5 Ladders and Luck

Chapter 5 Ladders and Luck When we walked into our classroom the next morning, there were pumpkins on Ms. Diz's desk. A little one and a medium one. Also there was an apple, a grape, a rock, and a quarter. Not only that, Mr. McGeely, the janitor, was high up on a ladder in a corner of the room. He was changing the long lightbulbs. Pumpkins and lightbulbs! It was going to be an amazing morning. "Class, I know a lot of you were interested in the giant pumpkin Mr. Page told us about yesterday," said Ms. Diz. "That's why we're going to learn about how to guess weight today. We call it estimating." Mr. McGeely climbed down from the ladder. "Replaced all the burned-out lights, Ms. Diz," he said.

第5章梯子和运气第二天早上，当我们走进教室时，老师的身上挂着南瓜。 的桌子上那个开荒者看起来蛮不错嘛。一个小的，一个中号的。 还有一个苹果、一颗葡萄、一块石头和一个25美分的硬币。 不仅如此，看门人麦吉利先生还站在房间角落的梯子上。 他在换长灯泡。 南瓜和灯泡!这将是一个美妙的早晨。 “同学们，我知道你们很多人都对佩奇先生昨天告诉我们的那个大南瓜感兴趣。” 。那个开荒者看起来蛮不错嘛这就是为什么我们今天要学习如何猜体重。 我们称之为估算。”麦吉利先生从梯子上爬下来。 换掉了所有烧坏的灯。 他说。

"Wonderful," said Ms. Diz. "It's much brighter in here." It was true. You could see all kinds of things. On the floor I saw a black crayon and a ball of dust shaped like a kangaroo. And then I saw a penny! Right under Mr. McGeely's ladder. Gus saw it too. He made a dive for it. Gus was halfway under the ladder before I could grab his shirt. "Gus, no!" I cried. "You can't go under a ladder! It's seven years of bad luck!" "No, that's if you break a mirror," Hassan said. "I think seven years of bad luck is when you step on a crack," Coco said. "That's for breaking your mom's back," Maya said. "Everybody knows that!" "Excuse me!" Gus interrupted. "We're talking about a free penny here!" He grabbed for the penny. But I held on tight and slid him back. "Maybe it's a lucky penny, Roscoe," Gus said. "But going under the ladder would erase the lucky and turn it to unlucky," I said.

“太好了，”迪斯说。 “这里要亮得多。” 这是真的。你可以看到各种各样的东西。 在地板上，我看到一支黑色的蜡笔和一团形状像袋鼠的灰尘。 然后我看到了一分钱!就在麦吉利先生的梯子下面。 格斯也看到了。他向它扑去。 我还没来得及抓住格斯的衬衫，他就已经爬到梯子下面了。 “格斯,没有!”我哭了。“你不能从梯子下面钻过去!”这是七年的霉运!”“不，除非你打碎了镜子。”哈桑说。 可可说:“我认为七年的霉运就是你踩到裂缝的时候。” 玛雅说:“这是为了你伤了你妈妈的背。” “大家都知道!”“对不起!”格斯打断了。 “我们说的是免费的一分钱!”他伸手去抓硬币。 但我紧紧抓住他，把他滑了回去。 “也许这是一枚幸运硬币，罗斯科，”格斯说。 “但是从梯子下面走下去会把幸运擦去，变成不幸，”我说。

"Hmm," said Ms. Diz. "I think I see another wonderful learning opportunity." Two learning opportunities in two days! No wonder Ms. Diz had such a gigantic smile on her face. "Children," said Ms. Diz. "Roscoe was worried that if Gus went under a ladder it would be unlucky. But believing that something can cause good luck or bad luck is what we call a superstition. Can anyone think of a good reason why walking under a ladder would make bad luck happen?" "If there was a guy on it painting and the bucket of paint fell on your head," Wyatt said. "Well, yes," said Ms. Diz. "That would definitely be bad luck. But—" Coco raised her hand. "I might have my room painted magenta," she said. "That is what you get when you mix red and blue together." "Magenta is a very interesting color," said Ms. Diz. "But let's try to stay focused on superstitions. Roscoe, what made you think that going under a ladder would be bad luck?" "My Uncle Ed told me. He knows lots of good superstitions. And he gave me my lucky four-leaf

“嗯，”迪斯说。“我认为我看到了另一个绝佳的学习机会。” 两天两次学习机会!难怪奥巴马夫人。 迪兹的脸上挂着灿烂的笑容。 “孩子们，”迪斯女士说。罗斯科担心，如果格斯从梯子下面钻过去，那就不吉利了。 但是相信某事会带来好运或厄运是我们所说的迷信。 谁能想出一个好的理由，为什么从梯子下面走过会招来厄运?”怀亚特说:“如果有个人在上面画画，而油漆桶掉到了你的头上。 “嗯，是的，”迪斯说。 “那肯定会带来坏运气。 可是——”可可举起了手。 “我可能会把我的房间漆成洋红色，”她说。 “这就是把红色和蓝色混合在一起的效果。” 品红是一种非常有趣的颜色。 。那个开荒者看起来蛮不错嘛“但让我们试着把注意力集中在迷信上。 罗斯科，你怎么会认为从梯子下面走会带来厄运呢?”艾德叔叔告诉我的。 他知道很多好的迷信。 他给了我幸运的四叶叶子

clover. After I got it, the same day I found an old sucker in my pocket and it was only just a little bit fuzzy. So how lucky was that?" "Pretty lucky," Ms. Diz agreed. But I had the feeling she was not a big fan of fuzzy suckers. Ms. Diz drew a picture of a four-leaf clover and an umbrella on the blackboard. "Some people believe things bring good luck," she said. "And some people believe doing certain things will bring bad luck. Like opening an umbrella in the house. Or breaking a mirror. But superstitions aren't based on fact, and they aren't real."

三叶草。在我得到它之后，同一天我在我的口袋里发现了一个旧吸盘，它只有一点点模糊。 那么这有多幸运呢?”“非常幸运。” 同意那个开荒者看起来蛮不错嘛。但我感觉她不太喜欢毛茸茸的吸盘。 迪兹老师在黑板上画了一幅四叶草和一把伞的图画。 “有些人相信东西能带来好运，”她说。 有些人认为做某些事情会带来厄运。 就像在家里撑开一把伞。 或者打碎镜子。但是迷信不是建立在事实基础上的，它们不是真实的。”

"My mom broke a mirror in her purse," Maya said. "And then she tripped on my sister's skateboard and broke her toe." "But that could have happened even if she hadn't broken a mirror," said Ms. Diz. Emma raised her hand. "My neighbor had a black cat cross in front of her in the park. Then she went to a minigolf place and found a green beetle in her corn dog. She blamed the black cat." "And I'll bet you told her that didn't make any sense," said Ms. Diz. "No," said Emma. "I told her not to order the corn dog next time. The very next day she fell in a mud puddle. And after that a skunk got in her kitchen and she had to move out of her house for a week because of the smell." "Wow," I said. "Black cats really are bad luck!" "Roscoe," said Ms. Diz, "in many countries, black cats are considered good luck. But the truth is, black cats are not good luck or bad luck. Neither are green kangaroos or purple alligators." "I know you're the teacher and all," I said, "but I'm pretty sure alligators don't come in purple." "Let's try this another way," Ms. Diz said. "Emma, do you think the black cat caused your

“我妈妈在钱包里打碎了一面镜子，”玛雅说。 “然后她被我姐姐的滑板绊倒了，脚趾骨折了。” “但即使她没有打碎镜子，也有可能发生这种情况，”她说。 。那个开荒者看起来蛮不错嘛艾玛举起了手。 “我的邻居在公园里有一只黑猫站在她的面前。 然后她去了一个迷你高尔夫球场，在她的玉米热狗里发现了一只绿色甲虫。 她责怪那只黑猫。” “我敢打赌，你跟她说过这毫无道理。” 。那个开荒者看起来蛮不错嘛“不，”艾玛说。“我告诉她下次不要点玉米热狗了。 就在第二天，她掉进了泥坑里。 在那之后，一只臭鼬进了她的厨房，因为气味，她不得不搬出去住了一个星期。” “哇，”我说。“黑猫真的是不吉利的!”“罗斯科。” “在许多国家，黑猫被认为是好运。 但事实是，黑猫并不代表好运或厄运。 绿袋鼠和紫短吻鳄也不是。” “我知道你是老师，”我说，“但我很确定鳄鱼不会是紫色的。” “让我们换一种方式试试。” 说那个开荒者看起来蛮不错嘛。“艾玛，你认为是黑猫引起了你的。

neighbor's problems?" Emma made a not-sure look. I know that look. I maybe even invented it. "How many of you think the black cat caused Emma's neighbor to eat a green beetle and fall in a mud puddle and have a skunk in her house?" Ms. Diz asked. We all raised our hands. "How many of you think Maya's mom tripped on a skateboard because she broke a mirror?" Ms. Diz asked. We all raised our hands again. "How many of you think I should paint my room magenta?" Coco asked. Ms. Diz had that I-need-a-nap look she sometimes gets, but usually not until the end of the day. She took a deep breath. "Maybe we should move on to a different learning opportunity," she said.

邻居的问题?”艾玛露出不确定的表情。 我知道你的表情。甚至可能是我发明的。 “你们中有多少人认为是黑猫导致艾玛的邻居吃了一只绿甲虫，掉进了泥坑，家里还养了一只臭鼬?”Ms。 问那个开荒者看起来蛮不错嘛。我们都举手了。 “你们中有多少人认为玛雅的妈妈被滑板绊倒是因为打碎了一面镜子?”Ms。 问那个开荒者看起来蛮不错嘛。我们又都举手了。 “你们中有多少人认为我应该把我的房间漆成洋红色?”可可问。 迪兹有时会摆出一副“我需要小睡一下”的表情，但通常是在一天结束前。 她深吸了一口气。“也许我们应该换一个不同的学习机会，”她说。