9. Heat Race

HEAT RACE 9 Sam, Lucy, and Antonio raced toward the teachers' lounge. They were making good time. "Not much farther!" Sam called out. As they passed the principal's office, all three friends slipped at once. The floor had become one long sheet of ice. They slid the rest of the way there.

激烈的赛跑萨姆、露西和安东尼奥奔向教师休息室。 他们玩得很开心。 “不远了！”萨姆喊道。 当他们经过校长办公室时，三个朋友同时滑倒了。 地面已经变成了一大片冰。 剩下的路他们都滑过去了。

Sam got there first. He grabbed the teachers' lounge doorknob and pulled himself up. Lucy and Antonio were close behind. "We made it!" Sam said, smiling. "I cannot believe we're going in here!" Antonio said. "This is like a secret world!"

山姆先到的。他抓住教师休息室的门把手，爬了上去。 露茜和安东尼奥紧随其后。 “我们成功了！”山姆笑着说。 “真不敢相信我们要进去了！”安东尼奥说。 “这就像一个秘密的世界！”

They opened the door, and looked around. The teachers' lounge was dull. Nothing but newspapers and mugs and uneaten snacks. "Well this is disappointing," Lucy said. "This is the most boring secret world ever." But then the friends were disappointed for a different reason. They spotted the thermostat. It was trapped behind a wall of ice.

他们打开门，环顾四周。 教师休息室很沉闷。 除了报纸，马克杯和没吃过的零食什么都没有。 “唉，这真令人失望。”露茜说。 “这是有史以来最无聊的秘密世界。” 但后来朋友们又因为另一个原因感到失望。 他们发现了恒温器。 它被困在一堵冰墙后面。

"Oh no!" Lucy exclaimed. "Look how thick that ice is!" Antonio said. "And it's only here. Sam said, as he looked around the room. "Orson put this ice wall here, to stop us from touching the thermostat." Antonio pounded his fists against the ice, but it was useless. And no amount of salt would help. The ice was too thick. It would take two hundred forks and two hundred hammers to break through this, Sam thought. They could see the thermostat through the ice. It showed the current temperature: 18 degrees, and falling fast.

“哦,不!”露西喊道。“看那冰多厚啊！”安东尼奥说。 “而且只有在这里。山姆环视着房间说。 “奥森在这里放了一堵冰墙，防止我们碰恒温器。” 安东尼奥用拳头捶打冰面，但无济于事。 再多的盐也无济于事。 冰太厚了。山姆想，要把它凿开，得花上两百把叉子和两百把锤子。 他们可以透过冰看到恒温器。 它显示当前的温度：18度，而且下降得很快。

"There must be another way," Antonio said. "Look through Orson's notes again. Hurry!" Lucy quickly scrolled through Antonio's photos. Sam and Antonio peered over her shoulder. They read as fast as they could, looking for anything that might help. Antonio shouted, "There! The page about weather experiments!" Then Antonio read Orson Eerie's words aloud: "'My plan will work so long as no one finds the hidden switch.'" "A hidden switch!" said Sam.

“一定还有别的办法，”安东尼奥说。 再看一遍奥森的笔记。 快点!”露西迅速浏览了安东尼奥的照片。 萨姆和安东尼奥从她的肩膀上偷看着。 他们尽可能快地阅读，寻找任何可能有帮助的东西。 安东尼奥喊道：“瞧！关于天气实验的那一页！”然后安东尼奥大声朗读了奥森·怪诞的话：“只要没人发现隐藏的开关，我的计划就会奏效。“一个隐藏的开关！”萨姆说。

Suddenly, the walls trembled and swayed. The floor quaked. Antonio gulped. "I think we're on the right track." "Where could it be? We need to find that switch!" cried Sam. "Let's check the blueprints!" Lucy said. She pulled her binder from her backpack. I remember seeing something about a switch..."

突然，墙壁摇晃起来。 地板在震动。安东尼奥一饮而尽。 “我认为我们走在正确的道路上。” “它会在哪儿呢？”我们得找到那个开关！”萨姆叫道。 “我们来检查一下蓝图吧！”露西说。 她从背包里拿出活页夹。 我记得看到过一个开关……”