4 An Important Life Skill

Chapter 4 An Important Life Skill Mother's Day was coming up on Sunday. Mrs. Lizzy said that for our first recess enrichment project we should make something for our mothers. "I'm going to cook my mom breakfast in bed," said Andrea. "How are you gonna do that?" I asked. "Do you have a stove in your bed?"

一项重要的生活技能星期天是母亲节。 丽兹太太说，在我们的第一个课间充实项目中，我们应该为妈妈们做点东西。 “我要在床上给妈妈做早餐，”安德里亚说。 “你要怎么做？”我问。 “你的床上有炉子吗？”

"No, Arlo!" Andrea said, rolling her eyes. "I'm going to make her breakfast on the stove and then bring it to her in bed." "Oh," I said. "That's different." "My mom loves to eat breakfast in her pajamas," Emily said. "She should put her breakfast on a plate," I told Emily. "Your mom is weird." Emily looked all mad, like she was going to start crying. As usual. "No, dumbhead!" Andrea said to me, rolling her eyes again. "Emily's mom doesn't put the breakfast in her pajamas! She eats it while she's wearing her pajamas!" I knew that. I just like yanking Andrea's and Emily's chains. "Mothers like it when you make them a gift for Mother's Day," Mrs. Lizzy told us. "Today I'm going to teach you how to make the perfect Mother's Day gift."

“不,奥尔罗!”安德烈说，翻白眼。 “我要在炉子上给她做早餐，然后送到她床上。” “哦，”我说。“那是不同的。” “我妈妈喜欢穿着睡衣吃早餐，”艾米丽说。 “她应该把早餐放在盘子里，”我告诉艾米丽。 “你妈妈很奇怪。”艾米丽看起来很生气，好像要哭了。 像往常一样。“不,笨蛋!”安德里亚对我说，又翻了个白眼。 “艾米丽的妈妈不把早餐放在睡衣里！”她穿着睡衣吃的！”我知道。 我就喜欢给安德里亚和艾米丽松绑。 “妈妈们喜欢你给她们做母亲节礼物，”丽齐太太告诉我们。 “今天我要教你们如何制作完美的母亲节礼物。”

"What's the perfect Mother's Day gift?" asked Ryan. "A balloon animal!" said Mrs. Lizzy. She pulled a long red balloon out of her pocket and blew it up. Then she tied the end and twisted the balloon every which way. It was really squeaky. The next thing we knew, the balloon animal was finished. "See?" Mrs. Lizzy said. "It's a little doggie! Here, I'll show you kids how to make one."

“什么是完美的母亲节礼物？”瑞恩问。 “气球动物！”丽萃太太说。 她从口袋里掏出一个长长的红气球，把它吹了起来。 然后她把气球的末端系好，把气球扭向各个方向。 它真的很吱吱作响。接下来我们知道的是，气球动物完成了。 “看到了吗?”丽萃太太说。“是一只小狗！”来，我给你们示范怎么做。”

Mrs. Lizzy's balloon dog was cool. It really looked like a dog. She pulled more balloons out of her pocket and gave one to each of us. "Is it really important for children to learn how to make balloon animals?" asked Andrea. "Maybe we should use the Recess Enrichment Program to improve our reading, writing, and math skills." "Can you possibly be more boring?" I asked Andrea. What is her problem? Reading, writing, and math are way overrated. And balloon animals are cool. "Think of it this way, Andrea," said Mrs. Lizzy. "When you grow up, you'll probably go on a job interview one day. What would happen if you were on a job interview and they asked you to make a balloon animal? If you had never learned how to do that as a

丽兹太太的气球狗很酷。 它看起来真的很像一只狗。 她从口袋里掏出更多的气球，给了我们每人一个。 “孩子们学习如何制作气球动物真的很重要吗？”安德里亚问道。 “也许我们应该利用课间充实计划来提高我们的阅读、写作和数学技能。” “你还能再无聊一点吗？”我问安德烈。 她有什么问题？阅读、写作和数学被高估了。 气球动物很酷。 “你这样想吧，安德烈，”丽萃太太说。 “当你长大后，你可能有一天会去面试。 如果你在一个工作面试中，他们让你做一个气球动物，你会怎么做？ 如果你从来没学过怎么做

child, you wouldn't get the job. That would be a shame. Unemployment is a big problem in our country. That's why it's so important for kids to learn how to make balloon animals." Yeah! In her face! I love it when Andrea's wrong. "And imagine if all the bad people in the world made balloon animals instead of committing crimes and hurting people," Mrs. Lizzy told us. "The world would be a much better place, don't you think?" Mrs. Lizzy made sense. I liked her a lot. She also made great balloon animals. We all blew up our balloons and twisted them every which way. "I worked my way through college by making balloon animals," Mrs. Lizzie told us. "I graduated with a degree in balloon animal construction."

孩子，你得不到那份工作。 那将是一个耻辱。失业是我国的一个大问题。 这就是为什么让孩子们学习如何制作气球动物是如此重要。” 是啊!在她脸上！我喜欢安德里亚错的时候。 “想象一下，如果世界上所有的坏人都制作气球动物，而不是犯罪和伤害别人，”丽兹太太告诉我们。 “这个世界会变得更好，你不觉得吗？”丽萃太太说得通。 我很喜欢她。她还做了很棒的气球动物。 我们都吹起了气球，把它们扭来扭去。 “我是靠制作动物气球挣钱读完大学的，”丽齐太太告诉我们。 “我毕业时获得了气球动物制作专业的学位。”

"College must have been a lot cheaper in those days," I said. Some kids from the other classes gathered around to watch us make balloon animals. It was cool. Maybe the Recess Enrichment Program wasn't such a bad idea after all.

“那时候上大学肯定便宜多了，”我说。 其他班的一些孩子围过来看我们制作气球动物。 很酷。也许课间充实计划并不是一个坏主意。