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Wednesday Today in Geography we had a quiz, and I have to say, I've been looking forward to this one for a long time. The quiz was on state capitals, and I sit in the back of the room, right next to this giant map of the United States. All the capitals are written in big red print, so I knew I had this one in the bag. But right before the test got started, Patty Farrell piped up from the front of the room.

周三，今天的地理课上我们有一个小测验，我不得不说，我对这个测验已经期待很久了。 测验是关于各州首府的，我坐在教室的后面，就在这张巨大的美国地图旁边。 所有的大写字母都是用大红色字体写的，所以我知道我已经稳扎稳打了。 但就在测试开始前，帕蒂·法雷尔（Patty Farrell）从教室前面大声说道。

Patty told Mr. Ira that he should cover up the United States map before we got started. So thanks to Patty, I ended up flunking the quiz. And I will definitely be looking for a way to pay her back for that one. Thursday Tonight Mom came up to my room, and she had a

帕蒂告诉艾拉先生，在我们开始之前，他应该把美国地图盖起来。 所以多亏了帕蒂，我最后考试不及格。 我一定会想办法报答她的。 星期四今晚，妈妈来到我的房间，她有一个

flyer in her hand. As soon as I saw it, I knew exactly what it was. It was an announcement that the school is having tryouts for a winter play. Man, I should have thrown that thing out when I saw it on the kitchen table. I Begged her not to make me sign up. Those school plays are always musicals, and the last thing I need is to have to sing a solo in front of the whole school. But all my begging seemed to do was make Mom more sure I should do it. Mom said the only way I was going to be "well-rounded" was by trying different things. Dad came in my room to see what was going on. I

她手里拿着传单。我一看到它，就知道那是什么了。 那是一则通告，说学校正在为冬季演出进行选拔赛。 伙计，我看到那东西在厨房桌子上的时候就该把它扔了。 我求她不要逼我报名。 学校的戏剧都是音乐剧，我最不想要的就是在全校面前独唱。 但我的哀求似乎只是让妈妈更加确信我应该这么做。 妈妈说我要“全面发展”的唯一方法就是尝试不同的东西。 爸爸到我房间来看看发生了什么事。 我

told Dad that Mom was making me sign up for the school play, and that if I had to start going to play practices, it would totally mess up my weight-lifting schedule. I knew that would make Dad take my side. Dad and Mom argued for a few minutes, but Dad was no match for Mom. So that means tomorrow I've got to audition for the school play. Friday The play they're doing this year is "The Wizard of Oz." A lot of kids came wearing costumes for the parts they were trying out for. nkledc. I've never even seen the movie, so for me, it was like walking into a freak show.

告诉爸爸，妈妈让我报名参加学校的话剧，如果我必须开始练习，那会完全打乱我的举重计划。 我知道这会让爸爸站在我这边。 爸爸和妈妈争论了几分钟，但爸爸不是妈妈的对手。 也就是说明天我要去参加学校话剧的试镜。 星期五他们今年要演的话剧是《绿野仙踪》。 很多孩子都穿着戏服来参加他们要试演的角色。 我从来没看过这部电影，所以对我来说，就像走进了一场畸形秀。

Mrs. Norton, the music director, made everyone sing "My Country' is of Thee" so she could hear our singing voices. I did my singing tryouts with a bunch of other boys whose moms made them come, too. I tried to sing as quietly as possible, but of course I got singled out, anyway. I have no idea what a "soprano" is, but from the way some of the girls were giggling, I knew it wasn't a good thing.

音乐总监诺顿夫人让每个人都唱《我的祖国属于你》，这样她就能听到我们的歌声。 我和一群男孩一起参加了歌唱选拔赛，他们也是妈妈让他们来的。 我试着尽可能安静地唱，但当然我还是被挑出来了。 我不知道“女高音”是什么，但从一些女孩咯咯笑的样子来看，我知道这不是一件好事。

Tryouts went on forever. The grand finale came with auditions for Dorothy, who I guess is the lead character in the play. And who should try out first but Patty Farrell. I thought about trying out for the part of the Witch, because I heard that in the play, the Witch does all sorts of mean things to Dorothy. But then somebody told me there's a Good Witch and a Bad Witch, and with my luck, I'd end up getting picked to be the good one. Monday I was hoping Mrs. Norton would just cut me from the play, but today she said that everyone who tried out is going to get a part. So lucky me.

选拔赛没完没了。最后是多萝西的试镜，我猜她是剧中的主角。 除了帕蒂·法雷尔，谁应该第一个试一试。 我想试演女巫这个角色，因为我听说在剧中，女巫对多萝西做了各种各样的坏事。 但后来有人告诉我有一个好女巫和一个坏女巫，以我的运气，我最终会被选为好女巫。 星期一我还希望诺顿夫人能把我从戏里剔除，但是今天她说每个试镜的人都会得到一个角色。 我真幸运。