A Bet
赌注
Russell finished running a relay and joined his friend Becky in the cafeteria. He asked, "What's for lunch?"
拉塞尔跑完接力赛，和他的朋友贝基一起去了自助餐厅。他问:“午饭吃什么?”
Sesame chicken.It's OK, except the meat's charred. Oh, and watch out for the chili peppers, Becky said.
“芝麻鸡。还好，只是肉烧焦了。哦，还要小心辣椒，”贝基说。
Chilies don't bother me! said Russell.
“我不讨厌辣椒!”罗素说。
My stepmother says you should be careful with them, replied Becky.
“我的继母说你应该少吃点，”贝基回答。
An argument ensued about eating chilies. "Chilies aren't so bad. I bet I can take more bites of this chili than you," Russell said.
一场关于吃辣椒的争论接踵而至。“辣椒没那么糟糕。我敢打赌我比你吃得更多。”
Becky was wary of eating the pepper. Despite her reluctance, she didn't want to say no to the bet. She wavered about whether to do it or not. She negotiated the details. "What will the winner get?" she asked.
贝基不敢吃辣椒。尽管她很不情愿，但她不想对这个打赌说不。她对是否做这件事犹豫不决。她谈妥了细节。“获胜者会得到什么?”她问。
The loser has to carry the winner's books for a year! I'll even let you go first.
“输的人必须帮赢的人拿书一年!我甚至会让你先来。”
Becky replied, "Fine, but to clarify, you'll carry my books for the entire school year, right?"
贝基回答说:“好吧，不过先确认一下，你要帮我背一学年的书，对吗?”
Russell restated the agreement, "That's right....
拉塞尔重申了一遍说:“没错……如果你赢了——你不会赢的——我就整年帮你拿书!”
His dogged persuasion convinced her. The chili looked benign, but Becky knew it could cause a lot of pain.She bit the bottom of the pepper. Surprisingly, she felt nothing.
他顽强的劝说说服了她。辣椒看起来是良性的，但贝基知道它会引起很大的疼痛。她咬了辣椒的底部。令人惊讶的是，她什么也感觉不到。
My turn, said Russell. He bit the middle of the chili. Immediately, he seemed to be in distress. He gasped and his face alternated between brave and pained expressions. He experienced an overdose of spice. He was on the verge of tears and finally let out a horrible cry.
“轮到我了，”拉塞尔说。他咬了辣椒的中间。他似乎立刻陷入了困境。他喘着气，时而勇敢，时而痛苦。他吃多了，几乎要哭了，最后发出一声可怕的喊叫。
Take this, said Becky, handing him her drink.
“喝点这个，”贝基说着把饮料递给他。
That was awful! he said, continuing to sip from the glass.
“太可怕了!”他说，继续喝着杯子里的水。
That night, Becky researched chilies. The next day she said in an apologetic voice, "I read that the hot part of chilies is in the middle, where the seeds are. I'm sorry—I feel like I cheated by going first."
那天晚上，贝基对辣椒进行了研究。第二天，她抱歉地说:“据我了解，辣椒最辣的地方在中间，也就是有种子的地方。我很抱歉——我觉得我先吃是作弊了。”
Russell was relieved, not only did he learn something new about chilies, but he learned that Becky was a good friend.
拉塞尔松了一口气，他不仅学到了有关辣椒的新知识，而且知道了贝基是他的好朋友。
核心单词表
alternate v. 交替
apologetic adj.道歉的
benign adj.良性的
char v. (使)烧焦
clarify v. 澄清
distress n. 危难
dogged adj.顽强的
ensue v. 接着发生
gasp v. 喘气
negotiate v. 谈判
overdose n. 药量过多
persuasion n. 说服
relay n. 接力赛
reluctance n. 不情愿
restate v. 重申
sesame n. 芝麻
sip v. 小口喝
verge n. 边缘
wary adj.谨慎的
waver v. 摆动
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