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came up with the idea. The school sent each student home with fifty Chocolate Crunch candy bars, and we were supposed to go out and sell them to our neighbors But I don't know a single kid who didn't eat at least three or four candy bars before they even got home. In fact, I ate fifteen by the time Mom found out and put a stop to it. So a lot of families like mine had to write a check to the school just to cover the cost of the candy bars their children ate. It's possible that nobody sold a

我想到了这个主意。学校给每个学生发了50块巧克力脆糖回家，我们要出去把它们卖给邻居，但我不知道有哪个孩子在回家前至少吃了3到4块。 事实上，当妈妈发现并制止我吃的时候，我已经吃了十五个了。 所以很多像我这样的家庭不得不给学校写一张支票来支付孩子们吃糖果的费用。 可能没有人卖

single candy bar during that fundraiser. Saturday Speaking of money, Uncle Gary spent all of his allowance this week and asked me if he could borrow some of MINE. When Dad found out, he was pretty mad. It turns out Uncle Gary spent his money on scratch tickets at the convenience store. Dad told Uncle Gary he's got a better chance of getting struck by lightning than winning the lottery and that he's is just wasting his money. Dad probably should've chosen his words more carefully, because now Manny won't step foot outside if it's raining.

在募捐会上，一块巧克力棒。 说到钱，加里叔叔这个星期花光了他所有的零用钱，他问我能不能借点我的零用钱。 爸爸发现后，非常生气。 原来加里叔叔把钱花在便利店的刮刮彩票上了。 爸爸告诉加里叔叔，他被闪电击中的机会比中彩票的机会还大，他只是在浪费他的钱。 爸爸说话应该小心点，因为现在下雨的时候曼尼都不敢出门了。

Scratch tickets are a sore subject for Dad anyway. A few years ago Dad bought Uncle Gary a nice winter jacket for Christmas, and Uncle Gary gave Dad a scratch ticket. Dad seemed a little annoyed that he'd spent all that money on Uncle Gary and Uncle Gary just gave him a gift that cost a buck. Dad scratched off the little squares on the card with a coin and he got three cherries, which meant he'd just won a hundred thousand dollars.

刮刮彩票对爸爸来说是一个痛苦的话题。 几年前，爸爸给加里叔叔买了一件漂亮的冬季夹克作为圣诞礼物，加里叔叔给了爸爸一张刮刮彩票。 爸爸似乎有点生气，因为他把所有的钱都花在了加里叔叔身上，而加里叔叔却只送了他一块钱的礼物。 爸爸用一枚硬币刮掉了卡片上的小方格，得到了三个樱桃，这意味着他刚刚赢得了十万美元。

But it turned out the ticket was just a gag gift, and it was a fake. We still can't mention that Christmas to Dad, because it just puts him in a bad mood for the rest of the day. What Dad REALLY wants is for Uncle Gary to get a job so he can move out of our house. I'm starting to wish Uncle Gary would get a job, too, because lately he's been spending a lot of time in my room playing on the computer. He's addicted to this virtual-game where you can be

但事实证明，这张彩票只是一个恶作剧礼物，而且是假的。 我们仍然不能向爸爸提起那个圣诞节，因为这只会让他一整天都心情不好。 爸爸真正想要的是加里叔叔找份工作，这样他就可以搬出我们家了。 我开始希望加里叔叔也能找到一份工作，因为最近他花了很多时间在我的房间玩电脑。 他沉迷于这个虚拟游戏，而你可以

anything you want, like a policemen or a construction worker or a rock star. But in the game, Uncle Gary is just a guy who doesn't have a job and buys a bunch of scratch tickets every day. FEBRUARY Thursday There have been some pretty big developments at school this week. It all started on Monday at the last student council meeting. The meetings are held in the teachers' lounge, and after the Treasurer, Javan Hill, went to use the bathroom, he came out with a roll of Pillow- Soft Ultra toilet paper.

任何你想要的，比如警察，建筑工人或者摇滚明星。 但在游戏中，加里叔叔只是一个没有工作，每天买一堆刮刮彩票的人。 这周学校有了一些相当大的进展。 一切都始于周一的最后一次学生会会议。 会议在教师休息室举行，财务主管Javan Hill去洗手间后，拿出一卷Pillow- Soft Ultra厕纸。

That means the teachers have been treating themselves to good toilet paper while us kids are stuck with the cheap stuff. When Eugene Ellis confronted Mrs. Birch, she knew the teachers were totally busted. Mrs. Birch said that even though the teachers use Pillow-Soft Ultra, there's not enough money in the budget to stock all the kid's bathrooms with expensive toilet paper, but she did agree to compromise. She said the school could allow kids to bring in their OWN toilet rolls from home. And when the announcement came over the loudspeaker, it was a huge victory for Eugene Ellis and the rest of the

这意味着老师们一直在用好卫生纸，而我们这些孩子却被廉价的东西困住了。 当尤金·埃利斯去找伯奇太太的时候，她知道老师们都完蛋了。 伯奇太太说，尽管老师们使用的是枕头软超，但预算中没有足够的钱为所有孩子的浴室提供昂贵的卫生纸，但她同意妥协。 她说，学校可以允许孩子们从家里自带卫生纸。 当消息通过扩音器传来时，尤金·埃利斯和其他人都取得了巨大的胜利