Chapter 39

39 Sierra turned to her teammates. "Who should play for us?" "Either you or Miguel," said Kyle. "Definitely," agreed Akimi. "I vote for Sierra," said Miguel. "You've read more books than the rest of us combined." "Are you guys sure? Because I didn't do so well in that Battle of the Books game." "And I did terribly in the poolside puzzle fiasco," said Kyle. "Remember?" Sierra smiled. "I may never forget it."

塞拉转向她的队友。 “谁应该为我们打球？”“不是你就是米格尔，”凯尔说。 “当然，”明美同意道。 “我投塞拉的票，”米格尔说。 “你读过的书比我们其他人加起来还多。” “你们确定吗？”因为我在书之战的游戏中表现不太好。” “我在泳池边的智力游戏中表现得很糟糕，”凯尔说。 “记得吗?”塞拉笑了。 “我可能永远不会忘记。”

"Yeah. Me neither. Come on. You'll be great. I don't know anything about band books. Did John Philip Sousa write one?" "Banned books," said Sierra. "See? You're doing better than me already." "Teams?" said Dr. Zinchenko. "Please send your designated player to the circle of desks closest to mine." Sierra looked at her teammates one last time. They were all smiling and nodding. She started walking to the inner ring of reading desks. "Go, Sierra!" That was her dad. Cheering for her. "Good luck, honey!" Her mom, too. Each of the six remaining teams was assigned its own desk. Sierra sat down at hers. Marjory Muldauer was at the desk to her right. Elliott Schilpp, the nice guy from Maryland who really liked pizza, was on her left. Each desk had its own built-in touch-screen computer.

“是的。我也不。来吧。 你会很棒的。我对乐队的书一无所知。 约翰·菲利普·索萨写过吗？”“禁书，”塞拉说。 “看到了吗?你已经做得比我好了。” “团队？”津琴科说。 “请把你指定的球员派到离我最近的一圈桌子旁。” 塞拉最后看了她的队友们一眼。 他们都微笑着点头。 她开始向阅读桌的内圈走去。 “去,塞拉!”那是她爸爸。 为她加油。“祝你好运，亲爱的！”还有她妈妈。 剩下的六个小组都有自己的办公桌。 西拉坐在她的桌旁。玛乔丽·穆尔道尔坐在她右边的桌子旁。 坐在她左边的是来自马里兰州的好男人艾略特·席普（Elliott Schilpp），他非常喜欢披萨。 每张桌子都有自己的内置触摸屏电脑。

"This contest will include an immediate elimination factor," announced Dr. Zinchenko from her swivel stool behind the central librarian's desk. "If you answer a question incorrectly, you will be asked to leave your desk. Quietly. As those of you playing for the Northeast, the Mid-Atlantic, the Mountain, and the Pacific teams undoubtedly recall, you only have one medal each. If you are eliminated from this game, it will be mathematically impossible for your team to go on and win the duodecimalthon. Therefore, if you lose, your team loses its chance at being crowned champions." The four players nodded. They all understood the very high stakes of this eleventh game. "However," said Dr. Zinchenko, "should you win this game as well as our twelfth game, we will have a three-way tie for first place and enter into a sudden-death overtime situation. That thirteenth game, if necessary, will take place tomorrow." "Don't worry," sneered Marjory. "We won't be playing any games tomorrow."

“这场比赛将包括一个即时淘汰因素，”博士宣布。 津琴科从中央图书管理员桌子后面的转椅上坐下。 “如果你回答错了问题，你将被要求离开办公桌。 安静的。毫无疑问，东北队、中大西洋队、山地队和太平洋队的队员们都记得，你们每人只拿了一块奖牌。 如果你在这场比赛中被淘汰，从数学上讲，你的队伍不可能继续赢得十二小时耐力赛。 因此，如果你输了，你的球队就失去了加冕冠军的机会。” 四个球员点了点头。他们都明白这第十一场博弈的高风险。 “然而，”津琴科博士说，“如果你们赢得这场比赛以及我们的第12场比赛，我们就会出现三方并列第一的局面，并进入突然死亡的加时赛。 如果有必要的话，第十三场比赛明天举行。” “别担心，”玛乔丽冷笑着说。 “明天我们不玩任何游戏了。”

"Let us begin," said Dr. Zinchenko, completely ignoring Marjory Muldauer. "I will read a multiple-choice question. Use the touch-screen computers in your reading desks to select your answer." Sierra took in a deep breath. "Question number one: In 1985, Shel Silverstein's A Light in the Attic was banned from a school in Wisconsin because: a) the attic was cluttered and dangerous. b) the children in the book were filthy and never combed their hair. c) the book encouraged children to break dishes so they wouldn't have to dry them. d) the book used foul language. Please enter your answer now." Sierra had read about this book-banning incident. She tapped "C." Her computer screen glowed green. She was correct.

“我们开始吧，”津琴科医生说，完全不理会玛乔丽·穆尔道尔。 “我会读一道选择题。 使用阅读桌上的触摸屏电脑选择答案。” 塞拉深吸了一口气。 第一个问题：1985年，谢尔·西尔弗斯坦（shelsilverstein）的《阁楼上的一盏灯》（A Light In the Attic）在威斯康星州的一所学校被禁，原因是：A)阁楼太乱，太危险。 B)书中的孩子很脏，而且从不梳头。 C，这本书鼓励孩子们打碎盘子，这样他们就不用擦干了。 D，这本书使用了粗俗的语言。 现在请输入您的答案。” 塞拉曾读到过这次禁书事件。 她点了“c”。她的电脑屏幕闪着绿光。 她是对的。

The Northeast and Mountain teams, however, chose the wrong answer. The screens on their computers turned bright red. "Thank you for playing," said Dr. Zinchenko. "Kindly rejoin your teammates. And thank you for participating in the first-ever Library Olympiad. You and your teammates will receive lovely parting gifts." "Whoop-de-doo," said Marjory. "Next question, please." "Of course. Question number two: Why was Dr. Seuss's book The Lorax banned? a) There is no such creature as a Lorax. b) The drawings were too frightening for young readers. c) The rhymes and silly names were too weird. d) It offended forestry workers. Choose your answer now. You have thirty seconds."

然而，东北队和山地队选择了错误的答案。 他们的电脑屏幕变成了鲜红色。 “谢谢你陪我玩。” Zinchenko。“请重新加入你的队友。 感谢你们参加首届图书馆奥林匹克竞赛。 你和你的队友会收到可爱的离别礼物。” “呜呜-呜呜。”玛乔丽说。 “下一个问题。”“当然。 问题二：为什么。 苏斯的书《洛拉克斯》被禁了？ a)没有Lorax这种生物。 b)这些图画对年轻读者来说太吓人了。 c)押韵和愚蠢的名字太奇怪了。 d)它冒犯了林业工人。 现在选择你的答案。你有30秒的时间。”

Sierra wasn't certain about this one. The first three answers could be reasons to ban any Dr. Seuss book. But The Lorax was all about "Truffula" trees and saving the environment. Forestry workers might not like that. She went with "D." Her touch screen glowed green. So did Marjory Muldauer's. The Pacific team answered incorrectly. "Sorry," Sierra said to Pranav Pillai as he left his table. "Thanks. Good luck!" "Three players remain," said Dr. Zinchenko. "Here is your third question: Why was Junie B. Jones, a series of children's books by Barbara Park, banned from libraries? Was it because: a) Junie B. Jones is a mouthy brat? b) characters use words such as 'stupid' and 'dumb'? c) the author takes liberties with traditional spelling?

塞拉对这一点不太确定。 前三个答案可能是禁止任何博士的理由。 苏斯的书。但《洛拉克斯》的主题是“松露”树和拯救环境。 林业工人可能不喜欢这样。 她选了d。"她的触摸屏发出绿光。 玛乔丽·穆尔道尔也是如此。 太平洋队答错了。 “对不起。”普拉纳夫·皮莱离开餐桌时，西拉对他说。 “谢谢。祝你好运!”“还有三名球员，”他说。 Zinchenko。这是你的第三个问题：为什么朱妮？ 芭芭拉·帕克（Barbara Park）的一系列儿童读物《琼斯》（Jones）被图书馆禁售？ 是因为：a)朱妮？ 琼斯是个多嘴的孩子？B)角色使用诸如“愚蠢”和“愚蠢”这样的词？ C)作者随意使用传统拼写？