时间:2018-12-06 作者:英语课 分类:78 The Mystery in the Computer


英语课

The Aldens and Soo Lee didn’t waste any time getting to Computer City. They passed aisles 3 of games without stopping to check the brightly colored boxes. They were in a hurry.



Henry went straight to the shelves of software designed to fix computer problems.



“That sign says, ‘Ringmaster II Coming Soon,’ ” Benny said. “It came to our house already.”



A young man in a red shirt came over.



“May I help you?”



“Do you have the Fix-It program?” Henry asked. “We’re having some problems with a computer network we’re on. I heard that Fix-It can help.”



The man handed a Fix-It box to Henry. “Here you go. Anything else?”



“No, but thanks,” Henry said. “Well, I do have one question. Are there any games where players somehow use photos to make up their own characters?”



The man laughed. “Whoever figures out how to make that idea work is going to be a millionaire. I’ve heard rumors 4 that a couple of companies are trying something like that out—using a scanner to put photos of real people or places in a game to make it more realistic and fun. Of course, the photo-faces will move and change expression, too. Right now, I don’t think anybody has figured out exactly how a player can do that at home.”



The Aldens tried to hide their excitement. They had a feeling someone they knew was getting pretty close to figuring out exactly how to do that.



“Thanks,” Henry said to the salesman. “Okay, everybody, let’s go pay for this.”



There was a long line at the checkout 5 counter. While Henry waited, the other children browsed 6 through a display of new games. While they were reading the game boxes, they overheard 7 a familiar voice talking loudly in the next aisle 2. It sounded like the person was talking on the phone.



“It doesn’t matter that it won’t work,” a woman’s voice said. “I just have to show up with something. When it doesn’t work, that will give us more time.”



Jessie put her finger to her lips when she noticed Benny was about to say something. “Shhh,” she whispered. “Let’s go.” Benny took Soo Lee’s hand and they started walking.



After the Aldens left the store, Benny blurted 8 out to Henry what he had been holding in. “Jane Driver was in the store, but she didn’t see us.”



Henry was amazed. “Everywhere we go, she goes.”



“Never mind that,” Jessie said. “Everywhere she goes, Ned Porter goes, too. There’s his green car in the corner of the parking lot.”



The Aldens waved several times at Ned. First he ignored them. Then he started his car and left the parking lot in a hurry.



When the children got home, they saw a familiar blue bicycle leaning against the picket 9 fence.



“Isn’t that Andy’s bike?” Benny asked as they went inside through the kitchen door. “I’m going to give him that piece of paper he dropped.”



“Shhh,” Jessie said. “Let’s wait to see what he says first. I want to find out why he keeps coming over here.”



Mrs. McGregor spied the Computer City bag Henry was carrying. “Another computer bag?” she said. “Your friend Andy just went into the den 1 with a bag from that store. I hope you didn’t both buy the same thing.”



 “I sure hope not, Mrs. McGregor,” Henry said.



When Andy saw the children come into the den, he clicked off the screen he’d been working on. He picked up a Computer City bag and pulled out his own Fix-It software box.



“Wait!” Henry said, holding up his own bag. “We just bought the same program. I think we can take over now. You must have a lot of other things to do at QuestMaster.”



Andy seemed very nervous. “Well, this morning C.D. said to come over anyway.”



Henry looked at Andy for a long time. “Are you sure? He told us he was going to the city to get a special chip Jane was supposed to get.”



Andy’s face grew pale. “What are you talking about?”



Henry decided 10 to be mysterious. “Nothing we can talk about. Now maybe you can tell us why you left so fast when we ran into you at the Big Dipper. And why you’re here again.”



Andy swallowed hard before he answered. “I told you. I’m supposed to help get the network going from your computer.”



Henry was usually pretty easygoing, but not today. “Well, this is our computer now, and we need to learn how to fix it ourselves. Thanks for offering to help, but don’t bother installing the Fix-It program. We’ll use our own.”



Benny tugged 11 on Jessie’s hand. He showed her the crumpled 12 paper he’d picked up at the ice-cream stand. Jessie shook her head as if to say no.



Too late. Andy spotted 13 the paper. He blushed 14. “Where’d you get that? I was looking for it. I have some notes on there that I need. I guess I dropped it—by mistake, of course.”



Jessie stepped in front of Benny. “Hold on a second, Andy. Tell us what’s on it first. Maybe it doesn’t belong to you.”



“It’s an appointment I wrote down that Jane had at three o’clock today,” he said, reaching for the paper.



Jessie pulled it away. “But that’s not exactly what it says. It must belong to someone else.”



With five pairs of eyes staring at him, Andy Porter knew the Aldens weren’t handing over that note. He turned and left.



After she heard the door close, Jessie read the note. “Andy was wrong. He said the name was Jane, but it says Nadje.”



Henry put down the Fix-It box he was about to open. “Wait a minute. Repeat what you just said.”



Jessie wrinkled 15 her forehead. “Okay. The name on this paper is Nadje. ... Hmmm. Nadje looks an awful lot like Jane. It has the same letters plus the first letter of her last name—D.”



“But Nadje is a two-faced witch,” Benny said, “and Jane is just a regular person.”



“Maybe Jane is two-faced!” Jessie said excitedly. “Maybe she acts one way at QuestMaster but another way ...” Her voice trailed off.



She turned to Henry. “Didn’t C.D. say he was having a meeting tomorrow?”



Henry nodded.



“Okay. Here’s what we do,” Jessie went on. “Let’s bring this computer to the office. We’ll say we were having problems with it and ask Jane, Ned, and Andy to help us out. There’s something about our Ringmaster II program that is different. I have a feeling one of those people knows what it is.”



1 den
n.兽穴;秘密地方;安静的小房间,私室
  • There is a big fox den on the back hill.后山有一个很大的狐狸窝。
  • The only way to catch tiger cubs is to go into tiger's den.不入虎穴焉得虎子。
2 aisle
n.(教堂、教室、戏院等里的)过道,通道
  • The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
  • The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。
3 aisles
n. (席位间的)通道, 侧廊
  • Aisles were added to the original Saxon building in the Norman period. 在诺曼时期,原来的萨克森风格的建筑物都增添了走廊。
  • They walked about the Abbey aisles, and presently sat down. 他们走到大教堂的走廊附近,并且很快就坐了下来。
4 rumors
n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 );[古]名誉;咕哝;[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 );[古]名誉;咕哝;[古]喧嚷
  • Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》
5 checkout
n.(超市等)收银台,付款处
  • Could you pay at the checkout.你能在结帐处付款吗。
  • A man was wheeling his shopping trolley to the checkout.一个男人正推着购物车向付款台走去。
6 browsed
v.吃草( browse的过去式和过去分词 );随意翻阅;(在商店里)随便看看;(在计算机上)浏览信息
  • I browsed through some magazines while I waited. 我边等边浏览几本杂志。 来自辞典例句
  • I browsed through the book, looking at page after page. 我翻开了一下全书,一页又一页。 来自互联网
7 overheard
v.突然说出,脱口而出( blurt的过去式和过去分词 )
  • She blurted it out before I could stop her. 我还没来得及制止,她已脱口而出。
  • He blurted out the truth, that he committed the crime. 他不慎说出了真相,说是他犯了那个罪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 picket
n.纠察队;警戒哨;v.设置纠察线;布置警卫
  • They marched to the factory and formed a picket.他们向工厂前进,并组成了纠察队。
  • Some of the union members did not want to picket.工会的一些会员不想担任罢工纠察员。
9 decided
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
10 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》
11 crumpled
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。
12 Blushed
adj.有皱纹的v.使起皱纹( wrinkle的过去式和过去分词 );(尤指皮肤)起皱纹
  • She smoothed down a wrinkled tablecloth. 她把起皱的桌布熨平了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • A wrinkled purse,a wrinkled face. 手中无钱,愁容满面。 来自《简明英汉词典》
学英语单词
a bogan
ac power line
aeroprojector
all types
annual tuberculosis infection rate
bad night
bargaining positions
bidirectional triode thyristor
bigaroon
Billockby
biopsychosocial model
bond-trading activities
bore diameter
burnet saxifrag
chemical esophagitis
Chigualoco
community biocoenose
compound-radius
Corylus heterophylla Fisch.
criminal procedure
curliness
demodicid
dihydrobenzene
distributed emission photodiode
dog's violet
dollar equivalents
dynamic temperature
eared-pheasant
encephalohemia
endproducts
Esperantina
Euphorbia pekinensis Rupr.
expropriable
fungus pit
gastric evacuation
Gorrino
grasshopper
height adjustment
height of overall transfer unit
hemophilia
Hiberno-Saxon
humongoid
indium(iii) acetylacetonate
integral fuel tank
irradiance ratio
klaa
laryngeal perichondritis
laser activity
lens radial distortion
local subchannel blockage
lurexes
macaronian
memory rewind
monopolizes
multi way
Myrmeleon
natural steatite
neuropterid
notority
numerical approximation
nyn
orthophosphates
Pereyaslav-Khmel'nyts'kyy
plant location
pneumarthrogra
prepayment
print fonts
problem spaces
pull off section
purchases ledger
pushkarov
put on the suit
quangocracies
quantum index of imports
radio frequency carrier shift
radiogeodesy
radiolocation
Radstock, C.
running service
self-tightening lever clip
semi-pyritic smelting
semi-regenerated fibre
shock interrogation
sitchensis
soaked and mildewed
Solidago decurrens
Strix nebulosa
summer boarder
syntectonic environment
tangulashanensis
Teresa,Mother
title of nobility
to wear out
tool swivel slide
transducer dynamic draft
under-current release
unenrichableness
universal solvents
us ultrasound
VLTV
wound gall
zenithal orthomorphic projection