英语访谈对话 12 First Job

Todd: OK, Charlotte. You've been a teacher for quite a while.

Charlotte: Yeah, I started about three years ago, and my first job was in Jessif, in the east of Poland. I was promised that I wasn't going to have to teach any beginners, or any little children because it was my first job, and I was promptly¹ given the beginner infants². My first day of teaching³ I was given a book which said, 'Ah! Go into the classroom and say "Hello" to the children, and they'll all say, "Hello" back to you and wave'. I walked into a class of five four-year olds, followed by all their mothers, and grandmothers, and I said, "Hello" and they all burst⁴ into tears. I spent half the lesson trying to get them to say,"Hello" to each other and stop them from crying while all the grandmothers stood around and stared at me. I finally finished off my singing the, whatever, Happy Princess Song, all on my own, with crying infants to accompany me. It was one of the worst days of my life. I could identify with all the children though, cause I wanted to sit on the floor and cry with them by the end of it. I think that that was when I realized that teaching kids was never going to be my vocation⁵. I had some other classes as well but quit soon after that and moved onto adults who cry slightly less. Um, yeah, that was my first teaching experience. Not the best.

1 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

2 infants   

婴儿，幼儿( infant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a nursery for infants under two 两岁以下婴幼儿的托儿所
• Infants were rent from their mother's arms. 婴儿从母亲手里被夺走。

3 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

4 burst   

vi.（burst，burst）爆炸；爆破；爆裂；爆发；vt.使…破裂；使…炸破；n.突然破裂；爆发

参考例句：

• We all held our breath till the bomb burst.我们屏住呼吸直到炸弹爆炸。
• She suddenly burst into song.她突然唱起歌来。

5 vocation   

n.职业，行业

参考例句：

• She struggled for years to find her true vocation.她多年来苦苦寻找真正适合自己的职业。
• She felt it was her vocation to minister to the sick.她觉得照料病人是她的天职。