20. Even though the day-to-day experience of raising kids can be soul-crushingly hard, Senior writes that "the very things that in the moment dampen our moods can later be sources of intense gratification and delight."

【分析】多重复合句。主句在主干是 Senior writes that...，引号内是 that 引导的宾语从句，从句主干是 the very things that...can later be sources...，其中 that 引导定语从句修饰 things，of intense gratification and delight 作 sources 的后置定语。句首的 Even though引导让步状语从句。

【译文】即使抚养孩子的日子漫长难熬，令人筋疲力尽，但是 Senior 撰文写道“正是那些一时让我们沮丧的事情带来了日后由衷的欣喜。”

【点拨】1)crushingly“让人受不了地，过分的”。2) dampen字面意思是“使湿”，本句中是“抑制，控制，减弱（情感、反应等）”的含义。

21. Unhappy parents are provoked to wonder if they shouldn't have had kids, but unhappy childless folks are bothered with the message that children are the single most important thing in the world: obviously their misery must be a direct result of the gaping baby-size holes in their lives.

【分析】并列复合句。but 连接两个并列的分句。第一个分句的主干是 Unhappy parents are provoked to wonder...，if 引导的从句作 wonder 的宾语。第二个分句的主干是 unhappy childless folks are bothered with the message，其中 that 引导的从句作 message 的同位语；冒号后的内容是对其前分句的进一步解释说明，其主干是 their misery must be a direct result of...。

【译文】几乎没有什么事情会让不幸福的父母反思自己是否不应该要孩子，暗示那些没有孩子生活也不幸福的人却被“孩子是世上唯一最重要的东西”这样的信息所烦恼；显然，他们的痛苦肯定是生活中缺少了孩子直接后果。

【点拨】1) provoke“激起，引起；挑衅，激怒，刺激”，本句中显然是“引起，激起”之意。2)gaping“口的，张口的，敞口的”。