时间:2018-12-06 作者:英语课 分类:89 The Mystery of the Star Rub


英语课

The chalkboard outside the dining room announced possible storms later that day.



Violet read the breakfast menu printed below the weather forecast. “‘Contest Special—Native-Stone Buckets and Star Ruby 1 Muffins.’”



“We’re having dirt for breakfast?” Benny said. He liked playing in the dirt, but he didn’t want to eat any!



“Today is the last day of the contest,” said Grandfather. “Everybody will need a hearty 2 meal before going to work.”



The Aldens sat down at their table, greeting Sybil, Jonathan, and Donald.



Henry noticed that Donald and Sybil looked tired, as if neither had slept very well.



Maybe, he thought, one of them was up late, digging around the flume.



The waitress brought glasses of ruby-red grapefruit juice.



“How would you like your Miner’s eggs?” she asked, pen poised 3 over her pad.



Jonathan grinned. “How about Hard as a Rock?”



Violet giggled 4. Jonathan was always telling jokes! How could he be the thief?



After eating eggs, Star Ruby cranberry 5 muffins, and cups of Native-Stone Bucket granola, the Aldens walked down to the flume.



Cecil Knight 6 was busy at the booth, collecting entry fees and handing out pre-spaded buckets.



Donald was in line in front of the Aldens.



“I know what you do,” he accused Mr. Knight. “You salt those so-called native-stone buckets! You put a star ruby in some kid’s bucket, just to make me lose the contest!”



Donald’s voice was loud. Whispers rippled 7 through the line.



“That is not true,” Cecil said reasonably. “I run an honest operation here, just as my parents did when they bought the mine fifty years ago.”



“It seems awfully 8 funny that that kid—” Donald jerked his thumb toward Jessie— “found a star ruby when no one else has found one since 1988.”



“Everyone has an equal chance,” Cecil said. “That’s the fun of panning. Now, what will you have today, Mr. Hodge?”



Donald ordered seven native-stone buckets.



While Grandfather was buying a “rainbow” bucket for each of them, Henry watched Donald walk down to the flume.



How did Donald know the last star ruby found at the Ruby Hollow Mine was in 1988? he wondered.



“What’s supposed to be in a rainbow bucket?” Jessie asked Jonathan as they picked up trays.



“Rubies, sapphires 10, emeralds, pink sapphires,” Jonathan replied. “Stones the colors of the rainbow.”



After two hours of panning, Henry found an emerald and Benny found a blue sapphire 9. Jessie’s bucket yielded a pink sapphire. Violet was delighted to find a purple stone called an amethyst 11. Purple was her favorite color.



When their buckets were empty, the kids cleaned up at the pump.



“I have something to check out,” Henry said in a low voice. “Let’s go back to the main building.”



“You know who’s missing here?” Jessie observed as they put their trays back on the stack. “Sybil.”



“You’re right,” said Benny. “She’s always down here working. I wonder where she is today.”



Away from the flume line, Henry told the others about Donald’s remark. “How did he know when the last star ruby was found here?” he said.



“Maybe he read about it—there are a lot of newspaper articles on the wall in the lobby” said Violet.



“There’s Sybil,” Benny said.



The older woman carried a Ruby Hollow laundry basket up the path to the Laundromat. A white shirt dropped off the pile, but Sybil hurried on, unaware 12.



Benny ran ahead and picked up the shirt. He started to call out to Sybil when he noticed something.



“What is it?” asked Jessie.



“Look,” he said. “The sleeve is ripped. Do you think that piece of cloth we found would fit?”



“Good thinking!” Henry praised. “Jessie, do you have that scrap 13 with you?”



Jessie pulled the cloth from her pack, where she kept the warning note and the list from Jonathan’s notebook. She placed the scrap over the rectangular-shaped tear in the shirt.



Violet squinted 14. “It doesn’t quite fit. One side is too long.”



Henry held the shirt up to the light. “The material doesn’t match.” He pointed 15 to the faint stain on the scrap. “This shirt doesn’t have any stains.”



“So it’s not a good clue,” said Benny, disappointed.



“We could be on the right track,” Henry said. “Sybil had a lot of white clothes in her basket.”



“I wonder if there’s a stained shirt in her laundry,” Violet mused 16.



“We have to watch her,” said Jessie. “And Donald and Jonathan. It’s hard to watch all these people when they are in different places. I wish they would stay in one spot!”



“That may not happen till this evening,” said Violet with a sigh. “When the contest is judged.”



“We have to find the ruby before then,” Benny stated.



During lunch, Cecil Knight announced that the flume would close at five that evening, so the contest could be judged at six.



Jessie was glad. With only a few hours to find a special stone, everyone spent the afternoon on the flume, including Sybil, Donald, and Jonathan.



To make the time pass, Jonathan started telling jokes.



“Where do cows go on vacation?” he said to Benny.



“I don’t know,” Benny said. “Where?”



“Moo York!”



“Bad!” Violet declared, giggling 17. “But funny!”



“Where does a two-thousand-pound elephant sleep?” Jonathan asked.



“I give up,” Benny said. “Where?”



“Anywhere he wants!” said Jonathan.



“I have one!” Benny said. “Where do rocks sleep?” Without waiting for anyone to guess, he blurted 18, “In a bed of rocks!”



“That’s pretty good!” said Sybil, chuckling 19.



Jessie thought about Benny’s joke. In a bed of rocks. It reminded her of something. But what? The thought nagged 20 at her while she rinsed 21 and sorted her stones.



After a while, she heard someone say, “Uh-oh.”



Donald Hodge pointed to the sky.



Black clouds had formed over the mountain. Thunder grumbled 22. The weather forecast had been right on target.



Cecil Knight ordered, “Get inside! Get away from the water until the storm is over!”



“These mountain thunderstorms sure come up quickly,” Grandfather said, herding 24 the children up the trail to the main building.



Hot chocolate and oatmeal cookies were served in the dining room while the storm rumbled 23 around them. Lightning flickered 25 above the trees and sheets of rain dashed against the windows.



“I hope that library in town doesn’t get hit again,” said Violet.



“This isn’t a very bad storm,” Cecil Knight reassured 26 her. “The sun will be shining again before we know it.”



Within minutes the sky lightened and the downpour slowed to a drizzle 27.



While people chatted over hot chocolate and cookies, Jessie went over to the windows. Rainwater formed a small river across the parking lot.



The runoff was pretty strong, Jessie noticed. The muddy water reminded her of something.



“Let’s go down to the flume,” she whispered to the others.



They slipped out of the dining room unnoticed and ran down the trail. Water dripped from the roof of the flume and the grass was slick with rain.



“Okay, why are we here?” Henry asked Jessie.



She handed out spades. “I think I know what the mystery digger was doing.”



“What?” asked Violet.



“Our mystery digger wasn’t trying to find something,” Jessie answered. “He—or she—was trying to hide something.”



She pushed her spade into the wet dirt of the “dump” pile where people emptied ore from their trays.



Violet, Henry and Benny began digging, too.



They didn’t have to dig long. The heavy rains had washed away most of the pile.



“I hit something!” Benny exclaimed. “My spade scraped over something hard.”



Jessie knelt down and pulled the object out of the hole, revealing a mud-caked square box.



“What is that?” asked Henry.



Jessie pried 28 open the lid of the container. Inside, wrapped in damp tissue, was a single large stone.



“It’s the star ruby,” she proclaimed.

 



1 ruby
n.红宝石,红宝石色
  • She is wearing a small ruby earring.她戴着一枚红宝石小耳环。
  • On the handle of his sword sat the biggest ruby in the world.他的剑柄上镶有一颗世上最大的红宝石。
2 hearty
adj.热情友好的;衷心的;尽情的,纵情的
  • After work they made a hearty meal in the worker's canteen.工作完了,他们在工人食堂饱餐了一顿。
  • We accorded him a hearty welcome.我们给他热忱的欢迎。
3 poised
a.摆好姿势不动的
  • The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋,准备俯冲。
  • Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张,手悬在电话机上。
4 giggled
v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 )
  • The girls giggled at the joke. 女孩子们让这笑话逗得咯咯笑。
  • The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
5 cranberry
n.梅果
  • Turkey reminds me of cranberry sauce.火鸡让我想起梅果酱。
  • Actually I prefer canned cranberry sauce.事实上我更喜欢罐装的梅果酱。
6 knight
n.骑士,武士;爵士
  • He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
  • A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。
7 rippled
使泛起涟漪(ripple的过去式与过去分词形式)
  • The lake rippled gently. 湖面轻轻地泛起涟漪。
  • The wind rippled the surface of the cornfield. 微风吹过麦田,泛起一片麦浪。
8 awfully
adv.可怕地,非常地,极端地
  • Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
  • I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。
9 sapphire
n.青玉,蓝宝石;adj.天蓝色的
  • Now let us consider crystals such as diamond or sapphire.现在让我们考虑象钻石和蓝宝石这样的晶体。
  • He left a sapphire ring to her.他留给她一枚蓝宝石戒指。
10 sapphires
n.蓝宝石,钢玉宝石( sapphire的名词复数 );蔚蓝色
  • Again there was that moment of splintered sapphires before the lids, dropping like scales, extinguished it. 她眼眶中又闪烁出蓝宝石的光彩,接着眼睑象鱼鳞般地垂落下来,双目又黯然失色了。 来自辞典例句
  • She also sported a somewhat gawdy gold watch set with diamonds and sapphires. 她还收到一块镶着钻石和蓝宝石的金表。 来自辞典例句
11 amethyst
n.紫水晶
  • She pinned a large amethyst brooch to her lapel.她在翻领上别了一枚大大的紫水晶饰针。
  • The exquisite flowers come alive in shades of amethyst.那些漂亮的花儿在紫水晶的映衬下显得格外夺目。
12 unaware
a.不知道的,未意识到的
  • They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
  • I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。
13 scrap
n.碎片;废料;v.废弃,报废
  • A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
  • Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。
14 squinted
斜视( squint的过去式和过去分词 ); 眯着眼睛; 瞟; 从小孔或缝隙里看
  • Pulling his rifle to his shoulder he squinted along the barrel. 他把枪顶肩,眯起眼睛瞄准。
  • I squinted through the keyhole. 我从锁眼窥看。
15 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。
16 mused
v.沉思,冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 );沉思自语说(某事)
  • \"I wonder if I shall ever see them again, \"he mused. “我不知道是否还可以再见到他们,”他沉思自问。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • \"Where are we going from here?\" mused one of Rutherford's guests. 卢瑟福的一位客人忍不住说道:‘我们这是在干什么?” 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
17 giggling
v.咯咯地笑( giggle的现在分词 )
  • We just sat there giggling like naughty schoolchildren. 我们只是坐在那儿像调皮的小学生一样的咯咯地傻笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I can't stand her giggling, she's so silly. 她吃吃地笑,叫我真受不了,那样子傻透了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
18 blurted
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》
19 chuckling
轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 )
  • I could hear him chuckling to himself as he read his book. 他看书时,我能听见他的轻声发笑。
  • He couldn't help chuckling aloud. 他忍不住的笑了出来。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
20 nagged
adj.经常遭责怪的;被压制的;感到厌烦的;被激怒的v.不断地挑剔或批评(某人)( nag的过去式和过去分词 );不断地烦扰或伤害(某人);无休止地抱怨;不断指责
  • The old woman nagged (at) her daughter-in-law all day long. 那老太婆一天到晚地挑剔儿媳妇的不是。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She nagged him all day long. 她一天到晚地说他。 来自《简明英汉词典》
21 rinsed
v.漂洗( rinse的过去式和过去分词 );冲洗;用清水漂洗掉(肥皂泡等);(用清水)冲掉
  • She rinsed out the sea water from her swimming-costume. 她把游泳衣里的海水冲洗掉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The clothes have been rinsed three times. 衣服已经洗了三和。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
22 grumbled
抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 ); 发牢骚; 咕哝; 发哼声
  • He grumbled at the low pay offered to him. 他抱怨给他的工资低。
  • The heat was sweltering, and the men grumbled fiercely over their work. 天热得让人发昏,水手们边干活边发着牢骚。
23 rumbled
发出隆隆声,发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 ); 轰鸣着缓慢行进; 发现…的真相; 看穿(阴谋)
  • The machine rumbled as it started up. 机器轰鸣着发动起来。
  • Things rapidly became calm, though beneath the surface the argument rumbled on. 事情迅速平静下来了,然而,在这种平静的表面背后争论如隆隆雷声,持续不断。
24 herding
中畜群
  • The little boy is herding the cattle. 这个小男孩在放牛。
  • They have been herding cattle on the tableland for generations. 他们世世代代在这高原上放牧。
25 flickered
(通常指灯光)闪烁,摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 )
  • The lights flickered and went out. 灯光闪了闪就熄了。
  • These lights flickered continuously like traffic lights which have gone mad. 这些灯象发狂的交通灯一样不停地闪动着。
26 reassured
adj.使消除疑虑的;使放心的v.再保证,恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词)
  • The captain's confidence during the storm reassured the passengers. 在风暴中船长的信念使旅客们恢复了信心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • The doctor reassured the old lady. 医生叫那位老妇人放心。 来自《简明英汉词典》
27 drizzle
v.下毛毛雨;n.毛毛雨,蒙蒙细雨
  • The shower tailed off into a drizzle.阵雨越来越小,最后变成了毛毛雨。
  • Yesterday the radio forecast drizzle,and today it is indeed raining.昨天预报有小雨,今天果然下起来了。
28 pried
v.打听,刺探(他人的私事)( pry的过去式和过去分词 );撬开
  • We pried open the locked door with an iron bar. 我们用铁棍把锁着的门撬开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • So Tom pried his mouth open and poured down the Pain-killer. 因此汤姆撬开它的嘴,把止痛药灌下去。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
学英语单词
AC-B
Ache and Pain
aerial pingpong
Aladdin's ring
aurous bromaurate
autonomous jurisdiction
back at the farm
backspace mechanism
bad endings
bird species
bit intervals
Burki
calibration time
cambells
cefriti
Cephalaspida
cheeped
cidariplura nigrisigna
clevis joint
critical point
double ribbon agitator
encumbering
enormous great
experimental model school
federal discount window
first saloon passenger
focusing conditions
fuel cycle costs
geared traction machine
gravitics
gravity anchor
half-cell reaction
hardened and tempered
helical waveguide
hereditary hydrocephalus
heterocercal
hidden city
high temperature materials
homedebtor
hook-shaped
image-
inartificial
indoor ventilation
jarringly
lactalase
lateralling
lead-base white metal linings
lesdar
line-printing
local focal length
monochaetia desmaytia sacc.
mordaciids
Mr. Right
multi finality
Nachalovo
natroxalate
nylon tube
oriented real hypersphere
paper technology
partan method
pension insurance
petrol-pump
phenylamine acetosalicylate
phoma glumarum ellis et tracy
piping flow sheet
placcntal barrier
ploes of the heaven
polarde
Polyphaga Sp.
power system element
principal axis of strain
Puccinia lysimachiae
pulse radar
put one's right hand to something
recorded-music
regular closed subset
reguli falsi
reinforceable
reverse osmosis desaltinating
rocket belts
run-time storage organization
scabicides
scintillation coincidence spectrometer
searching AND/OR graph
semaphore casting
semen bank
sequential similarity detection algorithm
setling
shoe-in
situatedness
sleaziness
so that
soulfully
stemmatological
tell it to the judge
three-eyed
train rear end air pressure feedback
udad
vogueish
waivure
workest
Xiphisteridae