吹小號的天鵝 第33期:求學(xué)生涯(7)

"Sam, if a man can walk three miles in one hour, howmany miles can he walk in four hours?"

“薩姆，如果一個(gè)男人在一小時(shí)內(nèi)能走三英里的話，那么他四小時(shí)能走多少英里?”

"It would depend on how tired he got after the firsthour," replied Sam.

“這要看他走完第一小時(shí)后會有多累。”薩姆回答。

The other pupils roared. Miss Snug rapped for order.

其他的學(xué)生們哄笑起來。斯格納小姐大聲地叫大家安靜。

"Sam is quite right," she said. "I never looked at theproblem that way before.

“薩姆想的很對，”她說，“以前我從沒從這個(gè)角度想過這問題。

I always supposed that man could walk twelve miles in four hours,

我一直以為那個(gè)男人在四小時(shí)內(nèi)能走十二英里呢，

but Sam may be right: that man may not feel so spunky after the first hour.

可大概薩姆才是對的;那個(gè)男人在走完第一個(gè)小時(shí)后可能就不會那么精神十足了。

He may drag his feet. He may slow up."

他也許邁不開步了。他也許越走越慢了。”

Albert Bigelow raised his hand.

艾伯特·比奇洛舉起了他的手。

"My father knew a man who tried to walk twelve miles, and he died of heart failure," said Albert.

“我爸爸認(rèn)識一個(gè)試圖走十二英里的男人，他后來死于心力衰竭，”艾伯特說。

"Goodness!" said the teacher. "I suppose that could happen, too."

“上帝呀!”老師驚嘆，“我想這種事情也很可能發(fā)生。”

"Anything can happen in four hours," said Sam.

“四小時(shí)內(nèi)可以發(fā)生任何事，”薩姆說，

"A man might develop a blister on his heel.

“一個(gè)人的腳跟可能會磨出水泡。

Or he might find some berries growing along the road and stop to pick them.

或者他在路邊發(fā)現(xiàn)了一些漿果，干脆停下腳來去摘它們。

That would slow him up even if he wasn't tired or didn't have a blister."

如果這樣的話，即使他不累或是沒出水泡，他的速度也會慢下來的。”

"It would indeed," agreed the teacher.

“的確如此，”老師表示同意，

"Well, children, I think we have all learned a great deal about arithmetic this morning, thanks toSam Beaver.

“好了，孩子們，我想我們這個(gè)早上都學(xué)到了大量和數(shù)學(xué)有關(guān)的知識，謝謝薩姆·比弗。

And now, here is a problem for one of the girls in the room.

現(xiàn)在，這里有一個(gè)提給班上的一個(gè)女孩的問題。

If you are feeding a baby from a bottle,

如果用一個(gè)奶瓶喂一個(gè)嬰兒，

and you give the baby eight ounces of milk in one feeding,

一次喂他八盎司的牛奶，

how many ounces of milk would the baby drink in two feedings?"

那么兩次得喂這嬰兒多少盎司的牛奶?”

Linda Staples raised her hand."About fifteen ounces," she said.

琳達(dá)·斯特普爾斯舉起了手。“大約十五盎司。”她說。

"Why is that?" asked Miss Snug. "Why wouldn't the baby drink sixteen ounces?"

“為什么是十五盎司?”斯格納小姐問。“為什么這嬰兒不喝十六盎司?”

"Because he spills a little each time," said Linda.

“因?yàn)樗看味家獮⒁稽c(diǎn)兒，”琳達(dá)說，

"It runs out of the corners of his mouth and gets on his mother's apron."

“牛奶從他的嘴角流出后都滴到他媽媽的圍裙上了。”

By this time the class was howling so loudly the arithmetic lesson had to be abandoned.

這一次全班都哄堂大笑起來，數(shù)學(xué)課不得不暫時(shí)中止了。

But everyone had learned how careful you have to be when dealing with figures.

但每個(gè)人都明白了和數(shù)字打交道時(shí)你得多么小心。