2 Hitting the Beach

Chapter 2 Hitting the Beach This summer, my parents rented a beach house. We were gonna share it with my cousins, but they couldn't come. So we'll have a big beach house all to ourselves! The day after school ended, we packed up the car and drove a million hundred miles to the ocean. "I can't wait to hit the beach," I said, looking out the car window. I had to sit in the back with my sister, Amy, who is going into sixth grade. She's annoying, but not as annoying as Andrea. "You'd better watch out for the sand monster, A.J.," my sister said. Sand monster? I never heard of a sand monster. "There's no such thing as a sand

今年夏天，我父母在海边租了一栋房子。 我们本来打算和我的堂兄弟们一起住的，但他们来不了。 这样我们就能拥有一所大的海滨别墅了！放学后的那天，我们收拾好行装，开了一百多英里去海边。 “我等不及要去海滩了，”我看着车窗说。 我不得不和我妹妹艾米坐在后排，她要上六年级了。 她很烦人，但没安德里亚那么烦人。 “你最好小心沙怪，aj，”我姐姐说。 砂怪兽吗?我从没听说过什么沙怪。 “根本就没有沙子这种东西

monster," I said. "Oh, yes there is," Amy told me. "He's a zombie who lives under the sand. He comes out when you least expect it. And he only eats boys." I bet Amy was yanking my chain. But I decided to keep my eyes open for man-eating zombie sand monsters just to be on the safe side.

怪物，”我说。“哦，有，”艾米告诉我。 “他是一个住在沙子下面的僵尸。 他会在你最意想不到的时候出现。 而且他只吃男孩。”我猜艾米肯定在耍我。 但为了安全起见，我还是决定密切关注吃人的僵尸沙怪。

We stopped at a Chinese restaurant because there wasn't any food at the beach house. Chinese food is cool because they give you chopsticks. So while you're waiting for the slowpoke grown-ups to finish eating, you can drum on the table or put the chopsticks in your nose and pretend to be a walrus. Finally, we reached the beach house. It was too late to go swimming, but my parents said I could check out the beach while they unpacked our stuff. The ocean smelled good. There was a sign on the boardwalk that said SAND CASTLE CONTEST THIS WEEK. Up in the sky, somebody was parasailing. Do you know what parasailing is? A parachute is strapped to your back, and a boat pulls you with a rope. Parasailing is cool. I'm gonna try it when I get bigger.

我们在一家中餐馆停了下来，因为海滨别墅里没有吃的。 中国菜很酷，因为他们给你筷子。 所以，当你在等待慢吞吞的大人们吃完东西的时候，你可以在桌子上敲鼓，或者把筷子放进鼻子里，假装自己是海象。 最后，我们到达了海滨别墅。 现在去游泳已经太晚了，但我父母说，在他们整理行李的时候，我可以去看看海滩。 大海闻起来很香。木板路上有一块牌子，上面写着本周沙堡竞赛。 在天空中，有人在滑伞。 你知道什么是滑翔伞吗？ 降落伞绑在你的背上，一条船用绳子拉着你。 滑翔伞很酷。等我长大了再试试。

The beach was almost empty, except for one thing—a backhoe. Do you know what a backhoe is? It's this yellow machine that digs up stuff. The backhoe was scooping up sand and dumping it onto a big pile. I went over to watch because machines are cool. A teenager was driving the backhoe. He had blond hair and a whistle around his neck. "Yo, dude!" he said as he turned off the motor. "My name is Evan, but everybody calls me Mr. Sunny. What's your name?" "My name is Arlo, but everybody calls me A.J.," I said. "What are you doing?" "Building a sand castle," Mr. Sunny said. "I'm gonna enter the contest." "It looks like a big pile of sand to me."

海滩上几乎空无一人，除了一样东西——一台挖土机。 你知道挖土机是什么吗？ 就是这个挖东西的黄色机器。 挖土机正在铲起沙子，把它堆成一大堆。 我过去看，因为机器很酷。 一个少年正在开挖土机。 他一头金发，脖子上挂着一个哨子。 “嘿，伙计！”他一边说一边关掉了马达。 “我叫埃文，但大家都叫我阳光先生。 你叫什么名字？”“我叫阿乐，但大家都叫我aj，”我说。 “你在干什么？”“建一座沙堡，”桑尼说。 “我要参加比赛。” “在我看来，它就像一大堆沙子。”

"Oh, wait until it's done, man," Mr. Sunny said. "Right now my castle is hidden within this sand, waiting to be born. Sand is my life, dude." Guys who say "man" and "dude" are cool. Mr. Sunny seemed pretty nice, even if he did like sand a little too much. "Is this your summer job?" I asked. "You build sand castles?" "No, dude," Mr. Sunny said. "I'm the

“哦，等它做完了再说，伙计，”桑尼说。 “现在，我的城堡隐藏在这片沙子里，等待着诞生。 沙子是我的生命，伙计。”说“man”和“dude”的男人很酷。 桑尼先生看起来很不错，尽管他确实有点太喜欢沙子了。 “这是你的暑期工作吗？”我问。 “你堆沙堡？”“不，老兄，”桑尼说。 “我是

lifeguard here. Will I see you out in the water tomorrow?" "You bet!" I said. "I'm a great swimmer." It was getting late. I said good-bye to Mr. Sunny and headed back to the beach house. "I have great news, A.J.!" my mom yelled from the porch. "I just got off the phone. One of your friends from school is going to be sharing the house with us!" "Yippee!" I said. "Who is it? Ryan? Michael? Neil?" "No," my mother replied. "It's Andrea Young." WHAT?????????!!!!!!!!!!!

救生员。明天我能在水里见到你吗？”“你赌!”我说。 “我游泳游得很好。”天色已晚。 我跟桑尼先生说了再见，回到了海滨别墅。 “我有个好消息，aj !”妈妈在门廊上喊道。 “我刚挂了电话。 你学校里的一个朋友要和我们一起住了！”“好啊! !”我说。 “是谁？”瑞安?迈克尔? 尼尔?”“不，”妈妈回答。 “我是安德里亚·杨。”什么 ?????????!!!!!!!!!!!