Her father locks every door in the house as he is paranoid about
being robbed.
她父亲患有妄想症，常感到家里会失窃，所以总是把每扇门都锁上。
escalate ['eskleit] v. （使）逐步升级；（使）逐步扩大
Epidemics of infectious disease can escalate into pandemics, but
do not always do so.
传染性疾病的流行能够升级至大流行疫情，但也不总是这样。
首先，不要逃避那些困扰我们的问题，要敢于面对问题。
过好每一天，想象生命在今天就要终结，因为这一天终将来到。
对于那些力所不能及的事情，不要怯于尝试，要敢于冒风险；不要踌躇不前，走出去，大胆去做。
You might get dumped, divorced, or fired, make fool of yourself in public, be afflicted with a demeaning nickname...
be afflicted with：受折磨
Your boss is picking on you, and everyone in the office is driving you crazy.
pick on：选中；挑选；批评
错了就坦诚地承认吧
If You' re Wrong, Admit It
戴尔·卡耐基 / Dale Carnegie
Within a minute' s walk of my house there was a wild stretch of virgin timber, where the blackberry thickets foamed white in the springtime, where the squirrels nested and reared their young, and the horseweeds grew as tall as a horse' s head. This unspoiled woodland was called Forest Park—and it was a forest, probably not much different in appearance from what it was when Columbus discovered America. I frequently walked in this park with Rex, my little Boston bulldog. He was a friendly, harmless little hound; and since we rarely met anyone in the park, I took Rex along without a leash or a muzzle.
One day we encountered a mounted policeman in the park, a policeman itching to show his authority.
"What do you mean by letting that dog run loose in the park without a muzzle and leash?" he reprimanded me. "Don' t you know it' s against the law?"
"Yes, I know it is," I replied softy, "but I didn' t think he would do any harm out here."
"You didn' t think! You didn' t think! The law doesn' t give a tinker' s damn about what you think. That dog might kill a squirrel or bite a child. Now, I' m going to let you off this time; but if I catch this dog out here again without a muzzle and a leash, you' ll have to tell it to the judge."
I meekly promised to obey.
And I did obey—for a few times. But Rex didn' t like the muzzle, and neither did I; so we decided to take a chance. Everything was lovely for a while, and then we struck a snag. Rex and I raced over the brow of a hill one afternoon and there, suddenly—to my dismay I saw the majesty of the law, astride a bay horse. Rex was out in front, heading straight for the officer.
I was in for it. I knew it. So I didn' t wait until the policeman started talking. I beat him to it. I said："Officer, you' ve caught me red-handed. I' m guilty. I have no alibis, no excuses. You warned me last week that if I brought the dog out here again without a muzzle you would fine me."
"Well, now," the policeman responded in a soft tone. "I know it' s a temptation to let a little dog like that have a run out here when nobody is around."
"Sure it' s a temptation," I replied. "but it is against the law."
"Well, a little dog like that isn' t going to harm anybody," the policeman remonstrated.
"No, but he may kill squirrels," I said.
"Well now, I think you are taking this a bit too seriously," he told me.
"I' ll tell you what you do. You just let him run over the hill there where I can' t see him—and we' ll forget all about it."
That policeman, being human, wanted a feeling of importance; so when I began to condemn myself, the only way he could nourish his self-esteem was to take the magnanimous attitude of showing mercy.
从我家的房子出发步行一分钟，就能看到一片野生林。到了春季，那里的黑莓丛便会开出一片片白色的花朵。小松鼠们在这片灌木丛中繁衍生息，而莴苣长得几乎和马儿一样高。这片还没有被开发的原始森林被称为森林公园——它确实是一片森林。或许从哥伦布发现新大陆起就不曾改变过。我经常牵着我的小波士顿哈巴狗雷克斯到公园里散步。小狗对人很友好，是个温驯的小家伙。因为我们在公园里很少遇到人，我从没有给它拴上狗链，或戴上口套。
一天，我们在公园里遇见了一位骑警—— 一位渴望发号施令的骑警。
“你为什么不给狗拴上狗链，还让它在这里到处乱跑？”他十分严厉地训斥我，“难道你不知道这样做触犯了法律了吗？”
听了警官的话，我随即毕恭毕敬地说：“我知道，可是，我不认为小狗会伤害任何人。”
“你不那么认为！你不那么认为！法律可不容忍你有这种自以为是的看法。小狗也许会咬死小松鼠，甚至咬伤儿童。这一次我就不处罚你了，如果下次让我看到你还没给狗戴上口套、拴上狗链的话，你就要被起诉了。”
我十分礼貌地答应照做。
我确实遵守了几次，可是雷克斯很讨厌被束缚的感觉，我又何尝不是呢？于是，我决定碰碰运气，又像从前那样带着雷克斯出来了。开始的几天，万事顺利，可不久麻烦就来了。一天下午，正当我带着雷克斯向一座小山坡上奔跑时，突然间，我又看到了那位骑警。而雷克斯正朝着他的方向奔去。
这下可麻烦了，我知道后果。我没等那位警官开口，便抢先说：“警官先生，这次又被您看见了，我承认，我有罪。对此，我没有任何借口。 您上周警告过我，如果我还是没拴狗就出来，您一定会严惩我。”
听了我的话，那位警官十分和蔼地说：“在一个人迹罕至的地方，让心爱的宠物尽情玩耍也是很有诱惑力的。”
“没错，是很诱人，可我还是违反了法律。”我回答道。
“不，这么小的狗不会有什么危险的。”警官说道。
“可是，它也许会咬到松鼠。”我说道。
“哎，我想也许你把这件事看得过于严肃了。”警官说道。
“照我的话去做吧，你让它跑过这座小山，直至我看不到为止。这样一来问题就解决了，我们谁也不用在意了。”
作为人，警官也需要得到一种受到重视的感觉。因此，当我开始在他面前谴责自己的时候，唯一能满足他自尊心的就是展示他宽宏大量的一面。
假如你真的错了，与其徒劳地为自己辩解，不如坦率地承认，这样更容易被原谅。不管面对你的家人、上司还是社会上的其他人，假如你真的错了，坦诚的态度远比雄辩的理由强百倍。
stretch [stret] n. 一片；一泓；一段
It is a great stretch of open field.
这是一大片开阔的田野。
unspoiled [n'spild] adj. 未损坏的；未宠坏的
Few fellows had talents like his and fewer still could remain
unspoiled by such success.
像他那样有才能的人是罕见的，而功成名就之后依然保持本色的人更少见。
muzzle ['mzl] n. （防止动物咬人的）口套
To put a muzzle on the dog.
给狗戴上口套。
reprimand ['repr,m鎛d] v. 申斥；训斥；斥责；惩戒；谴责
To reprimand an obstinate fool or to preach to a dolt is like writing
upon the water.
去斥责一个固执的笨蛋，或向一个傻瓜说教，就像在水面上写字一样。
从我家的房子出发步行一分钟，就能看到一片野生林。
小狗对人很友好，是个温驯的小家伙。
作为人，警官也需要得到一种受到重视的感觉。
So we decided to take a chance.
take a chance：投机；冒险
So when I began to condemn myself...
condemn myself：自责
不要让教训再次重复
A Lesson Is Repeated until Learned
佚名 / Anonymous
Have you ever notice that lessons tend to repeat themselves? Does it seem as if you married or dated the same person several times in different bodies with different names? Have you run into the same type of boss over and over again? If you don' t deal well with authority figures at home, then you will have an opportunity to deal with them out in the world. You will continually draw into your life people who need to enforce authority, and you will struggle with them until you learn the lesson of obedience.
