第十三篇
The Value of Motherhood
In shopping malls, the assistants try to push you into buying “a gift to thank her for her unselfish love”. When you log onto1a website, a small pop-up2 invites you to book a bouquet for her. Commercial warmth and gratitude are the atmosphere being spread around for this special Sunday in May.
(1) The popularity of Mother's Day around the world suggests that Jarvis got all she wanted. In fact, she got more - enough to make her horrified.
(2) They buy, among other things, 132 million cards. Mother's Day is the No 1 holiday for flower purchases. Then there are the various commodities, ranging from jewelry and clothes to cosmetics and washing powder, that take advantage of the promotion opportunities. Because of this, Jarvis spent the last 40 years of her life trying to stop Mother's Day. One protest against the commercialization of Mother's Day even got her arrested – for disturbing the peace, interestingly.
(3) As Ralph Fevre, a reporter at the UK newspaper The Guardian, observe, traditionally "motherhood is something that we do because we think it's right." But in the logic of commercialism, people need something in exchange for their time and energy. A career serves this purpose better.
(4) So they work hard and play hard. Becoming a mother, however, inevitably handicaps career anticipation.
(5) According to The Guardian, there are twice as many child-free young women as there were a generation ago. Or, they put off the responsibility of parenting until later in their lives.
So, Fevre writes that the meaning of celebrating Mother's Day needs to be updated: "It is to persuade people that parenting is a good idea and to honor people for their attempt to be good people."
詞匯：
motherhood n.母性
website n. 網(wǎng)站
bouquet n. 花束
注釋：
1. log onto 登錄到。log onto a website 登錄到一個(gè)網(wǎng)站。
2. pop-up 彈出式菜單。a small pop-up invites you to book a bouquet for her.一張小的彈出式菜單要你為她訂一束花。
練習(xí)：
A The American version of Mother's Day was thought up as early as 1905, by Anna Jarvis, as a way of recognizing the real value of motherhood.
B But what's more, commercialism changes young people's attitude towards motherhood.
C Obviously, the best girl will be a phone call or a visit.
D According to a research by the US card company Hallmark, 96 percent of Americanconsumers celebrate the holiday.
E As a result, motherhood has suffered a huge drop in status since the 1950s.
F In addition, women are being encouraged to pursue any career they desire. ,
答案與題解：
1. A 第一段主要講籠罩著母親節(jié)的商業(yè)氣氛，如電源讓你買一件禮物送給你的母親，表示你感謝她無(wú)私的愛等。從語(yǔ)氣上可以看出，作者對(duì)用商業(yè)手段表達(dá)母愛是反對(duì)的。第二段的第二個(gè)句子中有Anna Jarvis 這個(gè)人的名字。最后一個(gè)句子是這么說的：In fact, she got more - enough to make her horrified. 事實(shí)上，她得到的還要多，多得使她感到可怕。從內(nèi)容的銜接來看，Anna Jarvis 在前面很可能出現(xiàn)過。在多有的選項(xiàng)中只有A出現(xiàn)了這個(gè)名字，因此A是對(duì)的。
2. D 第三段的第二個(gè)句子中出現(xiàn)card（賀卡）這個(gè)詞。從主題發(fā)展來看，前一句中應(yīng)該出現(xiàn)過這個(gè)詞，并且內(nèi)容更概括。惟有D中出現(xiàn)過這個(gè)詞并且論述概括，主意：主題句的陳述總是一般的，因此選D。
3. B 第三段的主要內(nèi)容是進(jìn)一步講述表現(xiàn)在母親節(jié)中的商業(yè)主義以及人們*母親節(jié)中的商業(yè)主義，包括Anna Jarvis個(gè)人所做的努力。從內(nèi)容上看，第四段是講由于商業(yè)主義的影響人們對(duì)母性，也即為母之道發(fā)生了變化。選項(xiàng)B是合適的，它是該段的主題句。
4. F 第五段是對(duì)第四段主題的進(jìn)一步發(fā)展，因此用F。
5. E 第六段是人們對(duì)為母之道的態(tài)度的變化的總結(jié)，因此用E。
The Value of Motherhood
In shopping malls, the assistants try to push you into buying “a gift to thank her for her unselfish love”. When you log onto1a website, a small pop-up2 invites you to book a bouquet for her. Commercial warmth and gratitude are the atmosphere being spread around for this special Sunday in May.
(1) The popularity of Mother's Day around the world suggests that Jarvis got all she wanted. In fact, she got more - enough to make her horrified.
(2) They buy, among other things, 132 million cards. Mother's Day is the No 1 holiday for flower purchases. Then there are the various commodities, ranging from jewelry and clothes to cosmetics and washing powder, that take advantage of the promotion opportunities. Because of this, Jarvis spent the last 40 years of her life trying to stop Mother's Day. One protest against the commercialization of Mother's Day even got her arrested – for disturbing the peace, interestingly.
(3) As Ralph Fevre, a reporter at the UK newspaper The Guardian, observe, traditionally "motherhood is something that we do because we think it's right." But in the logic of commercialism, people need something in exchange for their time and energy. A career serves this purpose better.
(4) So they work hard and play hard. Becoming a mother, however, inevitably handicaps career anticipation.
(5) According to The Guardian, there are twice as many child-free young women as there were a generation ago. Or, they put off the responsibility of parenting until later in their lives.
So, Fevre writes that the meaning of celebrating Mother's Day needs to be updated: "It is to persuade people that parenting is a good idea and to honor people for their attempt to be good people."
詞匯：
motherhood n.母性
website n. 網(wǎng)站
bouquet n. 花束
注釋：
1. log onto 登錄到。log onto a website 登錄到一個(gè)網(wǎng)站。
2. pop-up 彈出式菜單。a small pop-up invites you to book a bouquet for her.一張小的彈出式菜單要你為她訂一束花。
練習(xí)：
A The American version of Mother's Day was thought up as early as 1905, by Anna Jarvis, as a way of recognizing the real value of motherhood.
B But what's more, commercialism changes young people's attitude towards motherhood.
C Obviously, the best girl will be a phone call or a visit.
D According to a research by the US card company Hallmark, 96 percent of Americanconsumers celebrate the holiday.
E As a result, motherhood has suffered a huge drop in status since the 1950s.
F In addition, women are being encouraged to pursue any career they desire. ,
答案與題解：
1. A 第一段主要講籠罩著母親節(jié)的商業(yè)氣氛，如電源讓你買一件禮物送給你的母親，表示你感謝她無(wú)私的愛等。從語(yǔ)氣上可以看出，作者對(duì)用商業(yè)手段表達(dá)母愛是反對(duì)的。第二段的第二個(gè)句子中有Anna Jarvis 這個(gè)人的名字。最后一個(gè)句子是這么說的：In fact, she got more - enough to make her horrified. 事實(shí)上，她得到的還要多，多得使她感到可怕。從內(nèi)容的銜接來看，Anna Jarvis 在前面很可能出現(xiàn)過。在多有的選項(xiàng)中只有A出現(xiàn)了這個(gè)名字，因此A是對(duì)的。
2. D 第三段的第二個(gè)句子中出現(xiàn)card（賀卡）這個(gè)詞。從主題發(fā)展來看，前一句中應(yīng)該出現(xiàn)過這個(gè)詞，并且內(nèi)容更概括。惟有D中出現(xiàn)過這個(gè)詞并且論述概括，主意：主題句的陳述總是一般的，因此選D。
3. B 第三段的主要內(nèi)容是進(jìn)一步講述表現(xiàn)在母親節(jié)中的商業(yè)主義以及人們*母親節(jié)中的商業(yè)主義，包括Anna Jarvis個(gè)人所做的努力。從內(nèi)容上看，第四段是講由于商業(yè)主義的影響人們對(duì)母性，也即為母之道發(fā)生了變化。選項(xiàng)B是合適的，它是該段的主題句。
4. F 第五段是對(duì)第四段主題的進(jìn)一步發(fā)展，因此用F。
5. E 第六段是人們對(duì)為母之道的態(tài)度的變化的總結(jié)，因此用E。