英语访谈对话 371 Being a Grandmother

 　　Adrienne: So, Vivian, you have grandchildren¹!

　　Vivian: I have two lovely granddaughters.

　　Adrienne: Granddaughters! What's it like being a grandma?

　　Vivian: It is a second chance on life because of when you are raising children as a young person you get caught up in the daily world, but with grandchildren it's all fun. I don't have to do this, or I don't have to do that, and when I get tired I can send them home to their parents.

　　Adrienne: Right, that's the best part, right? So what else is different about being a mother versus² being a grandmother?

　　Vivian: Being a mother you are totally responsible³ for your child. You are trying to raise them the best you know how to raise them and you're young and everything that you do you know that will be picked up by your child but when you have grandchildren that duty is up to their parents so I don't feel that I have to really teach them anything. I have to continue the teaching⁴ of their parents.

　　Adrienne: So you get to do all the fun stuff⁵ now that you're a grandma?

　　Vivian: Yes, it really is fun. They take you by the hand, and take you to the store and point out everything in the world that mom and dad will not give them and it really costs you a lot of money sometimes, unless, you do put your foot down and say, ”NO!”

　　Adrienne: So being a grandma is more expensive that being a parent?

　　Vivian: Absolutely, but it's a lot more fun because at this stage of life you have a little bit more money than you had when you were raising your child.

　　Adrienne: I see. That's great.

1 grandchildren   

n.孙子；孙（女），外孙（女）( grandchild的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He left a bequest to each of his grandchildren. 他给他的孙辈每人留下一笔遗产。
• His grandchildren afforded him his greatest pleasure in his old age. 他的孙子和孙女们在晚年的时候给了他最大的欢乐。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

3 responsible   

adj.有责任的，应负责的；可靠的，可信赖的；责任重大的；vi.休息，睡；静止，停止

参考例句：

• He must be responsible to me for this matter.这件事他必须对我负责。
• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。

4 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

5 stuff   

n.原料，材料，东西；vt.填满；吃饱

参考例句：

• We could supply you with the stuff in the raw tomorrow.明天我们可以供应你原材料。
• He is not the stuff.他不是这个材料。