向前一步:第148期 让你的另一半成为你真正的人生搭档(6)

 　　"A sandwich, carrot sticks, a cut-up apple, pretzels, and a cookie," Scott said. “一个三明治，几根胡萝卜条，一只苹果，椒盐饼干还有曲奇饼。”

　　He hung up smiling and explained that his wife was asking what she should put in the kids' lunch boxes. 挂了电话后他笑着解释，他的妻子在问孩子的午餐盒里应该放些什么。

　　Everyone laughed. A few months later, Scott was back east with the same work colleagues. They were in a cab late that morning when Scott's phone rang. 所有人都哈哈大笑。几个月后的一个早晨，斯科特的电话又响了。

　　His team listened in disbelief as he patiently repeated the lunch list all over again: "A sandwich, carrot sticks, a cut-up apple, pretzels, and a cookie." 同事们简直难以置信，因为斯科特又耐心地重复回答了妻子的同一个问题：“一个三明治，几根胡萝卜条，一只苹果，椒盐饼干还有曲奇饼。”

　　When Scott tells this story, it's sweet and funny. 斯科特的这个故事听上去既甜蜜又有趣，

　　But take this same story and switch the genders¹ and it loses its charm². 但如果把里面的性别角色颠倒一下，可就没这么有意思了。

　　That's just reality for most couples. 对大多数夫妇来说，这就是现实生活。

　　Scott and Katie buck³ expectations with their division of household duties. 在家务劳动的分工上，斯科特和凯蒂也和传统观点相左。

　　There's an epilogue to their story. 这个故事还有尾声。

　　Scott went on a third trip and discovered that Katie forgot to make the kids' lunches altogether. 斯科特第三次出差时，凯蒂完全忘记了给孩子做午餐，

　　She realized her slipup midmorning and solved the problem by having a pizza delivered to the school cafeteria. 于是赶紧订了比萨送到学校以作弥补。

　　Their kids were thrilled, but Scott was not. 孩子们兴奋不已，斯科特可没有。

　　Now when he travels, he packs lunches in advance and leaves notes with specific instructions for his wife. 现在，每当他要出差时，都会提前把孩子的午餐盒准备好，再给妻子留下详细的指导便条。

　　There may be an evolutionary⁴ basis for one parent knowing better what to put in a child's lunch. 对于给孩子准备什么午餐，父母双方总有一个人更清楚，这大概可用进化论做基础。

　　Women who breast-feed are arguably baby's first lunch box. 母亲必须给孩子喂奶，所以称得上是孩子的第一个“午餐盒”。

1 genders   

n.性某些语言的（阳性、阴性和中性，不同的性有不同的词尾等）( gender的名词复数 )；性别；某些语言的（名词、代词和形容词）性的区分

参考例句：

• There are three genders in German: masculine, feminine and neuter. 德语中有叁性：阳性、阴性和中性。 来自辞典例句
• Japan was fourth among the genders of foreign students. 日本在二十个留美学生输送地中列第四位。 来自互联网

2 charm   

vt.使着迷，使陶醉；n.招人喜欢之处，魅力

参考例句：

• With all imperfections the short play has a real charm.尽管有不少缺欠，这出小戏仍颇具魅力。
• He could resist her charm no longer.他再也抗拒不住她的魅力。

3 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

4 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。