【英语时差8，16】家长忽略小孩

 Dear Annie:

My 24-year-old son and his wife are the parents of two toddler boys and are expecting another baby soon. They live four hours away. I recently learned that my son goes off to work early in the morning and his wife sleeps until noon, while the boys are locked in their bedroom "watching cartoons."I don't know what they tell themselves to be convinced this is OK. I think it is serious child neglect and poses a danger to the boys. I am really worried, but I'm afraid if I say anything, I could alienate¹ both my son and daughter-in-law. But Annie, I can't just do nothing. Any suggestions? － Scared GrandmotherDear Grandmother:

Why is Mom sleeping until noon? Is she ill? Is she depressed²? Of course it's dangerous to leave young children locked in a room for hours, but you might get better results if you address this as a matter of health, instead of an issue of child neglect. Lovingly tell your son that you are concerned about the level of exhaustion³ his pregnant wife is experiencing. She should speak to her doctor about this immediately, and in the meantime they should look into hiring a sitter or having your son drop the kids at a day care center until Mom can pick them up.

1 alienate   

vt.使疏远，离间；转让(财产等)

参考例句：

• His attempts to alienate the two friends failed because they had complete faith.他离间那两个朋友的企图失败了，因为他们彼此完全信任。
• We'd better not alienate ourselves from the colleagues.我们最好还是不要与同事们疏远。

2 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

3 exhaustion   

n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述

参考例句：

• She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
• His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了，显然是太累了。