Born a Crime C5: 2017-10-06

Chapter 5: The Second Girl

The Second Girl

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Trevor母亲，家中第二个孩子，middle child，如中国传统家庭文化一样，中间的孩子总不受重视，没那么重要。但如Trevor所言，他母亲：

No one chose her. She did it on her own. She found her way through sheer force of will

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尽管儿时淘气，少年无知，青春叛逆，每个人眼里自己母亲都是一首赞歌。Trevor母亲远见卓识，身束种族隔离之下仍心有自由，钦佩点赞。文中他母亲教我的几点：

一：" Learn from your past and be better because of your past,"  she would say, "but don't cry about your past. Life is full of pain. Let the pain sharpen you, but don't hold on to it. Don't be bitter."

从过去经历学习而变得更好，不畏不悲不弃，活在当下，迈步向前。如若过去艰辛失意，则如Trevor母亲，那般：

Just as she let the past go, she was determined not to repeat it...

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二：She wasn't a burden to anyone and didn't owe anything to anyone.

敬佩而羞愧。自己早已及冠之年仍是父母的负担。从初中到现在，学业为重的老妈总说“等你.......了在帮老妈分担...”实则学习与其他事情并不矛盾，但父母总怕子女分心且希望给其最好。我想，如若想给别人带来什么，首先要如Trevor母亲一样，独自而不成为别人负担。

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三：My mother wanted her child beholden to no fate. She wanted me to be free to go anywhere, do anything, be anyone.

母亲对Trevor的期望，而我也希望自己做到如此。go anywhere：总是被告诫追寻梦想，心有多大舞台才有多大，多读书多见闻，在人生第二次旅行抑或他处拓宽眼界，找到属于自己的舞台。 do anything,  凡是所想都敢尝试，但需在对别人不造成伤害，不给自己造成严重后果前提下。be anyone， 好人坏人，成功失败，或许，最重要的活成自己希望的那个人，抵也是一种成功。

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四：What does the passage mean? What does it mean to you? How do you apply it to your life?

Trevor读书后，母亲都会如此提问他。自己虽做不到如此每日三省，但每次读书学习也应不时提醒，我是在读书，还是只是被书读。有效学习用到实处，而不是无用的自我感动。

最后想说，你有你才能助你成为你自己。

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词汇

There was this sense of the two of us embarking on a grand adventure.

embark on/ upon  短语动词

to start something, especially something new, difficult,or exciting: 开始着手

同义：set about，start，take up，commence

例句：He embarked on a new career as a teacher.

仿写：It's time the government to embark on the environment  project .

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She would quiz me on it. "What does the passage mean?"

Quiz:to give students a short informal test ; questioned by police

同义：exam，test

例句：They are having a quiz now.

仿写：They will have a quiz on this article.

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Neighbors and relatives used to pester my mom.

pester

to annoy someone, especially by asking them manytimes to do something

同义：harass:

例句：She'd been pestered by reporters for days.

仿写：In summer, we are always pestered with mosquitoes.

✏️ pester somebody for something

I can't even walk down the street without being continually pestered for money.

✏️ pester somebody to do something

The kids have been pestering me to buy themnew trainers.

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We obliterated them

Obliterate

①to destroy something completely so that nothing remains: 彻底毁坏，摧毁

同义：destroy

例句：Hiroshima was nearly obliterated by theatomic bomb.

②to remove a thought, feeling, or memory from someone's mind: 清楚

例句：Nothing could obliterate the memory of those tragic events.

③to cover something completely so that it cannotbe seen: 掩盖

例句：Then the fog came down, obliterating everything.

仿写：These coincidences obliterate the fact of this murder.

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