Chapter 4

Chapter 4 Primary Source primary source (n) a person with firsthand knowledge of an event; a document written by such a person at the time the event took place Jessie paused in the school hallway, twisting the strap on her backpack back and forth. She knew the rule. Kids were not allowed in the classroom after school when the teacher wasn't there. The door was open. She poked her head into 4-O. No one was there. The chairs were all up on the desks. The shades were pulled down for the day. Even the gerbils were in silent hiding, nestled deep beneath the wooden shavings in their cage. Jessie tiptoed in. Her heart was beating wildly

第4章第一手资料第一手资料(n)对某一事件有第一手资料的人；杰西在学校的走廊里停了下来，来回地捻着书包上的带子。 她知道规矩。放学后老师不在时，孩子们是不允许进教室的。 门开着。她把头探进4- 0。 没有人在那里。椅子都放在桌子上了。 白天，窗帘被拉了下来。 就连沙鼠也安静地躲在笼子里的木屑下面。 杰西蹑手蹑脚地走了进来。她的心狂跳

in her chest, and her breathing felt short and choppy. Her heavy backpack pulled on her arms as if trying to hold her back. She approached Mrs. Overton's desk, which was near the window. On top, there were several neat piles of papers, her pen-and-pencil cup, a shallow dish full of paper clips, two photographs of Langston, and a wilted African violet. Jessie reached out and quickly rubbed one of the plant's leaves between her thumb and fingers, enjoying the velvety feel of the little hairs that covered the leaf. The soft touch of the plant calmed her down. But she didn't have much time. Megan was coming over to her house in half an hour to make their class valentines. And anyone could walk into the classroom at any moment. She would have to be fast. A real pro. Jessie's eyes scanned the desktop, looking for clues, but what was she looking for? Nothing seemed unusual. Nothing that would reveal Mrs. Overton as the secret person who was leaving

在她的胸部，她的呼吸感到短促和不稳定。 她那沉重的背包拉着她的胳膊，好像要把她往后拉。 她走近靠窗的奥弗顿夫人的书桌。 上面有几堆整齐的文件，她的钢笔和铅笔杯，一个装满回形针的浅盘子，两张兰斯顿的照片，和一朵枯萎的非洲紫罗兰。 杰西伸出手，迅速地用拇指和其他手指摩擦着一片叶子，享受着覆盖在叶子上的绒毛的天鹅绒般的感觉。 植物的温柔抚摸使她平静下来。 但是她没有多少时间。 梅根半小时后要来她家给他们班做情人节礼物。 任何人都可以在任何时候走进教室。 她必须跑得快。 一个真正的专业人士。杰西的眼睛扫视着桌面，寻找线索，但她在寻找什么呢？ 没有什么不寻常的。没有任何证据表明奥弗顿夫人就是那个要离开的秘密人物

candy hearts. She walked around the desk and took a quick peek in the trash can, spotting only an empty paper cup and an orange peel. Out in the hall, a locker banged shut with a sharp metallic clang! Jessie could hear the sound of a squeaky cart rolling down the hall. She stopped. What if Mrs. Overton came back? Her coat was still hanging on the hook; her purse was underneath the desk. What if the custodian came in to sweep the floor? Would Jessie be expelled from fourth grade? But she had to be brave. Her newspaper was due in less than a week, and she didn't have a front-page story. There was a secret in 4-O, and it was her job to uncover the truth. She looked at Mrs. Overton's desk. There was one long, thin drawer in the center and three deep drawers on each side. Jessie wondered whether the drawers were locked. She wondered which drawer was most likely to hold a secret.

糖果的心。她绕着桌子走了一圈，在垃圾桶里瞥了一眼，只发现了一个空纸杯和一个橘子皮。 大厅里，一个储物柜砰的一声关上了，发出尖锐的金属声！杰西可以听到一辆手推车吱吱作响地滚下大厅的声音。 她停了下来。如果奥弗顿夫人回来了怎么办？ 她的外套还挂在钩子上；她的钱包在桌子下面。 如果是保管员来扫地呢？ 杰西会被四年级开除吗？ 但她必须勇敢。她的报纸还有不到一个星期就要到期了，而她的故事却没有登上头版。 4-O区有个秘密，她的工作就是揭开真相。 她看了看奥弗顿夫人的书桌。 中间有一个又长又细的抽屉，两边各有三个很深的抽屉。 杰西想知道抽屉是不是锁上了。 她不知道哪个抽屉里最有可能藏着秘密。

Her heart started to beat faster. Her dad did this kind of thing all the time, right? When he told his stories—of classified documents and uncovered clues and secret meetings with sources—he never mentioned being nervous. She reached her hand toward the top desk drawer. "What are you doing?" Jessie's hand jumped back as if bitten by a snake and disappeared behind her back. David Kirkorian stood in the doorway, buried inside his winter coat, woolen hat, and bulky gloves. "Nothing!" said Jessie. "I forgot my social studies notebook!" This was the excuse she had planned ahead of time, and she had in fact "accidentally" left her notebook in her desk. "So why are you looking in Mrs. Overton's desk?" David walked up to her and pulled off his hat. "She doesn't keep our notebooks in her desk." "Why are you even here?" asked Jessie. Was

她的心跳加快了。 她爸爸经常干这种事，对吧？ 当他讲述他的故事时——关于机密文件、发现的线索和与线人的秘密会面——他从来没有提到过紧张。 她把手伸向书桌最上面的抽屉。 “你在干什么？”杰西的手像被蛇咬了一样向后一跳，消失在背后。 大卫·柯克兰站在门口，裹在冬衣里，戴着羊毛帽子，戴着笨重的手套。 “没什么！”杰西说。“我忘了我的社会研究笔记本！”这是她事先计划好的借口，事实上她“不小心”把笔记本忘在桌子上了。 “那你为什么要翻奥弗顿夫人的桌子？”大卫走向她，摘下帽子。 “她不把我们的笔记本放在桌子上。” “你为什么在这里？”杰西问。 是

David going to report her to the principal? "I saw you walk back into the school, and I thought maybe you needed help with something." He took off his gloves and stuck them under his arm. It was warm in the classroom, and his face was beginning to turn bright red with the heat. "I don't need help," said Jessie. And she didn't. At least not from David Kirkorian, of all people! He looked at her, then at the wall, then back at her. "I won't tell, Jessie," he whispered. "I'll keep your secret." "There is no secret!" shouted Jessie. She hurried past him, grabbed her social studies notebook from her desk, and ran out of the room. When Megan came over to her house, Jessie still felt jumpy. And she still didn't know what her frontpage story would be. "Do you think I can just say that it's Mrs.

大卫要向校长告发她吗？ “我看见你走进学校，我想也许你需要帮助。” 他脱下手套，夹在腋下。 教室里很暖和，他的脸开始被热得通红。 “我不需要帮助，”杰西说。 但她没有。至少不是从大卫·柯克兰那里！他看了看她，又看了看墙壁，又看了看她。 “我不会说的，杰西。”他低声说。 “我会替你保守秘密的。”“没有秘密！”杰西喊道。 她匆匆从他身边走过，从桌上抓起她的社会研究笔记本，跑出了房间。 当梅根来到她家时，杰西仍然感到紧张不安。 她仍然不知道她的头版新闻会是什么。 “你以为我能说这是你太太吗？”

Overton who's giving out the candy, since it obviously is?" asked Jessie. She and Megan were in the basement, making their cards. Valentine's Day was just five days away, and Jessie was worried about getting all twenty-six valentines done in time. Another deadline! There was so much pressure in fourth grade! "Isn't that against the law?" asked Megan. "I mean, if it turns out not to be true?" Megan had the messy idea of filling her envelopes with confetti, so she was busy cutting up tissue paper. "Yeah," said Jessie glumly. It was called libel, and you could go to jail for it. "But who else could it be?" Jessie was decorating the edges of her heartshaped valentines with little glue-on jewels, following a strict pattern—red, silver, purple, silver. "You never know!" said Megan, and she tossed a handful of confetti into the air so that it rained down on the table. Jessie brushed the confetti off her side, glad

显然是奥弗顿，谁在发糖果？”杰西问。 她和梅根在地下室做卡片。 离情人节只有五天了，杰西很担心能否及时完成所有的26张情人节贺卡。 另一个期限!四年级的时候压力太大了！“这不是违法吗？”梅金问。 “我是说，如果事实证明这不是真的呢？”梅金想出了一个乱七八糟的主意，想在信封里塞满五彩纸屑，于是她忙着剪薄纸。 “是啊，”杰西闷闷不乐地说。 这被称为诽谤，你可能会因此进监狱。 “但还能是谁呢？”杰西在心形情人节礼物的边缘用胶水粘上小珠宝，按照严格的图案——红、银、紫、银。 “你永远不会知道！”梅金说，她把一把五彩纸屑扔到空中，它像雨一样落在桌子上。 杰西高兴地拂去身边的五彩纸屑