34 · 青春期
Adolescence
区分观点、依据、例子与限制，用自己的话准确重建论述。
课文精读整篇课文
点选一句，句末即可听读；连起意思，大声读一遍。
Parents are often upset when their children praise the homes of their friends and regard it as a slur on their own cooking, or cleaning, or furniture, and often are foolish enough to let the adolescents see that they are annoyed. They may even accuse them of disloyalty, or make some spiteful remark about the friends' parents. Such a loss of dignity and descent into childish behaviour on the part of the adults shocks the adolescents, and makes them resolve that in future they will not talk to their parents about the places or people they visit. Before very long the parents will be complaining that the child is so secretive and never tells them anything, but they seldom realize that they have brought this on themselves.
Disillusionment with the parents, however good and adequate they may be both as parents and as individuals, is to some degree inevitable. Most children have such a high ideal of their parents, unless the parents themselves have been unsatisfactory, that it can hardly hope to stand up to a realistic evaluation. Parents would be greatly surprised and deeply touched if they realized how much belief their children usually have in their character and infallibility, and how much this faith means to a child. If parents were prepared for this adolescent reaction, and realized that it was a sign that the child was growing up and developing valuable powers of observation and independent judgment, they would not be so hurt, and therefore would not drive the child into opposition by resenting and resisting it.
The adolescent, with his passion for sincerity, always respects a parent who admits that he is wrong, or ignorant, or even that he has been unfair or unjust. What the child cannot forgive is the parent's refusal to admit these charges if the child knows them to be true.
Victorian parents believed that they kept their dignity by retreating behind an unreasoning authoritarian attitude; in fact they did nothing of the kind, but children were then too cowed to let them know how they really felt. Today we tend to go to the other extreme, but on the whole this is a healthier attitude both for the child and the parent. It is always wiser and safer to face up to reality, however painful it may be at the moment.
本课原文与译文
展开完整文本 · 便于查阅与检索
整篇课文
Parents are often upset when their children praise the homes of their friends and regard it as a slur on their own cooking, or cleaning, or furniture, and often are foolish enough to let the adolescents see that they are annoyed. They may even accuse them of disloyalty, or make some spiteful remark about the friends' parents. Such a loss of dignity and descent into childish behaviour on the part of the adults shocks the adolescents, and makes them resolve that in future they will not talk to their parents about the places or people they visit. Before very long the parents will be complaining that the child is so secretive and never tells them anything, but they seldom realize that they have brought this on themselves.
Disillusionment with the parents, however good and adequate they may be both as parents and as individuals, is to some degree inevitable. Most children have such a high ideal of their parents, unless the parents themselves have been unsatisfactory, that it can hardly hope to stand up to a realistic evaluation. Parents would be greatly surprised and deeply touched if they realized how much belief their children usually have in their character and infallibility, and how much this faith means to a child. If parents were prepared for this adolescent reaction, and realized that it was a sign that the child was growing up and developing valuable powers of observation and independent judgment, they would not be so hurt, and therefore would not drive the child into opposition by resenting and resisting it.
The adolescent, with his passion for sincerity, always respects a parent who admits that he is wrong, or ignorant, or even that he has been unfair or unjust. What the child cannot forgive is the parent's refusal to admit these charges if the child knows them to be true.
Victorian parents believed that they kept their dignity by retreating behind an unreasoning authoritarian attitude; in fact they did nothing of the kind, but children were then too cowed to let them know how they really felt. Today we tend to go to the other extreme, but on the whole this is a healthier attitude both for the child and the parent. It is always wiser and safer to face up to reality, however painful it may be at the moment.
孩子夸赞朋友家时，父母常会不高兴，把这听成对自家饭菜、清洁或家具的贬低，还常常不明智地让孩子看出自己的恼怒。他们甚至会责怪孩子不忠于自己的家庭，或刻薄地说几句朋友父母的坏话。成年人这样失去风度，退回孩子气的做派，会让青少年震惊，并暗自决定，以后不再向父母谈自己去过的地方、见过的人。用不了多久，父母便会抱怨孩子什么都瞒着他们，可他们很少意识到，这是自己造成的。
无论父母作为家长、作为个人多么优秀称职，孩子对父母感到失望，在一定程度上都难以避免。除非父母本来就很不称职，多数孩子都会把父母想得过于理想，这种形象几乎不可能经得起现实的检验。如果父母知道，孩子通常多么相信他们的品格，相信他们不会犯错，也知道这种信念对孩子多么重要，一定会既惊讶又感动。倘若父母事先理解青少年的这种反应，知道这意味着孩子正在长大、正在形成宝贵的观察力和独立判断力，就不会那么受伤，也就不会因怨恨和抵触，把孩子推到自己的对立面。
青少年渴望真诚。他们总会尊重这样的父母：肯承认自己错了、不懂，甚至承认自己曾经偏心或不公。孩子明明知道这些指责属实，父母却拒不承认，这才是他们不能原谅的。
维多利亚时代的父母以为，躲到不讲道理的专制态度后面，就能维护尊严。其实，他们根本没有做到；只是当时的孩子太害怕，不敢说出真实感受。今天，我们又容易走向另一个极端；但总的来说，这种态度对孩子和父母都更健康。正视现实，总是更明智、更稳妥，哪怕当下会感到痛苦。
学完这一课
在主从句主语切换处停一下，确认到底谁作出评价。
译文依据整理稿，由本站按中文表达重新校订；解析据吴应时整理资料及首轮审校稿；词伙与练习提示为本站学习设计。原PDF第144—148页，2022年2月第2版。