时间:2018-12-06 作者:英语课 分类:18 Bus Station Mystery


英语课

Frank 1 put the dead fish in the trunk of his car. He locked the door of his house, then he got in the driver’s seat. The Aldens slid in, with Benny and Henry sitting in front with Frank.



“I’m glad we don’t have the fish with us,” Violet 2 whispered 3 to Jessie.



They were soon at the bus station and Frank was unlocking 4 the door. He found Bill’s note and put it with the package that had come on the bus.



“If I close up like this in the morning, I don’t miss much business,” he said. “Too late for breakfast and too early for lunch.”



The Aldens had followed Frank into the station. They saw the sun shining in the clean windows. The flowers in the pots on the sills were bright and gay 5. Frank opened a window and the room was filled with a bird song.



Frank looked around as if the station was his own little kingdom. He said, “Sit down, kids, and let me tell you something. I think you’ll understand, and I need to talk to someone.”



The Aldens sat down quietly and waited. Frank was a puzzling person. He was angry one minute and gentle the next.



Frank reached down and pulled out the envelope Benny had handed him yesterday. He unfolded 6 the letter.



He began, “You saw the chimney 7 of the paint factory when you came to find me. The factory is right there on the river around a little bend from me. You might say it’s my neighbor.”



“We smelled it, too,” Benny said.



“ ’You can say that again,” said Henry.



“I will,” said Benny. “We smelled it, too.”



Frank laughed. “That’s just part of the problem. I don’t like it, but that isn’t the worst of it.”



Frank got up and put the letter down. He pulled out a big notebook. Opening it, he said, “I think you’ve guessed that maybe I’m not just a lunch-counter man and bus station keeper 8. I’m a chemist. I like living in a quiet place like this. I’m interested in growing plants without using chemicals. I like birds and wild animals. That’s why I’m here.”



“We understand,” Violet said quietly.



“Everything was fine until this Mr. Pickett came along and built his paint factory. There was no way to stop him. He bought the land. He could do what he liked out here in the country. He didn’t expect to bother anyone.”



“He can spoil 9 the river and no one will care?” Henry asked. “Is that what he thinks?”



“Yes,” Frank said. “But he is wrong. He has to be stopped. But how? That’s the question.”



Frank dropped his head in his hands. Then he went on quietly, “I did some experiments to show how the water from the factory pollutes the river. The chemicals are carried in the water. They kill fish and water plants. I thought that if I showed this notebook about my experiments to Mr. Pickett he would stop polluting.”



“But that didn’t work?” Benny asked.



Frank shook his head. “Mr. Pickett just said it was too bad, but lots of people have jobs at his factory. It was too late to build somewhere else.”



Benny looked angry. “Build somewhere else? Pollute somewhere else? That’s no answer.”



“That’s what I said,” Frank continued. “I told him that there are laws to stop pollution. He told me I was a troublemaker 10. He said he’d get rid of me.”



“How?” asked Jessie.



“Easy enough, I guess,” Frank said. “Mr. Pickett bought all the land along the river. That means 11 all the land around my house and garden. If he likes, he can keep me from getting to my house. That’s what he told me.”



“That’s not fair!” Henry said. “There must be some way to stop him.”



Frank said, “It takes money. I’d have to go to court. Anyway, now he has a new idea. He wants to buy my house and garden to make into a parking 12 lot for the factory workers. Imagine! Tear down my house. Cover my garden with blacktop. That’s what his letter to me was about. I’m not rich. I can’t fight him.”



The Aldens looked at each other. Benny decided 13 to ask another question. “What about Jud and Troy?”



“Yes,” Henry added 14. “We saw them giving out papers 15 at the bus station when our bus stopped yesterday.”



Frank gave his angry short laugh again. “Oh, yes! They think they can change things. They tried to show how important the river is to wildlife. Older people don’t pay attention to boys. Then they tried to line up some of the workers against the paint factory. You saw how that worked out.”



“Not at all,” Jessie said.



“Yesterday in Oakdale we heard about the town meeting tonight,” Henry said. “We know it’s about Mr. Pickett’s factory and the way it’s polluting the river. Are you going?”



“I’m going,” Frank answered. Then he shook his head. “But I don’t think there’ll be much of a crowd. Mr. Pickett and his workers and friends will be there. Nobody will do anything.”



Jessie said, “It sounded to us as if a lot of people want to save the river, just as you do. You’re not alone. You have to believe that.”



For a minute Frank did not say anything. Then he looked right at the Aldens. “That is good news. Do you know what I was going to do? I was going to take that dead fish to the town meeting and pass it around among the people. It was a stupid idea, but I was angry enough to do it.”



Benny liked the idea. He knew just how angry Frank felt. He said, “I don’t think that would be such a bad idea. It would show the townspeople just how bad the river is.”



Frank said, “If what you say is true and a lot of people really care, maybe we can save the river.”



Benny said in a rush, “I know we’re outsiders. But maybe we can help, too.”



“How?” asked Frank, looking surprised.



“Our grandfather has plastics factories. Maybe you have heard of him. He is Mr. James Alden. His factories don’t pollute any rivers. They don’t make any bad smells either. Let’s see if Grandfather will come to the town meeting. He’s a businessman. Perhaps he can talk to Mr. Pickett.”



Frank thought for a moment. Then he said, “It’s worth trying. Will he come?”



Benny said, “Let me call him right now. We Aldens always like to do things in a hurry!”



1 frank
adj.坦白的,直率的,真诚的
  • A frank discussion can help to clear the air.坦率的谈论有助于消除隔阂。
  • She is frank and outgoing.她很爽朗。
2 violet
adj.紫色的;n.紫罗兰
  • She likes to wear violet dresses.他喜欢穿紫色的衣服。
  • Violet is the color of wisdom,peace and strength.紫色是智慧的,和平的和力量的颜色。
3 whispered
adj.耳语的,低语的v.低声说( whisper的过去式和过去分词 );私语;小声说;私下说
  • She sidled up to me and whispered something in my ear. 她悄悄走上前来,对我耳语了几句。
  • His ill luck has been whispered about the neighborhood. 他的不幸遭遇已在邻居中传开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 unlocking
n.接通,开放,解锁v.开锁( unlock的现在分词 );开启;揭开;开着,解开
  • Unlocking DaVinci's Code separates the facts from the fiction. 《解开达西密码》将事实与小说区隔开来。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年5月号
  • All of these questions will be answered on Unlocking DaVinci's Code. 这些问题将于《解开达文西密码》中一一解答。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年5月号
5 gay
adj.同性恋的;色彩鲜艳的;n.(男)同性恋者
  • I don't know he was a gay person.我不知道他是同性恋者。
  • Spring comes round to the earth again and everything looks fresh and gay.春回大地,万象更新。
6 unfolded
adj.展开的,解开的v.显露,展现( unfold的过去式和过去分词 );展开,打开
  • As I opened the scroll, a panorama of the Yellow River unfolded. 我打开卷轴时,黄河的景象展现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The children listened enthralled as the storyteller unfolded her tale. 讲故事的人一步步展开故事情节,孩子们都听得入迷了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 chimney
n.烟囱,烟筒;玻璃罩
  • The chimney blew out a cloud of black smoke.烟囱里喷出一团黑烟。
  • His father is a chimney sweeper.他的父亲是一位扫烟囱的工人。
8 keeper
n.管理人,看守人,看护人,饲养员
  • He found a job as a keeper.他找到了一份当饲养员的工作。
  • He might lose his job as keeper.他也许会丢掉他当监护人的职位吧。
9 spoil
n.战利品,赃物,奖品,掠夺,次品;vt.损坏,破坏,溺爱;vi.腐坏,掠夺
  • Don't bunch the flowers up so tightly,you'll spoil them.别把花束得这么紧,会弄坏的。
  • Overacting will only spoil the effect.表演过火,效果反而不好。
10 troublemaker
n.惹是生非者,闹事者,捣乱者
  • I would hate you to think me a troublemaker.我不愿你认为我是个搬弄是非的人。
  • Li Yang has always been a troublemaker.李阳总是制造麻烦。
11 means
n.方法,手段,折中点,物质财富
  • That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
  • We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。
12 parking
n.停车,停机,停放
  • A bus is parking on the road.路上停着一辆公共汽车。
  • Next you must learn how to back a car into a parking space.下一步你应该学会如何把车倒入停车的空地。
13 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。
14 added
adj.更多的,附加的,额外的
  • They have added a new scene at the beginning.在开头他们又增加了一场戏。
  • The pop music added to our enjoyment of the film.片中的流行音乐使我们对这部电影更加喜爱。
15 papers
n.文件,纸币,论文
  • I want to check with my secretary before I sign the papers.在签署这些文件前,我要与我的秘书商议。
  • The lawyer read all the papers relating to the case.律师阅读了与该案有关的全部文件。
学英语单词
absolute constant
access time of an I/O device
acene
air evacuation valve
andic soil property
any more than
aucupation
aze
benzene-para-dicarboxylic acid
betutor
bingol (capakcur)
bisexous
Boehmeria grandifolia
booming noise
Bruay-sur-l'Escaut
burne-jones
Cape Vincent
Chasidim
check collection
Chinchane, Sebkha de
cloud transmission
cloxiquine
computer controlled telegraph switching
controvert
coolant-salt pump
croed
cycloversion
dial pilot lamp
digital video recorders
Dingla
double happiness
ephedrine spray
epithelioid body
Euschongastia lorius
extended port
extract blood from a turnip
flauberts
formidability
gastroenteroscopy
genus iliamnas
get sth out
given melody
granosolarium mirabilis
Grantown-on-Spey
HDCA
helm port
hereditarianist
hostesse
individual plant transplanting
interior measurement
internection
janjaweed
Karachaams
la vivandiere
lbws
Ligamentum palpebrale laterale
line boundary
liquia air
lurtsema
net steam pressure
nightwoods
nontraffic
orixa japonica thunb.
pamcreatin
phyllo
Pichia polymorpha
pleural plaque
predecesors
prt permissive power range
pseudomomentum
Rachycentron canadum
reduction potential
resomations
retrograde cholangiopancreatography
rosys
rotational hysteresis
Royle
rubberized breaker cord
side pieces
Simarouba amara
sit with someone
skler-
solarium
starch sweet corn
stilted vault
stretched pebble
structure backing
supranormal
thermie (th)
timesaving
turning block slider crank mechanism
two-dimensional field theory
UK gallon
undisponed
university of toronto
video controller
washhouses
water intoxication
winged shoulder
work marriage
Wundtian
Ximenean