7 Chapter 7

Chapter 7 "If you have time, Mr. President, the children have prepared questions," said Mrs. North. "Well, I hope I'm prepared to answer them," said the president. "Now that I've met your class, I'm sure they will be very interesting questions." Mrs. North had the students take turns coming to the front of the room. They would go by rows. Marvin sat in the fourth seat of the second row. He counted the people ahead of him. He would be ninth. Judy Jasper was first. Mrs. North told her to first say her name and then ask her question. She reminded her to speak loud enough for everyone to hear. "Judy Jasper!" shouted Judy, causing the president to

“如果您有时间，总统先生，孩子们已经准备好了问题，”诺斯夫人说。 “嗯，我希望我已经准备好回答他们了，”总统说。 “既然我见过你的学生，我相信他们会是非常有趣的问题。” 诺斯夫人让学生们轮流走到教室前面。 它们会排成一行。马文坐在第二排的第四个座位上。 他数了数前面的人数。 他将是第九名。朱迪·贾斯帕是第一名。 诺斯太太让她先说出自己的名字，然后再问她问题。 她提醒她要大声说话，让每个人都能听到。 “朱蒂·贾斯帕!”朱蒂喊道

jump back. "Not quite so loud," said Mrs. North. "Judy Jasper," said Judy. "When you were in the third grade, did you know you would be president someday?" "When I was in the third grade, Judy," said the president, "I don't think I even knew there was a president. I was more interested in playing with my friends." Judy started to return to her seat, but the president called her back and shook her hand. Stuart was next. "Stuart Albright," he said. "What if you don't like white? Can you paint your house a different color?" The president laughed. "The White House doesn't belong to me. I live there, but it belongs to all of the citizens of our country. And I don't think they'd like it if I painted it blue with yellow polka dots. Do you, Stuart?" Stuart's mouth dropped open. "Uh, I, uh, um, it's okay with me." He shook the president's hand and hurried back to his

跳回来。“别那么大声，”诺思太太说。 “朱迪·贾斯帕，”朱迪说。“当你上三年级的时候，你知道有一天你会成为总统吗?”“朱迪，当我上三年级的时候，”总统说，“我想我甚至不知道有总统。 我对和朋友们一起玩更感兴趣。” 朱迪准备回到座位上，但校长把她叫了回来，和她握了握手。 斯图亚特是下一个。“斯图尔特·奥尔布赖特，”他说。 “如果你不喜欢白色呢?” 你能把你的房子漆成不同的颜色吗?”总统笑了。 “白宫不属于我。 我住在那里，但它属于我们国家的所有公民。 我想他们不会喜欢我把它涂成蓝色，上面有黄色的圆点。 是吗，斯图尔特?”斯图亚特张大了嘴。 "呃，我，呃，呃，我没意见" 他握了握总统的手，急忙回到他的身边

seat. Marvin practiced his question in his head. What are you doing about pollution? He wondered if he had to say his name first, since the president already knew it. Marvin Redpost. What are you doing about pollution, Mr. President? He had to remember to call him Mr. President. Clarence was next. "I have a two-part question," he said. "Okay," said the president. "Do you have a dog?" "Yes." "Does your dog know you're the president?" The president laughed. "You know, Clarence, I've been asked lots of questions, but I don't think anyone has ever asked me that before." He thought it over, then said, "I don't think my dog cares if I'm president. I've had Pickles for twelve years. She has always made me feel as if I was the most special person in the whole world. Even before I was president." Clarence shook the president's hand. "Casey Happleton. Are you doing anything to get rid of pollution, Mr. President?"

座位。马文在脑子里练习他的问题。 你们在污染问题上做了什么? 他想知道他是否必须先说出自己的名字，因为总统已经知道了。 马文Redpost。总统先生，你在污染问题上做了什么? 他得记得叫他总统先生。 克拉伦斯是下一个。“我有一个两部分的问题，”他说。 “好吧，”总裁说。 “你有狗吗?”“是的。” “你的狗知道你是总统吗?”总统笑了。 “你知道，克拉伦斯，我被问了很多问题，但我想以前从来没有人问过我这个问题。” 他想了想，然后说:“我觉得我的狗不在乎我是不是总统。 我吃泡菜吃了12年了。 她总是让我觉得我是世界上最特别的人。 甚至在我成为总统之前。” 克拉伦斯和总统握了握手。 ”凯西Happleton。总统先生，您正在采取措施消除污染吗?”

Marvin felt a stab of disappointment. Now he had to think of another question. "I'm trying," said the president. "The problem is that everyone causes a tiny bit of pollution. Everybody thinks their little bit doesn't make any difference. But when you put all those tiny bits together, you get a big problem." Casey nodded. "Ask your other question!" said Melanie. "Only one question each," said Mrs. North. "But she's got a question I bet he's never heard before," said Melanie. "Well, let's hear it," said the president. Casey looked at Mrs. North to see if it was okay. In the classroom, Mrs. North was still the boss. Not the president. Mrs. North nodded. Casey took a breath. "Do I have to say my name again?" "No, I know you're Casey Happleton," said the president. Casey smiled. She took another breath. jmkfho. "If a spaceship lands in my backyard and a little green man says, 'Take

马文感到一阵失望。 现在他不得不考虑另一个问题。 “我正在努力，”总统说。 “问题是，每个人都会造成一点点污染。 每个人都认为自己的一点点微不足道。 但当你把所有这些小细节放在一起时，你就会遇到一个大问题。” 凯西点点头。“再问一个问题吧!"媚兰说。 “每人只问一个问题，”诺思太太说。 “不过她问了一个问题，我敢说他以前从来没有听过，"媚兰说。" “好吧，让我们听听，”院长说。 凯西看了看诺斯太太，看她是不是没事。 在教室里，诺斯夫人仍然是老板。 不是总统。Mrs. North nodded. 凯西吸了口气。“我要再说一遍我的名字吗?”“不，我知道你是凯西·哈普尔顿，”总裁说。 凯西笑了。她又吸了一口气。 “如果一艘宇宙飞船降落在我的后院，一个小绿人说，‘拿

me to your leader,' should I take him to you? And how do I do that?" Everybody laughed. "I think you should take him to Mrs. North," said the president. Everybody laughed again. Mrs. North laughed the loudest. Casey shook the president's hand. Marvin practiced his war question. Marvin Redpost.

我要带他去见你们的首领吗? 我该怎么做呢?”每个人都笑了。 “我想你应该带他去见诺斯太太，”院长说。 大家又笑了。诺斯太太笑得最响。 凯西握了握总统的手。 马文练习了他的战争问题。 马文Redpost。

Are we going to get into a war anytime soon, Mr. President? Marvin Redpost. Are we… It was Travis's turn. "Hi, I'm Travis. Do you hate people who didn't vote for you?" "No. What really bothers me, Travis, is when people don't vote at all. It makes me think they don't care about their country." "Oh, good," said Travis. "Because my parents voted. They just didn't vote for you." The president shook his hand. "Patsy Gatsby," said Patsy. She was the first person in Marvin's row. "Are there ever days when you wish you weren't president?" The president had to think a long time before answering that one. "I know there are days when other people wish I wasn't president," he said. "Like Travis's parents," said Patsy. The president smiled. "It's not an easy job, Patsy," he said. "There are times when it would be nice to take a hike, or just watch TV, or something. But I don't think I've ever wished I wasn't president. I feel very proud to have been elected to serve the citizens of this country."

我们会很快陷入战争吗，总统先生? 马文Redpost。我们…，轮到崔维斯了。 “嗨，我是特拉维斯。你讨厌那些没有投票给你的人吗?”“没有。 真正让我烦恼的是，特拉维斯，人们根本不投票。 这让我觉得他们不关心自己的国家。” “哦，太好了，”特拉维斯说。“因为我父母投了票。 他们只是没有投票给你。” 总统和他握了握手。 “帕齐·盖茨比，”帕齐说。 她是马文那排的第一个人。 “有没有过你希望自己不是总统的日子?”总统在回答这个问题之前必须思考很长时间。 “我知道有些时候其他人希望我不是总统，”他说。 “就像特拉维斯的父母，”帕齐说。 总统笑了。“这不是一件容易的事，帕齐，”他说。 “有时候去徒步旅行，或者只是看电视，或者做些什么会很好。 但我从未希望过自己不是总统。 我很自豪能被选为这个国家的公民服务。”