英語聽力小短文走遍全世界31:每個小姑娘都得是公主嗎？

英語聽力原文：

Even though women continue to advance in American society, many little girls still get stuck in a world of fairytale princesses and frilly pink dresses. That does not sit well with journalist Peggy Orenstein, who mused about her young daughter's obsession with Disney princesses and predilection for the color pink in a New York Times Magazine essay.

在美國社會，雖然婦女們繼續(xù)取得進步，可是小姑娘們?nèi)匀缓苋菀酌詰儆谕捓锏墓骱头奂t百褶裙。新聞記者佩姬·歐倫史坦不喜歡這種現(xiàn)狀，她在紐約時報雜志一篇文章里探討了她小女兒對迪斯尼童話中公主的迷戀和對粉紅色的偏愛。

She reflects on the overwhelming emphasis on this stereotyped ideal for girls in a new book, "Cinderella Ate My daughter." Orenstein is at war with what she describes as our hyper-feminized girlie-girl consumer culture.

她在一本名為《灰姑娘吃掉了我女兒》的新書中，探討人們?yōu)槭裁茨敲磸娬{(diào)女孩兒這種程序化了的幻想。歐倫史坦在跟她所說的過度女性化的嬌嬌女女孩消費文化開戰(zhàn)。

"What is marketed to girls is this idea of pink and pretty. It fuses the idea of appearance with innocence,she and then presents the interest in appearance as being evidence of their innocence," she says.

她說：“向女孩推銷的是這個粉紅和可愛的觀念，一種天真無邪的樣子。于是女孩兒們就去追求一種證明她們天真的外貌。”

"But what's happening is that girls are emphasizing the way they look more and more. So, we're talking about makeup and provocative dresses and all of that kind of things."

“結(jié)果是，女孩們越來越看重自己的相貌。所以，我們就在談?wù)摶瘖y和具有挑逗性的服飾，諸如此類的東西。”

"The American Psychological Association put out a report a couple of years ago that said that an early over-emphasis on appearance and play-sexiness can create a vulnerability in girls to the sorts of issues that we as parents worry about such as negative body image, eating disorders, depression and poor sexual choices," she says.

她說：“美國心理學會兩三年前公布過一份報告說，早期過分強調(diào)相貌和性感容易使女孩在我們家長擔心的那種事情上受到了傷害，比如對身體的負面看法、飲食絮亂、憂郁和性行為方面糟糕的選擇。”

"The American Academy of Pediatrics just put out a warning to tis member physicians to be more on guard for signs of eating disorders in children under 12 because they've been on the rise and under diagnosed."

“美國兒科學會剛剛對會員醫(yī)生發(fā)出一個警告，要他們注意12歲以下孩子飲食絮亂的現(xiàn)象，因為這種情況有上升趨勢，但卻很少被診斷出來。”

When girls define themselves by how they appear to others rather than by how they feel internally, Orenstein says, it sets them up for disappointment.

歐倫史坦指出，當女孩們以她們在別人眼中相貌如何而不是以他們內(nèi)心如何感受來定義自己的時候，她們會因為失望而不安。

At the same time, Orenstein also says parents have the power to raise healthy, self-confident daughters. They can provide positive alternatives that counter the influence of the media to buy certain products and look a certain way.

同時，歐倫史坦也認為，家長們是有能力培養(yǎng)出健康、自信的女兒的。他們能夠提供正面的東西，來反制鼓動人們買某些產(chǎn)品和裝扮成某種樣子的媒體影響。

"It's not good enough just to say ‘no’ to the things coming at you. You have to find other things that are out there that you can say ‘yes’to, that are fun and joyfully connect your daughter to being a girl, that can broaden and enhance and create options for your daughter and how she defines herself as a girl."

她說：“向沖著你來的東西說‘不’是不夠的。你還得找到你可以說‘是’的東西來，即那些有趣而且能把你的女兒愉快地跟做女孩聯(lián)系起來的東西，讓她有更多更好的選擇。”

英語詞匯整理：

1. fairytale adj. 童話式的;童話中才有的

eg: Have you seen those amazing buildings that look like fairytale castles?

你看到那些像童話城堡一樣的壯觀建筑了么?

短語：

fairytale success 出人意料的好結(jié)果

fairytale town 童話城;童話村

fairytale Records 出版者

2. frilly adj. 鑲褶邊的;多飾邊的

eg: The little girl wore a frilly party dress.

那個小女孩穿著一件有飾邊的社交禮服。

短語：

frilly chair 餐椅

frilly mushrooms 褶邊蘑菇

frilly lilly 一份香甜的禮物

3. muse vt. 沉思

eg: She has mused that question once more.

她已經(jīng)又一次仔細思考了那個問題。

短語：

muse on 沉思，默想

muse over 沉思，冥想，緬懷

4. obsession n. 強迫觀念;癡迷

eg: She would try to forget her obsession with Christopher.

她會試圖忘掉她對克里斯托弗的迷戀。

短語：

obsessional neurosis 強迫性神經(jīng)官能癥，強迫性神經(jīng)機能病

unhealthy obsession 走火入魔

child obsession 兒童強迫癥

5. predilection n. 偏愛，嗜好

eg: He has a predilection for rich food.

他偏好油膩的食物。

短語：

have a predilection for... 特別愛好……

predilection delectable 令人傷心悅目的

6. overwhelming adj. 壓倒性的;勢不可擋的

eg: Our football team has won an overwhelming victory.

我們的足球隊取得了壓倒性的勝利。

短語：

overwhelming superiority 絕對優(yōu)勢

overwhelming majority 壓倒性多數(shù)

overwhelming odds 壓倒性勝算

overwhelming Power 抗拒之力

7. provocative adj. 刺激的，挑撥的

eg: She said nothing particularly provocative.

她沒有說過特別夠刺激性的話。

短語：

provocative factor 激發(fā)因子

provocative dose 激發(fā)劑量

provocative implications 挑釁性的影響;挑釁問題

8. vulnerability n. 易損性;弱點

eg: They complain that big firms in rich countries are exploiting their vulnerability.

他們抱怨，富裕國家的大公司正在利用他們的弱點。

短語：

vulnerability analysis 脆弱性分析;弱點分析

social vulnerability 社會脆弱性

target vulnerability 目標脆弱性;目標要害

fiscal vulnerability 財政脆弱度

9. depression n. 沮喪;憂愁

eg: I slid into a depression and became morbidly fascinated with death.

我陷入消沉，開始對死亡有種病態(tài)的迷戀。

短語：

fall into a (deep)depression 變得意志消沉，精神沮喪

ground depression 地面塌陷

secondary depression 副低壓;副低氣壓

10. diagnose vt. 診斷;斷定

eg: The doctor diagnosed the illness as influenza.

醫(yī)生診斷此病為流行感冒。

短語：

diagnose with 確診患有

diagnose disease 診斷疾病

prenatal diagnose 產(chǎn)前

11. internally adv. 內(nèi)部地;國內(nèi)地

eg: The state is not a unified and internally coherent entity.

該國不是一個統(tǒng)一的、內(nèi)部團結(jié)的實體。

短語：

internally focused 以內(nèi)部為焦點

internally controlled 內(nèi)控的

12. enhance vt. 提高;增加

eg: The White House is eager to protect and enhance that reputation.

白宮急于保護并提高那聲望。

短語：

enhance one's vigilance 提高警惕

enhance damage 增強傷害

佳句采摘：

The American Psychological Association pput out a report a couple of years ago that said that an early over-emphasis on appearance and play-sexiness can create a vulnerability in girls to the sorts of issues that we as parents worry about such as negative body image, eating disorders, depression and poor sexual choices

美國心理使學會兩三年前公布過一份報告說，早期過分強調(diào)相貌和性感容易女孩在我們家長擔心的那種事情上受到傷害，比如對身體的負面看法、飲食絮亂、憂郁和性行為方面糟糕的選擇。