学位英语

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. ”

词汇：

motherhood 母性 website 网站

bouquet 花束

注释：

1.log onto:登彔到。log onto a website:登录到一个网站

2.pop-up:弹出式菜单。例如：....a small pop-up invites you to book a bouquet for her. —张小的弹出式菜单要你为她订一束花。

练习：

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.

答案与题解：

1.A 第一段主要讲笼罩着母亲节的商业气氛，如店员让你买一件礼物送给你的母亲，表示你 感谢她无私的爱。从语气上可以看出，作者对用商业手段表达母爱是反对的。第二段的第二个句子中有Anna Jarvis这个人的名字。最后一个句子是这么说的：In fact, she got more — enough to make her horrified.事实上，她得到的还要多，多得使她感到可怕。从内容的衔接 来看，Anna Jarvis在前面很可能出现过。在所有的选项中只有A出现了这个名字，因此A是对的。

2.D 第三段的第二个句子中出现cards (贺卡)这个词。从主题发展来看，前一句中应该出现 过这个词，并且内容更概括。唯有D中出现过这个词并且论述概括，注意：主题句的陈述总 是一般的。因此选D。

3.B 第三段的主要内容是进一步讲述表现在母亲节中的商业化以及人们抗议母亲节中 的商业化,包括Anna Jarvis个人所做的努力。从内容上看，第四段是讲由于商业化的影 响人们对母性,也即为母之道发生了变化。选项B是合适的，它是该段的主题句。

4.F 第五段是对第四段主题的进一步发展，因此用F。

5.E 第六段是人们对为母之道的态度的变化的总结，因此用E。

译文：母性的价值

在商场里，售货员极力地向你推销：“为了感谢母亲无私的爱，为她买束鲜花吧!”当你登录到一个网站的时候，一张小的弹出式菜单要你为她订一束花。在这个5月份特别的星期天里，到 处洋溢着充满了商业化的热情和感激的气氛。

美国版的母亲节是在20世纪50年代被作为确定母性价值的方式由Anna Jarvis提出的。“母亲 节”在全世界的流行表明Jarvis得到了她想要的一切。事实上，她得到的还要多，多得使她感到 可怕。

根据美国大片公司Hallmark做的一项调查显示，有96%的消费者庆贺这一节日。在各种商品 之中，卡片的销售量达到1.32亿之多。母亲节的鲜花销售量在所有节日当中位居第-一。此外，还 有各种各样其他的商品，从珠宝、衣服到化妆品、冼衣粉，都趁此机会提高销售量。因此，Jarvis 在她生命的最后40年中一直努力阻止如此庆祝母亲节。然而有趣的是，她在一次抵制母亲节商业 化的抗议中，竟然以破坏和平的名义被捕。

进一步讲，商业化改变了年轻人对母亲节的态度。正如英国报纸《守卫者》记者Ralph Fevre 评论的一样，传统意义上“选择做母亲是因为我们认为这是正确的”。但从商业逻辑看来，人们 需要一些东西来交换为此而付出的时间和精力。一份事业更适合这个目标。

女性被迫追求她们渴望的事业。因此，他们努力地工作，拼命地玩儿。然而成为一个母亲就 不可避免地会阻碍事业的发展。

结果，自20世纪50年代以来人们为母之道变化很大。据《守卫者》报道，当今没有孩子的 年轻女性是上一代人的两倍。或者她们把做母亲的责任推迟到更晚一些。

于是，Fevre写道，庆祝母亲节的意义需要被更新。“它的意义在于说服人们去相信为人父母 是一个崇高的信念，并要尊重有意成为善者的人们。”

                           

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