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(CORNY JOKE, I don't know if that really makes Rodrick a "professional drummer," but that didn't stop me from using it to score points with the girls at school. MY BROTHER'S A PROFESSIONAL DRUMMER! When Mom told Rodrick he should start giving me drum lessons, he wasn't too hot on the idea. But then

(老套的笑话，我不知道这是否真的使罗德里克成为一个“专业鼓手”，但这并没有阻止我在学校里用它来与女孩们得分。 我哥哥是职业鼓手！当妈妈告诉罗德里克他应该开始教我打鼓时，他不太喜欢这个主意。 但后来

Mom said she'd pay him ten dollars a lesson, and that I could get a bunch of my friends to sign up, too. So now I've gotta recruit some people for Rodrick's Drum Academy. And I can already tell, this isn't gonna be a lot of fun. Monday I couldn't get any of my friends to sign up for Rodrick's drum school except Rowley, and I kind of had to trick HIM into doing it. Rowley is always saying he wants to learn how to play the drums, but he wants to play the kind they use in marching bands. I told Rowley I knew for a FACT that Rodrick was going to cover all that stuff in week four, and that

妈妈说她每节课付他十美元，我还可以让我的一群朋友也来报名。 所以现在我要为罗德里克鼓乐学院招募一些人。 我已经知道，这不会有什么好玩的。 周一，除了罗利，我没办法让任何朋友报名参加罗德里克的鼓学校，我不得不骗他报名。 罗利总是说他想学打鼓，但他想打军乐队用的那种。 我告诉罗利我知道罗德里克会在第四周讲所有的东西

got Rowley pretty excited. I was just glad I wasn't gonna have to take drum lessons all by myself. Rowley came over after school, and we went down to the basement to start our first lesson. Rodrick started us off with some pretty basic drum drills. There was only one practice pad and two drumsticks, so Rowley had to use a paper plate and some plastic utensils. But I guess that's what happens when you're the last person to sign up for a class. After about fifteen minutes, Rodrick got a call from Ward, and that put an end to our first lesson.

这让罗利很兴奋。 我很高兴我不用一个人去上打鼓课了。 罗利放学后过来了，我们下楼到地下室开始我们的第一节课。 罗德里克带我们开始了一些基本的鼓练习。 只有一个练习垫和两个鸡腿，所以罗利不得不使用一个纸盘和一些塑料餐具。 但我想当你是最后一个报名上课的人时，这就是结果。 大约十五分钟后，罗德里克接到沃德的电话，我们的第一节课就这样结束了。

CLASS IS DISMISSED EARLY TODAY. Mom wasn't too happy to see me and Rowley upstairs so soon, and she sent us back down to the basement. She said not to come up until Rodrick had at least given us a practice assignment. So he did. YOUR HOMEWORK IS TO LISTEN TO SOME MUSIC WITH DRUMS IN IT. Tuesday Me and Rowley had drum lessons with Rodrick again today.

今天下课很早。 妈妈不太高兴看到我和罗利这么快就上楼了，她把我们送回了地下室。 她说在罗德里克至少给我们布置一个练习作业之前不要上来。 于是他照做了。你们的作业是听一些有鼓点的音乐。 星期二，我和罗利又和罗德里克一起上了鼓课。

Well, Rodrick might be a good drummer, but he's not a good teacher. Me and Rowley tried our best to do the drills Rodrick taught us, but every time we messed up, Rodrick would get frustrated. WRONG, WRONG! WRONG! Eventually, he got so fed up that he took our drumsticks away. Rodrick sat down at his drum set and told us to "watch and learn." Then he started doing this really long drum solo that didn't have anything to do with the drills he was teaching us.

罗德里克也许是个好鼓手，但他不是个好老师。 我和罗利尽了最大的努力去做罗德里克教我们的练习，但每次我们搞砸了，罗德里克就会感到沮丧。 错了,错了!错了!最后，他受够了，把我们的鸡腿拿走了。 罗德里克坐在他的架子鼓前，让我们“边看边学”。 然后他开始做一段很长的鼓点独奏和他教我们的训练没有任何关系。

Rodrick didn't even look up from his drum set when me and Rowley left and went upstairs. I'm not complaining, though. Because the way I see it, this way everyone wins. Thursday We've got a History paper due the day before Thanksgiving, and I'd better start getting serious about it.

我和罗利上楼时，罗德里克连头都没抬就离开了架子鼓。 不过，我不是在抱怨。 因为在我看来，这样大家都是赢家。 感恩节前一天我们要交一篇历史论文，我最好开始认真写了。