人人说英语高级22

　　Social Relations
Susan
Nick and Susan had been childhood sweethearts. Now, Nick collected enough courage to ask her the most important of all questions.
“There are quite a lot of advantages to being single.” He began, “but there comes a time when you long for the companionship of another person. It’ll be a person who will regard you as perfect, as an idol¹. It’ll be a person you can treat as your absolute² own, who will be kind and faithful³ when times are hard, who will share your joys and sorrows.”
To his delight, Nick saw her eyes light up with joy. Then Susan nodded in agreement and responded, “ I think it’s a great idea! Can I help you choose which puppy⁴ to buy?”
Nick和Susan 从小就是青梅竹马.现在,Nick 已经有足够的勇气去问她最重要的问题."单身有许多的优势."他说,"当你渴望另一个人的友谊的时候,你把那个人看得想偶像一样完美.在困难的时候还是很热心忠诚,可以跟你分享快乐与悲伤,你可以将那个人当成是自己人."让Nick高兴的是,他看到她的眼睛充满快乐.然后Susan点点头表示赞同然后回答说:"我觉得这是一个了不起的注意!我可以帮你挑选该买哪只狗狗吗?"
Honestly
Tom has been seeing a girl for several years. She’s attractive and intelligent, and he always enjoys being with her.
One Sunday afternoon, the two of them are taking it easy. They are having a walk on a moonlit beach, and with the sea breeze⁵ blowing through her hair, and the stars in her eyes, she suddenly tells Tom she thinks she really loves him. But she can no longer bear the uncertainty⁶ of not knowing where their relationship is going. She says she’s not asking whether he wants to get married, only whether he believes they have some kind of future together.
Tom says he also has strong feelings for her, but he cannot honestly say he’ll be ready soon to make a lasting⁷ commitment⁸, and he doesn’t want to hurt her by holding out false hope. This almost breaks her heart. She turns around and walks away.
诚实
Tom与一个女孩交往很多年了。她很有吸引力也很智慧，他非常喜欢与她待在一起。
一个星期天的下午，他们两个正在散心。他们走在月光下的海滩，海风轻抚着她的秀发，她眼中闪烁着光芒，她突然对Tom说她想她真的爱他。但是她无法忍受他们继续着这种朦胧的关系。她说她不要求结婚，只是希望他能相信他们能一起创造未来。
Tom说他其实对她很有感觉，但是他无法做出一个永恒的承诺，他也不想给她无法实现的希望使她伤心。
这几乎让她心碎。她转身走开了。
My Relatives
My name’s Jerry Cooper and everybody says I must be mentally ill when I talk about my relatives.
You see, I married a widow⁹ with a grown-up daughter who then became my stepdaughter. My dad came to visit us, fell in love with my lovely stepdaughter, and then married her. So my stepdaughter is now my stepmother.
Soon my wife had a son who was, of course, my dad’s brother-in-law since my son is the half-brother of my stepdaughter, who is now, of course, my dad’s wife. So as I told you, when my stepdaughter married my dad, she was at once, my stepmother. Now since my new son is brother to my stepmother, he also becomes my uncle.
As you know, my wife is my stepgrandmother since she is my stepmother’s mother. Don’t forget that my stepmother is my stepdaughter. Remember, too, that I’m my wife’s grandson. But hold on just a few minutes more. You see, since I’m married to my stepgrandmother, I am not only my wife’s grandson and her husband, but I am also my own grandfather.
我的亲戚们
我的名字叫杰瑞?库柏，大家都说只要我说起我的亲戚们，我就肯定是疯了。
你知道，我娶了个寡妇，她有一个已经成年的女儿，这样她的女儿就成了
我的继女。我爸爸来看望我们，他和我的可爱的继女坠入情网，
然后就娶她为妻。所以我的继女现在就是我的继母。很快我妻子生了个儿子，
当然，因为我儿子是我继女，即我爸爸的妻子，
的同母异父的弟弟，他现在当然就是我爸爸的内弟了。
所以正如我告诉你们的，当我的继女嫁给了我爸爸，她立刻就成了我的继母。
现在由于我新生的儿子是我继母的弟弟，他也就成了我的叔叔。
正如你所知，因为我妻子是我的继母的妈妈，所以她成了我的继外祖母。
别忘了，我的继母又是我的继女。还要记住，我还是我妻子的外孙子。
但是再坚持一小会儿。你知道，由于我娶了我继外祖母，
我不仅是我妻子的外孙子和丈夫，而且我还是我自己的外祖父.

1 idol   

n.偶像，红人，宠儿

参考例句：

• As an only child he was the idol of his parents.作为独子，他是父母的宠儿。
• Blind worship of this idol must be ended.对这个偶像的盲目崇拜应该结束了。

2 absolute   

adj.十足的；绝对的；不受任何限制的

参考例句：

• The first year of the course was an absolute doddle.第一年的课程简单极了。
• I look upon this as an absolute necessity.我认为这是绝对必要。

3 faithful   

adj.守信的，忠实的，如实的，可靠的

参考例句：

• They promised to be faithful to their ideal for ever.他们保证永远忠于自己的理想。
• We must be honest and faithful to the people.我们对人民必须忠诚老实。

4 puppy   

n.小狗，幼犬

参考例句：

• You must school your puppy to obey you.你要训练你的小狗服从你。
• Their lively puppy frisks all over the house.他们的小狗在屋里到处欢快地蹦跳。

5 breeze   

n.微风；轻而易举的事；vi.来去匆匆，急速走

参考例句：

• A little breeze is blowing in from the window.微风从窗户里吹进来。
• The clouds are pale and a light breeze is blowing.云淡风轻。

6 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

7 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

8 commitment   

n.奉献，忠诚，辛劳，委托，实行，承担义务，赞助

参考例句：

• The builder had a commitment to finish the work on time.那个承建商答应过准时完工。
• He made a commitment to pay the rent on time.他保证按时付房租。

9 widow   

n.寡妇

参考例句：

• Martha was a very rich young widow.玛莎是个很有钱的年轻寡妇。
• All this money was appropriated for the support of his widow.所有这些钱作为给他的遗孀的抚养费。