2 February

2 February Everybody was sad that Dr. Carbles canceled summer vacation, spring break, and all the other holidays. The teachers were upset, too, because if we have to go to school, they have to go to school. "This is the worst thing to happen since TV Turnoff Week," I said.

2月2日每个人都很难过。 Carbles取消了暑假、春假和所有其他假期。 老师们也很难过，因为如果我们必须去上学，他们也必须去上学。 “这是自电视关机周以来发生的最糟糕的事情，”我说。

"I can't survive without summer vacation," said Michael, who never ties his shoes. "It's not fair," said Ryan, who will eat anything, even stuff that isn't food. "This is terrible," said Andrea Young, this annoying girl with curly brown hair. "I agree," said Emily, who always agrees with Andrea. "We need to do something," said Alexia, this girl who rides a skateboard all the time. "What can we do?" asked Neil, who we call the nude kid even though he wears clothes. There was nothing we could do. The president of the Board of Education is like the king of the world. Everybody was upset. For a few weeks, we were all walking around in a daze, like zombies. Mrs. Stoker tried to tell jokes to cheer us up, but that only made things worse. We all needed a vacation badly. Then came the first Friday in February. We were in the media center. It used to be called the library, but they changed the name. Nobody knows why. Mrs. Roopy, our media specialist—who used to be

“没有暑假我就活不下去了，”从不系鞋带的迈克尔说。 “这不公平，”瑞安说，他什么都吃，甚至不是食物的东西。 “这太可怕了，”安德里亚·杨（Andrea Young）说，她是一个令人讨厌的棕色卷发女孩。 “我同意，”艾米丽说，她总是同意安德里亚的观点。 “我们需要做点什么，”一直玩滑板的女孩亚历克西娅（Alexia）说。 “我们能做什么？”尼尔问道，尽管他穿着衣服，我们还是称他为裸体孩子。 我们什么也做不了。 教育委员会主席就像世界之王。 每个人都很沮丧。几个星期以来，我们都像僵尸一样发呆地走来走去。 斯托克太太想讲笑话使我们高兴起来，但那只会使事情变得更糟。 我们都非常需要一个假期。 然后是二月的第一个星期五。 我们当时在媒体中心。 它以前叫图书馆，但他们改了名字。 没人知道为什么。鲁比夫人，我们的媒体专家，她以前是

called a "librarian"—read us a story. When she finished, she said we could take five minutes to get a drink of water. Smarty-pants Andrea took out her smartphone. She's the only kid in our class who has one, of course. She's always looking stuff up so she can know things that nobody else knows. What is her problem? "Hmmm," Andrea said. "Did you know that January twentieth was Penguin Awareness Day?" "What's Penguin Awareness Day?" asked Neil. "Penguin Awareness Day," Andrea read off her screen, "is a day for us to appreciate penguins. The number of penguins is getting smaller, so we need to protect their habitats." "That's a holiday?" asked Ryan. "Sure," said Andrea. "It's on the internet, so it must be true." "I love penguins," I told Andrea, "but Penguin Awareness Day is a lame holiday."

叫一个“图书管理员”——给我们读个故事。 当她完成后，她说我们可以花五分钟喝点水。 自作聪明的安德里亚拿出她的智能手机。 当然，她是我们班唯一一个有手机的孩子。 她总是在查资料，这样她就能知道别人不知道的事情。 她有什么问题？“嗯，”安德烈说。 “你知道1月20日是企鹅意识日吗？”“什么是企鹅意识日？”尼尔问。 “企鹅意识日，”安德里亚在屏幕上读到，“是我们欣赏企鹅的一天。 企鹅的数量越来越少，所以我们需要保护它们的栖息地。” “那是假日？”瑞恩问。 “当然，”安德烈说。“网上都有，所以肯定是真的。” “我喜欢企鹅，”我告诉安德里亚，“但企鹅意识日是个蹩脚的节日。”

"It is not," she replied. "The penguins need our help." "Is too." "Is not." We went back and forth like that for a while. "Ooooooh!" said Ryan. "A.J. and Andrea are arguing about Penguin Awareness Day. They must

“不是的，”她回答。“企鹅需要我们的帮助。” “太”。“不是。”我们这样来来回回聊了一会儿。 “哦哦！”瑞恩说。“A.J. 和安德里亚正在讨论企鹅意识日。 他们必须

be in LOVE!" "When are you gonna get married?" asked Michael. I was going to say something mean, but I didn't have the chance because Mrs. Roopy came rushing over to us. "What were you kids just talking about?" she asked. "We missed Penguin Awareness Day," said Andrea. "It was on January twentieth." "But it's not a real holiday," I said. "Is Penguin Awareness Day a real holiday, Mrs. Roopy?" asked Ryan. We all looked at Mrs. Roopy. She had on her wrinkly accordion face, which is what grown-ups get when they're thinking. Their forehead gets all wrinkly, like an accordion. But suddenly, she broke out in a big smile and got a wild look in her eyes. "Who cares whether or not Penguin Awareness Day is a real holiday?" said Mrs. Roopy. "That gives me an idea!" She rushed over to a computer. She googled "What holiday takes place on the first Friday in February?"

坠入爱河吧！”“你打算什么时候结婚？”迈克尔问。 我本来想说些刻薄的话，但是我没有机会，因为鲁比太太向我们冲了过来。 “你们这些孩子刚才在说什么？”她问。 “我们错过了企鹅意识日，”安德里亚说。 “是在1月20日。” “但这不是一个真正的节日，”我说。 “鲁比太太，企鹅意识日是一个真正的节日吗？”瑞恩问。 我们都看着鲁比太太。 她那张皱巴巴的手风琴脸，是成年人在思考时的表情。 他们的额头皱得像手风琴。 但突然间，她露出了灿烂的笑容，眼里露出狂野的神情。 “谁在乎企鹅意识日是不是一个真正的节日？”鲁比太太说。 “这给了我一个主意！”她冲到一台电脑前。 她在谷歌上搜索“二月的第一个星期五是什么节日？”

"National Bubble Gum Day," it said on the screen. "Today is National Bubble Gum Day!" Mrs. Roopy shouted excitedly. "That's a holiday?" asked Ryan. "Yes!" said Mrs. Roopy. "It says here that National Bubble Gum Day started in 2006. It's celebrated in schools, libraries, and museums. We should celebrate it here at Ella Mentry School!" "YAY!" everybody shouted, which is also "YAY" backward. We're not allowed to chew gum in school. But Mrs. Roopy ran out of the media center, and when she came back a few minutes later, she had a bag full of bubble gum. She gave out pieces to everybody. It was the greatest day of my life. "Happy National Bubble Gum Day!" Mrs. Roopy said while we were blowing bubbles. "Let's research bubble gum!" Ugh. Not research! Mrs. Roopy had us sit at the computers and look up stuff about bubble gum. We learned about the history of bubble gum, how it's made, what's in it, and all kinds of other stuff that we didn't know.

“全国泡泡糖日，”屏幕上写着。 “今天是全国泡泡糖日！”鲁比太太兴奋地喊道。 “那是假日？”瑞恩问。 “是的！”鲁比太太说。“这里说国家泡泡糖日始于2006年。 学校、图书馆和博物馆都会庆祝这个节日。 我们应该在艾拉门特瑞学校庆祝！”“耶！”每个人都喊，这也是“耶”的反向。 我们不允许在学校嚼口香糖。 但是鲁比太太跑出了媒体中心，几分钟后她回来的时候，她拿了满满一袋泡泡糖。 她给每个人发纸片。 那是我一生中最美好的一天。 “全国泡泡糖日快乐！”我们吹泡泡的时候，鲁比太太说。 “我们来研究泡泡糖吧！”啊。 不研究!鲁比太太让我们坐在电脑前查找有关泡泡糖的资料。 我们了解了泡泡糖的历史，它是如何制作的，里面有什么，以及其他我们不知道的东西。