040 最棒的假期

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" I'm going to miss you, Brenda," Leah said on the last day of school

“我会想你的，布兰达，”莉亚在学期最后一天说。

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" I'll call you when I get back from New York," Brenda promised

“我从纽约回来就给你打电话，”布兰达保证道。

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" Where is your family going for summer vacation, Leah?" asked Kylie

“你们家暑假要去哪里，莉亚？”凯莉问。

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" I don't know yet," Leah admitted." But I hope it's somewhere awesome."

“我还不知道呢，”莉亚承认道，“但我希望是个很棒的地方。”

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That evening Leah asked her mother about their family's vacation plans

那天晚上，莉亚问妈妈家里的度假计划。

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" Actually your dad and I were going to discuss that with you and Paul tonight," Mom said

“其实我和你爸爸打算今晚跟你和保罗一起商量这件事，”妈妈说。

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" Is it a surprise?" Leah asked excitedly

“是个惊喜吗？”莉亚兴奋地问。

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" Yes," Mom answered mysteriously." It's somewhere both new and familiar."

“是的，”妈妈神秘地回答，“是一个既新鲜又熟悉的地方。”

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" Hmm," Leah thought curiously." Where could it be?"

“嗯，”莉亚好奇地想，“会是哪里呢？”

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Leah was definitely looking forward to her family's trip this year

莉亚的确很期待今年全家的旅行。

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A year earlier an unexpected hardship had occurred

一年前，一件意想不到的困境发生了。

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" My company decided to lay off workers," Leah's dad had told them one night at dinner

“我公司决定裁员了，”一天晚上吃饭时，莉亚的爸爸告诉他们。

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" What does ' lay off ' mean?" Leah asked

“裁员是什么意思？”莉亚问道。

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" It means they are cutting jobs, including mine," he informed her sadly

“就是说他们在削减职位，包括我的，”他难过地告诉她。

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" I'll find another job, but it might take some time."

“我会再找份工作，但这可能需要一些时间。”

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Months had passed before Dad found another job

几个月过去后，爸爸才找到另一份工作。

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He was relieved to be working again, but his new salary was much lower than his old salary

再次有工作让他松了一口气，但他的新薪水比原来低了很多。

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That meant everyone in the family still had to make sacrifices

这意味着家里的每个人都还得做出牺牲。

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Leah had to give up taking art classes

莉亚不得不放弃上美术课。

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" When our finances improve, you can resume your art lessons," Dad promised

“等我们家经济情况好转了，你就可以重新上美术课了，”爸爸承诺道。

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That night the family sat down together

那天晚上，一家人围坐在一起。

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" We've been considering where to go this year," Dad began

“我们一直在考虑今年去哪儿，”爸爸开口说道。

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" We want to go somewhere to relax and enjoy time together as a family," added Mom

“我们想去一个能放松身心、享受家庭时光的地方，”妈妈补充道。

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" And finally we thought of the best place to do that."

“最后我们想到了一个最完美的地方。”

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" Where is it?" Leah blurted out

“是哪里？”莉亚脱口而出。

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Her parents exchanged glances." At home!" they said in unison

父母交换了一个眼神。“就在家里！”他们异口同声地说。

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Paul and Leah were stunned." Are you kidding?" Paul asked

保罗和莉亚目瞪口呆。“你们在开玩笑吧？”保罗问道。

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Mom and Dad shook their heads." We're perfectly serious," said Mom

爸爸妈妈摇了摇头。“我们是绝对认真的，”妈妈说。

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" We're not going to Disneyland? Or Vancouver?" Leah asked in dismay

“我们不去迪士尼乐园了吗？也不去温哥华了？”莉亚沮丧地问。

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" You don't have to travel to an exotic destination to enjoy a vacation," Mom said cheerfully

“不一定非要去很远的地方才能享受假期呀，”妈妈愉快地说。

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" But all my friends are traveling somewhere!" Leah choked back her tears." Brenda is going to New York!"

“可是我的朋友们都要去旅行！”莉亚忍住眼泪。“布伦达要去纽约！”

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Her parents seemed unconcerned

她的父母显得毫不在意。

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" Our vacation is for three days." Dad opened a notebook

“我们的假期是三天。”爸爸打开一个笔记本。

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" And during our vacation, there are some essential rules

“假期期间，有一些基本规则。

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Rule number one: No television, Internet, or telephone."

第一条：禁止电视、网络和电话。”

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" What?" shouted Paul

“什么？”保罗喊道。

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" Rule number two," Dad said." Each of us takes a turn preparing a meal."

“规则二，”爸爸说，“我们每人轮流做一顿饭。”

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" But that's Mom's job," Leah protested

“可那是妈妈的活儿，”莉亚抗议道。

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" I want a vacation too," Mom stated

“我也要休假，”妈妈说道。

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" And rule number three: We spend most of our time together. We are not to isolate ourselves."

“规则三：我们大部分时间要待在一起，不许独自躲开。”

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" Ugh." Leah groaned. This was going to be the strangest — and worst — family vacation ever

“唉。”莉亚呻吟着。这将会是最奇怪——也是最糟糕——的家庭假期了。

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On the first day of vacation, Leah and Paul were in the family room

假期第一天，莉亚和保罗待在家庭活动室里。

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Leah had found some books to read

莉亚找了几本书来看。

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Paul was looking for something." Where's the remote?" he called

保罗在找东西。“遥控器在哪儿？”他喊道。

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" Rule number one, Paul," Dad reminded him

“第一条规则，保罗，”爸爸提醒他。

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" No television." He held up a box." How about working on this with me?"

“不许看电视。”他举起一个盒子。“和我一起做这个怎么样？”

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" What is it?" asked Paul

“这是什么？”保罗问。

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" A model airplane," said Dad

“一个飞机模型，”爸爸说。

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Paul shrugged." Sure."

保罗耸了耸肩。“好啊。”

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Mom sat down next to Leah." Can I keep you company?"

妈妈在莉亚身边坐下。“我能陪陪你吗？”

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" Okay." Leah looked up from her book as her mother started working on something at the table." What's that, Mom?"

"好的。" 莉亚从书本上抬起头，看见妈妈开始在桌上忙活着什么。"那是什么，妈妈？"

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" A jigsaw puzzle. And I could definitely use your help."

"一个拼图游戏。我真的很需要你的帮忙。"

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Mom moved over to make room for Leah, and the two of them worked on the puzzle for awhile

妈妈挪了挪位置给莉亚腾出地方，然后她们俩一起拼了一会儿拼图。

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That night Dad prepared dinner

那天晚上，爸爸准备了晚餐。

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" I hope he doesn't burn the kitchen down!" whispered Mom to Leah and Paul

"我希望他别把厨房给烧了！" 妈妈小声对莉亚和保罗说。

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" I hope whatever he makes is edible!" Leah said with a giggle

"我希望不管他做什么，都能吃就行！" 莉亚咯咯地笑着说。

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" Hey! No insulting the chef!" Dad shouted from the kitchen

"嘿！不许说厨师的坏话！" 爸爸在厨房里喊道。

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Everyone sat down and looked at the food

大家都坐下来，看着食物。

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" Just try it. You're going to love it!" Dad said

"尝尝看。你们会喜欢的！" 爸爸说。

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Leah wasn't sure what it was, but she sampled the meal anyway." Actually this is pretty good, Dad."

莉亚不确定这是什么，但她还是尝了一口。"其实这还挺好吃的，爸爸。"

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After dinner the family looked at some old photos

晚饭后一家人看了一些老照片。

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Soon everyone was trading memories about when Leah and Paul were younger

很快大家开始分享莉亚和保罗小时候的回忆。

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" Oh, I remember this picture," said Mom." That was Paul's first bicycle."

“哦，我记得这张照片，”妈妈说，“那是保罗的第一辆自行车。”

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" Hey, I remember that bike. What happened to it?" Paul asked

“嘿，我记得那辆自行车。它后来怎么样了？”保罗问。

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The next morning Leah saw that Paul was up early

第二天早上，莉亚看到保罗起得很早。

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" I'm reporting for chef duty," Paul said

“我来执行厨师职责。”保罗说。

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" What are you making for breakfast, Paul?" Mom wanted to know

“你早餐做什么呢，保罗？”妈妈想知道。

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" The only thing I know how to make," said Paul

“我只会做一样东西。”保罗说。

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" Hot dogs? For breakfast?" Leah burst out." That sounds absolutely delicious!"

“热狗？早餐吃？”莉亚脱口而出，“听起来太好吃了！”

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Later that day Leah and Paul listened to some music together

那天晚些时候，莉亚和保罗一起听了一些音乐。

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And before bedtime, the family played a board game together

睡觉前，一家人一起玩了一个棋盘游戏。

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It was Leah and Dad versus Paul and Mom

是莉亚和爸爸对战保罗和妈妈。

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Soon Leah landed on the history category

很快莉亚走到了历史类别。

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" Name the young Macedonian leader who conquered Persia at the age of 25," Paul read aloud." You can't help her, Dad!"

“说出那位在25岁时征服波斯的年轻马其顿领袖的名字，”保罗大声念道，“你不能帮她，爸爸！”

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" I got it!" Leah called triumphantly." Alexander the Great!"

“我知道了！”莉亚得意地喊道，“亚历山大大帝！”

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" Wow, how did you get to be so intelligent?" Dad asked

“哇，你怎么这么聪明？”爸爸问道。

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On the last day of the vacation, everyone did whatever he or she wanted

假期的最后一天，每个人都做自己想做的事。

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Leah read a book. Mom painted her toenails

莉亚看书。妈妈涂了脚指甲油。

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Dad and Paul worked on the airplane model together

爸爸和保罗一起做飞机模型。

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" Ta-da!" They proudly displayed the airplane when it was finally finished

“嗒哒！”他们终于完工后自豪地展示飞机。

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" It looks fantastic," said Leah

“看起来太棒了。”莉亚说。

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" Dad and I make a good team," Paul said proudly

“爸爸和我配合得真好。”保罗自豪地说。

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" This was one of the most relaxing vacations I ever had," Dad announced later on

“这是我度过的最放松的假期之一。”后来爸爸宣布。

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" I agree." Mom nodded." I got to spend a lot of quality time with my children and my husband."

“我同意。”妈妈点点头，“我和孩子还有丈夫度过了很多美好时光。”

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" I got to build a model airplane!" Paul said, grinning at Dad

“我造了一架模型飞机！”保罗对爸爸咧嘴笑道。

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Leah sat, quietly contemplating the vacation for a minute

莉亚坐着，静静回想了一会儿这个假期。

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Last week she had not been looking forward to her family's vacation at all

上周她还一点也不期待家里的假期。

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While her friends were traveling to faraway destinations, she'd be stuck here, with only boring stuff to do. But she had realized something

当朋友们去遥远的地方旅行时，她却困在这里，只有无聊的事情可做。但她意识到了一些事。

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Leah smiled at Mom, Dad, and Paul

莉亚对妈妈、爸爸和保罗微笑。

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" Spending time with your family — even when you stay at home — is the best vacation ever!"

“和家人共度时光——即使待在家里——也是最好的假期！”