Couldn’t Save
美音、自然拼读、分级阅读与词汇复习
Mike McCarthy spent money as quickly as ice cream melts in July.
迈克·麦卡锡花的钱就像冰淇淋在7月融化一样快.
As quickly as Monday morning follows on the heels of Friday night.
就像周一早上跟在周五晚上的后面一样快
No matter how much money he started with, he had a hard time holding on to it for more than a few days.
无论他开始多少钱,他一直坚持了好几天多的苦心.
“Money burns a hole in your pocket,” Mike’s mom liked to say.
迈克的妈妈喜欢说,
“ A penny saved is a penny earned,” Mike’s dad liked to say even more.
Mike的爸爸更喜欢说,
Mike hated that saying.
迈克讨厌这个说法。
He objected to it each time.
他每次都反对
“Technically, that’s incorrect,” he told his dad.
“严格来说，那不正确，”他对爸爸说。
“Earning a penny is not the same thing as saving a penny.”
“吃一分钱与省一分钱不同。 “
“Well, it’s worth the same amount,” said his dad.
他的爸爸说,
“One cent,” said Mike.
“一分钱”,迈克说。
“You can’t buy anything with one cent anyway.”
你买不到一分钱的东西。 “
His little sister had no trouble saving money.
他的妹妹没有问题 储蓄。
Despite the fact that her allowance was half of his, somehow Aster had a savings account.
尽管她的津贴是他的一半 但不知何故阿斯特有一个储蓄账户
Somehow she’ d had it since kindergarten— Mike never had enough money to open one.
不知怎的,她从幼稚园开始就有了... 迈克从来没有足够钱打开一个。
That wasn’t all, though.
不过,
One May afternoon, Mike discovered that Aster had so much money in her savings account, she earned interest every month.
5月1日下午, 迈克发现阿斯特的储蓄账户里有这么多钱,她每个月都赚取利息.
Okay, so every savings account earns interest, but this wasn’t three or four cents a month.
每一个储蓄账户都赚取利息,
This was enough interest to buy herself a candy bar every month.
每月都买个糖果吧
That was twelve candy bars a year, courtesy of Great Plains Bank!
那是一年12个糖果棒,大平原银行的礼节!
“More like Great Pains,” Mike grumbled.
“更像大痛,”迈克抱怨道。
The really disgusting part was that although she could buy herself a candy bar each month, courtesy of Great Pains, Aster didn’t.
虽然她每个月都能买个糖果酒吧,
Oh, no.
哦,没有。
“I don’t get it,” Mike said.
“我不明白,”迈克说。
“It’s like Great Pains is paying you to eat candy bars.
“这就像伟大的痛苦在付钱给你吃糖条。
Why wouldn’t you do that?
为什么你们不这样做呢?
It’s like, an offer you can’t refuse.”
这就像一个你无法拒绝的提议。 “
Aster smiled sweetly—sweeter still because her two front teeth were missing.
因为两颗前牙不见了,
“I like to let the interest confound,” she said.
她说,“我愿意让利益陷入混乱。”
“I think you mean compound,” said Mike.
迈克说,“我认为你指的是复合物。”
He knew what compound meant.
他知道什么是复合体的意思。
It meant his kid sister was earning interest on both her money and the interest the bank paid her.
意思是他的妹妹在赚她的钱和银行给她的利息
It was all becoming her money.
这一切都是她的钱。
She was like a little sweetly smiling money machine, like a walking ATM with two missing front teeth.
她就像一个甜美的微笑钱机, 像一个步行的自动取款机, 两颗缺失的前牙。
Math Minute Interest is a percentage of the total saved.
数学分钟 利息是节省总额的一个百分比。
For instance: 1% of $500 (savings) is $5 (interest).
例如:500美元(节余)的1%为5美元(利息)。
If interest is paid yearly, you have $505 at the end of the first year.
如果每年支付利息,您可在第一年结束时领取505美元。
Compound interest is the money earned on the sum of the savings and the interest.
复利是储蓄和利息之和所得的钱.
So 1% of $505 is $5.
所以505的1%是5美元。
05, meaning you have $510.
05,意味着你有510美元。
05 at the end of the second year.
二年末为05分.
Since 1% of $510.
从510元的1%开始.
05 is $5.
05是5块.
10, how much money do you have at the end of the third year?
10,第三年末你有多少钱?.
Answer: $515.15.
答案：515.15 美元。
15 None of this would have mattered so much if Mike’s friend Derek hadn’t recently gotten a spy kit.
如果Mike的朋友德里克最近没有拿到间谍工具,
The kit had see-in-the-dark specs and Super Ears—whatever those were—and much, much more.
包里有暗处的镜像和超级耳像,无论它们是什么,还有更多。
Mike wanted one, too.
迈克也想要一个。
He might have asked for one for his eighth birthday—his parents might have gotten him one then.
他八岁生日时可能要一个 他的父母可能给他一个
Unfortunately, he didn’t know spy kits existed until a week after his birthday.
不幸的是,他生日一周后才知道有间谍包。
By that time, the best he could do was corral his unspent birthday money— twenty-five dollars from his grandparents.
到那时,他所能做的最好就是收起他未用过的生日钱——25美元来自他的祖父母。
The spy kit cost three times that.
间谍装备的价钱是三倍
His parents told him to save the twenty-five dollars and keep saving his allowances, too.
其父母劝他省出二十五钱,并不断省取津贴.
By Halloween, five months from now, he’ d have the other fifty dollars to buy the spy kit.
在5个月后的万圣节前,
Of course, saving was easier said than done for Mike.
当然,储蓄比迈克说得容易
It was Saturday, and Derek’s dad took them to the video arcade.
这是星期六, 德里克的爸爸带他们去视频街机。
Mike’s dad gave him five dollars to spend; Derek’s dad gave him ten dollars.
迈克的爸爸给了他五美元来花;德里克的爸爸给了他十美元.
Mike tried to pace himself.
迈克试图自己节奏。
For every two games of Skee-Ball that Derek played, Mike played one.
每两场德里克出场的斯基-贝尔一出,迈克出场一出.
For every super-duper pinball game that Derek chose, Mike chose the not-so-super one.
对于德克所选择的每一场超级多球弹球比赛,迈克都选择了非超级球.
But soon enough, his five dollars was gone.
但是不久,他的五块钱就不见了.
“Let’s team up on Carnival Carnage,” Derek said.
Derek说,
“I can’t defeat that crazy giant monster dude without your help.”
我无法打败那个疯狂的巨型怪物, “
“Okay,” said Mike, “but you’ll have to pay my half.”
“好吧,”迈克说:“但你必须支付我的一半。 “
Derek narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
德里克在怀疑中缩小了眼睛
“Didn’t you get some birthday money?”
“你没有得到一些生日钱吗? “
he asked.
他问。
Mike nodded.
迈克点头。
“Don’t tell me,” Derek said.
" 别告诉我, " 德里克说。
“You’re trying to save it.”
" 你试图挽救它。 “
“Right,” Mike said.
“对”,迈克说。
Derek studied him a moment.
德里克研究过他
“Okay,” he said then, and headed toward Carnival Carnage alone.
他说,“好吧,”然后独自前往狂欢节。
Mike ran after him.
迈克追上了他
“I can still save most of it,” he said.
他说,“我仍然可以挽救大部分。”
So Mike borrowed two dollars from Derek.
所以迈克向德里克借了两美元
He still had twenty-three dollars left.
他还剩23美元
The next day Mike’s family went to Jump and Bump.
第二天,迈克的家人去跳跃和跳跳。
Mike’s parents bought both kids the regular two-hour pass.
Mike的父母给两个孩子买了两小时的普通通行证。
Mike upgraded to the all-you-can-stand pop-and-popcorn package.
迈克升级为全能的流行和流行乐套装.
After that, he had eighteen dollars left.
之后他还剩18美元
And so it continued for the next three weeks until the original twenty-five dollars was all gone.
所以它持续了三个星期 直到25美元全没了
By that time, Derek had grown tired of his spy kit.
那时德里克已经厌倦了他的间谍装备.
He offered to sell it to Mike.
他提议把它卖给迈克
“I haven’t got any money,” Mike said.
“我没有钱,
“What about that twenty-five dollars you got for your birthday?”
“你生日那25美元呢? “
Derek asked.
德里克问道.
Mike hung his head.
迈克挂了头。
“It’s all gone,” he said.
他说,“一切都过去了。”
“Huh,” Derek said.
“Huh,”德里克说。
After that, Mike felt pretty down in the dumps.
在那之后,迈克在垃圾堆里感觉不错
He moped around the house for days.
他骑了好几天的摩托车
Then one afternoon, Aster came home with Mike’s favorite candy bar, jumbo size.
然后一个下午, Aster带着Mike最爱的糖果酒吧回家,
She unwrapped it in front of him.
她在他面前把它打开了
Now, Mike knew all about sisters.
现在,迈克知道所有关于姐妹。
He’ d heard stories—heck, he’ d seen his friends’ sisters in action.
他听到一些故事,
When most sisters sat down in front of you and unwrapped a jumbo-sized candy bar of your favorite variety, they weren’t sharing.
当大多数姐妹坐在你面前,
They were practicing a kind of mental torture.
他们正在练习一种精神折磨。
Aster wasn’t like other sisters, though.
Aster与其他姐妹不同,
She unwrapped the jumbo bar and broke off a jumbo chunk, which she handed over to Mike.
她打开了大通吧 打破了大通块 她交给了迈克
“Thought this might cheer you up,” she said.
她说,“认为这样会使你高兴”。
“What about your compound interest?”
“你的复合兴趣呢? “
Mike asked, his mouth already full of candy bar—delicious candy bar.
迈克问,他的嘴已经充满了糖果棒 -- 美味的糖果棒。
“This is tooth fairy money,” Aster said.
Aster说:“这是牙齿仙子的钱。”
“I like to save my savings.”
“我喜欢节省我的储蓄。 “
“I wish I could like doing that,” Mike said.
迈克说:“我希望我能这样做。”
“ At this rate, I’ll never get that spy kit.”
“...... 以这种方式,我永远得不到那个间谍工具箱。 “
Aster shrugged.
Aster 灌木丛.
“Maybe saving’s not your thing,” she said.
“也许储蓄不是你的事,”她说。
“Just figure out another way to buy your spy kit.”
“只要想出另一种方法来购买你的间谍工具箱。 “
Saving’s not my thing, Mike thought.
迈克认为,
Maybe I’ve got another thing.
或许我还有另外一件事。
I’ve got to find my other thing.
我必须找到另外一件东西。
I’m gonna find my thing!
我会找到我的东西!
He felt better already.
他感觉好多了