Chapter 8

Chapter 8 PUT YOUR PANS TOGETHER FOR JODIS ALL-PURPOSE PET SERVICE! Back in the real world, it had been several days since Jodi had shown her presentation to her parents. Several days since they had told her "We'll see." And in that time, Jodi had begun to worry that Morgan was right. Maybe she had gotten her hopes up too soon. That was when Jodi decided she needed to prove herself. She needed a plan. She had started with their next-door neighbor. Miss Maribelle was a small woman with two large dogs. Beefy, a muscular German shepherd, liked to tug at his leash. Bo, an energetic Labrador, tried to chase everything that moved. Miss Maribelle had to

第八章把你的锅放在一起，为乔迪斯提供万能宠物服务！回到现实世界，乔迪向父母展示她的报告已经有好几天了。 几天前他们还对她说：“等着瞧吧。” 在那段时间里，乔迪开始担心摩根是对的。 也许她希望太高了。 就在那时，乔迪决定要证明自己。 她需要一个计划。她是从他们的隔壁邻居开始的。 玛丽贝尔小姐身材矮小，养着两条大狗。 肌肉发达的德国牧羊犬“强壮”（Beefy）喜欢拉自己的皮带。 波是一只精力充沛的拉布拉多犬，它试图追逐一切会动的东西。 玛丽贝尔小姐不得不这么做

walk them one at a time so they wouldn't drag her all over town. Jodi offered to walk Beefy and Bo in the mornings, to give her neighbor a break. At the dog park, Jodi had met other dog owners. Some of them asked Jodi if she would walk their dogs from time to time. Some of them even offered to pay!

一次走一个，这样他们就不会拖着她满城跑了。 乔迪主动提出要在早上遛牛皮和波，让她的邻居休息一下。 在狗狗公园，乔迪遇到了其他的狗主人。 他们中的一些人问乔迪是否愿意偶尔帮他们遛狗。 他们中的一些人甚至提出要付钱！

It was a dream come true. Getting paid money to spend time with animals? She said yes to everyone who asked. Including one very familiar face. "I can't believe you're going to walk Doc's dog," Po told her as they moved along the sidewalk. "In fact, I can't believe Doc is a dog person! Are you sure she isn't paying you to walk a killer robot?" "I'm sure," Jodi said, and she tugged on Bo's leash to keep him on the sidewalk. "I met her dog at the park just the other day." Po narrowed his eyes. "So it's a very convincing killer robot," he said. "With a fur suit and everything." Jodi shrugged. "Only if killer robots love to eat Vegan pepperoni," she said. It was early in the morning, but there was no school for the entire week—and that meant no basketball practice for Po. He had offered to tag along, just so he had something to do. The others were also coming along, simply out of curiosity. They'd never seen a teacher's house before! "I bet Doc has a smart home," said Harper. "With all the latest gadgets."

这是一个梦想成真。和动物呆在一起就能赚钱吗？ 她答应了每个人的请求。 包括一个非常熟悉的面孔。 “我真不敢相信你要去遛医生的狗，”他们沿着人行道走着，阿宝告诉她。 “事实上，我不敢相信博士是一个爱狗的人！”你确定她不是付钱让你遛杀人机器人的吗？”“我肯定，”乔迪说，她拉着波的皮带，让它不走在人行道上。 “就在前几天，我在公园遇到了她的狗。” 阿宝眯起眼睛。“所以这是一个非常有说服力的杀手机器人，”他说。 “穿着皮衣什么的。” 乔迪•耸耸肩。“除非杀手机器人喜欢吃素食意大利辣香肠，”她说。 这是一个清晨，但整个星期都没有学校，这意味着阿宝没有篮球训练。 他提出要跟着去，这样他就有事可做了。 其他人也跟着来了，只是出于好奇。 他们从来没见过老师的房子！“我敢打赌博士一定有个智能家居，”哈珀说。 “用的都是最新的小玩意。”

"In that case, look out for stray lasers," said Theo. "Doc can be a real menace around technology, if you haven't noticed." "We've noticed," said Morgan. "Believe me, we've noticed." Doc wasn't just responsible for their special VR goggles. It had been her experiments with AI, or artificial intelligence, that had led to the unintended creation of the Evoker King. But if they were expecting a high-tech wonderland, they were disappointed. From the outside, Doc's house looked just like any other—with the exception of a souped-up antenna on the roof. Harper grinned at the sight of the device. "She probably gets channels from Alpha Centauri on that thing!" she said happily. As soon as Doc answered the door, a poodle bounded out onto the porch. The dog shook its pompom tail at the sight of Jodi. "Hello, Nicolaus Pupernicus!" Jodi cooed. "I'm happy to see you, too. Yes, I am!" "Students! Greetings," Doc said brightly. "I hope you're enjoying your time off." "We are now," said Po as he scratched the poodle behind its ears. "What a cutie!"

“在这种情况下，注意散射激光，”西奥说。 “如果你没有注意到，医生可能是科技领域的真正威胁。” “我们注意到了，”摩根说。 “相信我，我们已经注意到了。” 博士不仅负责他们的特殊VR眼镜。 正是她对人工智能（AI）的实验，导致了Evoker King的意外诞生。 但如果他们期待的是一个高科技的仙境，那么他们要失望了。 从外面看，医生的房子和其他房子没什么区别——除了屋顶上有一根加大了功率的天线。 哈珀一看到这个装置就咧嘴笑了。 “她可能用那东西接收到半人马座阿尔法星的频道！”她高兴地说。 医生刚开门，一只贵宾犬就跳到了门廊上。 那只狗一看到乔迪就摇了摇它的绒尾巴。 “你好，尼古拉斯·哥白尼！”乔迪•发出咕咕的叫声。 “我也很高兴见到你。 是的，我是！”“学生们!“你好。”医生欢快地说。 “我希望你享受你的假期。” “我们现在是，”阿宝一边搔着狮子狗的耳后一边说。 “多可爱啊！”

"He is cute," agreed Doc. "He's also crafty! He takes after his mama." Doc chuckled to herself. "He's even found a way to slip out of his collar once or twice. If he gets away from you, call him back with this, and he'll come running." Doc handed Jodi a strange piece of high- tech equipment. It looked a little like a flute… mixed with a spaceship. "What is it?" asked Jodi. The teacher bounced on the tips of her toes. "Why, it's a dog whistle of my own design!" said Doc. "I guess now we know what Doc does with her time off," Morgan whispered, and Harper quickly shushed him.

“他很可爱，”医生同意道。“他还很狡猾！”他长得像他妈妈。” 医生轻声笑了起来。“他甚至有一两次找到了从项圈里溜出来的方法。 如果他从你身边跑开了，拿着这个叫他回来，他就会跑过来的。” 医生递给乔迪一件奇怪的高科技设备。 它看起来有点像一支笛子……和一艘飞船混在一起。 “这是什么？”乔迪问。老师用脚尖跳来跳去。 “哎，这是我自己设计的狗哨！”医生说。 “我想现在我们知道医生休假时都干些什么了。”摩根低声说，哈珀赶紧让他安静下来。

"I've heard about dog whistles," said Jodi. She turned to her friends. "Dogs have very sensitive ears. They can hear sounds that are too high-pitched for human ears. That's what a dog whistle does. It makes a sound that only dogs can hear." She turned back to Doc. "But why is this one so, um…complicated?" "I've made great improvements to it," said Doc. "Think about it: Why make a single silent note when you can play an entire silent symphony? I think you'll agree that dogs deserve to enjoy music that is more sophisticated than a simple whistle can deliver." Doc handed Jodi a thick instruction manual. "It looks complicated, but it's really quite simple once you get the hang of it. Play 'Claire de Lune' to get him to sit, Beethoven's Fifth to get him to come to you, and 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' to get him to play dead." "Got it," said Po. "I think." As Jodi led the dogs away from Doc's porch, Po reached for the whistle. "This I've got to try," he said.

“我听说过狗哨，”乔迪说。 她转向她的朋友们。 “狗的耳朵很敏感。 它们能听到人耳听不到的高音。 这就是狗哨的作用。 它发出的声音只有狗能听到。” 她转向医生。“但为什么这个，嗯……这么复杂？”“我对它做了很大的改进，”医生说。 “想想看：当你可以演奏一整个无声交响乐时，为什么要做一个无声的音符？” 我想你会同意狗狗应该享受比简单的哨子所能传递的更复杂的音乐。” 医生递给乔迪一本厚厚的操作手册。 “它看起来很复杂，但一旦你掌握了窍门，它真的很简单。 弹《月亮的克莱尔》让他坐下，弹贝多芬的第五交响曲让他来找你，弹《玛丽有只小羊羔》让他装死。” “明白了，”阿宝说。“我认为”。 当乔迪领着狗离开医生的门廊时，阿宝伸手去拿哨子。 “我一定要试试，”他说。