时间:2018-12-06 作者:英语课 分类:35 The Mystery at the Dog Show


英语课

At last it was evening, and the contest the Best of Show, the best dog at the First Annual Greenfield Dog Show, was about to begin. In their ringside seats, the Aldens and Mrs. Teague leaned forward eagerly.



One by one the seven dogs were led into the center of the arena 1. As each dog walked in, the crowd cheered wildly. Every dog was a champion, even if it didn’t win Best of Show.



Lawrence Burger walked into the ring with Plum at his side. He had a confident, superior little smile on his face. Beside him, Plum looked every inch a winner.



The Aldens applauded with the rest of the crowd, not for Lawrence Burger, but for his dog.



Mr. Burger took up his place in the ring and turned to face the center.



There was a pause. Then Caryn, dressed in a long glittery skirt and a silky blouse, led Sunny into the ring.



The crowd cheered. The Aldens cheered loudest of all.



Then Violet touched Jessie’s arm to get her attention. “Look at Mr. Burger!”



Lawrence Burger wasn’t cheering. His face was turning red. He looked like he was about to explode.



“It can’t be,” he cried. “That dog can’t be here. I know because I left her at — ”



Suddenly he stopped, his mouth open, his face even redder.



“What did you say?” asked the judge. She walked over and stood in front of Lawrence Burger.



“Nothing … I mean …”



The judge held up her hand. Several officials and other judges hurried into the ring. They took Caryn and Sunny, and Lawrence Burger and Plum off to one side while the crowd buzzed with astonished talk.



The Aldens quickly went to join Caryn and Sunny. Dr. Scott left her seat across the arena and came down into the ring, too.



“I would like an explanation of what is going on at once,” said the judge sternly.



Lawrence Burger opened and closed his mouth like a fish gasping 2 for air.



“We can explain,” said Jessie, stepping forward.



“You? What do you know about this?” asked an official.



“A great deal,” said Caryn. “They’re the ones who found Sunny — and solved the mystery of why everything seemed to be going wrong at this dog show.”



“Very well,” said the judge. “Go ahead.”



The Aldens took turns explaining all of the things that had gone wrong at the dog show. Then Dr. Scott identified Lawrence Burger as the man who had brought Sunny into her office to board her that morning, signing his name as Mr. Smith. When they had finished, the judge turned to face Lawrence Burger. “Did you do all those things?” she asked.



The proud, unpleasant look had left Lawrence Burger’s face. Now he just looked miserable 3. “Yes,” he confessed. “It was me. I shaved Curly so he wouldn’t be able to compete for Best of Show. I knew that the dog favored to win the terrier group hated cats, so I — borrowed — that cat and turned it loose in the show. I even let out the air in the tires on Mrs. DeCicco’s assistant’s car. I hoped it would upset her and her dogs so much that they wouldn’t do well. And I — borrowed — Sunny and took her to this veterinarian’s office. I was going to go get her tomorrow morning and bring her back, honestly.”



The judge shook her head. “This is bad, very bad.” She and the other judges and officials stepped to one side and talked among themselves for a few minutes. Then the judge came back. “You are officially disqualified from this show. And you may be barred from showing dogs for a long time to come. You have disgraced the world of dog shows. And you have disgraced a fine dog. Your dog might well have won, fair and square. Now he may never get the chance to win again. You are dismissed.”



His head hanging, Lawrence Burger walked miserably 4 out of the ring. As they left, Plum licked his hand as if to try and comfort him. Mr. Burger looked down at Plum, stroked his head, then covered his eyes and hurried out of sight.



A few minutes later, the Reserve Champion was led into the arena to take Plum’s place. The contest for Best in Show began.



It seemed to take the judge forever to look at each dog.



“I wish the judge would hurry up and decide,” whispered Violet.



Mrs. Teague pressed her hand to her chest. “So do I!”



Henry leaned forward. “She must see that Caryn and Sunny are the best.”



“Oh, I hope so!” said Jessie.



“Go, go, go, Sunny,” said Benny.



At last the judge signaled for the seven dogs to circle the arena once more. And once again, the crowd cheered and cheered for the seven champions. Then the cheers rose to a thunder pitch as the judge pointed 5, 1, 2, 3, 4 for the dogs that won first, second, third, and fourth.



“She won! She won!” cried Henry, jumping up.



“HOORAY FOR SUNNY!” shouted Benny.



All of the Aldens began to hug each other and Mrs. Teague, who was dabbing 6 at her eyes with her sleeve. “Oh, I am so proud of Caryn and of Sunny,” she kept saying. “So proud of them both!”



“They’re real champions,” Jessie said. “Even after everything that happened, they went out and won.”



“Yes,” agreed Mrs. Teague. “Oh, yes.”



“Oh, good!” said Violet. “I was so excited that I almost didn’t realize it, but Mrs. DeCicco’s beagle Gloria came in second!”



“I’m so glad,” said Jessie wholeheartedly.



“Let’s go see everyone,” said Benny, bouncing out of his seat.



“Okay, Benny,” said Grandfather Alden. Together the Aldens and Mrs. Teague made their way through the excited crowd toward Sunny and Caryn.



“Congratulations!” called Violet as they passed Mrs. DeCicco, who was posing with Gloria for the photographers.



“Thank you!” answered Mrs. DeCicco, beaming. She kissed the top of Gloria’s head and Gloria licked Mrs. DeCicco’s face.



“Great shot,” said one of the photographers, and everyone laughed. A moment later, they joined the Teagues and Sunny.



Just then, a familiar couple went by. “Come on, Zonker,” said the polka-dot woman to the dalmatian at her side. “Time to go home.”



The man beside her said, “You know, after this show, I think you’re right. Maybe we all need a vacation.”



The woman smiled.



“Oh, good,” said Violet softly.



“Henry, Jessica, Violet, Benny — come have your photograph taken with us. After all, if it hadn’t been for you, Sunny wouldn’t have been in the show at all!” Caryn said.



“Wait a minute!” cried Benny. “We forgot! We forgot the surprise!” He ran back to their seats.



“What surprise?” Caryn asked.



“You’ll see,” promised Henry as Benny came running back with the banner under his arm. Quickly, the Aldens unfurled the banner and held it up.



Caryn laughed with delight. “It’s wonderful. Come on, let’s all have our picture taken with it!”



As the Aldens joined the Teagues and Sunny, a young man came up to them. “It’s a real scoop 7,” he said. “What a story! How about an exclusive interview?”



“Well,” said Jessie. Then she stopped. Her eyes widened. “I don’t believe it!” she said. “What are you doing here?”



“I’m a reporter,” said the man.



The Aldens all stared. It was the same man they had seen at the basset hound’s cage, and lurking 8 in the background when Curly had been shaved, and near the entrance where the cat had first been seen at the show.



“A reporter,” repeated Violet. “But what were you doing at the basset hound’s cage? And when Curly got shaved — you were right there!”



“Yes,” said Jessie. “And you were right there when the cat got in, too!”



The reporter shrugged 9. “That’s what reporters do. We go where the action is! Besides, I wanted to be anonymous 10 so I could get a real scoop. And I have!”



The Aldens burst out laughing at their mistake. “Great, great,” said the reporter. He turned to the photographer. “Did you get that shot, Mac?”



“You were great, Caryn,” said Henry.



Caryn gave Henry an excited little hug and he blushed as shyly as Violet. “Sunny was great,” she said, “thanks to you and your brother and sisters.”



“And Watch!” said Benny. He let go of his end of the banner, and flung his arms around Caryn and then around Sunny. “Watch is the one who really solved the mystery. He proved it was Sunny at Dr. Scott’s. Watch is a champion, too.”



“He certainly is,” said Caryn. She smiled down at Benny. “Hooray for Watch!”



“Hooray for Sunny and for Watch!” cried Benny.



1 arena
n.竞技场,运动场所;竞争场所,舞台
  • She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
  • He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。
2 gasping
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的
  • It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他,这是可耻的。
  • Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。
3 miserably
adv.痛苦地;悲惨地;糟糕地;极度地
  • The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。
  • It was drizzling, and miserably cold and damp. 外面下着毛毛细雨,天气又冷又湿,令人难受。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 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。
5 dabbing
石面凿毛,灰泥抛毛
  • She was crying and dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. 她一边哭一边用手绢轻按眼睛。
  • Huei-fang was leaning against a willow, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. 四小姐蕙芳正靠在一棵杨柳树上用手帕揉眼睛。 来自子夜部分
6 scoop
n.铲子,舀取,独家新闻;v.汲取,舀取,抢先登出
  • In the morning he must get his boy to scoop it out.早上一定得叫佣人把它剜出来。
  • Uh,one scoop of coffee and one scoop of chocolate for me.我要一勺咖啡的和一勺巧克力的。
7 lurking
潜在
  • Why are you lurking around outside my house? 你在我房子外面鬼鬼祟祟的,想干什么?
  • There is a suspicious man lurking in the shadows. 有一可疑的人躲在阴暗中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
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 anonymous
adj.无名的;匿名的;无特色的
  • Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
  • The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。
学英语单词
amalgamated consolidation
angustior
anticipated loss
antipoverty
automatic terminal information service
axle bolt
Beekfoot
bogaert
bosher
bounded jet
cape ra.
cfm
chemical engine hose
circuities
concurring
consolidation of stock
construction contract
cooling module
Dartmoor pony
defossilization
DESCOM
Distomatales
does a bear shit in the woods
dragged down
electoral court
embryomata
fast facsimile
female chests
fever with aversion to cold
following grouting
Fraxinus rhynchophylla
freies
fresh water goby
funboarder
Graef rotor
guaiacolates
Guerin process
hangerock
have a suit to
high speed reader
high-frequency microvoltmeter
high-speed test controller
imported cabbageworm
intracaudal
iron roll rice polisher
KCM
kerosene blast burner
Lage Zwaluwe
lionesque
locofoco
mediums
microprocessor based information system
Muraenolepididae
neutron excess number
nickel-rich
nmdar
nonrectilinear correlation
orientation phase
passenger number fluctuation coefficient
per nasal
perception(of)light
Pinoy
plaque mutants
preinstall
Pteroceras
quartz (controlled) oscillator
queloz
radar communication
railroad
redox resin
rhinocryptid
Rhizobacter
river gravel
robert floyd curl jr.s
rotating guide vane (rgv)
roundleaf bats
Saxbe fix
screen magnifier
Seller financing
shomyo
signed magnitude arithmetical
slap chip
sociodynamics
sparkling pistol
special emergency
spending boom
sports circles
spousy
Squad Halt
square stone
subtractive polarity
Tabacal, R.
teracycle
three circles theorem
too-close
translation memory
tungsten oxydifluoride
Turkistan
two component system
visual meteor
water roller
zduriencik