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 onto1 a 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 一 enough to make her horrified.
(2) They buy,among other things,132 million cards.Mother's Day isthe 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 tlie 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 母性 website 網(wǎng)站
bouquet 花束
注釋：
1.log onto:登彔到。log onto a website:登錄到一個網(wǎng)站
2.pop-up:彈出式菜單。例如：....a small pop-up invites you to book a bouquet for her.—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 mote，commercialism changes young people's attitude towards motherhood.
C Obviously，the best gift will be a phone call or a visit.
D According to a research by the US card company Hallmark,96 percent of American consumers 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，如店員讓你買一件禮物送給你的母親，表示你 感謝她無私的愛。從語氣上可以看出，作者對用商業(yè)手段表達(dá)母愛是反對的。第二段的第二個句子中有Anna Jarvis這個人的名字。最后一個句子是這么說的：In fact,she got more — enough to make her horrified.事實上，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。在所有的選項中只有A出現(xiàn)了這個名字，因此A是對的。
2.D 第三段的第二個句子中出現(xiàn)cards (賀卡)這個詞。從主題發(fā)展來看，前一句中應(yīng)該出現(xiàn) 過這個詞，并且內(nèi)容更概括。唯有D中出現(xiàn)過這個詞并且論述概括，注意：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)容是進一步講述表現(xiàn)在母親節(jié)中的商業(yè)化以及人們抗議母親節(jié)中 的商業(yè)化,包括Anna Jarvis個人所做的努力。從內(nèi)容上看，第四段是講由于商業(yè)化的影 響人們對母性,也即為母之道發(fā)生了變化。選項B是合適的，它是該段的主題句。
4.F 第五段是對第四段主題的進一步發(fā)展，因此用F。
5.E 第六段是人們對為母之道的態(tài)度的變化的總結(jié)，因此用E。
譯文：母性的價值
在商場里，售貨員極力地向你推銷：“為了感謝母親無私的愛，為她買束鮮花吧!"當(dāng)你登錄到一個網(wǎng)站的時候，一張小的彈出式菜單要你為她訂一束花。在這個5月份特別的星期天里，到 處洋溢著充滿了商業(yè)化的熱情和感激的氣氛。
美國版的母親節(jié)是在20世紀(jì)50年代被作為確定母性價值的方式由Anna Jarvis提出的�！澳赣H 節(jié)"在全世界的流行表明Jarvis得到了她想要的一切。事實上，她得到的還要多，多得使她感到 可怕。
根據(jù)美國大片公司Hallmark做的一項調(diào)查顯示，有96%的消費者慶賀這一節(jié)日。在各種商品 之中，卡片的銷售量達(dá)到1.32億之多。母親節(jié)的鮮花銷售量在所有節(jié)日當(dāng)中位居第-一。此外，還 有各種各樣其他的商品，從珠寶、衣服到化妝品、冼衣粉，都趁此機會提高銷售量。因此，Jarvis 在她生命的最后40年中一直努力阻止如此慶祝母親節(jié)。然而有趣的是，她在一次抵制母親節(jié)商業(yè) 化的抗議中，竟然以破壞和平的名義被捕。
進一步講，商業(yè)化改變了年輕人對母親節(jié)的態(tài)度。正如英國報紙《守衛(wèi)者》記者Ralph Fevre 評論的一樣，傳統(tǒng)意義上“選擇做母親是因為我們認(rèn)為這是正確的"。但從商業(yè)邏輯看來，人們 需要一些東西來交換為此而付出的時間和精力。一份事業(yè)更適合這個目標(biāo)。
女性被迫追求她們渴望的事業(yè)。因此，他們努力地工作，拼命地玩兒。然而成為一個母親就 不可避免地會阻礙事業(yè)的發(fā)展。
結(jié)果，自20世紀(jì)50年代以來人們?yōu)槟钢雷兓艽�。�?jù)《守衛(wèi)者》報道，當(dāng)今沒有孩子的 年輕女性是上一代人的兩倍。或者她們把做母親的責(zé)任推遲到更晚一些。
于是，F(xiàn)evre寫道，慶祝母親節(jié)的意義需要被更新。“它的意義在于說服人們?nèi)ハ嘈艦槿烁改?是一個崇高的信念，并要尊重有意成為善者的人們�！�
