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儿童英语读物 The Animal Shelter Mystery CHAPTER 1 A Thump at the Window

时间:2017-07-07 03:11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)

Dinner at the Aldens’ ended with the sound of a growl1. Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Grandfather Alden, too, all turned to look at Watch.

“What’s the matter, Watch?” Jessie asked the family dog.

“Did you hear that fat raccoon again?” Violet wanted to know.

“Or maybe a skunk2, boy?” Henry asked.

Watch answered all these questions with another growl. This surprised everyone at the dinner table but Benny. He was too busy spooning up his blueberries and vanilla3 ice cream to pay any attention to Watch.

Something hit the screen, and Watch’s growl turned into a real bark. Something—or someone—was at the porch4 window, trying to get in!

“I’ll go out back and check,” Henry said.

Now Benny dropped his spoon into the bowl. He ran out to the porch with everyone else. “Maybe it’s a prowler,” he said.

“Oh!” Violet cried out suddenly. “Something just brushed against my legs.”

Jessie stooped down. “Why, look,” she said. “It’s not a prowler at all. It’s a little calico cat.”

“So this ball of fur was trying to get into our house?” Mr. Alden asked. He laughed as an orange, gray, and white cat circled through everyone’s legs.

Violet picked up the cat. “I think she’s lost, poor thing.”

“And hungry,” Benny added. He quickly ran into the dining room and came back with his ice-cream bowl.

“She is hungry,” Jessie said. “Look how fast she’s lapping up Benny’s dessert.”

In no time at all Benny’s bowl was licked5 clean.

Mr. Alden smiled. His grandchildren had adopted many pets since the old boxcar days when Watch first showed up to protect them. Of course, the Aldens didn’t need much protection anymore. After their parents died, their grandfather had found them living in a boxcar and brought them home to his big safe house.

“Listen!” Jessie said when the cat finished her dinner. “She’s purring.”

“Sounds like she’s got a little radio in there,” Benny said, laughing. “For such a small cat, she sure has a big purr.”

“How do you know she’s a she?” Henry asked. “Maybe she’s a he.”

“Dr. Scott, the animal doctor, told me calico cats are always girl cats,” Violet explained.

Though Violet was only ten, her family knew she must be right. The Aldens were all working as volunteers at the Greenfield Animal Shelter this summer, but Violet was Dr. Scott’s special helper. No one was gentler than Violet when it came to soothing6 scared animals or fixing their hurts.

“Well, let’s see if this girl cat has a name,” Mr. Alden said. “There’s some sort of tag on her collar.”

Jessie took a look. “It’s a locket. Here, Violet, you open it. It’s too small for my fingers.”

Violet’s delicate fingers opened the locket with no trouble at all. “Why, look, there’s a message inside!” she cried. A folded piece of paper fell out of the locket.

Benny got to it first. He brushed back his hair from his eyes. “I’ll read it,” he said. “Now that I’m six, I know how to read.”

And so he did … with some help from Jessie.

My name is Patches. My owner can no longer take care of me. I know you children will give me a good home.

“Then she’s not really lost,” Jessie said. “Somebody left her here on purpose,” Henry agreed. “But why? And why did they bring her to our house?”

“Maybe the person wanted this home,” Benny said. “Not just any old place, but Grandfather’s house, with a big porch, and a boxcar in the backyard, and blueberries and ice cream, and everything just right.”

Mr. Alden smiled. He was happy to hear Benny say this. His grandson was right. Anyone who wanted a good home couldn’t do any better than the Alden place.

Jessie looked puzzled. She twisted her braid around her finger. “Patches is such a healthy and friendly cat. Her owners must have taken very good care of her. Why would they give her away?”

“We should try to find out who her owners are,” Violet said. “And what their reason was for giving her to us.”

“I wish we could keep this cat,” Benny said. “She likes us. Can we keep her just for tonight? Please?”

“Sure thing, Benny,” Henry said. He gave his little brother a pat on the head. “I guess she can sleep in one of our rooms.”

Just then, Watch barked.

“Patches can’t sleep inside,” Jessie said. “We have to be careful of Watch’s feelings. Patches can stay on the screened porch. It’s a lovely summer night. We’ll leave a small light on to keep her company.”

Violet added, “We can make up a small bed for her out there in Benny’s red wagon7.”

“With a soft mattress,” Jessie said. She came back out to the porch carrying a flannel-covered pillow. She tucked8 it in the wagon and tried to coax9 Patches to climb up. But the little cat wasn’t interested.

“She’s nervous,” Violet said. “I know what she needs.” She whispered something in Mr. Alden’s ear, then ran upstairs. When she came down again, she was carrying something lumpy wrapped in an old towel. She laid the lump carefully on the pillow in Benny’s wagon. “There you go,” she said. She lifted the cat and placed her on the pillow.

The cat sniffed10 the lump, walked in a circle around the pillow, then curled up.

“What did you put there, Violet?” Benny asked.

“It’s Grandfather’s big black alarm clock. The ticking will make Patches think of her mother’s heartbeat. That will help her sleep,” Violet explained.

“Well, what do you know!” Henry said. “Look at that.”

Everyone stared at Patches. She was practically asleep already!

“I don’t know who or why somebody left her here, but they certainly picked the right place,” Mr. Alden said. He left on the porch light but locked the screen door. “Time for all of us to get to sleep, too.”

Jessie coaxed11 Benny into the house. “We’ll have to get up early if we’re going to look for this cat’s owner before we go to the animal shelter. If everyone helps me in the morning on my newspaper route, we’ll have time to talk to people along the way. Maybe someone will know where Patches came from.”

Everyone looked back once more to check on their calico guest. Cuddled in Benny’s wagon, the cat looked right at home. But how had she gotten here? The Aldens meant to find out.
 


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 growl VeHzE     
v.(狗等)嗥叫,(炮等)轰鸣;n.嗥叫,轰鸣
参考例句:
  • The dog was biting,growling and wagging its tail.那条狗在一边撕咬一边低声吼叫,尾巴也跟着摇摆。
  • The car growls along rutted streets.汽车在车辙纵横的街上一路轰鸣。
2 skunk xERzE     
n.臭鼬,黄鼠狼;v.使惨败,使得零分;烂醉如泥
参考例句:
  • That was a rotten thing to do, you skunk!那种事做得太缺德了,你这卑鄙的家伙!
  • The skunk gives off an unpleasant smell when attacked.受到攻击时臭鼬会发出一种难闻的气味。
3 vanilla EKNzT     
n.香子兰,香草
参考例句:
  • He used to love milk flavoured with vanilla.他过去常爱喝带香草味的牛奶。
  • I added a dollop of vanilla ice-cream to the pie.我在馅饼里加了一块香草冰激凌。
4 porch ju9yM     
n.门廊,入口处,走廊,游廊
参考例句:
  • There are thousands of pages of advertising on our porch.有成千上万页广告堆在我们的门廊上。
  • The porch is supported by six immense pillars.门廊由六根大柱子支撑着。
5 licked cc44423320e8979294d71cbc42dbad80     
舔( lick的过去式和过去分词 ); 打败; (波浪)轻拍; (火焰)吞卷
参考例句:
  • He licked his fingers. 他舔了一下自己的手指。
  • The flames of the fire licked the sides of the fireplace. 火焰卷烧着壁炉的边缘。
6 soothing soothing     
adj.慰藉的;使人宽心的;镇静的
参考例句:
  • Put on some nice soothing music.播放一些柔和舒缓的音乐。
  • His casual, relaxed manner was very soothing.他随意而放松的举动让人很快便平静下来。
7 wagon XhUwP     
n.四轮马车,手推车,面包车;无盖运货列车
参考例句:
  • We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
  • The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。
8 tucked 33959fcef78ea8033c2079d9ef67ff32     
塞进( tuck的过去式和过去分词 ); 翻折; 盖住; 卷起
参考例句:
  • She tucked up her skirt and waded into the river. 她撩起裙子蹚水走进河里。
  • She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ears. 她把一缕散发夹到了耳后。
9 coax Fqmz5     
v.哄诱,劝诱,用诱哄得到,诱取
参考例句:
  • I had to coax the information out of him.我得用好话套出他掌握的情况。
  • He tried to coax the secret from me.他试图哄骗我说出秘方。
10 sniffed ccb6bd83c4e9592715e6230a90f76b72     
v.以鼻吸气,嗅,闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 );抽鼻子(尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气);抱怨,不以为然地说
参考例句:
  • When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣,吸了吸鼻子,擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
11 coaxed dc0a6eeb597861b0ed72e34e52490cd1     
v.哄,用好话劝说( coax的过去式和过去分词 );巧言骗取;哄劝,劝诱
参考例句:
  • She coaxed the horse into coming a little closer. 她哄着那匹马让它再靠近了一点。
  • I coaxed my sister into taking me to the theatre. 我用好话哄姐姐带我去看戏。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
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