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In my family, it’s just my dad, my mom and me. Yup[1]! I’m the only child. It’s very tough[2] to be the only child, having all the attention and focus on you. A lot of people think that being the only child makes me get whatever I want. I always reply to them with a straight-to-the-point[3], “No.” I had to work for the things I wanted, I had to maintain my grades and behave well. Sometimes I wished there were other people my parents would pay attention to, not only me, so at least some pressure was taken off.

[1] yup [yʌp] adv. [= yep] <美俚>是，是的[yes的变体][2] tough [tʌf] adj. 困难的，艰苦的[3] straight-to-the-point: 直截了当地，直奔主题地

我家只有我爸、我妈还有我。没错！我是独生女。当独生女很辛苦，因为你集万千关注于一身。很多人认为我是独生女，我就可以得到任何想要的东西。我总是直截了当地回答他们：“不是这样的。”为了得到我想要的东西，我必须付出劳动，必须保持好成绩，而且还要表现良好。有时候我真希望家里还有其他人让父母操心，而不仅仅是我一个人，这样至少我的压力会少一些。

Once in a while, my friends complain about how their siblings annoy them so much. They tell stories of their brother or sister bossing them around the house, teasing[4]them, and telling on[5] them to their parents. Even though their stories seem like something I too would getvery mad at[6], secretly I wish I had what they did. I am indeed quite jealous.

[4] tease [tiːz] vt. 取笑，戏弄[5] tell on: <儿>向……告发[6] get mad at: 因……生气

有时候，我的朋友们会抱怨他们的兄弟姐妹如何如何烦他们。他们讲起自己的哥哥或姐姐老是指使他们做这做那，戏弄他们，还向父母打小报告。尽管他们讲的这些事情好像也会令我非常生气，但私底下我却希望我有这样的经历。我真的特别嫉妒他们。

I’ve always wanted a brother or a sister, ideally[7] an older one. I always mention to my friends that I want one and they reply with an “OMG[8]! Don’t say that! You’ll regret it” or “You want mine?” They say that I’m lucky to be the only child, but I’m pretty sure that if they were in my position they would want the same thing. They don’t know how it feels to be the “only” one. It does get pretty lonely you see. You don’t really have anyone to talk to at home and you worry about who’s going to be there with you once your parents are gone.

[7] ideally [aɪˈdiːəli] adv. 理想地，合乎想象地[8] OMG: 天哪，Oh my God的简写

我一直希望有一个兄弟或姐妹，最好是哥哥或者姐姐。我总是向我的朋友提起我想有个兄弟姐妹，而他们总是回答，“天哪，不要那么说，你肯定会后悔的！”或者“那你想要我的兄弟姐妹吗？”他们说我作为独生女很幸运，但我十分肯定如果他们像我一样也是独生子女的话，肯定也会想要兄弟姐妹的。他们并不知道作为家里“唯一”的孩子是什么感觉。你会发现这样真的很孤单。在家里没有人真正可以跟你聊天，而且你会担心一旦父母离开，有谁会与你做伴。

My friend from freshman[9] year had a terrible accident during PE when we were playing Frisbee[10] one time. A guy from the opposing team crashed[11] into her and her forehead started bleeding a whole lot. They eventually called her brother out of class to wait and take care of her until their mom arrived. I thought it was so cute that he tried to calm her down; it was such a heartfelt[12] moment. The connection they had was what I would call … priceless. I was very jealous knowing that I would never have such a relationship with someone I can call my “brother”.

[9] freshman [ˈfreʃmən] n. <美>中学一年级学生[10] Frisbee [ˈfrɪzbi] n. (投掷游戏用的)飞碟 [11] crash [kræʃ] vi. 哗啦啦地猛冲直闯[12] heartfelt [ˈhɑːtfelt] adj. 衷心的，诚挚的

有一次，我从中学一年级就认识的一个朋友在体育课上玩飞盘的时候发生了意外，伤得很重。她被对方球队的一个人撞了，额头破了，流了很多血。最后他们把她哥哥从教室里喊出来，让他照顾她并陪她一起等他们的母亲到来。我一想到她哥哥试图安抚她的情景就觉得很贴心，这是多么情真意切的一幕啊。我觉得他们之间的兄妹情谊是无价的。我知道我这辈子都不可能有这么个人可以让我叫他“哥哥”，因此我十分嫉妒。

There was also a time when my friend told me that she spent the weekend with her sister. They went shopping and all that good girly stuff. I always imagined that if I did have an older sister, I would tell her everything and we would have a ton of fun! She would be the person I trusted the most, the one that I’d ask for help when I need it.

我朋友也曾跟我讲过她和她妹妹一起过周末的事情。她们一起逛街，一起做女孩子会做的所有事情。我总是幻想如果我真的有一个姐姐，我会告诉她我所有的事情，我们会玩得超级开心！她会是我最信任的人，是那个在我需要帮忙时就可以求助的人。

I overcome my jealousy by surrounding myself with great friends who I can treat as my long lost siblings. I hope they’ll always be there with me through everything because I know I need them.

置身于很多要好的朋友中间，我克服了我的那份嫉妒，因为我可以把他们当成我失散已久的那些兄弟姐妹。我希望他们可以一直陪在我身边，与我一起经历一切，因为我知道我需要他们。