背诵为王 第 四 册 第 02 课

　　Lesson2 Parent-children relationship by Bertrand Russell
The value of parental¹ affection to children lies largely in the fact that it is more reliable than any other affection. One's friends like one for one's merits, one's lovers for one's charms; if the merits or the charms diminish, friends and lovers may vanish. But it is in times of misfortune that parents are most to be relied upon, in illness, and even in disgrace if the parents are of the right sort.
We all feel pleasure when we are admired for our merits, but most of us are sufficiently² modest at heart to feel that such admiration³ is precarious⁴. Our parents love us because we are their children and this is an unalterable fact, so that we feel safer with them than with anyone else. In times of success this may seem unimportant, but in times of failure it affords a consolation⁵ and a security not to be found elsewhere.
precarious adj. 不稳定的
unalterable adj. 不能变更的
consolation n. 安慰 , 起安慰作用的人或事物
父母和子女的关系
父母对子女的爱比其他任何感情都稳定可靠，在很大程度上这是其价值所在。朋友喜欢我们是因为我们的美德，爱人爱我们是因为我们的魅力。如果这些美德或者魅力减弱了，我们可能会失去朋友和爱人。但是在我们遭遇不幸时，父母是我们最可依赖的。如果遇到好的父母，即使我们声名扫地，也是如此。
有人敬仰我们的美德时，我们都会感到快乐，但是我们大多数人的内心都知道，这种敬仰是不可靠的。我们的父母爱我们是因为我们是他们的子女，这是不可改变的事实，所以和父母在一起时我们会感到比和其他任何人在一起时都安全。我们功成名就时，这可能显得并不重要。但是在我们失意的时候，父母给予我们的安慰和安全感是通过其他任何途径都无法得到的。

1 parental   

adj.父母的；父的；母的

参考例句：

• He encourages parental involvement in the running of school.他鼓励学生家长参与学校的管理。
• Children always revolt against parental disciplines.孩子们总是反抗父母的管束。

2 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

3 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

4 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。

5 consolation   

n.安慰，慰问

参考例句：

• The children were a great consolation to me at that time.那时孩子们成了我的莫大安慰。
• This news was of little consolation to us.这个消息对我们来说没有什么安慰。