20 Fun and Games

CHAPTER TWENTY Fun and Games Polymer Chemistry (noun). The part of chemistry that studies really big molecules called polymers. Most plastics are actually just made of humongous polymers. So if you were a polymer chemist, you could study how to make a plastic ball like the kind sea lions play with at an aquarium. "LET'S GIVE IT UP FOR FINN!" shouted the emcee, as the cutest sea lion you ever saw walked right past us. And I mean right in front of us. I could have leaned over and petted him. "Finn is a California sea lion," continued the emcee. "These marine mammals are related to seals and walruses." Wow. I didn't realize that sea lions were related to walruses. That could be one of my super-duper facts. "That's my animal!" I said, pumping my fist into the air. "I mean, not like I own him or anything," I murmured. "I'm doing a presentation on sea lions on Monday."

聚合物化学（名词）。 这是研究高分子的化学部分。 大多数塑料实际上只是由巨大的聚合物制成的。 所以如果你是一个聚合物化学家，你可以研究如何制作一个塑料球，就像海狮在水族馆里玩的那种。 “让我们为芬恩鼓掌！”当你见过的最可爱的海狮从我们身边走过时，主持人喊道。 我是说就在我们面前。 我本可以俯身抚摸它的。 “芬恩是一只加利福尼亚海狮，”司仪继续说道。 “这些海洋哺乳动物与海豹和海象有关。” 哇。我不知道海狮和海象有亲缘关系。 这可能是我的超级事实之一。 “那是我的动物！”我说着，向空中挥舞着拳头。 “我的意思是，不像我拥有他那样。”我喃喃地说。 “我星期一要做一个关于海狮的报告。”

"That's great," said the emcee. "All the sea lions at the aquarium were rescued. We have four altogether. Biff, Tanner, Laguna, and Finn right here. Sometimes Finn likes to be a whirlybird." Finn started to spin in circles. He was really acrobatic and elegant. "He can't use his eyes, because he is blind." She explained that he had shrapnel in his eyes because he had been shot. That part was really sad. Lots of kids made an ooh sound, including me. But she explained that Finn had adapted really well and was happy and thriving and loved to play with balls, especially a green plastic one. I thought about how it was probably made from polymers, which are really just ginormous molecules. "When we're training the other sea lions, we give hand motions, but with Finn it's all verbal and he understands everything. Don't you, buddy?" And with that, he gave his trainer a high five. It was amazing. Finn certainly didn't act like he didn't know what was going on or where he was going. "Any questions?" asked the emcee. "What does he eat?" asked Memito. "A variety of herring, squid, capelin, and sometimes salmon," said the emcee. "How does he follow the trainer?" I asked. "And swim around?"

“太好了，”司仪说。 “水族馆里所有的海狮都获救了。 我们总共有四个。毕夫，坦纳，拉古纳，还有芬恩。 有时芬恩喜欢做一只旋风鸟。” 芬恩开始打转。 他真的是杂技和优雅。 “他不能用他的眼睛，因为他是盲人。” 她解释说，他眼睛里有弹片，因为他中枪了。 那部分真的很悲伤。很多孩子发出了“哦”的声音，包括我。 但她解释说，芬恩适应得很好，很开心，也很健康，喜欢玩球，尤其是绿色的塑料球。 我想到它可能是由聚合物构成的，聚合物实际上只是巨大的分子。 “当我们训练其他海狮时，我们会做手势，但芬恩完全是口头的，他什么都懂。 不是吗，伙计？”说完，他跟他的教练击掌。 太神奇了。芬恩显然没有表现出他不知道发生了什么或者他要去哪里。 “还有问题吗？”司仪问。 “他吃什么？”美美托问。 “各种鲱鱼、鱿鱼、毛鳞鱼，有时还有鲑鱼，”司仪说。 “他是怎么跟随教练的？”我问。 “游来游去？”

"He has whiskers that help him feel around," she said. "He knows his habitat really well because he has it all mapped out in his head." "That's so cool." I thought of the GPS that got us here. It was like he had a mapping service in his brain. Okay, I had my second super-duper fact. Then we learned some things about how sea lions are threatened. Not only by hunting, but they also get caught in nets and plastic. And pollution and overfishing are other problems. Which also made me sad. "Luckily, our animal response team works with conservation partners around the globe to rescue animals like Finn," said the emcee, and everyone clapped at that happy news. The trainer held what looked like a wand with a red bulb, which was for training. For Finn, she would tap him with the bulb and he would lie down. "He feels like a wet horse," the emcee said, as the trainer touched him. "He likes rubs. Especially on his chest. He also likes Jell-O with no taste or flavor. And playing with ice." Oh my. I started to write everything down in my notebook. I had so many super-duper facts. Way more than three. Lifting up a flipper, Finn waved goodbye, and I was waving goodbye too. Even though I knew he

“它的胡须可以帮助它感知周围，”她说。 “它对自己的栖息地非常了解，因为它已经在脑子里规划好了一切。” “这太酷了。”我想到了把我们带到这里的GPS。 就像他的大脑里有一个地图服务。 好了，我有了第二个超级棒的事实。 然后我们了解了海狮是如何受到威胁的。 它们不仅会被捕猎，还会被渔网和塑料捕获。 污染和过度捕捞是其他问题。 这也让我很难过。“幸运的是，我们的动物反应小组与全球各地的保护伙伴合作，拯救了像芬恩这样的动物，”主持人说，每个人都为这个好消息鼓掌。 教练拿着一根看起来像魔杖的东西，上面有一个红色的球，这是用来训练的。 对芬恩来说，她会用灯泡轻敲他，他就会躺下。 “他感觉像一匹湿马，”司仪说，教练抚摸着他。 “他喜欢按摩。尤其是在他的胸部。 他还喜欢没有味道的果冻。 玩冰。”哦,我的。 我开始把所有的事情都记在笔记本上。 我有很多超级事实。 远不止三个。芬恩举起一只鳍状肢，挥手告别，我也挥手告别。 尽管我认识他

couldn't see me, I was sure he could hear me. "Bye, Finn!" I shouted. That was so wonderful. "I bet you're going to have a lot of questions," said the emcee. "Which is good. Anytime you see a staffer, do not hesitate to ask us anything. Stay sea curious. And you can learn a lot just by observing." She went on to explain that we'd start with general explorations of the galleries upstairs. "I'd recommend starting with either the Great Lakes or the Wild Reef, which you will need to take elevators to get to. It's not an aquarium without a shark tank, and there are plenty of them in the Wild Reef." Then we all turned to each other. "Where should we go first, Mrs. Crawford?" asked Julia. "I think you all should decide what you want to see." "Let's try the Wild Reef," said Birdie, "and then maybe the Great Lakes." "And then the penguins," said Julia and I practically at the same time. Even though the aquatic show had been different from what we planned, it still had been absolutely

虽然他看不见我，但我确信他能听到我的声音。 “再见,芬恩!”我叫道。太棒了。 “我敢打赌你会有很多问题，”司仪说。 “这很好。任何时候你看到工作人员，不要犹豫，问我们任何问题。 保持好奇心。你可以通过观察学到很多东西。” 她接着解释说，我们将从参观楼上的画廊开始。 “我建议从五大湖或野生珊瑚礁开始，你需要乘坐电梯才能到达。 没有鲨鱼池就不是水族馆，野生珊瑚礁里有很多鲨鱼。” 然后我们都转向对方。 “我们先去哪儿，克劳福德太太？”茱莉亚问。 “我认为你们都应该决定自己想看什么。” “我们去野礁试试吧，”小鸟说，“然后也许去五大湖。” “然后是企鹅。”茱莉亚和我几乎同时说。 尽管水上表演与我们的计划有所不同，但它仍然绝对是

amazing. I almost touched a sea lion! "Okay, everyone," I said. "It's time to check out those exhibits." I couldn't wait to find out what else we would see.

不可思议。我差点碰到一只海狮！“好了，各位，”我说。 “是时候去看看那些展品了。” 我迫不及待地想知道我们还会看到什么。