3 Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Mrs. North didn't know what time the president would come. So she couldn't go home and change out of her torn clothes. "I hope it's not during recess," said Nick. "We'll adjust our schedule," Mrs. North assured him. "Good, because I don't want to miss recess," said Nick. While they waited for the president to show up, Mrs. North told everyone to write down a question he or she would like to ask the president. "Like what?" asked Nick. "Anything," said Mrs. North. Then she looked at Nick and said, "Well, not anything. There must be something you're curious about, Nick. What's it like to live in the White House? What does he have for breakfast? Does he

诺斯夫人不知道总统什么时候会来。 所以她不能回家换掉她的破衣服。 “我希望不是在课间休息的时候，”尼克说。 “我们会调整行程的，”诺斯太太向他保证。 “很好，因为我不想错过课间休息，”尼克说。 在他们等待总统出现的时候，诺斯夫人让每个人写下一个他或她想问总统的问题。 “比如什么?”尼克问。“什么都行，”诺思太太说。 然后她看着尼克说:“嗯，没什么。 你一定有什么事很好奇吧，尼克。 住在白宫是什么感觉? 他早餐吃什么? 他

ever just sit around and watch TV? Think, Nick." She tapped on the side of her head with her finger. "Use your brain." Marvin tried to think, too. He remembered that he was going shopping for new shoes right after school, along with his brother and sister. He wondered if the president bought his own clothes. It would be pretty strange, he thought, for the president just to walk into a store and try on a pair of shoes. But if someone else bought them for him, they might not fit. Or he might not like the color. He wrote down his question. Do you buy your own shoes? No, that's stupid, he decided. He thought he should ask the president something more important. He should ask about war or pollution. He tried to erase what he wrote. He looked over at Casey. She had her finger in her mouth. Then she took it out, picked up her pencil, and wrote very fast. She laughed, then wrote some more. It was a long question. Her ponytail bounced up and down.

曾经只是坐着看电视吗? 认为,尼克。”她用手指轻敲自己的头。 “动动脑子。”马文也试着思考。 他记得放学后他要和哥哥姐姐一起去买新鞋。 他想知道总统是不是自己买的衣服。 他想，如果总统只是走进一家商店试穿一双鞋，那就太奇怪了。 但如果是别人给他买的，可能就不合适了。 或者他可能不喜欢这个颜色。 他写下了他的问题。 你自己买鞋吗? 不，那太愚蠢了，他决定。 他认为他应该问总统一些更重要的事情。 他应该问有关战争或污染的问题。 他试图擦掉他写的东西。 他看了看凯西。她把手指含在嘴里。 然后她把它拿出来，拿起铅笔，很快地写了起来。 她笑了，然后又写了一些。 这是一个很长的问题。她的马尾辫上下跳动。

"What will you ask him?" Marvin asked. "I'm not telling you," said Casey. Marvin wrote down a new question: Are we going to get into a war anytime soon? He hadn't done a very good job erasing the old question. His paper was messy and hard to read. He hoped the president wouldn't see it. "Does spelling count?" asked Judy. "You're not being graded on this," said Mrs. North. "It's not a test. It's an opportunity. Try to make the most of it." Clarence raised his hand and asked, "Does the president have a dog?" "Um, I don't know," said Mrs. North. "But that might be—" "I want to ask him his dog's name," said Clarence. "But first I have to know if he has a dog, don't I?" "Well, why don't you ask him if he has any pets?" suggested Mrs. North. "Oh, yeah," said Clarence. "Thanks." Marvin wrote down his second question: What are you doing about pollution?

“你要问他什么?”马文问道。 “我不会告诉你的，”凯西说。 马文写下了一个新问题:我们会很快陷入战争吗? 他没有很好地把这个老问题抹去。 他的论文乱七八糟，难以辨认。 他希望总统不会看到。 “拼写算数吗?”朱迪问。 “这不是给你打分的，”诺斯太太说。 “这不是测试。这是一个机会。 试着充分利用它。” 克拉伦斯举手问道:“总统养狗吗?”“嗯，我不知道，”诺斯太太说。 “我想问问他的狗叫什么名字，"克拉伦斯说。 “但首先我得知道他有没有养狗，对吗?”“那你为什么不问问他有没有养宠物呢?”诺斯太太建议道。 “哦，是的，”克拉伦斯说。 “谢谢。”马文写下了他的第二个问题:你们在污染问题上做了什么?

He was still trying to think of a third question when the classroom door opened. Marvin dropped his pencil.

他还在想第三个问题时，教室的门开了。 马文掉了铅笔。