阅读理解
Mr.El was walking past the office toward his fourthgrade classroom.He wanted to correct some papers before his kids were done with lunch.Suddenly, he heard Mr Kay's voice calling him from the open door.
“Mr.El, can I see you for a minute？”the principal called out.
Mr.El walked into the office and sat down in the big wooden rocking chair that Mr Kay kept by his desk.Many a naughty child had sat in that chair.Mr.El hoped that he hadn't done anything wrong.“What is up？”he asked.
Mr Kay sat back in his chair, took a deep breath, and sighed.“I just got a call from Mrs Cook.She's very upset about today's lunch count in her cafeteria.”
“Oh？”Mr.El replied innocently.
“It seems that about half of your students refused to have and of her fish sticks with their meals.She thinks you might have said something to them that made that happen.”
Mr.El gazed at the ceiling thoughtfully.“Maybe it was the worm thing，”he said.
“She said something about worms，”Mr Kay responded, “but she was so angry.I couldn't quite make it out.”
Mr.El looked surprised.“I did just happen to mention, as a joke of course, that the fish sticks were really made of groundup earthworms.I explained that they were flavored with fish guts, breaded, and then fried in motor oil.”
“Actually, a lot of your kids believed it was true，”Mr Kay stated.“Mr.El, I'll leave it to you to undo the damage.”
“Yes, Sir，” Mr.El promised as he rose and started for the door.
“And what was that thing about maggots？”Mr Kay asked. “No, wait.Don't answer！I don't want to know！”
Notes：
①gaze at注视 ②maggot n．蛆
