VOA慢速英语:Comparing American and Chinese Parents

1.Some American parents might think their children need better educations to compete with China and other countries.

compete with与…抗争

例句：She competed with her rival for a prize.
      她与对手一比高低以图获得奖品。

      It is difficult for a small grocery store to compete with a supermarket.
      小商店很难与超市抗争。

other, the other, another与others用法区别

这些不定代词不仅在含义上有单复数之分，而且在用法上有泛指(无the)和特指(有the)之别。其用法区别可归纳如下：

1)指单数时的用法指单数时，若泛指用another，若特指用 the other。如：Give me another (one). 另外给我一个。
Shut the other eye, please. 请把另一只眼睛也闭上。

2)指复数时的用法指复数时，若泛指用 other(后接复数名词)，若特指用the other(后接复数名词)。如：There are other ways of doing

it. 做这事还有其他的办法。
Where have the other students gone? 其他学生都到哪里去了？

3)other的用法others永远表示复数意义(且其后不能再接名词)。其用法大致相当于)“other+复数名词”，同样地 the others 大致相当于

“the other＋复数名词”。如：Other people [Others] may not think that way. 别的人可能不这样想。
He is cleverer than the others [the other students] in her class. 他比班上其他学生聪明。

4)another的用法another一般只能表单数，且其后接名词也只能接单数名词。但是若其后有数词或 few 修饰时，则也可接复数名词。如：We need another few chairs. 我们还需要几把椅子。
In another two weeks it'll be finished. 再过两个星期就可做完了。

5)与 some连用与 some 对比使用时，用 others(此时与 some 同义)。如：Some say yes, and others say no. 有人说对，有人说不对。

2.She even admits that her husband, who is not Chinese, sometimes objected to her parenting style.

object to反对; 对…反感

例句：I object to him.
      我反对他。

      They objected to me on personal grounds.
      他们出于个人的原因反对我。

3.Ms. Chua makes fun of her own extreme style of parenting.

make fun of嘲弄, 取笑

例句：It is wrong to make fun of a cripple.
      嘲笑残疾人是不对的。

4.One of the biggest differences I see between Western and Chinese parents is that Chinese parents assume strength rather than fragility."

rather than 而不是

例句：They thus increased their annual grain production rather than diminished it.
      他们这样增加了而不是减少了粮食年产量。