step by step 第四册 lesson 140

Lesson 140  Kramer vs. Kramer (Ⅱ)

       (In the courtroom)
   Bailiff: Ohyeah, ohyeah! Persons having business with the Supreme¹
Court State of New York, Special Term Part Ⅴ, draw nigh and you shall
be heard. This court is now in session. Judge Atkins presiding. All
rise.
   Judge: Is the attorney for the petitioner² ready?
   Attorney 1: I am, Your Honor. As my first witness, I'd like to call
Joanna Kramer.
   Bailiff: Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing
but the truth you've got?
   Joanna: I do.
   Attorney 1: Now then, Mrs Kramer, would you tell the court how long
you were married?
   Joanna: Eight years.
   Attorney 1: And would you describe those years as happy?
   Joanna: The first two, yes. But after that, it became increasingly
difficult.
   Attorney 1: Mrs Kramer, did you hold a job before you were married?
   Joanna: Yes, I did. When I first got out of Smith, I worked in the
Art Department of Mademoiselle magazine for several years.
   Attorney 1: Did you continue to work after you were married?
   Joanna: No, I did not.
   Attorney 1: Did you wish to?
   Joanna: Yes. But every time I talked to Ted³, to my ex-husband, about
it, he wouldn't listen. He refused to discuss it in any serious way. I
remember once he said that I probably couldn't get a job that would
pay enough to hire a baby-sitter for Billy.
   Attorney 1: Tell me are you employed at the present time?
   Joanna: Yes, I am a sportswear designer for Zelco here in New York.
   Attorney 1: And what is your present salary?
   Joanna: I make 31,000 dollars a year.
   Attorney 1: Mrs Kramer, do you love your child?
   Joanna: Yes, I do. Very much.
   Attorney 1: And yet you chose to leave him.
   Joanna: Yes. Oh, look. During the last five years of our marriage, I
was becoming more and more unhappy, more and more troubled. And I
really needed somebody to help me. But when I turned to Ted he just
wasn't there for me. So we became more and more isolated⁴ from one
another, more and more separate. He was very involved in his career.
And because of his attitude towards my fears and his inability to deal
with my feelings, I had come to have almost no self-esteem. I was
scared and I was very unhappy. And in my mind I had no other choice but
to leave. At the time I left, I felt that there was something terribly
wrong with me and that my son would be better off without me. And it
was only after I got to California that I realized, after getting into
therapy, that I wasn't such a terrible person. And just because I
needed some kind of creative role and emotional outlet⁵ other than my
child, that didn't make me unfit to be a mother.
   Attorney 1: Your Honor, I would like to submit in evidence a report
by Mrs Kramer's, therapist Dr. Eleanor Freeman.
   Attorney 2: Objection, you honor. The report is irrelevant⁶ and
immaterial and not binding⁷ on the respondent.
   Judge: Overruled.
   Attorney 1: Mrs Kramer, can you tell the court why you are asking
for custody⁸?
   Joanna: Because he's my child and because I love him. I know I left
my son. I know that that's a terrible  thing to do. Believe me I have
to live with that every day of my life. But in order to leave him, I
had to believe that it was the only thing I could do, and that it was
the best thing for him. I was incapable⁹ of functioning in that home,
and I didn't know what the alternative was going to be. So I thought it
was not best that I take him with me. However I have since gotten some
help and I have worked very, very hard to become a whole human being.
And I don't think I should be  punished for that. And I don't think my
little boy should be punished. Billy's only seven years old. He needs
me. I am not saying that he doesn't need his father. But I really
believe he needs me more. I was his Mommy for five and a half years and
Ted took over the role for 18 months. But I don't know how anybody can
possibly believe that I have less of a stake in mothering that little
boy than Mr Kramer does. I'm his mother. I'm his mother.
   Attorney 1: Thank you, Mrs Kramer. I have no further questions.

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 petitioner   

n.请愿人

参考例句：

• The judge awarded the costs of the case to the petitioners.法官判定由这起案件的上诉人支付诉讼费用。
• The petitioner ask for a variation in her maintenance order.上诉人要求对她生活费的命令的条件进行变更。

3 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

4 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

5 outlet   

n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄

参考例句：

• The outlet of a water pipe was blocked.水管的出水口堵住了。
• Running is a good outlet for his energy.跑步是他发泄过剩精力的好方法。

6 irrelevant   

adj.不恰当的，无关系的，不相干的

参考例句：

• That is completely irrelevant to the subject under discussion.这跟讨论的主题完全不相关。
• A question about arithmetic is irrelevant in a music lesson.在音乐课上，一个数学的问题是风马牛不相及的。

7 binding   

有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的

参考例句：

• The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

8 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

9 incapable   

adj.无能力的，不能做某事的

参考例句：

• He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。
• Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。