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尽量使生日过得快乐
添加时间:2016-01-31 20:06:12 浏览次数: 作者:未知
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  • 生日意味着惊喜、聚会、兴奋过度的吹熄蛋糕上的蜡烛。生日也是对过去12个月中的失败——感受到的或者是真实的——做出补偿的一种方法。

    I like birthdays. I like fuss, a grand gesture. X can't understand the fuss. It's about upbringing, I think: his parents unceremoniously hand him something – not even wrapped – at some point within a few months of the date. I'm fairly sure they don't know when it is. For me, birthdays mean surprises, parties, over-excited children blowing out candles on sponge cakes. Like pencil marks on the wall, they are the backbone1 around which you hang family rituals. Birthdays are also a way to make up for the failings – perceived or real – of the past 12 months.

    We didn't have the stomach for the last round. Absorbed in our own misery2, X and I lumped the boys' birthday parties together, a swiftly expedited afternoon in a soft-play centre, a swiss roll with candles. It's hardly the stuff of misery memoirs3, but it made me sad.

    Now a year has passed and birthday season is upon us, for the first time as a separated family. The boys' birthdays are close together and it feels like a milestone4; I want to do it right. On top of my normal birthday fixation, I know the last weeks have been very hard for the children. I am scarcely mother of the year at the moment: I have made no headway in trying to find a new job, which scares me stupid, and am still bruised5 and shocked from the accident. My temper is short and I cry a lot. I've seen a naked look of worry in the eldest's eyes and felt powerless to make it go away.

    It's the youngest's birthday first. He takes after his father in this: he's not really bothered. He likes presents, of course, but doesn't have my – or his brother's –need to turn the day into a Busby Berkeley musical with a firework finale. Even so, I am determined6 to do it properly, to crank out the old family rituals and create new ones. He'll be at X's on the morning of his birthday, mine in the evening. We've said we'll have dinner together, agreed who should get him which present.

    In preparation for the big day, I bring out the stalwart Women's Weekly cake book and canvass7 his opinion. "So which cake would you like? A robot? A train? A spider? I don't think I'd be very good at the castle but I'll give it a try."

    He deflates my ambitions. "I just want a plain square one."

    "Are you sure? That's easy. With sweets on it?"

    He purses his lips in thought. "Ok." I think he's humouring me. I prod8 him further, and he chooses something for his birthday dinner, something he has every week. I rather admire how matter of fact he is. He's one of those children that asks for a calculator and a toothbrush for Christmas.

    While he's at his father's, I make a square cake. I sneak9 his age on to the top in Smarties, then make another for school, with chocolate fudge icing. I wrap his presents and write his card. It's very quiet in the empty house and I don't have to hide the cake in a cupboard, or issue dire10 "Don't come into my bedroom!" warnings. There's no sense of anticipation11, and I don't like it. It's even worse in the morning, the first time in years I haven't been woken at five on a birthday morning by an over-excited child. I don't want to do this again, I think, as I take the foil wrapped cake up the road to school.

    The evening is better. I collect the boys from school and he opens his presents. Later, X comes round and builds some Lego while I make the requested boring dinner. We eat and then we light the candles, blow them out, take the obligatory12 pictures. The youngest is smiling his small, careful smile in them. It feels like a birthday, at last. We both need to be there, it turns out: after all, we both made him.

    We'll know for next time.

     10级    美文 


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    1 backbone [ˈbækbəʊn] ty0z9B   第9级
    n.脊骨,脊柱,骨干;刚毅,骨气
    参考例句:
    • The Chinese people have backbone. 中国人民有骨气。
    • The backbone is an articulate structure. 脊椎骨是一种关节相连的结构。
    2 misery [ˈmɪzəri] G10yi   第7级
    n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦
    参考例句:
    • Business depression usually causes misery among the working class. 商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
    • He has rescued me from the mire of misery. 他把我从苦海里救了出来。
    3 memoirs ['memwɑ:z] f752e432fe1fefb99ab15f6983cd506c   第10级
    n.回忆录;回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数)
    参考例句:
    • Her memoirs were ghostwritten. 她的回忆录是由别人代写的。
    • I watched a trailer for the screenplay of his memoirs. 我看过以他的回忆录改编成电影的预告片。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    4 milestone [ˈmaɪlstəʊn] c78zM   第9级
    n.里程碑;划时代的事件
    参考例句:
    • The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema. 事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
    • I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries. 我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。
    5 bruised [bru:zd] 5xKz2P   第7级
    [医]青肿的,瘀紫的
    参考例句:
    • his bruised and bloodied nose 他沾满血的青肿的鼻子
    • She had slipped and badly bruised her face. 她滑了一跤,摔得鼻青脸肿。
    6 determined [dɪˈtɜ:mɪnd] duszmP   第7级
    adj.坚定的;有决心的;v.决定;断定(determine的过去分词)
    参考例句:
    • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation. 我已决定毕业后去西藏。
    • He determined to view the rooms behind the office. 他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
    7 canvass [ˈkænvəs] FsHzY   第10级
    vt. 细究;彻底检查;向…拉票或拉生意 vi. 游说;拉选票 n. 讨论;细查;劝诱
    参考例句:
    • Mr. Airey Neave volunteered to set up an organisation to canvass votes. 艾雷·尼夫先生自告奋勇建立了一个拉票组织。
    • I will canvass the floors before I start painting the walls. 开始粉刷墙壁之前,我会详细检查地板。
    8 prod [prɒd] TSdzA   第9级
    vt.戳,刺;刺激,激励
    参考例句:
    • The crisis will prod them to act. 那个危机将刺激他们行动。
    • I shall have to prod him to pay me what he owes. 我将不得不催促他把欠我的钱还给我。
    9 sneak [sni:k] vr2yk   第7级
    vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝);偷偷摸摸做;n.潜行;adj.暗中进行
    参考例句:
    • He raised his spear and sneaked forward. 他提起长矛悄悄地前进。
    • I saw him sneak away from us. 我看见他悄悄地从我们身边走开。
    10 dire [ˈdaɪə(r)] llUz9   第10级
    adj.可怕的,悲惨的,阴惨的,极端的
    参考例句:
    • There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV. 曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
    • We were indeed in dire straits. But we pulled through. 那时我们的困难真是大极了,但是我们渡过了困难。
    11 anticipation [ænˌtɪsɪˈpeɪʃn] iMTyh   第8级
    n.预期,预料,期望
    参考例句:
    • We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival. 我们在车站等着,期待她的到来。
    • The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake. 各种动物都变得焦躁不安,像是感到了地震即将发生。
    12 obligatory [əˈblɪgətri] F5lzC   第8级
    adj.强制性的,义务的,必须的
    参考例句:
    • It is obligatory for us to obey the laws. 我们必须守法。
    • It is obligatory on every citizen to safeguard our great motherland. 保卫我们伟大的祖国是每一个公民应尽的义务。

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