The Group Project Mixup

Adam and Rachel had been paired together for their history project on ancient trade routes. They had agreed to split the work over a video call. But the call had been short and a little rushed.

亚当和雷切尔被分在一组，做关于古代贸易路线的历史项目。他们在一次视频通话里约好了分工。但那次通话很短，也有点仓促。

For a week, each of them worked hard on their own part. Adam spent hours making a detailed map with routes drawn in different colors. He was proud of how clear it looked.

整整一周，两人各自努力做自己的那部分。亚当花了好几个小时，画了一张详细的地图，用不同颜色标出各条路线。他为地图的清晰感到自豪。

Rachel, meanwhile, had also been drawing maps. She had assumed that Adam was writing the essay, since that was what she remembered from the call. She stayed up late finishing her own map, adding labels for every city she could find.

与此同时，雷切尔也一直在画地图。她以为是亚当在写论文，因为她记得通话里就是这样说的。她熬夜完成了自己的地图，把能找到的每座城市都加上了标注。

The night before the project was due, they met at the library to put everything together. Adam opened his folder and spread out his map. "Here's mine," he said proudly. "I think the colors really help explain the routes."

项目截止的前一天晚上，他们在图书馆碰头，要把所有东西拼在一起。亚当打开文件夹，把他的地图铺开。“这是我的，”他自豪地说，“我觉得这些颜色真的有助于说明路线。”

Rachel stared at it, confused. "Wait," she said slowly, "I made a map too. Weren't you supposed to write the essay?"

雷切尔困惑地盯着地图。“等等，”她慢慢地说，“我也做了一张地图。不是该你写论文吗？”

Adam's face fell. "I thought you said you'd handle the essay, and I'd do the map."

亚当的脸一下子沉了下来。“我以为你说你来写论文，我来做地图。”

"I remember it the opposite way," Rachel said, pulling out her own map to show him.

“我记得正好相反，”雷切尔说着，拿出自己的地图给他看。

They looked at each other, and then both looked at the two nearly identical maps on the table. Neither of them had written a single word of the essay. The project was due at nine the next morning.

他们对视了一眼，然后一起看向桌上那两张几乎一模一样的地图。两个人都没写下论文的一个字。项目要在第二天早上九点交。

"Okay, this is bad, but it's fixable," Rachel said, taking a breath. "If we start now, we can still finish it."

“好吧，这很糟，但还能补救，”雷切尔深吸一口气说，“如果现在就开始，我们还是能完成的。”

"You're right," Adam said. "Let's use my map, since it has more detail, and write the essay together instead of separately."

“你说得对，”亚当说，“我们用我的地图吧，它细节更多，然后一起写论文，而不是各写各的。”

They worked side by side for the next three hours. They took turns typing sentences while the other checked facts. By midnight, the essay was finished, and Rachel's extra map became a backup illustration for the last page.

接下来的三个小时，他们并肩工作。一个人打字写句子，另一个人核对事实，轮流进行。到午夜，论文完成了，雷切尔多出来的那张地图成了最后一页的备用插图。

"Next time," Adam said, closing his laptop, "we're writing everything down after we talk."

“下次，”亚当合上笔记本电脑说，“我们谈完之后要把每件事都写下来。”

Rachel laughed. "Deal. In writing, this time."

雷切尔笑了。“一言为定。这次要白纸黑字。”