4. A Piece of Cake

4 A Piece of Cake

4小菜一碟

The next morning, we were in Mr. Cooper's class. "Turn to page twenty-three in your math books," he said. That's when an announcement came over the loudspeaker. "Will the third grade please report to the all-porpoise room?" "Not again!" groaned Mr. Cooper. "Okay, everybody pringle up." We all lined up like Pringles and walked a million hundred miles to the all-porpoise room, which should really have a different name because there are no dolphins in there. Our principal, Mr. Klutz, was waiting for us. He has no hair at all. I mean none. He must save a lot of money on haircuts and shampoo. He told us all to climb up on the stage.

第二天早上，我们上了库珀先生的课。 “把你们的数学课本翻到第二十三页，”他说。 就在这时，喇叭里传来了通告。 “请三年级的学生到海豚室报到好吗？”“又来了！”库珀先生呻吟道。 “好了，大家安静点。” 我们像品客薯片一样排着队，走了一百多英里来到海豚室，海豚室应该有个不同的名字，因为里面没有海豚。 我们的校长，克鲁茨先生，正在等我们。 他根本没有头发。我是说没有。 他一定在理发和洗头上省了不少钱。 他叫我们都爬上舞台。

"I'm so excited!" Mr. Klutz said. "It's time to choose which of you will represent Ella Mentry School in the Presidents' Day Challenge. Are you kids pumped?" "Yes!" shouted all the girls. "No!" shouted all the boys. "I'm going to ask you questions about the presidents," Mr. Klutz explained. "Blah blah blah blah. Whoever gets the most right will compete against Dirk School next week blah blah blah blah." Annoying Andrea was sitting in front of me. I heard her whisper to Emily. "I'm in the gifted and talented program," Andrea whispered. "This is going to be a piece of cake." What does cake have to do with anything? Andrea got the first question, of course. "Which president said 'it is easier to do a

“我太兴奋了！”克鲁茨说。 "现在是时候选出代表艾拉·门特瑞学校参加总统日挑战赛的人了。 你们兴奋吗？”“是的！”所有的女孩都喊道。 “不！”所有的男孩喊道。 “我要问你一些关于总统的问题，”克鲁茨解释说。 “废话连篇。谁答对了谁下周就和德克学校比赛，等等等等。” 烦人的安德里亚坐在我前面。 我听见她对爱米丽耳语。 “我在天才班，”安德里亚低声说。 “这将是小菜一碟。” 蛋糕和这事有什么关系？ 当然，Andrea回答了第一个问题。 “哪位总统说过‘更容易做

job right than to explain why you didn't'?" asked Mr. Klutz. I had no idea. "The answer is Martin Van Buren," Andrea said. "He was the eighth president of the United States." "That's right!" said Mr. Klutz. "Very good, Andrea. I can see you've been studying." Andrea smiled the smile she smiles to let everybody know she knows something nobody else knows. What is her problem? "Okay, A.J., it's your turn," said Mr. Klutz. "This is a tough one. Who was president when the first flush toilet was installed in the White House?" I knew that! "Millard Fillmore!" I shouted. "That's right!" said Mr. Klutz. "Very good, A.J. I see you've been studying too."

而不是解释你为什么没有做，”克鲁兹问道。 我不知道。“答案是马丁·范布伦，”安德里亚说。 “他是美国第八任总统。” “没错！”克鲁茨说。 “很好，安德烈。我看得出你一直在学习。” 安德里亚笑了，她笑是为了让大家知道她知道一些别人不知道的事情。 她有什么问题？“好了，aj，轮到你了，”克鲁茨说。 “这是一个棘手的问题。当第一个抽水马桶在白宫安装时，谁是总统？”我就知道！“米勒德·菲尔莫尔!”我叫道。 “没错！”克鲁茨说。 “很好，aj，我看你也一直在学习。”

I stuck my tongue out at Andrea. Next it was Ryan's turn. "Who was the third president of the United States?" asked Mr. Klutz. "John Adams?" guessed Ryan. "Incorrect," said Mr. Klutz. "Sorry, Ryan. Adams was the second president. The third president was Thomas Jefferson. Nice try, though." Ryan walked off the stage and took a seat in the front row. Next, it was Michael's turn. "Who was president when the Civil War started?" asked Mr. Klutz. "Andrew Jackson?" guessed Michael. "No, that's not it," said Mr. Klutz. "Sorry, Michael. The correct answer is Abraham Lincoln." Michael walked off the stage. It was Neil's turn.

我朝安德里亚伸出舌头。 接下来轮到瑞恩了。“谁是美国第三任总统？”克鲁茨问道。 “约翰·亚当斯？”瑞恩猜测。 “不正确，”克鲁茨说。 “对不起,瑞安。亚当斯是第二任总统。 第三任总统是托马斯·杰斐逊。 不过，你想得不错。”赖安走下舞台，在第一排坐了下来。 接下来，轮到迈克尔了。 “内战开始时谁是总统？”克鲁兹问道。 “安德鲁·杰克逊？”迈克尔猜测道。 “不，不是这样的，”克鲁茨说。 “对不起,迈克尔。正确答案是亚伯拉罕·林肯。” 迈克尔走下了舞台。 轮到尼尔了。