Her father locks every door in the house as he is paranoid about
being robbed.
她父親患有妄想症，常感到家裏會失竊，所以總是把每扇門都鎖上。
escalate ['eskleit] v. （使）逐步升級；（使）逐步擴大
Epidemics of infectious disease can escalate into pandemics， but
do not always do so.
傳染性疾病的流行能夠升級至大流行疫情，但也不總是這樣。
首先，不要逃避那些困擾我們的問題，要敢於麵對問題。
過好每一天，想象生命在今天就要終結，因為這一天終將來到。
對於那些力所不能及的事情，不要怯於嚐試，要敢於冒風險；不要躊躇不前，走出去，大膽去做。
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：選中；挑選；批評
錯了就坦誠地承認吧
If You' re Wrong， Admit It
戴爾·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.
從我家的房子出發步行一分鍾，就能看到一片野生林。到了春季，那裏的黑莓叢便會開出一片片白色的花朵。小鬆鼠們在這片灌木叢中繁衍生息，而萵苣長得幾乎和馬兒一樣高。這片還沒有被開發的原始森林被稱為森林公園——它確實是一片森林。或許從哥倫布發現新大陸起就不曾改變過。我經常牽著我的小波士頓哈巴狗雷克斯到公園裏散步。小狗對人很友好，是個溫馴的小家夥。因為我們在公園裏很少遇到人，我從沒有給它拴上狗鏈，或戴上口套。
一天，我們在公園裏遇見了一位騎警—— 一位渴望發號施令的騎警。
“你為什麽不給狗拴上狗鏈，還讓它在這裏到處亂跑？”他十分嚴厲地訓斥我，“難道你不知道這樣做觸犯了法律了嗎？”
聽了警官的話，我隨即畢恭畢敬地說：“我知道，可是，我不認為小狗會傷害任何人。”
“你不那麽認為！你不那麽認為！法律可不容忍你有這種自以為是的看法。小狗也許會咬死小鬆鼠，甚至咬傷兒童。這一次我就不處罰你了，如果下次讓我看到你還沒給狗戴上口套、拴上狗鏈的話，你就要被起訴了。”
我十分禮貌地答應照做。
我確實遵守了幾次，可是雷克斯很討厭被束縛的感覺，我又何嚐不是呢？於是，我決定碰碰運氣，又像從前那樣帶著雷克斯出來了。開始的幾天，萬事順利，可不久麻煩就來了。一天下午，正當我帶著雷克斯向一座小山坡上奔跑時，突然間，我又看到了那位騎警。而雷克斯正朝著他的方向奔去。
這下可麻煩了，我知道後果。我沒等那位警官開口，便搶先說：“警官先生，這次又被您看見了，我承認，我有罪。對此，我沒有任何借口。 您上周警告過我，如果我還是沒拴狗就出來，您一定會嚴懲我。”
聽了我的話，那位警官十分和藹地說：“在一個人跡罕至的地方，讓心愛的寵物盡情玩耍也是很有**力的。”
“沒錯，是很誘人，可我還是違反了法律。”我回答道。
“不，這麽小的狗不會有什麽危險的。”警官說道。
“可是，它也許會咬到鬆鼠。”我說道。
“哎，我想也許你把這件事看得過於嚴肅了。”警官說道。
“照我的話去做吧，你讓它跑過這座小山，直至我看不到為止。這樣一來問題就解決了，我們誰也不用在意了。”
作為人，警官也需要得到一種受到重視的感覺。因此，當我開始在他麵前譴責自己的時候，唯一能滿足他自尊心的就是展示他寬宏大量的一麵。
假如你真的錯了，與其徒勞地為自己辯解，不如坦率地承認，這樣更容易被原諒。不管麵對你的家人、上司還是社會上的其他人，假如你真的錯了，坦誠的態度遠比雄辯的理由強百倍。
stretch [stret] n. 一片；一泓；一段
It is a great stretch of open field.
這是一大片開闊的田野。
unspoiled [n'spild] adj. 未損壞的；未寵壞的
Few fellows had talents like his and fewer still could remain
unspoiled by such success.
像他那樣有才能的人是罕見的，而功成名就之後依然保持本色的人更少見。
muzzle ['mzl] n. （防止動物咬人的）口套
To put a muzzle on the dog.
給狗戴上口套。
reprimand ['repr，m鎛d] v. 申斥；訓斥；斥責；懲戒；譴責
To reprimand an obstinate fool or to preach to a dolt is like writing
upon the water.
去斥責一個固執的笨蛋，或向一個傻瓜說教，就像在水麵上寫字一樣。
從我家的房子出發步行一分鍾，就能看到一片野生林。
小狗對人很友好，是個溫馴的小家夥。
作為人，警官也需要得到一種受到重視的感覺。
So we decided to take a chance.
take a chance：投機；冒險
So when I began to condemn myself...
condemn myself：自責
不要讓教訓再次重複
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.