时尚英语话题 02

　　2 Mom, the Toughest Job in the World
If you know me, you know that I always describe moms as our domestic¹ engineers as having the toughest jobs in the world. They have so many hats to wear, so many balls to juggle², the cleaning, the cooking, the kids education, and on and on.
So the question is does it really have to be the toughest jobs in the world, does it have to be that tough? I think that it can be easier. First of all, dads can help more There is no doubt about that. But you what, I think kids can help more, too. Moms do too much for their kids, they spoil their kids. I think they should be teaching their kids how to clean a little. Why should moms clean up after their kids, if their kids are old enough to do themselves? It does make sense to me. Sure, kids need to study, but they need to clean up after themselves. Spoiling a kid is not going to make the toughest job in the world any easier. If you teach a kid how to clean you are teaching him a great skill, and how to take care of themselves, and how to be more responsible. A wise man once said, give a man a fish, feed him a day, teach a man how to fish, feed him for a lifetime. I agree. Now that I think about it, maybe it wasn’t the mom who came up with this phrase.
Talk about it.
What is your mom like? Do you think being a mom is the toughest job in the world? How do you help your mom every day? What can a dad do the help? What does “give a man a fish, feed him a day, teach a man how to fish, feed him a lifetime” mean to you? What are some other tough jobs? Why are they tough? Does your mom have her own free time? When was the last time she had a vacation, or a day just for your dad? Does your mom spoil you? What does your mother do that you can do yourselves, instead? How do you show appreciation³ to you mother for everything she does for you?

1 domestic   

adj.家里的，国内的，本国的；n.家仆，佣人

参考例句：

• This is domestic news.这是国内新闻。
• She does the domestic affairs every day.她每天都忙家务。

2 juggle   

v.变戏法，纂改，欺骗，同时做；n.玩杂耍，纂改，花招

参考例句：

• If you juggle with your accounts,you'll get into trouble.你要是在帐目上做手脚，你可要遇到麻烦了。
• She had to juggle her job and her children.她得同时兼顾工作和孩子。

3 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。