2005年NPR美国国家公共电台八月-A Mother's Duty: Preparing Boys for Girls

Commentator¹ Gwen Macsai is the mother of 2 boys and she has no idea how to prepare her sons for the craziness of girls.

My sons have a total of 4 emotional gears: happy, sad, mad and hungry. My daughter’s emotional landscape, on the other hand, is like a tempest. She’s been this way since she was 4 and I have been this way all my life, so by now I’m pretty much used to the mine field that needs to be gingerly navigated² 300 times a day. But now they’re getting older and as I watch the boys blow milk out of their nose, laughing at fart sounds while their sister's upstairs reenacting King Lear at the Globe, I wonder how do I prepare the happy-sad-mad-hungries for the diary-writing, drama-queening, secret-sharing, party-planning, friendship-analyzing³, phone-mongering psychological tsunamis⁴ that await them. And I can tell you I have no idea.

If you were walking into a black hole, a vacuum and an abyss you'd have a better idea what to expect than these poor innocents do as they toddle⁵ off on the road to adolescence⁶. They are like so many Mr. Magus completely blind to the maelstrom⁷ of X chromosomes⁸ that are gonna run circles, laps, tornados⁹ around them. In the hall, they'll be saying "hi" to a girl in passing. In a nook, in a doorway¹⁰, in a sub hall of the hall, the girl and her friends will be analyzing the "hi" for tone, pitch, timbre¹¹, level of enthusiasm, accompanying smile, the lack thereof demeanor¹², head movement, neck direction, gaits, swagger and of course, sincerity¹³.

In class, he will be assigned a science project with a group of students that will include a girl. At a sleepover, the girl and her friends will consult a weegie board, Tarot cards, an apple stem, dandelion fluff, horoscopes, Cosmo quizzes, older sisters and possibly, even the Almighty¹⁴ herself as to the site of their first kiss, the design of her wedding dress, the names of their kids and the kind of glasses he would look best in.

On the phone he will call a girl to get a missed homework assignment. In the cafeteria, he will suddenly have seats reserved for him and stormy backroom tears when he doesn't even see that there's an empty chair achingly waiting for him that bears an invisible sign with his name on it.

I really have no idea how to prepare them for the mind reading that will be expected of them. The Freud-like analysis of the relationship, the feigned¹⁵ enthusiasm over new purchases, the level of cleanliness, the likes of which they've never even dreamed of. You may as well come away with a doctor or a degree of some kind for all the preparations this can take.

But maybe this isn't something you can really prepare for, this careful merging¹⁶ of the gangly and gawky on the overcrowded rush-hour, preppy laden¹⁷ highway. You just have to have a few fender benders of your own. And in the meantime, I'll just be relegated¹⁸ to the passenger seat like a road test administrator¹⁹ at the DMV, able to see head-on collisions long before they happen and completely unable to do anything about it. So go forth²⁰, my little happy-sad-mad-hungries, venture, travel, trek²¹, globe trot²². I may not be able to guarantee that you'll be prepared for every part of the nail-biting, confidence-grinding, psyche-smashing journey. But, you know, if you always knew where you were going, what fun would the trip be?
Gwen Macsai hones her child rearing skills in Evanston, Illinois.
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mine field: 地雷区，水雷区
King Lear at the Globe: King Lear, 《李尔王》；the Globe, 莎士比亚时代伦敦著名剧场，是《李尔王》最初上演的地方。
black hole: 宇宙黑洞
maelstrom：大漩涡
X chromosomes: Ｘ染色体与Ｙ染色体属于性染色体，女性有两条Ｘ染色体，男性有一条Ｘ染色体和一条Ｙ染色体。
sleepover: an overnight stay (as at another's home)
fender bender :撞弯保险杠的车祸, 意为小擦撞事故
DMV: Department of Motor Vehicles
globe trot: travel all over the world for pleasure and sightseeing.
hone: 磨砺，训练

1 commentator   

n.注释者，解说者；实况广播评论员

参考例句：

• He is a good commentator because he can get across the game.他能简单地解说这场比赛，是个好的解说者。
• The commentator made a big mistake during the live broadcast.在直播节目中评论员犯了个大错误。

2 navigated   

v.给（船舶、飞机等）引航，导航( navigate的过去式和过去分词 )；（从海上、空中等）横越；横渡；飞跃

参考例句：

• He navigated the plane through the clouds. 他驾驶飞机穿越云层。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The ship was navigated by the North Star. 那只船靠北极星来导航。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 analyzing   

v.分析；分析( analyze的现在分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析n.分析

参考例句：

• Analyzing the date of some socialist countries presents even greater problem s. 分析某些社会主义国家的统计数据，暴露出的问题甚至更大。 来自辞典例句
• He undoubtedly was not far off the mark in analyzing its predictions. 当然，他对其预测所作的分析倒也八九不离十。 来自辞典例句

4 tsunamis   

n.海啸( tsunami的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our oceans are alive with earthquakes, volcanoes, and more recently, tsunamis. 海中充满着地震、火山，包括最近发生的海啸。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年2月号
• Please tell me something more about tsunamis! 请您给我讲讲海啸吧！ 来自辞典例句

5 toddle   

v.（如小孩）蹒跚学步

参考例句：

• The baby has just learned to toddle.小孩子刚会走道儿。
• We watched the little boy toddle up purposefully to the refrigerator.我们看著那小男孩特意晃到冰箱前。

6 adolescence   

n.青春期，青少年

参考例句：

• Adolescence is the process of going from childhood to maturity.青春期是从少年到成年的过渡期。
• The film is about the trials and tribulations of adolescence.这部电影讲述了青春期的麻烦和苦恼。

7 maelstrom   

n.大乱动；大漩涡

参考例句：

• Inside,she was a maelstrom of churning emotions.她心中的情感似波涛汹涌，起伏不定。
• The anxious person has the spirit like a maelstrom.焦虑的人的精神世界就像一个大漩涡。

8 chromosomes   

n.染色体( chromosome的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Chromosomes also determine the sex of animals. 染色体也决定动物的性别。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Each of four chromosomes divide longitudinally. 四种染色体的每一种都沿着纵向分裂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 tornados   

n.龙卷风，旋风( tornado的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• And the national weather service reports several tornados touch down. 国家气象中心报告预测龙卷风将来袭。 来自互联网
• They had stock footage of lightning, tornados, and hurricanes. 他们存有关于闪电、龙卷风和飓风的电影胶片。 来自互联网

10 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

11 timbre   

n.音色，音质

参考例句：

• His voice had a deep timbre.他嗓音低沉。
• The timbre of the violin is far richer than that of the mouth organ.小提琴的音色远比口琴丰富。

12 demeanor   

n.行为；风度

参考例句：

• She is quiet in her demeanor.她举止文静。
• The old soldier never lost his military demeanor.那个老军人从来没有失去军人风度。

13 sincerity   

n.真诚，诚意；真实

参考例句：

• His sincerity added much more authority to the story.他的真诚更增加了故事的说服力。
• He tried hard to satisfy me of his sincerity.他竭力让我了解他的诚意。

14 almighty   

adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的

参考例句：

• Those rebels did not really challenge Gods almighty power.这些叛徒没有对上帝的全能力量表示怀疑。
• It's almighty cold outside.外面冷得要命。

15 feigned   

a.假装的，不真诚的

参考例句：

• He feigned indifference to criticism of his work. 他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。
• He accepted the invitation with feigned enthusiasm. 他假装热情地接受了邀请。

16 merging   

合并（分类）

参考例句：

• Many companies continued to grow by merging with or buying competing firms. 许多公司通过合并或收买竞争对手的公司而不断扩大。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• To sequence by repeated splitting and merging. 用反复分开和合并的方法进行的排序。

17 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

18 relegated   

v.使降级( relegate的过去式和过去分词 )；使降职；转移；把…归类

参考例句：

• She was then relegated to the role of assistant. 随后她被降级做助手了。
• I think that should be relegated to the garbage can of history. 我认为应该把它扔进历史的垃圾箱。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

19 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

20 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

21 trek   

vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行

参考例句：

• We often go pony-trek in the summer.夏季我们经常骑马旅行。
• It took us the whole day to trek across the rocky terrain.我们花了一整天的时间艰难地穿过那片遍布岩石的地带。

22 trot   

n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧

参考例句：

• They passed me at a trot.他们从我身边快步走过。
• The horse broke into a brisk trot.马突然快步小跑起来。