Getting your own children to play nice is difficult enough. Dealing with other people's children has become a minefield.　　

minefield
首先，我们已学mine（地雷）和field（场地），可以猜测minefield指“雷区”。但是，根据句意，minefield的本义在这里讲不通，又知上一句讲到：能让自己的孩子好好玩就已经是件棘手的事了，和其他人的孩子相处就是个minefield。从逻辑上看，这是个比较关系。联想minefield（雷区）的特征，我们可以猜测到minefield指非常危险的事情。（属于根据复合词的各部分以及递进关系猜词词义）　　

"Kids aren't all raised the same," agrees Professor Naomi White of Monash University." But there is still an idea that they're the property of the parent. We see our children as an extension of ourselves, so if you're saying that my child is behaving inappropriately, then that's somehow a criticism of me."　　

inappropriately
Inappropriately为副词，修饰“ behaving”，表示“行为……”。由下文“a criticism of me”可知，inappropriately为贬义词，我们可猜知是行为不当。　　

Asked how to approach a parent in this situation, psychologist Meredith Fuller answers: "Explain your needs as well as stressing the importance of the friendship. Preface your remarks with something like: 'I know you'll think I'm silly but in my house I don't want...'"

preface
把Preface按构词法拆分，由前缀pre-(在……之前)和face(面)组成，可以推出preface指在……之前。（属于根据词根词缀猜词词义）　

Meredith Fuller agrees: "A code of conduct is hard to create when you're living in a world in which everyone is exhausted from overwork and lack of sleep, and a world in which nice people are perceived to finish last."　　

exhausted
介词from表示“由于……”，根据原因overwork and lack of sleep“超时工作，睡眠不足”可知，exhausted应该有“疲倦的、疲劳的”含义。（属于根据因果关系猜测词义）　

White believes our notions of a more child-centered society should be challenged. "Today we have a situation where, in many families, both parents work so the amount of time children get from parents has diminished." she says.　　

diminish
父母都工作，陪孩子的时间当然就减少了（diminish）。（属于根据因果关系猜词词义）　　

As Bianchi approached the park bench where she'd been sitting, other mums came up to her and congratulated her on taking a stand. "Apparently the boy had a longstanding reputation for bad behaviour and his mum for even worse behaviour if he was challenged."　　　

longstanding
将longstanding根据构词法拆分：long（长时间）+stand（站立）+-ing（形容词后缀），可知longstanding指长期存在的。（属于根据词根词缀猜词词义）