苗淑华

Anna and her brother Max were bored. Even though it was a nice summer day，they could not think of anything that they wanted to do. They did not want to watchany movies or read any books. They did not want to play in the yard or goswimming. They did not even want to go over another house to play with a friend.

安娜和她的哥哥马克斯很无聊。尽管这是一个美好的夏日，但他们想不出任何想做的事。他们不想看任何电影或阅读任何书籍，不想在院子里玩耍，也不想去游泳。他们甚至不想去别人家和朋友玩。

Anna and Max sat on their beds to think of things they could do to stop themfrom being bored. As they were thinking， Annas and Maxs mommy walked intothe room. She looked at the unhappy children， and asked，“Whats the matter withyou two？”

安娜和马克斯坐在床上思考着他们能做些什么，好让他们不再无聊。正当他们思考时，安娜和马克斯的妈妈走进了房间。她看着闷闷不乐的孩子们，问道：“你们俩怎么了？”

When Anna and Max explained their problem to her， she smiled and told themthat she knew lots of things that they could do.

当安娜和马克斯向她解释他们的问题时，她微笑着告诉他们，她知道他们可以做很多事。

First， she took them into the kitchen and told them they could help her makesandwiches. After putting bread， meat， and other food together， Anna and Max weredone with making one sandwich. When they showed their mommy the sandwich， shesaid， “Good. Now make forty more.”This took a long time， but they were happy tobe doing anything at all.

首先，她把他們带到厨房，告诉他们可以帮她做三明治。把面包、肉和其他食物放在一起后，安娜和马克斯就做好了一个三明治。当他们给妈妈看那个三明治时，她说：“好。现在再做40 个。”这花了很长时间，但他们很乐意做任何事。

One hour later， Anna and Max were finally done making sandwiches. They didnot even get to eat one before their mommy said， “Now help me put thesesandwiches into these paper bags.”

一小时后，安娜和马克斯终于做完了三明治。他们甚至还没来得及吃上一个，妈妈就说：“现在帮我把这些三明治装进纸袋里。”

After they were done in the kitchen， Anna and Max went in the car and theirmommy drove them to a place they had never been before.

在厨房里干完活后，安娜和马克斯上了车，妈妈开车带他们去了一个他们从来没去过的地方。

There were a lot of people there. Some of them were waiting in line， and otherswere standing behind a table serving1 food. The people who were waiting in linelooked like they had not eaten in a long time.

那里有很多人。他们中有些人在排队等候，另一些站在桌子后面分发食物。排队等候的人看起来好像很久没吃饭了。

Anna and Max and their mommy brought their sandwiches to the table andhelped pass2 them out to the people in line. Other people had brought things likesoup， bread， water， rice， apples and oranges.

安娜、马克斯和妈妈把三明治放到桌上，帮着把它们分发给排队的人。其他人带来了汤、面包、水、米饭、苹果和橙子等食物。

Once these people got their food， they smiled and looked happier. They saidthank you， and then went to the chairs to sit down and eat their food.

这些人一拿到食物就笑了，看起来更开心了。他们道谢之后走到椅子那坐下吃他们的食物。

When those people left a few hours later， Anna and Max stayed with theirmommy to help the other people clean up the place. By the time they got home， itwas already night. The whole day had passed by so quickly that Anna and Max hadnot even noticed.

几个小时后当这些人离开了，安娜和麦克斯待在妈妈身边帮其他人打扫。他们到家时，已经是晚上了。这一整天过得很快，安娜和马克斯甚至都没有意识到。

Their mommy told them that even if they were bored， they should be happy thatthey were not going to bed without food or water like many people in the world.Anna and Max were quiet， thinking about what it would be like to have to live likethat. They knew that they had been wrong in what they had thought before. They hadso many simple3 things in their life that they had never thought to be happy about.

妈妈告诉他们，即使他们很无聊，也应该很高兴他们不会像世界上许多人一样没吃没喝就上床睡觉。安娜和麦克斯沉默不语，想着不得不这样生活会是什么样子。他们知道自己以前的想法是错误的。生活中有很多简单的事情，他们从来没有想过为那些事感到开心。

Notes

1. serve 给……提供；端上；食物

2. pass 傳递；传送

3. simple 简单的；普通的；平凡的