时间:2018-12-06 作者:英语课 分类:72 The Mystery in the Mall


英语课

After the boys met up with Jessie and Violet, they strolled along the glass balcony that overlooked the indoor food court in the mall.



Violet peeked 1 over, then pulled back. “It makes me dizzy to look down.”



“If I had my binoculars 2 I could tell what everybody’s eating from up here,” Benny said, not dizzy at all. “This is a good spying spot.”



Jessie laughed. “Well, I spy a soft-ice cream stand down there. How about some ice cream before we go home? If we go right now, we should have just enough time to get some before the mall closes.”



Benny raced over to the mall’s glass elevator and pressed the button to go down. “Come on. Hurry up.”



Moments later, the elevator glided 3 to the ground floor and opened up onto the food court.



The children put their shopping bags down next to an empty table.



“I’ll watch our stuff while you three get some ice cream,” Henry said. “Would you bring me back a dish of chocolate?”



“Sure thing,” Jessie said. “We’ll be right back.”



After Benny, Jessie, and Violet went off, Henry waited at their table and kept an eye on their belongings 4. Finally, he saw his brother and sisters carrying trays of ice cream dishes. When the three children got closer, Henry ran up to help carry the trays back. “I’ll get some napkins, too,” Henry said.



Right then, a janitor 5 pushed a cleaning cart near the Aldens’ table. The man checked all the nearby tables, picking up hats, bags, and items that people had left behind. At the very next table, he spotted 6 one of the Aldens’ shopping bags that had slipped onto the floor. The man picked it up and put it with all the other Lost and Found items on his cart.



The children returned with their ice cream and dug in.



A few minutes later, a voice interrupted them. “Attention, shoppers. The mall will be closing in fifteen minutes. Repeat. The mall will be closing in fifteen minutes.”



The Aldens gathered their belongings. They brought their trays and empty dishes to the large garbage cans nearby.



“Now we can go home,” Benny said. That’s when he noticed that he was the only one without a shopping bag. “Do you have my jeans bag, Jessie?”



“No, there are only three bags,” Jessie answered. “Where’s yours?”



Benny pointed 7 to the cleaning cart the worker had parked a few tables ahead.



“There it is, on top of that cart. I bet that cleaning man thought I left: it behind, but I didn’t.” Benny ran ahead and tried to get the worker’s attention. “That’s my bag on your cart. I think you picked it up by mistake.”



When the tall man turned around, Benny had a big surprise. “Mr. Merchant! Uh, that’s my bag.”



“Humph,” Hap 8 Merchant said when he saw Benny. “I can’t just hand this over. These things are going to Lost and Found unless you can tell me what’s inside.”



“That’s easy. My new jeans,” Benny answered.



Hap opened the bag and checked inside. “Sorry,” he said. “This bag must belong to someone else.”



“Oh, right!” Benny added. “My coconut 9 monkey, too.”



Hap waited. Benny started to worry. “Isn’t that what’s inside? It’s under the jeans.”



“Humph,” Hap repeated. Finally he handed the bag over to Benny.



“At least I didn’t lose it this time,” Benny said when he caught up with his brother and sisters. “Hap Merchant put it with all the other stuff people lost.”



Jessie wondered about this. “Why would Hap be pushing around a cleaning cart? He manages the whole mall.”



“He doesn’t trust people, remember?” Violet said. “Martin Bolt told us he likes to do everything himself. He even does jobs for Penny’s shop instead of letting us do them.”



“He doesn’t seem to want us working here, that’s for sure,” Henry said.



“He’s always around when I have my monkey,” Benny added. “Even when it’s in a shopping bag.”



Jessie took Benny’s new jeans from his shopping bag and put them in another bag. “You know what? Let’s take your monkey in this bag and put it away in Penny’s store. That way you’ll have it tomorrow when you and Henry take pirate pictures. We’ll meet you by the exit door, okay?” Jessie said to Violet and Henry.



Shoppers scurried 10 from the stores in the last few minutes. Jessie and Benny heard their footsteps echoing on the tile floors of the mall.



When the two children showed up at Penny’s shop, Janet was in the back of the store, turning out the lights. “I thought you two were gone for the day.”



“We were,” Jessie said. “But I wanted to drop off something that we need tomorrow. Is that okay?”



Janet looked at her watch. “I guess so.”



The children scooted over to the front of the store. Jessie found an empty shelf beneath the counter. She stuffed Benny’s shopping bag behind a box on the shelf.



“Attention. The mall is closing in five minutes,” Jessie and Benny heard on the loudspeaker.



“Let’s hurry,” Benny said. “I don’t want to get locked in here by mistake.”



“We’ll take the glass elevator. It will take less time. ’Bye, Janet,” Jessie called out.



No one answered.



“Janet?” Jessie said, louder this time.



Still no answer.



Benny took Jessie’s outstretched hand. The store lights were going off all over the mall. Even Penny’s Emporium was nearly dark, but the front door was still unlocked.



Jessie held Benny’s hand tighter. “We can’t leave until Janet gets back. The store’s not locked. The gate isn’t down. All the customers and shopkeepers are supposed to be gone by now. That’s the rule. She must have gone down to the recycling room out back.”



Jessie and Benny tiptoed to the back of the darkened store. There was no Janet. They looked in the storeroom. Still no Janet.



“I’ll check the hallway behind the storeroom.” Jessie stuck her head out the rear door of the storeroom. “I don’t see or hear her. We can’t go out this door because it will lock behind us.”



“Should we call somebody?” Benny said.



“Let’s go out into the mall,” Jessie suggested. “Someone from the security staff is bound to come by.”



The two children made their way through the darkened store. Benny bumped into a box.



Shkkk, shkkk, shkkk, the children heard next.



“What’s that?” Benny gripped his sister’s hand.



Jessie took a step and nearly fell down. “Popcorn 11!” she said, laughing a little. “That box you bumped into was full of popcorn kernels 12. They’re all over the floor. I’ll go get a broom and dustpan so no one else trips. Wait here.”



“Can I come with you?” Benny asked.



Jessie took Benny’s hand again. She didn’t let go until they came back to sweep up the mess. “There. Let’s put the broom and dustpan away and get out of here.”



Benny and Jessie walked carefully now. They didn’t want to knock over any more boxes or hear any more funny sounds.



When they reached the front of the store, they had another surprise, and not a popcorn surprise, either.



“The doors are locked!” Benny said.



Jessie tried to push the glass doors apart. “It’s no use. Even if I force the doors open, the security gate is locked, too.”



“Who locked us in?” Benny asked.



Jessie tugged 13 at the door handles. “Janet must have still been in another part of the store, not in back. She probably didn’t know we were inside, so she locked up.”



Benny looked up at Jessie. “What are we going to do, Jessie?”



Before Jessie could answer, another unexpected sound startled the children.



“The phone’s ringing!” Jessie said, relieved to hear the familiar sound. “Of course! We’ll call security or Penny or somebody to come unlock us. But let me answer this call first.”



Jessie picked up the phone. “Hello?”



“I’m on my way,” a man’s voice said.



The next sound Jessie heard was a click.



“Who was that?” Benny asked. “Is someone coming to get us?”



Jessie put down the phone. Her heart was pounding, but she tried not to let Benny see how nervous she was. “The person hung up.”



The two children stood at the counter wondering what to do next. Suddenly a beam of light crisscrossed the store. Benny and Jessie ran to the front door.



“It’s Janet!” Benny cried.



Janet unlocked the door and stepped inside. When she saw the two Aldens standing 14 there, she jumped back. “How did you get in here?”



“I think you locked us in by mistake,” Jessie explained. “We thought you were in the storeroom before, so we went back there. That must have been when you locked up. I’m sorry for all the confusion. Why did you come back?”



Janet didn’t answer.



“Well, again, I’m sorry,” Jessie went on. “I’m just glad you did return. I guess we’ll go now.”



Benny and Jessie slipped through the half-opened doors. The mall was deserted 15 now. Hand in hand, Benny and Jessie walked quickly to the front exit door downstairs.



A security man waved them out. “Come on, now. The stores are closed. Out you go.”



Violet and Henry ran over, glad to see their brother and sister after the long wait.



“We almost gave up,” Henry said. “What happened, anyway? You two are the last ones out.”



But they were not the last ones out. Looking down on the Aldens from the top level of the glass balcony were two people who didn’t seem in any hurry to leave.

 



1 peeked
v.很快地看( peek的过去式和过去分词 );偷看;窥视;微露出
  • She peeked over the top of her menu. 她从菜单上往外偷看。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • On two occasions she had peeked at him through a crack in the wall. 她曾两次透过墙缝窥视他。 来自辞典例句
2 binoculars
n.双筒望远镜
  • He watched the play through his binoculars.他用双筒望远镜看戏。
  • If I had binoculars,I could see that comet clearly.如果我有望远镜,我就可以清楚地看见那颗彗星。
3 glided
v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 );掠过;(鸟或飞机 ) 滑翔
  • The President's motorcade glided by. 总统的车队一溜烟开了过去。
  • They glided along the wall until they were out of sight. 他们沿着墙壁溜得无影无踪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 belongings
n.私人物品,私人财物
  • I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
  • Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。
5 janitor
n.看门人,管门人
  • The janitor wiped on the windows with his rags.看门人用褴褛的衣服擦着窗户。
  • The janitor swept the floors and locked up the building every night.那个看门人每天晚上负责打扫大楼的地板和锁门。
6 spotted
adj.有斑点的,斑纹的,弄污了的
  • 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。
7 pointed
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。
8 hap
n.运气;v.偶然发生
  • Some have the hap,some stick in the gap.有的人走运, 有的人倒霉。
  • May your son be blessed by hap and happiness.愿你儿子走运幸福。
9 coconut
n.椰子
  • The husk of this coconut is particularly strong.椰子的外壳很明显非常坚固。
  • The falling coconut gave him a terrific bang on the head.那只掉下的椰子砰地击中他的脑袋。
10 scurried
v.急匆匆地走( scurry的过去式和过去分词 )
  • She said goodbye and scurried back to work. 她说声再见,然后扭头跑回去干活了。
  • It began to rain and we scurried for shelter. 下起雨来,我们急忙找地方躲避。 来自《简明英汉词典》
11 popcorn
n.爆米花
  • I like to eat popcorn when I am watching TV play at home.当我在家观看电视剧时,喜欢吃爆米花。
  • He still stood behind his cash register stuffing his mouth with popcorn.他仍站在收银机后,嘴里塞满了爆米花。
12 kernels
谷粒( kernel的名词复数 ); 仁; 核; 要点
  • These stones contain kernels. 这些核中有仁。
  • Resolving kernels and standard errors can also be computed for each block. 还可以计算每个块体的分辨核和标准误差。
13 tugged
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》
14 standing
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。
15 deserted
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。
学英语单词
aortic banding
arm'd
asymptotic standard error
audricurin
behale
bituminous concrete mixture
Bong Co.
box car end
broad spectral range spectrograph
chess-playings
chromotropism
city planning management
codicillular
coherce
coil-side
complete residue system
comprimate
crabbednesses
crane-mounted
customs surveyor
cuttings-in
cyclic oculomotor nerve palsy
cyclocryosurgery
david-lewis
detector with rolling grating
development method of underground mine
dioctahedral sheet
disaggregation of audience
ditch days
earthquake resistance
eviota melasma
export on consignment
final blanking
flash defilade
forced-convection heat transfer
Fraenkel's gland
gangrerous stomatitis
gum-rash
hollerbaches
hyperreducible triangle algebra
hypocitricuria
incremental command
ingravidate
interactive scheduling algorithm
intradural hemorrhage
investigatable
Kings and Queens
Klingholz
leprosin
lesbian studies
linear transform ring
live under someone's protection
Lonicera tragophylla
lorddom
medical microscope
modification works
municipal sewerage engineering
Nasilai Reef
Neugersdorf
no flow
nonarrests
oceanic province
Old Turkic
Oliver Stone
operational service state
owner-operators
Pennymoor
per head productivity
percussion drilling machine
play lists
porbable reserves
power reactor noise
prefalie
privileged place
profit and loss for previous period
project rate of return
punt-return
rajaputra
Rami substantiae perforatae anterioris
regular chain
relative number
remanent
retry count
Rhone-Alpes
self-focused laser beam
single-engine locomotive
sintered-glass crucible
soilbrom
space-charge-limited current
sport cabin
stomatal conductance
submarine base
sukarnoputri
teratocarcinomata
threatened premature delivery pregnancy
useful pressure
utilities services
vandeventer
vomero
water marking finish
wickiup mt.
zygomorphy