14 The Ladder to Somewhere

CHAPTER FOURTEEN The Ladder to Somewhere Double Helix (noun). The appearance of a double-stranded DNA molecule with two lines that run parallel to each other and twist together. DNA is very famous and probably would have signed autographs if it could have. "WE DIDN'T FIND ANYTHING in the bathroom," Elijah said as he and Memito stepped out of the tiny bathroom on the side of the PTA office. We continued to search through the lab, opening drawers and looking behind bookshelves. There were lots of books on molecular chemistry. But no textbook on DNA since Rosalind Franklin had just made that breakthrough. Understanding the structure of DNA might have been the most important discovery of the twentieth century. At least, that's what Dr. Caroline says. DNA is a

第十四章通往某处的梯子双螺旋（名词）。 双链DNA分子的外观，两条线彼此平行并缠绕在一起。 DNA非常有名，如果可能的话，它可能会签名。 “我们在浴室里什么也没找到，”以利亚和梅托走出家长教师联委会办公室旁边的小浴室时说。 我们继续在实验室里搜寻，打开抽屉，在书架后面找。 有很多关于分子化学的书。 但自从罗莎琳德·富兰克林取得突破后，就没有关于DNA的教科书了。 了解DNA的结构可能是20世纪最重要的发现。 至少卡洛琳医生是这么说的。 DNA是一个

molecule that looks like a twisted ladder. That's why they call it the double helix. DNA is sort of like an instruction booklet for your body to do every job it needs to survive. It tells each cell in your body what it needs to do, like telling your hair how to grow or your stomach how to break down food. Suddenly thoughts of DNA gave me an idea. "Hey, you guys, you know that coil that appeared after we rubbed the crayon on the paper? What if it's DNA? Maybe it's another clue." "But it's not like we can see DNA with our eyes," said Phoenix. "True," I said. "You can't even see DNA with a regular microscope. It's ridiculously small." Somehow before we knew it, we had twenty- nine minutes left. Actually, it was hard to forget since Memito kept on reminding us every few minutes. "Hey, look at that old-timey phone," said Memito suddenly, pointing to a high-up shelf. It was black with a rotary dial. "I just noticed it. And there's some kind of letter next to it." "Yeah, and the phone's got a really long coil thingy," said Elijah. I whirled around to stare up at the phone and an old-fashioned curly telephone cord. I pumped my fist in the air. "Score! A coil. That's our clue."

看起来像扭曲的梯子的分子。 这就是为什么他们叫它双螺旋。 DNA有点像一本指导手册，指导你的身体完成生存所需的每一项工作。 它告诉你身体里的每个细胞它需要做什么，就像告诉你的头发如何生长，或者告诉你的胃如何分解食物。 突然想到DNA，我有了一个主意。 “嘿，伙计们，你们知道我们在纸上摩擦蜡笔后出现的那个线圈吗？” 如果是DNA呢？也许这是另一条线索。” 菲尼克斯说：“但我们无法用肉眼看到DNA。” “没错，”我说。“你甚至无法用普通显微镜看到DNA。 它小得可笑。”不知怎的，我们还没反应过来，就剩下29分钟了。 事实上，这很难忘记，因为Memito每隔几分钟就会提醒我们。 “嘿，看看那个老式手机，”梅托突然指着一个高高的架子说。 它是黑色的，带有旋转表盘。 “我只是注意到了。旁边还有个类似字母的东西。” “是的，这个电话有一个很长的线圈，”以利亚说。 我转过身来，盯着电话和一根老式的卷电话线。 我在空中挥舞着拳头。 “分数!一个线圈。这就是我们的线索。”

"Wow. It really does look just like the coil on the paper," said Birdie, amazed. "Quick! Quick, get it down," I yelled. "Ugh, where's Skyler when you need him?" said Elijah as he tried to jump up to reach the phone and the letter, but it was just out of reach. "Use the stepladder," said Phoenix, pointing to a small ladder in the corner. I grabbed it and shoved it against the bookcase. In a flash, Elijah climbed up a couple of rungs and pulled down the phone, along with the envelope. "There's a cardboard tube here, too," he exclaimed. After taking the plastic cap off the tube, he inspected it and shrugged. "It's empty." He stuck it in his lab coat pocket. "This will make a great drumstick though." Then he ripped open the envelope and began to read the note. "Customers, please pardon the interruption in service. There was an explosion nearby that knocked out the wires. But service has been restored." Then he flipped to the back of the note. "There's a zero next to an eleven, then the number forty-four written in giant numbers." He shrugged. "Maybe it's how much the stationery cost?" "Listen to the phone," said Elijah. "Maybe there's a message for us."

“哇。它看起来真的很像纸上的线圈，”小鸟惊讶地说。 “快!快，把它放下来。”我喊道。 “啊，当你需要斯凯勒的时候，他在哪里？”以利亚说，他试图跳起来拿电话和信，但它只是够不着。 “用梯子吧。”菲尼克斯指着角落里的一个小梯子说。 我一把抓住它，把它推到书架上。 一瞬间，以利亚爬上了几级楼梯，把电话和信封一起拉了下来。 “这里还有一个纸板管，”他叫道。 从管子上取下塑料盖后，他检查了一下，耸了耸肩。 “这是空的。”他把它放在他的实验服口袋里。 “不过，这将是一个很棒的鸡腿。” 然后他撕开信封，开始读纸条。 “客户们，请原谅服务中断。 附近发生了爆炸，电线被震断了。 但服务已经恢复。” 然后他翻到纸条的背面。 “在11的旁边有一个0，然后是用巨大的数字写的44。” 他耸了耸肩。“也许是文具的价格？”以利亚说：“听电话。” “也许这是给我们的信息。”

Memito picked up the phone's receiver. "Nah, it's dead. Dead like we're going to be if we don't escape this room and that evil dude gets here, Dr. Dragon." "Dragas," corrected Phoenix. "Can you not use the word 'dead,'" I pleaded. "The point is that an old-timey-looking phone has no dial tone," said Jeremy. "And can you not say 'old-timey,'" said Phoenix. "It takes us out of the moment." "Then why do you dress that way?" accused Jeremy, nodding at Phoenix's vintage shirt. "All old-timey?" "Everyone, please stop arguing," said Birdie, her voice warbling. "I seriously want to get out of here." Her eyes slid to the combination lock on the front door. "Birdie is right," I said. "We need to find the image of the virus and figure out the code to open the lock." "Also, anything can be a code," Jeremy stated with certainty. "Yeah," agreed Memito. "I once saw this video where kids were trapped in an escape room. I mean really stuck because it was a horror movie. And anyhow, they had to deal with this creepy guy in a clown outfit if they wanted to live."

梅托拿起电话听筒。 “不，它死了。如果我们不逃离这个房间，那个邪恶的家伙来了，我们就会死。 龙。”“龙。”菲尼克斯纠正道。 “你能不能不要用‘死’这个词？”我恳求道。 “关键是老式电话没有拨号音，”杰里米说。 “你能别说‘老’吗？”菲尼克斯说。 “它让我们脱离了当下。” “那你为什么穿成那样？”杰里米指责道，朝菲尼克斯的复古衬衫点了点头。 “所有旧时的?”“大家，请不要再吵了，”小鸟说，她的声音颤抖着。 “我真的很想离开这里。” 她的目光滑到前门的密码锁上。 “小鸟说得对，”我说。 “我们需要找到病毒的图像，并找出打开锁的代码。” “而且，任何东西都可以是代码，”杰里米肯定地说。 “是的，”梅托同意道。“我曾经看过一段视频，孩子们被困在一个密室里。 我是说被困住了，因为这是一部恐怖电影。 无论如何，如果他们想活下去，就必须对付这个穿着小丑服装的恐怖家伙。”

"Oh, please stop," I said, clapping my hands over my ears. "I really don't want to hear about creepy clowns." "Me either," said Birdie. "We should also think about what might be a safe or even a lock," said Jeremy. "In this one escape room I heard about, the roulette wheel was actually this giant combination lock. So everyone keep your eyes open." Memito opened his eyes extra wide. "I'm looking!" he shouted. "Hey, what about that telephone?" I said, pointing to the old black phone with a rotary dial. "Maybe it's not a phone, but a safe." "Yes!" agreed Elijah. "It's got to be here for a reason." I lifted up the phone and examined it. "This could be a lock. What was that number again? The one on the blank paper?" "I'll read it," said Phoenix. "020-7111-2413." "That's too long for a combination lock," said Jeremy. "Remember?" "What if it's a phone number?" said Phoenix, her voice growing excited. "Okay, um, how do you dial one of these?" asked Memito. "It kind of scares me."

“哦，请别说了。”我说着，用手捂住耳朵。 “我真的不想听什么令人毛骨悚然的小丑。” “我也是，”小鸟说。杰里米说：“我们还应该考虑什么是保险箱，甚至是锁。” “在我听说的一个密室里，轮盘实际上是一个巨大的密码锁。 所以大家都睁大眼睛。” 梅托把眼睛睁得特别大。 “我在找！”他喊道。 “嘿，那部电话怎么样？”我指着那部带有旋转拨盘的黑色旧电话说。 “也许这不是手机，而是保险箱。” 以利亚说：“是的！”“它出现在这里一定是有原因的。” 我拿起电话仔细看了看。 “这可能是一个锁定。那个数字是多少来着？ 空白纸上的那个？”“我来读。”菲尼克斯说。 “020-7111-2413。”“这对密码锁来说太长了，”杰里米说。 “记得吗?”“如果是一个电话号码呢？”菲尼克斯说，她的声音变得兴奋起来。 “好吧，嗯，你怎么拨通其中一个呢？” “这让我有点害怕。”

"It's easy," said Elijah. "My grandpa has a bunch of old phones. He keeps them for fun. You dial with the wheel. And pick up this thingy from that thingy." I shook my head. "Oh, wow. You and directions." Elijah was notorious for throwing away his Lego set directions. "It's called removing the handset from the cradle," said Phoenix. "I know because when I was younger, I read old Nancy Drew books." Memito put the handset up to his ear. "It's still dead." "Put your finger in the hole of the number you want to dial," explained Elijah. "Then make the dial thingy go clockwise until it hits the metal thingy." Memito started dialing as I called out the numbers. Then we all held our collective breath. "Nothing," said Memito. He looked up with his hands raised in the why me position. "Maybe it's the wrong number," said Elijah. "Let Phoenix try," said Jeremy. "Since she's old-timey." Phoenix marched up to Memito, swung her waist-length hair, and grasped the phone. "Thank

“这很容易，”以利亚说。“我爷爷有一堆旧电话。 他养它们是为了好玩。你用方向盘拨号。 把这个东西从那个东西里拿出来。” 我摇了摇头。“哦,哇。 你和方向。”以利亚因扔掉乐高积木而臭名昭著。 “这就叫把手机从摇篮里拿出来，”菲尼克斯说。 “我知道，因为我小时候读过《神探南茜》（Nancy Drew）的老书。” 梅托把听筒放到耳边。 “它还是死的。”“把你的手指放在你要拨的号码孔里，”以利亚解释说。 “然后让表盘顺时针转动，直到它碰到金属的东西。” 当我报出号码的时候，Memito开始拨号。 然后我们都屏住了呼吸。 “没什么，”梅托说。他抬起头，以“为什么我”的姿势举起双手。 “也许打错了，”以利亚说。 “让菲尼克斯试试。”杰里米说。 “因为她老了。”菲尼克斯大步走向梅托，甩了甩她齐腰的头发，抓起电话。 “谢谢