4 Current Events

CHAPTER 4 Current Events At school the next day, Mrs. Finkel announced that we were going to start a new unit. A current events unit. "Does anybody know what that is?" she asked. A bunch of people raised their hands, including Joshua. I couldn't see him, because I'm in the front row and he's behind me. Still, I knew his hand was up because he was saying, "Oooh oooh oooh," which is the sound he makes when he raises his hand and he really

第四章 时事新闻 第二天上学的时候，芬克尔老师宣布我们要开始学习一个新单元。 时事新闻单元。 “有人知道这是什么吗？” 她问道。 好多人都举起了手，约书亚也在其中。 我看不见他，因为我坐在前排，他在我后面。 不过我知道他举手了，因为他一直在“哦哦哦”地叫，每次他举手特别想让芬克尔老师点他的时候，都会发出这种声音。

REALLY wants Mrs. Finkel to pick him. One of Mrs. Finkel's Ground Rules is Raise Your Hand Quietly. It's posted on the board in the back. So she didn't pick him. "Yes, Clark?" she said. "Current events are the things that are going on in the world right now." "That is exactly right," Mrs. Finkel said. "And from now until the end of the year, two students each week will give us current events reports about what's going on right here, in Somers. Do anyone's parents get the newspaper?" Practically everyone's hand shot up. Joshua called out, "My mom does!" Mrs. Finkel put a finger to her lips and pointed to the list of Ground Rules. No Calling Out is also on the list. "Good," she said. "When it's your week, you should look at the local

特别特别想让芬克尔老师点他回答。 芬克尔老师的课堂守则里有一条是“举手要安静”。 这条守则贴在教室后面的公告板上。 所以她没点约书亚。 “好的，克拉克，你来说？” 她说。 “时事新闻就是现在世界上正在发生的事情。” “完全正确。”芬克尔老师说。 “从现在起到学期末，每周会有两名同学给大家做时事报告，讲讲咱们萨默斯本地最近发生的事。 有哪位同学的家长订报纸呀？ 几乎所有人都唰地举起了手。 约书亚喊出声：“我妈妈订了！” 芬克尔老师把一根手指放在嘴唇上，指了指课堂守则列表。 “不许随便喊出声”也在守则里。 “很好。”她说。 “轮到你们小组汇报的那周，你们要每天看本地

section every day, and also pay attention to the world around you. Your Thursday night homework will be writing up a summary of whatever it was that you thought was the most important thing to happen in Somers, and you'll also give a presentation to the class. Now I have everyone partnered up already—" She broke off, because Lucy was raising her hand, quietly like you're supposed to. "Yes, Lucy?" she asked. "Can we pick our partners?" Lucy asked. She probably wanted Talisa, because they're best friends. "No, I made the assignments randomly, and I randomly assigned each group to a week; that's the only way to keep this fair. So let me get my list." She bent back toward her desk and picked up a piece of paper.

版面，同时也要留心观察你身边的世界。 你们周四晚上的作业，就是写一篇摘要，讲讲你觉得这周萨默斯发生的最重要的事是什么，之后还要在班上做展示。 现在我已经给大家都分好组了——” 她突然停了下来，因为露西正举着手，守规矩地安安静静举着。 “怎么了，露西？” 她问。 “我们可以自己选搭档吗？” 露西问。 她大概率想和塔莉萨一组，因为她们是最好的朋友。 “不行，我是随机分配的小组，每组的汇报周也是随机安排的； 这样才能保证公平。 我拿一下名单哈。” 她转身俯在办公桌前，拿起了一张纸。

"Lucy, you're actually week one, this week, with Arielle." She was so lucky! She and Arielle were friends. Maybe not best friends, but still good friends. You could be made to be partners with someone way worse—someone like Joshua. Mrs. Finkel went on reading. Asher was with Clark for week two. Talisa and Spencer were week three. Evie—my best friend—got to be with Maddie for week four. Under my desk, so no one could see, I tapped my heels together three times. That's what I do when I need to make a wish. And here's what my wish was: I really, really wish I don't get partnered up with Joshua. Please, pretty please, with a Batts Confections candied cherry on top. NO JOSHUA! Up to week six, which meant twelve names had been called—because that's six times two.

“露西，你是第一周，就这周，和阿莉尔一组。” 她太幸运啦！ 她和阿莉尔是朋友。 可能算不上最好的朋友，但关系也很不错了。 不然你可能被分到和更糟的人当搭档——比如约书亚那种。 芬克尔老师接着念名单。 阿舍尔和克拉克分在第二周。 塔莉萨和斯宾塞是第三周。 埃维——我最好的朋友——第四周和麦迪一组。 我在桌子底下偷偷跟碰了三次脚跟，没人看见。 我需要许愿的时候就会这么做。 我的愿望是：我真的、真的不想和约书亚分到一组。 求求你了，求求你啦，就用巴茨糖果店的糖渍樱桃当谢礼。 千万不要是约书亚！ 念到第六周的时候，已经报了十二个名字了——因为一周两个人嘛，六乘以二。

Not mine yet, and also not Joshua's. We have twenty-two students in our class total. There were still ten students to go. "Okay, week seven," Mrs. Finkel said. "We have Stella—" Oh good, I thought. Lucky seven. And my next book would be my seventh book. So that meant I'd definitely get a good partner. And now there were nine kids left, and only one of them was Joshua. Who would it be.... "And Joshua," Mrs. Finkel finished. What? Oh NO! How could that be? It was the complete opposite of my wish, and I'd even clicked my heels together. "Ah, man, Smella!" Joshua said, calling out even though that's against the rules. Plus he was being mean, which isn't exactly against the rules, but it should be. "Joshua," Mrs. Finkel said in her warning

还没到我的名字，也没到约书亚的。 我们班总共有二十二个学生。 还剩十个同学没念到。 “好的，第七周。”芬克尔老师说。 “是斯特拉——” 哦太棒了，我心想。 幸运数字七呀。 而且我下一本书正好是我的第七本书。 这说明我肯定能分到个好搭档。 现在还剩九个孩子，其中只有一个是约书亚。 会是谁呢…… “和约书亚。”芬克尔老师念完了名字。 什么？ 哦不！ 怎么会这样？ 这和我的愿望完全相反啊，我都还碰了脚跟许愿了！ “啊，不是吧，臭斯特拉！” 约书亚喊出了声，明明这是违反规定的。 而且他还故意欺负人，这虽然没写进守则里，但本来就该算违规的。 “约书亚。”芬克尔老师用警告的