《英语流行话题阅读:语境识词4500》67 Some Kids Are Orchids

　　Unit 67
Some Kids Are Orchids¹
Most of us think we know the kind of kid who becomes a killer², and most of the time we are right. Boys commit about 85% of all youth homicides, and in those cases about 90% conform to a pattern in which the line from bad parenting and bad environment is usually clear. Through my work, I see these boys in the courtroom and in prison with depressing regularity³. Their lives start with abuse, neglect and emotional deprivation⁴ at home. Add the effects of racism⁵, poverty, and the drug and gang cultures, and it is not surprising that in a violent society like ours, damaged children become deadly teens.
But what about the other 10% of kids who kill: the boys who have loving parents and are not poor? What about smart privileged boys like Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris who killed over a dozen schoolmates in Columbine School? Are their parents to blame when these kids become killers⁶? I have learned as a researcher in youth homicide cases that the answer is usually no.
Most children are like dandelions; they thrive if given half a chance. Some are more like orchids. They do fine while young enough to be nurtured⁷ by loving parents, but wilt⁸ as adolescents subjected to peer competition, bullying⁹ and rejection¹⁰, particularly in big high schools. Research shows that while most fragile children do fine in early childhood, 50% have significant adjustment problems once they enter adolescence¹¹. Then children respond to the influence of peers and the larger culture in the neighborhood and the nation. The US youth homicide rate is about 10 times higher than in Canada.
The "normal" culture of adolescence today contains elements that are so nasty that it becomes hard for parents and teachers to distinguish what in a teenager's talk, dress and taste in music, films and video games indicate psychological trouble and what is simply a sign of the times. Most kids who adopt the Mafia lifestyle, or have multiple body piercings, or listen to savage¹² music, or play the video game Doom¹³ are normal kids caught in a toxic¹⁴ culture.
Intelligent kids with good social skills can be quite skillful at hiding who they really are from their parents. They may do this to avoid punishment, to escape being identified as "crazy", or to protect the parents they love from being disappointed or worried. Klebold successfully hid his inner turmoil¹⁵ from his loving parents. Anyway, how many parents are capable of thinking the worst of their son -- for example, that he has murderous fantasies, or that he could go so far as to acting¹⁶ them out? Even if parents know their child as an individual, they may not understand what he is capable of when in company of another boy. Though it appears from public accounts that Harris was more prone¹⁷ t violence than Klebold, neither kid was likely to go on this killing¹⁸ rampage alone.
I think many of us are too ready to blame good parents for how their children cope with a violent and coarse society. Even loving, attentive¹⁹ parents can lose children who are temperamentally vulnerable -- if they develop a secret life, get caught up in the dark side of the culture and form dangerous peer alliances. And that's the scary part for any parent to acknowledge.

1 orchids   

n.兰花( orchid的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Wild flowers such as orchids and primroses are becoming rare. 兰花和报春花这类野花越来越稀少了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She breeds orchids in her greenhouse. 她在温室里培育兰花。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

3 regularity   

n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐

参考例句：

• The idea is to maintain the regularity of the heartbeat.问题就是要维持心跳的规律性。
• He exercised with a regularity that amazed us.他锻炼的规律程度令我们非常惊讶。

4 deprivation   

n.匮乏；丧失；夺去，贫困

参考例句：

• Many studies make it clear that sleep deprivation is dangerous.多实验都证实了睡眠被剥夺是危险的。
• Missing the holiday was a great deprivation.错过假日是极大的损失。

5 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

6 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

7 nurtured   

养育( nurture的过去式和过去分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长

参考例句：

• She is looking fondly at the plants he had nurtured. 她深情地看着他培育的植物。
• Any latter-day Einstein would still be spotted and nurtured. 任何一个未来的爱因斯坦都会被发现并受到培养。

8 wilt   

v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱

参考例句：

• Golden roses do not wilt and will never need to be watered.金色的玫瑰不枯萎绝也不需要浇水。
• Several sleepless nights made him wilt.数个不眠之夜使他憔悴。

9 bullying   

v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈

参考例句：

• Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
• All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

11 adolescence   

n.青春期，青少年

参考例句：

• Adolescence is the process of going from childhood to maturity.青春期是从少年到成年的过渡期。
• The film is about the trials and tribulations of adolescence.这部电影讲述了青春期的麻烦和苦恼。

12 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

13 doom   

n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定

参考例句：

• The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
• The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。

14 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

15 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

16 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

17 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

18 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

19 attentive   

adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的

参考例句：

• She was very attentive to her guests.她对客人招待得十分周到。
• The speaker likes to have an attentive audience.演讲者喜欢注意力集中的听众。