Lesson 34 Adolescence

and often are foolish enough to let the adolescents see that they are annoyed.

而且愚蠢地讓孩子看出自己的煩惱。

Lesson 34 Adolescence

They may even accuse them of disloyalty,

他們甚至責(zé)備孩子不忠，

Lesson 34 Adolescence

or make some spiteful remark about the friends' parents.

或者講些小朋友家長(zhǎng)的壞話。

Lesson 34 Adolescence

Such a loss of dignity and descent into childish behaviour on the part of the adults deeply shocks the adolescents,

這種有失身份和孩子氣的作法使青春期的孩子大為震驚，

Lesson 34 Adolescence

and makes them resolve that in future they will not talk to their parents about the places or people they visit.

決心以后不再向父母講述去過(guò)的地方和見(jiàn)過(guò)的人。

Lesson 34 Adolescence

Before very long the parents will be complaining that the child is so secretive and never tells them anything,

不要很久，家長(zhǎng)就會(huì)抱怨孩子守口如瓶，什么事也不告訴他們，

Lesson 34 Adolescence

but they seldom realize that they have brought this on themselves.

殊不知這是他們自找的。

Lesson 34 Adolescence

Disillusionment with the parents,

孩子們對(duì)家長(zhǎng)幻想的破滅

Lesson 34 Adolescence

however good and adequate they may be both as parents and as individuals,

不管家長(zhǎng)的人品有多么好，作為父母又多么合格，

Lesson 34 Adolescence

is to some degree inevitable.

在某種程度上是不可避免的。

Lesson 34 Adolescence

Most children have such a high ideal of their parents,

大多數(shù)孩子對(duì)父母估價(jià)過(guò)高，

Lesson 34 Adolescence

unless the parents themselves have been unsatisfactory,

除非父母自身不能令人滿意，

Lesson 34 Adolescence

that it can hardly hope to stand up to a realistic evaluation.

以致這種估價(jià)很難指望經(jīng)受住現(xiàn)實(shí)的考驗(yàn)。

Lesson 34 Adolescence

Parents would be greatly surprised and deeply touched if they realized how much belief their children usually have in their character and infallibility,

那么家長(zhǎng)會(huì)大為吃驚和深受感動(dòng)的，如果家長(zhǎng)意識(shí)到孩子們通常是多么相信家長(zhǎng)的品行和絕對(duì)正確，

Lesson 34 Adolescence

and how much this faith means to a child.

孩子們的這種信念會(huì)對(duì)孩子產(chǎn)生多么大的影響，

Lesson 34 Adolescence

If parents were prepared for this adolescent reaction,

如果家長(zhǎng)對(duì)青少年的這種反應(yīng)有思想準(zhǔn)備，

Lesson 34 Adolescence

and realized that it was a sign that the child was growing up and developing valuable powers of observation and independent judgment,

并且意識(shí)到這象征著孩子們正在成熟和發(fā)展寶貴的觀察力、獨(dú)立判斷力，

Lesson 34 Adolescence

they would not be so hurt,

那么他們就不會(huì)那樣傷心，

Lesson 34 Adolescence

and therefore would not drive the child into opposition by resenting and resisting it.

也就不會(huì)由于怨恨和抵觸這種反應(yīng)，而把孩子推到自己的對(duì)立面去。

Lesson 34 Adolescence

The adolescent, with his passion for sincerity,

青少年酷愛(ài)真誠(chéng)，

Lesson 34 Adolescence

always respects a parent who admits that he is wrong,

他們總是尊敬的，對(duì)于能夠承認(rèn)錯(cuò)誤或無(wú)知、

Lesson 34 Adolescence

or ignorant, or even that he has been unfair or unjust.

甚至承認(rèn)自己做得不公平或不公正的父母，

Lesson 34 Adolescence

What the child cannot forgive is the parents' refusal to admit these charges if the child knows them to be true.

父母錯(cuò)了，孩子們也看出來(lái)了，可是做父母的還不肯承認(rèn)。

Lesson 34 Adolescence

Victorian parents believed that they kept their dignity by retreating behind an unreasoning authoritarian attitude;

維多利業(yè)時(shí)代的父母認(rèn)為，他們可以靠無(wú)理的權(quán)威氣派來(lái)維護(hù)自己的尊嚴(yán)，

Lesson 34 Adolescence

in fact they did nothing of the kind,

實(shí)際上那是根本不行的。

Lesson 34 Adolescence

but children were then too cowed to let them know how they really felt.

孩子們只不過(guò)被嚇得不敢讓父母知道自己的想法罷了。

Lesson 34 Adolescence

Today we tend to go to the other extreme,

雖然現(xiàn)在我們傾向于走向另一個(gè)極端，

Lesson 34 Adolescence

but on the whole this is a healthier attitude both for the child and the parent.

但總地來(lái)看，孩子和家長(zhǎng)雙方態(tài)度都比較端正。

Lesson 34 Adolescence

It is always wiser and safer to face up to reality,

遇事采取面對(duì)現(xiàn)實(shí)的態(tài)度總是比較明智和穩(wěn)妥的，

Lesson 34 Adolescence

however painful it may be at the moment.

盡管會(huì)有暫時(shí)的痛苦。