Chapter 3

"Ooh, I'm going to do purple!" said Rondi. Rondi loved anything purple.

"You can't do purple," said Allison. "I'm doing it."

"So?" said Rondi. "Mrs. Jewls didn't say two people couldn't do the same color."

"But purple is my favorite color in the world," said Allison.

Rondi and Allison were best friends, but Allison always got her way.

Rondi switched to blue.

Joe raised his hand. "I don't know what rhymes with red," he said.

Mrs. Jewls gave him a few suggestions. "Bed, led, wed¹. Think of words that end in 'e-d.' "

"Oh, I get it!" said Joe. He set to work.

Rondi tried to think of words that rhymed with blue. She raised her hand. "Mrs. Jewls!" she said. "I chose blue. Can I rhyme that with zoo?"

"Yes, that would be a good rhyme," agreed Mrs. Jewls.

"How about glue?" asked Rondi.

"Yes, that rhymes too," said Mrs. Jewls.

"Oh, I know!" said Rondi. "How about stew²?"

"Just pick one and get started," said Mrs. Jewls.

Rondi smiled. "This is fun," she told Allison. "There are lots of words that rhyme with blue."

Allison grunted³.

Nothing rhymed with purple. In her mind, Allison had gone through every letter of the alphabet: aurple, burple, curple, durple... all the way to zurple.

But after making a big stink⁴ over it with Rondi, she couldn't switch colors now.

Rondi was just about to start her poem when she got an even better idea: Love That's True. "Poets are always writing about Love That's True, aren't they, Mrs. Jewls?"

"Sometimes," said Mrs. Jewls.

Rondi smiled. Except she really didn't know much about true love.

"Morning dew!" she said. "Poets write about morning dew too, don't they, Mrs. Jewls?"

"I believe so," said Mrs. Jewls.

Dana walked to Mrs. Jewls's desk. "I can't think of anything that rhymes with pink," she complained.

"I'm sure you'll think of something," said Mrs. Jewls. She winked⁵ at her.

"I can't think," said Dana. "My mind's on the blink. I'm no good at poetry. I stink!"

"Just keep trying," said Mrs. Jewls.

Dana returned to her seat. She started to put her name on her paper, but her pen wouldn't write. "Great!" she complained. "Now my pen's out of ink!"

"Hey, Dana," whispered John. "Do you want to borrow my pen?"

"Sure," said Dana.

"Too bad, I'm using it," said John. Then he and Joe cracked up.

Meanwhile, Allison was going through the alphabet for the tenth time. . . . Murple, nurple, ourple, qurple, . . . she thought.

"My left shoe!" exclaimed Rondi.

"You better choose something, Rondi, and get started," advised Mrs. Jewls.

"I got it!" said Rondi. "A Bird That Flew!"

At the end of the day, the children turned in their poems.

Yellow

by Kathy

I don't feel too well, oh I don't know who to tell, oh I'm sick and I smell, oh My barf is yellow

Green

by Stephen

The swimming pool has lots of chlorine. It turned my hair green.

Brown

by Joy

At the circus I saw a clown.

On his face was a great big frown.

His sad eyes were big and brown.

Red

by Joe

The fire truck is red!

It hurried!

The siren wailed⁶!

The house burned!

The firemen saved

The baby who screamed.

Pink

by Dana

My favorite color is pink. John is a ratfink!
16
Purple

by Allison

The baby won't stop crying.

His face is turning purple.

Will anything make him feel better?

I bet a burp'll.

Blue

by Rondi

That was as far as she got.
17
Actually his name was Doctor Pickell, with the accent on the second syllable⁷. But that wasn't why everyone called him Dr. Pickle⁸.

Dr. Pickle was a psychiatrist⁹. He had thick eyebrows¹⁰ and wore tiny glasses. He had a small beard on the tip of his pointed¹¹ chin.

A psychiatrist is a doctor who doesn't cure people with sick bodies. He cures people with sick minds.

Although Dr. Pickle had a pretty sick mind himself.

1 wed   

v.娶，嫁，与…结婚

参考例句：

• The couple eventually wed after three year engagement.这对夫妇在订婚三年后终于结婚了。
• The prince was very determined to wed one of the king's daughters.王子下定决心要娶国王的其中一位女儿。

2 stew   

n.炖汤，焖，烦恼；v.炖汤，焖，忧虑

参考例句：

• The stew must be boiled up before serving.炖肉必须煮熟才能上桌。
• There's no need to get in a stew.没有必要烦恼。

3 grunted   

（猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说

参考例句：

• She just grunted, not deigning to look up from the page. 她只咕哝了一声，继续看书，不屑抬起头来看一眼。
• She grunted some incomprehensible reply. 她咕噜着回答了些令人费解的话。

4 stink   

vi.发出恶臭；糟透，招人厌恶；n.恶臭

参考例句：

• The stink of the rotten fish turned my stomach.腐烂的鱼臭味使我恶心。
• The room has awful stink.那个房间散发着难闻的臭气。

5 winked   

v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮

参考例句：

• He winked at her and she knew he was thinking the same thing that she was. 他冲她眨了眨眼，她便知道他的想法和她一样。
• He winked his eyes at her and left the classroom. 他向她眨巴一下眼睛走出了教室。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 wailed   

v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She wailed over her father's remains. 她对着父亲的遗体嚎啕大哭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The women of the town wailed over the war victims. 城里的妇女为战争的死难者们痛哭。 来自辞典例句

7 syllable   

n.音节；vt.分音节

参考例句：

• You put too much emphasis on the last syllable.你把最后一个音节读得太重。
• The stress on the last syllable is light.最后一个音节是轻音节。

8 pickle   

n.腌汁，泡菜；v.腌，泡

参考例句：

• Mother used to pickle onions.妈妈过去常腌制洋葱。
• Meat can be preserved in pickle.肉可以保存在卤水里。

9 psychiatrist   

n.精神病专家；精神病医师

参考例句：

• He went to a psychiatrist about his compulsive gambling.他去看精神科医生治疗不能自拔的赌瘾。
• The psychiatrist corrected him gently.精神病医师彬彬有礼地纠正他。

10 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

11 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。