课文文本

Lesson 42 Journey Through Adolescence 青少年旅程

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 whoadmits 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 thechild 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.

生词短语

Slurn. 诋毁 Annoy vt.使生气
Spiteful 恶意的，怀恨的 Dignity n.尊严
Resolve vt.决心 Disillusionment n.幻灭感
Stand up to 经得起 Infallibility n.一贯正确
Resent vt.怨恨 Sincerity n.诚挚
Charge n.指责 Retreat vi.后退
Unreasoning a.不凭理智的 Authoritarian a.专制的Cow vt.吓唬

slur put /cast a slur on sb. 给 ….以诋毁
slander 诽谤 （lesson31） backbite He backbites me.
Smear 涂污，诽谤 Fame 名声
Defame 诽谤 Defamation 诽谤

Annoy 程度not so strong
按程度分 irritate(烦了) anger fury（大发雷霆）
程度annoy=bother=displease=disturb
男女朋友吵架,令人心烦用 that really annoys me. 如用 that really angers me. 就分手了
annoying adj. You’re reading a book, a mosquito hovers. You can say “it’s annoying’

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 （没有实际的幻想）
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 hot（heavily）, I brave to school . 不顾风雨 冒着雨

Fallible 有问题的
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 one is infallible. 人无完人

Resent 按程度分 dislike resent hate loathe（very strong）
grudge 因妒嫉而恨 ~ one’s success

criticize 批评 (find faults with sb.) blame 指责 （neglect of duty ）
I’m to blame (for ……) 是我的责任 Condemn denounce 谴责

Retreat
I retreat to an armchair. 我一屁股坐到椅子上
I ~ to bed early. 我早早睡觉 A summer retreat 避暑胜地

Unreasoning 不靠理智推理 Unreasonable 不合逻辑的

Dictator 专制 Dictatorial 专制的
Tyrannical 残暴的，专横的
Domineering 霸道的 厉害的 Authoritative 权威的

Coward 胆小鬼 Cower 颤抖 Scare 惊吓 Scare to death
Bully 欺凌弱小者 Browbeat 恫吓 My boss always browbeats me.

Upset 使心烦（unhappy） Slip into 溜进去
Ungrateful child 不孝子孙 People/parents are often upset …
Dine with sb. 和 … 吃饭 Furniture 家具 (un.)
A piece /article /set of furniture Adolescent (13~16)
Spoil himself 放肆 撒野 Accuse 指责 accuse sb. of sth.
Loyal 忠诚的 忠心的 ~ to sth. Disloyalty 不忠
Make remark = say On the part of =on their part 就他们而言
Before very long 很快 马上 Long before 很久以前

课文注释

Before very long the parents will be complaining that the child is …
将来进行时 表示预见性极强
tight lipped 沉默的
they have brought this on themselves = as you sow = ffry oneself in one’s own juice
自找麻烦
however good and adequate they may be both= they may be both good and adequate
however 用倒装
adequate 称职的=qualified
Most children have such a high ideal of their parents, unless the ……. , that it(ideal) can hardly hope to stand up to a ……
Developing 养成
Power =ability 能力
Opposition 对立面
Resisting 拒绝
Tend to 不由自主的
表态度 loose lax extreme lenient