3. Bebe's Baby Brother 比比的小弟弟

Mrs. Jewls asked Dameon to pass back the homework.

Bebe Gunn waited nervously¹. Except for art, her grades had not been very good lately. If she didn't start bringing home better grades, her parents said they wouldn't let her stay up past midnight. She did her best artwork after midnight.

Dameon handed Calvin his homework, then Todd, then Joy.

"Where's yours?" asked Calvin.

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"I don't know," said Bebe.

"Did you do it?" asked Calvin.

"Yes, I did it," said Bebe. "I worked extra hard on it! I hope Mrs. Jewls didn't lose it."

Dameon finished passing out the homework. Bebe never got hers.

"Bebe, will you come here, please," said Mrs. Jewls.

She pushed out of her seat, stood up, and nervously walked to Mrs. Jewls's desk. "I did my homework, Mrs. Jewls," she said. "Really!"

"Yes, I know," said Mrs. Jewls. She held Bebe's homework in her hand.

"Whew!" Bebe sighed with relief. "I was afraid you lost it!"

"No, I didn't lose it," Mrs. Jewls said sternly². She showed the back of the paper to Bebe. Someone had written:

MRS. JEWLS IS AS FAT AS A HIPPOPOTAMUS³!

(AND SHE SMELLS LIKE ONE, TOO.)

"I didn't write that!" exclaimed Bebe. "I love the way you smell."

Mrs. Jewls smiled. "But if you didn't write it, who did?"

"Ray!" Bebe instantly replied.

"Who's Ray?"

"He's my little brother. Ray Gunn. He must have snuck into my room after I was asleep. He's always

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playing mean tricks on me. He knew how hard I worked on my homework."

"Well, we'll show Ray," said Mrs. Jewls. She gave Bebe an A plus. "There. I don't think he'll try that again."

"Thanks!" said Bebe.

"You may have a Tootsie Roll Pop, too," said Mrs. Jewls.

Bebe took a Tootsie Roll Pop out of the coffee can on Mrs. Jewls s desk, then returned to her seat. She proudly showed Calvin her A +.

The next day Mrs. Jewls asked Dameon to hand back another batch⁴ of homework.

"How come Dameon always gets to do everything?" griped Kathy.

"I'm sorry, Kathy," said Mrs. Jewls. "Would you like to pass back the homework?"

"No!" grumped Kathy. "I'm not your slave."

Dameon passed out the homework. Again Bebe didn't get hers.

Mrs. Jewls called her to her desk. On the back of her homework someone had written:

MRS. JEWLS HAS A HEAD FULL OF OATMEAL! (AND IT LEAKS OUT HER EARS.)

"I didn't write it," said Bebe. "Ray?" asked Mrs. Jewls.

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Bebe nodded.

"Why don't you start checking the back of your homework?" suggested Mrs. Jewls.

"I did when I woke up!" said Bebe. "He must have done it after breakfast, while I was brushing my teeth. We had oatmeal for breakfast." She shook her head. "I won't brush my teeth anymore!"

"You have to brush your teeth," said Mrs. Jewls.

"My parents think he's such a little angel!" Bebe complained. "He's always wrecking⁵ things, and then I'm always the one who gets in trouble. 'Why can't you be more like Ray?' they say. Yesterday he threw all my underwear⁶ out the window. Then my mother yelled⁷ at me for it. She wouldn't believe that her little darling son would do something like that!"

Mrs. Jewls gave Bebe another A+ and another Tootsie Roll Pop.

For Friday everyone had to write a report and read it to the class. Bebe wrote her report about George Washington. She stood at the front of the room and read it out loud.

"... George Washington never told a lie. Not like Mrs. Jewls. She lies all the time. That's why her nose is so big. And she snores when she sleeps, so Mister Jewls has to wear ear plugs."

Everyone was laughing.

Bebe stopped reading. "What's so funny?" she asked.

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"Come here," said Mrs. Jewls.

Bebe shrugged⁸, then walked to Mrs. Jewls's desk.

Mrs. Jewls showed her what she had just read.

"Did I just read that out loud?" Bebe asked.

Mrs. Jewls nodded.

"I was just reading it," Bebe explained. "I wasn't listening."

"It was Ray again, wasn't it?" asked Mrs. Jewls.

"Had to be," said Bebe. "Yesterday he put toothpaste in my socks. Then my mother got mad at me for making a mess and wasting toothpaste."

Bebe got an A 4- on her report and another Tootsie Roll Pop.

After school Mrs. Jewls called Bebe's mother on the phone. "Hello, Mrs. Gunn. This is Mrs. Jewls from Wayside School."

"What's Bebe done now?" asked Mrs. Gunn.

"Bebe hasn't done anything wrong," said Mrs. Jewls. "She's a wonderful girl."

"Well, that's a surprise!" said Mrs. Gunn. "She's always causing trouble at home."

"I wanted to talk to you about that," said Mrs. Jewls. "I think you're being unfair to Bebe. I think she often gets into trouble when really Ray is to blame."

"Ray?" asked Mrs. Gunn.

"Yes. I know you think he's a perfect angel," said Mrs. Jewls, "but some children can be angels on the outside and devils underneath⁹."

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"Yes, that sounds like Bebe," said Mrs. Gunn. "I'm not talking about Bebe. I'm talking about Ray." "Ray?" asked Bebe's mother. "Who's Ray?"

1 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

2 sternly   

adv.严厉地；严肃地

参考例句：

• The chair sternly rebuked the audience for their laughter.主席厉声斥责听众哄笑。
• Her husband looked at her sternly.她丈夫严厉地看着她。

3 hippopotamus   

n.河马

参考例句：

• The children enjoyed watching the hippopotamus wallowing in the mud.孩子们真喜观看河马在泥中打滚。
• A hippopotamus surfs the waves off the coast of Gabon.一头河马在加蓬的海岸附近冲浪。

4 batch   

n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量

参考例句：

• The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
• I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。

5 wrecking   

破坏

参考例句：

• He teed off on his son for wrecking the car. 他严厉训斥他儿子毁坏了汽车。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Instead of wrecking the valley, the waters are put to use making electricity. 现在河水不但不在流域内肆疟，反而被人们用来生产电力。 来自辞典例句

6 underwear   

n.衫衣，内衣，贴身衣

参考例句：

• He had removed his underwear.他已脱去了内衣。
• They left off their woollen underwear when the weather got warm.天气转暖的时候，他们不再穿羊毛内衣。

7 yelled   

v.叫喊，号叫，叫着说( yell的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He yelled at the other driver. 他冲着另一位司机大叫。
• The lost man yelled, hoping someone in the woods would hear him. 迷路的人大声喊着，希望林子里的人会听见。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 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》

9 underneath   

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。