门口的保安
The guard who saw nothing
Name: ________________ Date: ________
出门以前，爷爷在家里找来找去：“找猫，怎么能不戴警察帽子？我的帽子呢？”
“在车棚的箱子里，”乐乐说，“你昨天早上不是去找过吗？”
“箱子里都是旧衣服，我没找到。”爷爷说，“下午再去拿吧。”
阿亮是小区门口的保安，二十多岁，每天都在看手机。
“阿亮，星期天晚上，你看见一只白猫了吗？”
“没看见。”阿亮还在看手机。
“那我们看看摄像头。”
阿亮的脸红了。“摄像头……不能用了，两个星期了。我没告诉别人。”
乐乐看了看桌子下面，那里有十几根火腿肠的皮。阿亮的椅子上，都是白色的猫毛。
“阿亮哥哥，”乐乐说，“你喂豆腐了吧？”
阿亮只好说了：“它每天晚上八点来，吃一根火腿肠，吃完看看我再走，跟老板一样。所以我叫它‘老板’。”
爷爷问：“星期天晚上呢？”
“它来了，可是只吃了一半，就慢慢地往小区后面走了。它从来没有吃不完过。”
阿亮小声说：“你们去问问钱阿姨吧。上个星期，她说要把这只猫送走！”
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 以前 | yǐqián | before; previously; formerly |
| 箱子 | xiāngzi | box; chest; suitcase |
| 旧 | jiù | old; used; worn |
| 小区 | xiǎoqū | residential compound; housing estate |
| 用 | yòng | to use; use; usefulness |
| 别人 | biéren | other people; others; someone else |
| 毛 | máo | surname Mao |
| 戴 | dài | to wear (a hat, glasses, jewelry, etc.) |
| 警察 | jǐngchá | police officer; police |
| 帽子 | màozi | hat; cap |
| 只好 | zhíhǎo | to have no choice but to; to be forced to |
| 保安 | bǎo’ān | security guard |
English (for the teacher)
Before they went out, Grandpa searched the whole flat. “How can I look for a cat without my police hat? Where’s my hat?”
“In the box in the bike shed,” said Lele. “Didn’t you go and look for it yesterday morning?”
“That box is full of old clothes. I couldn’t find it.” Grandpa said, “I’ll fetch it this afternoon.”
A-Liang was the security guard at the compound gate, in his twenties and always on his phone.
“A-Liang, did you see a white cat on Sunday night?”
“Nope.” A-Liang was still looking at his phone.
“Then let’s check the camera.”
A-Liang went red. “The camera… doesn’t work. It hasn’t for two weeks. I didn’t tell anyone.”
Lele looked under the desk: a dozen or so ham sausage wrappers. A-Liang’s chair was covered in white cat hair.
“A-Liang,” said Lele, “you’ve been feeding Tofu, haven’t you?”
A-Liang had to come clean. “It comes at eight every night, eats one ham sausage, looks me over and leaves, like a boss. So I call it ‘the Boss’.”
Grandpa asked, “And on Sunday night?”
“It came, but it only ate half, then walked off slowly towards the back of the compound. It’s never left one unfinished before.”
A-Liang lowered his voice. “Go and ask Auntie Qian. Last week she said she’d have that cat sent away!”