Constitution
美音、自然拼读、分级阅读与词汇复习
Independence Hall Philadelphia, 1786 None of the creatures in Independence Hall were able to sleep.
独立堂费城, 1786年独立会堂内的生物都没有能入睡.
Every night, the mice in the basement tumbled through the spiders’ webs.
每天晚上,地下室的老鼠会从蜘蛛的网上掉出。
The spiders pursued the mice, screaming at the top of their lungs.
蜘蛛追着老鼠,在肺顶部尖叫.
The crickets in the closets kept everyone awake with their all-night chirping.
衣柜里的板球让每个人用通宵的叫声保持了清醒.
Early in the morning, the pigeons in the clock tower started singing.
清晨,钟楼内的鸽子开始唱歌.
They woke up anyone who managed to catch even a few moments of sleep.
他们唤醒了任何能睡上几会的人
All the animals were exhausted and miserable.
所有的动物都精疲力竭 痛苦不堪
Maddy was sick and tired of being exhausted and miserable.
马蒂厌倦了疲惫和痛苦
She had the largest ears of any mouse in Independence Hall—and she heard everything.
她的耳朵是独立大厅里的老鼠最大的——她什么都听到了。
The nights were becoming noisier, and she was concerned that no one would ever have a good night’s sleep.
她担心没有人会睡个好觉。
One morning, she heard humans discussing something that sounded important.
一天早晨,她听到人类在讨论一些听起来很重要的事情.
Maddy sneaked into the room and listened as they argued about their new nation’s constitution.
Maddy偷偷进入房间,
They needed some rules that everyone in the country would follow.
他们需要国内每个人都会遵守的一些规则。
The rules would bring the separate parts of the country together.
这些规则将使国家的各个部分走到一起。
Maddy thought a constitution was an excellent idea, so she organized a meeting of all the creatures.
麦蒂认为宪法是一个极好的想法,于是她组织了由所有生物组成的会议.
Every single creature came, from the spiders in the basement to the pigeons in the clock tower.
每一个生物都来了,从地下室的蜘蛛到钟楼的鸽子.
There were so many animals packed together around the bell in the clock tower that they could barely move.
钟楼的钟周围聚集了这么多动物,几乎无法移动.
“Thank you for coming, everybody,” Maddy said.
Maddy说:“感谢你们前来,
“The humans have a great idea; they are writing a constitution.
“人类有一个伟大的想法;他们正在写一部宪法。
We should have our own constitution.”
我们应该有自己的宪法。 “
“What’s a constitution?”
“什么是宪法? “
asked a pigeon.
问鸽子。
“It’s a document that explains rules that we all live by,” Maddy said.
Maddy说:“这是一份解释我们共同生活的规则的文件,
“We don’t need any rules,” said one of the spiders.
我们不需要任何规则,
“When was the last time any of you slept all night?”
“你们最后一次整晚睡觉是什么时候? “
Maddy replied.
麦蒂回答。
“The crickets keep everyone awake,” one mouse snapped.
“板球让每个人保持清醒”,一只老鼠被撞倒了。
“Boo, crickets!”
"嘿,板球们!"
yelled a pigeon.
骂一鸽子.
“If I hear those crickets chirping one more time—“ “The pigeons wake everyone up so early.
" 如果我再听到这些板球鸣叫一次... " “鸽子这么早就叫醒所有人。
It’s their fault,” a cricket chirped.
这是他们的错,
“The crickets and pigeons are awful,” said a spider, “but the mice are the worst!
一只蜘蛛说:“板球和鸽子很可怕,
They keep knocking down our webs.”
他们不停地打倒我们的网络。 “
“We can’t even see your webs,” a mouse retorted.
「我们甚至看不到你的网,
The pigeons flapped their wings, the crickets chirped, the mice squeaked, and the spiders whined.
鸽子挥出翅膀来,板球鸣起,老鼠叫起,蜘蛛叫起.
There was such a commotion that no one could hear a single word anyone was saying.
发生了这样一场骚动,没有人能听到任何人在说的一个词。
The animals continued arguing until the bell in the clock tower began to ring: Ding, dong, ding, dong!
动物们继续争吵,直到钟楼的钟声开始响起: 小叮当,小叮当,小叮当!
Maddy covered her large ears and examined the hundreds of animals crammed in the room.
Maddy覆盖了她的大耳朵,检查了房间里挤满了数百只动物.
Exhausted and grumpy from lack of sleep, they weren’t achieving anything.
他们因睡眠不足而疲惫和暴躁,
Maddy remembered that the humans she saw in their meeting were representing the different states.
Maddy记得,她在会见中见到的人类代表不同的州.
It would be impossible for everyone who lived in the country to meet in one room.
住在这个国家的每个人都不可能在一个房间里相会。
After the last bell chimed, Maddy said to the group, “Listen up!
在最后一个铃声响起后,麦蒂对小组说,“听着!
We all want to sleep, so we need to work together.”
我们都想睡觉,所以我们需要合作。 “
“That’s what we’re doing,” called a spider.
“这就是我们正在做的,”叫做蜘蛛。
“We can’t meet together in one room because there are too many of us,” Maddy said.
Maddy说:“我们不能在一个房间里相会,
“Go back to where you live and choose five creatures to represent your group.
“回到你生活的地方,选择五个生物代表你的团体。
The creatures you choose will present your concerns and problems at a meeting tomorrow.
你所选择的生物会在明天的会议上提出你的关切和问题.
The representatives will then vote on what the new rules will be.”
然后,代表们将就新的规则进行表决。 “
“Maddy’s right,” said one of the other mice.
" Maddy说得对, " 另一只老鼠说:
“We’re not accomplishing anything.”
“我们没有完成任何事情。 “
The groups returned to where they lived to figure out who would best represent their group.
这些团体回到他们居住的地方,以确定谁最能代表他们的团体。
They decided to take votes so every creature would have a say.
他们决定投票 让每个生物都有发言权
The elections lasted until late in the evening.
选举一直持续到晚间.
The next day, the creatures representing each group met around the bell in the clock tower.
次日,代表各组的生物在钟楼周围相会.
Everyone listened to each group’s issues.
每个人都听取了每个小组的问题。
When the groups started arguing, Maddy calmed them down and reminded them to work together.
当各团体开始争吵时,麦蒂让他们冷静下来并提醒他们一起工作.
Each group then suggested rules that would allow the creatures to sleep.
然后每组都建议了允许生物入睡的规则.
The creatures spent almost as much time as the humans did coming up with their rules and voting on them.
生物们花费的时间 几乎和人类一样多 制定规则并投票给他们
In the end, they came up with rules that everyone could agree on.
最后,他们提出了大家都可以同意的规则.
In September of 1786, the creatures signed their constitution.
1786年9月,生物们签署了他们的宪法.
Maddy had listened to all the creatures and had convinced them to all work together.
Maddy听了所有的生物 说服他们一起工作
Since she was such an amazing listener, the creatures asked Maddy to be their leader.
由于她是一个如此惊人的听众,生物们要求麦蒂成为他们的领袖.
Whenever the groups had a problem, they would bring it to Maddy and the representatives.
只要各集团有问题,他们就会把它交给麦蒂和代表们。
The night they signed their constitution, the creatures in Independence Hall fell asleep happy.
在他们签署宪法的当晚,独立会堂的生物们欢快地入睡.
For the first time in as long as they could remember, they all had a good night’s sleep.
他们都睡了好觉。