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"Sam, if a man can walk three miles in one hour, how many miles can he walk in four hours?"
“萨姆，如果一个男人在一小时内能走三英里的话，那么他四小时能走多少英里？”
"It would depend on how tired he got after the first hour," replied Sam.
“这要看他走完第一小时后会有多累。”萨姆回答。
The other pupils roared. Miss Snug rapped for order.
其他的学生们哄笑起来。斯格纳小姐大声地叫大家安静。
"Sam is quite right," she said. "I never looked at the problem that way before.
“萨姆想的很对，”她说，“以前我从没从这个角度想过这问题。
I always supposed that man could walk twelve miles in four hours,
我一直以为那个男人在四小时内能走十二英里呢，
but Sam may be right: that man may not feel so spunky after the first hour.
可大概萨姆才是对的；那个男人在走完第一个小时后可能就不会那么精神十足了。
He may drag his feet. He may slow up."
他也许迈不开步了。他也许越走越慢了。”
Albert Bigelow raised his hand.
艾伯特·比奇洛举起了他的手。
"My father knew a man who tried to walk twelve miles, and he died of heart failure," said Albert.
“我爸爸认识一个试图走十二英里的男人，他后来死于心力衰竭，”艾伯特说。
"Goodness!" said the teacher. "I suppose that could happen, too."
“上帝呀！”老师惊叹，“我想这种事情也很可能发生。”
"Anything can happen in four hours," said Sam.
“四小时内可以发生任何事，”萨姆说，
"A man might develop a blister on his heel.
“一个人的脚跟可能会磨出水泡。
Or he might find some berries growing along the road and stop to pick them.
或者他在路边发现了一些浆果，干脆停下脚来去摘它们。
That would slow him up even if he wasn't tired or didn't have a blister."
如果这样的话，即使他不累或是没出水泡，他的速度也会慢下来的。”
"It would indeed," agreed the teacher.
“的确如此，”老师表示同意，
"Well, children, I think we have all learned a great deal about arithmetic this morning, thanks to Sam Beaver.
“好了，孩子们，我想我们这个早上都学到了大量和数学有关的知识，谢谢萨姆·比弗。
And now, here is a problem for one of the girls in the room.
现在，这里有一个提给班上的一个女孩的问题。
If you are feeding a baby from a bottle,
如果用一个奶瓶喂一个婴儿，
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?"
那么两次得喂这婴儿多少盎司的牛奶？”
Linda Staples raised her hand."About fifteen ounces," she said.
琳达·斯特普尔斯举起了手。“大约十五盎司。”她说。
"Why is that?" asked Miss Snug. "Why wouldn't the baby drink sixteen ounces?"
“为什么是十五盎司？”斯格纳小姐问。“为什么这婴儿不喝十六盎司？”
"Because he spills a little each time," said Linda.
“因为他每次都要弄洒一点儿，”琳达说，
"It runs out of the corners of his mouth and gets on his mother's apron."
“牛奶从他的嘴角流出后都滴到他妈妈的围裙上了。”
By this time the class was howling so loudly the arithmetic lesson had to be abandoned.
这一次全班都哄堂大笑起来，数学课不得不暂时中止了。
But everyone had learned how careful you have to be when dealing with figures.
但每个人都明白了和数字打交道时你得多么小心。
