Sometimes he would get up in the morning and say:

"Mother, I think I'm going to have the toothache. I guess I better not go to school to-day."

But his mother would laugh and say:

"Oh, run along! If you get the toothache in school the teacher will let you come home."

Then the boy would go to school, though he didn't want to, and he would be thinking up some new excuse for staying home, so really he did not recite his lessons as well as he might.

One day this boy came running in the house, all excited, and called out:

"Oh, Mother! I just know I can't go to school to-morrow!"

"Why not?" asked Mother.

"'Cause I've been playing with the boy across the street, an' he's got the measles¹, an' I'll catch 'em an' I can't go to school. You ought t' see! He's all covered with red spots!" The boy who didn't like school was much excited. "He's all red spots!" he exclaimed.

"Is he?" asked Mother. "Well, the measles aren't painful, though they are 'catching,' as you children say. However, you [Pg 123] can't catch them quite as soon as one day. So you may go to school until you break out with red spots. Then it will be time enough to stay at home."

"Can't I stay home to-morrow?" begged the boy.

"Oh, of course not!" laughed Mother. "I want you to go to school and become a smart man! Time enough to stay home when you get the measles!"

Now, of course, this did not suit that boy at all. When he went to bed he was thinking and thinking of some plan by which he could stay home from school. For there was to be a hard lesson next day, and, though I am sorry to say it, that boy was too lazy to study as he ought.

"If I could only break out with the measles I could stay home," he kept saying over and over again as he lay in bed. Every now and then he would get up, turn on the electric light in his room and look at himself in the glass to see if any red spots were coming. But he could see none.

"What's the matter, Boysie?" his mother called to him from her room. "Why are you so restless?"

"Maybe I'm getting the measles," he hopefully answered.

"Nonsense! Go to sleep!" laughed Daddy.

Finally the boy did go to sleep, but either he dreamed it, or the idea came to him in the night, for, early in the morning, he awakened

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1 measles
n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子
参考例句：
The doctor is quite definite about Tom having measles.医生十分肯定汤姆得了麻疹。 The doctor told her to watch out for symptoms of measles.医生叫她注意麻疹出现的症状。

2 hop
n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过
参考例句：
The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛，看谁单足跳跃最快。 How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远？

3 awakened
v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到
参考例句：
She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。 The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 mumbled
含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
He mumbled something to me which I did not quite catch. 他对我叽咕了几句话，可我没太听清楚。 George mumbled incoherently to himself. 乔治语无伦次地喃喃自语。

5 spotted
adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的
参考例句：
The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。 Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

6 tiresome
adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的
参考例句：
His doubts and hesitations were tiresome.他的疑惑和犹豫令人厌烦。 He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors.他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜，令人生厌。

7 spoke
n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说
参考例句：
They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。 The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 checkered
adj.有方格图案的
参考例句：
The ground under the trees was checkered with sunlight and shade.林地光影交错。 He’d had a checkered past in the government.他过去在政界浮沉。

9 quacked
v.（鸭子）发出嘎嘎声( quack的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：

10 hopped
跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花
参考例句：
He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。 He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车，向市区开去。

11 waddled
v.（像鸭子一样）摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
A family of ducks waddled along the river bank. 一群鸭子沿河岸摇摇摆摆地走。 来自《简明英汉词典》 The stout old man waddled across the road. 那肥胖的老人一跩一跩地穿过马路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 puddle
n.(雨)水坑，泥潭
参考例句：
The boy hopped the mud puddle and ran down the walk.这个男孩跳过泥坑，沿着人行道跑了。 She tripped over and landed in a puddle.她绊了一下，跌在水坑里。

13 wink
n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁
参考例句：
He tipped me the wink not to buy at that price.他眨眼暗示我按那个价格就不要买。 The satellite disappeared in a wink.瞬息之间，那颗卫星就消失了。

14 lobster
n.龙虾，龙虾肉
参考例句：
The lobster is a shellfish.龙虾是水生贝壳动物。 I like lobster but it does not like me.我喜欢吃龙虾，但它不适宜于我的健康。

15 pussy
n.(儿语)小猫，猫咪
参考例句：
Why can't they leave my pussy alone?为什么他们就不能离我小猫咪远一点？ The baby was playing with his pussy.孩子正和他的猫嬉戏。

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