2005年NPR美国国家公共电台九月-Teaching Kids How to Party -- on the Chea

Commentator¹ Aaron Freeman's twin daughters are getting ready for the ninth grade, but long before they were preparing for high school, he taught them a lesson about their bud Mitzvahs . Ours is an upper middle class community with a healthy percentage of Jews, many of whom are tragically² overcompensated. In Highland³ Park, spending less than 100,000 dollars on a party for a 13-year-old is considered "frugal⁴". My daughters went to a party this year, that not only included a caravan⁵ of straight SUVs taking the kids to a Chicago Ball Room to eat crab⁶. But once there, each kid in between dances led by professional booty-shakers, each kid got her picture-taken with a man who my daughters continue to swear was the real Brad Pitt. No matter what we did, our daughters' party would not compete, so we decided⁷ to go "low rent and high spirit".

"No", said mom and dad to a ballroom⁸ or a banquet hall, not even the local country club, "we can decorate our nice big yard" said mom, "and have a bunch of fun doing it" added dad.

"A tent?" No, "DJ? " No, "Ok, but where are we gonna put the dance floor?"
No dance floor, you know, when the Hebrews cross the Red Sea, they dance " Alright, alright, alright" whined⁹ my daughters. The Biblical stuff always gets them.

The month leading up to their Bud Mitzvahs zigzagged¹⁰ between studying the Bible passage they will recite, and arguing about the party they would have. On the big day, my daughters read their portions flawlessly and the party, well let's just say they didn't miss the DJ. A musician friend loaned us a sound system which my kids plugged into their computers and played songs they downloaded on I-Tunes.So they loved all the music. Instead of catering¹¹, I, my mother, my buddy¹² Steve and James, grilled¹³ yams and pineapples and fish and everybody danced and ate and got down like it was 2099. Near the party's end, my younger daughter sweaty from dancing and bloated with punch even apologized for all the grief she had given us. And, to top it off, the next day, the mother of a girl who had been at our party called to say, she, a parent,had used our party as ammunition¹⁴ against her daughter's demand for three pro-dancers. Now, we are by no means the only folks in town who reject insane bar bud Mitzvahs expenditures¹⁵ but we are immensely proud to be among them. And we bragged¹⁶ to have underspent them all and still had a blasted. The lesson is ,of course, that any mope with money can keep up with the Joneses, but it takes a wealth of family and friends to get down with the Freemans. Aaron Freeman , writer, performer and native son of Chicago.

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 tragically   

adv. 悲剧地，悲惨地

参考例句：

• Their daughter was tragically killed in a road accident. 他们的女儿不幸死于车祸。
• Her father died tragically in a car crash. 她父亲在一场车祸中惨死。

3 highland   

n.(pl.)高地，山地

参考例句：

• The highland game is part of Scotland's cultural heritage.苏格兰高地游戏是苏格兰文化遗产的一部分。
• The highland forests where few hunters venture have long been the bear's sanctuary.这片只有少数猎人涉险的高山森林，一直都是黑熊的避难所。

4 frugal   

adj.节俭的，节约的，少量的，微量的

参考例句：

• He was a VIP,but he had a frugal life.他是位要人，但生活俭朴。
• The old woman is frugal to the extreme.那老妇人节约到了极点。

5 caravan   

n.大蓬车；活动房屋

参考例句：

• The community adviser gave us a caravan to live in.社区顾问给了我们一间活动住房栖身。
• Geoff connected the caravan to the car.杰弗把旅行用的住屋拖车挂在汽车上。

6 crab   

n.螃蟹，偏航，脾气乖戾的人，酸苹果；vi.捕蟹，偏航，发牢骚；vt.使偏航，发脾气

参考例句：

• I can't remember when I last had crab.我不记得上次吃蟹是什么时候了。
• The skin on my face felt as hard as a crab's back.我脸上的皮仿佛僵硬了，就象螃蟹的壳似的。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 ballroom   

n.舞厅

参考例句：

• The boss of the ballroom excused them the fee.舞厅老板给他们免费。
• I go ballroom dancing twice a week.我一个星期跳两次交际舞。

9 whined   

v.哀号( whine的过去式和过去分词 )；哀诉，诉怨

参考例句：

• The dog whined at the door, asking to be let out. 狗在门前嚎叫着要出去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He whined and pouted when he did not get what he wanted. 他要是没得到想要的东西就会发牢骚、撅嘴。 来自辞典例句

10 zigzagged   

adj.呈之字形移动的v.弯弯曲曲地走路，曲折地前进( zigzag的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The office buildings were slightly zigzagged to fit available ground space. 办公大楼为了配合可用的地皮建造得略呈之字形。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The lightning zigzagged through the church yard. 闪电呈之字形划过教堂的院子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 catering   

n. 给养

参考例句：

• Most of our work now involves catering for weddings. 我们现在的工作多半是承办婚宴。
• Who did the catering for your son's wedding? 你儿子的婚宴是由谁承办的？

12 buddy   

n.（美口）密友，伙伴

参考例句：

• Calm down,buddy.What's the trouble?压压气，老兄。有什么麻烦吗？
• Get out of my way,buddy!别挡道了，你这家伙！

13 grilled   

adj. 烤的, 炙过的, 有格子的 动词grill的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• He was grilled for two hours before the police let him go. 他被严厉盘查了两个小时后，警察才放他走。
• He was grilled until he confessed. 他被严加拷问，直到他承认为止。

14 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

15 expenditures   

n.花费( expenditure的名词复数 )；使用；（尤指金钱的）支出额；（精力、时间、材料等的）耗费

参考例句：

• We have overspent.We'll have to let up our expenditures next month. 我们已经超支了，下个月一定得节约开支。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The pension includes an allowance of fifty pounds for traffic expenditures. 年金中包括50镑交通费补贴。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 bragged   

v.自夸，吹嘘( brag的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He bragged to his friends about the crime. 他向朋友炫耀他的罪行。
• Mary bragged that she could run faster than Jack. 玛丽夸口说她比杰克跑得快。 来自《简明英汉词典》