【英语趣味课堂】在军队里-In the Army

Clare: Hello this is Clare from the United States and I am talking with Mike from Singapore about serving in the army. Mike I've heard that in Singapore it is required that all men serve in the army. Is that true?

Mike: Yes that's true. We have to serve in the army for two and a half years if you're a university graduate. And if you ....your highest qualification is high school then you have to do just two years.

 

Clare: So it's better to volunteer right out of high school if you want to serve a very short time in the military.

 

Mike: That's right. But, however if you are just out of high school the kind of job you're gonna (going to) get in the army is not going to be very .......good actually because um ..... for officers or for sergeants² you have to have, like, at least college education.

 

Clare: Oh ok, so you went to the army out of high school or college?

 

Mike: College.

 

Clare: Ah, so you were an officer?

 

Mike: No, I was artillery³ sergeant¹ .... an' um, I was actually posted to the artillery branch for about one year and then after that when they found out I was a college graduate I had to do um..... Human Resource work for my camp and that took me another one year.

 

Clare: Oh, so when you say "artillery" do you mean you were ah ..... doing stuff⁴ with canons and big guns .....

 

Mike: That's right , actually what we do is a lot of the training is based on how we get the guns ready for the actual um......test firing And then we have to study how to repair the guns on site um ..... for about three months or so, and in order to drive the guns you have to have a license⁵ which, and that will take about one month.

 

Clare: And is it a common sight to see these trucks driving around Singapore I mean it's a very small island isn't it?

 

Mike: That's right. So we do most of our practises in Australia actually or New Zealand for

 

Clare: So you have a military partnership⁶ with Australia....

 

Mike: Right..

 

Clare: ..and New Zealand...

 

Mike: Actually with many other countries in the world. Um....for example, the airforce the partnership is with the United States...

 

Clare: Oooh...

 

Mike: ..because all the equipment's actually purchased from the United States

 

Clare: Yeah, F16's right...

 

Mike:.. and then for artillery's training is held in Australia and New Zealand and then for the rest of the other infantry⁷ exercises it can be United States or Sweden or actually all over Asia, because as you have mentioned Singapore is such a small place so there is not a much space for us to do it.

1 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

2 sergeants   

警官( sergeant的名词复数 )； （美国警察）警佐； （英国警察）巡佐； 陆军（或空军）中士

参考例句：

• Platoon sergeants fell their men in on the barrack square. 排长们在营房广场上整顿队伍。
• The recruits were soon licked into shape by the drill sergeants. 新兵不久便被教育班长训练得象样了。

3 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

4 stuff   

n.原料，材料，东西；vt.填满；吃饱

参考例句：

• We could supply you with the stuff in the raw tomorrow.明天我们可以供应你原材料。
• He is not the stuff.他不是这个材料。

5 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

6 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

7 infantry   

n.[总称]步兵(部队)

参考例句：

• The infantry were equipped with flame throwers.步兵都装备有喷火器。
• We have less infantry than the enemy.我们的步兵比敌人少。