A three-eyed tour guide met the class in the huge lobby of Monsters, Inc. Serious-looking monsters of every size and description hurried past the group. Mike was impressed. He knew they were all part of the important process of gathering¹ screams and turning them into power for the city of Monstropolis.

"Stay close together. We're entering a very dangerous area," the guide warned. He led the students into a long, dimly lit factory room and announced, "Welcome to the scare floor!"

"Whoa!" the kids cried. Mike, at the back of the group, strained for a glimpse of the room. He was so small that he couldn't see over his classmates' shoulders.

"This is where we collect the scream energy to power our whole world," the guide explained. "Can anyone tell me whose job it is to get that scream?"

The kids yelled at the same time, "Scarers!"

"That's right!" The tour guide smiled. "Which one of you can give me the scariest roar?"

A voice came from the back of the group. "Ooh! Ooh! Sir! Right here, little green guy at two o'clock," Mike called.

The other kids shouted, too. "Me! Me!" Some even began to roar.

Mike tried harder. "Hey, guys, watch this one!" But another kid roared before Mike got a chance. And then a giant roar came from the back of the room. It was Mike! The whole group turned and stared. Mike felt pretty pleased with himself, until he realized that the class actually was staring at a group of huge Scarers approaching behind him.

The Scarers strode past the kids with cool confidence. One of them, a tall blue monster wearing a cap with the letters "MU" on it, turned to them. "Oh, hey there, kids! On tour with your school?"

"Yeah!" the kids cheered.

"Yes," Mrs. Graves said, smiling, "we're here to learn about scream energy and what it takes to be a Scarer!"

"You are?" the Scarer replied. "Well, hey, you're in luck. I just happen to be a Scarer! I learned everything I know from my school, Monsters University. Good old MU," the Scarer said. "It's the best scaring school there is."

Another Scarer, wearing a Fear Tech hat, snuck up behind the first one and snatched his MU cap. "You wish," the second one said, chuckling². "Fear Tech's the best."

The MU Scarer laughed and took his hat back. "Okay," he said to the class, "you guys tell me which school's the best." He pointed³ to his hat and grinned, whispering, "MU is!"

While more workers streamed onto the scare floor, the tour guide ushered⁴ the excited kids to a viewing area. As Mike studied his surroundings, he accidentally stepped over a yellow line on the floor. "Oops, stop right there," the tour guide warned him. "Don't cross that safety line." Everyone knew that human children were toxic⁵ and dangerous, so it was important to stay a safe distance away.

Mike quickly stepped back just as a row of doors was wheeled onto the floor. Again, all his classmates rushed forward, blocking his view. "Whoa, hey!" Mike protested as he was pushed and elbowed to the rear of the crowd. "Watch the eye!"

Desperate to see, Mike jumped up and down. Finally, he peeked⁶ through a sea of legs and glimpsed a door being placed into a door station. The light above the door turned red, which meant that a direct link had been created to the human world. When a Scarer stepped through this door, he'd be entering the human world through a child's closet door. Mike watched the Scarer, who was crouched⁷ and snarling⁸. Mike figured he was warming up.

"Look, he's gonna do a real scare!" a kid in front yelled just before Mike's view was completely blocked. He tried to nudge his way forward, but one of the bigger kids pushed him back. "Out of the way, Wazowski," the kid said. "You don't belong on a scare floor." But Mike didn't believe that for a second, and he wasn't about to give up.

Mrs. Graves was trying to keep her excited students from misbehaving. "Brian," she said sharply, "do not step over the line."

Brian looked up at her and whined⁹, "But, Mrs. Graves, Michael went over the line." Mrs. Graves looked around and was shocked to see Mike crouched behind the Scarer at the door.

"Michael!" she yelled as the Scarer opened the door to the human world and crept inside. Then, to everyone's surprise, Mike slipped into the human world right behind the Scarer!

 

一位长着三只眼睛的参观向导在公司的大厅处接待了同学们。许多大小各异、怪模怪样的家伙从他们身旁匆匆走过，表情严肃。麦克被深深地吸引住了，他知道这些人都是公司的重要成员，负责将尖叫声收集起来再转化为电能，供怪兽之都使用。

“大家靠紧一点。我们要进入一个非常危险的区域了！”向导提醒大家说。他带领学生们走进一间又长又暗的厂房，宣布道：“欢迎大家来到尖叫层！”

“哇哦！”孩子们发出阵阵惊叹声。站在队伍最后面的麦克努力向前看，想看看这个房间的样子。他实在是太小了，没法越过同学们的肩头看到前面。

向导给孩子们介绍：“我们在这里收集尖叫能量，为整个怪兽世界提供电能。有没有人能告诉我，谁是负责收集尖叫的呢？”

孩子们异口同声道：“惊吓专员！”

“没错！”向导满意地笑了笑说，“现在，谁能给我来一个最恐怖的咆哮呢？”

麦克的声音从队伍最后面传来：“哦！哦！先生！这里这里！在你两点钟方向的小绿怪！”

其他小怪兽也争先恐后地喊着：“我！我！”有的小怪兽甚至已经开始咆哮起来。

麦克喊得更卖力了：“来吧，大伙儿！听听我这个！”他正要发声，却被另一个小怪兽抢了先。接着，一声巨大的咆哮从房间后面传来，那是麦克发出的咆哮！看到整个班级都转过身来注视着自己，麦克感到很满意。然后他发现，同学们注视着的其实是他身后那群威猛的惊吓专员，他们正从他身后走来。

惊吓专员们大步走过孩子们身旁，潇洒而自信。其中一位蓝色的怪兽身材高挑，戴着一顶印有“怪大”字样的帽子，他转过身来问同学们：“嘿，小不点儿，你们是在参加学校组织的见学吗？”

“对！”孩子们显得异常激动。

“是的，”格拉芙老师笑着向他解释说，“我们来这里学习有关尖叫能量的知识，以及怎样成为一名惊吓专员！”

“是吗？”惊吓专员说，“好吧，你们运气真好。我正好就是一名惊吓专员！我所有的知识都是在我的学校——怪兽大学——学到的。我的母校怪兽大学可是世界上最好的惊吓学校了。”

“别臭美了。”另一个带着“恐惧理工学院”帽子的惊吓专员从他后面悄悄走来，一把抢去了他“怪兽大学”的帽子，轻轻地笑道，“恐理才是最好的。”

怪兽大学毕业的惊吓专员笑呵呵地拿回自己的帽子，转头向同学们说道：“好吧，你们来告诉我哪个学校最棒。”说完，他指了指自己的帽子，又咧嘴一笑，悄声说道：“是怪兽大学！”

此时，越来越多的工作人员集中到尖叫层，向导把孩子们带到了参观区。麦克仔细打量着周围，一不留神踩到了地上的一条黄线。向导提醒他说：“哦，小心，就停在这儿。千万别越过安全线。”众所周知，人类的孩子是有毒的，非常危险，所以必须保持安全距离。

麦克赶紧收回脚。就在这时，一排门被缓缓送到地面上。同学们再一次向前涌去，推推搡搡地把麦克挤到队伍最后，挡住了他的视线。“喂，嘿！你们注意一下嘛！”麦克抗议道。

麦克一次又一次跳起来，想一探究竟。最终，他从大家的腿缝间瞥见工作人员正在将门固定到门框里。装好之后，门上的红灯就亮了起来，表示这扇门可以直接通到人类世界了。只要惊吓专员跨过门框，就能从一扇儿童卧室的壁橱门进入人类世界了。麦克看到惊吓专员蜷缩着身体，低声吼叫着，猜想他应该在热身。

“看哪！他要去吓人啦！”一只站在前面的小怪兽喊道，接着麦克的视线就被彻底挡住了。麦克努力想要挤到前面去看看，但一只更大的怪兽把他推了回去，说道：“走开，华斯基，你可不属于惊吓层。”但是麦克一刻也没把那话当真，也不打算放弃。

格拉芙老师试图让激动的孩子们守规矩一点，厉声说道：“布莱恩，别踩到那条警戒线！”

布莱恩抬起头向格拉芙老师抱怨道：“可是，老师，麦克都越过警戒线了。”格拉芙老师环顾四周，发现麦克正蹲在那位惊吓专员的身后，就在通往人类世界的门口，她简直惊呆了！

“麦克！”她大喊道。但是惊吓专员已经打开门，蹑手蹑脚地进去了。接着，让所有人大吃一惊的是，麦克也跟着惊吓专员溜进了人类世界！

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