儿童英语读物 Superstar Watch CHAPTER 9 Who is Buffalo?

“I’m so sad,” Benny said.

Henry put his arm around his little brother. “Watch did his best. I think it’s time to find Grandfather and head home,” Henry said,

“Hot chocolate would make me feel better,” Benny said. “And maybe we could get a bone for Watch. He did do his best.” Benny gave Watch a hug.

“Sure thing,” Jessie said.

Violet put the leash¹ on Watch. “Good try, boy,” Violet said.

The kids shook hands with Mr. Lillipool, then went over to congratulate Dante.

“Good luck in Hollywood,” Henry said.

“Yeah,” Dante said, shuffling² his feet and not looking up.

“Aren’t you excited about going?” Benny asked. “I would be jumping up and down.”

“I’m not going to Hollywood,” Dante said. “Just Buffalo³. I get to keep the money, though.” He shrugged⁴ and said, “But I’m not sure I deserve it.”

“Why don’t you get to go to Hollywood with your dog?” asked Benny.

“Why don’t you think you deserve the money?” Jessie asked.

Dante stumbled over his answers. “Oh, well, you know, Hollywood’s far away and well, really, Ban—I mean Buffalo—did all the work. I just showed up. So, um, well, bye now.” Dante replied. Then he waved awkwardly and headed over to Ms. Werner.

“Hmm,” Henry said, “Even though we solved the mystery, there’s still something weird⁵ here.”

“Henry, can we head out now?” Benny asked.

“Sure, Benny,” Henry replied. “Let’s go.”

On the way out, they walked past the obstacle course.

“Seeing that obstacle course makes me really mad at Mr. Benjamin,” Benny said. “He shouldn’t have cheated.” The Aldens all agreed.

The kids walked past Timmy in the stage kitchen. He was near the refrigerator, reading his lines for the commercial.

He waved at the Aldens and said, “Sorry you aren’t coming to Hollywood. But I’ll send you free tickets to see Lightning Man when it comes out.”

“Thanks,” Jessie replied. She was holding Watch’s leash, leading him towards the exit.

“Don’t forget your souvenir bowl,” Lisa said to the Aldens. She pointed⁶ at the silver bowl.

“I’ll go get the bowl,” Henry said. “I’ll meet you by the door.”

Henry walked back into the audition⁷ area. He saw that Ms. Werner was hugging Buffalo. Dante was standing⁸ a bit back from them. “Way to go,” Henry heard her say in a very low voice. “We showed them, didn’t we?” Straightening up, she said, “I bet you are still hungry, you good doggie, you.” Picking up Buffalo’s bowl, she filed it with more Wundermutt food, then set it back down.

“That’s another odd thing,” Henry said to himself. “Ms. Werner loves that dog too much.”

Henry picked up Watch’s bowl. It was still full of food. He carried it over to his siblings⁹.

“I smell that citronella perfume again,” Violet said.

Benny sneezed.

Suddenly, Watch made a big tug¹⁰ on his leash. Jessie lost control. Watch dashed across the audition room. His nose was tight to the floor.

“Does he smell another steak?” Violet asked.

Benny gave the air a big smell and his stomach a pat. “Nope. There’s no steak here today,” Benny replied.

“Then what is going on!?” Jessie asked.

The Alden children ran to catch up with their dog.

Watch was fast. He skidded¹¹ past Ms. Werner, Buffalo, and Dante.

Watch jumped onto the obstacle course set. He leapt over the log and under the bench. Through the hoop¹² and down the slide. Then Watch flew into the stage kitchen where Timmy was and bounded into his arms. Timmy was surprised, but he was able to catch Watch and then set him down.

Then Watch went straight to the new bowl of food that Ms. Werner had set down for Buffalo. He stuck his nose in the bowl and began eating away.

“Wow!” Benny said. “I told you he was hungry.”

Henry, Jessie, and Violet were surprised to see Watch eating out of Buffalo’s bowl.

Henry still had the bowl of food with Watch’s name on it in his hand.

Mr. Lillipool, Timmy, and Lisa came over to see what was going on.

“He does like my food!” Mr. Lillipool said. Watch continued to gobble up the food.

“Of course,” Benny replied. “Wundermutt is all he ever eats at home.”

“Then why didn’t he eat it during the audition?” Mr. Lillipool asked. “Watch acted like he was repelled¹³ by the food.”

Henry snapped his fingers. “That’s it! He was repelled,” Henry said. He turned to face Lisa. “Your invention is a big success!”

“And the dog food mystery is now completely solved,” Jessie said.
 

1 leash   

n.牵狗的皮带，束缚；v.用皮带系住

参考例句：

• I reached for the leash,but the dog got in between.我伸手去拿系狗绳，但被狗挡住了路。
• The dog strains at the leash,eager to be off.狗拼命地扯拉皮带，想挣脱开去。

2 shuffling   

adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• Don't go shuffling along as if you were dead. 别像个死人似地拖着脚走。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some one was shuffling by on the sidewalk. 外面的人行道上有人拖着脚走过。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

3 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

4 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• 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》

5 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

6 pointed   

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。

7 audition   

n.(对志愿艺人等的)面试(指试读、试唱等)

参考例句：

• I'm going to the audition but I don't expect I'll get a part.我去试音，可并不指望会给我个角色演出。
• At first,they said he was too young,but later they called him for an audition.起初，他们说他太小，但后来他们叫他去试听。

8 standing   

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。

9 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

10 tug   

v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船

参考例句：

• We need to tug the car round to the front.我们需要把那辆车拉到前面。
• The tug is towing three barges.那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。

11 skidded   

v.（通常指车辆） 侧滑( skid的过去式和过去分词 )；打滑；滑行；（住在）贫民区

参考例句：

• The car skidded and hit a lamp post. 那辆汽车打滑撞上了路灯杆。
• The car skidded and overturned. 汽车打滑翻倒了。

12 hoop   

n.（篮球）篮圈，篮

参考例句：

• The child was rolling a hoop.那个孩子在滚铁环。
• The wooden tub is fitted with the iron hoop.木盆都用铁箍箍紧。

13 repelled   

v.击退( repel的过去式和过去分词 )；使厌恶；排斥；推开

参考例句：

• They repelled the enemy. 他们击退了敌军。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The minister tremulously, but decidedly, repelled the old man's arm. 而丁梅斯代尔牧师却哆里哆嗦地断然推开了那老人的胳臂。 来自英汉文学 - 红字