365个英语简短小故事-328. Bad News, Good News

“My period started today,” Ruth said. Brody could hear her sadness over the phone. “Oh, I’m sorry, honey. That’s too bad,” Brody said. Until now, they both had assumed¹ that she was pregnant², because her period was supposed to start three weeks ago.

Brody had mixed feelings about the news. On the one hand, he knew that Ruth wanted a baby more than anything else in the world. So, he naturally wanted her to be pregnant and happy. In fact, he wanted a kid as much as she did. He would love to have a son, so he could teach him how to avoid all the stupid mistakes Brody had made in his own life.

On the other hand, he had just read about a new study that said the cost of raising a child was now $225,000. And that was just through high school. College was an additional³ expense. Right now, the average cost of attending a public university was $6,000 a year--if the student lived at home. Eighteen years from now, how much would it be?

Brody and Ruth had only $50,000 in savings⁴, not even enough for a down payment⁵ on a nice house. Plus, neither of them had health insurance. Premiums⁶ for insuring⁷ themselves and the baby would cost at least $400 a month, not to mention the deductibles and co-pays.

“You worry about money too much,” Ruth had once told him. “Look at you—your parents raised you and five more kids, and they were making much less than we are making now.”

“That’s true,” Brody agreed. “But things were a lot different then.”

 

1 assumed   

adj.假定的, 假装的 动词assume的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The assumed linearity of these equations can be related to the uniformity of space and time.所假定的这些方程的线性，可归因于空间和时间的均匀性。

2 pregnant   

adj.怀孕的，怀胎的

参考例句：

• She is a pregnant woman.她是一名孕妇。
• She is pregnant with her first child.她怀了第一胎。

3 additional   

adj.添加的，额外的，另外的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to set down these additional rules.有必要制定这些补充规则。
• I think we can fit in an additional room.我想我们可以再加建一间房子。

4 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

5 payment   

n.付款，支付，偿还，偿还，报应

参考例句：

• I gave ten pounds in payment for the goods I bought.我买那些东西付了10英镑。
• This last payment will wipe out your debt to me.这最后一笔付款将了结你欠我的债务。

6 premiums   

n.费用( premium的名词复数 )；保险费；额外费用；（商品定价、贷款利息等以外的）加价

参考例句：

• He paid premiums on his life insurance last year. 他去年付了人寿保险费。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Moves are afoot to increase car insurance premiums. 现正在酝酿提高汽车的保险费。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 insuring   

保证( insure的现在分词 )； 确保； 为…保险； 投保

参考例句：

• Now he was much struck with his father's negligence in not insuring South's life. 可现在，由于父亲当年疏忽，没有给苏斯作人寿保险，他要遭受巨大的打击了。
• I shall not rest satisfied with merely employing my capital in insuring ships. 光是在船舶保险上投资我才不满意呢。