儿童英语读物 The Rock N Roll Mystery CHAPTER 7 The Man with the Van

When the children returned to the Greenfield Four’s rehearsal¹ studio, they told the band everything they’d found out.

“I’m glad my keyboards turned up,” said Amy. “But who is this man in the beret?”

The other members of the band shrugged². “We have no idea,” Karen said. “I suppose we’ll have to let the police figure it out from here.”

Later that afternoon the children went to the Greenfield Diner to meet Grandfather for dinner.

“When we told the band about the man with the beard and the beret, they said they had no idea who he was,” Jessie said.

“And aside from the keyboards,” Violet added, “everything else is still missing.”

“We told the police what he looked like,” Henry said. “Maybe that will help.”

“Perhaps it will,” Grandfather said.

The Aldens ate quietly for a few minutes. It was a busy night at the diner, filled with good smells and the sound of people talking. Whenever the Aldens came here, they always sat in the same place—a large booth by the front. It was quiet and cozy³. One of the things Benny liked about it was that it was right by a big window. He could see everything that was happening on Greenfield’s main street.

He got up on his knees to look outside. He was chewing on another chicken finger when he noticed a van parked across the street. He stopped chewing. He remembered what Zoey had said about the van the thief was driving.

“Look!” Benny said. “A van! A white one with a blue stripe!”

Everyone, including Grandfather, got up to see.

“Oh my goodness, Benny’s right!” Violet said. “That’s exactly like the one we saw!”

“Did you see anyone get in or out of it, Benny?” Henry asked.

“No, no one,” Benny said.

Grandfather paid the check quickly, and soon the Aldens headed outside to look over the van.

Benny was right—it looked just like the one they saw earlier. It was white, with a thick blue stripe down each side, and it was dirty, dented⁴, and rusty⁵.

“I’m going to take a look in the window,” Henry said. Carefully, he walked around to the back window and peered inside. He was hoping to see the Greenfield Four’s stolen instruments.

Instead, the back of the van was filled with wood and tools—saws, hammers, drills, and jars full of nails and screws.

“What’s in there?” Violet asked. “Any guitars?”

“No,” Henry replied, disappointed.

“Can I help you?” said a voice from behind them.

The Aldens turned to find a man about Grandfather’s age standing⁶ on the sidewalk. He was dressed in jeans, a plaid flannel⁷ shirt, and leather work boots. His clothes were covered sawdust. The children could tell that the man was a carpenter. He looked at them with a friendly but puzzled expression.

Grandfather stepped forward and shook the man’s hand and introduced the children.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Jessie said, “we didn’t mean to snoop.”

“We were looking for some musical instruments,” Violet added.

The carpenter smiled. “Ah, well, I used to play a harmonica pretty well when I was your age, but that’s about it.”

“No, sir, we were looking for some stolen instruments,” Henry replied. He and the other children explained everything that had happened so far.

“And the thief was driving a van exactly like this one,” said Jessie. “Just our luck that there are two of them.”

“Oh, there are many vans like this around here,” the carpenter said. “It’s a rental⁸.”

“A rental?” Benny asked. “What’s that?”

“It means I’m borrowing it,” the carpenter replied. “My own van is being fixed⁹ right now, so I’m renting this one from a place called Drive-It-Yourself. They have lots of vans just like this.”

Jessie’s eyes widened. “The thief must have rented a van from the same place!”

The others were nodding. They all thought the same thing.

1 rehearsal   

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。

2 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 cozy   

adj.亲如手足的，密切的，暖和舒服的

参考例句：

• I like blankets because they are cozy.我喜欢毛毯，因为他们是舒适的。
• We spent a cozy evening chatting by the fire.我们在炉火旁聊天度过了一个舒适的晚上。

4 dented   

v.使产生凹痕( dent的过去式和过去分词 )；损害；伤害；挫伤（信心、名誉等）

参考例句：

• The back of the car was badly dented in the collision. 汽车尾部被撞后严重凹陷。
• I'm afraid I've dented the car. 恐怕我把车子撞瘪了一些。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 rusty   

adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的

参考例句：

• The lock on the door is rusty and won't open.门上的锁锈住了。
• I haven't practiced my French for months and it's getting rusty.几个月不用，我的法语又荒疏了。

6 standing   

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 flannel   

n.法兰绒；法兰绒衣服

参考例句：

• She always wears a grey flannel trousers.她总是穿一条灰色法兰绒长裤。
• She was looking luscious in a flannel shirt.她穿着法兰绒裙子，看上去楚楚动人。

8 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。

9 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。