24 Chapter 24

Chapter 24 With his teammates' help, Kyle found several books about flying creatures from the prehistoric era. Pterodactyls had wings formed by a thin skin and muscle membrane stretching from one of their elongated fingers to their hind limbs. They looked like four-legged, pointy-nosed kites. "They ate meat and fish," said Miguel. "Guess they wouldn't go for that birdseed Andrew's always pouring into Mr. Peckleman's bird feeders back at the motel."

在队友的帮助下，凯尔找到了几本关于史前飞行生物的书。 翼手龙的翅膀是由一层薄薄的皮肤和肌肉膜形成的，从它们细长的手指一直延伸到后肢。 它们看起来像四条腿、尖鼻子的风筝。 “他们吃肉和鱼，”米格尔说。 “我猜他们不会喜欢安德鲁在汽车旅馆里经常往佩克曼先生的喂鸟器里倒的鸟食吧。”

"Why does that crazy old guy like birds so much?" said Akimi, flipping through a dinosaur picture book. "There are gobs of white bird poop splatted all over the cars in the motel parking lot." "He's a birdbrain," said Miguel. "Get it? Bird-brain?" "Yeah," said Akimi. "I got it." "Have you ever played one of these motion-sensor games?" Sierra asked Kyle. "Once. My cousin has a Kinect on his Xbox 360. We played a game where you karate kick and shoot lightning bolts at each other." "Cool," said Miguel. "Totally. But I'm guessing Mr. Lemoncello's Gesticulatron technology is way more sophisticated." Kyle's team wasn't the only group in the 500s room doing dinosaur research. Several other teams had had the same idea. Just about every book about pterosaurs (from the Greek words for "wing" and "lizard") was flying off the shelves.

“为什么那个疯老头这么喜欢鸟?”明美一边翻着一本恐龙图画书一边说。 “在汽车旅馆的停车场里，白色的鸟屎溅得到处都是。” “他是个笨蛋，”米格尔说。 “明白了吗?鸟脑?”“是的，”明美说。 “我明白了。”“你玩过这些动作感应游戏吗?”塞拉问凯尔。 ”一次。我表哥的Xbox 360上有个Kinect。 我们玩了一个空手道踢和向对方发射闪电的游戏。” “酷，”米格尔说。“完全。 但我猜莱蒙切罗先生的Gesticulatron技术要复杂得多。” 凯尔的团队并不是500号房间里唯一一个做恐龙研究的小组。 其他几个团队也有同样的想法。 几乎所有关于翼龙的书(翼龙在希腊语中意为“翅膀”和“蜥蜴”)都被抢购一空。

When it was nearly four o'clock, a slender boy in blue jeans from the Southwest team sauntered over to Kyle, Akimi, Sierra, and Miguel, who were slumped in beanbag chairs resembling dinosaur eggs. "Excellent display of aviation engineering," he said. "Your glider design was flawless." "Thanks. I'm Akimi Hughes." She shot out her hand. "I was chief engineer on the paper airplane project." "I'm Angus Harper. From Texas." "My dad's an engineer," said Akimi, sounding sort of self-satisfied. "Guess I'm just hardwired to design stuff." Harper nodded. "My dad's a test pilot. He's been givin' me flyin' lessons since I was six." "You're kidding," said Kyle, closing his dinosaur book. "Nope. I've already been offered an appointment to the United States Air Force Academy."

快4点的时候，西南队一个穿着蓝色牛仔裤的瘦削男孩慢悠悠地走到凯尔、阿基米、塞拉和米格尔身边，他们正瘫坐在像恐龙蛋一样的豆袋椅上。 “出色的航空工程展示，”他说。 “你的滑翔机设计完美无瑕。” “谢谢。我是Akimi Hughes。” 她猛地伸出手来。“我是纸飞机项目的总工程师。” “我是安格斯·哈珀。来自德克萨斯州的。” “我爸爸是个工程师，”明美说，听起来有点得意。 “我想我天生就会设计东西。” 哈珀点点头。“我爸爸是试飞员。 从我六岁起，他就开始教我飞行了。” “你在开玩笑吧，”凯尔合上他的恐龙书说。 “不。我已经被美国空军学院录取了。”

"Even though you're still in middle school?" said Sierra. "Well, I guess some of us are just 'hardwired' to be flyboys." "So," said Miguel, clearing his throat, "who's going to fly the pterodactyl for your team?" "I reckon I might give it a whirl. See you folks upstairs." Angus Harper ambled away. "So," Kyle said to Sierra, "tell me about those kids in Maximum Ride. How exactly did they fly?" "Genetic mutation," said Sierra. "Oh. Guess we don't really have time for that…." "Don't worry, bro," Miguel told Kyle. "If the Texas Tornado takes the next medal, we'll still be tied for first place." "Yeah," said Akimi. "With three other teams."

“即使你还在上中学?”塞拉说。 “嗯，我想我们中的一些人天生就是当飞行员的料。” “那么，”米格尔清了清嗓子说，“谁来为你们队驾驶翼龙呢?”“我想我可以试一试。 楼上见。”安格斯·哈珀慢悠悠地走开了。 “那么，”凯尔对西拉说，“跟我说说那些在极限飞车里的孩子们吧。 它们到底是怎么飞起来的?”“基因突变，”塞拉说。 “哦。我想我们没有时间了....” “别担心，兄弟，”米格尔告诉凯尔。 “如果德州龙卷风队获得下一枚奖牌，我们仍然会并列第一。” “是的，”明美说。“和另外三个队一起。”

At exactly four p.m., Kyle stood on a pair of glowing green footprints in a line with seven other contestants facing the blank video wall. Television cameras were set up in the Electronic Learning Center so spectators, in the library and at home, could watch the great flying reptile race. The illuminated floor markers put six feet of space between each player. That way, they'd have plenty of room to flap and flail their arms. Angus Harper was on Kyle's right. A girl from the Northeast team, wearing a hijab, was on his left. She was staring at Kyle. "Um, hi," he said. "I'm Kyle." "Yes. I am aware of this fact." "So, uh, what's your name?" "Abia Sulayman. And you will soon be eating my exhaust fumes." Kyle nodded. "Good to know." Dr. Zinchenko paced in front of the players, her hands clasped firmly behind her back.

下午四点整，凯尔和其他七名选手站在一对发光的绿色脚印上，面对空白的视频墙。 在电子学习中心设置了电视摄像机，这样无论是在图书馆还是在家里，观众都可以看到这场伟大的爬行动物飞行比赛。 发光的地板标记在每个球员之间留出了6英尺的空间。 这样，它们就有足够的空间来拍打和挥舞它们的手臂。 安格斯·哈珀在凯尔的右边。 一个戴着头巾的东北队女孩站在他的左边。 她盯着凯尔。“嗯，嗨，”他说。 “我是凯尔。”“是的。我知道这个事实。” “那么，呃，你叫什么名字?””名为Abia Sulayman。 你很快就会吃到我的废气。” 凯尔点点头。“很高兴知道。” 津琴科在队员们前面踱来踱去，双手紧紧地放在背后。

"The motion sensors in the screen will detect your arm, head, and torso movement," she explained. "Do not step off your footprint markers at any time during today's race. If you do, you will lose control of your flying reptile and it will crash. If you wish to go left, lean that way. To go right, lean right. Raise your head to gain elevation; look down at the floor to dive or swoop. When you flap your arms, your pterodactyl will flap its wings. Any questions?" "Yes, ma'am," said Angus. "How do we gun our bird? I feel the need—the need for speed." "To accelerate, simply flap your arms faster. However, be advised: The faster you fly, the more energy your pterodactyl will consume. Your winged avatar will have a 'life battery' icon glowing on its back. If you burn through your fuel, you will also crash. The object of this game is to be the first to safely reach the volcano crater on the island at the far side of the sea." As Dr. Zinchenko spoke, the wall behind her turned into a spectacular prehistoric world. Kyle could see dinosaurs munching on tall tree

她解释说:“屏幕上的运动传感器会检测到你的手臂、头部和躯干的运动。” “在今天的比赛中，任何时候都不要离开你的足迹标记。 如果你这样做，你就会失去对飞行爬行动物的控制，它就会坠毁。 如果你想往左边走，就往那边靠。 向右走，向右倾。抬起你的头，获得海拔;向下看地板跳水或俯冲。 当你扇动手臂时，翼手龙也会扇动翅膀。 有什么问题吗?”“是的，夫人。”安格斯说。 “我们怎么射击我们的鸟?”我感到需要——需要速度。” 要加速，只需更快地拍打你的手臂。 然而，请注意:你飞得越快，你的翼手龙消耗的能量就越多。 你的有翅膀的化身将有一个“生命电池”图标发光在它的背部。 如果你耗尽了燃料，你也会坠毁。 这个游戏的目标是第一个安全到达大海另一边岛上的火山口。” 津琴科博士说话的时候，她身后的墙变成了一个壮观的史前世界。 凯尔可以看到恐龙在大树上大嚼