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 Mystery of the Stolen Boxcar CHAPTER 9 The Key to the Mystery

时间:2017-08-17 07:13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)

As the Aldens walked through Greenfield, they saw signs everywhere that said: COME TO THE GREENFIELD FOUNDERS’ DAY PARADE! They saw shoppers hurrying about and children playing. Watch wagged his tail at the people passing by. He sniffed1 noses with a poodle on a leash2.

“Everybody likes Watch,” said Benny. “And Watch likes everybody.” He paused and frowned. “Except Mr. Chessy doesn’t like Watch. And Becky doesn’t like Watch and Watch doesn’t like Becky. And Watch doesn’t like whoever took our boxcar. Do you, Watch?”

“Benny!” exclaimed Jessie. ‘That’s it!”

“What?” said Benny.

“That’s the key to the mystery!” said Jessie. She threw out her hands excitedly and almost dropped her bike.

“Whoa,” said Henry, catching3 Jessie’s bicycle before it fell over.

“Mr. Chessy couldn’t have taken the boxcar because of Watch. He’s too allergic4 to dogs to even let Watch near him. Remember how he had to jump out of the boxcar the day he visited it, because Watch was inside?’

“And he was sneezing then, too,” Benny said.

“How does that help solve the mystery?” Henry asked.

“Well, when Watch saw Becky, he didn’t like her. And she didn’t like him. Remember what she said. ‘I hate that nasty dog. He’s barking at me again!’ ” Jessie went on. “But how did she know she didn’t like ‘that dog’? And how could Watch be barking at her ‘again’ if Becky and Watch had never met each other? At least, not when we were with Watch.”

Violet said slowly, “But Becky acted as if she knew Watch. And Watch acted as if he knew Becky.”

“And when we saw Becky, she said, ‘I want to go play in my new playhouse.’ Why did she say that about her new playhouse when she saw us?” asked Henry.

Everyone thought a moment. Henry continued, “She wanted our boxcar for her playhouse, remember? That’s why seeing us reminded her of her playhouse . . . because our boxcar is her new playhouse!”

The Aldens all looked at one another. Then Jessie said, “And Watch was inside when she got it. That’s why Watch doesn’t like Becky. And why Becky doesn’t like Watch!”

“But how could a little girl take a boxcar?” wondered Violet.

“I don’t know, Violet. But we’re going to find out where Becky Jennings lives. And I think when we do, we’re going to find our boxcar!”

The Aldens looked up the name “Jennings” in the phone book the moment they got home.

“There,” said Violet, pointing. “Harold Jennings on Mansion5 Road. That woman who was talking about Becky and her father the first time we met Becky said that’s where the Jennings lived.”

The Aldens left their house quickly. As they did, Jessie stopped to grab the photograph from the newspaper article that was stuck to the refrigerator. Then the Boxcar Children and Watch raced toward Becky Jennings’ house.

When they got near Mansion Road, Watch suddenly barked and pulled ahead. He turned between two huge, open gates set in a high wall, and pulled Jessie with him before she could even see the street number on the wall by the gate.

“I think Watch knows the way,” she called.

“He sure does,” said Henry, following Jessie. The Aldens rode their bicycles down the long, long driveway and stopped.

The house was indeed a mansion. It was three stories tall and seemed even taller. As they stood there, the door opened. A tall man with a round stomach looked down his nose at the children. It was the butler.

Before the butler could say anything, Jessie said, “We’ve come to talk to Becky, please.”

“One moment, please,” said the butler. Soon he returned, looking surprised. “Miss Becky and her father are in the back play area,” he said. “I will arrange for someone to take you to them.” He raised his hand slightly, and a gardener who had been working in a nearby flowerbed stood up.

“Please take these people and their, er, dog, to Miss Becky,” said the butler. “You can go around the side of the house.”

The gardener nodded and smiled. She led the children around the side of the house — which was a very long walk — and stopped and pointed6. “There she is, over there,” said the gardener. “With her father.” The gardener left.

But the Aldens didn’t go to say hello to Becky right away. They just stopped and stared.

And stared.

Because their boxcar was standing7 right in the middle of the backyard of the mansion.

Benny spoke8 first. “Our boxcar!” he shouted and ran toward it, holding Watch’s leash. The others hurried after him.

As they got closer, Mr. Jennings stood up. “Look, Becky. Here are your friends coming to visit you,” he said.

Becky looked up, too. And she began to scream. She threw her arms around her father’s leg. “Go away!” she shouted.

“Becky!” said Mr. Jennings.

“That’s our boxcar!” said Benny.

Becky buried her face against her father’s leg and began to cry loudly.

But her father ignored her. He bent9 slightly toward Benny. “What are you talking about, son?” he asked.

“Our boxcar! That’s our boxcar!” said Benny.

“See?” said Jessie, stepping up beside Benny and holding out the newspaper clipping.

“Hush, Becky,” said Mr. Jennings, stroking his daughter’s head with one hand. With the other he held the newspaper clipping and read it.

“Someone stole our boxcar,” said Henry. Then the four Aldens told Mr. Jennings what had happened.

Mr. Jennings handed the newspaper clipping back to Jessie. She folded it carefully and put it in her pocket.

“Well, this boxcar is not stolen, I paid for it. However, I did buy it right after yours disappeared. I was out of town so I didn’t see the newspaper article,” he said. “But that doesn’t prove that it is your boxcar.”

“Did this boxcar have a table with a blue tablecloth10 inside? And a cracked pink cup?” asked Violet.

“No!” cried Becky furiously.

“Yes,” said Mr. Jennings. “Everything is still in there . . . we haven’t started redecorating it yet. But how did you know about those things?”

“Because those were the things in our boxcar,” said Violet simply.

Suddenly Watch, who had been very good, barked.

“No!” screamed Becky. “Mean, nasty dog. I don’t like that dog!”

Mr. Jennings’ eyes widened. He hadn’t noticed Watch before. “Why, that’s the dog that jumped out of the boxcar when Mr. Winters opened the door for Becky.”

“Mr. Winters!” gasped11 Henry.

“He said it was his dog,” Mr. Jennings went on. “He said the dog had just come along for the ride. But the dog barked at him and at Becky and then ran away.”

“No,” said Benny firmly. “Watch is our dog. Mr. Winters was not telling the truth!”

“Mr. Winters,” repeated Henry. “A short man who was going bald?”

“Sounds like him. I didn’t like him much, especially after the dog he said was his ran away. Now I see why. And I see that this is your boxcar.”

“Mr. Winters tried to buy it from us. He said he wanted it for Senator Teacher’s whistle-stop campaign,” said Jessie. “He said he worked for Senator Teacher. But when we talked to her, she’d never heard of our boxcar. She told us she had fired Mr. Winters.”

“I wonder how he knew that Becky wanted our boxcar?” Henry said.

Mr. Jennings frowned. “I don’t know. How strange.” Then he stopped frowning. “But we can soon find out. Mr. Winters is supposed to come by this afternoon to get the rest of the payment for the boxcar. I told him I wouldn’t pay him all at once until I was sure that we were satisfied with it.”

“My playhouse,” wailed12 Becky miserably13.

Mr. Jennings bent down and picked his daughter up. “Now, now, Becky. You don’t want a stolen playhouse, do you? You couldn’t be happy in a playhouse that belongs to someone else. We’ll get you a new one.” Becky stared at her father. Then she nodded slowly and put her head against his shoulder.

Smiling and looking a little relieved, Mr. Jennings said, “Why don’t you come into the house for milk and cookies until Mr. Winters gets here?”

“And then we will have a big surprise for Mr. Winters,” said Jessie. “A very big surprise!”

“Shhh,” whispered Henry. “I hear voices.” The Aldens had had milk and cookies with Mr. Jennings, Becky, and Martha. Then Becky had gone with Martha to take a nap while the Aldens went back outside. Now they were sitting inside their boxcar behind the almostclosed door.

“. . . not entirely14 satisfied with this boxcar,” they heard Mr. Jennings say.

Mr. Winters’ voice said nervously15, “Why? It’s in very good condition. I fixed16 it up myself.”

“No, he didn’t,” whispered Benny, outraged17. “We did!”

“It’s not the condition of the boxcar,” said Mr. Jennings. “It’s what I found inside!” With that he pulled the door of the boxcar open and the Aldens jumped out!

Mr. Winters took a step back. “No!” he cried in amazement18. “It can’t be you!”

“But it is,” said Henry. “You stole our boxcar and we can prove it!”

“I didn’t,” said Mr. Winters. “Honestly I didn’t.”

“Then how do you explain having a boxcar that belongs to these children?” asked Mr. Jennings.

“And how do you explain telling Mr. Jennings that our dog Watch was your dog?” demanded Jessie.

Mr. Winters rubbed his hands together nervously. He licked his lips. His eyes darted19 from side to side. He looked over his shoulder as if he wanted to run away, so Henry grabbed his arm firmly.

“Well?” asked Jessie.

At last Mr. Winters spoke. “Okay, okay, I took your old boxcar. I needed the money, see? I was desperate. I’d just lost my job — ”

“We know about that,” said Henry. “You were fired for being dishonest!”

Mr. Winters pretended not to notice what Henry had said. He went on, “And I remembered hearing the little girl scream in the street that day that she wanted your boxcar. I happened to be passing by on my way back to the office. I heard her, and that’s how I found out about your boxcar. I didn’t read about it in the paper.”

Mr. Winters sighed. “Even then, I knew that the senator didn’t think I was doing a good job. I thought if I could get the boxcar, she’d change her mind. But I didn’t get the boxcar and then she fired me anyway.”

“That’s not our fault,” said Jessie indignantly.

Again Mr. Winters pretended not to hear. “When I got fired, I remembered that someone else wanted your boxcar. Someone who could afford to pay me a lot of money for it. So I thought, Why not take it? You didn’t need it. And I needed the money.”

“You stole our boxcar!” cried Benny.

“I came in the night with a truck that I rented. The dog was inside and began to bark so I slammed the door shut. I couldn’t let him out. He would have given me away. I hooked the boxcar to the truck and hauled it away. Then I brought it here, and sold it to Mr. Jennings.”

Mr. Winters took a deep breath. “That’s all,” said Mr. Winters. “That’s the whole story.”

Mr. Jennings looked at the Aldens. “I will arrange to have your boxcar, and all your belongings20 that were in it, moved back to your home immediately,” he said. “What do you want me to do about Mr. Winters?”

“I think you should call the police,” said Henry. “He stole our dog and our boxcar.”

“But it wasn’t my fault,” said Mr. Winters. “It was Senator Teacher’s fault for firing me.”

“It was not!” said Violet firmly.

Mr. Jennings said, “I’ll see to it that the police take care of Mr. Winters . . . but first, let’s see about getting your boxcar safely home!”

“Hooray!” cried Benny. “Hooray! Our boxcar is going home!”


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 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》
2 leash M9rz1     
n.牵狗的皮带,束缚;v.用皮带系住
参考例句:
  • I reached for the leash,but the dog got in between.我伸手去拿系狗绳,但被狗挡住了路。
  • The dog strains at the leash,eager to be off.狗拼命地扯拉皮带,想挣脱开去。
3 catching cwVztY     
adj.易传染的,有魅力的,迷人的,接住
参考例句:
  • There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
  • Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。
4 allergic 4xozJ     
adj.过敏的,变态的
参考例句:
  • Alice is allergic to the fur of cats.艾丽斯对猫的皮毛过敏。
  • Many people are allergic to airborne pollutants such as pollen.许多人对空气传播的污染物过敏,比如花粉。
5 mansion 8BYxn     
n.大厦,大楼;宅第
参考例句:
  • The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
  • The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。
6 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。
7 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。
8 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
9 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。
10 tablecloth lqSwh     
n.桌布,台布
参考例句:
  • He sat there ruminating and picking at the tablecloth.他坐在那儿沉思,轻轻地抚弄着桌布。
  • She smoothed down a wrinkled tablecloth.她把起皱的桌布熨平了。
11 gasped e6af294d8a7477229d6749fa9e8f5b80     
v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要
参考例句:
  • She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
  • People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
12 wailed e27902fd534535a9f82ffa06a5b6937a     
v.哭叫,哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She wailed over her father's remains. 她对着父亲的遗体嚎啕大哭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • The women of the town wailed over the war victims. 城里的妇女为战争的死难者们痛哭。 来自辞典例句
13 miserably zDtxL     
adv.痛苦地;悲惨地;糟糕地;极度地
参考例句:
  • The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。
  • It was drizzling, and miserably cold and damp. 外面下着毛毛细雨,天气又冷又湿,令人难受。 来自《简明英汉词典》
14 entirely entirely     
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
  • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
15 nervously tn6zFp     
adv.神情激动地,不安地
参考例句:
  • He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇,努力忍着不哭出来。
  • He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。
16 fixed JsKzzj     
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。
17 outraged VmHz8n     
a.震惊的,义愤填膺的
参考例句:
  • Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
  • He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。
18 amazement 7zlzBK     
n.惊奇,惊讶
参考例句:
  • All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
  • He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。
19 darted d83f9716cd75da6af48046d29f4dd248     
v.投掷,投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 );向前冲,飞奔
参考例句:
  • The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect. 蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了,瞪了我一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
20 belongings oy6zMv     
n.私人物品,私人财物
参考例句:
  • I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
  • Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。
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