The answer is so simple: parents who care enough to spend time, and to pay attention and to try their best. It doesn’t cost a cent, yet it is the most valuable thing in the world.
其实答案很简单：父母愿意花时间，愿意关注，愿意尽心尽职。这不要花一分钱，可这却是世间无价之宝。
The train picked up speed, and the father pointed something out, and the boy laughed again, and the answer is so simple.
火车加速了。父亲指着窗外说着什么，儿子直乐。是的，答案就是这么简单。
第三单元 儿童教育
TEXT A
A teacher’s praise and encourage may influence a child greatly, Let’s find out how the teacher in this story helped her student…
教师的赞扬和鼓励可能会对一个孩子产生重大影响。让我们看看这个故事中的教师是如何帮助学生的。
We’re All Here to Learn 我们都是来这儿学习的
―Sixteen,‖ I said. I have forgotten the math question my second? grade teacher, Joyce Cooper, asked that day, but I will never forget my answer. As soon as the number left my mouth, the whole class at Smallwood Elementary School in Norfolk, Va, started laughing. I felt like the stupidest person in the world.
我说：―16。‖我已经不记得我二年级老师乔伊斯·库珀那天问的是什么算术问题，可我永远不会忘记我的回答。那数字一脱口而出，弗吉尼亚州诺福克市斯莫尔伍德小学的全班同学就开始大笑。我觉得我是世界上最愚蠢的人。
Mrs. Cooper fixed them with a severe look. Then she said, ―We’re all here to learn.‖ 乔伊斯·库珀夫人用严厉的目光凝视着他们，然后说：―我们全都是为了学习而来这儿的。‖
Another time, Mrs. Cooper asked us to write a report about what we hoped to do with our lives. I wrote, ―I want to be a teacher like Mrs. Cooper.‖
还有一次，库珀夫人要我们写一篇关于我们希望今后做什么的作文。我写道：―我要成为像库珀夫人那样的教师。‖
She wrote on my report, ―You would make an outstanding teacher because you are determined and you try hard.‖ I was to carry those words in my heart for the next 27 years.
她在我的作业上写道：―你会成为一个杰出的教师，因为你有决心并且非常努力。‖之后的27年里，我心中一直牢牢铭记着她的这些话。
After I graduated from high school in 1976, I married a wonderful man, Ben, a mechanic. Before long, Latonya was born.
1976年我从中学毕业后，跟一个叫本的出色的男人结了婚。他是个机械师。不久，我生下了拉托尼娅。
We needed every dime just to get by. College and teaching was out of the question 为了维持生计，我们需要每一角钱，上大学和教书是不可能的。
.I did, however, wind up with a job in a school --as a janitor’s assistant. I cleaned 17 classrooms at Larrymore Elementary School each day, including Mrs. Cooper’s. She had transferred to Larrymore after Smallwood closed down.
不过，我最后在一所学校找到一份工作——当清洁工。我每天打扫拉里莫尔小学的17间教室，其中包括库珀夫人的教室。斯莫尔伍德小学关闭后她调到了拉里莫尔小学。
I told Mrs. Cooper that I still wanted to teach, and she would repeat the words she had written on my report years earlier. But bills always seemed to get in the way.
我经常对库珀夫人说我仍然想教书，而她总是重复前几年在我作业上写下的那番话。但是，各种开支的账单似乎总是在妨碍我。
Then one day in 1986 I thought of my dream, of how badly I wanted to help children. But to do that I needed to arrive in the mornings, as a teacher -- not in the afternoons to mop up.
1986年的一天，我想起我的梦想，想起我多么想帮助孩子们。但是，要做到这点我必须作为教师在早上来到学校，而不是下午来拖地。
I talked it over with Ben and Latonya, and it was settled: I would enroll at Old Dominion University. For seven years I attended classes in the mornings before work. When I got home from work, I studied. On days I had no classes to attend, I worked as a teaching assistant for Mrs. Cooper.
我跟本和拉托尼娅详细讨论了这个问题，问题得到了解决：我注册了老弗吉尼亚大学。7年来，上班前，我去上课；下班回家后，我学习。没有课的那一天，我担任库珀夫人的教学助理。
On May 8, 1993, my dream day arrived -- graduation. Getting my college degree and state teaching license officially qualified me to be a teacher, but jobs were scrace.
1993年5月8日，是我圆梦的日子——毕业。获得大学学位和州颁发的教学许可证使我正式具备了教书的资格，但是工作缺相当的稀缺。
I interviewed with three schools. At Coleman Place Elementary School, principal Jeanne Tomlinson said, ―Your face looks so familiar.‖ She had worked at Larrymore more than 10 years earlier. I had cleaned her room, and she remembered me.
我去了三所学校面谈。在科尔曼普莱斯小学，校长珍妮·汤姆林森说：―你看起来很面熟。‖10多年前她在拉里莫尔小学工作过。我打扫过她的房间，她记得我。
Still, I had no concrete offers. The call came when I had just signed my 18th contract as a janitor’s assistant. Coleman Place had a job for me teaching fifth grade.
我仍然没有得到具体的答复。在我刚签完第18份担任清洁工的合同时，电话来了。科尔曼普莱斯小学给了我一份教5年级的工作。
Not long after I started, something happened that brought the past rushing back. I had written a sentence full of grammatical errors on the blackboard. Then I asked students to come and correct the mistakes.
就在我任教不久，发生了一件事，使过去一下子回到了眼前。我在黑板上写下一个满是语法错误的句子，然后让学生来修改错误。
One girl got halfway through, became confused and stopped. As the other children laughed, tears rolled down her cheeks.
一个女孩改到一半就糊涂了，她停下了笔。当其他孩子发笑时，泪水淌下她的双颊。
I gave her a hug and told her to get a drink of water. Then, remembering Mrs. Cooper, I fixed the rest of the class with a firm look. ―We’re all here to learn,‖ I said.
我抱了她一下，让她喝点水。这时，我想起了库珀夫人。我以严厉的目光凝视着全班，说道：―我们全都是为了学习而来这儿的。‖
第四单元 代沟
TEXT A
当说话沟通失败的时候，文字让我们心贴心。
我的女儿，我的朋友
我女儿朱莉6岁那年,给牙齿仙女写了封信,把信和牙齿一起放在枕头下。我给她回了 信,告诉她要做个乖女孩,一定要好好刷牙。没料到我们从此开创了一个传统。
朱莉上四年级时就已得出结论,除了欢迎牙齿仙女以外写字条还有其他用途。有一次我们就为什么她不可以买双木屐激烈地争论了一番,事后朱莉写下了这样一个字条:
亲爱的妈妈:
以下是我想要木屐的原因:
1.你很久以来一直想要一双靴子,最后总算到手了; 2,如果木屐伤脚的话,那是我自己的事情;
3,奶奶给我们钱过圣诞节时说,我们可以用它来买任何想要的东西。
爱你的女儿,朱莉
我让步了――由此朱莉领会到了书面语的力量。
在其后数年中,朱莉和我互相交换字条,关于男孩子、家庭作业、打电话和帮忙做家务等方面。有的字条是激烈争吵后的道歉,其他的字条只是将欢快的心绪倾泻在纸上。朱莉上八年级时,她给我写的一张字条作了如下回复:
亲爱的妈妈:
无论我心情如何,你的信都让我感到好极了。有时这些信都让我哭了,因为我被深深地感 动了。尽管我们有争吵,但我非常高兴我们之间能够维系这种书信来往的关系。
. 我爱你,朱莉 又及:对我来说,把自己的感情写下来给你看比试图讲给你听容易多了。
朱莉上中学的第一天,我们就她使用化妆品是否合适的问题发生了激烈的争吵。当天晚 上,我收到了她的一封信。
亲爱的妈妈:
我今天上午态度这么粗暴,真对不起,但我实在是气坏了。你根本没给我一个说话的机 会!如果你至少跟我讨论一下事情,也许我们谈起来就会容易一`点。
1,我以为我是很有责任感的,能够学会适当地给自己化妆,让我俩都满意。
2,我不会像有些朋友那样抹得太浓――我会认真阅读包装上的说明和杂志文章有关使用 化妆品的建议。
3,我渐渐长大了;我想修饰一下容貌,凸显出我的眼睛。 4.给我三个星期的考验时间,试试我化妆的能力如何?
毋庸置疑,从此以后,女儿就开始化妆了。她整个脸庞显得容光焕发,这不仅是由于用了一点点化妆品, 更是源于她所获得的自由感。