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Courtney turned to me.

"You don't think Eugene could win," she said. "Do you?"
Everyone stared at me. Did I? "Does rain fall up?" I said. "Is the moon made of green cheese?"
"I guess that means no," said Dagny.

Then I presented my poster ideas. I had made some rough sketches. One poster showed someone sewing a piece of cloth. The cloth had the words "Class President" on it. Under the drawing I wrote in large letters: "DAGNY HAS IT ALL SEWED UP."
There were a bunch of others like that.
"Good work, Suzie," said Dagny. "I love them. Get those posters up tomorrow."
"We'll murder Eugene, " said Tanya.
That made me feel bad. As I walked home, I told myself that Mel would think of something even better for Eugene.
I was nearly home when I met Eugene.

"Hi, Suzie," Eugene said. "I heard that, y'know, you're going to be working on Dagny's campaign. Y'know, I wanted you to help me with mine."
"I wish I had known," I said. I meant it. "But you've got Mel."
Eugene looked down at his feet. Then he said, "Mel, y'know, sort of, y'know, talked me into running. I think it's, y'know, a game for him."
I hoped Mad Mel wasn't setting Eugene up for a fall. But it wasn't any of my business.
"I'd better let you go," I said.
"Oh, yeah," said Eugene. "I was just, y' know, going over to Mel's house to get started on my, y'know, campaign."
I spent most of that night making posters. The next morning I hung them up around the school. They really did look good. I figured we had won the first round.
But that was before Mad Mel put up the posters he and Eugene had made.

Right in the main lobby, Mel had hung a brightly colored poster. It showed a pirate's chest filled with gems. The words underneath the poster said: "Follow the footsteps. Find the treasure." Painted footsteps led to four other posters. Each one showed a chest a little more open than the one before it. In the fifth poster, the chest was wide open. It showed Eugene's picture.
Everyone loved the treasure hunt. But Dagny was still pleased with my efforts. Everything else was going smoothly, too. Tanya had written a story on Dagny for the next issue of the school newspaper. And Rod had written a great speech for her to give at the Elections Assembly.
Dagny called a meeting to go over things. "Y'know," Rod said, "I'm sure that we'll really, y'know, shine at the assembly."
Everyone laughed. I felt sorry for Eugene. But I told myself it wasn 't our fault that he had that "y'know" problem.
Dagny turned to me. "Suzie," she said. "I need a song for the campaign."
It wasn't easy. But I did it. Courtney and I got some kids together. We taught them the song and a dance.

As I had guessed, Eugene made improving the cafeteria food his main issue. Even so, as we got nearer to the Elections Assembly, Dagny seemed to be the favorite. Each of the candidates was going to speak at the assembly. That might decide who would win.
The day before the assembly, I ran into Eugene. He looked troubled.
"Y'know, Suzie," he said, "I'm not sure I should have gotten into this. All this stuff Mad Mel is doing really has, y'know, nothing to do with what kind of president I'd make."
Those were the fewest "y'knows" I had heard Eugene use in a speech that long. "I know, Eugene," I said. "But it's all part of a campaign."
"But why does it have to, y'know, be that way?"

I couldn't answer him. I didn't think he would have to worry about it for long, because after Dagny's speech, he might as well drop out of the race.
The Elections Assembly went well. The candidates for presidentwere the last ones to speak. Our song and dance number was a hit. Then Dagny gave a smashing speech.
When it was Eugene's turn, he walked onto the stage and sat down. Then Mad Mel came on. He was pulling a clothing store dummy or mannequin dressed in a suit and tie and on roller skates.
"This is Mr. Manny Quinn," Mad Mel announced. "He will speak for our candidate, Eugene Beckman. Eugene right now is busy working on a plan to sell pizzas. With the money we make, we can buy food we can eat."
That brought lots of laughter.

参考译文
Courtney把脸转向我。

“你不希望Eugene赢，”她问，“不是吗？”
所有人都盯着我看。我吗？“雨水会往天上跑吗？”我说，“月亮是新鲜乳酪做的吗”
“我想你不希望，”Dagny说。

接着我提出了自己对海报的想法，我画了些草图。其中一个上面，一个人正在缝一块布，布上有“学生会主席”的字样。
我在草图下面写了几个大字：“DAGNY稳赢。”
还有很多这类的创意。
“干得不错， Suzie，” Dagny说。“我很喜欢，明天把它们贴出去吧。”
“我们会打败Eugene的，”Tanya说。
这话让我不舒服。回家的路上，我告诉自己， Mel会为 Eugene想出更好的创意。
快到家时，我遇到了 Eugene。

“嗨，Suzie”，Eugene说。“听说，你知道，你准备帮助 Dagny竞选。你知道，我原本希望你来帮我的。”
“我希望我早些知道的，”我认真地说，“但是你有Mel帮忙了。”
Eugene看着脚下，然后说，“Mel,你知道，有点儿，说服我参加竞选的。我想这是，你知道，他自己玩的游戏。”
我希望Mad Mel不会让Eugene失败，但这不关我的事。
“我最好放过你，”我说。
“奥，”Eugene说，“我只是，你知道，去Mel家准备我的，你知道，竞选。”
那晚上的大部分时间我都在做海报。第二天早上把它们贴在学校的各个角落。看起来真的不错。我揣测我们已经赢得了第一回合。
但只是在Mel把他和 Eugene制作的海报贴出来之前。

就在主大厅，MEl挂了一张光彩鲜艳的海报，上面是一个装满宝石的海盗宝箱。海报下面的字是：“跟上，寻宝来。”鲜艳的脚步指向其他四张海报。每张上面的宝箱都比前一个开得大些，第五张海报上，箱子完全打开了，是Eugene的照片。
人人都喜欢寻宝的海报。但Dagny还是对我的工作很满意。其他的每个人也都在有条不紊地做事。Tanya为 Dagny撰写了一个故事，发表在校报上。 Rod为她写了一篇不错的演讲稿，供她在选举大会上用。
为总结工作，Dagny召开会议。“你知道，”Rod说，“我相信我们当然会，你知道，在大会上大放光彩的。”
所有的人都笑了。我为 Eugene感到抱歉。但我跟自己说，他有这个毛病不是我们的错。
Dagny转向我，“Suzie，”她说，“我还需要一首竞选歌曲。”
这个不容易。但我还是做了。我和Courtney召集了些小孩子，我们教他们唱这首歌，还配上了舞蹈。

正如我猜测的那样，Eugene选了改善食堂伙食作为竞选主题。然而，选举大会越来越近时，Dagny似乎是最受欢迎的。每个候选人都要在大会上做演讲，这将决定谁会胜出。
大会的前一天，我遇到了Eugene，他看来挺苦恼的。
“你知道，Suzie，”他说，“我不知道要不要参与，Mad Mel所做的一切真的，你知道，与我要竞选主席没有什么关系。”

我不知道怎么回答他。我觉得他不会为这个烦恼太久，因为Dagny做了演讲后，他还是退出为好。
选举大会顺利进行。主席候选人们最后发言。我们的歌曲和跳舞很成功。然后， Dagny 做了一场精彩的演讲。
该Eugene了，他走上讲台，坐下。随着Mad Mel出现了，他拖着一个服装店假人或模特之类的一个东西，它穿着西装、打着领带，踩着溜冰鞋。
“这位是Manny Quinn先生，”Mad Mel朗声道。“他将代表我们的候选人Eugene Beckman讲话， Eugene这会儿正忙于一项卖比萨饼的计划。等我们挣了钱，就可以买东西吃了。”
接着是哄堂大笑。

词汇释义

1.present v. 赠送,提出,呈现

例句：
Falling interest rates present the firm with a new problem.
利息一下降给公司带来了一个新的问题。

2.figure vt. 描绘, 表示, 演算, 认为

例句：
They figured it was better to stay where they were.
他们断定还是呆在原地好。

3.pirate n. 海盗,盗印者,侵犯专利权者

例句：
After a long battle the pirate captain struck his flag.
久战之后，海盗船长降旗投降。

4.underneath adv. 在下面 n. 下部,底部 prep. 在...下面

例句：
She was wearing a woolen coat, with a cotton blouse underneath.
她外面穿了一件毛外套，里面穿一件棉布衬衫

5.smashing adj. 猛烈的,兴旺的,了不起的

例句：
"That'll do. Hold it. Will have one more… It looks smashing," said the photographer.
"行了，别动，我们再照一张……，这个样子太棒了，"摄影师说。

6.dummy n. 傀儡,假人,哑巴

例句：
a life-size dummy used to display clothes.
展示衣服的、与人大小相似的假人。

7.mannequin n. 时装模特儿,假人

例句：
she was too fat to be a mannequin.
她太胖了以至于不能成为一个时装模特。

8.roller skates n.溜冰鞋

词组解释

1.stare at v.凝视, 盯住

例句：
He stares at the beggar with sympathy.
他同情地凝视着那个乞丐。

2.sew up v.缝合,确保...的成功

例句：
Do not think about that job, mary have it sew up.
不要想那份工作，玛莉一定会得到那份工作的。

3.talk into 说服

例句：
I managed to talk Peter into our project.
我终于设法说动了彼得参与我们的项目。

4.be pleased with 对...喜欢, 满意于

例句：
We were pleased with the way things fell out.
我们对事情的进展感到高兴.

5.may as well 最好

例句：
Since it is raining hard, you may as well stay here as leave.
既然雨下得这么大，你与其离开倒不如待在这儿。

6.speak for 替...讲话

例句：
I speak for my wife as well as myself when I thank you all for your great kindness.
我代表我妻子我自己对你的盛情款待表示感谢。