英语听力小短文走遍全世界31:每个小姑娘都得是公主吗？

英语听力原文：

Even though women continue to advance in American society, many little girls still get stuck in a world of fairytale princesses and frilly pink dresses. That does not sit well with journalist Peggy Orenstein, who mused about her young daughter's obsession with Disney princesses and predilection for the color pink in a New York Times Magazine essay.

在美国社会，虽然妇女们继续取得进步，可是小姑娘们仍然很容易迷恋于童话里的公主和粉红百褶裙。新闻记者佩姬·欧伦史坦不喜欢这种现状，她在纽约时报杂志一篇文章里探讨了她小女儿对迪斯尼童话中公主的迷恋和对粉红色的偏爱。

She reflects on the overwhelming emphasis on this stereotyped ideal for girls in a new book, "Cinderella Ate My daughter." Orenstein is at war with what she describes as our hyper-feminized girlie-girl consumer culture.

她在一本名为《灰姑娘吃掉了我女儿》的新书中，探讨人们为什么那么强调女孩儿这种程序化了的幻想。欧伦史坦在跟她所说的过度女性化的娇娇女女孩消费文化开战。

"What is marketed to girls is this idea of pink and pretty. It fuses the idea of appearance with innocence,she and then presents the interest in appearance as being evidence of their innocence," she says.

她说：“向女孩推销的是这个粉红和可爱的观念，一种天真无邪的样子。于是女孩儿们就去追求一种证明她们天真的外貌。”

"But what's happening is that girls are emphasizing the way they look more and more. So, we're talking about makeup and provocative dresses and all of that kind of things."

“结果是，女孩们越来越看重自己的相貌。所以，我们就在谈论化妆和具有挑逗性的服饰，诸如此类的东西。”

"The American Psychological Association put out a report a couple of years ago that said that an early over-emphasis on appearance and play-sexiness can create a vulnerability in girls to the sorts of issues that we as parents worry about such as negative body image, eating disorders, depression and poor sexual choices," she says.

她说：“美国心理学会两三年前公布过一份报告说，早期过分强调相貌和性感容易使女孩在我们家长担心的那种事情上受到了伤害，比如对身体的负面看法、饮食絮乱、忧郁和性行为方面糟糕的选择。”

"The American Academy of Pediatrics just put out a warning to tis member physicians to be more on guard for signs of eating disorders in children under 12 because they've been on the rise and under diagnosed."

“美国儿科学会刚刚对会员医生发出一个警告，要他们注意12岁以下孩子饮食絮乱的现象，因为这种情况有上升趋势，但却很少被诊断出来。”

When girls define themselves by how they appear to others rather than by how they feel internally, Orenstein says, it sets them up for disappointment.

欧伦史坦指出，当女孩们以她们在别人眼中相貌如何而不是以他们内心如何感受来定义自己的时候，她们会因为失望而不安。

At the same time, Orenstein also says parents have the power to raise healthy, self-confident daughters. They can provide positive alternatives that counter the influence of the media to buy certain products and look a certain way.

同时，欧伦史坦也认为，家长们是有能力培养出健康、自信的女儿的。他们能够提供正面的东西，来反制鼓动人们买某些产品和装扮成某种样子的媒体影响。

"It's not good enough just to say ‘no’ to the things coming at you. You have to find other things that are out there that you can say ‘yes’to, that are fun and joyfully connect your daughter to being a girl, that can broaden and enhance and create options for your daughter and how she defines herself as a girl."

她说：“向冲着你来的东西说‘不’是不够的。你还得找到你可以说‘是’的东西来，即那些有趣而且能把你的女儿愉快地跟做女孩联系起来的东西，让她有更多更好的选择。”

英语词汇整理：

1. fairytale adj. 童话式的;童话中才有的

eg: Have you seen those amazing buildings that look like fairytale castles?

你看到那些像童话城堡一样的壮观建筑了么?

短语：

fairytale success 出人意料的好结果

fairytale town 童话城;童话村

fairytale Records 出版者

2. frilly adj. 镶褶边的;多饰边的

eg: The little girl wore a frilly party dress.

那个小女孩穿着一件有饰边的社交礼服。

短语：

frilly chair 餐椅

frilly mushrooms 褶边蘑菇

frilly lilly 一份香甜的礼物

3. muse vt. 沉思

eg: She has mused that question once more.

她已经又一次仔细思考了那个问题。

短语：

muse on 沉思，默想

muse over 沉思，冥想，缅怀

4. obsession n. 强迫观念;痴迷

eg: She would try to forget her obsession with Christopher.

她会试图忘掉她对克里斯托弗的迷恋。

短语：

obsessional neurosis 强迫性神经官能症，强迫性神经机能病

unhealthy obsession 走火入魔

child obsession 儿童强迫症

5. predilection n. 偏爱，嗜好

eg: He has a predilection for rich food.

他偏好油腻的食物。

短语：

have a predilection for... 特别爱好……

predilection delectable 令人伤心悦目的

6. overwhelming adj. 压倒性的;势不可挡的

eg: Our football team has won an overwhelming victory.

我们的足球队取得了压倒性的胜利。

短语：

overwhelming superiority 绝对优势

overwhelming majority 压倒性多数

overwhelming odds 压倒性胜算

overwhelming Power 抗拒之力

7. provocative adj. 刺激的，挑拨的

eg: She said nothing particularly provocative.

她没有说过特别够刺激性的话。

短语：

provocative factor 激发因子

provocative dose 激发剂量

provocative implications 挑衅性的影响;挑衅问题

8. vulnerability n. 易损性;弱点

eg: They complain that big firms in rich countries are exploiting their vulnerability.

他们抱怨，富裕国家的大公司正在利用他们的弱点。

短语：

vulnerability analysis 脆弱性分析;弱点分析

social vulnerability 社会脆弱性

target vulnerability 目标脆弱性;目标要害

fiscal vulnerability 财政脆弱度

9. depression n. 沮丧;忧愁

eg: I slid into a depression and became morbidly fascinated with death.

我陷入消沉，开始对死亡有种病态的迷恋。

短语：

fall into a (deep)depression 变得意志消沉，精神沮丧

ground depression 地面塌陷

secondary depression 副低压;副低气压

10. diagnose vt. 诊断;断定

eg: The doctor diagnosed the illness as influenza.

医生诊断此病为流行感冒。

短语：

diagnose with 确诊患有

diagnose disease 诊断疾病

prenatal diagnose 产前

11. internally adv. 内部地;国内地

eg: The state is not a unified and internally coherent entity.

该国不是一个统一的、内部团结的实体。

短语：

internally focused 以内部为焦点

internally controlled 内控的

12. enhance vt. 提高;增加

eg: The White House is eager to protect and enhance that reputation.

白宫急于保护并提高那声望。

短语：

enhance one's vigilance 提高警惕

enhance damage 增强伤害

佳句采摘：

The American Psychological Association pput out a report a couple of years ago that said that an early over-emphasis on appearance and play-sexiness can create a vulnerability in girls to the sorts of issues that we as parents worry about such as negative body image, eating disorders, depression and poor sexual choices

美国心理使学会两三年前公布过一份报告说，早期过分强调相貌和性感容易女孩在我们家长担心的那种事情上受到伤害，比如对身体的负面看法、饮食絮乱、忧郁和性行为方面糟糕的选择。