时间:2018-12-31 作者:英语课 分类:69 The Movie Star Mystery


英语课

Smile and say cheese!” said six-year-old Benny Alden. He raised a camera and pointed 1 it at his sister Violet.



Violet smiled. But she didn’t say cheese. Instead she said, “Oh, Benny, you know that camera doesn’t have any film in it.”



Benny’s elder brother, Henry, said, “That camera is so old it probably doesn’t even work anymore.”



“I know,” said Benny. “I’m pretending.”



Jessie stopped and raised her arm dramatically. “Cheese,” she said to Benny.



“What are you pointing at?” Benny asked.



“I’m pretending I see a dinosaur 2,” Jessie said. “Quick, take my picture.”



Benny raised the camera. He pressed a button. “There! Now I have a picture of you and the dinosaur, Jessie.”



The Aldens all laughed and their dog, Watch, wagged his tail.



The four Alden children were taking a hike through the woods near their hometown. They had once lived in an abandoned boxcar in these same woods. They had been orphans 3. They hadn’t known that their grandfather, James Alden, was looking for them.



But then Grandfather Alden found them and took them to live with him in his big old white house on the edge of the town of Greenfield. He even moved the boxcar to a new place behind the house so that the four children could visit it whenever they wanted.



“There’s an old barn up ahead,” Henry said.



Jessie nodded. “And a clearing,” she remembered. “We can have our picnic there.”



Benny said, “I’m going to take some more pictures.” Holding his camera tightly, he ran ahead of them.



The rest of the Aldens followed him up a steep hill. They’d almost reached the top when they heard voices.



“It doesn’t matter where you hide the loot. Forget about it,” a man’s deep voice said impatiently.



“You’ll be sorry you didn’t take care of it,” a second male voice said.



“Right now, I’m going to take care of you,” the first man said.



Jessie, Henry, and Violet exchanged looks of amazement 4.



“Robbers?” whispered Violet in disbelief.



“It sounds that way,” Jessie whispered back.



“Come on,” said Henry, and led the way up the hill.



“It’ll never work,” said the second man. “You’ll never pull it off.”



“Oh, yeah?” said the first man. “I’ve done it before and I can do it again.”



Just then, the Aldens saw Benny standing 5 at the top of the hill. He was staring down in the direction of the voices and he wasn’t even trying to hide.



“What if the robbers see Benny?” Violet gasped 6.



Without answering, Henry ran forward to grab his younger brother. But he wasn’t fast enough. Suddenly Benny began to slip and slide down the hill toward the voices.



“Oh, no!” gasped Violet. She and Jessie quickly joined Henry at the top of the hill. They saw a short man with jet-black hair pulled back into a short ponytail, who was lying propped 7 against the barn below. He wore faded jeans and a denim 8 jacket and his eyes were hidden behind dark glasses. A taller man with a round stomach, chin-length brown hair, and a neatly 9 trimmed, gray-streaked brown beard stood over him. He was dressed all in black and had a pair of dark glasses pushed up on his forehead.



The man on the ground said, “Go ahead, Stefan. Give it your best shot.”



The tall man raised his arms.



As Benny reached the bottom of the hill, he said in a loud voice, “I have a camera, too, but it’s not as big as yours.”



At that moment, Watch barked and pulled his leash 10 from Violet’s hands. He ran down the hill and up to the man lying on the ground and began to lick his face.



Sitting up, the man began to laugh.



Henry, Violet, and Jessie ran down the hill after Watch and Benny.



“Wow,” said the tall man, who was holding the camera. “What are all you kids doing out here in the middle of nowhere?”



“This isn’t nowhere!” Benny said. “This is Greenfield.”



“Greenfield,” said the tall man. “Right.”



“My name’s Benny,” Benny went on. “We’re taking a hike. We live in Greenfield. That’s my sister Violet. She’s ten. And that’s our dog, Watch. We don’t know how old he is. We found him when we were living in the boxcar. We were orphans then, but we’re not now.”



“That’s quite a story,” said the man sitting on the ground. He was scratching Watch’s ears while Watch’s tail wagged happily. He glanced at the tall man. “Sounds like a movie to me.”



“It’s not a movie. It’s true,” said Jessie.



“That’s Jessie,” Benny said. “She’s my oldest sister. She’s twelve. Henry is fourteen. He’s the oldest.” Benny raised his camera. “Can I take your picture, too?” he said to the man on the ground.



But both men threw up their hands as if to hide their faces. “No pictures, please,” said the tall man.



The man on the ground cleared his throat. He said, “I’m Harper Woo. Everyone calls me Harpo. And this is—”



The tall man interrupted, “Smith. George.” He smiled a little and said, “By all means, call me George.”



Harpo gave George a look of surprise. Then he got up and began to brush grass and twigs 11 from his pants.



“Why are you taking pictures of Harpo?” Jessie asked George.



“Uh . . . I’m in a photography class,” said George.



“We’re rehearsing for a play,” said Harpo at the exact same moment. The two men exchanged glances. Then George cleared his throat and said, “For publicity 12. I’m a photography student and taking pictures of Harpo for publicity for a play he’s in.”



“Oh,” said Violet. “I like plays. Is it going to be in Greenfield?”



“Greenfield,” said George. “Sure. It’s a nice, quiet town, isn’t it?”



“Yes,” said Henry. “Is the play going to be at the community center?”



“Sure,” Harpo echoed George.



George put the camera into a bag and zipped it up. He hoisted 13 the bag over his shoulder. “We’d better get going,” he said to Harpo.



“What’s the name of your play?” asked Jessie.



Bending over, Harpo picked up a big heavy leather satchel 14. “Nice to meet you kids,” said Harpo as if he hadn’t even heard Jessie’s question. He and George walked quickly away through the underbrush and disappeared from sight.



“I hope it’s a good play,” said Benny.



“I don’t think there is a play, Benny,” said Jessie, with her hands on her hips 15. Her eyes narrowed. “The community center is closed for remodeling, remember?”



Henry nodded. “It’s true.”



Violet’s eyes widened. “Do you think they were lying?” she asked.



“If they’re lying,” Benny said excitedly, “maybe they really are robbers. Let’s follow them!”



“Yes,” said Jessie. “I think you’re right, Benny. Come on!”



Quickly, the children began to walk through the woods in the direction the two men had gone. Benny forgot about being hungry. Watch tugged 16 at his leash, sniffing 17 the ground.



Although they went as fast as they could, the Aldens couldn’t find the two men. They crossed a stream and worked their way around a blackberry patch. They climbed over the trunk of a huge fallen tree and went up and down several more hills.



Finally they stopped at the top of a hill. “Maybe, if we are very quiet, we can hear them walking in the woods ahead of us,” Violet suggested.



So the Aldens and Watch stayed very still and listened hard. They didn’t hear any footsteps, however. They only heard birds calling and the tree branches creaking in the wind.



Jessie sighed. “I guess we lost them.”



“I think I’ve lost me,” Benny said. “I don’t know where we are!”



“Don’t worry, Benny. I know where we are. I can see a road through the trees right over there,” Henry said. “I’m pretty sure it’s Old Farm Road.”



“Let’s have our picnic here,” Violet said. “We can sit on this nice flat rock.”



“Good idea,” agreed Jessie. “And then we can follow the road home.”



As the Aldens ate their lunch, they talked about the two mysterious men. They all agreed that they had never seen them around Greenfield before.



“And if they were from Greenfield, they would know the community center was closed now,” Benny reminded everyone.



Henry took a bite of his cheese sandwich and chewed thoughtfully. Then he said, “They talked about hiding loot. We all heard them. That really does sound as if they had robbed a bank.”



“Maybe, if they are bank robbers, their pictures are on wanted posters at the post office,” Benny said.



“It’s possible, Benny,” said Jessie.



“The loot could have been in that big black leather bag Harpo was carrying,” said Violet.



“But there haven’t been any robberies around Greenfield,” Jessie said. “Or even in Silver City.”



“What I wonder is where George Smith could be taking photography lessons. They have classes at the community center sometimes, but not now,” said Henry.



“When we heard them talking about loot, maybe they were just practicing the play,” Violet said. “Maybe Harpo plays a bank robber in the play.”



“If Harpo and George are telling the truth, then why did they lie about the play being at the community center?” asked Jessie.



“If they aren’t from around here, maybe they got it mixed up. Maybe they meant the community center over in Silver City,” said Violet.



“But they wouldn’t even tell us the name of the play,” Jessie argued. “And you know why? Because there isn’t a play.”



“I think they are bank robbers and we should catch them and get a big reward,” said Benny. He reached into the bag of chocolate chip cookies, then stopped. “Uh-oh,” he said. “I ate the last cookie. How did that happen?” Benny held up the bag with a look of comic dismay on his face.



“I guess that’s a mystery, too, Benny,” Jessie teased him.



After cleaning up and making sure they hadn’t left any litter, the Aldens walked down the hill onto Old Farm Road.



Henry pointed and said, “If we go that way, we’ll come to the road that leads straight back into Greenfield.”



“I don’t think this road is used very much anymore, except by the farmers who live along it,” Jessie said.



They began to walk along the grassy 18 edge of the road. Benny held Jessie’s hand. Violet looped Watch’s leash around her wrist so he couldn’t pull away. She didn’t want him to run in front of a car.



But Jessie was right. Nobody used the old road very much anymore. The children didn’t see a single car.



“Up ahead, just around this curve, is a mansion 19,” Henry remembered aloud. “The Radley mansion. No one lives there now. It’s been deserted 20 for years.”



“Is it haunted?” Violet asked.



Henry chuckled 21. “I don’t think so. Not every deserted house is haunted, you know.”



“I’m not afraid of ghosts,” Benny said. “We even caught one once, don’t forget.”



Just then, Henry stopped and pointed. “Look,” he said in a hushed voice. “The gates to the Radley mansion are open!”



“Did a ghost do that?” asked Benny, his voice getting squeaky with excitement.



“No,” Henry answered. He paused, studying the rusted 22 gates that had been pushed back to reveal a weed-covered, rutted driveway. He added, “At least, I don’t think it was a ghost.”



Just then they heard the sound of a motor. A truck came into view from the other direction. It slowed down in front of the open gates, then turned up the driveway and disappeared in a cloud of dust.



“That definitely wasn’t a ghost,” Jessie said. “That was a moving van.”



The Aldens walked up to the open gate and peered down the driveway. They could see a long stretch of recently cut lawn. Curious, they walked a short distance up the drive past piles of branches beneath trees and recently trimmed shrubbery.



At the end of the curve in the driveway, they stopped.



“Look at the house,” Violet said. “It’s beautiful!”



The big old house sparkled in the afternoon sun, shiny with a fresh coat of white paint. Deep purple shutters 23, also newly painted, framed the windows. Purple was Violet’s favorite color.



“I wonder who’s moving in,” Jessie said.



“Why don’t we go ask,” Henry said. “We can knock on the door and welcome them to Greenfield.”



They started walking again. They didn’t get far, however. A young woman appeared on the front porch of the house as the moving crew opened the back of the truck. She nodded and pointed at the open door behind her. She was dressed in black jeans, a black turtleneck sweater, and bright red sturdy sneakers. When she gestured with her hands, her short fingernails flashed red with nail polish that matched her sneakers. Her long, shining black hair was pulled back in a single braid and she had on a baseball cap.



Then she saw the Aldens and jumped from the top of the steps. She walked very quickly toward them.



“Hi,” said Henry. “Welcome to—”



“Who are you?” the young woman demanded in an annoyed tone. “How did you get in here?”



“Through the gate. It was open,” Benny said.



“Well, you can just turn around and walk right back out,” she said. “Go on. Shoo.”



“We just wanted to welcome you to—” Henry tried to speak again.



The woman folded her arms. “Go,” she said, her brown eyes narrowing. “Now.”



Without another word, the children walked down the driveway and back out to the road, with the woman silently following them. She slammed and locked the gates behind them. Then she walked back up the driveway.



“I don’t like her,” said Benny.



“Some people just aren’t very friendly,” said Violet. “Maybe the other people in the house are nicer.”



“Maybe,” said Henry. “But somehow I don’t think we’re going to get the chance to find out.”



“Come on,” said Jessie. “Let’s go home.”



As they walked away from the gates of the old Radley mansion, Benny looked back over his shoulder and made a face. “I hope the house is haunted,” he said. “Then they’ll want us to come and catch the ghost and solve the mystery of where it came from.”



“Oh, Benny,” said Jessie. She laughed. “There’s no ghost and no mystery, at least not at the Radley mansion.”



But as she and the rest of the Alden family would soon find out, Jessie was wrong.



adj.尖的,直截了当的
  • 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。
n.恐龙
  • Are you trying to tell me that David was attacked by a dinosaur?你是想要告诉我大卫被一支恐龙所攻击?
  • He stared at the faithful miniature of the dinosaur.他凝视著精确的恐龙缩小模型。
孤儿( orphan的名词复数 )
  • The poor orphans were kept on short commons. 贫苦的孤儿们吃不饱饭。
  • Their uncle was declared guardian to the orphans. 这些孤儿的叔父成为他们的监护人。
n.惊奇,惊讶
  • 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。
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
  • 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。
v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要
  • 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》
支撑,支持,维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 )
  • He sat propped up in the bed by pillows. 他靠着枕头坐在床上。
  • This fence should be propped up. 这栅栏该用东西支一支。
n.斜纹棉布;斜纹棉布裤,牛仔裤
  • She wore pale blue denim shorts and a white denim work shirt.她穿着一条淡蓝色的斜纹粗棉布短裤,一件白粗布工作服上衣。
  • Dennis was dressed in denim jeans.丹尼斯穿了一条牛仔裤。
adv.整洁地,干净地,灵巧地,熟练地
  • Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
  • The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。
n.牵狗的皮带,束缚;v.用皮带系住
  • 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。
细枝,嫩枝( twig的名词复数 )
  • Some birds build nests of twigs. 一些鸟用树枝筑巢。
  • Willow twigs are pliable. 柳条很软。
n.众所周知,闻名;宣传,广告
  • The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
  • He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事,只当它是一种宣传手法。
把…吊起,升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 )
  • He hoisted himself onto a high stool. 他抬身坐上了一张高凳子。
  • The sailors hoisted the cargo onto the deck. 水手们把货物吊到甲板上。
n.(皮或帆布的)书包
  • The school boy opened the door and flung his satchel in.那个男学生打开门,把他的书包甩了进去。
  • She opened her satchel and took out her father's gloves.打开书箱,取出了她父亲的手套来。
abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯,耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 );[建筑学]屋脊;臀围(尺寸);臀部…的
  • She stood with her hands on her hips. 她双手叉腰站着。
  • They wiggled their hips to the sound of pop music. 他们随着流行音乐的声音摇晃着臀部。 来自《简明英汉词典》
v.用力拉,使劲拉,猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 )
  • She tugged at his sleeve to get his attention. 她拽了拽他的袖子引起他的注意。
  • A wry smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. 他的嘴角带一丝苦笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
n.探查法v.以鼻吸气,嗅,闻( sniff的现在分词 );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
  • We all had colds and couldn't stop sniffing and sneezing. 我们都感冒了,一个劲地抽鼻子,打喷嚏。
  • They all had colds and were sniffing and sneezing. 他们都伤风了,呼呼喘气而且打喷嚏。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
adj.盖满草的;长满草的
  • They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
  • Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。
n.大厦,大楼;宅第
  • 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。
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的
  • The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
  • The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。
轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )
  • She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
  • She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情,她就轻轻地暗自发笑。
v.(使)生锈( rust的过去式和过去分词 )
  • I can't get these screws out; they've rusted in. 我无法取出这些螺丝,它们都锈住了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • My bike has rusted and needs oil. 我的自行车生锈了,需要上油。 来自《简明英汉词典》
百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 ); (照相机的)快门
  • The shop-front is fitted with rolling shutters. 那商店的店门装有卷门。
  • The shutters thumped the wall in the wind. 在风中百叶窗砰砰地碰在墙上。
学英语单词
Acetyldigitoxoside
acrocalanus andersoni
address pointer
Adriatic Sea
aminoacyl
apply the screw to someone
automatic congestion level
Berezhany
blow sb's brains out
boiler survey
braffertons
C. J. C.
cargo air teriff
cawayan r.
chessboard design
clortermine
control segment
core turning lathe
cornucoquimba gibba
correctable coding error
Cowper
creativity mobilization technique
crystallographers
curl one's lip
cyrtolerinetin
daucosterine
demersal egg
depth regulating device
dueness
emblematist
European Telecommunications Standards Institute
Eurya chinensis
external (mold) lubricant
eyed texture
factorial notation
filers
fixed radix numeration system
fold amplitude
fuck it mountain
gadolinium gallium garnet
gordita
homeworlds
honey mushroom
intratrace
light duty
lineally
lothness
low-lifers
lymphopenic thymic dysplasia
machine for testing torsion
marseillais
Matanza, I.
mechanism of exchange
membership roster
membrane material
metathesiophobia
Mikadoism
millimeter wave guidance
Mq. L.
nickeled
noun in apposition
on the payroll
paranoialike
photoelectric efficiency
phrenzied
PIC (polymer-impregnated concrete)
pile up the rocks
pipe expanding machine
pitch error compensator
pragmaticists
pro-taiwan
program time analyzer
prompt time spectrum
pump block
quadriennials
radioactive ventilation system
Rangstrup
reconnection
relay winding
retouchings
Rostrinucula
rovimix
ry-pack technic
salmon berries
sell on the good news
shallow water blackout
shoemakings
snap shears
SOOGLOSSIDAE
spring feed
strontium -apatite
take ... chance
Tianding
torch-thistle
transformation base
unabsorbed expense
Unknown Warrior
washingmachine
waxinsect
well utilized
worse than all
zinc oxide-eugenol paste