【英语时差8，16】儿子的朋友口腔卫生不佳

 Dear Annie:

My teenage son hangs around with a young lady, "Berta," who seems interested in him. She is a little on the quiet side but seems pleasant and would be pretty if she would only brush her teeth. She has not brushed them in over a year.

Berta's parents have talked to her, my son has talked to her, her girlfriends and sisters have all talked to her, too, but Berta says she does not want to brush and has decided¹ she is just not going to.

I would like to know if there is a type of mental illness that would make her toothbrush phobic. So far, my son is keeping his distance, and he would be embarrassed to have her as a girlfriend. Does she hate herself or feel like she doesn't deserve to have nice teeth? － Seeing GreenDear Seeing Green:

There are myriad² dental phobias. Berta might once have gagged while brushing, she might fear the dentist or worry about damaging her teeth. It's also possible she is deliberately³ trying to repulse⁴ an abuser. Someone (a parent, preferably) should discuss this to determine the cause of her reluctance⁵ and, if it's a phobia, work on techniques to overcome it. If it's abuse, Berta will need to see a therapist. And the police.

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 myriad   

adj.无数的；n.无数，极大数量

参考例句：

• They offered no solution for all our myriad problems.对于我们数不清的问题他们束手无策。
• I had three weeks to make a myriad of arrangements.我花了三个星期做大量准备工作。

3 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

4 repulse   

n.击退，拒绝；vt.逐退，击退，拒绝

参考例句：

• The armed forces were prepared to repulse any attacks.武装部队已作好击退任何进攻的准备。
• After the second repulse,the enemy surrendered.在第二次击退之后，敌人投降了。

5 reluctance   

n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿

参考例句：

• The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
• He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。