曲宇

I had the meanest（最刻薄的）mother in the world. While other kids ate candy for breakfast， I had to have cereal（谷類食物）and eggs. When others had Coke and candy for lunch， I had to eat a sandwich. But at least I wasn’t alone. My sister and two brothers had the same mean mother as I did.

My mother knew where we were at all times. She knew who our friends were.

We had to wear clean clothes and take a bath every day. The other kids got to wear the same clothes days.

We had to be in bed by 9：00 pm and up at 8：00 am. We couldn’t sleep till noon like our friends. So while they slept， our mother gave us work to do. We had to wash dishes， make beds and learn to cook. I was sure she lay awake at night thinking up mean things to do to us.

Through the years， things didn’t improve a bit. We could not lie in bed “sick” like our friends did in order to miss school.

My mother was the meanest mother. Out of four children， a couple of us went on to higher education. None of us had ever done bad things. She forced us to grow up into educated and honest people. I was trying to raise my children like this. I would feel proud when my children call me mean， because， you saw， I was so glad I had the meanest mother in the whole world.

精彩譯文：

我有世界上最刻薄的母親

我有世界上最刻薄的母親。當其他孩子早餐吃糖果時，我不得不吃谷類食品和雞蛋。當別人午飯喝可樂吃糖果時，我不得不吃三明治。但至少我不是一個人這樣，我姐姐和兩個哥哥同我一樣擁有這個刻薄的母親。

我媽媽知道我們一直在哪里。她知道我們的朋友是誰。

我們必須每天穿干凈的衣服，每天必須洗澡。其他孩子每天都穿同樣的衣服。

我們必須在晚上9點上床睡覺，早上8點起床。我們不能像朋友一樣睡到中午。所以當他們睡覺的時候，媽媽讓我們干活。我們不得不洗碗、鋪床和學做飯。我肯定她晚上睡不著覺，想著要對我們做些刻薄的事。

這些年來，情況沒有一點好轉(zhuǎn)。我們不能像我們的朋友那樣假裝“生病”躺在床上，就可以不去上學。

我母親是最刻薄的母親。我們4個孩子中，有一對繼續(xù)接受高等教育。我們中沒有人做過壞事。她強迫我們成長為受過教育和誠實的人。我正試著這樣撫養(yǎng)我的孩子。當我的孩子們說我刻薄的時候，我會感到驕傲。因為，你看，我很高興我有世界上最刻薄的母親。

小練習：

1. What does the underlined sentence “But at least I wasn’t alone” in paragraph 1 mean？

A. The writer’s mother was only mean to her.

B. The writer’s sister and brothers were mean to her as well.

C. The writer’s mother was also mean to her sister and brothers.

2. The writer was not allowed to as a child.

A. eat as much candy as she wanted

B. go to bed and get up at fixed times

C. change clothes or take a shower every day

3. The writer’s mother was hard on her children because she wanted them .

A. to receive a high education

B. to become mean people like her

C. to be educated and honest people

4. How does the writer feel about her mother at last？

A. Regretful. B. Thankful. C. Worried.

5. What’s the best title for the text besides the given one？

A. Life with My Mean Mom

B. A Strict Mom and Her Family

C. How to Raise Good Children

答案：1. C 2. A 3. C 4. B 5. A