(单词翻译:单击)
The spring the twins were ten years old was an exciting time in the Lowell school, which they attended. It seemed as if all the boys in the town had gone ball mad, and each room in each school had its own team. The different schools had played each other, and the Lowell fifth-grade team, of which Joe was a member, had only to beat the Whittier ' school fifth-graders to become town champions. Better still, the winning team was to go to Meridian, six miles away, and play a match game there. An uncle and aunt of the twins, who lived in Meridian, had been visiting in their home, and heard all about the excitement.
这对双胞胎10岁那年的春天，在他们就读的洛厄尔学校是一段令人兴奋的时光。似乎镇上所有的男孩都疯狂了，每个学校的每个房间都有自己的球队。不同的学校互相比赛，罗威尔五年级的球队，乔是其中的一员，只要击败惠蒂尔五年级的学生就能成为镇冠军。更妙的是，获胜的队伍去了六英里外的莫里迪恩洲，在那里打了一场比赛。住在莫里迪恩洲的叔叔和婶婶来家里拜访，听说了这个令人激动的消息。
“If your team wins, Joe, and comes to Meridian, Aunt Emma and I will invite you all to a chicken dinner. And mind you, even if you don’t let Josie play ball, she shall come and sit at the head of the table. Eh, Josie?”
“如果你的球队赢了，乔，来莫里迪恩洲，艾玛阿姨和我将邀请你们所有人吃一顿鸡肉晚餐。提醒你，即使你不让乔西打球，她也会来坐在桌子的头。是吧，乔西？”
Again and again Josie clenched her stout little hands over the thought that she could not play on the team. No one wanted to so much as she. How she would work! How she would run! How she would bat that ball so that it would fly even beyond China, if necessary! Every evening she worked with Joe, and sometimes he grew very cross when she insisted that he practice.
乔西一次又一次地握紧她那结实的小手，不去想她不能参加这个队了。没有人比她更想去。她将如何踢球！她会跑得多快啊! 如果有必要，她将如何击球，让球飞到中国以外! 每天晚上她都和乔一起踢球，有时她坚持要他练习，他就变得很生气。
