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女儿发脾气时妈妈的绝招

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女儿发脾气时妈妈的绝招

文章来源：文章作者：发布时间：2006-12-01 05:47 字体： [ 大中小]　进入论坛

(单词翻译:双击或拖选)

The Tantrum

　　　　My mother was a vocal ¹ supporter of corporal punishment, but for all her talking she has never spanked ² my siblings ³, and me only once. Instead she found ways of punishment that left a more lasting ⁴ memory then the short sting of a swat on our rumps. One of the most memorable ⁵ of these occasions occurred when I was four.

　　In the early 70’s my mother attended college during the day while my sister was in school and I was in daycare. One day at daycare I watched an extremely tired mother attempt to pick up her daughter. The little girl asked, "Momma are we going to McDonalds for dinner?" The mother replied, "Honey, not tonight. Momma has to run a few errands and then we have to go home and cook dinner for Daddy." "But I wanna go." "Susie, I said not tonight. Maybe, if you are a good girl we can go tomorrow." Susie immediately dropped to the floor, kicking and screaming, "I want to go to McDonalds."

　　No amount of pleading or scolding her mother tried stopped Susie’s tantrum. Finally her mother gave in, "Okay, Susie, lets go to McDonalds." Susie stopped yelling and smiling she grabbed her mother’s hand and they left. To say I was amazed would be inaccurate ⁶; I was delighted that anything I wanted could be had by throwing a tantrum.

　　That day my mother picked me up early from daycare because we were going to Sears & Roebuck to pay on a Christmas Layaway. I was excited by the lights and 1decorations, and as we walked through the toy section on the way to the Layaway Department, I saw a toy I had to have. It was a white and red telephone whose bells rang as it was pulled along on a string. Looking lovingly up at my mother I asked, "Mama, can I have that telephone?"

　　She replied, "Baby, not now, but if you are a good girl maybe Santa will bring it to you." "But Mama, I want that telephone right now." Her eyes narrowed and her hand tightened ⁷ on mine. "Becky, you can’t have that telephone today, but if you misbehave you can have a spanking ⁸."

　　By now we were standing ⁹ in the long Holiday line in the Layaway Department, and I figure it was now or never. I lay down on the ground and began screaming, "I want that telephone," over and over again. Weary Christmas shoppers looked as my mother calmly said, "Becky, you better get up by the count of three or else. One…Two…Three."

　　Nothing. I was still in full tantrum. So then she lay down beside me on the floor, and began kicking and screaming, "I want a new car, I want a new house, I want some jewelry ¹⁰, I want…" Shocked, I stood up.

　　"Mama, stop. Mama get up," I tearfully pleaded.

　　She stood, and brushed herself off. At first stunned ¹¹, the others waiting in line began to sporadically ¹² clap, and before I knew it they were cheering and laughing and patting my mother on her back. She blushed and took a little bow and the next thirty minutes in line was pure misery ¹³ for me as various parents leaving the Layaway Department, shake their heads at me and say with a smile, "Your mom got you good. I bet you’ll never try that again."

　　And I didn’t, because it left a lasting mental picture more effective then any physical mark.

　　我妈从来都说她支持对不听话的孩子进行体罚，可尽管她口头上说了那么多，她就从来没有打过我们几姊妹（除了一次打了我屁股之外）。她总能想出一些方法来惩罚我们，而这些方法远比巴掌打在我们屁股上更痛、更持久。我记得最清楚的一次发生在我四岁那年。

　　七十年代初期，妈妈白天在大学里念书，而我姐姐当时在学校念书，我则上了托儿所。有一天，我在托儿所里看到一位疲惫不堪的母亲来接她的女儿回家。只听那个小女孩问：“妈妈，我们晚上去麦当劳，好吗？”那位母亲回答说：“今晚不行，宝贝。妈妈还有事情要做，做完后还要回家给你爸爸做饭去。 ”“但是我想去嘛！”“苏茜，今晚不行。你听话的话，妈妈明天带你去。” 小女孩听完马上就坐在地上，踢着脚嚷了起来：“我要去麦当劳，我要去麦当劳……”

　　不管那位母亲怎么好说歹说，那女孩还是不依。最后那位母亲让步了：“好吧，我带你到麦当劳去。 ” 苏茜马上停止了叫喊，拉住她妈妈的手高高兴兴地离开了。我惊奇地看着这一幕，心里简直乐开了花——原来只要耍耍脾气就可以得到我想要的东西啦！

　　那一天我妈妈提前到了托儿所来接我，因为我们要去西尔斯商场拿我们预定的圣诞礼物。一路上，我被商场里花花绿绿的灯饰吸引住了。在路过玩具专卖区的时候，我一下子就看上了一件玩具。那是一个红白相间的电话机，只要拉一下机上的绳子就会发出动听的铃声。我抬头很乖巧地对妈妈说：“妈妈，能买那个玩具电话机给我吗？”

　　妈妈回答说：“宝宝，现在不行。如果你表现好的话，说不定圣诞老人会送你一个。”“但我现在就想要嘛！ ” “贝基，今天不能买那个电话机，如果你再胡闹的话我就要打你屁股了。” 妈妈皱起眉头握紧了我的手。

　　我们当时在定购部收银处那里排队，很多人排起了长队准备交钱。我当时就觉得机不可失，不争取的话电话机就没指望了。我一屁股坐在地上尖叫了起来：“我要电话机，我要电话机！”这么一嚷，周围购物的人们都回过头来。只听见我妈妈很平静地说：“贝基，当我数到三的时候你最好给我站起来，一……二……三。 ”

　　我没有起来，还在继续发着我的脾气。这时妈妈也在我身边坐下，开始踢着脚叫了起来：“我想要部新车，我想要座新房子，还有珠宝，我还要……”我吓得马上站了起来。

　　“妈妈，不要这样，妈妈，你起来啊！”我泪眼汪汪地请求说。

　　母亲站起来拍了拍衣服，愣住了的人群开始稀稀拉拉地鼓起掌来。我还没醒悟过来怎么回事，他们已经欢快地笑了起来，还不时地拍妈妈的肩膀表示鼓励。妈妈脸红红的，向大家鞠了个躬表示感谢。你都不知道在接下来的半个多小时我有多么难受的。人们在离开商店前都会冲我摇头，并笑嘻嘻地对我说： “你妈妈是为你好，我敢打赌你以后再也不敢这样做了！ ”

　　我后来的确没有这么做了，因为这实在太刻骨铭心了，那教训比身上的疤痕还更深刻。

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收听单词发音

1 vocal
adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目
参考例句：
The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。 Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

2 spanked
v.用手掌打( spank的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
We spanked along in his new car. 我们坐在他的新车里兜风。来自辞典例句 The nurse spanked the naughty child. 保育员打了一下那个淘气的孩子的屁股。来自辞典例句

3 siblings
n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )
参考例句：
A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。来自《简明英汉词典》 She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。来自时文部分

4 lasting
adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持
参考例句：
The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。 We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

5 memorable
adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的
参考例句：
This was indeed the most memorable day of my life.这的确是我一生中最值得怀念的日子。 The veteran soldier has fought many memorable battles.这个老兵参加过许多难忘的战斗。

6 inaccurate
adj.错误的，不正确的，不准确的
参考例句：
The book is both inaccurate and exaggerated.这本书不但不准确，而且夸大其词。 She never knows the right time because her watch is inaccurate.她从来不知道准确的时间因为她的表不准。

7 tightened
收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）变紧；（使）绷紧；加紧
参考例句：
The rope holding the boat suddenly tightened and broke. 系船的绳子突然绷断了。 His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again. 他的食指扣住扳机，然后又松开了。

8 spanking
adj.强烈的，疾行的；n.打屁股
参考例句：
The boat is spanking along on the river.船在小河疾驶。 He heard a horse approaching at a spanking trot.他听到一匹马正在疾步驰近。

9 standing
n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的
参考例句：
After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。 They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

10 jewelry
n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝
参考例句：
The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。 Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

11 stunned
adj. 震惊的，惊讶的动词stun的过去式和过去分词
参考例句：
The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。 The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

12 sporadically
adv.偶发地，零星地
参考例句：
There are some trees sporadically around his house. 他的房子周围零星地有点树木。来自辞典例句 As for other aspects, we will sporadically hand out questionnaires. 在其他方面，我们会偶尔发送调查问卷。来自互联网

13 misery
n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦
参考例句：
Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。 He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。