Beauty Channel 美丽大变身
文章难度：★★☆
As a mother of a strong, and indepen-dent 23-year-old married daughter, I was especially excited when she got her 1)cosmetology license. Since then she went on to get a 2)Commercial Driver’s License so she could 3)team with her 4)over the road truck-driving husband.
I know my daughter’s energy is wasted on me; the mother who has lived under a rock for many years as far as style and fashion is concerned. A few years ago she begged and pleaded with me to stop wearing blue 5)eye shadow and was successful in 6)presenting 7)autumn blends to my eyes.
So, when she said, ‘Mom, you really need a 8)drastic change,” I knew I was entering dangerous and unknown territory once again.
The day finally came when she came to me with9)scissors in hand and said, ‘Sit here, I’m giving you a Ônew look’!”
坚强独立的23岁已婚女儿拿到了她的美容师执照，作为她的母亲，我感到格外高兴。那以后，她又接着考了商业驾照，以便她可以和开卡车、经常上路的丈夫一起搭档开车。
我知道女儿在我身上白费了不少工夫；在她看来，作为母亲的我多年来的形象都是跟不上时尚潮流的。几年前，她连劝带求地叫我不要再涂蓝色眼影，并成功地说服我改涂黄褐色的眼影。
因而，当她告诉我说：“妈妈，你真的需要来一个彻底的改变了。” 我知道，我将会再次进入“危险而未知”的境地。
这一天终于到来了。女儿手拿剪刀走到我身边，对我说：“这边坐，我要给你一个‘全新的形象’！”
I’ve worn my hair shoulder length with curls since the early 80’s...never 10)veering too far from the overall picture. If you placed my family photos next to each other throughout the years, the only sign of change would be in my 11)laugh lines!
As I write this story, I am still in shock of it all. I know when children are growing up that they 12)register major events, which cause psychological turning points in their lives. Most specifically, my daughter’s childhood memories and her 13)inward desire to defeat the 14)empress of 15)destiny, her mother!
Armed with determination and sharp scissors, my daughter began the attack...all the while exclaiming, ‘Mother, you are the one who has been saying you need a new hairstyle! I am only doing what YOU have wanted for so long!” I saw at my feet, 16)reddish-17)blonde curls 18)stacking around in a little 19)puff. My heart racing, and attempting to stay 20)composed, I said, ‘How much longer?”
Finally, the ritual was complete. Married daughter and the mature and aging mother, who is 21)stripped of all dignity, stand next to each other looking into the mirror. Holly begins the expected and normal 22)accreditation process: ‘Mother, you are so cute and 23)adorable!”
从20世纪80年代初开始，我就一直留着齐肩的卷发，就算有所改变也不会太大。如果你把这些年来我们的全家福摆在一起的话，你会发现照片上的我几乎都是一个样，惟一不同的只是笑纹的深浅！
写这篇文章的时候，我依然心有余悸。我知道，在孩子的成长过程中，他们会牢牢记住那些在他们生命中造成心理转折点的大事。具体说到我女儿，童年的记忆在她心里留下了烙印，她内心深处一直渴望击败掌控她命运的人—她的母亲，我！
有了坚定的决心和锋利的剪刀，女儿开始向我发起“进攻”了……她一边动手一边还振振有辞地说：“妈妈，你自己一直说要换个新发型的！那可是你长久以来的心愿，我只是满足你的愿望而已！”我看看地面，我那微红的卷曲金发已经在我的脚边堆起了一座小山。我的心跳不由地加速，我故作镇定地问：“还要多久？”
“折磨”终于到了尽头！已婚的女儿以及她那成熟、年华老去、被剥夺了所有尊严的母亲并肩站在了镜子前。不出我所料，霍莉（编者注：女儿的名字）开始了常规的成果鉴定过程：“妈妈，看，你是多么地可爱迷人！”
Now, how many 48-year-old women do you refer to as ‘cute and adorable?” That was the first clue she was nervous and needed to break the silence, as I was turning 24)ashen from the horror of it all! At this point memories of long-necked 25)giraffe’s in the wild, 26)coupled with my four-inch-long German ears exposed, traveled at high speed through my thoughts, not to forget that I never, ever realized my nose was as large as it is!
I screamed. I think it began with the cute and adorable comment, or maybe it was the comment, ‘I tried to cut some of the gray hairs out....” but, it began: that long, and fearful, abandoned teenage girl who had a 27)pimple come up right before her date with the most popular boy in school type of SCREAM!
We were no longer standing side by side. I, 28)hysterical...and the daughter, in fear of her ‘mother” several feet away, began crying too.
Immediately, the responsible and semi-mature mother seeing her daughter in tears, and realizing the impact of the situation had caused a loss of 29)self-esteem and self-confidence for us both, stopped and said, ‘honey, it is not you! I am upset with me and the 30)insane idea that I wanted to change! You are a wonderful 31)beautician....”
你会用“可爱迷人”形容一个48岁的女人吗？我首先从这一点觉察出女儿很紧张，她急于打破沉默。当我看到镜中恐怖的自己时，脸色顿时变得苍白。此时，我脑海中飞速地闪过荒野中长颈鹿伸长脖子的形象，还加上我那突出的4英寸长（约10厘米）的日耳曼式耳朵，更糟糕的是，我第一次意识到自己的鼻子是如此之大！
我疯狂地尖叫起来。我想我的失控源于女儿那句“可爱迷人”的评价，又或者源于她说了一句“我想剪掉那些灰白的头发……” 总之，我就是不可控制地尖叫起来，就像是一个青春期少女在和全校最受欢迎的帅哥约会前，突然发现脸上长了颗痘痘而发出的长时间、充满恐惧而声嘶力竭的尖叫。
我们不再站在一起了。我，歇斯底里地尖叫……而女儿，被几步之遥的母亲吓坏了，开始哭起来。
看着泪眼汪汪的女儿，负责任、有几分成熟的母亲猛然意识到此情此景会严重挫伤母女两人的自尊和自信，于是停止尖叫，安慰女儿说：“宝贝，不关你的事！我是为自己、为自己有过这样疯狂的念头—想改变形象而难过！你是一个很棒的美容师……”
My words seemed to make her feel a little better when she said a little styling 32)gel would make a great big difference in the style...and something else about a ‘wet” look.
So, I have a new hairstyle to get used to. I also have a very cool hairstyle for the 33)upcoming 34)Texas summer heat. And, I have something to look forward to: my hair growing out again so I can see the reddish-blonde curls softly falling around my shoulders instead of on the floor in little puffs.
I hate change, but love new beginnings. Here are to new beginnings every day of your life!
我的话似乎让她好受了一些。她说，弄上少许发胶会给发型带来很大的不同……还可以弄上一些别的东西，使头发看上去“光润亮泽”。
就这样，我有了一个新发型，要开始去适应它了。得克萨斯州的炎炎夏日即将到来，我有了一个迎接酷暑的清爽发型。此外，还有一件值得我期待的事情：等我的头发再次长长以后，我又可以看到我那微红的卷曲金发柔顺地垂在我的肩头，而不是一团团地堆在地板上了。
我讨厌改变，但我喜欢新的开始。愿你的生活每天都有新的开始！
