【英语时差8,16】男友家人入侵我们公寓

Dear Annie:

I live with my boyfriend, "Mike," in a very small apartment. Last month, his mother and 14-year-old sister moved in. They had nowhere else to go.

His mom has no money and nothing to contribute except for some food stamps, which keep the pantries slightly stocked¹. When we buy food, we have to buy enough for four.

We have no idea when she will be able to move out. Our electric bill has doubled and we are paying a lot more for water. Mike and I are having trouble making ends meet, and I don't sense much effort on his mother's part to find work. She is only looking for a specific type of job.

This is taking a toll² on our relationship. How do we tell her to just take any job she can get and move out? － Squished

Dear Squished:

You can't tell her anything. Mike has to do it. Mike needs to give Mom a deadline for getting a job (perhaps three months), making it clear that if she cannot find one in her particular field by then, she must take whatever allows her to pay rent. She should not be freeloading. However, Mike may be unwilling³ to stick with such an ultimatum⁴, so consider moving out until this resolves⁵ itself.

 

1 stocked   

vt.提供货物（stock的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The shop is well stocked with goods of all kinds. 商店里各色货物，一应俱全。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He stocked his shop with tinned goods. 他为自己的商店补充罐装食品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

3 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

4 ultimatum   

n.最后通牒

参考例句：

• This time the proposal was couched as an ultimatum.这一次该提议是以最后通牒的形式提出来的。
• The cabinet met today to discuss how to respond to the ultimatum.内阁今天开会商量如何应对这道最后通牒。

5 resolves   

n.决意，决定( resolve的名词复数 )；（会议等的）决议v.决定，决心( resolve的第三人称单数 )；解决（问题、疑问。、困难等）；分解；（指委员会或集会）表决

参考例句：

• This chemical resolves when distilled at a high temperature. 这种化学品在高温下蒸馏就会分解。 来自辞典例句
• This mixture resolves into two substances. 这混合物会分解成两种物质。 来自辞典例句