Jerry是一名留守兒童，父母遠(yuǎn)離家鄉(xiāng)賺錢養(yǎng)家。但他認(rèn)為無(wú)論家里情況有多不好，父母都應(yīng)該留在孩子身邊，給予孩子足夠的愛。

Mrs. McNulty： Hi， Jerry. Welcome back！ How was your Spring Festival Holiday？

Jerry： I guess it was alright…

Mrs. McNulty： Is that so？ Your tone of voice says otherwise. Close the door behind you and come take a seat.

Jerry： Yes， ma’am.

Mrs. McNulty： Now tell me what happened.

Jerry： Well， it was the first time in three years that my parents were able to come back to Ningde.

Mrs. McNulty： Oh， that’s right！ Your family is from Fujian Province. I forgot. And where do your parents work again？

Jerry： Xiamen.

Mrs. McNulty： Wow. That’s pretty far away， isn’t it？ Jerry： Too far.

Mrs. McNulty： I imagine so. So…h(huán)ow did it feel to see your parents after all this time？

Jerry： It felt like a dream. They said I looked so big and different， but they looked exactly the same to me.

麥克納爾蒂

夫人：嗨，

杰里。歡迎

回來(lái)！春節(jié)假

期你過得怎么

樣？

杰里：我覺得還好

吧……

麥克納爾蒂夫人：是這樣嗎？你的語(yǔ)氣帶有別的意思。關(guān)上你身后的門，過來(lái)坐下。

杰里：好的，夫人。

麥克納爾蒂夫人：現(xiàn)在告訴我發(fā)生什么事了。

杰里：呃，這是我父母三年來(lái)第一次能夠回到寧德。麥克納爾蒂夫人：噢，對(duì)了！你家是在福建省，我忘記了。你父母是在哪里工作來(lái)著？

杰里：廈門。

麥克納爾蒂夫人：哇。那里很遠(yuǎn)，不是嗎？

杰里：太遠(yuǎn)了。

麥克納爾蒂夫人：我想也是。那么……這次見到你父母究竟感覺如何？

杰里：感覺就像是個(gè)夢(mèng)。他們說(shuō)我看起來(lái)長(zhǎng)大了，不一樣了，但他們?cè)谖铱磥?lái)沒什么變化。

Mrs. McNulty： And what was it like

getting to spend time with them？

Jerry： It was weird， and sometimes

uncomfortable.

Mrs. McNulty： How so？

Jerry： There were long breaks in

conversation sometimes.

Mrs. McNulty： It’s common to have

those awkward pauses when people

haven’t seen each other for such a

long time.

Jerry： And sometimes they’d criticize me

about my study habits or the way I dress or the cleanliness of my room.

Mrs. McNulty： And how did that make you feel？

Jerry： I hated it. And I hated them. ①And I wanted to tell them to go back to Xiamen and leave me alone， because they obviously love their jobs more than they love me or they’d have stuck around.

Mrs. McNulty： Oh， Jerry. I’m sure your parents love you very much.

Jerry： Could’ve fooled me…

Mrs. McNulty： Well…I must say I don’t love the 1）sentiment， but your use of that expression is excellent.

Jerry： Whatever. I know they’re working hard to make money， so they can pay for me to keep going to this school. But don’t they realize how much it hurts not having them around？ Maybe I should blame you guys for making the school fees so high.

Mrs. McNulty： ②Trust me when I say that I wish there was no 2）tuition at all， and that children from all walks of life could receive a free， high-quality education.

Jerry： And I just wish parents weren’t so stupid. ③And that they loved their children enough to stay with them through thick and thin， instead of running off to accumulate wealth in some big city.

Mrs. McNulty： Maybe one day they’ll realize it’s not worth it， and come home.

Jerry： It’s my only wish…

麥克納爾蒂夫人：那跟他們相處得怎么樣？

杰里：感覺很奇怪，有時(shí)候不太自在。麥克納爾蒂夫人：怎么會(huì)這樣？

杰里：有時(shí)候談話陷入長(zhǎng)時(shí)間的中斷。麥克納爾蒂夫人：當(dāng)人們?nèi)绱碎L(zhǎng)時(shí)間不見彼此，有那些尷尬的冷場(chǎng)是很平常的。

杰里：而且有時(shí)候他們會(huì)批評(píng)我的學(xué)習(xí)習(xí)慣，或者我的穿著方式，或者我房間的整潔度。

麥克納爾蒂夫人：那會(huì)讓你有什么感覺？

杰里：我討厭那樣，我不喜歡他們。我想叫他們回廈門不要管我，因?yàn)樗麄兒茱@然愛自己的工作多于愛我，或者他們本該留在那里，不要回來(lái)。

麥克納爾蒂夫人：噢，杰里。我肯定你父母非常愛你。

杰里：你別糊弄我……

麥克納爾蒂夫人：呃……我必須說(shuō)我不喜歡這種觀點(diǎn)，但你這樣的表達(dá)很棒。杰里：隨便你了。我知道他們?cè)谂嶅X，這樣他們才能繼續(xù)供我上這所學(xué)校。但是難道他們沒意識(shí)到父母不在身邊對(duì)孩子的傷害有多大嗎？或許我應(yīng)該責(zé)怪你們把學(xué)費(fèi)提得那么高。

麥克納爾蒂夫人：相信我說(shuō)的話，我也希望不收任何學(xué)費(fèi)，這樣社會(huì)各階層的孩子都能接受免費(fèi)的高質(zhì)量的教育。

杰里：而我只是希望我父母不要那么愚蠢。不管什么情況，他們都要足夠愛自己的孩子，留在他們身邊，而不是自己跑掉，到大城市去積攢財(cái)富。

麥克納爾蒂夫人：或許有一天他們會(huì)意識(shí)到那樣不值得，就回家了。

杰里：那是我唯一的愿望……

Smart Sentences① And I wanted to tell them to go back to Xiamen and leave me alone， because they obviously love their jobs more than they love me or they’d have stuck around. 我想叫他們回廈門不要管我，因?yàn)樗麄兒茱@然愛自己的工作多于愛我，或者他們本該留在那里，不要回來(lái)。

stick around： stay where you are（留下）。例如：

It’s too bad you didn’t stick around till the end of the party last night.你昨晚沒有留到派對(duì)結(jié)束，太可惜了。

② Trust me when I say that I wish there was no tuition at all， and that children from all walks of life could receive a free， high-quality education. 相信我說(shuō)的話，我也希望不收任何學(xué)費(fèi)，這樣社會(huì)各階層的孩子都能接受免費(fèi)的高質(zhì)量的教育。

all walks of life： all social， economic， and ethnic groups（社會(huì)各界，社會(huì)各階層）。例如：Working at a train station is an excellent opportunity to meet people from all walks of life.

在火車站工作是認(rèn)識(shí)社會(huì)各界人士的極好機(jī)會(huì)。

③ And that they loved their children enough to stay with them through thick and thin， instead of running off to accumulate wealth in some big city. 不管什么情況，他們都要足夠愛自己的孩子，留在他們身邊，而不是自己跑掉，到大城市去積攢財(cái)富。

through thick and thin： doing sth. despite bad conditions or circumstances（即使在不好的情況下依舊做某事）。例如：Amy’d stuck by Ted through thick and thin for all these years.

艾美這些年來(lái)不管什么情況都對(duì)泰德不離不棄。