实战口语情景对话 第334期:Being a Grandmother 成为祖母

 　　Adrienne: So, Vivian, you have grandchildren¹!

　　埃德里安娜：薇薇安，你都有孙子了！

　　Vivian: I have two lovely granddaughters.

　　薇薇安：我有两个可爱的孙女。

　　Adrienne: Granddaughters! What's it like being a grandma?

　　埃德里安娜：孙女！当奶奶是什么感觉？

　　Vivian: It is a second chance on life because of when you are raising children as a young person you get caught up in the daily world, but with grandchildren it's all fun. I don't have to do this, or I don't have to do that, and when I get tired I can send them home to their parents.

　　薇薇安：是人生中的第二次机会，因为你年轻的时候抚养孩子会牵扯到日常生活的琐事，但是和孙女们在一起就全是开心的事情。我不用做这做那，我要是觉得累了，就可以把她们送回她们的父母家。

　　Adrienne: Right, that's the best part, right? So what else is different about being a mother versus² being a grandmother?

　　埃德里安娜：好，这是最好的部分，对吧？那当母亲和当祖母还有什么不同的地方呢？

　　Vivian: Being a mother you are totally responsible³ for your child. You are trying to raise them the best you know how to raise them and you're young and everything that you do you know that will be picked up by your child but when you have grandchildren that duty is up to their parents so I don't feel that I have to really teach them anything. I have to continue the teaching⁴ of their parents.

　　薇薇安：当母亲你要对你的孩子全权负责。你要努力按照你所知道的最好的方式把他们培养成最好的，而你很年轻，你所做的所有事都会被你的孩子们模仿，可是要是孙女的话，这个义务就是她们的父母要承担的，而我觉得我几乎没教她们任何事。可是我却必须要继续教导她们的父母。

　　Adrienne: So you get to do all the fun stuff⁵ now that you're a grandma?

　　埃德里安娜：所以成为奶奶以后，你做的都是有意思的事情？

　　Vivian: Yes, it really is fun. They take you by the hand, and take you to the store and point out everything in the world that mom and dad will not give them and it really costs you a lot of money sometimes, unless, you do put your foot down and say, "NO!"

　　薇薇安：对，非常有乐趣。她们会牵着你的手带你去商店，指向所有她们的父母不给她们买的东西要你买，而有时那些东西会花费你一大笔钱，除非你坚决地拒绝她们，说“不行！”

　　Adrienne: So being a grandma is more expensive that being a parent?

　　埃德里安娜：那当奶奶要比父母花费的更多吗？

　　Vivian: Absolutely, but it's a lot more fun because at this stage of life you have a little bit more money than you had when you were raising your child.

　　薇薇安：绝对是，不过还是有很多乐趣，因为在人生的这个年纪，你拥有的钱财比你养育孩子时要多一些。

　　Adrienne: I see. That's great.

　　埃德里安娜：我明白了。那真好。

1 grandchildren   

n.孙子；孙（女），外孙（女）( grandchild的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He left a bequest to each of his grandchildren. 他给他的孙辈每人留下一笔遗产。
• His grandchildren afforded him his greatest pleasure in his old age. 他的孙子和孙女们在晚年的时候给了他最大的欢乐。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

3 responsible   

adj.有责任的，应负责的；可靠的，可信赖的；责任重大的；vi.休息，睡；静止，停止

参考例句：

• He must be responsible to me for this matter.这件事他必须对我负责。
• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。

4 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

5 stuff   

n.原料，材料，东西；vt.填满；吃饱

参考例句：

• We could supply you with the stuff in the raw tomorrow.明天我们可以供应你原材料。
• He is not the stuff.他不是这个材料。