美国国家公共电台 NPR The Call-In: Tension At The Holiday Dinner Table

 

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

And now a little post-Thanksgiving edition of The Call-In.

(SOUNDBITE OF CORDUROI'S "MY DEAR")

WERTHEIMER: Yes, the turkey leftovers¹ are almost gone. The relatives are headed home. And for some, the dust has settled. We asked you last week to call in with the disagreements you expect around the holiday dinner table. For 33-year-old Nicholas Creel of San Antonio, Texas, Nicholas Creel Sr. is the culprit.

NICHOLAS CREEL JR.: Anything that he knows is going to stir the pot a little bit - religion, politics - you can pretty much guarantee him bringing up.

WERTHEIMER: Does he do it all the time?

CREEL JR.: Oh, yeah.

WERTHEIMER: (Laughter) So if you were to say to him, I've always liked Dodge² Pickups, he would say...

CREEL JR.: Ford's the best, and Dodge are absolute garbage. Yeah.

WERTHEIMER: (Laughter).

CREEL JR.: That's just his nature (laughter).

WERTHEIMER: Nicholas Jr. is no stranger to politics. He teaches political science at Texas A&M University. We grabbed him for a quick chat on Wednesday before the holiday.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

CREEL JR.: I've been for the most part a Republican most of my life - self-identified Republican. But over the last, I'd say, about five or so years, I've started to kind of waver. So I've kind of found myself as a never-Trumper (ph) Republican. My father, on the other hand, has been very much an ardent⁴ Trump³ supporter. And so that has been a major point of contention⁵ between the two of us.

WERTHEIMER: You're obviously in the business of trying to sort of instigate⁶ arguments among your students in discussions and so on. Is that very different from politics in your family?

CREEL JR.: When I'm bringing it up in a student environment, I like to see myself as a moderator, where I'm not trying to take sides, but I'm trying to both enforce and then kind of tear down everybody's arguments equally. It's when it's with family your actual views come out and real passions tend to be inflamed⁷.

WERTHEIMER: So now thinking ahead, what would be the best outcome? What would be the worst outcome? Let's start with best.

CREEL JR.: I'd say that the best outcome is we're so busy stuffing our faces that we only talk politics the most minimal⁸ amount possible - maybe just, you know, a good 15, 20 minutes.

WERTHEIMER: (Laughter).

CREEL JR.: So we just kind of move on. But I think the most likely scenario⁹'s probably closer to one of the worst-case scenarios¹⁰, where we latch¹¹ onto the argument immediately, and passions enflame, and screaming ensues.

WERTHEIMER: (Laughter) OK. Well, we'll check in with you after dinner.

(SOUNDBITE OF CORDUROI'S "MY DEAR")

WERTHEIMER: Nicholas celebrated¹² the holiday with his wife, his mother and father. So did we get minimal political talk or a screaming match over the dinner table? Well, we got Nicholas back on the line after Thanksgiving and asked him how it went.

CREEL JR.: The best-case scenario seems to have actually come about.

WERTHEIMER: (Laughter).

CREEL JR.: We've hardly discussed politics. The little we did, it actually seemed there was a little more common ground than I had expected.

WERTHEIMER: Well, let's get a review from the other side. We're going to bring in your father, Nicholas Creel Sr. Welcome to our program, Mr. Creel.

NICHOLAS CREEL SR.: Welcome to you, too.

WERTHEIMER: So what do you think about what your son just said?

CREEL SR.: It was correct as far as on this one occasion.

(LAUGHTER)

CREEL SR.: When we get together, our clan¹³ is known to have some political differences. We try to not talk politics, especially with some other members of the family who are, in my opinion, more left-leaning because it can get rather acrimonious¹⁴. We can view the same subject and see the same facts and come to different conclusions. It always amazes me.

WERTHEIMER: (Laughter) Now, you know your son said that you liked to stir the pot.

CREEL SR.: Yeah.

WERTHEIMER: What about him? You think he's a pot stirrer, too?

CREEL SR.: Oh, absolutely. I mean, I sometimes get into - people who don't know me very well - I'll say something that I probably don't really believe just to get their reactions to something.

(LAUGHTER)

CREEL SR.: And, you know, it's fun to - you want to always take the other side so that you can see the weaknesses in your position.

WERTHEIMER: Now, young Nick (ph), we have some other big holidays coming up. Are you planning to have any dinners where the clan gathers?

CREEL JR.: Oh, yeah, most definitely. Christmas is always one. Now, too, we've got a niece and a nephew that are just old enough to where I think the kids' gloves will start coming off when we discuss politics with them.

WERTHEIMER: (Laughter).

CREEL JR.: So if anything, I think it'll just get - it'll be the exact opposite of what we had this past Thanksgiving.

WERTHEIMER: Perhaps NPR's involvement had a role in helping¹⁵ to keep the peace this year. That was Nicholas Creel Jr. and Sr. And next week on The Call-In, consumer DNA¹⁶ testing. It's more easy than ever to trace your ancestry¹⁷ or your genetic¹⁸ risks for some diseases. Why did you get your DNA tested, and what did you find out? If you're holding off, what's making you have second thoughts? Call in at 202-216-9217 with your questions and your experiences. Be sure to include your full name, your contact information and where you're from, and we may use it on the air. That number again - 202-216-9217.

(SOUNDBITE OF CORDUROI'S "MY DEAR")

1 leftovers   

n.剩余物，残留物，剩菜

参考例句：

• He can do miracles with a few kitchen leftovers.他能用厨房里几样剩饭做出一顿美餐。
• She made supper from leftovers she had thrown together.她用吃剩的食物拼凑成一顿晚饭。

2 dodge   

v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计

参考例句：

• A dodge behind a tree kept her from being run over.她向树后一闪，才没被车从身上辗过。
• The dodge was coopered by the police.诡计被警察粉碎了。

3 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 ardent   

adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的

参考例句：

• He's an ardent supporter of the local football team.他是本地足球队的热情支持者。
• Ardent expectations were held by his parents for his college career.他父母对他的大学学习抱着殷切的期望。

5 contention   

n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张

参考例句：

• The pay increase is the key point of contention. 加薪是争论的焦点。
• The real bone of contention,as you know,is money.你知道，争论的真正焦点是钱的问题。

6 instigate   

v.教唆，怂恿，煽动

参考例句：

• His object was to instigate a little rebellion on the part of the bishop.他的目的是，在主教方面煽起一场小小的造反。
• It would not prove worthwhile to instigate a nuclear attack.挑起核攻击最终是不值得的。

7 inflamed   

adj.发炎的，红肿的v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His comments have inflamed teachers all over the country. 他的评论激怒了全国教师。
• Her joints are severely inflamed. 她的关节严重发炎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

9 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

10 scenarios   

n.[意]情节；剧本；事态；脚本

参考例句：

• Further, graphite cores may be safer than non-graphite cores under some accident scenarios. 再者，根据一些事故解说，石墨堆芯可比非石墨堆芯更安全一些。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Again, scenarios should make it clear which modes are acceptable to users in various contexts. 同样，我们可以运用场景剧本来搞清楚在不同情境下哪些模式可被用户接受。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

11 latch   

n.门闩，窗闩；弹簧锁

参考例句：

• She laid her hand on the latch of the door.她把手放在门闩上。
• The repairman installed an iron latch on the door.修理工在门上安了铁门闩。

12 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

13 clan   

n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派

参考例句：

• She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。
• The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以，中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。

14 acrimonious   

adj.严厉的，辛辣的，刻毒的

参考例句：

• He had an acrimonious quarrel with his girlfriend yesterday.昨天他跟他的女朋友激烈争吵了一番。
• His parents went through an acrimonious divorce.他的父母在激烈吵吵闹闹中离了婚。

15 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

16 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

17 ancestry   

n.祖先，家世

参考例句：

• Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
• He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。

18 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。