每日英語 #100: The World’s Meanest Mom

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The World’s Meanest Mom

In the news in early 2008 was a story of a mother who sold her son’s car after he didn’t follow her rules. This is what happened:

2008年初的新聞中有一個關於一位母親的故事，她因為兒子沒遵守規矩而賣掉了他的車。事情是這樣發生的：

A mother bought her 18-year-old son a car and told him that she had two simple rules: 1) no “booze” (informal word for alcohol) in the car and 2) keep the car locked. One day, the mother decides to check to see if her son had followed her rules. She finds that the car is unlocked and there is a bottle of alcohol under the front seat. He was “busted” (discovered doing something bad)!

這位母親為她18歲的兒子買了一輛車，並告訴他有兩個簡單的規則：1) 車內不許有酒精飲料，2) 車必須鎖好。有一天，母親決定檢查兒子是否遵守了規則，結果發現車門沒鎖，而且座椅下還有一瓶酒。他被“抓包”了！（被發現做壞事）

What did she do? She placed the following “classified ad” (advertisement) in the Des Moines Register, a major newspaper in the State of Iowa where they live:

她怎麼做的呢？她在《得梅因紀事報》上登了一則“分類廣告”（廣告），這是他們所在的愛荷華州的一份大報：

OLDS 1999 Intrigue (the make and model of the car). Totally “uncool” parents who “obviously” don’t love teenage son, selling his car. Only driven for three weeks before “snoopy” mom who needs “to get a life” found booze under front seat. $3,700/offer. Call “meanest” mom on the planet.

OLDS 1999 Intrigue（車的品牌和型號）。完全“不酷”的父母，“顯然”不愛青少年兒子，賣掉他的車。開了三周後，“愛打聽”而且“應該找點事做”的老媽在前座下發現了酒瓶。$3,700/或出價。致電“世界上最兇的”老媽。

• “uncool” = 不好；不體貼
• “obviously” = 明顯地
• “snoopy” = 偷偷打聽，找尋信息
• “to get a life” = 不要管不重要的事
• “mean/meanest” = 不友善的/最不友善的

Many people thought this ad was very funny because the mother used some of the common words and phrases angry teenagers might use. Someone who doesn’t share a teenager’s views is “uncool” and someone who “pries” (tries to find out other people’s private information) is a “snoop” or is “snoopy.” A teenager might tell you “to get a life” and to stop bothering them. If parents force a teenager to do something they don’t like, they might call those parents “mean.”

很多人覺得這則廣告非常有趣，因為母親使用了一些生氣的青少年常用的詞語和表達。不同意青少年觀點的人被稱為“不酷”，而“愛打聽別人隱私”的人則是“snoop”或“snoopy”。青少年可能會告訴你“to get a life”，意思是讓你別打擾他們。如果父母強迫青少年做他們不喜歡的事，他們可能會稱這些父母為“mean”。

The ad got a lot of attention in the media. Many people said that this mother was not only “clever” (smart and funny) to use her son’s words and point of view in the ad, but that she was right “to enforce” (to force someone to follow) her rules.

這則廣告在媒體上引起了很多關注。很多人說這位母親不僅“聰明”（機智而有趣），能在廣告中使用她兒子的詞語和觀點，而且她執行自己的規則是對的。

重點單字

1. Busted /ˈbʌstɪd/ - 被抓包；被發現做壞事
2. Uncool /ʌnˈkuːl/ - 不酷；不友善的
3. Snoopy /ˈsnuːpi/ - 愛打聽的
4. To get a life /tuː gɛt ə laɪf/ - 去找點正經事做
5. Mean/Meanest /miːn/ - 兇的/最兇的
6. Enforce /ɪnˈfɔːrs/ - 執行