向前一步:第155期 让你的另一半成为你真正的人生搭档(13)

 　　It takes continual communication, honesty, and a lot of forgiveness to maintain a rickety balance. 要维护这样一种脆弱的平衡，需要不停地沟通，保持坦诚和宽容。

　　We are never at fifty-fifty at any given moment—perfect equality is hard to define or sustain—but we allow the pendulum¹ to swing back and forth² between us. 我们绝不是在任何时候都刻意将家务对半分担，完全的平等是很难定义或维持的，我们允许情况偶尔有所偏向。

　　In the coming years, our balancing act may get harder. 在此后几年里，维护这种平衡变得越来越难。

　　Our children are still young and go to sleep early, 孩子小的时候睡得早，

　　which gives me plenty of time to work at night and even to watch what Dave considers to be truly bad TV. 因此我也能在晚上有一些工作时间，甚至还能看看戴夫认为很糟糕的电视节目。

　　As the kids get older, we will have to adjust. 孩子们渐渐长大了，我们不得不进行调整。

　　Many of my friends have told me that teenage children require more time from their parents. 许多朋友告诉我，青春期的孩子需要父母更多陪伴。

　　Every stage of life has its challenges. 人生的每个阶段都有它的挑战，

　　Fortunately, I have Dave to figure it out with me. 幸运的是，我有戴夫陪着我一起去应对，

　　He's the best partner I could imagine—even though he's wrong about my TV shows being bad. 他绝对是我所能想象的最好搭档——就算他对我看的电视节目偶有偏见。

　　Having a true partner like Dave is still far too rare. 像戴夫这样的搭档实属罕见。

　　While we expect women to be nurturing³, we don't have the same expectations of men. 人们通常期望养育孩子的是女人，对男人却没有相同的期望。

　　My brother, David, once told me about a colleague who bragged⁴ about playing soccer the afternoon that his first child was born. 我的弟弟戴维告诉我，他的一个同事曾夸耀说，他第一个孩子出生的那天下午他正在踢球。

　　To David's credit, instead of nodding and smiling, he spoke⁵ up and explained that he didn't think that was either cool or impressive. 戴维的反应值得称赞，他没有点头微笑，而是大声说他觉得这样做没什么值得炫耀的。

　　This opinion needs to be voiced loudly and repeatedly on soccer fields, in workplaces, and in homes. 不管是在球场、职场，还是在家里，我们都应该大声地表达出这样的意见。

1 pendulum   

n.摆，钟摆

参考例句：

• The pendulum swung slowly to and fro.钟摆在慢慢地来回摆动。
• He accidentally found that the desk clock did not swing its pendulum.他无意中发现座钟不摇摆了。

2 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

3 nurturing   

养育( nurture的现在分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长

参考例句：

• These delicate plants need careful nurturing. 这些幼嫩的植物需要精心培育。
• The modern conservatory is not an environment for nurturing plants. 这个现代化温室的环境不适合培育植物。

4 bragged   

v.自夸，吹嘘( brag的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He bragged to his friends about the crime. 他向朋友炫耀他的罪行。
• Mary bragged that she could run faster than Jack. 玛丽夸口说她比杰克跑得快。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。