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儿童英语读物 The Mystery in the Computer Game CHAPTER 8 A Mysterious Fountain

时间:2017-09-29 06:13来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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The children set out to find the old drinking fountain on Old Post Road. As they walked along, cars whizzed by in both directions. Gas stations, stores, and office buildings lined the busy road.

“Grandfather said when he was a little boy, farmers and peddlers still drove their horse carts along this road,” Violet said. “I guess the fountain is the only landmark1 left from those days.”

Along the way, the children passed the Big Dipper, their favorite ice-cream stand.

Benny licked his lips. “Can we stop for ice cream on the way back? I might be hungry by then.”

“Might be hungry?” Henry asked, laughing.

A few minutes later, the Aldens spotted2 the fountain up ahead. Clumps4 of roadside daisies and overgrown grasses nearly covered the old landmark. It hadn’t been used as a watering stop for travelers for many years.

Soo Lee wrinkled her nose when she looked down into the fountain. “The old rainwater is all yucky and green.”

Henry walked around the fountain. “Why would anybody include this old thing in a computer game? It’s all covered over with moss5 and weeds.”

“I think it’s pretty,” Violet said. “Maybe there’s some other reason it was in the game. Let’s look around.”

“What does that sign say?” Soo Lee asked a few minutes later. She pointed6 to a nearby sign no one else had spotted.

“‘Comet Interactive7 Games,’” Jessie answered. “That’s the name of the company C.D. told us about—the one with those two people he doesn’t trust. Let’s follow that side road where the sign is pointing.”

The Comet Interactive Games building was set way back from Old Post Road, up a hill and past some trees.

“You can’t really tell that the building is here,” Henry said. “Uh-oh. There’s a gate. I don’t think we can go inside.”

Sure enough, a security guard came over. “You kids have business here?” he asked in a sharp voice.

“Sort of. We’re curious to find out if this is where Comet Interactive Games are made,” Jessie said truthfully.

This information didn’t make the guard any friendlier. “You and a hundred other kids pestering8 us all the time,” he said. “You need an appointment to go inside.”

Jessie and Henry motioned for the other children to head back down the hill.

“Sorry,” Henry said. “We didn’t know.”

“Well, now you do,” the guard said.

“He didn’t like us,” Soo Lee said as the children walked away. “Can we go home now?”

As they walked along the side of the driveway the Aldens heard a car coming up fast from behind. Henry and Jessie pulled the younger children behind some bushes.

A white convertible9 whizzed past. A woman with a ponytail was driving.

“Did you see that? It had a QuestMaster parking sticker on the bumper10,” Jessie said after the car went by. “I could have sworn that was Jane Driver at the wheel.”

A minute later, the children saw a green car pull onto the road from a clump3 of trees. It followed the convertible down the hill. Like the white convertible, this one had a QuestMaster parking sticker on its bumper. Only this time the children were positive who the driver was.

“That’s Ned Porter’s car!” Henry said. “I’m sure of it. He must have been visiting the Comet Interactive offices, too. Only why did he park in the woods?”

Jessie thought about this. “Do you think he and Jane are up to no good? Now we really have to figure out what’s going on, so we can tell C.D.”

From where they were standing11, the children could see all the way down to Old Post Road. They noticed that the green car followed the white convertible at a distance until the Aldens couldn’t see either car anymore.

Henry stepped ahead of the other children. “Let’s leave a message for C.D. about this as soon as we get home.”

“Do we still have time for ice cream?” Benny asked when he saw the Big Dipper ice-cream stand up ahead.

Jessie took Benny’s hand. “We always have time for ice cream.”

When the children entered the Big Dipper, there was only one customer inside. As the Aldens got closer, they realized who it was.

“Andy Porter!” Henry whispered. “Of all people.”

Andy held a cone12 in one hand, but it was dripping all over, as if he’d forgotten he was holding it.

“How many times have you seen that white convertible go by here?” the Aldens overheard Andy ask the girl behind the counter.

“I told you, I don’t know,” the girl answered impatiently. “Why do you keep coming here and asking me all these questions about that car?”

Andy tapped on the metal counter nervously13 “I just need to know, that’s all. Have you seen that woman around here with a bearded man and a bald man?”

“A few times.” The girl looked over Andy’s head at the Aldens. “Look, I can’t talk right now. Some other customers just came in. May I help you?”

Andy whirled around. When he saw the Aldens, he seemed to want to speak to them. But he stopped himself, nodded quickly as a way of saying good-bye, and left. The Aldens saw him race off on his bike, which had been parked outside.

“May I help you?” the ice-cream girl repeated, this time louder.

“What was that all about?” Henry asked the girl.

“Do you know him?” the girl asked. “He’s been in here a bunch of times. He’s always wanting to know about some people who work at Comet Interactive Games up the road.”

“The woman in the white convertible?” Jessie asked.

The girl nodded.

“What about a tall man who looks like that boy?” Henry asked. “He’s got a green car.”

The girl shook her head. She was tired of all these nosy14 customers. “Look, I’m just here to serve ice cream, not spy on people or watch what cars go in and out of the parking lot. Now, if you want to order, please tell me what you want.”

The Aldens ordered their cones15 and went outside to eat them.

“Why did Andy leave so fast when he saw us?” Benny asked. “He didn’t even finish his cone. But I’m going to finish mine.”

Benny and Soo Lee licked up every last drip.

While he was finishing, Benny picked up a piece of paper blowing near his feet.

“What does that say?” Soo Lee wanted to know.

“Boring stuff, like a list or something,” Benny said. “Let’s see. What’s that word, Violet?” he asked when he got stuck.

“‘Nadje—three o’clock!’” Violet answered. “Why would Nadje’s name be on this piece of paper?” She grabbed the paper from Benny and ran over to Jessie and Henry with it. “It also says, ‘Check Head Shots.’ Didn’t C.D. say ‘Head Shots’ had something to do with Jane’s computer idea?”

“Now we’d really better get a move on,” Henry said. “I have a feeling Andy dropped that paper when he raced off. This is getting stranger and stranger all the time.”

Jessie hurried the younger children along.

“Don’t forget. We still have to pick up the Fix-It program at the computer store before we go home. Maybe that will help us figure out what’s going on inside our computer.” “I hope we can figure out what’s going on outside our computer, too,” Benny added.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 landmark j2DxG     
n.陆标,划时代的事,地界标
参考例句:
  • The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
  • The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。
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 clump xXfzH     
n.树丛,草丛;vi.用沉重的脚步行走
参考例句:
  • A stream meandered gently through a clump of trees.一条小溪从树丛中蜿蜒穿过。
  • It was as if he had hacked with his thick boots at a clump of bluebells.仿佛他用自己的厚靴子无情地践踏了一丛野风信子。
4 clumps a9a186997b6161c6394b07405cf2f2aa     
n.(树、灌木、植物等的)丛、簇( clump的名词复数 );(土、泥等)团;块;笨重的脚步声v.(树、灌木、植物等的)丛、簇( clump的第三人称单数 );(土、泥等)团;块;笨重的脚步声
参考例句:
  • These plants quickly form dense clumps. 这些植物很快形成了浓密的树丛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The bulbs were over. All that remained of them were clumps of brown leaves. 这些鳞茎死了,剩下的只是一丛丛的黃叶子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
5 moss X6QzA     
n.苔,藓,地衣
参考例句:
  • Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
  • He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。
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 interactive KqZzFY     
adj.相互作用的,互相影响的,(电脑)交互的
参考例句:
  • The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
  • This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。
8 pestering cbb7a3da2b778ce39088930a91d2c85b     
使烦恼,纠缠( pester的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • He's always pestering me to help him with his homework. 他总是泡蘑菇要我帮他做作业。
  • I'm telling you once and for all, if you don't stop pestering me you'll be sorry. 我这是最后一次警告你。如果你不停止纠缠我,你将来会后悔的。
9 convertible aZUyK     
adj.可改变的,可交换,同意义的;n.有活动摺篷的汽车
参考例句:
  • The convertible sofa means that the apartment can sleep four.有了这张折叠沙发,公寓里可以睡下4个人。
  • That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了。
10 bumper jssz8     
n.(汽车上的)保险杠;adj.特大的,丰盛的
参考例句:
  • The painting represents the scene of a bumper harvest.这幅画描绘了丰收的景象。
  • This year we have a bumper harvest in grain.今年我们谷物丰收。
11 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。
12 cone lYJyi     
n.圆锥体,圆锥形东西,球果
参考例句:
  • Saw-dust piled up in a great cone.锯屑堆积如山。
  • The police have sectioned off part of the road with traffic cone.警察用锥形路标把部分路面分隔开来。
13 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。
14 nosy wR0zK     
adj.鼻子大的,好管闲事的,爱追问的;n.大鼻者
参考例句:
  • Our nosy neighbours are always looking in through our windows.好管闲事的邻居总是从我们的窗口望进来。
  • My landlord is so nosy.He comes by twice a month to inspect my apartment.我的房东很烦人,他每个月都要到我公寓视察两次。
15 cones 1928ec03844308f65ae62221b11e81e3     
n.(人眼)圆锥细胞;圆锥体( cone的名词复数 );球果;圆锥形东西;(盛冰淇淋的)锥形蛋卷筒
参考例句:
  • In the pines squirrels commonly chew off and drop entire cones. 松树上的松鼠通常咬掉和弄落整个球果。 来自辞典例句
  • Many children would rather eat ice cream from cones than from dishes. 许多小孩喜欢吃蛋卷冰淇淋胜过盘装冰淇淋。 来自辞典例句
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