作者：大妮子

　　本课您将学到：turn(转折点)，句型increase…decrease(……增多……减少)

　　当女孩不再满足于模仿母亲时，昔日的"乖乖女"既已长大成人，母女关系亦平添了不同的含义。

　　When a girl is 3-4 years old they love to "dress up"(打扮) in their mothers' clothes, put on their mothers' makeup(化妆品), and do whatever else their mother does. This is the time when she can be classified(分类) as being a "mama's girl". Often when a girl enters high school her behavior(行为、举止) changes as well as her physical appearance(外貌). This is the time that the mother-daughter relationship can take a turn.

　　When the daughter starts wearing revealing(暴露的) clothing, dating, and just wanting to be more independent, a mother starts to feel left out(遗漏), or not needed. The number of arguments(争吵) increases, and the number of times when the mother and daughter get along happily decreases.

　　When it seems too hard to handle(处理), take some quiet time and write out your feelings. Maybe at another time, you can share them with your mother and try to find a way to better(改善) your relationship as mother and daughter.

　　在三、四岁时，女孩子经常喜欢装扮成“妈妈”：穿妈妈的衣服，("dress up" in their mothers' clothes)用妈妈的化妆品，(put on their mothers' makeup)学做妈妈做的各种事情。(do whatever else their mother does)这个时期，她们是“妈妈的乖乖女”。(This is the time when she can be classified as being a "mama's girl".)通常女孩子到了高中阶段，(high school)外貌、举止就会改变。(her behavior changes as well as her physical appearance)就是在这种时候，母女关系(the mother-daughter relationship)可能朝另一种方向发展。(take a turn)

　　Turn在这里有“转折点”的意思。它的本意是The place where one road goes in a different direction from another“转弯处”，引申到实际生活中，就有了“事情开始发生变化的起点”的含义，所以the turn of the century意思就是“世纪之初”the beginning of the century的意思。

　　此外，我们还经常用take a turn for the better来表达“情况好转”的意思，这里的情况可以是经济情况、身体状况等。比如：

　　As soon as she started taking the medication, she took a turn for the better.

　　她一开始接受药物治疗，病情就开始好转。

　　相应地，如果情况变坏了，就要说take a turn for the worse。母女关系发生变化，这个turn到底是好是坏，不能一概而论，所以文中巧妙的回避了这个话题，只是说the mother-daughter relationship can take a turn。

　　女儿开始穿暴露的衣服，(wearing revealing clothing)与男孩子约会，(dating)想为自己争取独立。(wanting to be more independent)这时，妈妈会感到自己被遗忘，(a mother starts to feel left out)不再被需要。(not needed)双方的争吵越来越多，(number of arguments increases)而相处融洽的时间越来越少。(the number of times when the mother and daughter get along happily decreases)

　　“时间”是不可数的，为什么这段却用times来表达呢？其实，这里的time是“次”的意思，一次就是a time，两次two times或twice，而the number of times就是“次数”，when the mother and daughter get along happily的times减少了，也就是彼此融洽相处的时间少了，所以这意译为“相处融洽的时间越来越少”。

　　当矛盾暂时无法解决时，(it seems too hard to handle)静下心仔细考虑，(take some quiet time)把你的心情记录下来。(and write out your feelings)也许有一天，(Maybe at another time)你可以和妈妈一起看看，(share them with your mother)共同努力找到改善你们关系的办法。(try to find a way to better your relationship as mother and daughter)

　　…increase, and…decrease

　　……越来越多，……越来越少/……不断增加……不断减少

　　这个句型用于表述同时发生的截然相反的情况，increase和decrease都是很具动态感的词，虽然时态是一般现在时，但给人一种情势不断变化的感觉，就像我们文中的句子，让我们再读读，一起体会一下：

　　The number of arguments increases, and the number of times when the mother and daughter get along happily decreases.

　　一方面The number of arguments不断增加，一方面the number of times when the mother and daughter get along happily不断减少，是不是很生动地表现出了母女之间的矛盾日益加深、关系逐渐恶化的状况。

　　现在，我们也来试试用这两个词来描述一下人类面对的世界性难题——人口问题：

　　From this research, we can find that the life expectancy increases nearly 20 years and the infant mortality decreases greatly.

　　从这项研究中，我们发现在过去的近20年中，人类的平均寿命不断增加而婴儿死亡率却在不断下降。(是不是有点人满为患的紧迫感呢？)

　　当然，这个句型也可以用于仅做客观的陈述或评价，比如下面这位经济学教授就是这样告诉学生的：

　　The law of demand states that when the price of a commodity increases, the quantity demanded decreases.

　　供求的规律指出当商品价格提高，需求量就会减少。

　　今天的节目里，我们讲了turn(转折点)的用法和increase…decrease句型的用法，希望大家年龄increases，烦恼decreases。我们下次再见！

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