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儿童英语读物 The Hockey Mystery CHAPTER 3 An Unexpected Spill

时间:2017-10-09 07:37:00

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(单词翻译)

After Benny, Violet, and Kevin got out of their skates, the group followed Kevin to his office, which was off the lobby. It was right next to Tracey’s office. As they walked by, Jessie saw her old teacher inside, sitting at her desk filling out papers.

Kevin’s office had a large desk in the center of the room and a Scouts1 poster on the wall. On his desk was a puck mounted in a glass box. Jessie picked it up and read the small plaque2 at the bottom: GAME-WINNING GOAL—STANLEY CUP FINALS. She also noticed a blue-and-red desk set with the Scouts logo on it and a bottle of ink and a fountain pen in it.

In the center of the desk was a large flat plastic envelope. Kevin picked it up and opened it. “These are the only set,” he said, pulling out some large sheets of paper, “so we’ll have to be careful with them. I couldn’t wait to see them, so I asked the architect to bring them over right away—before they’d even made a copy.”

“I’m sure they have this all stored on the computer, though,” Scott assured Kevin.

“Normally they would, but they told me their computers went down last night,” said Mr. Reynolds.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be careful,” said Jessie.

Scott, Beth, Mrs. Davidson, and the Aldens all crowded around Kevin as he held the drawings up one at a time. The first showed what the outside of the building would look like.

“What a beautiful building,” said Scott.

“Yes, I think it will be,” Kevin responded.

He held up the next drawing, which showed how the rink and seats around it would look. There were some other drawings showing how the whole building would be laid out, with the lobby, offices, and locker3 rooms.

“Where’s the snack bar going to be?” Benny asked.

Everyone laughed.

“Right here,” said Kevin, pointing to a far corner on one of the plans. “And I’ll make sure we serve hot chocolate.”

“What will happen to this rink when the new one opens?” Violet asked Scott.

“I don’t know,” he answered. “But it won’t be up to me. I’m retiring and moving out of Greenfield.”

“Really?” Kevin said.

“Yeah. I’ve been thinking about moving for a long time—going someplace warm,” Scott said. “I’ll stay for the mini-league, but then I’m leaving.”

Just then the phone rang. While Kevin spoke4 to the person on the other end, the others looked over the drawings.

“That was my wife,” he said, hanging up the phone. “I’m going to go meet her for breakfast.” He carefully replaced the plans in the large envelope and laid it on his desk.

“Now that you have the plans, what happens next?” Mrs. Davidson asked as she and the others made their way out of Kevin’s office.

“The town council has to approve them,” Kevin said. “I’m going to bring them to the meeting tonight. And assuming nothing unexpected happens, we’ll start building at the end of the month.”

Mrs. Davidson looked as if she were thinking about something. “Come on, Beth,” she said, heading off. “Sounds great, Mr. Reynolds.” She flashed a quick smile. “Assuming nothing unexpected happens.”

Jessie and Henry watched as the Davidsons walked away. “What do you think she meant by that?” Jessie asked Henry.

“I don’t know,” Henry said. “It almost sounds as if she expects something to go wrong.”

“I’ve got to run,” said Kevin. He walked quickly to the main exit. “See you later!”

Saying a quick good-bye to the Aldens, Scott also left to go back to his office.

“I’m hungry!” Benny said.

“Didn’t you eat breakfast?” Violet wanted to know.

“Yes, but it was so early I need another breakfast,” Benny said.

“Let’s get a snack after we skate some more,” Jessie said.

“I noticed on the schedule that there’s a special hockey practice session. We could work on your stickhandling, Jessie,” Henry said.

“That’s a great idea! Violet and I can skate more, too!” Benny called out.

Henry went to call home to let their grandfather know about the change in plans. They were happily surprised when, soon after, Mrs. McGregor arrived at the rink with a basket of warm muffins for them!

They skated for nearly an hour. Benny and Violet skated around the outside of the rink, working on crossovers, which Kevin had taught them that morning. Henry and Jessie stayed in the middle, working on her stickhandling.

After a little while, Benny and Violet skated to the center. “Can we take a break?” Benny asked.

“Sure,” said Jessie. “I’m ready for a break, too. How about a hot pretzel with mustard?”

“And some hot chocolate?” Benny asked.

“And some hot chocolate,” Jessie assured him.

The Aldens walked out to the lobby. Suddenly they heard a shout from Kevin’s office. The children looked at one another and then ran across the lobby. Tracey came out of her door at the same moment, and all of them went into Kevin’s office.

“Coach Reynolds, what’s wrong?” Henry asked.

Kevin was standing5 at his desk with his coat on, his back to them. He was looking down at his desk. He seemed to be frozen there.

“The plans for the new rink!” Kevin said. “They’re ruined!”

Tracey and the children came closer and looked down at his desk. The plans they had looked at just a few hours earlier were spread all over the desktop6. And something black was spilled across them.

“Quick, maybe we can save them,” Jessie said. “Are there paper towels anywhere?”

“The snack bar will have some paper napkins,” Tracey said. She ran out the door, with Jessie right behind her.

“What is that—ink?” Henry asked. He dipped a finger in the black liquid and looked at it more closely. Then he noticed the ink bottle lying on its side across the plans. There was only a little bit of ink left inside. “This must have spilled.” He handed the nearly empty bottle to Kevin.

Jessie and Tracey returned with a stack of paper napkins. Everyone grabbed a few and tried to blot7 up the ink. But it was no use.

The ink had already soaked through the papers, destroying most of the drawings.

“How could this have happened?” Coach Reynolds asked. “I put the plans back in the envelope before I left. What were they doing spread all over my desk?”

“Do you think someone came in to look at them?” Jessie asked.

“And then they accidentally knocked over the ink?” Henry added.

“I guess it’s possible, but wouldn’t they have done something, instead of just leaving it here like this?” Coach Reynolds asked.

“Maybe they knocked it over as they were leaving and didn’t realize,” Jessie suggested.

“How could they not realize?” Kevin asked.

“Or maybe they were afraid to admit it—afraid they’d get in trouble,” Benny offered. He remembered when he’d broken a glass bowl in the living room at home. He had been afraid to tell his grandfather. At last he had gotten up his courage and admitted what he had done. Grandfather had been proud of Benny for being honest.

“The plans are ruined now.” Kevin sighed heavily. “I’d better call the architect.” He gathered up the inky papers and shook his head. He looked very sad. “Now I won’t be able to present these plans tonight. This will really set back the building of the rink.”

Tracey and the Aldens left Kevin’s office so that he could make his phone call. Tracey went back into her office. The Aldens looked at one another glumly8. They all felt bad for Kevin.

“We might as well go get our snack,” said Jessie. “There’s nothing more we can do for Coach Reynolds.”

When they were sitting at a table sipping10 hot chocolate, Benny said, “Do you really think someone spilled that ink by accident?”

“I don’t know,” said Henry. “It does seem pretty strange that someone would go in when Kevin wasn’t there, take out the plans, leave them all over the desk, accidentally knock over the ink, and then just leave.”

“What are you saying?” Jessie asked. “That someone did it ... on purpose?”

Henry nodded slowly.

“But why? Why would someone do something so terrible?” Jessie asked.

The children sat quietly for a moment, picking at their pretzels. No one really felt much like eating.

At last Henry spoke. “Maybe not everyone is happy that Kevin is building another rink.”

“You think someone wrecked11 the plans because they were angry about the new rink?” Jessie asked.

“Maybe,” said Henry.

“Like who?” Jessie asked.

“Well, like Scott,” said Henry. “If Kevin builds that nice new rink, maybe no one will come here anymore.”

“But he’s Kevin’s old friend,” said Violet. “I can’t believe he’d ruin the plans.”

“And Scott’s moving away anyway,” said Jessie. “So it doesn’t matter to him.”

“That’s right,” said Henry. He took a bite of pretzel and chewed it slowly. “Well, what about Mrs. Davidson? Remember how upset she was when she learned that the rink was going to be right in her neighborhood?”

“I thought she was happy it would be so close,” said Benny.

“No, that was Beth,” Henry said. “Her mother was worried it would cause a lot of noise and traffic.”

“But she’s such a big fan of Coach Reynolds,” Violet pointed12 out. “I don’t think she’d do that.”

“Can you think of anyone else?” Henry asked.

Jessie took a sip9 of her hot chocolate. Then she spoke. “I’ve noticed that Tracey seems really angry that people are switching from figure skating to hockey.”

“Maybe she’s worried that she’ll lose her job if no one wants to take figure skating lessons anymore,” Henry suggested.

“But do you think one of these people spilled ink all over the drawings?” Benny asked.

“They might have,” said Henry. “Let’s think about this for a minute. Which of these people knew that the plans were there?”

“Scott and Mrs. Davidson did,” said Benny. “They were both looking at them with us.”

“And Tracey’s office is right next door, so she might have overheard us talking about them,” Jessie said.

“Coach Reynolds said those were the only set of plans, remember?” Henry added. “So whoever did it knew that if they were ruined, it would cause a big problem.”

“I just thought of someone else,” said Jessie, eating the last bite of her pretzel.

“Who?” asked Henry.

“Cathy Reynolds,” she said.

“Coach’s own daughter?” Violet said.

“At first she seemed nice and asked me to show her around Greenfield,” said Jessie. “Then all of a sudden she became really unfriendly—even a little bit mean during the practice. After practice, she said she had to take care of something and left in a big hurry.”

Benny’s eyes grew wide. “What did she have to take care of?”

“She didn’t say,” Jessie said. “But she would certainly know that her father had just gotten the plans. And she probably knew that he was going out to breakfast with her mom.”

“That means she could have sneaked13 in and wrecked the plans,” Benny said.

“What would her reason be?” asked Henry crumpling14 up his empty hot chocolate cup.

“I’m not sure,” Jessie said. “But it’s hard to move to a new town and make new friends. Maybe she’s angry at her dad for taking her away from her old school and her old friends.”

Suddenly Benny sat up very straight in his chair. “I just thought of something else!”

“What?” said Henry and Jessie at the same time.

“Do you think that the person who ruined the plans also stole the orange cones15?” Benny asked.

“Maybe,” said Jessie.

Henry seemed doubtful. “I can see why ruining the plans would delay the rink’s being built. But what would stealing the cones do?”

“Remember what Scott said?” Jessie asked. “The town council has to approve the rink. If they don’t trust Coach, they might not let him go ahead with his plans.”

“You mean someone might have stolen the cones to make Coach look irresponsible?” said Henry.

“Exactly,” Jessie said. “In fact, that reminds me of something Tracey said when I told her about the missing cones. She said, ‘He wants to build a whole new rink and he can’t even keep track of some cones.’ ”

The Aldens gathered up their empty hot chocolate cups and crumpled16 napkins and threw them in the garbage. Then they put on their coats and got ready to leave.

“Is there anything we can do to help Coach Reynolds?” Benny wondered aloud.

“I think the best thing we can do,” said Henry, “is keep our eyes and ears open and try to figure out what’s going on—before anything else bad happens.”


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 scouts e6d47327278af4317aaf05d42afdbe25     
侦察员[机,舰]( scout的名词复数 ); 童子军; 搜索; 童子军成员
参考例句:
  • to join the Scouts 参加童子军
  • The scouts paired off and began to patrol the area. 巡逻人员两个一组,然后开始巡逻这个地区。
2 plaque v25zB     
n.饰板,匾,(医)血小板
参考例句:
  • There is a commemorative plaque to the artist in the village hall.村公所里有一块纪念该艺术家的牌匾。
  • Some Latin words were engraved on the plaque. 牌匾上刻着些拉丁文。
3 locker 8pzzYm     
n.更衣箱,储物柜,冷藏室,上锁的人
参考例句:
  • At the swimming pool I put my clothes in a locker.在游泳池我把衣服锁在小柜里。
  • He moved into the locker room and began to slip out of his scrub suit.他走进更衣室把手术服脱下来。
4 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
5 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。
6 desktop sucznX     
n.桌面管理系统程序;台式
参考例句:
  • My computer is a desktop computer of excellent quality.我的计算机是品质卓越的台式计算机。
  • Do you know which one is better,a laptop or a desktop?你知道哪一种更好,笔记本还是台式机?
7 blot wtbzA     
vt.弄脏(用吸墨纸)吸干;n.污点,污渍
参考例句:
  • That new factory is a blot on the landscape.那新建的工厂破坏了此地的景色。
  • The crime he committed is a blot on his record.他犯的罪是他的履历中的一个污点。
8 glumly glumly     
adv.忧郁地,闷闷不乐地;阴郁地
参考例句:
  • He stared at it glumly, and soon became lost in thought. 他惘然沉入了瞑想。 来自子夜部分
  • The President sat glumly rubbing his upper molar, saying nothing. 总统愁眉苦脸地坐在那里,磨着他的上牙,一句话也没有说。 来自辞典例句
9 sip Oxawv     
v.小口地喝,抿,呷;n.一小口的量
参考例句:
  • She took a sip of the cocktail.她啜饮一口鸡尾酒。
  • Elizabeth took a sip of the hot coffee.伊丽莎白呷了一口热咖啡。
10 sipping e7d80fb5edc3b51045def1311858d0ae     
v.小口喝,呷,抿( sip的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • She sat in the sun, idly sipping a cool drink. 她坐在阳光下懒洋洋地抿着冷饮。
  • She sat there, sipping at her tea. 她坐在那儿抿着茶。
11 wrecked ze0zKI     
adj.失事的,遇难的
参考例句:
  • the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
  • the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞
12 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • 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。
13 sneaked fcb2f62c486b1c2ed19664da4b5204be     
v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 );偷偷溜走;(儿童向成人)打小报告;告状
参考例句:
  • I sneaked up the stairs. 我蹑手蹑脚地上了楼。
  • She sneaked a surreptitious glance at her watch. 她偷偷看了一眼手表。
14 crumpling 5ae34fb958cdc699149f8ae5626850aa     
压皱,弄皱( crumple的现在分词 ); 变皱
参考例句:
  • His crumpling body bent low from years of carrying heavy loads. 由于经年累月的负重,他那皱巴巴的身子被压得弯弯的。
  • This apparently took the starch out of the fast-crumpling opposition. 这显然使正在迅速崩溃的反对党泄了气。
15 cones 1928ec03844308f65ae62221b11e81e3     
n.(人眼)圆锥细胞;圆锥体( cone的名词复数 );球果;圆锥形东西;(盛冰淇淋的)锥形蛋卷筒
参考例句:
  • In the pines squirrels commonly chew off and drop entire cones. 松树上的松鼠通常咬掉和弄落整个球果。 来自辞典例句
  • Many children would rather eat ice cream from cones than from dishes. 许多小孩喜欢吃蛋卷冰淇淋胜过盘装冰淇淋。 来自辞典例句
16 crumpled crumpled     
adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式
参考例句:
  • She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一团扔进了火里。
  • She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在写字台上把皱巴巴的信展平。

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