6 Chapter 6

Chapter 6 Marvin returned to his desk. "Thank you for letting me come and interrupt your class," the president said. "I won't stay too long. I don't want you to miss recess." He smiled. "We don't care!" shouted Stuart. "Stay as long as you want." Mrs. North gave The Look to Stuart. "Mrs. North said we'll get recess after you go away," said Nick. Mrs. North gave The Look to Nick, too. Then she said, "We understand you are very busy, Mr. President. We appreciate any—" There was a jar filled with marbles on Mrs. North's desk. As Mrs. North spoke, her hand swept across her

马文回到他的书桌前。 “谢谢你让我来打断你的课，”校长说。 “我不会待太久的。我不想让你错过课间休息。” 他笑了。“我们才不管呢!”斯图亚特喊道。 “你想待多久就待多久。” 诺斯太太瞪了斯图尔特一眼。 “诺斯太太说你走后我们休息，”尼克说。 诺斯太太也给尼克看了一眼。 然后她说:“我们知道您很忙，总统先生。 诺斯太太的书桌上放着一个装满弹珠的罐子。 诺斯太太一边说，一边用手抚摸着自己

desk and knocked the marble jar over. The marbles spilled out, rolled off the desk, and bounced onto the floor. The children in the front row scrambled to pick up the rolling marbles. The president helped, too. Mrs. North's face was as red as the post in front of Marvin's house. The children put the marbles back in the jar. "I am so sorry," said Mrs. North. The president dropped two marbles into the jar, plop, plop, and said, "No problem." Everyone settled back into their seats. "You are probably wondering why I've come here today," the president said. Marvin had been wondering that. "Well, I want to talk about what it means to be a good citizen. Who knows what a citizen is?" Lots of hands went up in the air. Marvin didn't raise his hand. He thought he knew what a citizen was, but he didn't know how to say it. "Yes?" said the president, looking at Melanie.

桌子撞翻了大理石罐子。 弹珠洒了出来，从桌子上滚下来，弹到地板上。 前排的孩子们争相捡起滚来滚去的弹珠。 总统也帮了忙。 诺斯太太的脸像马文家门前的柱子一样红。 孩子们把弹珠放回罐子里。 “我很抱歉，”诺斯太太说。 总统把两颗弹珠扔进罐子里，扑通，扑通，然后说:“没问题。” 每个人都坐回到座位上。 “你可能想知道我今天为什么来这里，”总统说。 马文一直在想这个问题。 “嗯，我想谈谈做一个好公民意味着什么。 谁知道什么是公民?”许多人举了手。 马文没有举手。 他以为他知道什么是公民，但他不知道怎么说。 “什么事?"主席望着媚兰说。

"A person," said Melanie. "Very good answer," said the president. "A citizen is a person. But is there a difference between a person and a citizen?" Melanie shrugged. "Anyone know?" asked the president. Some hands started to go up, but then came back down. Clarence raised his hand. "Yes," said the president. "Do you have a dog?" asked Clarence. "Yes, I do," said the president, "but that's not what we're talking about now." Mrs. North gave The Look to Clarence. "Who can tell me the difference between a person and a citizen?" the president asked. "How about you, Marvin?" Marvin couldn't believe it. The president had remembered his name! He tried to come up with an answer. He didn't want to let the president down. "Um, well, if you're a person, it's like you're alone. A citizen is part of something bigger,

“一个人，"媚兰说。“回答得很好，”庭长说。 “公民是一个人。但是一个人和一个公民有区别吗?”梅勒妮耸耸肩。 “有人知道吗?”总裁问。 有些人开始举手，但随后又把手放下来。 克拉伦斯举起了手。“是的，”庭长说。 “你养狗了吗?”克拉伦斯问。 “是的，我知道，”总统说，“但这不是我们现在谈论的问题。” 诺斯太太瞪了克拉伦斯一眼。 “谁能告诉我一个人和一个公民的区别?”总统问道。 “你呢，马文?”马文简直不敢相信。 总统还记得他的名字!他试图想出一个答案。 他不想让总统失望。 “嗯，好吧，如果你是一个人，你就像一个人。 公民是更大事物的一部分，

like a country?" He didn't know if that made sense or not. "Exactly right!" said the president. "We are not alone. We are all part of a big group. That group is called the United States of America." Marvin smiled. He wasn't sure if that was what he had meant when he said it, but it made sense when the president said it. "America is not just a place on a map," the president said. "America is made up of all of its citizens. If we want America to be a great country, it is up to every single one of us—me, you, Mr. McCabe, Mrs. North, Marvin—to be good citizens." The president asked the students if they could think of ways to be good citizens. Casey Happleton raised her hand. "Yes, ma'am," said the president. Casey smiled, then got serious again. "Help people who need help," she said. "Very good." Nick raised his hand. "Yes, sir," said the president.

比如一个国家?”他不知道这是否合理。 “完全正确!”主席说。 “我们并不孤单。我们都是一个大群体的一部分。 这个组织就是美利坚合众国。” 马文笑了。他不确定他说这句话时是不是这个意思，但总统说这句话是有道理的。 “美国不只是地图上的一个地方，”总统说。 “美国是由全体公民组成的。 如果我们想让美国成为一个伟大的国家，就得靠我们每一个人——我、你、麦凯布先生、诺斯夫人、马文——成为好公民。” 校长问学生们是否能想出成为好公民的方法。 凯西·哈普尔顿举起了手。 “是的，夫人，”庭长说。 凯西笑了笑，然后又严肃起来。 “帮助那些需要帮助的人，”她说。 “很好。”尼克举起了手。 “是的，先生，”庭长说。

"Don't fight," said Nick. "Excellent," said the president. Lots of hands went up in the air. "Clean up after yourself," said Travis. "Recycle," said Patsy. "Brush your teeth," said Gina. The president had to think about that one. "It's important for citizens to try to be clean and healthy," he agreed. Marvin thought of some good ideas, too, but he didn't raise his hand. He'd already gotten to shake the president's hand. He wanted to let others have a chance. That was part of being a good citizen. Nearly everybody in the class came up with something: Listen to your teacher and parents. Don't make fun of people. Put out fires. Don't cheat. Don't lie. Smile.

“别打架，”尼克说。“太好了，”院长说。 许多人举了手。 “你自己收拾干净，”特拉维斯说。 “回收，”帕齐说。“刷牙，”吉娜说。 总统必须考虑一下这个问题。 他表示赞同:“对市民来说，努力保持清洁和健康很重要。” 马文也想到了一些好主意，但他没有举手。 他已经和总统握过手了。 他想给别人一个机会。 这是做一个好公民的一部分。 班上几乎每个人都提出了这样的建议:听老师和父母的话。 不要取笑别人。扑灭火灾。 不要作弊。不要撒谎。微笑。

The president said he was very impressed with all the ideas the children had. "This is why I wanted to come to a third-grade class," he said. "I knew third graders would know how to be good citizens. Sometimes, when people get older, they forget. I hope a lot of people will see and hear you on television this evening. They may learn something."

总统说孩子们的想法给他留下了深刻的印象。 “这就是为什么我想来一个三年级的班级，”他说。 “我知道三年级学生知道如何成为好公民。 有时候，人老了，就会忘记。 我希望很多人今晚能在电视上看到和听到你。 他们可能会学到一些东西。”