1.While traveling for various speaking engagements， I frequently stay overnightin the home of a family and am assigned to one of the children''''s bedrooms.——On my speaking tour， I often stay in the house of a family for the night and I am given one of the children''''s bedrooms. 在我应邀到各地演说时，经常在别人过夜，往往被安排到这家孩子的一间卧室。
stay overnight：过夜
eg： Jane''''s parents never allows her to stay overnight at any of her friends''''
简的父母从不容光焕发许她在朋友家过夜。
eg：It was too late， he had to stay overnight at the station.
2. no room for my small toilet kit.没有地方放我那小小洗漱包。
room：
eg： There is enough room in the car for 5 persons.车里有足够的空间坐五个人。
Make room for给……腾地方/空间
eg： Could you please make room for me？你能给我腾个地方吗？
3. And the closet is usually so tightly packed with clothes that I can barely squeeze in my jacket.——The closet is usually so full of clothes that I can hardly put my jacket in .
（1） be packed with 装满了
eg： The box is packed with books. 这个箱子装满了书
eg： The hall was packed with guests.大厅里挤满了人
4.I am not complaining， only making a point. 我并不是抱怨，只是表明一个看法。
（1） complain（of，about）抱怨，申诉
eg：The people in that area often complain about bad weather.那个地区的人们常常抱怨槽糕的天气。
（2） make a one''''s point 发表看法，证明立论
eg： Every one can make their points at the meeting. 每个人都可以发表自己的看法。
make a point of doing决心做，坚持做
5. I think that the tendency to give children an overabundance of toys and clothes is quite common in American families， and I think in far too many families not only do children come to take their parents'''' generosity for granted， but also the effects of this can actually be somewhat harmful to children.…。
the tendency to do 做——的倾向
eg：The conditions in some schools have a tendency to improve.一些学校的条件呈现改善趋势
6. Children can also be overindulged with too many privileges——for example， when parents send a child to an expensive summer camp that parents can''''t really afford.
be overindulged with过分享受到
7 Parents who both hold down full-time jobs may feel guilty about the amount of time they spend away from their children and may attempt to compensate by showering them with material possessions.
（1）hold down a job：有稳定的工作；做好工作以保住饭碗
eg： He is always working hard to hold down his job. 他在努力工作以便保住工作。
（2） feel guilty about对……感到内疚
eg：He felt guilty about spoiling the computer of his friend''''s. 他为弄坏了朋友的电脑感到内疚。
（3） shower sb. with sth. 给某人大量的：
When he returned with victory， our country showered him with great honors.
当他凯旋归来时，国家给了他大量的荣誉。
8. Other parents overindulge because they want their children to have everything they had while growing up， along with those things the parents yearned for but did''''t get.
along with sth. /sb.：除此之外；同样；一起
eg： They got financial aid， along with encouragement.他们得到了资助，也得到了鼓励。
eg： He， along with his best friends， went to the party
9. Overindulgence of a child also happens when parents are unable to stand up to their children''''s unreasonable demands
stand up to 后面一般跟sb.，表示顶住某人要求等
eg：If you stand up to them， they will stop troubling you. 你要是顶住，他们就不会再麻烦你了。
stand up to sth.：（物质或物品）耐磨，耐用
In 1998， the dam stood up to the severest flood in history. 1998年，那个大坝经受了历史上最严重的洪水的考验
10. Such parents vacillate between saying no and giving in——but neither response seems satisfactory to them
vacillate between：（正式）犹疑
eg：She vacillated between her two admirers.在两个追求者之间，她举棋不定。
11 If they refuse a request， they immediately feel a wave of remorse for having been so strict or ungenerous.
wave：波动，高涨
12. If they give in， they feel regret and resentment over having been a pushover.
pushover： someone who is easily influenced or defeated易被劝服（或击败、引诱、欺骗等）的人
eg： He was always trying new medicines and was a pushover for all the advertisements he saw.
他总是在尝试新的药品，看到什么广告他都忍不住要试一试
13. This kind of vacillation not only impairs the parents'''' ability to set limits， it also sours the parent-child relationship to some degree， robbing parents and their children of some of the happiness and mutual respect that should be present in healthy families.…。
impair： to damage sth.or make sth. weaker：
eg： The accident impaired his vision.那次事故损伤了他的视力
14.Instead， the effects of overindulgence can be harmful. Children may， to some degree tbecome greedy， self-centered， ungrateful and insensitive to the needs and feelings of others， beginning with their parents.
to some degree 在某种程度上
eg：I agree to your proposal to some degree.我在一定程度上同意你的建议。
insensitive to：对……感觉迟钝；不敏感；不在乎
eg：Doctors found him insensitive to pain.医生发现他对疼痛不敏感。
15 When children are given too much， it undermines their respect for their parents.
undermine： to make sth./sb. gradually weaker or less effective破坏，毁坏
eg： These incidents could seriously undermine support for the police.
发生这么多事故会严惩影响人们对警察的支持。
16 if they push too hard， they will force their parents into setting limits.
force sb. into doing/to do强迫/迫使某人做某事
He was forced to sell his house to pay off his debts.他被迫卖房子来还债
17. They have fewer opportunities to learn the value of money ，and have less experience in learning to deal with a delay in gratification， it every requested object is given on demand.
have opportunities to do：有机会做的
eg：He had a lot of opportunities to communicate with foreigners when he was at
college.他在大学时，有许多机会与外国人交流。
have experience in doing
eg：He has a lot of experience of dealing with rejects.他有处理退货问题的经验
18. Rather my intent is to help those parents who have already sensed that they might be overindulging their children but don''''t know how to stop——My purpose is to offer some advice some advice to those parents who have somewhat realized that they are overindulging their children but don''''t know how to stop.
rather： adv.（用来修正或补充上文）并非那样，而是…，更确切地说
eg： He seemed pleased to hear the criticism. Or rather， he pretended to be pleased
19. Parents who are fortunate enough not to have a problem with feelings of guilt don''''t need to respond crossly to their children when denying a specific request which is thought to be unreasonable.
have a problem with有问题
20 It''''s the cheerfulness and lack of hesitation that impress upon the child that parents mean what they say.
impress sth. on/upon sb./one''''s mind/memory使某人对……明确无误，使铭记在脑海/记忆中
eg： The manager impressed upon the salesmen the importance of creating new markets.
经理使每个推销员深感到开辟新市场的重要。
21. A cross response signals that the parents are in inner conflict.——When parents reject an unreasonable request angrily， it shows that deep down they are not really sure whether or not they should do so
signal： to make sth. clear使清楚，表明
22. They only begin arguing and pestering when they detect uncertainty or guilt， and sense that their parents can be pushed to give them what they want， if they just keep at it.
push sb. to do /into doing sth.催促，鼓励或逼迫某人做
eg： The boy is a diligent student. His parents never have to push him to do his homework.
那少年是个用功的学生，他的家长根本不需要去催促他做作业
23.But the truth is that a child really wants parents to be in control and to act with conviction in a kind and loving fashion.
conviction： very firm opinion and belief深信，确信
He was a man of strong conviction.他是一个信仰坚定的人。
24. In fact， I''''ll make a rash statement that I believe is true， by and large Children will abide by what their parents sincerely believe is right.
by and large：大体上，基本上，总的说来
eg：By and large， he has been doing well. 总体上看，他还算是表现很好
abide by遵守（法律，决定），信守（诺言）
eg：The spokesman of the Tax Bureau impressed upon all businessmen and businesswomen that they must abide by the new tax regulation.税务局的发言人让所有的商人明白他们必须遵守新的税务规定。
25. But the truth is that a child really wants parents to be in control ……
be in control of： to direct， manage or rule负责，指挥
eg：Who is in control of the project？谁负责这项工程？
26. ……a kind and loving fashion.
fashion：a way of doing things方法，方式
eg： Don''''t speak to me in that fashion.不要用那种方式同我讲话。
27.practice responding to your children''''s requests in a prompt， definite
prompt， without delay 即刻的，马上的，不拖延
definite，确定的，不模棱两可的
30. Once you turn over a new leaf you can''''t expect to change completely right away
turn over a new leaf： become a better person.改过自新
22. You are bound to vacillate at times.——You are sure to hesitate sometimes between saying yes or no to your children''''s unreasonable demands.
Be bound to do： be certain to do肯定
eg： The weather is bound to improve in a day or two……会一两天后天气肯定会好转。
23. The key is to be satisfied with gradual improvement， expecting and accepting the occasional slips that come with any change.
be satisfied with 满意
eg：Children are not easily satisfied nowadays. The more you give them， the more they want.
现在要让孩子们满意可不容易。给他们的越多，他们的欲望也就越多。
occasional slips：偶尔偏离你的正确做法
31. For a while they''''ll keep on applying the old pressures
Keep on doing：不停地做，反复做
eg：His children kept on pestering him with homework questions while he was working on a book.
他在写书时孩子们不断地来打扰他问他问题。
