The Limits of Love

by Author Unknown

翻译：Jasmine

母爱神圣而无私。母亲不仅给予我们生命，哺育我们成长，还是我们心灵的依靠，力量的源泉。在各种各样的“爱”中，“母爱”最独特。它总是不问回报，不求索取，在我们叛逆、脆弱、艰难之时，伸出最温暖的手，对我们永不言弃。

After the1)divorce, her teenage daughter became more and more2)rebellious.

Very late one night, the police called her. They told her that she had to come to the police station to pick up her daughter who was3)arrested for drunk driving.

The mother and the daughter didn’t speak to each other until the next afternoon.

Mom broke the ice by giving her daughter a small gift box.

Her daughter4)unwillingly opened it and found a small piece of a rock.

She5)rolled her eyes and said, “Mom, what’s this for?”

“Here’s the card,” Mom said.

Her daughter took the card out of the6)envelope and read it. Then7)tears started to run down her8)cheeks.

She got up and gave her mom a very big hug as the card fell to the floor.

On the card were these words:

“This rock is more than 2009)million years old.And it will take that long before I give up on you.”

1) divorce [dɪ'vɔːs] n. 离婚

2) rebellious [rɪ'beljəs] adj. 反叛的，难于对付的

3) arrest [ə'rest] v. 逮捕，拘留

4) unwillingly ['ʌn'wɪlɪŋl] adv. 不愿意地，不情愿地

5) roll [rəʊl] v. 滚动，转动

6) envelope ['envɪləʊp] n. 信封

7) tear [tɪə] n. 泪滴，眼泪

8) cheek [tʃiːk] n. 颊，面颊

9) million ['mɪljən] num. 百万

参考译文

自从离婚后，她那个十多岁的女儿越来越叛逆。

一天夜里很晚的时候，她接到了警局的电话。他们跟她说，需要她到警察局一趟，将她女儿接走。她女儿因为醉驾被捕了。

母亲和女儿都不跟对方说话，这种僵局一直持续到第二天下午。

母亲打破了僵局，将一个小小的礼物盒放到女儿面前。

女儿不情愿地打开，发现里面是一小块石头。

她翻着白眼说：“妈，这是干吗用的？”

“卡片在这。”母亲说。

女儿从信封里拿出卡片，读了起来。接着，眼泪从她的双颊流下。

她站起来，给了她的母亲一个大大的拥抱，卡片掉落在地上。

卡片上写着这样一段话：

“这块石头的‘年龄’超过两亿年。而要我放弃你，也要等那么长的时间。”

词组加油站

★more and more

越来越……

★break the ice

打破沉默，打破僵局

★give up on sb.

放弃某人

名师考点小结

1. pick up 意为“（车辆等）中途搭（人）”，例如：

I’ve got to pick up my daughter from school at four o’clock. 我四点钟得去学校接我女儿。

拓展：pick up还有“提起；拿起”的意思。例如：

The phone rang and I picked it up. 电话响了，我（拿起听筒）接了。

I picked up the rubbish and threw it into the trash can. 我拾起垃圾，扔进了垃圾桶。

2. more than 意为“超过，多于”，相当于over，其后常与数词连用。例如：He is more than fifty years old. 他50多岁了。

拓展：more than还有“不仅”的意思，与no more than（仅仅）相对。例如：She is more than a teacher. She is our close friend. 她不仅是一位老师，还是我们的亲密朋友。