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儿童英语读物 The Garden Thief CHAPTER 2 Cool as a Cucumber

时间:2017-12-26 05:57来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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Alex Kirk said he had to take care of his garden and left.

Mr. Yee took several deep breaths, then said, “Come, let’s walk through my garden plot.”

The Aldens followed him, careful to not step on any plants. That was a bit hard to do because the plants were sprawled1 out everywhere.

And so were weeds. Jessie knew that the tall grass-like stalks didn’t belong in the middle of the plants. Mr. Yee needs our help to weed his garden, she thought. He can’t do it with one arm in a cast.

Mr. Yee stopped in the middle of a long path. He pointed2 to the far end of two rows of carrots. “Notice how the carrots at the far end of each row are bigger than the ones in the middle of the rows,” he said. “And the ones where we’re standing3 are the smallest of the carrots.”

The Aldens looked and nodded. “You must have planted some carrots earlier than others,” said Henry.

“That is right,” said Mr. Yee. “I was able to plant seeds, but I can’t weed or thin.” He frowned. “My rows are not very straight,” he said. “That’s because of my broken arm.”

Benny looked at the rows of carrots. “But I’ll bet the carrots taste good, even though the rows aren’t straight.”

Mr. Yee looked at Benny. “You have already grasped what is important, Benny—that the vegetables taste good.”

“But you would also like to win prizes if you can,” said Violet.

“You have also grasped what is important, Violet,” said Mr. Yee. He rubbed his hands together—which was not easy to do because his right arm stuck out at an angle because of the cast.

“So,” he said. “Here we have rows of lettuce4, radishes, and carrots. They need to be thinned, and they need to be weeded.”

“What’s thinned mean?” asked Violet.

Mr. Yee squatted5 so that he was closer to the plants. “If we let all of these carrots grow in one spot, none of them will grow large. But if we pull out some of the carrots, the ones we leave in the ground will grow large.” Mr. Yee carefully pulled out a few green tops.

“There’s a baby carrot at the end of each one!” said Benny.

“And they’re purple!” exclaimed Violet. “I love purple carrots!”

“I have a bucket of clean water over there,” said Mr. Yee, pointing. “Could you bring it to me?” he asked Henry.

Henry brought the bucket of water and Mr. Yee rinsed6 the tiny carrots in water. Then he tore off the green tops and gave two tiny carrots to each of the children.

“Yum!” said Benny. “They’re so sweet.”

“And so crisp,” said Jessie.

“And so purple!” Violet laughed. “Jessie and I can thin the carrots if you show us how,” she said to Mr. Yee. “And also the radishes and lettuce.”

Mr. Yee smiled. “That will be wonderful.” He showed them how to thin the lettuce and radishes. And he gave them a basket to put the thinnings in. “You can take the thinnings home to Mrs. McGregor,” he said.

After he was satisfied that Violet and Jessie were doing a good job, Mr. Yee led Henry and Benny to a different part of the garden.

“What are those?” asked Benny, pointing to large leaves that sprawled across the ground.

A sad look passed over Mr. Yee’s face. “Those are my beans and my peas,” he explained. “They are climbing plants, but I haven’t been able to put up poles or trellises for them to climb on.”

“I can do that,” Henry offered. “Tomorrow I’ll bring my toolbox.”

Mr. Yee looked happy. “Thank you,” he said. “You can use the lumber7 I have here in the garden, past the strawberries.”

“Strawberries?” said Benny. “Where are they?”

“Look down, Benny.” Mr. Yee chuckled8 as he pointed at Benny’s feet, where long rows of short plants grew.

“I see leaves,” said Benny as he looked down, “but I don’t see strawberries.”

With difficulty Mr. Lee squatted and gently ran his hand underneath9 the strawberry plant leaves, lifting them upward.

“Strawberries!” said Benny.

“And they look delicious,” said Henry as he studied the bright red fruits.

Mr. Yee plucked a ripe strawberry and handed it to Benny. He plucked another and handed it to Henry.

“This is the best-tasting strawberry I’ve ever had,” said Henry. “Do you win prizes for your strawberries, too, Mr. Yee?”

Mr. Yee struggled to his feet and laughed. “Not yet. But maybe if Benny helps me, we can win this year.”

“Really?” asked Benny, who wanted more strawberries. “What should I do?”

“Well,” said Mr. Yee, “I have two long rows of strawberries.” He pointed to the row they were standing at and the one next to it.

Henry whistled. “Each row is at least twenty-five feet long,” he said.

“Thirty feet,” corrected Mr. Yee proudly.

“Can you eat that many strawberries all by yourself?” asked Benny as he looked at the two long rows. Benny thought that even he couldn’t eat that many berries, no matter how much he loved them.

“No,” Mr. Yee answered. “I freeze some and I make strawberry jam from some. But mostly I eat them myself and give them to friends. Lots of friends.”

Mr. Yee then explained to Benny that strawberry plants had to be watered before the ground became totally dry. He showed both Benny and Henry where the water spigots were, one spigot outside each section, and he showed them where he kept his buckets and watering cans.

Henry looked at the water spigot, which was on a pipe that came up from the ground. “Do all community gardens have a water supply?” he asked.

“No,” said Mr. Yee. “Many depend on the rainfall, and sometimes on water that people bring in trucks. But Mr. Kirk had an irrigation system in this field, and after he loaned the field to the town of Greenfield, the town paid to install the upright pipes and spigots.”

“It’s wonderful of Mr. Kirk to loan his land for a community garden,” Henry said.

Mr. Yee agreed.

“Now let me show you my tomato plants,” he said. “Last year I won a blue ribbon for my tomatoes.”

Henry and Benny followed Mr. Yee back into the garden, past the peas and beans, past the strawberry plants, and around a corner.

As they rounded the corner, Mr. Yee cried out, “No! No! What has happened? Somebody has broken my tomato stakes!”

Indeed, Mr. Yee had a long row of tomato plants, each tied to a strong wooden stake that had been pounded into the ground. But Henry could see that somebody had come along and whacked10 each stake near the bottom, cracking it. Now the weight of the tomato plants was pulling the stakes outward. Soon the stakes would crack and topple over. And so would the tomato plants.

“Who would do such a terrible thing?” asked Henry.

“The vandal!” shouted Mr. Yee. “The vandal who is trying to destroy the community gardens!” He paced back and forth11 and ran his hand over his gray hair. “What am I going to do?” he cried. “What am I going to do? My tomato plants are ruined!”

Suddenly a man stood up in the next garden. Henry hadn’t seen him before. He must have been kneeling down, weeding, thought Henry.

The man rushed over to Mr. Yee.

“Albert, what’s wrong?” asked the man.

Mr. Yee just shook his head sadly and pointed at his tomato plants.

“Oh, no,” said the man. “This is terrible.” He looked at the plants, then looked at Mr. Yee. “It’s the vandal again,” he said. “The same person who’s been riding his ATV through the gardens.”

“Yes,” said Mr. Yee.

“Hi,” said the man to Henry and Benny. “I’m Roger Walski. You can call me Roger. That’s my garden plot.” He pointed to plot number one, right next to Mr. Yee’s plot number two.

“I’m Henry Alden,” said Henry. “And this is my brother Benny. Our sisters Jessie and Violet are here, too, over by the carrots and lettuce.”

Roger Walski nodded. “I’m sorry this happened to your plants, Albert. But I’ve been telling you, this isn’t a good site for the community gardens. We should move further down the road, to new land.”

Mr. Yee shook his head back and forth. “No, Roger, I disagree. We Chinese believe in luck, and this is just bad luck. It will go away. This is a wonderful spot to garden.”

“You’ll have to give up on your tomatoes,” said Mr. Walski. “With your broken arm, you won’t be able to replace these stakes.”

“I’ll replace the stakes,” said Henry. “Mr. Yee will show me how to take out the broken ones without hurting the plants.”

Mr. Yee looked at Henry gratefully. “Thank you, Henry. We can do that tomorrow.”

Roger Walski frowned. “Well,” he said, “I’m glad you can save your tomatoes. But you won’t win first prize for them this year, not with this setback12.”

“I suppose you think you will win a blue ribbon with your cucumbers,” snapped Mr. Yee, who did not like the thought of losing.

“Yes, I will,” said Mr. Walski with a smile.

“I love cucumbers,” said Benny.

Mr. Walski looked at Henry and Benny. “Come with me,” he said, “and I’ll teach you something about cucumbers.”

“First we have to help Mr. Yee,” said Henry.

“No, no,” said Mr. Yee. “Let us go see Roger’s cucumbers.”

The four of them walked down a path between rows of plants that Henry didn’t recognize. They stepped across a string marker that separated Mr. Yee’s garden plot from Roger’s, and Roger led them down a path to a row of trellises shaped like teepees.

Henry liked the way that three poles were pushed into the ground at an angle, tilted13 toward each other, and tied at the top. “Did you build these?” he asked.

“Yes,” said Roger.

“They’re very well built,” said Henry. “And they seem to work so well.”

“They do work well,” said Roger. “The cucumber vines climb up the poles and hang from them. That means they don’t spread on the ground, and that means I have more ground space to grow other vegetables.”

Benny leaned over backward and tried to look up into the teepee-shaped structure.

Roger Walski laughed. “Here,” he said, pushing aside some leaves and revealing a cucumber.

“Wow!” said Benny. “Are they ready to eat yet?”

“Some will be ready to eat tomorrow,” said Roger. “And others will be ready in two weeks. And I’ll have more cucumbers that will be ready for the Greenfield Fair.”

Mr. Yee smashed a clump14 of dirt with the toe of his shoe. “You were going to tell Henry and Benny something about cucumbers,” he reminded Roger. “I hope it wasn’t just bragging15 that you will win a blue ribbon.”

Roger looked at the children. “Here’s what I wanted to teach you: the inside of a cucumber is always cooler than the temperature around it. That’s why people say ‘cool as a cucumber’—because the cucumber is cool on the inside.”

“What does that mean?” asked Benny.

“To be cool as a cucumber is to be calm,” said Henry. “It means you don’t get angry or flustered16.”

“That’s right,” said Roger. “And I am cool. As cool as a cucumber.”

“What do you mean?” asked Henry.

Roger stood straight. “It means that despite the vandalism and despite the fact that somebody might be stealing vegetables, I remain calm.”

Mr. Yee shook his head at this. “It is easy to remain calm,” he said, “when it is not your garden that has been harmed.”

“I remain calm,” Roger repeated, “because I’m the one who knows what must be done.”

Everybody looked at Roger Walski.

“What must be done?” asked Henry.

“We community gardeners must move to a new location,” said Roger.

Just as Roger was speaking, a young woman rode up on a racing17 bike, dismounted, and walked toward the middle plot—the plot that had a fence all around it.

“That’s Taylor Harris,” said Roger. He scowled18. “She claims her vegetables will win first prize. But she doesn’t want any of us to see them. That’s why she built a fence all around her garden. Not a very friendly thing to do.”


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 sprawled 6cc8223777584147c0ae6b08b9304472     
v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的过去式和过去分词);蔓延;杂乱无序地拓展;四肢伸展坐着(或躺着)
参考例句:
  • He was sprawled full-length across the bed. 他手脚摊开横躺在床上。
  • He was lying sprawled in an armchair, watching TV. 他四肢伸开正懒散地靠在扶手椅上看电视。
2 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。
3 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。
4 lettuce C9GzQ     
n.莴苣;生菜
参考例句:
  • Get some lettuce and tomatoes so I can make a salad.买些莴苣和西红柿,我好做色拉。
  • The lettuce is crisp and cold.莴苣松脆爽口。
5 squatted 45deb990f8c5186c854d710c535327b0     
v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 );非法擅自占用(土地或房屋);为获得其所有权;而占用某片公共用地。
参考例句:
  • He squatted down beside the footprints and examined them closely. 他蹲在脚印旁仔细地观察。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He squatted in the grass discussing with someone. 他蹲在草地上与一个人谈话。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 rinsed 637d6ed17a5c20097c9dbfb69621fd20     
v.漂洗( rinse的过去式和过去分词 );冲洗;用清水漂洗掉(肥皂泡等);(用清水)冲掉
参考例句:
  • She rinsed out the sea water from her swimming-costume. 她把游泳衣里的海水冲洗掉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The clothes have been rinsed three times. 衣服已经洗了三和。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
7 lumber a8Jz6     
n.木材,木料;v.以破旧东西堆满;伐木;笨重移动
参考例句:
  • The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。
  • They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。
8 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。
9 underneath VKRz2     
adj.在...下面,在...底下;adv.在下面
参考例句:
  • Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
  • She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣,里面套着一条连衣裙。
10 whacked je8z8E     
a.精疲力尽的
参考例句:
  • She whacked him with her handbag. 她用手提包狠狠地打他。
  • He whacked me on the back and I held both his arms. 他用力拍拍我的背,我抱住他的双臂。
11 forth Hzdz2     
adv.向前;向外,往外
参考例句:
  • The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
  • He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
12 setback XzuwD     
n.退步,挫折,挫败
参考例句:
  • Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
  • She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。
13 tilted 3gtzE5     
v. 倾斜的
参考例句:
  • Suddenly the boat tilted to one side. 小船突然倾向一侧。
  • She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。
14 clump xXfzH     
n.树丛,草丛;vi.用沉重的脚步行走
参考例句:
  • A stream meandered gently through a clump of trees.一条小溪从树丛中蜿蜒穿过。
  • It was as if he had hacked with his thick boots at a clump of bluebells.仿佛他用自己的厚靴子无情地践踏了一丛野风信子。
15 bragging 4a422247fd139463c12f66057bbcffdf     
v.自夸,吹嘘( brag的现在分词 );大话
参考例句:
  • He's always bragging about his prowess as a cricketer. 他总是吹嘘自己板球水平高超。 来自辞典例句
  • Now you're bragging, darling. You know you don't need to brag. 这就是夸口,亲爱的。你明知道你不必吹。 来自辞典例句
16 flustered b7071533c424b7fbe8eb745856b8c537     
adj.慌张的;激动不安的v.使慌乱,使不安( fluster的过去式和过去分词)
参考例句:
  • The honking of horns flustered the boy. 汽车喇叭的叫声使男孩感到慌乱。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • She was so flustered that she forgot her reply. 她太紧张了,都忘记了该如何作答。 来自辞典例句
17 racing 1ksz3w     
n.竞赛,赛马;adj.竞赛用的,赛马用的
参考例句:
  • I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
  • The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。
18 scowled b83aa6db95e414d3ef876bc7fd16d80d     
怒视,生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He scowled his displeasure. 他满脸嗔色。
  • The teacher scowled at his noisy class. 老师对他那喧闹的课堂板着脸。
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