktzJj     
n.录音,记录
参考例句:
  • How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间?
  • I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。
4 peered 20df74dd9059112f4ef8506d8ece8b43     
去皮的
参考例句:
  • He peeled away the plastic wrapping. 他去掉塑料包装。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The paint on the wall has peeled off. 墙上涂料已剥落了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
5 foam LjOxI     
v./n.泡沫,起泡沫
参考例句:
  • The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
  • The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。
6 rehearsal AVaxu     
n.排练,排演;练习
参考例句:
  • I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。
  • You can sharpen your skills with rehearsal.排练可以让技巧更加纯熟。
7 moaned 10b26e41ea09a23927a91dc447f839a8     
v.呻吟,悲叹( moan的过去式和过去分词 );抱怨;发出萧萧声
参考例句:
  • Facer moaned out a sound and then closed his eyes. 费塞呻吟了一声,然后就闭上了眼睛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The sick child moaned a little, and then fell asleep. 那个生病的孩子呻吟了一会儿就睡着了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
8 motive GFzxz     
n.动机,目的;adv.发动的,运动的
参考例句:
  • The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
  • He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。
9 noted 5n4zXc     
adj.著名的,知名的
参考例句:
  • The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
  • Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。
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 scraps 737e4017931b7285cdd1fa3eb9dd77a3     
油渣
参考例句:
  • Don't litter up the floor with scraps of paper. 不要在地板上乱扔纸屑。
  • A patchwork quilt is a good way of using up scraps of material. 做杂拼花布棉被是利用零碎布料的好办法。
12 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。
13 grabbed grabbed     
v.抢先,抢占( grab的过去式和过去分词 );(尤指匆忙地)取;攫取;(尤指自私、贪婪地)捞取
参考例句:
  • He was grabbed by two men and frogmarched out of the hall. 他被两个男人紧抓双臂押出大厅。
  • She grabbed the child's hand and ran. 她抓住孩子的手就跑。
14 ripped ripped     
adj. <美俚>喝醉的,受毒品麻醉的 动词rip的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • He had ripped up the carpet, leaving only the bare boards. 他用力扯去了地毯,只剩下裸露的地板。
  • I ripped my jeans on the fence. 我的牛仔裤在栅栏上划破了。
15 screeching 8bf34b298a2d512e9b6787a29dc6c5f0     
v.发出尖叫声( screech的现在分词 );发出粗而刺耳的声音;高叫
参考例句:
  • Monkeys were screeching in the trees. 猴子在树上吱吱地叫着。
  • the unedifying sight of the two party leaders screeching at each other 两党党魁狺狺对吠的讨厌情景
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