15篇文章贯通四级词汇(星火英语)6 An Ideal Position

An Ideal Position [理想职业]

Life is good. My career in elementary education in Canada is now just a fond memory. I think back on the many years of service and I recall the many classed I taught, the different schools I worked at, the countless staff meetings I attended and the many committees I served on. I estimate that the number of faculty members I worked with over the years is in the hundreds and well over a thousand students have called me teacher. Is it any wonder that I can say that I always felt comfortable walking in school corridors?

生活是美好的。在加拿大教小学的职业生涯，如今成了美好的回忆。回顾多年的工作，我想起了我教的许多班级，我工作过的多所学校，我出席过的数不清的教职员工会议，以及我参与服务的众多委员会。我估计，这些年来，和我一起工作过的同事有好几百人了，而有一千多名学生叫过我老师。我要是说我走在学校走廊上总是觉得很愉快，没什么奇怪吧?

Sometimes I worked with students at the intermediate level. In Canada, students at that level are youth in their preteen(青春期前的) years as well as teenagers. When I decided to retire, I knew that the first step in the procedure was to write a letter to my employer, a school board, to resign my position. I postponed mailing the letter. I was reluctant to add the postage to the letter, knowing that once I mailed it, the decision could not be reversed.

有时，我的工作是教中年级的学生。在加拿大，这个阶段的学生和十几岁青少年都是青春期前的孩子。

当我决定退休的时候，我知道办手续的第一步是写一封信给我的老板，即学校董事会，要求辞去我的工作。我推迟了寄信。我不太愿意把邮票贴到信封上，因为我知道一旦把信寄出，这个决定就不能更改了。

Because I was a veteran teacher of many years, I would be eligible to receive a pension. I calculated that the revenue(收入) I would receive each month would be sufficient to sustain my current lifestyle. If I was smart about my spending habits, I might even have a surplus of money. I certainly would not need to pinch every penny. I knew the money would not come to me in the form of a check. Instead, it would be deposited directly into my bank account. I could withdraw cash from my investments if I needed to supplement my income, my credit rating would allow me to be eligible for a loan when some unforeseen(预料不到的) financial crisis a rose. I knew, therefore, that there was no reason to panic, as my future was secure even if inflation increased or a recession occurred. In either case my income would only be minus a few dollars, a fraction of the total amount.

因为我是工作多年的老教师，我有资格领取一份退休金。我算出我每月领到的退休金足够维持我现在的生活方式。如果在花钱时精打细算，我甚至可能还有剩余。当然，我不需要去节省每个便士。这些钱不会以一张支票的形式发到我手上，而是直接存入到我的银行账户。如果我需要补贴收入，可以撤回一些投资换成现金。而且，我的信用等级使我有资格在出现无法预料的财政危机时得到银行贷款。因此，我知道没有理由惊惶失措，即使是通货膨胀或者出现经济衰退，我的将来也是有保障的。不论出现哪种情况，我的收入只不过是减少这些钱，那只是总数中的一小部分而已。

I decided to take the plunge, but waited another fortnight before I mailed the letter. I even paused briefly(简短的,暂时的) with the letter part way into the mail slot(投信口,狭缝) before I thrust the letter into the mailbox. I knew that the simple act of mailing that letter would alter my life.

我决定冒险一试，但我又等了两个星期才把信发出去。甚至在信已经部分插入投信口时，还犹豫了一会儿才把它推进邮筒。我知道寄出这封信的这一简单举动将改变我的生活。

I looked for clues to determine how striking the changes in my daily life would be. How would I spend my time? In spite of having many long yearly vacations when I could pursue other interests, I had not bothered to make an earnest effort to confine my activities to one particular hobby. Would I find life as a retiree boring? What new adventures might await me? Would I use my time to volunteer at a hospital or maybe work for a local charity? Maybe I would apply for membership in a golf league. Maybe I would donate(捐赠) my time and work with the Better Business Bureau. I night decide to enter local politics and run for a position on town council or I could run for the position of Deputy Mayor of my town, or maybe even consider submitting my name to be a candidate in an election for member of parliament(国会). I would need to campaign and then wait to see if people would vote for me on Election Day at the polls.

我在寻找一些线索，以便决定如何就会日常生活的改变。我该如何消磨时光?尽管有了很多一年一次的假期，可以让我追求其他的兴趣爱好，我还是想尽力把我的活动放在追求一个特别的爱好上。我会厌烦退休人员的生活吗?会有什么新的冒险生活在等着我吗?我会利用我的时间在一所医院或者本地的一家慈善机构做自愿服务者吗?也许我会申请成为一个高尔夫球协会的会员。也许我会把时间贡献出来为商业扶助局工作。我可以决定进入本地的政界，竞选市议会议员的位置，或者可以竞选一下本市的副市长，甚至可以考虑让自己成为国会议员选举中的一位候选人。我需要参加竞选活动，然后，等着看是否有人会在选举日到投票处把票投给我。

In spite of the fact that the possibilities all had merit, I had to admit that I only had a superficial interest in pursuing any of them. In fact, I was indifferent to most of the options. Did I think they might interfere with other commitments(义务,委托) or mean I would have to cancel other appointments? Or was I just too attached to the idea of teaching, feeling that it formed part of my identity?

尽管这些可能的选择都是有益的，我必须承认我对它们之中的任何一个都没有多大兴趣。事实上，我对其中的大多数选择都不动心。是否因为我认为它们可能干扰我决定要做的其他事情，或者意味着我将不得不取消其他的约会呢?还是我对教书的想法太执着，觉得那已经成为我自身的一部分?

I examined my emotions about the new direction my life would take. Would retirement add a new dimension to my life and multiply my feeling of satisfaction or would the world apprehension(理解,领悟) be more applicable?

我在心里仔细衡量着我的新生活究竟要走向何方。是退休给我的生活带来一种全新的方式，使我倍感称心呢，还是(走出去与人)沟通交流更切实可行?

Did I feel guilty about not being gainfully(有利益的) employed when I was qualified and capable? As a certified(被证明的) teacher, did I feel obligated to work in the field of education? Did I feel entitled to sleep in late each day, or would that bother my conscience? Would I simply grow old gracefully or would feel that ridiculous?

当我够资格有能力但没被高薪聘用时，我会觉得惭愧吗?作为一个有执业资格的教师，我是觉得有义务在教育领域里工作吗?我觉得有资格每天睡懒觉呢，还是那样会使我良心不安?我是这样悠闲地衰老下去呢，还是会觉得那样很可笑?

My instincts told me that although I would feel grateful for my good health, curiosity about other countries and lifestyles would overtake the desire to spend my time with senior citizens, playing board games, such as chess all day. Wouldn’t I rather learn about other cultures and at the same time be an ambassador for my own country?

我本能地告诉我，尽管我觉得身体很健康，应该保持，但对其他国家和其他生活方式的好奇心，超过了希望把时间花在与老人们整天玩像国际象棋这样的棋盘游戏上。难道我不能学习其他文化，同时做一名我自己国家文化的使者吗?

I began to inquire about opportunities and whenever I searched the internet for jobs, I always seemed be drawn like a magnet to the category of teaching. It did not take long before I found that there were countless positions available in many countries. Amid the listings I identified several that were for teaching positions in China.

我开始寻找机会，每当我搜索互联网寻找工作时，我总是像一块磁石一样被吸引到教学目录上。没过多久，我就发现在许多国家可以得到数不尽的工作。在这些目录表中，我挑选了几个在中国的教书工作。

I decided that I would communicate with some of the people offering these positions. I sent e-mails and made phone calls to several prospective(可能的,未来的) employers. The feedback that I got from most of them was that they expected me to bring all the resources necessary. How could I pack enough in my baggage to provide what was needed? I was inclined to look for a situation where books were provided. I wanted to sign a contract for only one semester but found that most positions were for one or two years. I could sympathize with the amount of paper work needed to arrange for a person to accept one of those positions and realized that it was wiser for people to spend a year or two in one location. I attended seminars by companies trying to recruit teachers. I found several companies that captured my interest.

我决定与提供这些工作的人联系。我给几个有希望雇用我的雇主发电子邮件，打电话。他们中的大部分回答说，他们希望我带上所有必需的资料。我怎样才能在我的行李中装上足够的东西以备所需呢?我倾向于找一个能提供书籍的地方。我只想签一个学期的合同，但发现大多数的职位是一年或二年。我可以理解，要安排一个人担任其中一个职位，要做的工作量相当大，并认识到受聘人员在一个地方呆一年或两年是更明智的。我参加了想招聘老师的公司的讨论会。我发现了几个我感兴趣的公司。

I began to review my options. I asked specific questions about the positions with companies that sincerely interested me. I inquired about how many suitcases I would be allowed to bring and what the living accommodations would be. It was refreshing to realize that there was a big demand for people who could teach English. Several positions seemed superior in their benefits and they sparked my interest even more. I especially wanted to teach students at the secondary or high school level rather than middle school.

我开始核实我的选择。我向真正对我感兴趣的公司问了几个特定的有关职位方面的问题。我询问我可以带多少个手提箱，食宿条件如何。了解到对教英语的人有这么大的需求，真是令人振奋不已。有几个职位在待遇方面好像不错，这更加激发了我的兴趣。我特别想教的是高中而不是初中。

I could hardly believe that I was contemplating(盘算,思量) dong this at this age of my life. At times I felt that it was a radical idea but I also realized that I had always had the desire to have this kind of experience but circumstances never seemed quite right. Now they were. I decided to proceed.

我几乎不相信在我一生中的这个阶段还希望做这件事。有时，我觉得这是一个过激的想法，但是我也知道我一直有想获得这种经历的欲望，只是环境从来没有这么合适。现在是时候了。我决定坚持下去。

I made an oral agreement with a company. I read their written contracts, clause by clause; to be sure nothing had been omitted from the oral agreement. In spite of wanting the clause about staying two years to be deleted, I signed the legal contract after a few minor changes were made and initialed in the margin.

我与一家公司达成了一个口头协议。然后我一条一条地读了他们的书面合同，确信没有从口头协议中漏掉什么。尽管很想删掉关于工作二年的那一条，但在做了一些较小的变动后，我签了法律合同并在页边签字。

There were many details to consider. After choosing the company that I wanted to work for, I still had to take a long time look at my circumstances. I decided that I would sell my car, put my personal belongings in storage and rent my house. A lot of time and effort was required to make all the arrangements. I decided to tackle(解决) one aspect at a time.

还有很多细节要考虑。在选定了我要去工作的公司后，我还花了很长时间认真地考虑我现在的状况。我决定卖掉我的汽车，把我的个人财产保存好，并把我的房子租出去。做好所有这些安排要花许多时间和精力。我决定一件一件来处理。

The first thing I targeted was to sell my car. As a matter of principle, I felt that the value of the car would depreciate(贬值,跌价) over the time I was out of the country. The sensible strategy was to sell it. Fortunately, my niece wanted to buy the car.

我要做的第一件事是卖掉我的汽车。事实上，我觉得在我出国这段时间里汽车会贬值，明智的办法就是卖掉它。正好，我的侄女想买这辆汽车。

I made a list of things to take with me. I was advised to take auxiliary light. I packed battery-operated flashlights to be used to case of power failure. I included a waterproof jacket in case I needed to walk to school in the rain.

我列出了一个我要带走的物品的清单。有人劝我带上辅助照明设备。我在包里装进了使用电池的手电筒，以备万一停电时使用。我也没忘带上一件防水夹克，以防下雨时需要步行。

I needed to sort my belongings. I had to decide what to save and what to pitch out. For example, I decided I no longer needed my typewriter, as I only used my computer for word processing now, so I decided to give it away.

我需要的把我的财产分类。我必须决定哪些东西保留，哪些东西扔掉。例如，我决定不再需要打字机了，因为现在我只用计算机作文字处理，于是我决定把它赠送给别人。

I made many lists and developed a cold as a way to catalogue my possessions. As I packed items in cardboard boxes, I made a list regarding the contents on the outside of each box. I packed dishes in towels to protect them. Many times I had to undo a box because I forgot to list the contents. When I finally snapped the lid of a box shut, I sealed it with transparent tape and checked to be sure that it would not loosen. I also included another tag, which gave each box a number because all cardboard boxes look identical. I was careful not to abbreviate(缩写) the names of items in the lists lest that would mislead me as to the contents. I continued with this method, which also created an index of items. It seemed the rational way to coordinate and organize things. I remarked many times during this phase of my preparations that I had not realized I had so much gear.

我做了许多目录，还作了编码，作为对我的东西进行分类的一个办法。当我把这些物品装入纸板箱时，在每个箱子的外面，我再作一个所装物品的目录。我用毛巾把盘子包起来保护它们不会破碎。有很多次，我因为忘记列出所装的东西而不得不再次把箱子打开。当我在最后啪嗒一声关上箱子盖子的时候，我就用透明胶带把它封好，并进行检查，确信它不会松动。我还准备了另一个标签，为每个箱子编一个数字，因为所有的纸板箱看上去是一样的。我很小心，不在目录中缩写每一件的名字以免使我认错里面的东西。我继续使用这个方法，还编制了一个物品索引。看来这是一个组织协调的合理方法。在准备期间，我多次感叹，我怎么会有这么多杂物。

At times I had to laugh at myself. My activities seemed like they would make a good script for a comedy. Maybe I should write a play about what I was doing and copyright it. It certainly would be good for a few scenes on a soap opera.

有时，我不得不自我解嘲。我的活动好像可以作为一出喜剧的好素材。也许我应该把我正在做的事情写成一个剧本并取得版权，作为一出肥皂剧里面的几幕肯定是不错的。

On the spur of the moment I decided to loan my sofa and my rug to my niece who was moving to a larger home. That would mean a few less things to put into storage. I fulfilled my obligation to provide proof of good health. I had a chest x-ray taken. I had a complete physical examination. I had dental check up. Because my health reports all indicated I was in excellent health, all of the health care professionals I visited encouraged me to pursue my adventure. I renewed my passport, my proof of identity as a Canadian citizen. I knew that once I arrived in China I would also be registered with the Canadian Embassy.

我不假思索地就决定把我的沙发和我的小地毯借给我的侄女，她就要搬到一个较大的家了。这意味着可以少储藏几件东西了。我履行了提供身体健康证明的义务。我作了X光胸透，还作了一个全面的体检，并且检查了牙齿。因为所有的健康报告都表明我身体很好，我拜访过的那些保健专家都鼓励我去从事我的冒险活动。我延长了护照的期限，那是确认我是一个加拿大公民的证明。一旦抵达中国，我要在加拿大使馆登记。

My family’s reaction when I told them about my plans was as expected. Although they sanctioned my idea and supported me the endeavor(努力,尽力), they were sad to think that I would be half way across the world for such a long time. The frown on my grandson’s face told me that the situation would be especially difficult for him and that he might feel neglected by me.

当我把我的计划告诉我的家人时，他们的反应和我预料的一样。虽然他们同意我的想法而且尽力支持我，但想到我要横跨半个世界，离开如此长的时间，他们还是有点难过。我孙子眉头紧锁的表情告诉我，他尤其难过，他可能觉得我忽视了他。

Although I could scarcely argue with the comments of my family about their feelings, for their sake I talked about the time away from home as if it was just a few short days. I would be backing home before they knew it. They suggested that I come back after one year for the summer and then return for the second year. I agreed to this plan.

对于我家人的担心，虽然我不用就他们的意见进行解释，但为了让他们放心，我说这次离家的时间就好像只是短短几天罢了，不知不觉我就回家了。他们提议我在一年之后回来过夏天，然后再返回去继续第二年的工作。我同意了这个计划。

Five years ago, would I have thought that this was in the realm of possibility? I doubt that I would have. But here I am in China, in my second year of living in this amazingly progressive civilization, and I can honestly say that I have never once regretted my decision to teach in China. I must also admit that I have learned far more from my students than they have learned from me. I admire their thirst for knowledge and they seem to thrive on challenges. They never seen tempted to take a short cut, always working hard and giving a supreme effort. Their tolerance for their English teacher’s lack of familiarity with Chinese customs has been appreciated. They always are positive in their attitudes toward me and have helped me whenever they could. At times they have insisted on doing things for me that was capable of doing myself. It has become a habit to surrender to their wishes to assist. One student in particular always takes on the job of carrying my packages, saying that it is his pleasure to be my porter.

在五年前，我会想到这是可能的吗?我想我不会。但是，现在我就在另，已经是在这个正以惊人的速度前进的文明国度里的第二年了。我可以真诚地说，对于在中国教书的决定，我从不曾后悔过。我还得承认，我从学生们那里学到的东西，远多于他们从我这里学到的。我钦佩他们对知识的渴望，他们含金量在挑战之中成长。他们从不设法走捷径，总是刻苦学习，付出最大的努力。他们对他们的英语老师对中国习俗缺乏了解的宽容，值得赞赏。他们总是以肯定的态度待我，并且尽可能给我帮助。有时，他们要坚持为我做我能够做的事。满足他们要帮忙的愿望已经变成一个习惯了。有一个学生很特别，总是干帮我提包的事，说他很高兴当我的搬运工。

When I started to plan this adventure I had only a vague idea of what the country of china would be like. I could recognize their flag but was not even familiar with their national anthem(国歌). My comprehension of the customs of the country was very limited I felt almost ashamed at how little I knew. I did not know if they used the metric or the imperial(英制的) system of measurement. Would I buy fluids such as milk and soda in quarts or liters? Would I need to learn the Chinese word for gram or for inch? Indeed I had never heard the word ‘jin’ before.

当我开始计划这次冒险时，对于中国到底是个什么样子，我只有一个模糊的概念。我可以认出他们的国旗，但还不熟悉他们的国歌。我对这个国家的习俗的了解也非常有限。我觉得惭愧得很，我知道得太少了。我不知道他们是用公制还是英制单位。我要按夸脱还是按升去买牛奶和苏打等液体商品?我需要学习表示“克”或“英寸”的中国字吗?的确，我以前从未听到过“斤”这个字。

I knew little about the food I would be eating. Would dairy products such as skim milk and cheese and yoghurt(酸酪) be available? Would I eat only rice and noodles or would the variety of foods be endless? May be I would be enjoying a rack of lean pork ribs as a delicious treat.

I was unaware that there were so many dialects in the Chinese language. I had no idea how I would communicate but when I arrived in china, I soon found myself having a limited dialogue with Chinese people. They would try to speak a few words of English and I would attempt a few words in Chinese. However, I resorted to sign language more than words.

对于我将要吃的食品，我知道得很少。可以买到像脱脂牛奶、乳酪和酸酪这样的奶制品吗?我只能吃米饭和面条，还是有各种各样的食品?也许我能享受到作为美味款待的烤瘦肉猪排。我不知道汉语有这么多方言。我一点儿不知道如何进行交流，但是当我抵达中国后，很快发现我自己可以和中国人进行有限的对话。他们常常试着说几句英语，而我就尝试几句汉语。不过，我借助手势语的时候超过口语。

How much I have learned! It has been a wonderful, rewarding experience and the one comment that comes to my mind is “I wouldn’t have missed it for the world!”

我居然学了这么多!这真是一次令人愉快的、十分有益的经历。这使我想起了一句话，就是“无论如何我没有错过它!”