新概念英语第四册47-01

第42课

New words and expressions 生词短语

slur n.:诋毁

slander:诽谤 backbite 背后诽谤 smear 涂污 诽谤

fame :名声 defame: 诽谤 defamation : 诽谤

put /cast a slur on sb. : 给...以诋毁

annoy : 使生气 程度 not so strong annoying adj.

You’re reading a book, a mosquito hovers. You can say 'it’s annoying’.

bother displease disturb

按程度分: irritate(烦了) anger愤怒 fury（大发雷霆）

男女朋友吵架,令人心烦用 That really annoys me. 如用 That really angers me. 就严重了

spiteful: 恶意的 怀恨的

vicious: 恶毒的

ill-natured :心眼怀的

bitchy: 恶毒的

venom : 毒液 venomous : 邪恶的

indignity : 侮辱 keep dignity 守住面子 lose dignity 丢面子

to lie is to lose one’s dignity.

illusion: 幻想 幻觉 （不切实际的幻想）

I’m under illusion that I will be a billionaire.

fantasy : 幻想

fancy : 幻想

mirage: 幻想 海市蜃楼 幻景

massage: 按摩 message : 信息

stand up to (severe test /严峻考验 rumor/流言 charge/指责 criticism/批评... )

It’s raining hard（heavily）, but I have to go to school .

I brave the rain to school.我不顾风雨去学校.

fallible : 有问题的 infallible : 确实可靠的

flaw 瑕疵 flawless 无暇的

fault 错误 faultless 无误的

Impeccable : 完美无缺的

Every man is fallible. = No man is infallible. 人无完人

Lesson42

Parents are often upset when their children praise the homes of their friends and regard it as a slur on their own cooking, or cleaning, or furniture, and often are foolish enough to let the adolescents see that they are annoyed. They may even accuse them of disloyalty, or make some spiteful remark about the friends' parents. Such a loss of dignity and descent into childish behaviour on the part of the adults deeply shocks the adolescents, and makes them resolve that in future they will not talk to their parents about the places or people they visit. Before very long the parents will be complaining that the child is so secretive and never tells them anything, but they seldom realize that they have brought this on themselves.

Disillusionment with the parents, however good and adequate they may be both as parents and as individuals, is to some degree inevitable. Most children have such a high ideal of their parents, unless the parents themselves have been unsatisfactory, that it ca hardly hope to stand up to a realistic evaluation. Parents would be greatly surprised and deeply touched if they realize how much belief their children usually have in their character and infallibility, and how much this faith means to a child. If parents were prepared for this adolescent reaction, and realized that it was a sign that the child was growing up and developing valuable powers of observation and independent judgement , they would not be so hurt, and therefore would not drive the child into opposition by resenting and resisting it.

The adolescent, with his passion for sincerity, always respects a parent who admits that he is wrong, or ignorant, or even that he has been unfair or unjust. What the child cannot forgive is the parents' refusal to admit these charges if the child knows them to be true. Victorian parents believed that they kept their dignity by retreating behind an unreasoning authoritarian attitude; in fact hey did nothing of the kind, but children were then too cowed to let them know how they really felt. Today we tend to go to the other extreme, but on the whole this is a healthier attitude both for the child and the parent. It is always wiser and safer to face up to reality, however painful it may be at the moment.

DORIS ODLUM Journey Through Adolescence

参考译文

父母在子女称赞朋友家时常会心烦意乱，认为这是在贬低自己烹调，或是清洁工作，或是家具，而且常常笨到让青少年看出自己已经生气。人与人之间甚至会指责子女不忠，或是恶意中伤朋友的父母。成年人这种有失尊严和孩子的表现使青少年大为震惊，使他们下定决心以后不再向父母谈起自己拜访过的地方和人。用不了多久，父母就会抱怨孩子守口如瓶，从不告诉他们任何事情，而他们则很少领会这是自作自受。

不管作为父母和个人有多好和多么胜任，对父母幻想破灭在一定程度上是不可避免的。除非父母自己曾经不得人心，多数孩子对其父母理想甚高，以致简直无法经受得起现实的评价。父母要是

能了解孩子对他们的品性和一贯正确有多么深的信念，以及这种信念对孩子有多大的意义的话，他们一定会大吃一惊并深受感动。父母对青少年这种反应如果有思想准备，并能意识到这是孩子成长

和发展宝贵观察能力与独立判断力的迹象时，他们就不会感到自尊心受这么大的损害，从而就不致于因不满和抵制而把孩子赶入对立面。

热爱真诚的青少年是尊敬承认自己不对或无知，甚至长期以来不公平或不公正的父母。孩子所不能饶恕的是父母拒绝承认孩子明知是正确的这些指责。

维多利亚时代的父母认为他们能躲在某种无理的权威腔势后面以保持他们的尊严；事实上他们并没有那样做，但孩子已经害怕到不敢让父母知道他们真正的感觉。今天我们趋向于走向另一极端，但总的来说这是对孩子和父母都更健康的一种态度。不管当时如何难过，面对现实总是更加明智和安全的。