The Potato Festival

It was August 19—National Potato Day! The family was going to the Potato Festival. “ First, I’ll drop off my potato soup for the cooking contest, ” said Dad. He took a big pot out of the car. “ Let’s walk around while Dad goes to the judges’ tent, ” said Mom.

今天是8月19日，全国土豆节!一家人要去参加土豆节。 “首先，我要把我的土豆汤送去参加烹饪比赛，”爸爸说。他从车里拿出一个大罐子。 “让我们在爸爸去裁判帐篷的时候四处走走，”妈妈说。

At the first booth was a big world map. “ It says potatoes came from the Andes Mountains in South America, ” said Kate. “ Early explorers took them to Europe and Asia. ” “ Potatoes kept thousands of Europeans from starving, ” said Mom. “ But look, ” said Seth, pointing at the map. “ Europeans took Potatoes to North America. "

第一个摊位上有一张大的世界地图。 “上面说土豆产自南美洲的安第斯山脉，”凯特说。“早期的探险家把它们带到欧洲和亚洲。” “土豆使成千上万的欧洲人免于饥饿，”妈妈说。 “但是你看，”赛斯指着地图说。“欧洲人把土豆带到了北美。”

“ Potatoes grow well in many places, ” said Mom. “ They’re one of the world’s largest food crops. ” “ Enough geography, ” said Seth. “ Let’s eat! ” “ We’re waiting for Dad, ” said Kate. They walked to another booth. A sign read: “ What Can You Do with a Potato?”

“土豆在很多地方都长得很好，”妈妈说。“它们是世界上最大的粮食作物之一。” “足够的地理位置。”塞思说。“吃吧!” “我们在等爸爸，”凯特说。 他们走到另一个摊位。一块牌子上写着：“你能用土豆做什么？”

“ Wow! You can polish shoes and remove rust with potatoes, ” said Mom. “ This is cool, ” said Kate. “ You can make glue. ” “ Look at this! ” called Seth. They watched a man stick two pieces of metal into a potato. He connected wires to the metal pieces. A small lightbulb lit up!

“哇!你可以用土豆擦亮鞋子，去锈。”妈妈说。 “这太酷了，”凯特说。“你可以做胶水。” “看这个!”赛斯叫道。他们看到一个人把两块金属插进土豆里。 他把电线连接到金属片上。一个小灯泡亮了！

“ It’s a potato battery, ” said Seth. “ A potato can power a small lightbulb for about forty days, ” said the man. “ Cool! ” said Seth. “ A potato costs a lot less than batteries! ” Seth’s stomach growled. “ Sounds like you need to power up, ” said Mom. “ There’s Dad at the French fry booth. ”

“这是一个土豆电池，”塞斯说。 “一个土豆可以为一个小灯泡供电大约四十天，”那个人说。 “酷!“赛斯说。“一个土豆比电池便宜多了!”赛斯的肚子咕咕叫着。 “听起来你需要充电了。”妈妈说。“爸爸在炸薯条摊那儿。”

They hurried over. Dad grinned. “ I’m discovering how to eat French fries. ” “ It’s easy, ” said Seth. “ You dip them in ketchup. ” “ In the Philippines they use banana ketchup, ” said Dad. “ The English put vinegar on them. And in France they use mustard. ”

他们急忙走了过去。爸爸笑了。“我正在研究如何吃炸薯条。” “很容易，”塞思说。“你把它们蘸在番茄酱里。” “在菲律宾，他们用香蕉番茄酱，”爸爸说。“英国人在上面涂醋。而在法国，他们用芥末。”