Max the Detective

One morning before school, Max and Tiger were in the playground.

“ Want to play football?” asked Tiger.

“No, thanks. I’m reading my book,“ said Max.

Max’s book was about a detective^[1]detective  美: [dɪˈtektɪv]    英: [dɪ’tektɪv]    n.侦探；警探；私人侦探     adj.侦查(用)的  . “I want to be a detective when I grow up,“ said Max.

Just then, Max heard a loud splash^[2]splash   美: [splæʃ]  英: [splæʃ]   v. 泼洒；哗啦哗啦地溅；噼里啪啦地落；溅在…上   n. 落水声；溅泼声；溅上的液体；溅洒后留下的污渍. Tiger’s football had landed in a big puddle^[3]puddle  美: [ˈpʌd(ə)l]   英: [‘pʌd(ə)l] n. 水洼；小水坑；（尤指）雨水坑   v. 弄脏；把…做成胶土；用胶土涂塞；搅拌(熔铁). That was odd^[4]odd   美: [ɑd]  英: [ɒd]   adj. 奇怪的；怪异的；反常的；（某方面）怪异的. It had not rained for days.

At lunchtime, Max went to wash his hands. That was odd. There was only a dribble^[5]dribble  美: [ˈdrɪb(ə)l] 英: [‘drɪbl] n. 带球；口水；【篮,足】运球 v. 流口水；流涎；滴落；【篮,足】运(球) of water in the taps.

Mrs. Mills rushed by as Max walked to the playground.

“There is a flood in the staffroom, ” she said, “I  must find Mr. Foster.”

“ A flood !” said Max, “Where has the w a te r come from ?” He went out into the playground. The puddle was getting bigger and bigger.

There was no water in some places and too much in others! What was going on?

Maybe if Max was small he could find out! He pushed the button on his watch.

Now Max was small he could see a crack in the wall near the drain. He squeezed^[6]squeeze 美: [skwiz] 英: [skwiːz] v. 挤；榨；压；压出 n. 挤压；〈口〉压力；勒索；贿赂 through it.

Max went into the crack and walked along in the dark. There was lots of water on the ground. He walked along the tunnel^[7]tunnel 美: [ˈtʌn(ə)l] 英: [‘tʌn(ə)l] n. 地下通道；地道；隧道；（动物的）洞穴通道 v. 开凿隧道；挖地道. Then he went round a corner and saw the problem. There was a hole in the water pipe! Water was leaking out. That was why there was a puddle in the playground! It was why there was no water in the tap.

“What a waste of water!” Max said. If the pipe was fixed, all the other problems would be solved.

How could Max fix it? He looked around him. There was nothing he could do. Unless …

Max took something from his bag. He had a plan!

Max put his plan into action. He put a sticking plaster over the hole. The water stopped leaking. “Problem solved!” he said.

Max walked back to the playground. He pushed the button on his watch.

Just then, Max bumped into Mr Foster. “The taps are not working, there is a flood and now this puddle；’ said Mr Foster “I must try and solve the problem!”

Max the detective said nothing. He was looking forward to solving his next case^[8]case 美: [keɪs] 英: [keɪs] n. 病例；实例；箱；事例.