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儿童英语读物 The Vanishing Passenger CHAPTER 8 The Little Engines That Couldn’t

时间:2017-11-22 05:45:10

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(单词翻译)

“I think you were right, Henry,” Jessie said, still staring at the two pictures. “Mr. Finch1 and Mr. Van Buren don’t seem to be enemies at all.”

“And I was thinking about something,” Violet added. “Remember that book Mr. Finch published a long time ago called Lost in the Mountains?”

“That was one of the best ever!” Benny proclaimed.

“It sure was,” Violet agreed. “And remember the dedication2 page? He wrote,

‘This one is for Danny Boy.’ What if Danny Boy was Mr. Van Buren? His first name is Daniel, after all.”

“And there was also a character in that story named ‘Dennis Van Bowlen,’ wasn’t there?” Jessie asked.

“That’s right,” Henry replied. “I’ll bet Mr. Finch named him in honor of Van Buren. The two names are certainly very similar.”

Jessie was nodding. “I think it’s clear where we need to go next.”

“It sure is,” Henry replied.

Jenna was kind enough to give the Aldens a lift to Daniel Van Buren’s home during her lunch break. As soon as they made their way down the winding3 gravel4 driveway the house came into view, they all stopped, speechless.

“Are you all thinking what I’m thinking?” Jessie asked.

“I think so,” Violet replied.

Daniel Van Buren’s home was clearly an old barn. It was painted white, but a few cracks around the edges revealed that the original color was red. And the shutters5 on either side of the windows were black.

“Just like in that article we read,” Henry said.

Violet was nodding. “This is where Mr. Finch sometimes goes to write. This is his secret hideaway!”

“So much for them being enemies!” Benny said.

Standing6 on the front step, they rang the bell and waited. A moment later, the enormous door flew back, and an older woman stood there with her hands on her hips7.

“Yes?”

“Uh, I’m sorry,” Jessie began, “but could you please tell us if Mr. Van Buren is home?”

“No, not since early yesterday. Who may I ask is calling?”

“We’re the Aldens,” Henry told her, “and we’re trying to find a friend of his. His name is Gilbert Finch.”

“Ah yes, Gilbert. He was here up until a little while ago, I believe. I’m Rita, Mr. Van Buren’s housekeeper8.”

“Oh, okay,” Henry said. “Well, we need to find Mr. Finch. You said he was here?”

“Yes, although I’m not sure when. I’ve been visiting my sister since yesterday afternoon, so I’ve been out. But Gilbert has his own key, and he sure left a mess for me to clean up.”

“What kind of a mess?” Violet asked.

“Wet clothes?” Jessie guessed.

“Muddy shoes?” Henry added.

“Yes, that’s right. How did you know?”

“We’re detectives!” Benny told Rita, and then Henry gave her a quick rundown of everything that had happened so far.

When he was finished, Rita said, “Well, maybe you can tell me what this is, then.” She turned the broom around and pulled out some fine white hair. “I’ve never seen anything like it in the house before.”

Jessie took a handful and examined it. The others did the same. There was little doubt as to what it was …

“Dog hair,” Jessie said.

“Dog hair?” Rita groaned9 and shook her head. “I’ll have to do the floors again.”

Henry said, “Do you mind if we come in and take a quick look around for more clues? If we see any more dog hair, we promise to clean it up.”

“Sure. Just don’t make a mess.”

“We won’t,” Jessie assured her.

They went from room to room, looking and not touching10. There was a small laundry area in the back, with a washer and dryer11. The children found two small bowls on the floor. One still had some cracker12 crumbs13 in the bottom, and the other had a tiny puddle14 of water. Then they found Finch’s rain-soaked clothes in the sink—a handsome houndstooth blazer, a torn white dress shirt, and a pair of black leather shoes that were probably very nice at one time but now appeared completely ruined. And lying in a nearby trash can was a cell phone. When the Aldens tried turning it on, nothing happened—it was ruined.

When they went upstairs, they found two towels piled in a corner of Van Buren’s guest room—one was stained with dirt, the other had more fine white hair all over it. It also had that same horrible dog-shampoo smell that was in the fourth car of the train.

“He must’ve taken a shower with one towel, and dried off the dog with the other,” Henry said. They also noticed that the bed had been slept in. It was still unmade.

Jessie picked up the telephone on the nightstand and put it to her ear. “Still doesn’t work,” she said. “So that explains why he didn’t call us again.”

The others nodded as these pieces of this mystery fell neatly15 into place.

“But then we end up with the same problem as before,” Jessie told them. “Which is …”

“Where is he now?” asked Violet. “We keep missing him!” Benny said.

“Exactly,” Henry replied. “We’re on the right trail, but we’re too far behind.”

Violet looked at a pendulum16 clock that was hanging on the wall. “And there’s so little time left before the reading at the library!”

Then Jessie said, “I’ve been thinking … if you came here out of the blue, just like Mr. Finch did, stayed the night, took some clothes and some food, and then left—and the person who owned the house was an old friend—wouldn’t you leave a note of some kind?”

“I certainly would,” Violet said.

Henry snapped his fingers. “Hey, remember in that one book of his, The Jade17 Flower of Japan, when the boy left the message for his mom by putting it on the computer?”

“Oh yeah!” Jessie said. “Then he turned off the screen so those guys chasing him wouldn’t see it!”

“But he knew his mom would, as soon as she turned it on again.”

“Do you think Mr. Finch did that here?” Violet asked.

“It’s worth checking out,” Henry replied. “We didn’t see a note anywhere else, and Van Buren is probably on his computer every day. It’s the perfect place to put it.”

The Aldens hurried down the hall and back into Mr. Van Buren’s office. It was a warm and cheerful place, especially for anyone who liked to read—the walls were covered floor-to-ceiling with bookcases and filled with books of every kind. Three huge windows provided a breathtaking view of the hills and mountains beyond. And in the center of the room was Van Buren’s enormous oak desk, covered with papers and more books. His computer was running, the children could tell, because they could hear the hum of the hard drive and the whir of the fan. But the monitor—just as in Finch’s story—was off.

“Here goes,” Henry said, pushing the button. It took a moment for the screen to light up, but when it did, they knew they’d been right. The message was right in front of them. Henry read it aloud:

    Danny Boy,

    Sorry about the mess—so much has happened since yesterday. I’ll give you the details when I see you. In the meantime, I have to go to the library in Greenfield to meet with some readers. Since I missed the train and there aren’t any others scheduled to go down there today, I’m taking your other car, the old one. I hope you don’t mind!

    -Gil

    PS—I read some of your new book—the one that’s sitting on your desk here—and it stinks18.

Henry chuckled19. “Just what I thought—they don’t hate each other. They’re just rivals, that’s all.”

“What’s a rival?” Benny asked.

“Someone who’s trying to outdo you. Mr. Van Buren is trying to sell more books than Mr. Finch. But they’re obviously good friends. They just enjoy teasing each other. That’s all Mr. Van Buren was doing at the library when he was moving around Finch’s books—just giving him a hard time. They’ve probably been doing it to each other for years.”

“And what about this other car?” Jessie said. “Does Mr. Van Buren have an old car?”

Then a voice came from behind them, and it certainly wasn’t Rita’s voice.

“Yes I do,” Daniel Van Buren replied, standing in the doorway20. “And it appears that my friend Finch has taken it. But it has a little problem, I’m afraid—it doesn’t run very well.”
 


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 finch TkRxS     
n.雀科鸣禽(如燕雀,金丝雀等)
参考例句:
  • This behaviour is commonly observed among several species of finch.这种行为常常可以在几种雀科鸣禽中看到。
  • In Australia,it is predominantly called the Gouldian Finch.在澳大利亚,它主要还是被称之为胡锦雀。
2 dedication pxMx9     
n.奉献,献身,致力,题献,献辞
参考例句:
  • We admire her courage,compassion and dedication.我们钦佩她的勇气、爱心和奉献精神。
  • Her dedication to her work was admirable.她对工作的奉献精神可钦可佩。
3 winding Ue7z09     
n.绕,缠,绕组,线圈
参考例句:
  • A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
  • The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。
4 gravel s6hyT     
n.砂跞;砂砾层;结石
参考例句:
  • We bought six bags of gravel for the garden path.我们购买了六袋碎石用来铺花园的小路。
  • More gravel is needed to fill the hollow in the drive.需要更多的砾石来填平车道上的坑洼。
5 shutters 74d48a88b636ca064333022eb3458e1f     
百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 ); (照相机的)快门
参考例句:
  • The shop-front is fitted with rolling shutters. 那商店的店门装有卷门。
  • The shutters thumped the wall in the wind. 在风中百叶窗砰砰地碰在墙上。
6 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • 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。
7 hips f8c80f9a170ee6ab52ed1e87054f32d4     
abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯,耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 );[建筑学]屋脊;臀围(尺寸);臀部…的
参考例句:
  • She stood with her hands on her hips. 她双手叉腰站着。
  • They wiggled their hips to the sound of pop music. 他们随着流行音乐的声音摇晃着臀部。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 housekeeper 6q2zxl     
n.管理家务的主妇,女管家
参考例句:
  • A spotless stove told us that his mother is a diligent housekeeper.炉子清洁无瑕就表明他母亲是个勤劳的主妇。
  • She is an economical housekeeper and feeds her family cheaply.她节约持家,一家人吃得很省。
9 groaned 1a076da0ddbd778a674301b2b29dff71     
v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 );发牢骚;抱怨;受苦
参考例句:
  • He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
  • The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
10 touching sg6zQ9     
adj.动人的,使人感伤的
参考例句:
  • It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
  • His letter was touching.他的信很感人。
11 dryer PrYxf     
n.干衣机,干燥剂
参考例句:
  • He bought a dryer yesterday.他昨天买了一台干燥机。
  • There is a washer and a dryer in the basement.地下室里有洗衣机和烘干机。
12 cracker svCz5a     
n.(无甜味的)薄脆饼干
参考例句:
  • Buy me some peanuts and cracker.给我买一些花生和饼干。
  • There was a cracker beside every place at the table.桌上每个位置旁都有彩包爆竹。
13 crumbs crumbs     
int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式
参考例句:
  • She stood up and brushed the crumbs from her sweater. 她站起身掸掉了毛衣上的面包屑。
  • Oh crumbs! Is that the time? 啊,天哪!都这会儿啦?
14 puddle otNy9     
n.(雨)水坑,泥潭
参考例句:
  • The boy hopped the mud puddle and ran down the walk.这个男孩跳过泥坑,沿着人行道跑了。
  • She tripped over and landed in a puddle.她绊了一下,跌在水坑里。
15 neatly ynZzBp     
adv.整洁地,干净地,灵巧地,熟练地
参考例句:
  • Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
  • The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。
16 pendulum X3ezg     
n.摆,钟摆
参考例句:
  • The pendulum swung slowly to and fro.钟摆在慢慢地来回摆动。
  • He accidentally found that the desk clock did not swing its pendulum.他无意中发现座钟不摇摆了。
17 jade i3Pxo     
n.玉石;碧玉;翡翠
参考例句:
  • The statue was carved out of jade.这座塑像是玉雕的。
  • He presented us with a couple of jade lions.他送给我们一对玉狮子。
18 stinks 6254e99acfa1f76e5581ffe6c369f803     
v.散发出恶臭( stink的第三人称单数 );发臭味;名声臭;糟透
参考例句:
  • The whole scheme stinks to high heaven—don't get involved in it. 整件事十分卑鄙龌龊——可别陷了进去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The soup stinks of garlic. 这汤有大蒜气味。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
19 chuckled 8ce1383c838073977a08258a1f3e30f8     
轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
  • She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情,她就轻轻地暗自发笑。
20 doorway 2s0xK     
n.门口,(喻)入门;门路,途径
参考例句:
  • They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
  • Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

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