12 Chapter 12

Chapter 12 "Will everybody please line up behind that far desk in front of the Children's Room?" said Dr. Zinchenko, gesturing toward one of the wooden tables in the outermost ring of the room. "How many of you are familiar with Mr. Lemoncello's classic board game Hurry to the Top of the Heap?" Twelve hands shot up. "Very good," said Dr. Zinchenko. Overhead, the Wonder Dome dissolved into a gigantic, curved Heap box top.

“请大家在儿童室前面那张桌子后面排队好吗?” 津琴科指着房间最外一圈的一张木桌说。 “你们中有多少人熟悉莱蒙切罗先生的经典棋盘游戏《急冲向巅峰》?”十二只手一下子举了起来。 “很好，”津琴科说。 头顶上，神奇穹顶融化成一个巨大的、弯曲的堆盒子顶。

"This will be a live, three-dimensional version of that game. Each of you will be asked a trivia question. If you are able to answer it correctly, you will roll the dice and advance the equivalent number of desks. When you return to the starting point, you will move into the next concentric circle of desks. When you complete that ring, you will move into the next, and so on. If one of you makes it all the way to my desk at the center, you will be declared the winner." "But we don't have any dice," said Yasmeen Smith-Snyder. "Yes you do. See that smoky glass panel in the center of the desk? It is actually a touch-screen computer, currently running Mr. Lemoncello's dice-rolling app. Simply swipe and flick your fingers across the glass to toss and tumble the animated dice." Dr. Zinchenko placed a stack of red cards on her desk. She looked like the host of a TV game show. "Before we begin, are there any other questions?" Charles Chiltington raised his hand. "Yes, Mr. Chiltington?"

“这将是该游戏的实时三维版本。 你们每个人都会被问到一个小问题。 如果你能正确地回答，你将掷骰子并推进等量的桌子。 当你回到起点，你将移动到下一个同心圆的桌子。 当你完成一个环，你将进入下一个，依此类推。 如果你们中的一个人一直走到我在中心的桌子前，你就会被宣布为获胜者。” “但是我们没有骰子，”Yasmeen Smith-Snyder说。 “是的，你有。看到桌子中央那块冒烟的玻璃板了吗? 它实际上是一台触摸屏电脑，目前正在运行莱蒙塞罗的掷骰子应用程序。 只要在玻璃上滑动手指，就可以投掷动画骰子。” 津琴科医生在她的桌子上放了一叠红牌。 她看起来就像电视游戏节目的主持人。 “在我们开始之前，还有什么问题吗?”查尔斯·齐廷顿举起了手。 “什么事，奇廷顿先生?”

"What will the winner win? After all, the prize is the most important part of any game." Kyle didn't totally agree, but he was too excited about playing the game to say anything. "Tonight's first prize," said Dr. Zinchenko, "is this golden key granting the winner access to Mr. Lemoncello's private and very posh bedroom suite up on the library's third floor. Instead of spending the night on the floor in a sleeping bag, you will be relaxing in luxury with a feather bed, a seventy-two-inch television screen and a state-ofthe- art gaming console." Okay. Kyle was definitely interested in this particular prize. Judging from the wide-open eyes and chorus of "oohs" and "wows" all around him, so was everybody else. Dr. Zinchenko flipped over the first question card. "What major-league pitcher was the last to win at least thirty games in one season?" Six players got it wrong before Kyle got it right. "Denny McLain." "Correct."

“赢家会得到什么?” 毕竟，奖励是任何游戏中最重要的部分。” 凯尔并不完全同意，但他玩这个游戏太兴奋了，什么也说不出来。 “今晚的头奖。” 这把金钥匙可以让获胜者进入莱蒙切罗先生在图书馆三楼的豪华私人卧室套房。 你将不再在地板上的睡袋里过夜，而是在豪华的羽绒床、72英寸的电视屏幕和最先进的游戏机上放松。” 好吧。凯尔肯定对这个特别的奖品很感兴趣。 从他周围睁大的眼睛和齐声的“哇”和“哇”来判断，其他人也是如此。 津琴科博士翻了翻第一张问题卡。 “哪个大联盟投手是最后一个在一个赛季中赢得至少30场比赛的?”在凯尔答对之前，有六个选手答错了。 “丹尼McLain。”“正确的”。

He swiped the glass panel, rolled a ten, and advanced ten desks around the room. "What United States Navy ship was once captured by the North Koreans?" Miguel nailed that one: "The USS Pueblo." He flew twelve spaces around the room. "What did Apollo 8 accomplish that had never been done before?" Akimi, Andrew Peckleman, and Kayla Corson struck out on that one. But Charles Chiltington knew the answer: "It was the first spacecraft to orbit the moon." "Correct." Chiltington rolled a five, landing him in last place. Kyle's next question was tougher: "Who was famous for saying, 'Book 'em, Danno'?" "Um, that guy on Hawaii Five-0?" "Please be more specific." "Uh, the one with the shiny hair. Jack Lord?" "That is correct." Kyle breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness he and his dad sometimes watched reruns of old

他滑动玻璃板，滚动一个10，在房间里移动了10张桌子。 “哪艘美国海军舰艇曾经被朝鲜俘虏?”米格尔说对了，"普韦布洛号" 他绕着房间飞了十二圈。 “阿波罗8号完成了哪些以前从未完成过的任务?”阿基米，安德鲁·佩克曼和凯拉·科森在这个案子上被三振出局。 但查尔斯·齐廷顿知道答案:“这是第一艘绕月飞行的航天器。” “正确的”。奇廷顿掷出五分，落在最后一名。 凯尔的下一个问题更难了:“谁以说‘干掉他们，丹诺’而闻名?”“嗯，夏威夷五零特遣队的那个人?”“请说得更具体一些。” “嗯，就是那个头发发亮的。 杰克主?”“没错。” 凯尔松了一口气。 谢天谢地，他和他爸爸有时会看旧日节目的重播

TV shows from the 1960s. But when he flicked the computerized dice, his luck hit a brick wall. He rolled snake eyes and moved up two measly desks. Meanwhile, Miguel went down with a question about Barbra Streisand. (Kyle wasn't exactly sure who she was.) And Charles Chiltington surged ahead with a correct answer about the Beatles' "Hey Jude" and a double-sixes roll. As the game went on, Kyle and Chiltington, the only players still standing, kept answering correctly and moving around the room, until they were both seated at a desk in the innermost ring— only six spaces away from Dr. Zinchenko's desk and victory. Kyle was seriously glad he and his mom had played so many games of Trivial Pursuit —with the original, extremely old cards. "Kyle, here is your next question: What song in the movie Doctor Dolittle won an Academy Award?" Kyle squinted. He had that movie. An old VHS cassette tape that his mom had bought at a garage sale. Too bad they didn't have a VCR to watch it

60年代的电视节目。但当他拨动电脑骰子时，运气却碰壁了。 他转动着蛇眼，把两张可怜的桌子挪了过来。 与此同时，米格尔问了一个关于芭芭拉·史翠珊的问题。 (凯尔不太确定她是谁。)查尔斯·奇廷顿(Charles Chiltington)以披头士乐队的“Hey Jude”和双6的正确答案领先。 随着游戏的进行，凯尔和奇尔廷顿——唯一还站着的两名玩家——一直在正确地回答问题，并在房间里走来走去，直到他们都坐在最里面一圈的一张桌子旁——离霍金博士只有六个空间。 津琴科的办公桌和胜利。 凯尔真的很高兴他和妈妈玩了这么多“琐碎的追逐”游戏——用的是原始的、非常古老的纸牌。 “凯尔，你的下一个问题是:电影《杜立德医生》中的哪首歌获得了奥斯卡金像奖?”凯尔眯起了双眼。 他有那部电影。他妈妈在旧货拍卖会上买的录像带。 可惜他们没有录像机看

on. But even though he'd never seen the movie, he had read the front and back of the box a couple of times. "Um, 'Talk to the Animals'?" "Correct." He started breathing again. "Roll the dice, please, Mr. Keeley." Kyle did. Another pair of ones. He moved up two spaces. Now he was only four desks away from winning. "Mr. Chiltington, here is your next question: Who was elected president in 1968?" "I believe that was Richard Milhous Nixon." "You are also correct." Chiltington didn't wait for the librarian to tell him to roll the dice. He flicked his fingers across the glass pad. "Yes! Double sixes. Again." He moved around the last ring of desks, tapping their tops, counting them off even though everybody knew his twelve was more than good enough to carry him to the finish line. "Congratulations, Mr. Chiltington," Dr. Zinchenko said as she handed him the key to the

上。尽管他从未看过这部电影，但他已经把盒子的正面和背面读了几遍。 “嗯，《与动物对话》?”“正确的”。 他又开始呼吸了。 “请掷骰子，基利先生。” 凯尔。再来一双。 他向上移动了两个位置。现在他离胜利只差四张桌子了。 “奇廷顿先生，你的下一个问题是:1968年谁当选了总统?”“我相信那是理查德·米尔豪斯·尼克松。” “你也说对了。”奇廷顿没有等图书管理员让他掷骰子。 他用手指轻弹玻璃垫子。 “是啊!双6。了。” 他绕着最后一圈桌子走来走去，敲着桌子的顶部，数着桌子的个数，尽管每个人都知道他的12张桌子已经足够把他带到终点线了。 “恭喜你，奇尔廷顿先生。” 津琴科说着，把钥匙递给他