向前一步:第146期 让你的另一半成为你真正的人生搭档(4)

 　　Dave had founded a company, Launch Media, in L.A. and sold it to Yahoo years earlier. 那一年，戴夫在洛杉矶创立了开启传媒公司，这家公司十几年前被雅虎收购。

　　Yahoo's headquarters were in Northern California, where I lived and worked, but Dave's team remained in Los Angeles, where he lived and worked. 雅虎总部就在我生活和工作的北加州，而戴夫的团队在洛杉矶。

　　When we started dating, we decided¹ to base our life together in the Bay Area, 刚开始约会时，我们决定将共同生活的地点定在旧金山湾区，

　　so Dave began commuting², typically spending Monday through Thursday in Southern California and then flying north to spend weekends with me. 于是戴夫开始了来回往返的生活：周一到周四他在南加州，周末坐飞机到北部和我相聚。

　　This pattern continued even after we were married. 甚至在结婚后，我们仍延续着这种生活方式。

　　After the birth of our son, Dave began flying back and forth³ several times a week. 儿子出生后，戴夫一周往返的次数增加了。

　　It was great that we had the ability for him to commute⁴, but it was far from ideal. 他能这样做实在帮了大忙，但离理想状态还很远。

　　Even though he was making an exhausting effort to be with me and our baby, he was still gone a lot. 为了与我和孩子在一起他都累垮了，但他仍不能总陪在我们身边，

　　Since I was with the baby fulltime, the great majority of child care fell to me. 因此我承担了绝大多数照顾孩子的工作。

　　The division of labor⁵ felt uneven⁶ and strained our marriage. 这种劳动分工似乎是不公平的，我们的婚姻也为此承受了很大压力。

　　We hired a nanny, but she couldn't solve all our problems; 之后，我们雇用了一位保姆，但这不能解决所有问题，

　　the emotional support and shared experience that a spouse⁷ provides cannot be bought. 情感上的支持和生活点滴的分享是无法用金钱换来的。

　　After a few short months of parenthood, we had already fallen into traditional, lopsided gender⁸ roles. 为人父母仅几个月后，我们就已经掉入了传统的、不平衡的性别角色之中。

　　We were not unique. In the last thirty years, women have made more progress in the workforce⁹ than in the home. 我们这种情况并不特殊。在过去30年里，女性在职场上的进步远大于家庭。

　　According to the most recent analysis, when a husband and wife both are employed fulltime, 根据最近的一项分析，在美国，当丈夫和妻子都有全职工作时，

　　the mother does 40 percent more child care and about 30 percent more housework than the father. 母亲对孩子的照顾、所做的家务分别比父亲多出40%和30%。

1 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。

2 commuting   

交换（的）

参考例句：

• I used the commuting time to read and answer my mail. 我利用上下班在汽车中的时间来阅读和答复给我的函电。
• Noncommuting objects are as real to the mathematicians as commuting objects. 对于数学家来说，不可交换的对象与可交换的对象是一样真实的。

3 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

4 commute   

vi.乘车上下班；vt.减(刑)；折合；n.上下班交通

参考例句：

• I spend much less time on my commute to work now.我现在工作的往返时间要节省好多。
• Most office workers commute from the suburbs.很多公司的职员都是从郊外来上班的。

5 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

6 uneven   

adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的

参考例句：

• The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
• The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。

7 spouse   

n.配偶(指夫或妻)

参考例句：

• Her spouse will come to see her on Sunday.她的丈夫星期天要来看她。
• What is the best way to keep your spouse happy in the marriage?在婚姻中保持配偶幸福的最好方法是什么？

8 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

9 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。