I had the meanest mother in the whole world. While other kids ate candy for breakfast, I had to have cereal1), eggs or toast2). When others had cokes and candy for lunch, I had to eat a sandwich. As you can guess, my supper was different from the other kids' also. But at least, I wasn't alone in my sufferings. My sister and two broth ers had the same mean mother as I did.
　　My mother insisted upon knowing where we were at all times. You'd think we were on a chain gang3). She had to know who our friends were and where we were going. She insisted if we said we'd be gone an hour, that we be gone one hour or less - not one hour and one minute.
　　We had to wear clean clothes and take a bath everyday. The other kids always wore their clothes for days. We reached the height of insults4) because she made our clothes herself, just to save money.
　　The worst is yet to come. We had to be in bed by nine each night and up at eight the next morning. We couldn't sleep till noon like our friends. So while they slept - my mother actually had the nerve5) to break the Child Labor Law. She made us work. We had to wash dishes, make beds, learn to cook and all sorts of cruel things. I believe she laid awake at night thinking up mean things to do to us.
　　Through the years, things didn't improve a bit. We could not lie in bed, "sick" like our friends did, and missschool. Our marks in school had to be up to par6). Our friends' report cards had beautiful colors on them, black for passing, red for failing. My mother, being as different as she was, would settle for7) nothing less than8) ugly black marks.
　　As the years rolled by, first one and then the other of us was put to shame. We were grad uated from high school. With our mother behind us, talking, hitting and demanding respect, none of us was allowed the plea sure of being a drop-out.
　　My mother was a complete failure as a mother. Out of four children, a couple of us attained some higher education. None of us have ever been arrested or divorced. Each of my brothers served his time in the service of this country. She forced us to grow up into God-fearing, educated, honest adults. Using this as a background, I am now trying to raise my three children. I am filled with pride when my children call me mean. Why? Because now I thank God every day for giving me the meanest mother in the whole world.
　　我的母親是世界上最無情的母親。別的孩子早餐可以吃糖果,我卻必須吃谷類食品、雞蛋或烤面包。別的孩子午餐可以喝可樂吃糖果,我卻必須吃一塊三明治。可想而知,我的晚餐也和別的孩子不同。不過,好在我不是一個(gè)人受這些苦。我還有一個(gè)姐姐和兩個(gè)哥哥,他們和我一樣有一個(gè)無情的母親。
　　我的母親堅(jiān)持要隨時(shí)對(duì)我們的行蹤了如指掌。你一定覺得我們是一幫被拴在同一條鏈子上的囚犯。她必須了解我們的朋友們是誰、我們打算去哪里。她強(qiáng)調(diào)說如果我們告訴她要出去1個(gè)小時(shí),就只能在外面呆1個(gè)小時(shí)或少于1個(gè)小時(shí)--絕對(duì)不能是1個(gè)小時(shí)零1分鐘。
　　我們必須每天都穿著干凈整潔的衣服,并且每天洗澡。而其他孩子的衣服總是一穿就好幾天。最最讓我們感到丟臉的是,為了省錢,我們的衣服都是她自己做的。
　　最糟的還在后面呢。我們每晚都必須9點(diǎn)以前睡覺,第二天早晨8點(diǎn)起床。我們不能像朋友們一樣睡到中午才起床。所以當(dāng)他們?cè)谒X時(shí),我的母親實(shí)際上正在勇敢地違反童工法。她讓我們干活。我們得洗盤子、鋪床、學(xué)習(xí)做飯以及做其他各種各樣痛苦的事情。我相信她一定是徹夜不眠地盤算著如何殘忍地折磨我們。
　　這么多年來,這樣的狀況沒有得到絲毫改善。我們不能像朋友們一樣,躺在床上裝病來逃課。我們?cè)趯W(xué)校的成績(jī)必須達(dá)標(biāo)。朋友們的成績(jī)單上總是有各種漂亮的顏色,黑色表示通過,紅色表示不及格。而我的母親在這一點(diǎn)上仍是與眾不同,她只滿足于那些難看的黑乎乎的分?jǐn)?shù)。 時(shí)間一年年地過去,母親的所作所為讓我們各個(gè)兄弟姐妹感到無地自容。我們?nèi)几咧挟厴I(yè)了。由于母親在身后不停地嘮叨、打罵并要求得到尊重,我們中沒人能享受到輟學(xué)的樂趣。
　　作為母親,我的媽媽是一個(gè)徹頭徹尾的失敗者。我們四個(gè)孩子中,有兩個(gè)獲得了接受高等教育的機(jī)會(huì)。我們中沒有人被捕,也沒有人離婚。我的哥哥們都服了兵役,為國效力。 她迫使我們成長(zhǎng)為虔誠的、有教養(yǎng)的、誠實(shí)的成年人。利用這樣的人生經(jīng)歷,如今的我正在努力撫養(yǎng)我的三個(gè)孩子。當(dāng)我的孩子說我很無情時(shí),我的心中充滿了自豪。為什么呢?因?yàn)楝F(xiàn)在我每天都會(huì)感謝上帝,謝謝他賜予我一個(gè)世界上最無情的母親。
　　1. cereal [5sIErIEl] n. 谷類食品,谷類
　　2. toast [tEust] n. 烤面包(片),吐司
　　3. gang [^AN] n. (匪徒、盜賊的)一伙,(囚犯的)一群
　　4. insult [5InsQlt] n. 侮辱
　　5. nerve [nE:v] n. 膽量,勇氣
　　6. up to par: 達(dá)到預(yù)期標(biāo)準(zhǔn)
　　7. settle for: 滿足于
　　8. nothing less than: 肯定語氣,完全是