第一页：片段欣赏
第二页：巧学口语
第三页：小小翻译家
第四页：文化一瞥

精彩对白

Carolyn: Miss Greenleaf? Jack told me you moved out.

Emilia: You talked to him?

Carolyn: Yes, I did. William was very upset to see you leave with your suitcase. You never understood that children have eyes, have you? I called Jack to talk about it, and he told me what happened the night Isabel died.

Emilia: Oh. - Mm-hmm.

Carolyn: He asked if it was possible that you could have smothered her with your breast - my medical opinion.

Emilia: What did you tell him?

Carolyn: I told him, yes, it was possible. Yes, you could have accidentally killed Isabel. You probably had. Any woman who's so casual with William's safety could just as easily have fallen asleep and smothered her own child. William was very mad at me. He said I should be ashamed of myself. He's very loyal, William.

Emilia: He knows?

Carolyn: Yes, well, he overheard the conversation. I'm sorry. My apartment's quite small.

Emilia: Your apartment's huge. You must have been shouting.

Carolyn: He said that you loved Isabel and that you couldn't have killed her. And I told him I hadn't said that you'd killed the baby. I told him that you might have accidentally smothered her.

Emilia: Carolyn, why am I here? I'd really like to leave.

Carolyn: William asked me to help you. He said because I'm a doctor, I could find out what really happened to Isabel.

Emilia: I didn't realize he cared, since she wasn't a person, you know, according to the Jewish law.

Carolyn: Your pediatrician got a copy of the autopsy report.

Emilia I know.

Carolyn: Well, I had his office fax it to me yesterday, and I reviewed it with a classmate of mine from Stanford. She's a pathologist who specializes in neonatal cases. She testifies in criminal trials. And she confirms the coroner's conclusion.

Emilia: I know the official verdict: SIDS.

Carolyn: I asked for more specific conclusions, and she said there's absolutely no evidence to suggest that Isabel was smothered. Smothering always leaves traces: a torn upper lip frenulum, signs of positional asphyxia, dots of blood in the lungs, and in Isabel's case, there was no evidence that she'd been smothered. So you can't have smothered her. You didn't kill your baby. She died of SIDS. You just had the misfortune of holding her when she died.

Emilia: Your friend's a pathologist?

Carolyn: A perinatal specialist. Yeah, she's 100% secure in her conclusions that Isabel died from SIDS. Based on the facts, it's scientifically impossible that she died from smothering. Are you listening? She also said she'd speak with you if you'd rather hear it from her directly or if you have any other questions. I need to know that you understand what I'm saying, so I'm going to repeat this until you say that you understand. You didn't kill your child, Emilia. You didn't kill your baby. Your baby died because babies do sometimes. They just slip away for no reason. It's no one's fault. It's not your fault. You didn't do anything wrong. Do you understand?

Emilia: I understand.

Carolyn: Good. I'm gonna leave you alone for a while.

Emilia: Hi.

Jack: Hi.

Emilia: I've-I just came from Carolyn's office. And she told me I couldn't have killed Isabel. She had her pathologist look at the medical report.

Jack: Sit down.

Emilia: I really think you should call her and hear what she has to say, because I didn't do it.

Jack: I never thought you did.

Emilia: But your face, your face when I told you and your face the night that she died-

Jack: How should I look, Emilia, when my daughter dies, when my wife says she killed her? People have their own feelings.

Jack: I talked to my father, and I apologized to him. And you were right. You were right. I've been working through things in our relationship that are really about him and my family and things-

Jack: Emilia, don't. None of this matters.

Emilia: We are not a mistake. You're my family, and I want to be with you.

Jack: William's my family.

Emilia: And me, William and me. I love William.

Jack: Em, please.

Emilia: He loves me. He made his mother find out. He loves me.

Jack: I know. It's the people who love you you're the hardest on. I'm sorry. I just can't.

Emilia: OK.

[page]

第一页：片段欣赏
第二页：巧学口语
第三页：小小翻译家
第四页：文化一瞥

1. smother: 使窒息而死；闷死，也可以指抑制；扼杀；忍住

例如： In some of Jame's fiction motive seems to smother event.（在詹姆斯的一些小说里动机似乎把情节掩盖住了。）

2. be ashamed of myself: 为自己感到羞耻

be ashamed of后面也可以加something，例如： You should be ashamed of what you have done.（你应为自己所做的事感到羞愧。）

3. pediatrician: 儿科医生

4. autopsy report: 尸检报告

5. pathologist: 病理学家

6. neonatal: 新生的，初生的

7. SIDS: 婴儿猝死综合症，全称为sudden infant death syndrome，也称为cot death，crib death（摇篮死亡）

8. asphyxia: 窒息，昏厥

9. We are not a mistake: 我们在一起没有错儿。

10.It's the people who love you you're the hardest on: 对那些爱你的人，你恰恰是最苛刻。

hard on用来表示对……刻薄

例如：The new law is a bit hard on those who were born abroad.（新法令对那些在国外出生的人有点不够公平。）

[page]

第一页：片段欣赏
第二页：巧学口语
第三页：小小翻译家
第四页：文化一瞥

1. 你从来就不知道孩子的眼睛是雪亮的，对么?

2. 他说我应该为自己感到羞耻。

3. 我们在一起没有错儿。

4. 对那些爱你的人，你恰恰是最苛刻。

[page]

第一页：片段欣赏
第二页：巧学口语
第三页：小小翻译家
第四页：文化一瞥

在教育威廉的问题上，威廉的亲生母亲和继母的教育观有很大差异，继母让威廉锻炼着不戴头盔滑冰，亲生母亲认为这是不顾安全。中美父母在教育观念上也存在着明显的差异。

中美父母在教育问题上的差异

一、中美父母在观念上的差异

作为父母对自己的孩子有着一种与生俱来的爱，这是中国和美国的父母所共同的，所不同的是我们的表达方式不同。我想从两个方面来谈中美不同的父母观：

第一，子女的所属问题：即孩子是属于他们自己还是属于父母。 在我国，毋庸置疑子女是属于父母的，一切得听父母的；在美国，子女是独立的个体，他们属于自己，他们有自己的喜好、选择、隐私、交际圈。

第二，有限责任与无限责任。在我国父母对子女照顾是无限责任：从孩子出生到孩子成年，家长几乎把孩子的一切都包了下来，做饭、洗衣服、打扫房间、陪 读，双休日都搭在里面了。当父母在做这一切的时候，做得心甘情愿，我们一辈子的希望就是孩子能有个好前途、好发展。在美国，父母对子女是有限责任，父母不 会把孩子的事情全部包下来，反而孩子还必须承担一些家务劳动。如摆餐桌、洗自己的衣服、剪草坪等。孩子可以自己打工挣钱，也可以在家里干活，父母给钱。父 母对孩子的有限责任是教育什么呢？一是让孩子懂得自身的价值。二是让孩子懂得必须自己管理自己。三是教给孩子足够的性知识，让孩子在他们身体变化时感到轻 松自在。四是帮助孩子接受一整套他们赖以立身处世的牢固的社会准则——尊重和守纪。

在我们传统的观念中，认为美国学生上课是很自由的。从我在美国的感受看，和我们想象的不完全一样，学校有非常严格的纪律要求。如荷蒙山高中男女生宿 舍是两个分别独立的楼，男生要进女生楼必须得到老师和家长的许可。如果没有得到批准就进入，要请家长、退宿。在新学期开学初，学校要组织家长和学生学习 “学生行为规范”，并和学生、家长签订一份落实“学生行为规范”的协议，一旦学生和家长在协议上签字，表明学生和家长愿意承担违反规定所带来的后果。

有一些调查统计信息值得我们做父母的思考：上海90%的青少年对自己的父母不满，70%的学生认为家长不了解自己。为什么会有那么多的孩子不喜欢自己的父母，我觉得关键在父母的教育观念和教育方法。

二、教育方式上的差异

我在和美国小孩接触的过程中，就在观察他们和我们的孩子有什么不同，美国孩子表现：遇事积极乐观、好奇欲强、敢尝试、能吃苦、肯动脑。我国的孩子表现：遇事等待观望、缺乏兴趣、不敢尝试、不能吃苦、不肯动脑。

什么原因呢？不同的家庭教育的方式：

第一，美国人对孩子鼓励多于保护，而我们往往是过分的保护，鼓励孩子做各种尝试，在做中学、做中练，培养了能力、兴趣，最重要的是树立了自信心。我 们是过分的保护，造成孩子对父母的依赖，使孩子怀疑或失去对自我价值和能力的正确认识和评价，一切要等父母。家长怕孩子受伤、受欺，很多事情或活动家长认 为危险、脏等不让孩子玩。

第二，美国人对孩子引导多于灌输。“我觉得……会好些？我建议是……你愿意听听我的看法吗？”等等这是美国家长常对孩子说话的方式。“你还小，听妈的。告诉你这样做怎么不听？错了吧，你看不听老人言吃亏在眼前。”等等这是我们的家长常对孩子说话的方式。

第三，美国人对孩子要求全面，我们常常以学习代一切。

第四，家长语言的作用。“真笨，这你都不会。”“你看谁家的孩子就比你强。”“告诉你多少遍了，就是记不住。”这些我们家长有意无意常挂在嘴边的话，影响甚至摧毁了孩子的自信心。

三、和孩子一起成长

美国家庭从小就非常注重培养孩子参加社区或学校的各种社团活动，而且家长是孩子活动的参与者、组织者、服务者。例如：1、加州大学操场周末小学生足 球赛，只有裁判是老师。2、家长委员会的含义：不同于我国中学的家长委员会，加州各中学的家长委员会都是由家长自愿发起并组织成立的，一个学生社团就有一 个家长委员会。因此，在校内可能有几个甚至几十个家长委员会。

四、责任教育

美国人非常重视对孩子的责任教育，从小开始，从小事做起。家长非常重视孩子高中的毕业典礼。他们认为这是孩子成人、走向社会的标志和起点，所以毕业 典礼非常隆重，每个学生大约有十几位包括家长在内的亲友来参加毕业典礼，在学校的毕业典礼后，每个家庭还要组织家庭聚会来庆贺孩子高中毕业和长大成人，送 有纪念意义的成人礼物。让孩子明白和记住：他成人了，要对自己完全负责了。在孩子学会对自己负责后，实现对家庭、社会、国家负责。