向前一步:第172期 全能女人是个神话(5)

 At the time, I thought to myself, Yup, she should not have admitted that publicly. 当时我心里想的是：噢，她的确不应该说出这件事。

Now that I'm a parent, I think this woman was a genius. 当了母亲以后，我才觉得这个女人简直是个天才。

We all face limits of time and patience. 一个人的时间和耐心总是有限的。

I have not yet put my children to sleep in their school clothes, but there are mornings when I wish I had. 我虽不至于让孩子们穿着校服睡觉，但很多个清晨我真希望头天晚上自己真能这么做。

I also know that all the planning in the world cannot prepare us for the constant challenges of parenting. 即使我规划得再好，也不能完全准备好去应对为人父母带来的各种挑战。

In hindsight, I appreciate my fellow panelist's candor¹. 事后想想，我很感激这个女人的坦率。

And in the spirit of that candor, I probably shouldn't admit this publicly either ... 秉着和她一样的坦率精神，我可能也不应该公开承认下面的事情。

Last year, I was traveling with my children to a business conference. 去年，我带着孩子们出差去参加一次商业会议，

Several other Silicon² Valley folks were attending too, and John Donahoe, the CEO of eBay, kindly³ offered us a ride on the eBay plane. 参会的还有硅谷的其他人员，包括易趣网首席执行官约翰·多纳霍。他很好心地邀请我一同乘易趣的专机。

When the flight was delayed for several hours, my main concern was keeping my kids occupied so they would not disturb the other adult passengers. 航班延误了几个小时，我最主要的任务就是吸引孩子们的注意力，不让他们打扰到其他成年乘客。

I made it through the delay by allowing them to watch endless TV and eat endless snacks. 通过让他们不停地看电视、吃零食，我顺利地渡过了几个小时的难关。

Then just as the flight finally took off, my daughter started scratching her head. 随后当飞机终于起飞时，我女儿开始挠自己的头。

"Mommy! My head itches⁴!" she announced loudly, speaking over the headset she was wearing (as she watched even more TV). “妈妈，我的头痒！”因为头上戴着耳机（还得让她继续看电视），她叫得挺大声。

I didn't think anything of it until her itching⁵ grew frantic⁶ and her complaints grew louder. 我没多想什么，直到她挠得越来越厉害，叫声越来越大。

I urged her to lower her voice, then examined her head and noticed small white things. 我让她声音小一点，检查完她的头皮，我发现了一些白白的小东西。

 

1 candor   

n.坦白，率真

参考例句：

• He covered a wide range of topics with unusual candor.他极其坦率地谈了许多问题。
• He and his wife had avoided candor,and they had drained their marriage.他们夫妻间不坦率，已使婚姻奄奄一息。

2 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

3 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

4 itches   

n.痒( itch的名词复数 )；渴望，热望v.发痒( itch的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• His wool shirt always itches him. 他的羊毛内衣总是使他发痒。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• This wool shirt itches my back. 这件羊毛衫使我背上发痒。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 itching   

adj.贪得的，痒的，渴望的v.发痒( itch的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The itching was almost more than he could stand. 他痒得几乎忍不住了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My nose is itching. 我的鼻子发痒。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 frantic   

adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的

参考例句：

• I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
• He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。