儿童英语读物 The Mystery of the Pirate's Map CHAPTER 10 Good News All Around
时间:2018-12-06 作者:英语课 分类:70 The Mystery of the Pirate's
There were only two days of vacation left for the Aldens, and they were determined 1 to spend them both at the beach.
Benny and Henry were playing in the ocean, running around and splashing 2 each other, while Jessie and Violet lay on their towel, reading. Grandfather sat nearby in a folding chair, resting peacefully with his hands folded together on his chest. In the sand next to him was a little transistor 3 radio broadcasting the day’s baseball game. There were hundreds of other sunbathers around, and for the first time none of them showed any interest in Benny. The great mystery of John Finney’s treasure had finally been solved, and most people found the outcome 4 more funny than anything else. It was yesterday’s news. It had already been forgotten.
Tom came back from the boardwalk carrying a large cardboard 5 box. “Food’s here!” he called out. Benny turned quickly. He and Henry hurried over.
“Let’s see, now . . . a hot dog for Henry, a hamburger for Violet, a cheeseburger for Jessie, some fries with each of those orders, and of course one of everything for Benny.”
“Oh, boy, I’m starving!” Benny cried out excitedly, jumping up and down.
“What would you like first?” Tom asked.
“Ummm . . . the hot dog!” Benny replied.
Tom lifted one dog out of the box and handed it over. “There you go. Hey, James, your food is here.”
Grandfather pushed up his sunglasses. “Thanks, Tom. That should hit the spot right about now.”
Everyone ate quietly while they listened to the game and watched other people playing in the waves.
When Grandfather was finished with his hamburger, he reached alongside 6 his chair to get his copy of the day’s newspaper.
“Did anyone see this?” he asked, displaying the front page. Right in the center was a picture of Winston Walker shaking hands with another man. Behind them was the old lighthouse where the town’s historical society was located. The headline underneath 7 the picture read, MILLIONAIRE TO DONATE PROFITS FROM BOOK DEAL TO LOCAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Jessie said, “Book deal? What book deal? I didn’t know he wrote a book.”
“He hasn’t yet,” Grandfather told her, “but he’s going to. According to the article, it’s going to be called Fool’s Gold and it’s going to be partially 8 about his worldwide search for John Finney’s treasure. But mostly it’s supposed to be about the foolishness of spending your whole life chasing nothing but money.” Grandfather looked at the picture and shook his head. “He’s been offered half a million dollars for the book. Even when he’s not trying to make money, he still does.”
“Some people are just like that,” Tom said.
“Oh, and I forgot to mention that Jack 9 Ford 10 called this morning,” said Grandfather.
“What did he say?” Benny asked eagerly. He and the other children had grown fond of him during his short visit.
Grandfather smiled. “It was hard to tell. He seemed a bit . . . in shock. He mumbled 11 something about Winston Walker paying off his mother’s house, and then buying her a new one. Then he bought one for Jack, too. They’ve both already been paid for. Jack didn’t know what to say. He was speechless.”
“It’s wonderful that Winston Walker kept his word,” Violet pointed 12 out.
“It sure is,” Tom told her.
He had not only kept his word about Jack Ford, but also about giving something to the Aldens, too. The morning after finding John Finney’s box, a personal note from Winston came for the Aldens at Tom’s house. It said simply that there were four brand-new bicycles waiting for the children at their favorite shop when they got back to Greenfield.
Grandfather laughed. “Jack wanted to know what made Winston change so quickly. I told him it was because of John Finney’s treasure.”
Benny looked confused. “But . . . there was no treasure.”
“Oh, yes, there was,” Grandfather said wisely. “Only it wasn’t the kind of treasure Winston Walker was expecting.”
Benny didn’t quite understand what Grandfather meant, but Jessie did. “He found out what he had become, and he was given the chance to change it,” she told everyone.
Her grandfather jabbed a finger at her. “Exactly,” he said proudly. “So it looks as though everything did turn out for the best.”
“It sure did,” Tom agreed.
Benny finished the last bite of his hamburger and looked back at the ocean. He really wanted to get into the water again, but he knew he shouldn’t so soon after eating.
Then something caught his eye that made him jump up off his towel and run down there anyway—it was a bottle, bobbing back and forth 13 in the foam 14.
He rushed in and grabbed 15 it before the next wave could pull it back out. It was very, very old, much older than John Finney’s . . . and was that a small piece of paper with something drawn 16 on it inside?
No, Benny saw after his imagination calmed down. The bottle was no older than he was; it simply had been designed to look old. And the paper he saw wasn’t on the inside. It was the bottle’s label, pasted on the other side.
He brought it back to where everyone was sitting so he could throw it in the trash when they left.
“Another treasure map, Benny?” Grandfather asked.
Benny shook his head. “No, but maybe that’s okay.”
He laughed then, and the others laughed with him.
Two days later the Aldens were back in Grandfather’s station wagon 17, cruising 18 north toward Greenfield, headed for home.
- I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
- He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
- Water was splashing down from a large hole in the roof. 雨水从房顶上的一个大洞里倾泻下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- The children love splashing water over each other. 儿童喜欢互相泼水。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- This make of transistor radio is small and beautifully designed.这半导体收音机小巧玲珑。
- Every transistor has at least three electrodes.每个晶体管至少有三个电极。
- The outcome of the experiment is in the lap of the gods.实验结果尚难预料。
- The outcome of the war is hard to foretell.战争胜负难以预卜。
- She brought the shopping home in a cardboard box.她将买的东西放在纸箱里带回家。
- There is a sheet of stiff cardboard in the drawer.在那个抽屉里有块硬纸板。
- There was a butcher's shop alongside the theatre.剧院旁边有一家肉店。
- Alongside of him stood his uncle.他的身旁站着他叔叔。
- Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
- She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣,里面套着一条连衣裙。
- The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
- The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静,宵禁部分解除。
- I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
- He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。
- They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上,所以我们只能涉水过河。
- If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪,必须极度小心。
- He mumbled something to me which I did not quite catch. 他对我叽咕了几句话,可我没太听清楚。
- George mumbled incoherently to himself. 乔治语无伦次地喃喃自语。
- 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。
- The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
- He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
- The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
- The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。
- He was grabbed by two men and frogmarched out of the hall. 他被两个男人紧抓双臂押出大厅。
- She grabbed the child's hand and ran. 她抓住孩子的手就跑。
- All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
- Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。