VOA标准英语2012--Spock Parenting Book Gets Online Update

Spock Parenting Book Gets Online Update

Books published in electronic form to be read on tablet-sized readers are, in some cases, outstripping¹ sales of conventional hard-copy volumes.
E-books on parenting, for example, are, if not flying off the shelves - since there are no shelves - proving immensely popular with online customers.
Online retailer², Amazon, for instance, lists almost 7,000 parenting-book titles available on its Kindle³ readers.
And the latest is an update of the most famous parenting book of all time. First published 65 years ago, it carries a simple title: Baby and Child Care. Fifty million hard copies in 49 languages have been sold since then - a record beaten only by the Bible.
The book was written by Dr. Benjamin Spock, a New York City pediatrician. It was the first comprehensive volume offering advice about every aspect of medical care and childrearing.
Dr. Spock, who died in 1998 at age 92, also incorporated many of the teachings of the Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud.
Spock reassured⁴ jittery⁵ young parents. “Trust yourself,” he told them in his very first chapter. “You know more than you think you do.”
He continued, “Don’t take too seriously all that the neighbors say. Don’t be overawed by what the experts say. Don’t be afraid to trust your own common sense. Bringing up your child won’t be a complicated job if you take it easy and trust your own instincts.”
The new e-book version includes updates by Cleveland, Ohio, pediatrician Robert Needlman about such topics as autism, learning and reading, and racial diversity.
At a time when many of the thousands of other parenting books on the market zero in on particular theories or specialized⁶ prescriptions⁷ for effective child care, it will be interesting to see how today’s young parents respond to Dr. Spock’s folksy, old-fashioned “trust your own instincts” approach.

1 outstripping   

v.做得比…更好，（在赛跑等中）超过( outstrip的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Demand is outstripping supply. 需求快超过供给了。
• Demand is outstripping current production. 现在需求逐渐超过了生产能力。 来自辞典例句

2 retailer   

n.零售商(人)

参考例句：

• What are the retailer requirements?零售商会有哪些要求呢？
• The retailer has assembled a team in Shanghai to examine the question.这家零售商在上海组建了一支团队研究这个问题。

3 kindle   

v.点燃，着火

参考例句：

• This wood is too wet to kindle.这木柴太湿点不着。
• A small spark was enough to kindle Lily's imagination.一星光花足以点燃莉丽的全部想象力。

4 reassured   

adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The captain's confidence during the storm reassured the passengers. 在风暴中船长的信念使旅客们恢复了信心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The doctor reassured the old lady. 医生叫那位老妇人放心。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 jittery   

adj. 神经过敏的, 战战兢兢的

参考例句：

• However, nothing happened though he continued to feel jittery. 可是，自从拉上这辆车，并没有出什么错儿，虽然他心中嘀嘀咕咕的不安。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• The thirty-six Enterprise divebombers were being squandered in a jittery shot from the hip. 这三十六架“企业号”上的俯冲轰炸机正被孤注一掷。

6 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

7 prescriptions   

药( prescription的名词复数 )； 处方； 开处方； 计划

参考例句：

• The hospital of traditional Chinese medicine installed a computer to fill prescriptions. 中医医院装上了电子计算机来抓药。
• Her main job was filling the doctor's prescriptions. 她的主要工作就是给大夫开的药方配药。