小屁孩日记 · 18 No Brainer

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If you need more than that, you've gotta bring your own supplies from home. And Ricky Fisher's been taking advantage of the situation because his mom works at the local office supply store and gets stuff at a discount. The students aren't the only ones who get less materials to work with. Each teacher only gets one dry-erase marker per week, so they have to make it last. And sometimes I feel like my History teacher skims over important stuff just to save marker fluid. WORLD HISTORY

如果你需要更多东西,就得自己从家里带用品过来。 里奇·费舍尔就一直在占这个便宜,因为他妈妈在本地文具店上班,能打折拿货。 不是只有学生能用到的材料变少了。 每个老师每周也只能领到一支干擦马克笔,所以得省着用一整周。 有时候我都觉得,我的历史老师为了省笔水,直接略过了好多重要内容。 世界历史

When something breaks in a classroom, they don't even bother to fix it anymore. Last week, the handle on the pencil sharpener broke off in Geometry, and everyone had to gnaw their pencils to a point so they could take the quiz. GNAW GNAW CHEW CHEW Lately, people have started handing Ruby Bird their pencils to ask HER to sharpen them. And I'm still not exactly sure how that works. TWIST TWIST. But classroom supplies are just the tip of the iceberg, because the school is taking all sorts of steps to make its pennies go further.

要是教室里有东西坏了,他们现在根本都懒得修了。 上周几何课的卷笔刀把手断了,所有人都只能把铅笔咬尖才能参加测验。 咯吱咯吱 嚼啊嚼 最近大家都开始把铅笔递给露比·伯德,找她帮忙削。 我到现在都没搞清楚她到底是怎么削的。 转一转 拧一拧。 不过文具紧缺还只是冰山一角,学校为了把一分钱掰成两半花,可不止做了这些。

Earlier this week, the school started cutting off the heat after lunch. And by the time sixth period rolls around, you'd better hope you remembered to grab your coat out of your locker. The one class that's not freezing is Science, and that's because we've been firing up the Bunsen burners to keep warm. But I'm a little nervous because we only have enough propane to last another week or two.

这周早些时候,学校开始吃完午饭就关掉暖气。 等到第六节课上课,你最好祈祷自己记得从储物柜里拿外套出来。 只有科学课不冷,因为我们一直点着本生灯取暖。 不过我有点担心,因为我们的丙烷只够再撑一两周了。

The school's been scrimping on electricity, too. To save money, they shut off the overhead lights in the C wing, and you can tell which kids have their lockers in that section of the school because they're the ones who walk into homeroom with dilated pupils. The only kid who doesn't seem to mind that the lights are off in the C wing is Evelyn Trimble, but everybody says she might actually be a vampire.

学校还在电费上精打细算抠得很。 为了省钱,他们关掉了C翼的顶灯,你一眼就能认出储物柜在C翼的孩子,因为他们走进教室的时候瞳孔还是放大的。 只有伊芙琳·特林贝尔好像完全不在乎C区关灯,不过大家都说她搞不好真的是吸血鬼。

Another way the school decided to save some money was by canceling their contract with the exterminator. So now, on top of everything else, we've gotta deal with cockroaches that are so big you can hear them when they walk in the room. STEP STEP STEP At first, whenever a kid spotted a cockroach, they stepped on it. But the teachers hated that because it was cruel, and it also left a mess. So the new rule is that if you see a bug on the floor you have to put a cup over it. And in some classes we've had half a dozen cups scooting around at once.

学校想到的另一个省钱办法,就是取消和驱虫公司的合同。 所以现在,除了之前那些糟心事,我们还得对付蟑螂,这些蟑螂大到爬进房间你都能听见脚步声。 哒哒哒 最开始,只要有孩子看见蟑螂,都会上去踩死它。 但是老师们讨厌这么做,说这很残忍,还会留下脏污。 所以新规定是:如果你看见地板上有虫子,就得用杯子把它扣住。 有些课上,一次能有半打扣着虫子的杯子在地上滑来滑去。

Usually, one of the janitors collects all the cups at the end of the day and sets the bugs free outside. But I guess on Wednesday the janitor in charge of collecting the cups was out sick, so the night cleaning crew got a nasty surprise. Roaches aren't the only insect we've got issues with, though. Some honeybees got into one of the classrooms in the C wing, and eventually the school just decided to let them keep it.

一般每天放学都会有保洁把所有杯子收走,把虫子放到外面放生。 不过我猜周三那天负责收杯子的保洁生病请假了,所以夜班清洁队撞见了好大一个惊喜。 不过蟑螂也不是我们唯一要对付的虫子。 一群蜜蜂住进了C翼的一间教室,最后学校索性就让它们占着那间教室了。

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