Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10 I watched the rest of the competition from my chair on the stage. It was amazing. You never know how smart and creative the kids around you are until they have a chance to show it off. Take Ryan Shimozato. He put a model rocket engine into his spaceship robot, and it flew all the way to the first row of chairs, where his brother Bobby caught it in a butterfly net. And Gracie Maloof's giant ant robot actually chewed on a large green leaf of kale just like a real leaf- cutter ant would do. And then she made it burp. Luke Whitman's robot was classic Luke Whitman. He pushed a button, and the long

我坐在舞台上的椅子上观看了比赛的其余部分。 太神奇了。你永远不会知道你周围的孩子是多么聪明和有创造力，直到他们有机会炫耀。 以Ryan Shimozato为例。他把一个模型火箭发动机放进他的宇宙飞船机器人，它一路飞到第一排椅子上，他的哥哥鲍比用蝴蝶网抓住了它。 格雷西·马鲁夫的巨型蚂蚁机器人实际上在咀嚼一片巨大的绿叶甘蓝，就像真正的切叶蚁一样。 然后她让它打了个嗝。 卢克·惠特曼的机器人是典型的卢克·惠特曼。 他按下按钮，长

finger on his robot hand started to turn. Then he held the finger up to his face, and yes, put it right into his nose. I will not describe what happened next, no matter how much you ask. Trust me, I am helping you not throw up. Principal Love ended Luke's demonstration early. "Thank you for your participation, Mr. Whitman," he said. "I think we've all seen more than enough." "But I haven't even gotten to the snot yet," Luke answered. "My point exactly." Principal Love led Luke to his seat. "Please sit down," he said. "And here's my personal handkerchief. Do not worry about giving it back." When all of us had demonstrated our robots, Principal Love called two of the teachers up onstage to help him pick the winner. While they were talking, everyone had to listen to Artie Higgenbottom play "This Land Is Your Land" on his viola. I could see most of the

他的机械手上的一个手指开始转动。 然后他把手指举到脸前，没错，就插进了鼻子里。 不管你怎么问，我都不会描述接下来发生的事。 相信我，我是在帮你不呕吐。 勒夫校长提前结束了卢克的表演。 “谢谢你的参与，惠特曼先生，”他说。 “我想我们已经看得够多了。” “可我还没说到鼻涕呢。”卢克回答。 “我的观点完全正确。”洛夫校长把卢克领到他的座位上。 “请坐，”他说。 “这是我的私人手帕。 不要为归还而烦恼。” 当我们所有人都展示了我们的机器人后，洛夫校长叫来了两位老师上台帮他挑选优胜者。 当他们谈话时，每个人都必须听阿蒂·希根巴顿用中提琴演奏“这片土地是你的土地”。 我可以看到大部分

kids in the audience putting their fingers in their ears to block out the sound. Finally, the two teachers and Principal Love reached a decision. I felt excited as Principal Love came to the center of the stage. Even though part of me knew I didn't have much chance to win, the other part of me had its fingers crossed. As my dad always says, "It's not over until it's over." "We have chosen a winner," Principal Love announced. "For her combination of creativity and scientific thinking, first place goes to George Henry and her ice-cream-making ballerina robot, Raspberry Swirl." George Henry was so excited that she jumped up and twirled all the way from her chair to Principal Love. He handed her the trophy, which she kissed and then held up over her head for everyone to see. To be totally honest, I was a little disappointed that I didn't win that big, shiny trophy. Okay, that was only kind of honest. I

观众中的孩子们用手指堵住耳朵来屏蔽声音。 最后，两位老师和洛夫校长达成了一个决定。 当爱校长走到舞台中央时，我感到很兴奋。 虽然一方面我知道我没有多少获胜的机会，但另一方面我还是祈祷。 就像我爸爸常说的：“不结束就不算结束。” “我们选出了一个赢家，”洛夫校长宣布。 “乔治·亨利将创造力和科学思维结合在一起，她和她的冰淇淋制作芭蕾舞机器人覆盆子漩涡获得了第一名。” 乔治·亨利非常兴奋，她跳了起来，从椅子上一直旋转到洛夫校长那里。 他把奖杯递给她，她吻了吻，然后举过头顶让大家看。 说实话，我有点失望，因为我没有赢得那个又大又闪亮的奖杯。 好吧，这只是有点诚实。 我

was very disappointed. I could just see that trophy sitting on my desk, right next to my jar of colored pencils. But as I watched George Henry twirl into the audience to hug her parents, I thought, Good for her. When the audience's applause for George Henry had died down, Principal Love gave out the rest of the awards. Ryan's rocket got second place, and Gracie's leaf-cutter ant took third. Too bad, Hank, I thought to myself. Looks like you didn't win anything. But then a great thing happened. "To reward all the students who participated in our Build-a-Robot competition," Principal Love said, "each of you will receive an honorable mention certificate with the PS 87 gold seal." Wow! My ears almost jumped off my head. A certificate with a gold seal! I'd never gotten one of those before. I leaped out of my chair and marched right up to Principal Love. "I'd like to say a few words," I said.

我非常失望。我能看到那个奖杯放在我的桌子上，就在我的彩色铅笔罐旁边。 但当我看到乔治·亨利转着圈走进观众席拥抱她的父母时，我想，真不错。 当观众对乔治·亨利的掌声渐渐平息后，洛夫校长颁发了其余的奖项。 瑞恩的火箭获得第二名，格雷西的切叶蚁获得第三名。 太糟糕了，汉克，我心想。 看起来你什么都没赢。 但随后一件伟大的事情发生了。 “为了奖励所有参加“建造机器人”比赛的学生，”洛夫校长说，“你们每个人都将获得一张带有ps87金章的优秀奖证书。” 哇!我的耳朵都快跳出来了。 一张有金印的证书！我以前从没得到过这种东西。 我从椅子上跳起来，径直向洛夫校长走去。 “我想说几句，”我说。

"A very few, Mr. Zipzer," Principal Love whispered. "This is highly unusual." I took the microphone. "This is my first honorable mention ever," I said. "And it wouldn't have happened without the help of my friends, Ashley, Frankie, and Jaden. And especially Jaden, who is a genius at robots, and who really comes through when you need him." I could see Ashley and Frankie high-fiving each other. Jaden sat quietly next to his mom. I

“很少，齐泽尔先生。”洛夫校长低声说。 “这是非常不寻常的。”我拿起麦克风。 “这是我第一次获得荣誉奖，”我说。 如果没有我的朋友阿什莉、弗兰基和杰登的帮助，这一切都不会发生。 尤其是杰登，他是机器人方面的天才，当你需要他的时候，他真的会出现。” 我能看到艾希礼和弗兰基互相击掌。 杰登静静地坐在他妈妈旁边。 我

gave him my best Zipzer wave. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw him wave back. When the assembly ended, I ran into the crowd to show my mom and dad my certificate. On the way, I bumped smack into Nick McKelty. It's hard not to bump into him because his mouth alone takes up so much room. "Stop flapping that stupid piece of paper around," he said to me. "It looks like you're trying to fly." "This happens to be an honorable mention certificate," I said. "With a gold seal on it."

给了他我最好的招手。 当我看到他向我招手时，我简直不敢相信自己的眼睛。 当集会结束时，我跑进人群，给爸爸妈妈看我的证书。 在路上，我撞见了尼克·麦克尔蒂。 很难不撞到他，因为他的嘴巴就占了这么大的空间。 他对我说：“别把那张愚蠢的纸晃来晃去。” “看起来你在试着飞。” “这碰巧是一张优秀奖证书，”我说。 “上面有一个金印。”