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儿童英语读物 The Comic Book Mystery CHAPTER 3 The Barn in the Woods

时间:2017-10-26 03:10来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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The next morning the Alden children caught the first bus to Putnam. Thirty minutes later, they climbed off in Putnam’s bus station.

Henry had brought a map. After consulting it, he said, “Oak Tree Circle isn’t too far from here. We can walk.”

It had rained the night before, but the day was freshly washed and pleasant. As the children walked away from the center of town, the houses became farther apart, with stretches of fields and woods in between.

“Here it is,” said Jessie, pointing to a green street sign.

Violet felt a tingle1 of excitement. “I can’t believe we’re having lunch with a real cartoonist!”

The kids used a stepping-stone path to Mr. Hoyt’s house. The house had a red roof and double front doors with iron hinges.

Benny stared. “What kind of a house is that? It looks more like a barn to me.”

“Maybe it was a barn that Mr. Hoyt turned into a house,” said Henry. “Some people do that.”

The kids approached the front door as a big man rounded the corner.

“You must be the Aldens,” he said in a hearty2 voice. “I’m Sid Hoyt. You may call me Sid. Did you have any trouble finding the place?”

“Not a bit,” said Henry. “I’m Henry, and this is Jessie, Violet, and that’s Benny. He’s your biggest fan.”

Sid laughed as he opened the door.

“Please, come in,” he said, opening the door wide.

As Jessie entered the foyer, she studied their host.

Sid Hoyt had thinning gray hair and blue eyes. Although he was tall and broad-shouldered, his movements were gentle. He reminded Jessie of a big teddy bear.

She looked around. The bottom floor was one huge room that contained a sitting area with a granite3 fireplace, kitchen, dining area, and the artist’s studio. A wrought-iron spiral staircase led to a sleeping loft4. Floor-to-ceiling windows revealed a backyard with a well-kept garden and several large trees. Skylights brightened the workspace, which was on the far side of the living area.

A plump, gray-haired woman stepped forward to greet them. “You must be the Aldens,” she said. “I’m Nancy, Sid’s wife.”

“I like your house,” said Benny. “It’s kind of like the boxcar we used to live in.”

Sid raised his thick eyebrows5. “You once lived in a boxcar? I’d like to hear that story over lunch. First, meet Batman and Robin6.”

Two sleepy cats uncurled themselves from a leather reclining chair. The large black cat yawned, while the smaller gray tabby blinked yellow eyes.

“You named your cats after superheroes!” said Benny delighted.

“The black one is Batman,” said Sid. “The tabby is his sidekick, Robin.”

Benny bent7 to scratch Batman under his chin. “Can we get a cat?”

“We already have a dog,” Jessie reminded him. “Watch might be jealous if we got a cat.”

“Let me show you around,” Sid offered.

“You have a lot of windows,” Violet observed.

“Artists need lots of light,” said Nancy. “And I like the way I can see my garden and the trees.”

“It feels like the woods are inside,” Violet said appreciatively.

They walked over to the studio area.

“This is where I work,” Sid told them. “Sometimes the rest of the house might get messy, but I always keep my studio tidy.”

An enormous slanted8 drawing table stood by the window, with hooded9 metal lamps clamped to the edge. Racks of bottled inks hung on one wall. Stoneware jugs10 held brushes, pens, and pencils.

“Wow! I never knew an artist would need so many cabinets,” said Benny.

Sid pulled open a drawer of a metal filing cabinet. Inside were folders11 of pictures cut from magazines, photographs, and drawings.

“These are my picture files,” he explained. “Artists need to look at objects when they draw them. Most of us aren’t able to draw just from our imaginations. If I am drawing a car, for instance, it helps to refer to a picture of a car to make sure I have the details right.”

“What is this?” Jessie pointed12 to a large white box with a glass cover.

“That’s a light table.” Sid turned a switch and the frosted glass top glowed. “It’s used for tracing.” He put a drawing on the glass and laid a sheet of blank paper on top. “See how the drawing shows through? Now you can trace it.”

Henry noticed all the crayon pictures and clay models of Captain Fantastic on the file cabinets.

“Who did these?” he asked.

“Fans,” said Sid. “Kids send me drawings and comics they have made. Sometimes they build models of Captain Fantastic. Some are quite good.”

Benny stood on tiptoe to get a better view of some penciled drawings taped to a drawing board.

“A new Captain Fantastic story!” he said, awestruck.

“Yes, that’s the very latest issue,” said Sid, smiling. “I’m putting the finishing touches on the black and white drawings so I can deliver it to my publisher tomorrow. There, other people will ink the drawings, add color, and letter in the words I’ve written.”

“We just got a sneak13 peek,” said Henry. “Before anyone else!”

Sid grinned. “You are definitely Captain Fantastic fans. Since you’ve come all the way from Greenfield, you must be hungry.”

“I know you’ll enjoy Sid’s excellent cooking,” said Nancy. “Unfortunately, I have an appointment in town, so I can’t stay to eat with you. But it’s always a pleasure to meet Sid’s fans.” She said good-bye to each of them, kissed her husband on the cheek, and hurried out the door.

The table was already set with cheery red, white, and blue place mats, blue stoneware dishes, and a vase of zinnias. Red glasses threw ruby14 rays of sunlight.

The children sat down as Sid came in with a tray holding a large bowl of chicken salad, warm blueberry muffins, and a platter of carrot sticks with yogurt dip.

Benny giggled15 as Batman stood on his hind16 legs and reached a black furry17 paw toward his plate.

“You have dreadful manners,” the artist scolded the big cat. He put the cats outdoors, then returned to the table.

“Now tell me about your boxcar,” Sid said.

Henry related the story of how they had found the abandoned boxcar in the woods and lived in it until their grandfather found them.

“Grandfather had our boxcar moved to his house,” Henry concluded. “We use it as a clubhouse now.”

“We keep our Captain Fantastic collection there,” Violet added. “We have every single issue now. Even number nine. It took us a long time to find that one.”

“We brought it with us,” Jessie said. “If it’s not too much trouble, we’d really like you to autograph it.”

While the children were talking, Sid had been doodling his superhero character on paper napkins.

“A souvenir,” he said, passing one to each of them. “And it will be a pleasure to sign your comic.”

“I’ll go get it.” Benny ran into the living room where Jessie had left her backpack and raced back to the table with the comic in its plastic bag.

Sid carefully removed the comic from the bag. Then he leafed through the issue.

He put the comic on the table and looked at them with a frown.

“I can’t sign this,” he said flatly.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 tingle tJzzu     
vi.感到刺痛,感到激动;n.刺痛,激动
参考例句:
  • The music made my blood tingle.那音乐使我热血沸腾。
  • The cold caused a tingle in my fingers.严寒使我的手指有刺痛感。
2 hearty Od1zn     
adj.热情友好的;衷心的;尽情的,纵情的
参考例句:
  • After work they made a hearty meal in the worker's canteen.工作完了,他们在工人食堂饱餐了一顿。
  • We accorded him a hearty welcome.我们给他热忱的欢迎。
3 granite Kyqyu     
adj.花岗岩,花岗石
参考例句:
  • They squared a block of granite.他们把一块花岗岩加工成四方形。
  • The granite overlies the older rocks.花岗岩躺在磨损的岩石上面。
4 loft VkhyQ     
n.阁楼,顶楼
参考例句:
  • We could see up into the loft from bottom of the stairs.我们能从楼梯脚边望到阁楼的内部。
  • By converting the loft,they were able to have two extra bedrooms.把阁楼改造一下,他们就可以多出两间卧室。
5 eyebrows a0e6fb1330e9cfecfd1c7a4d00030ed5     
眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
  • His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。
6 robin Oj7zme     
n.知更鸟,红襟鸟
参考例句:
  • The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
  • We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟,知道春天要到了。
7 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。
8 slanted 628a904d3b8214f5fc02822d64c58492     
有偏见的; 倾斜的
参考例句:
  • The sun slanted through the window. 太阳斜照进窗户。
  • She had slanted brown eyes. 她有一双棕色的丹凤眼。
9 hooded hooded     
adj.戴头巾的;有罩盖的;颈部因肋骨运动而膨胀的
参考例句:
  • A hooded figure waited in the doorway. 一个戴兜帽的人在门口等候。
  • Black-eyed gipsy girls, hooded in showy handkerchiefs, sallied forth to tell fortunes. 黑眼睛的吉卜赛姑娘,用华丽的手巾包着头,突然地闯了进来替人算命。 来自辞典例句
10 jugs 10ebefab1f47ca33e582d349c161a29f     
(有柄及小口的)水壶( jug的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Two china jugs held steaming gravy. 两个瓷罐子装着热气腾腾的肉卤。
  • Jugs-Big wall lingo for Jumars or any other type of ascenders. 大岩壁术语,祝玛式上升器或其它种类的上升器。
11 folders 7cb31435da1bef1e450754ff725b0fdd     
n.文件夹( folder的名词复数 );纸夹;(某些计算机系统中的)文件夹;页面叠
参考例句:
  • Encrypt and compress individual files and folders. The program is compact, efficient and user friendly. 加密和压缩的个人档案和folders.the计划是紧凑,高效和用户友好。 来自互联网
  • By insertion of photocopies,all folders can be maintained complete with little extra effort. 插入它的复制本,不费多大力量就能使所有文件夹保持完整。 来自辞典例句
12 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。
13 sneak vr2yk     
vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝);偷偷摸摸做;n.潜行;adj.暗中进行
参考例句:
  • He raised his spear and sneak forward.他提起长矛悄悄地前进。
  • I saw him sneak away from us.我看见他悄悄地从我们身边走开。
14 ruby iXixS     
n.红宝石,红宝石色
参考例句:
  • She is wearing a small ruby earring.她戴着一枚红宝石小耳环。
  • On the handle of his sword sat the biggest ruby in the world.他的剑柄上镶有一颗世上最大的红宝石。
15 giggled 72ecd6e6dbf913b285d28ec3ba1edb12     
v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The girls giggled at the joke. 女孩子们让这笑话逗得咯咯笑。
  • The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
16 hind Cyoya     
adj.后面的,后部的
参考例句:
  • The animal is able to stand up on its hind limbs.这种动物能够用后肢站立。
  • Don't hind her in her studies.不要在学业上扯她后腿。
17 furry Rssz2D     
adj.毛皮的;似毛皮的;毛皮制的
参考例句:
  • This furry material will make a warm coat for the winter.这件毛皮料在冬天会是一件保暖的大衣。
  • Mugsy is a big furry brown dog,who wiggles when she is happy.马格斯是一只棕色大长毛狗,当她高兴得时候她会摇尾巴。
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