6. The Invention Convention

CHAPTER 6 THE INVENTION CONVENTION The following day started out sunny and cheerful. The students and faculty filed into the gymnasium and checked the seats very carefully before sitting down. "Greetings," said Mr. Krupp, who was standing up at the microphone. "You don't need to worry about sticky seats today," he said. "I've taken measures to ensure that this Invention Convention won't be a disaster like last year's."

第六章发明大会第二天开始时阳光明媚，心情愉快。 学生和教师鱼贯进入体育馆，在坐下之前非常仔细地检查座位。 “你们好，”站在麦克风前的克虏伯先生说。 他说：“今天你不需要担心座椅会粘起来。” “我已经采取措施，确保这次发明大会不会像去年那样成为一场灾难。”

Everyone settled in as Madison Mancini, a third grader, stepped onstage to demonstrate her Automatic Dog-Washer. "First," said Madison, "you put your dog in the tub. Then you press this button." Madison pressed the "Start" button. At first, nothing happened. Then suddenly, a spurt of inky black water sprayed up

当三年级学生麦迪逊·曼奇尼（Madison Mancini）上台展示她的自动洗狗机时，所有人都坐下了。 “首先，”麦迪逊说，“你把狗放进浴缸里。 然后按下这个按钮。” 麦迪逊按下“开始”按钮。 起初，什么也没发生。 突然，一股漆黑的水喷了上来

and out over the crowd. Everyone (except the dog) got soaked, as Madison tried desperately to turn off the sprayers. "I can't stop it!" she cried. "Someone turned all the nozzles around!" "Now, who could've done that?" asked Mr. Krupp.

越过人群。每个人（除了狗）都湿透了，麦迪逊拼命地想关掉喷雾器。 “我阻止不了！”她叫道。 “有人把所有的喷嘴都转过来了！”克虏伯先生问：“现在，是谁干的呢？”

Next up was Donny Shoemyer, with his Ping-Pong Serve-O-Matic. He turned the machine on, and immediately it began hurling extra-large grade-A eggs into the crowd. Phoop!-Phoop!-Phoop!-Phoop!-Phoop! went the machine. Splat!-Splat!-Splat!-Splat!-Splat! went the eggs. "I can't turn the machine off!" cried Donny. "Somebody jammed a paper clip into the controller!" "Now, who could've done that?" asked Ms. Ribble.

下一个出场的是唐尼·休梅尔，带着他的乒乓球发球。 他打开机器，机器立刻开始向人群中投掷超大的a级鸡蛋。 Phoop -Phoop ! -Phoop ! -Phoop -Phoop !机器走了。 长条木板!长条木板,长条木板!长条木板,长条木板!鸡蛋掉了。 “我不能关掉机器！”东尼叫道。 “有人把回形针塞进了控制器！”“那么，是谁干的呢？” 博尔。

Freddie Moore's Volcano Detector was also a big flop. When Freddie connected the circuits to the nine-volt battery, a large spring (which had been crammed into the center of his miniature volcano) launched a giant plastic bag of butterscotch pudding high into the crowd. It landed somewhere between the third and fourth rows. Splat! "Hey!" whined Freddie. "Somebody put pudding in my volcano!" "Now, who could've done that?" asked Mr. Meaner.

弗雷迪·摩尔的《火山探测器》也是个大失败。 当弗雷迪把电路连接到9伏的电池上时，一个巨大的弹簧（塞在他的微型火山的中心）把一个装着奶油糖果布丁的巨大塑料袋抛向了人群。 它落在第三排和第四排之间。 长条木板!“嘿！” “有人把布丁放进我的火山里了！”“那是谁干的呢？”米纳先生问。

The rest of the day went on much the same way, with people shouting everything from "Hey! Who put oatmeal in my solar- powered leaf blower?" to "Hey, who let all the mice out of my treadmill dune buggy?" It wasn't long before everyone fled the gymnasium, and the Second Annual Invention Convention had to be called off. "How could this have happened?!!?" cried Mr. Krupp as he wiped chocolate syrup, pencil shavings, and cream-of- mushroom soup off his face and shirt. "George and Harold have been in study hall all day long! I put them there myself!" "Um, excuse me, Mr. Krupp," said Melvin Sneedly. "I think I have an answer to your question."

那天剩下的时间差不多都是这样，人们喊着各种各样的东西，从“嘿！谁在我的太阳能吹叶机里放了燕麦片？”到“嘿，谁把我的跑步车里的老鼠都放出来了？”没过多久，所有人都逃离了体育馆，第二届年度发明大会不得不取消。 克虏伯一边擦去脸上和衬衫上的巧克力糖浆、铅笔屑和奶油蘑菇汤，一边叫道：“怎么会这样？！！？” “乔治和哈罗德一整天都在自习室！”是我自己放的！”“嗯，对不起，克虏伯先生，”梅尔文·斯奈利说。 “我想我有答案可以回答你的问题。”