10. Music 音乐

Benjamin still hadn't told anybody he wasn't Mark Miller¹.

His grades had never been better. Mark Miller is a lot smarter than Benjamin Nushmutt, he thought.

When they chose up teams for kickball, he was always the first one picked. Mark Miller is a better kicker than Benjamin Nushmutt, he realized.

The girls in the class liked him too. Mark Miller is better looking than Benjamin Nushmutt, he decided².

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But unfortunately, he knew he had to tell Mrs. Jewls his real name. He sighed, then slowly raised his hand.

Mrs. Jewls gave him a tambourine³.

He had been so busy thinking about his problem, he hadn't noticed that Mrs. Jewls was passing out musical instruments. She had just asked, "Who would like the tambourine?" So when he raised his hand, she gave it to him.

"Who would like the triangle?" asked Mrs. Jewls.

Joe raised his hand, and Mrs. Jewls gave it to him.

"Why is it called a triangle?" asked Joe.

"I don't know," said Mrs. Jewls.

"Maybe because it's shaped like a triangle," suggested John.

"No, that can't be it," said Mrs. Jewls. "Then the tambourine would have to be called a circle."

"Maybe it was invented by a person named Joe Triangle," said Rondi.

"That's probably it," said Mrs. Jewls. She held up the next instrument. It was a glockenspiel. "Who would like the glockenspiel?" she asked.

Sharie raised her hand.

Nobody asked why it was called a glockenspiel. It was obvious.

Mrs. Jewls gave the bells to Stephen.

"Why are they called bells?" he asked.

Nobody knew.

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Joy got the bongo drums. Todd got the bass⁴ drum. Jenny snared⁶ the snare⁵ drum. And Leslie got the kettledrum.

When they banged on them, it hurt everybody else's eardrums.

Mrs. Jewls gave one cymbal⁷ to Calvin and the other cymbal to Bebe.

D. J. got the gong. The three Erics got kazoos.

Mrs. Jewls shouted, "Uno, dos, tres, cuatro!"

The children all played their instruments. They shook, rattled⁸, rocked, and rolled.

Joy bonged her bongos. D. J. gonged his gong. Sharie glockened her glockenspiel. Stephen jingled⁹ his bells. Calvin and Bebe slapped their cymbals¹⁰ together. And Joe's triangle went ting.

But something didn't sound right.

"What's wrong, Mark?" Mrs. Jewls shouted over the music. "Why aren't you playing the tambourine?"

"My name's not Mark," said Benjamin. "It's Benjamin Nushmutt. I'm sorry for not telling you before."

"What?" asked Mrs. Jewls. "I can't hear you."

"My name isn't Mark!" he said. "It's Benjamin."

"Louder!" said Mrs. Jewls.

So everyone played louder.

Todd bashed his bass drum. Leslie cooked on her kettledrum. Calvin and Bebe crashed their cymbals together. And Joe's triangle went ting.

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"My name is Benjamin!" shouted Benjamin.

Mrs. Jewls put her hand to her ear. "Louder!" she said.

So everyone played louder.

D.J. kabonged his gong. Joy chongoed her bongos. Paul splacked his castanets. Jenny spaghettied her snare drum. Calvin and Bebe wammered their cymbals. And Joe's triangle went ting.

"My name's Benjamin Nushmutt," hollered Benjamin Nushmutt.

"Louder!" yelled Mrs. Jewls.

So everyone played louder.

The three Erics screamed into their kazoos. Calvin and Bebe ran to opposite sides of the room with their cymbals, then charged toward each other.

Suddenly the door flew open, and a man entered. Benjamin had never seen him before.

The whole class became very quiet.

It was Mr. Kidswatter, the principal.

Calvin and Bebe screeched¹¹ to a halt just in time. Their cymbals were less than an inch apart.

"Is something the matter, Mr. Kidswatter?" asked Mrs. Jewls.

"Several teachers have complained about your music," said Mr. Kidswatter. "Their students are having trouble hearing."

"I understand," said Mrs. Jewls.

"Good," said Mr. Kidswatter. He walked out of the room.

"Okay, you heard Mr. Kidswatter," said Mrs. Jewls. "Well have to play louder so everyone can hear. Uno, dos, tres, cuatro!"

They shook, rattled, rocked, and rolled.

Benjamin frampled his tambourine.

"Excellent, Mark!" shouted Mrs. Jewls.

He smiled. He had never played so well before. Mark Miller is a better musician than Benjamin Nush-mutt, he thought.

1 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 tambourine   

n.铃鼓，手鼓

参考例句：

• A stew without an onion is like a dance without a tambourine.烧菜没有洋葱就像跳舞没有手鼓。
• He is really good at playing tambourine.他很擅长演奏铃鼓。

4 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

5 snare   

n.陷阱，诱惑，圈套；（去除息肉或者肿瘤的）勒除器；响弦，小军鼓；vt.以陷阱捕获，诱惑

参考例句：

• I used to snare small birds such as sparrows.我曾常用罗网捕捉麻雀等小鸟。
• Most of the people realized that their scheme was simply a snare and a delusion.大多数人都认识到他们的诡计不过是一个骗人的圈套。

6 snared   

v.用罗网捕捉，诱陷，陷害( snare的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He snared a job with IBM. 他以巧妙的手段在 IBM 公司谋得一职。 来自辞典例句
• The hunter snared a skunk. 猎人捕得一只臭鼬。 来自辞典例句

7 cymbal   

n.铙钹

参考例句：

• The piece ends with a cymbal crash.这支曲子以铙钹的撞击声结束。
• Cymbal is a pair of round brass plates.铙钹是一对黄铜圆盘。

8 rattled   

慌乱的，恼火的

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。

9 jingled   

喝醉的

参考例句：

• The bells jingled all the way. 一路上铃儿叮当响。
• Coins in his pocket jingled as he walked. 走路时，他衣袋里的钱币丁当作响。

10 cymbals   

pl.铙钹

参考例句：

• People shouted, while the drums and .cymbals crashed incessantly. 人声嘈杂，锣鼓不停地大响特响。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• The dragon dance troupe, beating drums and cymbals, entered the outer compound. 龙灯随着锣鼓声进来，停在二门外的大天井里。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

11 screeched   

v.发出尖叫声( screech的过去式和过去分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫

参考例句：

• She screeched her disapproval. 她尖叫着不同意。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The car screeched to a stop. 汽车嚓的一声停住了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》