11 Chapter 11

Chapter 11 Playing off the NCAA basketball tournament's "March Madness" theme, Mr. Lemoncello declared the first Saturday in March "Library Lunacy Day." It was time for each of the seven regions to make its toughest cuts and choose the four members for its Library Olympics team. At two p.m. Eastern Standard Time (eleven a.m. on the West Coast), Mr. Lemoncello himself addressed all the contestants via a video conference call. He wore a bright yellow shirt with a custom-cut tie shaped like a cello.

在NCAA篮球锦标赛的“疯狂三月”主题中，莱蒙切罗先生宣布三月的第一个星期六为“图书馆疯狂日”。 是时候对七个地区进行最艰难的筛选，选出四名图书馆奥林匹克队的成员了。 下午两点。东部标准时间(上午11点) 莱蒙切罗亲自通过视频电话会议向所有参赛者发表了讲话。 他穿着一件明黄色的衬衫，系着一条定制的形状像大提琴的领带。

"Hearty and splendiferous congratulations on having made it this far in the competition. I wish I could invite each and every one of you plus everybody else in America to my first-ever Library Olympic Games, but, unfortunately, Ohio fire codes do not permit occupancy by more than three hundred and twenty-five million people, even if they are all little women. Good luck! Have fun! And remember, books are the true breakfast of champions! You may devour them. But please don't eat them. Thank you." In California, where all sixteen finalists were library whizzes, Sarah Trager Logan, the librarian in charge, knew teamwork would be crucial for victory inside the Lemoncello Library. That's why she made all sixteen finalists participate in a synchronized book-cart drill. It was judged by the same Hollywood celebrities who judge TV dancing shows. In Colorado, the four members of the Mountain team would be the first four students who could solve one final puzzle. All the top

“衷心祝贺你在比赛中走到这一步。 我希望我能邀请你们每一个人以及美国的每一个人来参加我的第一次图书馆奥林匹克运动会，但是，不幸的是，俄亥俄州的消防规定不允许超过3.25亿人入住，即使他们都是小女人。 好运！玩得开心!记住，书籍是冠军们真正的早餐!你可以吞吃他们。 但是请不要吃它们。 谢谢你。”在加州，所有16名决赛选手都是图书馆奇才，主管图书馆的萨拉·特雷格·洛根(Sarah Trager Logan)知道，团队合作对在莱蒙塞洛图书馆取得胜利至关重要。 这就是为什么她让所有16名决赛选手参加一个同步的图书车演习。 评委和电视舞蹈节目的评委是同一批好莱坞名人。 在科罗拉多州，山地队的四名成员将是最先解决最后一个难题的四名学生。 所有的顶部

contestants were given a sheet of paper with the following paragraph printed on it: Thoze four beople who will reprasent awl of the bibrareans id the creat and heroik Mountain states knaw one thing aboot anything primted in a card cadalog sydtem. Without it, library users would simply be lost. There were so many mistakes most of the contestants didn't know what it meant, what they were supposed to do, or why the judges hadn't proofread their paragraph before passing it around. But the final four knew the mistakes were the secret code. By writing down the letters that should have gone where the wrong letters were, they came up with a simple lesson about library card catalogs: SPELLING COUNTS.

参赛选手拿到一张纸，上面印着下面一段话:这四个人将代表伟大而英雄的山区各州的图书馆员，他们对卡片目录系统上的任何东西都知道一件事。 没有它，图书馆用户就会迷失方向。 有太多的错误，大多数参赛者都不知道这是什么意思，他们应该做什么，或者为什么评委在传递之前没有校对他们的段落。 但最后四人知道这些错误就是密码。 通过记下那些应该出现在错误位置的字母，他们得出了一个关于图书馆借书证目录的简单教训:拼写很重要。

In San Antonio, Texas, the final contest was a fresh and very complicated rebus puzzle. "The category is 'famous quotes,' " said Cynthia Alaniz, the librarian who would be coaching the Southwest team. "Good luck!"

在德克萨斯州的圣安东尼奥市，最后一场比赛是一个新鲜而又非常复杂的谜题。 “分类是‘名言’，”将指导西南队的图书管理员辛西娅·阿拉尼兹(Cynthia Alaniz)说。 “祝你好运!”

The eight finalists wrote their answers as quickly as they could. When they were finished, they put down their pencils and bopped bright yellow hotel bells. The four fastest puzzle solvers nailed it: " 'Google can bring you back one hundred thousand answers. A librarian can bring you back the right one.' —Neil Gaiman" Marjory Muldauer, who had aced every test and game thrown her way during the first eight

八位决赛选手以最快的速度写下了答案。 当他们完成后，他们放下铅笔，开始敲打亮黄色的旅馆钟。 四个最快的解谜者抓住了这一点:“谷歌可以给你带回十万个答案。 图书管理员可以把正确的书还给你。-尼尔·盖曼“马乔里·穆尔道尔，她在前八强的每一场考试和比赛中都取得了胜利

rounds of the regional competition, was in Madison, Wisconsin, for the Midwest finals. And she was feeling invincible. In the Midwest's "elite eight," she played a rapid-fire "first lines" game. A librarian stood at a podium and read from a note card. The contestants had to buzz in like they did on Jeopardy! " 'Where's Papa going with that axe?' " said the librarian. Marjory slammed her fist down first. BUZZ! "Charlotte's Web, by E. B. White!" "Correct. 'All children, except one, grow up.' " Marjory banged her button. BUZZ! "Peter Pan, by J. M. Barrie!" "Correct. 'In the light of the—' " BUZZ! Marjory didn't wait for the librarian to finish.

在威斯康辛州麦迪逊市举行的中西部决赛。 她觉得自己战无不胜。 在中西部的“精英八强”中，她打了一场速射式的“一线”比赛。 图书管理员站在讲台上，照着卡片念。 选手们必须像在《危险边缘》中那样嗡嗡作响!“‘爸爸拿着斧子去哪儿?’”图书管理员说。 玛乔丽先一拳摔下去。 嗡嗡声!《夏洛的网》，E。 b .白!”“正确。“所有的孩子都会长大，只有一个例外。’”玛乔丽按了按纽扣。 嗡嗡声!——《彼得·潘》，j.m.。 巴里!”“正确。“在——”“巴斯!”玛乔丽没等图书管理员说完。