Stepparents Neither of them had come from a perfect family. His stepmother had been stern, but the stereotype didn’t go beyond that. She had been a better steward of him in his upbringing than his wife’s stepfather who had stifled many aspects of her childhood. While she had no stigma on her body from her youth, she was marked on her soul. And it was difficult for him to show her how a man should really behave. It had been difficult at times, but worth the trouble. Now they were happily married and a couple of stature. He was an important statesman responsible for the implementation of a statute for providing staple foods to the poorest people in the nation and she was a designer of custom stationery that cost a pretty sterling. Their clothes were always starched, their kitchen full, and their home stocked with the newest furniture, stereo equipment and accessories. But they were startled one day with a feeling of stark dissatisfaction. They had become stationary and didn’t know what to do to make life more enjoyable. As they discussed this one evening while eating stew they could not decided what to do. They lived by all statutory regulations, had the best friends and everything money could buy. “We need children!” They finally decided. “But we will treat them as my stepmother raised me.” Said the husband. “Not as your stepfather raised you!” They smiled at each other. Yes, they needed children. Then they would be the perfect family.
继父继母 他俩谁都不是来自完美家庭。他的继母很严厉，但只此而已，与他妻子的继父相比，他的继母在他成长期间还算是好的看管人，而妻子的继父则扼杀了她许多孩子时的天性。虽然年轻时她身体上没有留下耻辱的痕迹，心灵里却打上了烙印。对他来说，向她展示男人应该是什么样子是件很困难的事情，这么做有时会很困难，不过还是很值得。 现在他们幸福地结合了，而且夫妻二人达到了一种很高的境界。他是一个举足轻重的政治家，负责执行一条法令，为国内最穷的人提供主食；而她则是一名定制文具的设计师，这种定制文具要花不少英镑。他们的衣服总是上浆，厨房里总是满满的，家里置办了最新的家具、立体声音响装置和各种摆设。 但是有一天他们吃惊地发现他们有一种完全不满足的感觉。他们已经变得非常固定，不知道什么才能使生活更加充满乐趣。一天晚上他们一边吃着炖的食物一边讨论这个问题，但还是决定不了该做些什么。他们在生活中遵守一切合法的规定，他们有最好的朋友及一切能用金钱买到的东西。 “我们需要孩子！”他们终于做出决定。“但是我们将像我的继母抚养我一样对待他们，”丈夫说，“而不能像你的继父抚养你那样！” 他们相视而笑。是的，他们需要孩子，这样他们就是一个完美的家庭了。
staplen.1.订书钉，U形钉2.主食3.主要产品vt.用订书钉订a.1.主要的2.经常需要（或使用）的starchn.1.淀粉，淀粉类食物2.（浆衣服的）淀粉浆v.（用淀粉浆）给（衣服等）上浆starka.1.光秃秃的，荒凉的，无装饰的2.严酷的，苛刻的，严峻的3.完全的，十足的ad.完全地，十足地startlevt.使惊吓，使吃惊statesmann.国务活动家，政治家stationarya.固定的，静止不动的stationeryn.1.文具2.（配套的）信笺信封staturen.1.高境界，高水平，非凡的气质2.身高，身材statuten.1.成文法，法令，法规2.章程，规则，条例statutorya.法定的，法规的，依照法令的stepfathern.继父stepmothern.继母stereoa.立体声的n.立体声（装置）stereotypen.陈规，老套，固定的模式（或形象）vt.对……形成固定看法sterlingn.英国货币（尤指英镑）a.1.（金、银）标准纯度的2.品格优秀的sterna.严厉的，严格的，严峻的n.船尾stewn.1.炖（煨或焖）的食物2.不安，担忧，激动vi.1. 炖,煨,焖2.不安，担忧，激动vt. 炖,煨,焖stewardn.1.（飞机、轮船等的）乘务员，服务员2.（房屋、田地等的）看管人3.（大学等的）膳食管理员stiflevt.1.使窒息，闷死，闷住2.扼杀，抑制，阻止3.掩藏，藏匿stigman.1.耻辱，污名2.（花的）柱头
StepparentsNeither of them had come from a perfect family. His stepmother had been stern, but the stereotype didn’t go beyond that. She had been a better steward of him in his upbringing than his wife’s stepfather who had stifled many aspects of her childhood. While she had no stigma on her body from her youth, she was marked on her soul. And it was difficult for him to show her how a man should really behave. It had been difficult at times, but worth the trouble.Now they were happily married and a couple of stature. He was an important statesman responsible for the implementation of a statute for providing staple foods to the poorest people in the nation and she was a designer of custom stationery that cost a pretty sterling. Their clothes were always starched, their kitchen full, and their home stocked with the newest furniture, stereo equipment and accessories.But they were startled one day with a feeling of stark dissatisfaction. They had become stationary and didn’t know what to do to make life more enjoyable. As they discussed this one evening while eating stew they could not decided what to do. They lived by all statutory regulations, had the best friends and everything money could buy.“We need children!” They finally decided. “But we will treat them as my stepmother raised me.” Said the husband. “Not as your stepfather raised you!”They smiled at each other. Yes, they needed children. Then they would be the perfect family.
