时间:2018-12-06 作者:英语课 分类:130 The Garden Thief


英语课

Early the next morning Mrs. McGregor handed each of the children a thermal 1 lunch bag.



“There are scrambled 2 egg sandwiches for each of you,” she said. “Plus a can of juice and an orange.”



Just then Mr. Yee knocked on the back door.



“Is everybody ready?” he asked.



“We’re ready,” said Henry, stifling 3 a yawn.



“Here is a lunch bag for you, Mr. Yee,” said Mrs. McGregor. “Scrambled egg sandwiches.”



“Thank you,” said Mr. Yee. “You are most generous. I will be sure to repay you with excellent vegetables.”



Mrs. McGregor drove them all to the community gardens. Henry and Jessie talked to Mr. Yee, but Violet and Benny closed their eyes and fell asleep. When Mrs. McGregor stopped the car at the community gardens, Violet and Benny woke up.



“Are we there?” Benny asked.



“Yes,” said Mr. Yee. “We will eat our breakfasts first, then we will tend to the garden.”



Mrs. McGregor drove away and the children walked the short distance to the community gardens. They waved to other gardeners in Sections D and E, and also Sections B and C.



When they reached Section A, they saw Taylor’s bike chained to her garden fence. Taylor was standing 4 beside the bike. The gate to her garden was open. Henry thought that Taylor looked confused.



“Is anything wrong?” Henry asked as they walked up to her.



“I don’t know,” answered Taylor. “Can I show you something?”



Henry said yes, and Taylor led everybody into her garden. They followed her down a few rows. Taylor stopped and pointed 5 to two large burlap bags sitting on the ground, right next to the spot where the lettuce 6 and kale had been growing.



“Those were here when I arrived a few minutes ago,” said Taylor.



Benny yawned. “What’s inside them?” he asked.



“Open them,” she said, “and you’ll see.”



Jessie opened one of the sacks. “Lettuce!” she said. “Lots of lettuce!”



Violet opened the other sack. “Kale,” she said. “The whole sack is full of kale.”



“What does this mean?” asked Mr. Yee.



“That’s what I’d like to know,” said Taylor.



She looked at the Aldens. “What do you think?” she asked.



Henry spoke 7 first. “I think somebody is trying to make amends,” he said.



“I agree,” said Jessie. “Somebody is trying to say they’re sorry they stole your lettuce and kale yesterday.”



“Yes,” said Taylor, “I think somebody feels bad about what happened and is giving me this lettuce and kale.” She frowned. “It doesn’t make sense, though.”



“I know what you mean,” said Henry. “If somebody stole your lettuce and kale, why would he or she bother giving you more lettuce and kale?”



“But if Lucasta’s rabbits ate my lettuce and kale, that makes sense,” said Taylor. “Rabbits can’t return what they ate, but Lucasta could.”



Violet was starting to wake up. Thinking about a mystery always made her feel more alert. “Maybe it’s not the same person,” she said. “Maybe one person stole the lettuce and kale, but another person is giving you lettuce and kale.”



“Hmmm,” said Taylor.



“You will have to eat this lettuce and kale very soon,” Mr. Yee observed. “Vegetables taste best right after they’re picked.”



“I can’t eat all of this by myself,” said Taylor. “Please take as much as you want for yourselves, and I’ll donate the rest to the food center.”



“We can sprinkle the burlap bags with water,” said Mr. Yee, “and put them in the shade, so they stay cool.”



Taylor nodded. “I’ll do that before I start to weed,” she said. “Be sure to take some of these with you when you go home.”



“Will you eat some of the lettuce and kale yourself?” Violet asked.



Taylor shook her head.



“Why not?” asked Benny. “I’ll bet they taste good.”



“They probably do.” Taylor laughed. “But these aren’t the same kind of lettuce and kale that I grow,” she said.



She reached into one bag and pulled out a head of lettuce. “This is a light green butter lettuce,” she said, holding it out for the children to see. “It’s very tasty, but I was growing a red-tipped leaf lettuce. I like the taste of it better, and I like the dark green color.”



Taylor put the lettuce back into one burlap bag and reached into the other bag. She pulled out some kale leaves. “This is a plain green kale,” she said, showing the leaves to the children. “I grow a very dark curly kale.”



Mr. Yee nodded his head. “These are good vegetables,” he said, “but not as tasty as the kind you grow. If it was the thief who returned these vegetables, I wonder why he didn’t return the same kind he took?”



Henry scratched his head. “If the thief returned the exact same kind of vegetables he or she stole, then why steal them in the first place?”



“Do you think this lettuce and kale came from the community gardens?” Jessie asked.



Taylor shrugged 8 her shoulders. “Who knows,” she said. “Lots of people here grow butter lettuce and plain kale. Alex grows butter lettuce and plain kale. So does Roger. Lucasta used to grow dark green lettuce and dark curly kale, just like Mr. Yee and I do. But Alex and Lucasta don’t enter their vegetables in contests.”



“Are you talking about me and my sister?” asked Alex Kirk.



Everybody turned around at the sound of Alex’s voice. They saw him at the side of Taylor’s garden. He was standing in Lucasta’s empty plot, looking at them.



“Yes,” said Taylor. “I was saying that you and Lucasta don’t enter your vegetables in contests to win blue ribbons.”



“That’s right,” said Alex. “Vegetables are meant to feed people, not to win blue ribbons.”



“They can do both things,” said Mr. Yee. “They can win blue ribbons, and then they can be eaten.”



Alex ignored what Mr. Yee said. “I’m looking for Roger Walski,” he said, “but he’s not here yet. When you see him, can you give him a message?” he asked.



“Sure,” said Henry. “If Mr. Walski is here today, we’ll give him a message.”



“Good,” said Alex. “Please tell him my father still says no.”



What did that mean? Jessie wondered.



*  *  *



The Aldens and Mr. Yee sat on the grass outside the plots and ate their breakfasts. Mr. Yee stopped in his garden first and picked some fresh snow peas and a few strawberries. They ate the snow peas with their scrambled egg sandwiches and the strawberries after.



“This is a delicious breakfast,” said Violet.



“It sure is,” said Henry.



“It’s the best breakfast I’ve ever had!” shouted Benny.



The others laughed. “Oh, Benny, you’ll say the same thing tomorrow,” kidded Jessie.



Benny nodded. “I will if tomorrow is the best breakfast I ever had. And it will be,” he added, “if I have some of Mr. Yee’s snowpod peas and strawberries!”



“Ah, Benny,” said Mr. Yee, “I think you are going to be a good gardener—as long as you don’t eat up everything you see!”



They all laughed at that. Then they gathered up their sandwich wrappings and napkins and went to work in the garden.



Henry spent the whole morning building trellises for the peas and beans. He enjoyed the work, and knew that the peas and beans would grow better once they had the trellises for support.



Mr. Yee sat on the ground with Jessie and Violet and showed them how to transplant young broccoli 9 plants.



“My broccoli plants were stolen last week,” he told them. “It is too late to grow broccoli that will win a blue ribbon, but I can still grow some to eat.”



“Why is it too late?” asked Violet.



“Because broccoli grows best in cooler weather,” he said.



After Mr. Yee was satisfied that Violet and Jessie were doing a good job, and that Henry didn’t need his help, he went to check on Benny, who was watering the strawberry plants.



“Ah,” said Mr. Yee, “you are doing a very good job, Benny.”



“Good,” said Benny. “I want the strawberries to be delicious.”



Just then they heard the roar of a motor.



Roger Walski zoomed 10 up on a three-wheeled ATV that had a box strapped 11 to the back. He turned off the motor and dismounted.



“Today’s the day,” he told Benny. “Ready to taste a garden-fresh cucumber?”



“Yes,” said Benny. “I love cucumbers.” He turned to Mr. Yee. “May I go taste Mr. Walski’s fresh cucumbers?” he asked.



“Of course,” said Mr. Yee, “and I will come with you.”



Benny and Mr. Yee followed Roger through the maze 12 of garden paths.



But when they reached the place where Roger’s cucumbers grew on trellises—the hanging vines were empty!



“My cucumbers!” Roger screamed. “They’re all gone! I’ve been robbed!”



Before Mr. Yee or Benny could say anything, Roger hopped 13 onto his three-wheeled vehicle and roared away, still shouting.



“Poor Roger,” said Mr. Yee. “Another victim of this terrible, terrible garden thief.”



“Poor Mr. Walski,” said Benny. “He’s very upset. He isn’t as cool as a cucumber.”



1 thermal
adj.热的,由热造成的;保暖的
  • They will build another thermal power station.他们要另外建一座热能发电站。
  • Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。
2 scrambled
v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 );攀登;争夺;(军事飞机)紧急起飞
  • Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 stifling
a.令人窒息的
  • The weather is stifling. It looks like rain. 今天太闷热,光景是要下雨。
  • We were stifling in that hot room with all the windows closed. 我们在那间关着窗户的热屋子里,简直透不过气来。
4 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。
5 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。
6 lettuce
n.莴苣;生菜
  • Get some lettuce and tomatoes so I can make a salad.买些莴苣和西红柿,我好做色拉。
  • The lettuce is crisp and cold.莴苣松脆爽口。
7 spoke
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
8 shrugged
vt.耸肩(shrug的过去式与过去分词形式)
  • Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀,什么也没说。
  • She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩,装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 broccoli
n.绿菜花,花椰菜
  • She grew all the broccoli plants from seed.这些花椰菜都是她用种子培育出来的。
  • They think broccoli is only green and cauliflower is only white.他们认为西兰花只有绿色的,而菜花都是白色的。
10 zoomed
v.(飞机、汽车等)急速移动( zoom的过去式 );(价格、费用等)急升,猛涨
  • Traffic zoomed past us. 车辆从我们身边疾驰而过。
  • Cars zoomed helter-skelter, honking belligerently. 大街上来往车辆穿梭不停,喇叭声刺耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
11 strapped
adj.用皮带捆住的,用皮带装饰的;身无分文的;缺钱;手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词);用皮带抽打;包扎;给…打绷带
  • Make sure that the child is strapped tightly into the buggy. 一定要把孩子牢牢地拴在婴儿车上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The soldiers' great coats were strapped on their packs. 战士们的厚大衣扎捆在背包上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
12 maze
n.迷宫,八阵图,混乱,迷惑
  • He found his way through the complex maze of corridors.他穿过了迷宮一样的走廊。
  • She was lost in the maze for several hours.一连几小时,她的头脑处于一片糊涂状态。
13 hopped
跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 ); 单足蹦跳; 齐足(或双足)跳行; 摘葎草花
  • He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
  • He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车,向市区开去。
学英语单词
afetal
against one's grain
ammoresinol
amur cork-tree
anisomorphism
antiatherosclerosis
apple orchard
Bernhardt, Sarah
bheurs
binary code element set
blast air receiver
bounded uniform space
buffalograsses
cold reserve
collision avoidance radar
commotional
comparisons
data enable
Deaur. pil.
delay, node
dimorphic colony
disintergation
disulfocyanic acid
dual lens
education on demand
electric coil
Eugenia jambos
extranuclear nucleolus
fermionized
fillet brazing
film (conductance) coefficient
fischer rat (f344)
fixed on
Flos Chrysanthemi Indici
fluprednisolone
forced-circulation steam generator
fuer in fait
give someone the bum's rush
glucoverodoxin
high frequency communication
houchen
Ipomoea pavonii
IS10
iterative attenuation coefficient
keran
Knox, Henry
lamellibranchiate dentition
light bulb torus
local mean noon
lock stitch
Mach region
manang
micklethwait
mitospores
monel clad steel
monodichlamydeous
Mullaghbeg
multiple lipoma
multiply operation
myotenositis
nonindicating controller
nonproteogenic
oberkirchers
original horizontality
palmula
paracaecal
partially ordered set
Parvex
pilot (control) port
piozzis
platin-
productive procrastination
quick-response voltage control
recoil species
sandpapered nails
Schmidt corrector
screw up one's courage
self regulation
sensory rhizotomy of trigeminal nerve
short-hand
shotaro
sight ramp
single sensor
stagiaires
support(ing) skirt
syllogismhood
take freedoms with sb
theory of limit
tithes
to make sb acquainted with...
traveling comfort
trigesimal
turi
tweaky
twisting paper
uncellable bonds
unreversing
us-installeds
valve grinding emerypaste
VSEPR theory
vulgar latins
water-damage cargo