儿童英语读物 灯塔之谜 The Lighthouse Mystery Chapter 1 灯塔待售
时间:2018-12-31 作者:英语课 分类:8 灯塔之谜 The Lighthouse Mystery
CHAPTER 1
Lighthouse for Sale
The visit to Aunt Jane came to an end. Now, after so many years, Aunt Jane was married to Andy Bean. Nobody called her Mrs. Bean. This pleased her very much. Everyone called her Mrs. Andy, and that pleased Andy.
Grandfather Alden called his four grandchildren 1 to him and said, “I think we should go home now. Aunt Jane and Andy want to go away on a wedding trip.”
“I wonder where?” said Benny. “I bet 2 they are going around the world. Andy told Aunt Jane that she would never have a dull moment.”
Henry laughed. “I can believe that,” he said. “Andy is never still.”
Violet 3 said, “Aunt Jane looks so young and well, doesn’t she, Jessie?”
“Yes,” agreed Jessie. “Ever since Uncle Andy came home she has been very happy. I agree with you, Grandfather. I think we ought to go. We don’t want to stay on the farm without Aunt Jane.”
So they packed their bags to go home. Aunt Jane helped Jessie make a picnic lunch.
All the good-bys were said and Henry started the car. “Here we go!” Benny cried.
And so they started for home—at least that was what they planned.
Henry said, “Let’s have a change and go home by the beach road.”
Henry drove 4 the station wagon 5 down the beach road. They could see the ocean most of the way. After about an hour Benny said, “I’m hungry.”
“You are always hungry,” said his grandfather. “Wait till we come to the lighthouse in Conley. There is a little store there. We could buy some milk. We have enough sandwiches to last two meals—ham and chicken. Aunt Jane makes delicious sandwiches.”
“Let’s go out and see the lighthouse,” said Benny. “Maybe the lighthouse keeper 6 would show us the little porch 7 on the top floor.”
“Maybe he would, old fellow,” said Henry, laughing. “That is called a lookout 8, not a porch. But it is a long climb to the top of a lighthouse.”
Soon they saw the lighthouse in the distance. It was white. There was a little white house near the foot of the lighthouse with a little path between. The two buildings stood on a rocky 9 point of land, almost in the water.
“Look!” cried Violet. “There’s a sign on it. What does it say?”
“I can’t see yet,” said Mr. Alden.
“I can,” said Henry. “It says for sale.”
“A lighthouse for sale!” said Jessie. “I didn’t know anyone ever sold lighthouses. I thought they belonged to the government.”
“To the Coast Guard,” said Mr. Alden. “But I have heard that many lighthouses are being sold. Radar 10 is used to keep ships safe now.”
“Oh, what a wonderful house that would be to live in, Grandfather!” said Benny. “See, there is a window on each floor. You could sleep on the first floor, and then you wouldn’t have to do any climb-ing. The girls could have the next floor, and Henry the next, and I could have the top floor with that little porch—I mean lookout. That would be neat!”
Mr. Alden laughed. He said, “Are you saying you want to buy the lighthouse?”
“Oh, absolutely!” said Benny.
“Really,” said Jessie, “we could have a lovely time in a lighthouse, Grandfather. We could go swimming any time right in our own yard.”
“And we could pick up shells 11 and study the water birds,” said Violet quietly.
“We could certainly go fishing,” added 12 Henry.
They had come to the lighthouse by this time. Henry stopped the car, and they all looked at the place. Nobody said a word. They were all waiting for Grandfather to make up his mind.
At last he said, “Come on, children, we’ll go into the little store and ask some questions. Maybe we could use a lighthouse.”
“Hurray!” shouted Benny.
Everyone else was as pleased as Benny. They smiled and looked at each other.
“Drive right up to the door,” said Mr. Alden. “A store man always knows everything.”
It was true. When Mr. Alden said, “What do you know about that lighthouse?” the man laughed and said, “I know everything about that lighthouse. It’s not used any more.”
“I see it’s for sale,” said Mr. Alden.
“Well, it isn’t for sale now,” said the man, “because I bought it myself. I haven’t had time to take down the sign. I’d like to rent it, though.”
“Would you?” asked Mr. Alden. “My grandchildren think they would like to spend a few weeks there.”
“Well, I’d be glad to rent it to you. It’s all fixed 13 up for light housekeeping.”
Benny laughed. “Light housekeeping in a light- house,” he said. “That’s a good joke.”
“Does the little white house go with it?” asked Henry.
“Well, no,” said the storekeeper. “It ought to. But I wasn’t quick enough to buy the house. A man named Cook bought that. He buys houses and sells them. He is going to fix it up to rent someday. But now the windows are broken, as maybe vou saw, and they are all boarded up. He never thought anyone would rent the lighthouse.”
“Won’t we need the little house?” asked Jessie.
“No. That was the summer kitchen. The winter kitchen in the lighthouse is all right. It really has a better gas stove and refrigerator. There’s a good cot bed on every floor. You could get all your food right here in my store. My name is Hall.”
“I thought so, Mr. Hall, when I saw the sign HALL’S GROCERY,” said Mr. Alden.
Henry asked, “Could we ever build a fire on the beach for a cook-out?”
“Yes, you could. There’s nothing on that point but sand and water and rocks. No bushes 14. You will be careful, I know.”
Benny said, “Yes, we bury our fires with sand.”
“Good! Make yourselves at home. Do anything you want. Here’s the key if you want to go in and look around.”
“Well, I do,” said Benny. “I want to see the top floor with the porch railing.”
“Fine,” said Grandfather. “You get in the car. I’ll settle 15 the rent with Mr. Hall.”
Henry took the key and drove down to the lighthouse. They could not drive to the door because the road was too sandy.
When Henry unlocked 16 the door, the girls went into the kitchen at once.
“Good!” said Jessie, “this is a fine little gas stove.”
Violet said, “The dishes are all different, but we like them different.”
Benny climbed the winding 17 stairs. Round and round he went.
He called, “These rooms are very small. Nothing but a cot bed in each one.” He stopped to look out of each window. He called out, “First floor. This is Grandfather’s room.”
He climbed higher. “Second floor, Jessie and Violet. Third floor, Henry. And here’s mine!” They could hardly hear him.
Then they heard no more at all from Benny. He was out on his top floor looking out to sea.
Grandfather said, “It’s lucky there’s a window on every floor. It will be hot in here.”
“Maybe not too hot,” said Violet. “We are right by the sea breezes 18.”
By the time the beds were made, everyone was tired.
“Let’s go to bed,” said Mr. Alden.
“Go to bed at eight o’clock?” cried Benny. “But I guess my bed will feel rather nice after all.”
Everyone was soon asleep. No one heard the town clock strike. But it did strike—nine, ten, eleven. As it struck twelve, Watch sat up and began to bark.
- He left a bequest to each of his grandchildren. 他给他的孙辈每人留下一笔遗产。
- His grandchildren afforded him his greatest pleasure in his old age. 他的孙子和孙女们在晚年的时候给了他最大的欢乐。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- I bet you can't do this puzzle.我敢说,你解决不了这个难题。
- I offered to bet with him.我提出与他打赌。
- She likes to wear violet dresses.他喜欢穿紫色的衣服。
- Violet is the color of wisdom,peace and strength.紫色是智慧的,和平的和力量的颜色。
- He drove at a speed of sixty miles per hour.他以每小时60英里的速度开车。
- They drove foreign goods out of the market.他们把外国货驱逐出市场。
- 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。
- He found a job as a keeper.他找到了一份当饲养员的工作。
- He might lose his job as keeper.他也许会丢掉他当监护人的职位吧。
- 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。
- You can see everything around from the lookout.从了望台上你可以看清周围的一切。
- It's a bad lookout for the company if interest rates don't come down.如果利率降不下来,公司的前景可就不妙了。
- She drives carefully up the rocky lane.她驾车小心地从这条很多石头的小路上驶过去。
- There is only one port along this rocky coast.这个多岩石的海岸只有一个港口。
- They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
- Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。
- We collected shells on the beach. 我们在海滩拾贝壳。
- But at last the shells cracked, one after another. 最后,蛋壳一个接着一个地裂开了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- They have added a new scene at the beginning.在开头他们又增加了一场戏。
- The pop music added to our enjoyment of the film.片中的流行音乐使我们对这部电影更加喜爱。
- 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。
- There was someone skulking behind the bushes. 有人藏在灌木后面。
- The boy chased his sister in and out among the bushes. 那个男孩在灌木丛里跟着他姐姐追过来追过去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- I have to settle my affairs before leaving here.离开这儿以前,我得把一些私人的事情安排妥当。
- She has decided how she should settle the matter.她已做出决定如何来了解这件事。
- Don't leave your desk unlocked. 请不要忘记锁好办公桌。
- On no account should you leave the door unlocked. 你无论如何也不应该不锁门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
- The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。