篇一：典范英语导读提纲Coming Clean1
Coming Clean
Before-reading
1. Look at the front cover and the title, make a guess what the story is about.
2. How many chapters are there in this story? What are they?
3. Flick through the book, looking at the chapter headings. Have you got more clues
4. Look at the pictures what do you think of the baggy-pants?
While-reading
1. Who are Dereck and Janey?
2. Who is Mr Such?
3. What did Mr Such usually wear?
4. But, that day what did Mr Such wear? And why?
5. Everyone was shocked when they saw Mr Such wear a brand new suit.Why?
6. What did students think of Mr Such in a brand new suit?
7. When the last lesson was on, what was happened?
8. On P13, "she didn't dare tell him the truth". Why?
9. How did they made the new suit dirty?
1
10. What did they do to clean it?
11. How many ways did they try to clean the trousers? Did the ways work?
12. At the end of chapter 2, what did they decide to do? And why?
13. They marched in the laundry,what was happened?
14. And then where did they go to find the trousers?
15. What did the driver do with the trousers?
16. Why did they decide to tell the truth to Mr Such? But at first why didn't they tell the truth to Mr Such?
17. When did they want to own up, what was happened?
18. After the fire, why did Mr Such refuse to listen to them?
19. Would Mr Such have a new suit for Parents' Evening?
After-reading
1. My word bank
2
? Words
n.
v.
adj.
adv.
? Useful expressions
3
3.Role paly the dialogue from p15-p18 OR p19-p21.( Choose one of them )
4.Summary
(1) Dereck and Janey are
(2) Mr Such is
5.Further thinking
How are Dereck and Janey getting with Mr Such at first? And after this unusual thing?
Do you think whether Dereck and Janey are honesty or not?If they are, why didn't own up at first? If not, why?
4
篇二：典范英语-7 Coming Clean-坦白翻译
典范英语7 坦白Coming Clean 完美翻译 松垮的旧裤子
戴瑞克和简妮正大厅一边吃果酱馅蛋糕卷儿一边谈论萨奇先生的裤子。萨奇先生是他们的老师，他每天都穿那条同样的裤子来学校。
“它是那么皱皱巴巴又肥肥大大。”简妮说。
“而且又邋遢又厚，”戴瑞克说。
“像一块洗碗布。”
“他还一直穿着。”
“我想他没有别的裤子。”
“松垮的旧裤子，那就是他，”戴瑞克把叉子插进果酱馅蛋糕卷儿时补充说。 “我希望他有一条新的，”简妮说。
就在这时，松垮旧裤子本人进了大厅，简妮嘴巴张得老大，戴瑞克都能看见里面被嚼碎的蛋糕卷。
“怎么了？”他问到。
简妮眨了眨眼指了指。萨奇先生身穿一身崭新的套装站在那里，衣服一尘不染毫无褶皱。大厅里每个人都停下用餐，盯着萨奇先生。
“你们别停下，”萨奇先生说着，脸上泛起一点儿红晕，“继续吃。” “哇！”戴瑞克说着，把身子从盘子上方靠过来，“他看起来变了个人。” “显得特别精神，”简妮坚定地说，“而且也差不多是时候了。”
那天下午晚些时候，简妮班上的同学结对回到大厅上体育。
“我喜欢这身衣服，先生，”简妮排队进入时对萨奇先生说。
“谢谢你简妮，这身衣服是为家长晚会准备的，真的。”
“家长晚会？”
“嗯，我得展示我最好的一面，不是么？”
“但是周一才是呀，先生。”
“我知道，戴瑞克，我正在让自己习惯它。”
当他们说话时，维恩小姐从厨房里出来，抱着一盆蛋黄羹。
她看见萨奇先生光亮崭新的套装震撼地跳了起来。“哦，我的天！”她喊道。她抓住大厅的一块帘子是自己站稳。那块蛋羹腾空而起，向萨奇先生飞去。
戴瑞克看到它，迈出一步挡在前面。蛋羹颤颤悠悠飞过空中然后糊到戴瑞克的汗衫上。大家鸦雀无声。戴瑞克站在那里，满脸悲哀，目瞪口呆，浑身都是凉透的蛋羹。 “做得好，戴瑞克，”萨奇先生说，“你救了我的新套装。”
戴瑞克强颜欢笑，这时蛋羹正在往他短裤里渗。
课间休息之后，萨奇先生又换上了他的“擦桌布”裤子。
“离它远点儿，”萨奇先生说着把它挂在橱柜的门上，“离它远远的。” 一抹迷人的绿色
最后一节是艺术课。他们要涂有趣的面孔。简妮正在画一个怪兽：一条闪电划过它的脖子，眼睛布满血丝，鼻子里还流出绿色的东西。她对这些绿颜料很满意，但是她调的太多了。于是她问戴瑞克是否需要。
“我一点也不需要，简妮，”他说，“我正在画足球运动员。”
“好呀，他鼻子里可以流出绿色的东西呀，不是么？”
“不，他不可以。”
“你可以用来涂操场，像草一样。”
“我不会让我的运动员在从你的怪兽鼻子里流出的东西上跑的，谢谢，”戴瑞克说。他用胳膊肘碰了碰简妮的胳膊肘，绿颜料泼了一桌子。
他努力阻止它流到地板上。
然后他把手伸到后面用毛巾擦手，但那不是毛巾。
“喔，”他小声说，“看我做了什么。”
简妮目睹了一切：戴瑞克在萨奇先生的新裤子上擦了手。
“你已经擦了，‘松垮旧裤子’看到会气疯的。”
萨奇先生就在教室另一头，他抬头对他们笑了笑。
“你们俩画好了？”萨奇先生问。
“是的，谢谢，先生。”简妮欢快地回答。
她不敢告诉他实话。
她抓了一些纸开始擦那些绿斑。
“你这傻瓜，”戴瑞克说，“你越帮越忙，它们两倍那么大了。”
真的是那样。简妮看着戴瑞克冥思苦想。
“现在只有一个办法了”简妮说。
“什么？”
“把它放回衣架，等放学了我们可以洗。”
当萨奇先生走过来看他们的画时，衣服还在橱柜的门上轻轻摇摆。
“哦，”他说，“我喜欢那层绿色，那真是种迷人的颜色。”
到回家的时间了，萨奇先生慢悠悠地磨蹭了好半天，不让他们自己呆着。他们把椅子一把一把地叠起来，像它们原来被叠起的一样。终于，到最后，他离开了教师休息室。
戴瑞克冲向洗手池，打开水龙头。简妮抓住裤子，隔着屋子朝他扔去。他接住，放进了洗手池。然后拿起一个塑料瓶使劲往裤子上喷。
“你在干什么？”简妮喊道。
“洗涤液呀，可以去掉污渍。”
“那不是洗涤液，是胶水。”
正在这时他们听到萨奇先生来到门外。萨奇先生穿着防水衣，夹着裤腿夹进来，看到戴瑞克和简妮肩并肩站在洗手池旁。
“喔，你们怎么还在这里？”
“快完了，先生，”简妮说着勉强笑了笑。
“好吧，对我来说这太整洁了，我现在得赶快回家了。”
他走到挂夹克的橱柜门前。
“不要，”戴瑞克说。
“不要什么？”
“不要拿衣服。”
“为什么？”
“因为?因为?”
“因为你可能把它弄脏，”简妮说，“让它呆在那里不是更安全。对不对，戴瑞克？”戴瑞克点点头，萨奇先生很困惑，却仍旧把手往夹克那里伸去。
“它可能从你的自行车上掉下来，”简妮补充道，“掉到一堆垃圾或者别的东西上。”萨奇先生放下他的手。
“嗯，你可能是对的，我不想有任何别的意外。”
当萨奇先生走了之后，他们把裤子放进一个塑料袋里，偷偷拿到了戴瑞克家里。
他们把裤子扔进厨房的水池，浇上热水，撒上洗衣粉。然后涂上肥皂，在用金属硬刷子刷。水里冒出一堆泡泡，和他们的胳膊肘一样高。
“管用吗？”简妮问。
戴瑞克拍开挡在前面的泡泡往池子里看。
“还是绿的，”他抱怨到。
他们又喷上洗涤液，上光剂，地板清洗剂，但是也都不起作用。
“也许我们应该向洗衣机一样把他甩一甩。”戴瑞克说。
于是他们跑到外面，在戴瑞克家花园路上把裤子甩来甩去，但裤子仅仅是沾上了更多尘土。简妮觉得裤子开始缩水了。
“现在只有一个办法了。”简妮说。
“什么办法？”
“我们得把它带到干洗店。”
英雄
第二天是星期天，戴瑞克和简妮坐上进城的头班车。在他俩座位的中间，那条裤子紧紧绞成一团装在一个塑料袋里。简妮几乎不忍心看它。
他们等到干洗店没人才大步走进去。简妮对小姑娘笑了笑，小姑娘也笑了一下以示回应。 “裤子，戴瑞克。”简妮说。
“裤子？”
“拿过来。”
“办不到。”
“怎么了？”
“因为你拿着呀。”
“我没有呀，不是你拿着么。”
就在那是他俩呆呆地站在那里互相看着对方。然后戴瑞克眨了眨眼，轻轻说：“简妮，它还在车上。”
三个小时后，他们又累又烦地赶到汽车站。他们来来回回地找，最终他俩坐过的汽车。汽车停在院子的一个角落，还有两条腿从下面伸出来。
“打扰了，”简妮对着两条腿说，“我们在你的车上落了一些东西。”
然后只见两条腿扭动着出来，站起一个人，眨了眨眼，用一块油乎乎的抹布擦了擦手。 “什么东西？”他问。
“一条裤子，”戴瑞克回答。
“没有，”那个人说，“我没有在车上看到任何裤子，除了人们穿的那些。”
他摇摇头把油乎乎的抹布扔进一个箱子。当抹布在空中飞过时，从里面展开了一条裤腿，一条带绿斑的裤腿。
“它在那儿。”简妮大喊。
“啧、啧、啧，”那个人说，“我刚才没有注意到。”
戴瑞克用扳手把的头把裤子从箱子里挑出来，举起来仔细看了看。
“哦，天哪，”他说，“它比原来更糟了。”
“现在只有一个办法了。”简妮叹息道。
“什么办法？”
“我们只能坦白承认了。”
星期一戴瑞克和简妮早早来到学校，他们溜进教室，把裤子从袋子里面拿出来。
他们看到了车上的油和花园里的灰尘，还有胶水和绿斑，然后互相看看，叹了一口气。 “我们只能这样做了，”简妮说，“我们得说实话了。”
他们把裤子放回衣架，出去找萨奇先生。
他俩在大厅找到了萨奇先生。
“简妮，戴瑞克，”萨奇先生笑着说，“这都是怎么回事？”
“是你的衣服，先生，”简妮勇敢地说，“我们有事要跟您说。”
没等他们开口，维安小姐就闯进大厅一把抓住萨奇先生的手臂。
“薯条！薯条！”她尖叫到。
“不了，谢谢，维安小姐，”萨奇先生说，“早上吃薯条太早了。”
“不，不，萨奇先生，是厨房里的薯条！它们着火了！”
“什么？”
萨奇先生匆忙赶到厨房门前然后推开门，一股浓浓的蓝烟滚滚而来，涌进了大厅。 “好家伙！”萨奇先生说着又退了回来。
“往上面浇些水，先生！”戴瑞克尖声喊到。
“不能那样做，”萨奇先生说，“水会弄糟的，我需要一块布或者别的东西捂住火苗。” 这时他看见简妮手指勾着的衣服架上悬荡着的那套衣服。
“只有一样东西了，萨奇先生，”简妮说着，萨奇先生抓住那套衣服。
当然那套衣服毁了。它变成一团冒着烟、油乎乎、脏兮兮的东西。简妮想告诉萨奇先生关于那些绿斑以及他们怎样努力想把它们清洗掉，但是萨奇先生根本不听。
“没关系，”他一直说，“没一点关系。”
萨奇先生是当时的英雄，因此他自我感觉非常好。校长答应给他一套新衣服，而他也很高兴。
“太好了，”萨奇先生说，“我可以有一套更漂亮更亮白的了。”
“哦，不要那样，”简妮快速说。
“为什么不？”
“嗯~，我们觉得绿色更适合你，不是么，戴瑞克？”
“更适合，”戴瑞克点头说，“我们觉得绿色是一种迷人的颜色。”
篇三：典范英语8-16
16.Doohickey and the robot
Chapter one
Doohickey had just moved to a new town when he spotted a notice. It was stuck outside a big house at the end of his street.
?That?s the job for me,? said Doohickey. ?I need some more pocket-money.?
He pushed the doorbell. Then he jumped.
Weeeeyow-weeeeyow-weeeeyow! Kaaabooooom!
A loud alarm sounded inside the house, followed by a terrific explosion.
A window flew open at the top of the house. A cloud of thick smoke billowed out.
?What do you want?? coughed a voice from inside the cloud. ?Can?t you see that I?m busy??
The smoke cleared. The professor?s face peered down at Doohickey.
?Excuse me,? said Doohickey. ?My name?s Doohickey. I?ve come about the job.?
?What job?? snapped the professor.
?As assistant,? said Doohickey. ?The notice says you need one.?
?Oh, absolutely!? said the professor, beginning to grin.
The notice had been up for over a year, but Doohickey was the first person to ask about it.
?Come on up!? said the professor. His head disappeared.
A moment later, the front door sprang half-open.
Doohickey peered inside. A huge mountain of post had stopped the door from opening properly. But there was no one there.
Doohickey felt sure that the door had opened for him, so he squeezed through into the hallway.
A buzzer sounded in Doohickey?s ear. He was surprised to see a little air-ship bobbing in the hallway beside him.Tiny propellers spun the ship around. Doohickey saw the words, ?FOLLOW ME? written in big red letters on its side.
Chapter two
He followed the ship up a tall, winding staircase. He passed room after room stuffed full of strange-looking machines. Were they the professor?s inventions?
Doohickey knew that he was supposed to go straight up the stairs, but he couldn?t help himself. He popped into one of the rooms to take a closer look.
The first thing Doohickey came across was a computer screen fixed to a huge metal cage. The cage seemed to be stuffed full of straw.
Doohickey pushed his hand into it.
?Ouch!? he squealed, pulling it out again. A tiny needle was sticking out of his thumb.
There was a label fixed to the computer screen.
?Well, it didn?t find this one,? said Doohickey crossly, as he stuck the needle back into the straw.
The next machine had lots of electric fans fixed beneath a large metal funnel. There was sand all over the floor. The label said:
?This looks like fun,? thought Doohickey. He switched it on.
Sand began trickling out of the funnel and the fans started spinning. Then the strangest thing happened.
The sand didn?t fall on to the floor. It hung in the air. And slowly, it shaped itself into a floating castle.
Doohickey walked slowly around the machine. He couldn?t believe what he was seeing.
Then all of a sudden, he bumped into someone else. When he saw who it was, he nearly jumped out of his skin.The other person was him!
It was like looking in a mirror, except that there was no glass.
Doohickey reached out his hand and the other Doohickey did the same. Their fingers met in mid-air and he felt the warmth of his own hand pressing back. It was too creepy.
?Ughhh!? shivered Doohickey. He stepped backwards straight into the floating sand-castle.
The castle exploded and Doohickey found himself in the middle of a sandstorm. Sand blew everywhere, into his eyes and up his nose.
Coughing and sneezing, he groped his way back to the switch and turned it off.
The sandstorm disappeared. And so had the other Doohickey!
Then Doohickey noticed a large metal plate on the floor. There was another label on it.
?Of course!? sighed Doohickey.
The metal plate was another of the professor?s inventions. It had made the other Doohickey appear when he had stepped on to it.
I won't try that again, he thought. It’s a bit too spooky.
A buzzer sounded. Doohickey saw the air-ship bobbing up and down in the doorway. It had come back to find him.?I got lost,? said Doohickey. He couldn?t think of a better excuse.
The ship buzzed again crossly and glided back towards the stairs.
?Coming,? said Doohickey.
Chapter Three
They reached the top of the house.
The air-ship led Doohickey into a smoky attic. It was stuffed full of books, test tubes and lumps of tangled wiring.
A small shaggy dog peered out at him from beneath a workbench. A cat lay sunning itself on the window sill.?What kept you?? asked the professor. He was hunched over a heap of metal in one corner.
?I was admiring some of your inventions,? said Doohickey.
?Oh, those old things,? said the professor. ?This,? he said, pointing to the twisted heap of metal, ?is my latest and greatest invention.?
?What is it?? asked Doohickey. It didn?t look very exciting. He expected that it was a machine for getting blood from a stone. Or for making omelettes without breaking eggs.
? It?s the RoBoffin 2000 Multi-Purpose Robot,? said the professor, proudly.
?What does it do?? asked Doohickey.
?Absolutely anything!? said the professor. ?Let me show you.?
The professor scribbled some words on to a scrap of paper. He fed the paper through the slot in the robot?s chest.Then he pressed a big button and stepped back.
The robot hummed and whirred for a bit. Then it climbed slowly to its feet. It was enormous. Its head almost scraped the attic ceiling.
The lights on the robot?s face flickered on and off. It looked as if it was thinking about something.
And then… it painted a picture of the professor?s dog.
It played a piece of music on the test tubes.
And it discovered three new ways of splitting the atom.
?Pretty good, eh?? said the professor, when the robot had finished.
?Cool!? said Doohickey. He was really amazed. The huge, heavy robot had whizzed around the attic, and it hadn?t disturbed so much as a paper clip.
?It can do anything I asked it to,? said the professor.
?Anything?? asked the Doohickey.
?Absolutely!? said the professor.
?Can I have a go?? asked Doohickey. He wanted to ask the robot to build a space rocket or tell him next week?s winning lottery numbers.
?Absolutely not,? said the professor, ?it?s far too complicated. Besides, I?ve got better things for you to do.??Such as?? said Doohickey. He was disappointed.
?Such as there,? said the professor, writing out a list. ?What month is it, by the way??
?August,? said Doohickey.
?Summer! Already?? said the professor. He looked surprised. ?I must go out and pay my bills.?
He handed Doohickey the list of jobs.
?I?ll be gone for the rest of the day,? he said, rushing out of the door. ?So these jobs should be finished by the time I get back. If you can?t find anything, ask Newton.?
?Who's Newton?? shouted Doohickey, as the professor swept down the stairs.
?I am!? said the dog.
?You can talk!? said Doohickey, staring at the dog.
?How clever of you to notice,? said Newton.
?And the cat?? asked Doohickey, looking at the other animal. ?Can the cat talk too??
?Of course not,? scoffed Newton, ?it?s only a cat!?
Doohickey didn't know what to say to this. So he looked at the list of jobs the professor had given him.
?These jobs are all boring,? said Doohickey. ?The notice said I?d be helping with “exciting experiments and interesting inventions.”?
?Of course it did,? said Newton, ?otherwise, you wouldn't have wanted the job.?
?Well, I don?t want the job,? said Doohickey. ?I don?t want to cook and clean all day.?
He tore up the list and threw it into a bin.
?I?m off!? he said.
?Suit yourself,? said Newton.
Chapter Four
Doohickey went back down the winding staircase, past the rooms full of inventions.
Look at all these silly machines, he thought. Why doesn?t the professor invent something useful; something that could do the housework?
Then he had a brain-wave. ?Of course!? he said. He set off upstairs again.
?Back so soon?? said Newton. ?I though you didn?t want the job.?
?I didn?t,? said Doohickey, ?but I?ve had a brain-wave.?
?Oh, we get lots of them around here,? said the dog, yawning.
Doohickey picked the list out of the bin. He stuck it back together with some sticky tape.
?How does that look?? he asked, showing it to Newton.
Newton studied the list. ?It looks OK to me,? he said.
?Now for the clever bit,? said Doohickey.
He climbed on top of a stool and fed the stuck-together list through the slot in the robot?s chest.
?Oh dear,? said Newton, shaking his head, ?the professor isn?t going to like this.
?The professor isn't going to find out!? said Doohickey. He hit the big button.
The robot hummed, whirred and then straightened itself up.
?It?ll all end in tears,? sighed Newton.
The lights on the robot?s face flickered on and off for a few minutes and then it stomped out of the attic.
?Piece of cake!? said Doohickey, grinning. ?Now, where can I take a nap??
The robot stomped down the stairs and into the professor?s bathroom.
It grabbed a great armful of dirty clothes. Then it carried them down to the kitchen. But instead of putting them into the washing machine it stuffed them into the oven.
Next, it took some meat and vegetables out of the fridge. It chopped and sliced them to make a delicious stew. Then it emptied the whole lot into the washing machine!
After that, it brought the lawnmower into the house and ran it over the hall carpet.
And it took the Hoover outside and sucked the leaves off the lawn.
Chapter Five
The professor?s neighbours were used to strange things going on at his house. But they had never seen anything quite like the robot.
?What do you think it's up to?? asked one of them. The robot had just fetched a hammer and nails. It was now nailing up the front door.
?Perhaps the professor?s gone away,? suggested another, ?and he?s afraid that someone will try and break in.?
The robot didn't seem to mind that everyone was looking at it. It propped a ladder up against the side of the house.Then it climbed to the top and began to brush bright green paint all over the roof.
Newton was half asleep when the robot stomped into the attic carrying a watering can.
?The pot plants are in the living room,? said the dog, helpfully.
The huge machine lumbered towards him.
?I should have known something would go wrong!? he sighed, as the robot emptied the watering can over his head.Doohick(转自：wWw.XiAocAoFanWeN.cOm 小 草 范文网:典范英语8coming,clean故事梗概)ey was still fast asleep on the professor?s bed.
?Wake up! Wake up!? braked Newton, shaking his wet fur in the boy?s face.
?What?s wrong?? yawned Doohickey, rubbing his eyes.
?Oh, just about everything!” said Newton.
?What?s happened?? asked Doohickey.
?The robot?s gone mad,? said Newton. ?Last time I saw it, it was pulling up the pot plants. I told you it would all end in tears.?
Chapter Six
They ran downstairs to the hall. The carpet was covered in shredded paper.
?What?s happened here?? asked Doohickey. He looked dazed.
Newton held up a scrap of paper with a postage stamp stuck to it.
?It's the professor?s letters,? he said.
?But it looks like they?ve been through a shredder!? said Doohickey.
?Or a lawnmower…? suggested Newton.
In the kitchen they found the dirty clothes burning in the oven and the stew churning around inside the washing machine.
?I don?t understand,? groaned Doohickey. ?What went wrong??
?The robot seems to have got the jobs mixed up,? said Newton.
?But how?? said Doohickey. ?You saw the list that I gave it. You said it was OK!?
?I said it looked OK,? said Newton, ?but I didn?t read it.?
?Why not?? wailed Doohickey.
The dog looked uncomfortable.
?You can read, can?t you?? asked Doohickey.
?Of course not,? said Newton, ?I?m only a dog.?
Just then the robot stomped in through the back door. It was trailing a bunch of bedraggled pot plants behind it-having taken the plants for a walk.
The robot dragged the plants through to the living room and dropped them back into their pots.
?Spot at once!? commanded Doohickey, standing in front of it.
But the robot barged straight past him, into the kitchen.
?It won?t stop until it?s done everything on the list,? explained Newton.
?So what?s it doing now?? asked Doohickey.
The robot ripped the fridge away from the wall and carried it upstairs.
?Bests me,? said Newton.
The robot carried the fridge all the way up to the attic. It stopped in front of Newton?s freshly painted picture. It opened the fridge door, took out a piece of pie, and jammed it into the mouth painted on the picture of Newton.
It made a hole in the picture and the pie fell out of the other side. The robot took some more food and stuffed it into the hole.
?It?s feeding the picture,? said Newton.
?But it?s supposed to hang the picture…? said Doohickey, trying to remember the professor?s list.
?…and feed the cat?? finished Newton.
?So that means that…next…it will try to…oh, no!? wailed Doohickey, as the robot set off towards the sleeping cat. Chapter Seven
The professor knew that there was something wrong when he saw the crowd of people standing outside his house.
He knew that something was terribly wrong when he saw the green paint dripping from his roof, and heard the cat screeching in the attic.
He bounded up to the front door and…found that it was nailed shut.
He rushed around the back of the house and in the back door. He could smell something burning, but he didn't stop to find out what.
He ran straight up the stairs, three steps at a time, and burst into the attic.
The attic was a nightmare.
The robot was lurching around the room with a length of electric cable. It was trying to catch the cat.
Luckily, the terrified cat was staying one leap ahead of it.
Between the two of them, they had managed to knock over most of the professor?s equipment.
Doohickey was jumped up and down in front of the robot, trying to hit the buttons on its chest.
Newton was sitting on a tall cupboard, enjoying the show.
Without saying a word, the professor strode across the room and hit the big button on the robot?s chest.
The robot stopped chasing the cat, let out a little sigh and toppled over. A scrap of paper rolled out of the slot in its chest.
The professor snatched up the paper and looked at it.
?Who is responsible for this?? he said, quietly.
?Don't look at me,? said Newton, ?I?m only a dog.?
?Doohickey!? said the professor.
?Erm…I was…just err…? panted Doohickey.
The professor gave Doohickey a hard stare.
?You see… I just, um… thought that…? Doohickey tried to explain.
The professor gave Doohickey an even harder stare.
?It was all my fault,? said Doohickey.
?Absolutely,? agreed the professor.
Doohickey gazed around the attic. It had been untidy to start with. But that was nothing to how it looked now. The professor was giving him another hard stare.
?Oh,? said Doohickey slowly, ?I suppose you want me to clear up all this mess??
?Absolutely,? repeated the professor.
?Righto,? said Doohickey, I?d better get on with it.? It would take hours to tidy up on his own.
He looked around for Newton, but the dog had vanished.
?Um, I don?t suppose,? he said, carefully, looking at the professor, ?I could use the robot to…??
?Absolutely not!? shouted the professor.