Can you solve the death race riddle? - Alex Gendler

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

The night before the Death Race across the Wastelands is set to begin,

在「荒蕪地」的「死亡賽車」 即將展開的前一晚，

your uncle, the great inventor Slate Kanoli,

你的叔叔，大發明家 史雷特·克諾利，

got kidnapped by the ruthless No-Side gang.

被無情的「不選邊」幫派綁架。

The only way to get him back is to race his Coil Runner

要把他救回來，只能靠你 駕駛他的「迴旋跑者」

against the gang yourself.

親自參賽對抗這個幫派。

Win and they’ll give back your uncle.

你贏了，他們就會釋放你的叔叔。

Lose and you’ll forfeit the Coil Runner and all his other creations.

你輸了，就會失去「迴旋跑者」 以及他所有其他的發明。

As the grueling race gets underway,

隨著艱辛的比賽開始進行，

you find yourself falling further and further behind.

你發現你落後越來越多。

Your only chance is to take a shortcut your uncle told you about––

你唯一的機會就是走你叔叔 曾經跟你說過的截徑——

the Flux Ravine gambit.

「熔流深谷」險招。

Fortunately, the Coil Runner comes equipped with emergency turbo thrusters.

幸運的是，「迴旋跑者」 本身就裝有緊急渦輪推進器。

Unfortunately, your uncle was a notorious tinkerer,

不幸的是，你的叔叔 是個名聲很差的修補匠，

and the system still had some kinks to work out.

這個系統還有一些要處理的毛病。

Just minor things like the ignition exploding,

只是些小狀況， 比如點火器會爆炸、

the reactor leaking, or the oxygen levels depleting—

反應器漏油，或者氧氣耗盡——

any of which would end your racing career immediately.

上述任何一個狀況發生都會 讓你的賽車職涯立即告終。

Before his kidnapping,

史雷特叔叔在被綁架之前，

Uncle Slate determined that each of these critical failures

就認定上述的每一種關鍵故障狀況

was the ultimate result of a chain reaction

都是源自推進器的一個連鎖反應

originating in the thrusters.

所造成的最終結果。

He was also certain that while one factor could trigger two different effects,

他也很確定，雖然一個因子 可能會觸發兩種不同的效應，

and two factors could each independently lead to the same effect,

且兩個不同因子有可能會 個別導致相同的效應。

no effect is caused by two factors in conjunction.

但沒有任何效應是由 兩個因子共同造成的。

However, Uncle Slate never got around to pinpointing

然而，史雷特叔叔 始終沒有著手去找出

which thruster was responsible for which error.

哪個推進器造成哪個錯誤。

All you have are the notes from his test runs:

你所有的資料就是 他在試車時留下的筆記：

1. When thrusters B and C are on, the Fuel gauge glows.

一、當推進器Ｂ和Ｃ 開啟時油表會發光。

2. When thrusters A, B, and D are on,

二、當推進器Ａ、Ｂ、Ｄ開啟時，

the Fuel gauge glows and the Helium tank rattles.

油表會發光，且氦氣瓶會作響。

3. When thrusters C, D, and E are on,

三、當推進器Ｃ、Ｄ、Ｅ開啟時，

the Fuel gauge glows and the Gravitometer spins.

油表會發光，且重力儀會旋轉。

4. When thrusters A, D, and E are on,

四、當推進器Ａ、Ｄ、Ｅ開啟時，

the Gravitometer spins and the Helium tank rattles.

重力儀會旋轉，且氦氣瓶會作響。

5. Shortly after the Helium tank rattles and the Gravitometer spins,

五、在氦氣瓶作響 及重力儀旋轉後沒多久，

the Ignition explodes and the Oxygen levels deplete.

點火器就會爆炸，氧氣耗盡。

6. Shortly after the Fuel gauge glows and the Gravitometer spins,

六、在油表發光 及重力儀旋轉後沒多久，

the Reactor leaks.

反應器就會漏油。

You need to use as many thrusters as possible

你要盡可能使用最多的推進器，

to give yourself the best chance at clearing the gap,

讓你有最高的機率成功飛躍峽谷，

without triggering any of the three catastrophic failures.

且不要觸發那三種 災難性故障的任何一種。

Which thrusters should you activate?

你應該啟動哪幾個推進器？

Answer in 3

答案即將公佈：三

Answer in 2

答案即將公佈：二

Answer in 1

答案即將公佈：一

The most important thing to remember here

在這裡，最重要需要記住的

is that even if we know that one thing causes another,

就是即使我們知道 一件事會造成另一件事，

the converse is not necessarily true.

反過來卻不見得成立。

For example, this panic switch shuts off the coil runner’s engine.

比如緊急按鈕可以關掉 「迴旋跑者」的引擎。

But the engine being off doesn’t necessarily mean

但若引擎是關閉的，並不見得 一定和緊急開關有關——

the panic switch was engaged—

the coil runner could be out of fuel, or damaged—

「迴旋跑者」的引擎有可能 沒油了或受損了——

or turned off normally.

或只是正常關閉。

We can, however, conclude that if the engine is running,

然而我們可以確定， 如果引擎仍然在運轉，

the panic switch hasn’t been engaged.

則緊急開關絕非處於按下的狀態。

With that in mind, one way we can start is to work backwards

知道了這一點， 我們能用的一種方式

就是從會讓你退場的 那三個問題開始反推。

from the three defects that could knock you out of the race.

So let’s look at Slate’s last two notes,

咱們來看看史雷特 筆記的最後兩點，

since they give direct information about those.

因為這兩點中有關於 這三個問題的直接資訊。

The Gravitometer spins in both cases, but the results are different.

在這兩個情況中重力儀 都會旋轉，但結果不同。

That means the spinning Gravitometer

那就表示讓重力儀旋轉

can’t be the cause of any particular malfunction.

不可能會造成任何特定的故障。

If it were, the same thing would happen each time.

否則，同樣的事 每次都應該會發生。

So we can conclude that a glowing Fuel gauge makes the reactor leak,

所以，我們可以確定， 是油表發光導致反應器漏油，

while a rattling Helium tank makes the Ignition explode

而氦氣瓶作響會導致點火器爆炸

and depletes the Oxygen levels.

和氧氣耗盡。

Once we know which two errors we need to avoid,

一旦我們知道要避開哪兩個錯誤，

we can make a table and use the logic of cause and effect

我們就可以做一張表， 用因果關係邏輯

to see which thrusters trigger them.

來找出是哪個推進器 造成那些錯誤。

Since the Helium tank is fine during the first test run

因為在第一次試車把推進器Ｂ和Ｃ

when thrusters B and C are active,

都打開時，氦氣瓶沒問題，

we can assume neither makes it rattle.

可假設兩者皆不會讓氦氣瓶作響。

And from the third run we know that D and E don’t either.

根據第三次試車，我們知道 Ｄ和Ｅ也不會讓氦氣作響。

That leaves thruster A,

那就只剩下推進器Ａ了，

which was indeed used in the second and fourth test runs

的確，在氦氣瓶會作響的 第二次和第四次試車中

where the Helium tank rattled.

都有用到推進器Ａ。

Now what causes the glowing Fuel gauge?

那麼，是什麼造成油表發光？

From the fourth test run we know it can’t be thrusters A, D, or E.

根據第四次試車，我們知道原因 不可能是推進器Ａ、Ｄ，或Ｅ。

So is the culprit, B, C, or each of them separately?

所以，肇事者是Ｂ和Ｃ？ 或者它們分別都會肇事？

The answer can be found in the second and third test runs:

從第二次和第三次 試車的資訊可以得到答案：

the fuel tank glowed in both, but B was activated in one,

在這兩次試車時油表都有發光， 但只有其中一次試車有打開Ｂ，

and C in the other.

另一次則是打開Ｃ。

That means the B and C thrusters each independently make the Fuel tank glow.

那就表是推進器Ｂ和Ｃ

單獨都可以造成油表發光。

It looks like the A, B, and C thrusters are off limits.

看來，推進器Ａ、 Ｂ、Ｃ都用不得了。

Fortunately, the other two are just enough to clear the jump.

幸運的是，用另外兩個 推進器就足夠飛躍峽谷。

You rocket into first place

你飛進到第一名，

and the gang begrudgingly hands over your uncle.

幫派很不情願地交出了你的叔叔。

He thanks you profusely, and decides to celebrate your victory

他再三感謝你，並決定

用他最新的發明泡出一杯茶 來慶祝你的勝利。

with a cup of tea from his latest contraption...