【英语趣味课堂】在多哥的生活-Life in Togo

Todd: Now, Michael, you were in the Peace Corps¹?

 

Mike: Peace Corps, yeah.

 

Todd: Can you explain what the Peace Corps is and what you did?

 

Mike: Well, it's an organization, U.S. Government organization that sends young people for the most part, college graduates, to different countries to work as volunteers in either construction or education. I was in education. I was a high school teacher.

 

Todd: Where did you go? What country?

 

Mike: I was in Togo.

 

Todd: Togo?

 

Mike: It's a little country between Ghana and Dahome, and the time Benan, Nigeria, West Africa.

 

Todd: West Africa, yeah.

 

Mike: And I was a high school teacher. I was an education major at the University of Michigan, and trained as a high school teacher there, but I had to get a complete different training, skills, to work in West African high schools. I mean for one thing, the classes were huge, like a hundred students in a class, and we didn't have textbooks. We just had a blackboard in front of the class and students had notebooks, so you had to really manage the class so that the students always had something to write down, or practive from their notebooks, and you know I had like four or five classes like that every day, and it was a very grueling job, but very, very exciting work, I mean, I loved it. I just loved it. It was the best thing a college grad could do in my opinion.

 

Todd: What type of experiences do you remember about living in Togo?

 

Mike: Ah, living in Togo, well, I was a foreigner, right, I was white, I am white, and everybody was African, black, so there was this feeling of always being an outsider and occasionally², not occasionally, often, you know kids would make fun of you for being different, and you know, so it was sort of hard to get used to that. That was one thing I remember.

 

Mike: I mean, I remember the beauty of it all, and how in the tropical³ area, how things grow (right) like it would rain almost every day and then when the rain stopped and the sun came out you could just literally⁴ see flowers growing, plants blossoming⁵, you know, that's one thing I really remember.

 

Todd: Man, it must have been really, really beautiful.

 

Mike: It is.

 

Todd: Have you ever gone back?

 

Mike: You know, I was just thinking about that the other day, that why, no I haven't gone back. I haven't gone back. I would love to. If I have the opportunity I will, or I have to make the opportunity to go back. It's a very volatile⁶ country, though, you know. It's not an easy country to go to just as a visitor. I think you need to have something to do there, (right) like I did, you know, I had a regular routine⁷, and place to live. I don't think I would want to go there as a tourist, but I'd love to go back if I have an inviation to do something again.

 

Todd: Alright, thanks Mike.

 

Mike: Sure.

1 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

2 occasionally   

adv.偶然地；非经常地

参考例句：

• He went on talking,occasionally wiping at his face with a towel.他继续说着，偶尔用毛巾擦一下脸。
• I like playing football best,but occasionally I play table tennis,too.我最喜欢踢足球，偶尔也打打乒乓球。

3 tropical   

adj.热带的，热带的，炎热的

参考例句：

• You must grow these tropical flowers in a glasshouse.你必须把这些热带花卉种在温室里。
• This disease is widespread in tropical areas.这种疾病在热带地区蔓延很广。

4 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

5 blossoming   

v.（植物）开花( blossom的现在分词 )；发展；长成；变得更加健康（或自信、成功）

参考例句：

• Our firm is blossoming out. 我们的公司正在成长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The corn is blossoming [ripening]. 玉米正在开花[成熟]。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

7 routine   

n.例行公事，惯例；adj.例行的，常规的

参考例句：

• It is everyday routine.这是每天的例行公事。
• She found the hospital routine slightly dull.她感到医院的工作有点枯燥乏味。