Chapter 4

Sharie had long eyelashes. She weighed only forty-nine pounds. She always wore a big red and blue overcoat with a hood¹. The overcoat weighed thirty-five pounds. The red part weighed fifteen pounds, the blue part weighed fifteen pounds, and the hood weighed five pounds. Her eyelashes weighed a pound and a half.

She sat next to the window in Mrs. Jewls's class. She spent a lot of time just staring out the window. Mrs. Jewls didn't mind. Mrs. Jewls said that a lot of people learn best when they stare out a window.

Sharie often fell asleep in class. Mrs. Jewls didn'tmind that, either.
17She said that a lot of people do their best learning² when they are asleep.
Sharie spent all of her time either looking out the window or sleeping. Mrs. Jewls thought she was the best student in the class.

One afternoon it was very hot. All of the windows were open, yet Sharie still wore her red and blue overcoat. The heat made her very tired. Mrs. Jewls was teaching³ arithmetic. Sharie pulled the hood up over her face, buried herself in the coat, and went to sleep.

"Mrs. Jewls," said Kathy, "Sharie is asleep."

"That's good," said Mrs. Jewls. "She must be learning something."

Mrs. Jewls continued with the lesson.

Sharie began to snore.

"Mrs. Jewls, Sharie is snoring," said Kathy.

"Yes, I can hear her," said Mrs. Jewls. "She must be learning an awful lot today. I wish the rest of you could be like her."

Sharie began to toss⁴ and turn. She flopped⁵ over on top of her desk, and then rolled over on top of Kathy's desk. Then she rolled back the other way. Kathy screamed. Sharie rolled out the window. She was still sound asleep.

As you know, Mrs. Jewls's class was on the thirtieth story of Wayside School. So Sharie had a long way to go.

After she had fallen ten stories, Sharie woke up. She looked around. She was confused. She wasn't in Mrs. Jewls's class, and she wasn't at home in bed. She couldn't figure out where she was.
18She yawned⁶, pulled the hood back over her eyes, and went back to sleep. By that time she had fallen another ten stories.
Wayside School had an exceptionally⁷ large playground. Louis, the yard teacher, was way over on the other side of it when he happened to see Sharie fall out the window. He ducked under the volleyball net, hurtled past the kickball field, hopped⁸ over the hopscotch⁹ court, climbed through the monkey bars, sped across the grass, and caught Sharie just before she hit the ground.

The people in Mrs. Jewls's class cheered.

Sharie woke up in Louis's arms.

"Darn it, Louis," she said. "What did you go and wake me up for?"

"I'm sorry, Sharie," said Louis.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Sharie repeated. "Is that all you can say? I was having a wonderful dream until you woke me up. You're always bothering me, Louis. I can't stand it." She laughed and hugged him around the neck.

Louis carried her back up thirty flights of stairs to Mrs. Jewls's room.

That evening, when Sharie went to bed, she was unable to fall asleep. She just wasn't tired.

1 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

2 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

3 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

4 toss   

n./v.突然抬起，摇摆，扔

参考例句：

• Let's toss to see who pays it.让我们来掷钱币决定谁付账吧。
• The matter made him toss in the bed.那件事使他在床上翻来覆去。

5 flopped   

v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的过去式和过去分词 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅

参考例句：

• Exhausted, he flopped down into a chair. 他筋疲力尽，一屁股坐到椅子上。
• It was a surprise to us when his play flopped. 他那出戏一败涂地，出乎我们的预料。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 yawned   

v.打呵欠( yawn的过去式和过去分词 )；张开，裂开

参考例句：

• She yawned and looked pointedly at her watch. 她打了个哈欠，又刻意地看了看手表。
• John yawned and scratched his chin. 约翰打个哈欠，挠挠下巴。

7 exceptionally   

ad.异常地

参考例句：

• The weather, even for January, was exceptionally cold. 这种天气即使在一月份也算得上非常寒冷。
• An exceptionally violent cyclone hit the town last night. 昨晚异常猛烈的旋风吹袭了那个小镇。

8 hopped   

跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
• He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车，向市区开去。

9 hopscotch   

n.小孩独脚跳踢石子的游戏，“跳房子”游戏

参考例句：

• The children squared off the sidewalk to play hopscotch.孩子们在人行道上划出方格，做“跳房子”的游戏。
• At hopscotch,the best hoppers are the children.在跳房子的游戏中，孩子是最优秀的单足跳者。