下班后到晚饭前，这段时间要做晚饭，又有孩子吵闹，可谓一天中的砒霜时间。

我们来看一段相关的英文报道

Arsenic hour is the time after parents arrive home from work and before dinner is served; any extremely hectic part of the day, especially when dealing with young children.

It's almost dinnertime. Mom or Dad, or both, are trying to get dinner going. They've just arrived home from work or they're reeling from a long day of parenting. They're tired, the kids are wired and everyone is hungry. Among other things.

During this period, they either want to dispense some arsenic or take some (just kidding).

砒霜时间指的是父母下班后到晚饭开饭前的这段时间，或者是一天中非常忙碌的时段，特别是带年幼的孩子时。

快到晚饭时间了，母亲、父亲或是两个人都在做饭。他们刚下班，或者已经带了一天孩子。他们非常疲惫，但孩子们极其兴奋，每个人都很饿，等等。

这时他们巴不得分点儿毒药下去，或者自己吃点儿（开玩笑）。



【讲解】

文中的arsenic hour就是“砒霜时间”的意思，其中arsenic用作名词，意为“砒霜”，如：Arsenic is a very strong poison which can kill people.（砒霜是一种剧毒，可以杀人。）它还可以用作形容词，表示“砒素的；砷的”。

第二段中的短语reel from指“遭受；经历”，如：The industry continued to reel from aftershocks of a disastrous year.（工业在遭受灾年重创后依然摇摆不前。）