Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 Frankie, Ashley, and I all gathered around my dining-room table after school that day. "Welcome, everyone, to the first official planning meeting for how to build my robot," I said, making my voice sound big and serious. "Hank, why are you making an announcement?" Frankie asked. "It's only us." "I wanted to remind everyone why we're here." "We remember why we're here," Ashley said. "Actually, I was reminding myself. I forget things very easily. So, the meeting will now begin. What do we do next?" Frankie raised his hand.

第三章那天放学后，我和弗兰基、艾希礼都围在饭桌旁。 “欢迎大家参加关于如何制造我的机器人的第一次官方计划会议，”我说，声音听起来又大又严肃。 “汉克，你为什么要宣布这个消息？”弗兰基问道。 “只有我们。”“我想提醒大家我们为什么在这里。” “我们记得我们为什么在这里，”阿什利说。 “实际上，我是在提醒自己。 我很容易忘事。 会议现在开始。 接下来我们做什么？”弗兰基举起了手。

"Yes, Frankie," I said, calling on him. "How about if you get started?" he suggested. "Ashley and I are here to help you." "Excellent idea." I waited for a minute, then said, "I just wish I knew how to do that." "I think you need to make a blueprint," Ashley said, "like that kid Jaden said." That was also a good idea, except none of us knew what a blueprint was. Just then, my dad came in from the kitchen, carrying a plate of celery sticks stuffed with cream cheese.

“是的，弗兰基，”我招呼他说。 “你开始吧，怎么样？”他建议道。 “艾希礼和我是来帮你的。” “好主意。”我等了一会儿，然后说：“我真希望我知道怎么做。” “我认为你需要做一个蓝图，”艾希礼说，“就像那个孩子杰登说的那样。” 这也是一个好主意，只是我们都不知道蓝图是什么。 就在这时，爸爸从厨房走了进来，端着一盘塞着奶油奶酪的芹菜。

"I made a snack for you kids," he said, grabbing a couple of sticks for himself. "Thanks, Dad," I said. "By the way, do you happen to know what a blueprint is?" "Certainly," he answered. "It's a drawing you make before building something. It gives you a plan to follow." "Why didn't Jaden just say that we had to make a drawing?" I wondered. "What's with the blueprint thing?" "He always uses big words," Frankie said. "My brother's in his third-grade class and says nobody can understand him when he talks. Mostly he hangs out by himself and doesn't have any friends." "He must be so lonely," Ashley said. "Well, then maybe he should try using shorter words so people can understand him," I said. "Anyway, all this talk about Jaden isn't helping me make a blueprint." "If you're going to make one, you'll need paper, a ruler, colored pencils, and a protractor," my dad pointed out.

“我给你们这些孩子做了点心，”他说着，给自己抓了几根棍子。 “谢谢，爸爸，”我说。“顺便问一下，你知道蓝图是什么吗？”“当然，”他回答。 “这是你在建造东西之前画的草图。 它给了你一个可以遵循的计划。” “杰登为什么不直接说我们得画张图呢？”我想知道。 “蓝图是怎么回事？”“他总是用大词，”弗兰基说。 “我哥哥上三年级，他说他说话的时候没人能听懂。 大部分时间他都是一个人出去玩，没有朋友。” “他一定很孤独，"艾希礼说。 “好吧，那么也许他应该试着用更简短的词，这样人们就能听懂他的话了，”我说。 “不管怎样，所有关于杰登的讨论并不能帮助我制定蓝图。” “如果你要做一个，你需要纸、尺子、彩色铅笔和量角器，”爸爸指出。

"I have no idea what a protractor is, Dad, except the word is fun to say." "It's like a ruler used to measure angles," he explained. "It's shaped like a half moon." "Oh, that thing on my desk! I've been using it as a back scratcher." Frankie cracked up. "Well, how about getting all that stuff from your room," he suggested. "Let me go get the supplies," my dad said. "If Hank goes to look for them, we might never see him again." He turned to me. "Remember yesterday when you went to change your shirt before dinner? You got lost reorganizing your desk drawer, and we had to come get you." "Hey, I can't help it if I like to keep my desk drawer neat," I said. "Neat!" my dad said. "There's nothing neat about your room. Some of the dirty socks lying around your room have been there since you were three." Frankie laughed loudly. I had to admit that was funny.

“我不知道量角器是什么，爸爸，只知道这个词说起来很有趣。” “这就像一把用来测量角度的尺子，”他解释说。 “它的形状像半个月亮。” “哦，我桌子上的那个东西！”我一直用它来挠背。” 弗兰基大笑起来。“那么，把你房间里的东西都拿出来怎么样？”他建议道。 “让我去拿补给品，”爸爸说。 “如果汉克去找他们，我们可能再也见不到他了。” 他转向我。“还记得昨天晚饭前你去换衬衫吗？” 你在整理书桌抽屉时迷路了，我们不得不来接你。” “嘿，如果我喜欢保持书桌抽屉整洁，我也没办法，”我说。 “好极了！”爸爸说。“你的房间一点也不整洁。 你房间里的一些脏袜子从你三岁起就在那里了。” 弗兰基大笑起来。我不得不承认这很有趣。

"My room looks like that, too," he said. "There's a pile of socks in the corner so high, my mom calls it Sock Mountain." "Picking up socks and throwing them in the hamper is so annoying," Ashley said. "My room looks like it snowed socks." "Guys," I said. "Listen to what we're saying. There's the robot idea. I'm going to build a sock-picker-upper robot. This is going to change the lives of kids all over the country." "I got to hand it to you, Hankster," Frankie said. "That is one great idea." "You could sell them, you know," Ashley chirped, pushing her glasses up on her nose. "Every kid is going to want one. Frankie and I will help you sell them. We'll start with our school, then the city. I can already see the billboard in Times Square!" "Whoa there, kids," my dad said. "Just build the first one. Then you can think about billboards." My dad went into my room to get the supplies. While he was gone, Ashley, Frankie,

“我的房间也是这样，”他说。 “角落里有一堆袜子，那么高，我妈妈管它叫袜子山。” 阿什利说：“把袜子捡起来扔进篮子太烦人了。” “我的房间看起来像下了雪的袜子。” “伙计们，”我说。“听听我们在说什么。 这是机器人的想法。我要做一个捡袜子的机器人。 这将改变全国孩子们的生活。” “我不得不称赞你，汉克斯特，”弗兰基说。 “这是个好主意。”“你知道，你可以把它们卖掉，"艾希礼唧唧喳喳地说，一面把眼镜推到鼻子上。 “每个孩子都想要一个。 弗兰基和我会帮你卖掉它们。 我们将从我们的学校开始，然后是城市。 我已经能看到时代广场上的广告牌了！”“哇，孩子们，”爸爸说。 “只建造第一个。 然后你可以考虑广告牌。” 我爸爸走进我的房间拿东西。 他不在的时候，艾希礼，弗兰基，

and I talked nonstop about my robot, which had suddenly become our robot. They were as excited as I was. "It has to have big claws to pick up the socks," Frankie said. "And long arms so it can reach under the bed," Ashley added. "And a nose clip like the ones swimmers use so it doesn't pass out from the stinky socks," I concluded. It was really exciting to have so many ideas coming all at once. When my dad came back in with the pencils, ruler, protractor, and a big piece of white construction paper, we were ready to draw a blueprint.

我不停地谈论我的机器人，它突然变成了我们的机器人。 他们和我一样兴奋。 “它必须有大爪子才能捡起袜子，”弗兰基说。 阿什利补充说：“它的胳膊很长，可以伸到床底下。” “还有一个鼻夹，就像游泳运动员用的那样，这样就不会从臭袜子里漏出来了，”我总结道。 同时有这么多的想法真是令人兴奋。 当爸爸带着铅笔、尺子、量角器和一大张白色的施工纸回来时，我们已经准备好画蓝图了。