星火英語(yǔ)-15篇文章貫通四級(jí)詞匯文本6AnIdealPosition

AnIdealPositionLifeisgood.MycareerinelementaryeducationinCanadaisnowjustafondmemory.IthinkbackonthemanyyearsofserviceandIrecallthemanyclassedItaught,thedifferentschoolsIworkedat,thecountlessstaffmeetingsIattendedandthemanycommitteesIservedon.IestimatethatthenumberoffacultymembersIworkedwithovertheyearsisinthehundredsandwelloverathousandstudentshavecalledmeteacher.IsitanywonderthatIcansaythatIalwaysfeltcomfortablewalkinginschoolcorridors?SometimesIworkedwithstudentsattheintermediatelevel.InCanada,studentsatthatlevelareyouthintheirpreteen(青春期前的)yearsaswellasteenagers.WhenIdecidedtoretire,Iknewthatthefirststepintheprocedurewastowritealettertomyemployer,aschoolboard,toresignmyposition.Ipostponedmailingtheletter.Iwasreluctanttoaddthepostagetotheletter,knowingthatonceImailedit,thedecisioncouldnotbereversed.BecauseIwasaveteranteacherofmanyyears,Iwouldbeeligibletoreceiveapension.Icalculatedthattherevenue(收入)Iwouldreceiveeachmonthwouldbesufficienttosustainmycurrentlifestyle.IfIwassmartaboutmyspendinghabits,Imightevenhaveasurplusofmoney.Icertainlywouldnotneedtopincheverypenny.Iknewthemoneywouldnotcometomeintheformofacheck.Instead,itwouldbedepositeddirectlyintomybankaccount.IcouldwithdrawcashfrommyinvestmentsifIneededtosupplementmyincome,mycreditratingwouldallowmetobeeligibleforaloanwhensomeunforeseen(預(yù)料不到的)financialcrisisarose.Iknew,therefore,thattherewasnoreasontopanic,asmyfuturewassecureevenifinflationincreasedorarecessionoccurred.Ineithercasemyincomewouldonlybeminusafewdollars,afractionofthetotalamount.Idecidedtotaketheplunge,butwaitedanotherfortnightbeforeImailedtheletter.Ievenpausedbriefly(簡(jiǎn)短的,暫時(shí)的)withtheletterpartwayintothemailslot(投信口,狹縫)beforeIthrusttheletterintothemailbox.Iknewthatthesimpleactofmailingthatletterwouldaltermylife.Ilookedforcluestodeterminehowstrikingthechangesinmydailylifewouldbe.HowwouldIspendmytime?InspiteofhavingmanylongyearlyvacationswhenIcouldpursueotherinterests,Ihadnotbotheredtomakeanearnestefforttoconfinemyactivitiestooneparticularhobby.WouldIfindlifeasaretireeboring?Whatnewadventuresmightawaitme?WouldIusemytimetovolunteeratahospitalormaybeworkforalocalcharity?MaybeIwouldapplyformembershipinagolfleague.MaybeIwoulddonate(捐贈(zèng))mytimeandworkwiththeBetterBusinessBureau.InightdecidetoenterlocalpoliticsandrunforapositionontowncouncilorIcouldrunforthepositionofDeputyMayorofmytown,ormaybeevenconsidersubmittingmynametobeacandidateinanelectionformemberofparliament(國(guó)會(huì)).IwouldneedtocampaignandthenwaittoseeifpeoplewouldvoteformeonElectionDayatthepolls.Inspiteofthefactthatthepossibilitiesallhadmerit,IhadtoadmitthatIonlyhadasuperficialinterestinpursuinganyofthem.Infact,Iwasindifferenttomostoftheoptions.DidIthinktheymightinterferewithothercommitments(義務(wù),委托)ormeanIwouldhavetocancelotherappointments?OrwasIjusttooattachedtotheideaofteaching,feelingthatitformedpartofmyidentity?Iexaminedmyemotionsaboutthenewdirectionmylifewouldtake.Wouldretirementaddanewdimensiontomylifeandmultiplymyfeelingofsatisfactionorwouldtheworldapprehension(理解,領(lǐng)悟)bemoreapplicable?DidIfeelguiltyaboutnotbeinggainfully(有利益的)employedwhenIwasqualifiedandcapable?Asacertified(被證明的)teacher,didIfeelobligatedtoworkinthefieldofeducation?DidIfeelentitledtosleepinlateeachday,orwouldthatbothermyconscience?WouldIsimplygrowoldgracefullyorwouldfeelthatridiculous?MyinstinctstoldmethatalthoughIwouldfeelgratefulformygoodhealth,curiosityaboutothercountriesandlifestyleswouldovertakethedesiretospendmytimewithseniorcitizens,playingboardgames,suchaschessallday.Wouldn’tIratherlearnaboutotherculturesandatthesametimebeanambassadorformyowncountry?IbegantoinquireaboutopportunitiesandwheneverIsearchedtheinternetforjobs,Ialwaysseemedbedrawnlikeamagnettothecategoryofteaching.ItdidnottakelongbeforeIfoundthattherewerecountlesspositionsavailableinmanycountries.AmidthelistingsIidentifiedseveralthatwereforteachingpositionsinChina.IdecidedthatIwouldcommunicatewithsomeofthepeopleofferingthesepositions.Isente-mailsandmadephonecallstoseveralprospective(可能的,未來(lái)的)employers.ThefeedbackthatIgotfrommostofthemwasthattheyexpectedmetobringalltheresourcesnecessary.HowcouldIpackenoughinmybaggagetoprovidewhatwasneeded?Iwasinclinedtolookforasituationwherebookswereprovided.Iwantedtosignacontractforonlyonesemesterbutfoundthatmostpositionswereforoneortwoyears.Icouldsympathizewiththeamountofpaperworkneededtoarrangeforapersontoacceptoneofthosepositionsandrealizedthatitwaswiserforpeopletospendayearortwoinonelocation.Iattendedseminarsbycompaniestryingtorecruitteachers.Ifoundseveralcompaniesthatcapturedmyinterest.Ibegantoreviewmyoptions.Iaskedspecificquestionsaboutthepositionswithcompaniesthatsincerelyinterestedme.IinquiredabouthowmanysuitcasesIwouldbeallowedtobringandwhatthelivingaccommodationswouldbe.ItwasrefreshingtorealizethattherewasabigdemandforpeoplewhocouldteachEnglish.Severalpositionsseemedsuperiorintheirbenefitsandtheysparkedmyinterestevenmore.Iespeciallywantedtoteachstudentsatthesecondaryorhighschoollevelratherthanmiddleschool.IcouldhardlybelievethatIwascontemplating(盤(pán)算,思量)dongthisatthisageofmylife.AttimesIfeltthatitwasaradicalideabutIalsorealizedthatIhadalwayshadthedesiretohavethiskindofexperiencebutcircumstancesneverseemedquiteright.Nowtheywere.Idecidedtoproceed.Imadeanoralagreementwithacompany.Ireadtheirwrittencontracts,clausebyclause;tobesurenothinghadbeenomittedfromtheoralagreement.Inspiteofwantingtheclauseaboutstayingtwoyearstobedeleted,Isignedthelegalcontractafterafewminorchangesweremadeandinitialedinthemargin.Thereweremanydetailstoconsider.AfterchoosingthecompanythatIwantedtoworkfor,Istillhadtotakealongtimelookatmycircumstances.IdecidedthatIwouldsellmycar,putmypersonalbelongingsinstorageandrentmyhouse.Alotoftimeandeffortwasrequiredtomakeallthearrangements.Idecidedtotackle(解決)oneaspectatatime.ThefirstthingItargetedwastosellmycar.Asamatterofprinciple,Ifeltthatthevalueofthecarwoulddepreciate(貶值,跌價(jià))overthetimeIwasoutofthecountry.Thesensiblestrategywastosellit.Fortunately,myniecewantedtobuythecar.Imadealistofthingstotakewithme.Iwasadvisedtotakeauxiliarylight.Ipackedbattery-operatedflashlightstobeusedtocaseofpowerfailure.IincludedawaterproofjacketincaseIneededtowalktoschoolintherain.Ineededtosortmybelongings.Ihadtodecidewhattosaveandwhattopitchout.Forexample,IdecidedInolongerneededmytypewriter,asIonlyusedmycomputerforwordprocessingnow,soIdecidedtogiveitaway.Imademanylistsanddevelopedacoldasawaytocataloguemypossessions.AsIpackeditemsincardboardboxes,Imadealistregardingthecontentsontheoutsideofeachbox.Ipackeddishesintowelstoprotectthem.ManytimesIhadtoundoaboxbecauseIforgottolistthecontents.WhenIfinallysnappedthelidofaboxshut,Isealeditwithtransparenttapeandcheckedtobesurethatitwouldnotloosen.Ialsoincludedanothertag,whichgaveeachboxanumberbecauseallcardboardboxeslookidentical.Iwascarefulnottoabbreviate(縮寫(xiě))thenamesofitemsinthelistslestthatwouldmisleadmeastothecontents.Icontinuedwiththismethod,whichalsocreatedanindexofitems.Itseemedtherationalwaytocoordinateandorganizethings.IremarkedmanytimesduringthisphaseofmypreparationsthatIhadnotrealizedIhadsomuchgear.AttimesIhadtolaughatmyself.Myactivitiesseemedliketheywouldmakeagoodscriptforacomedy.MaybeIshouldwriteaplayaboutwhatIwasdoingandcopyrightit.Itcertainlywouldbegoodforafewscenesonasoapopera.OnthespurofthemomentIdecidedtoloanmysofaandmyrugtomyniecewhowasmovingtoalargerhome.Thatwouldmeanafewlessthingstoputintostorage.Ifulfilledmyobligationtoprovideproofofgoodhealth.Ihadachestx-raytaken.Ihadacompletephysicalexamination.Ihaddentalcheckup.BecausemyhealthreportsallindicatedIwasinexcellenthealth,allofthehealthcareprofessionalsIvisitedencouragedmetopursuemyadventure.Irenewedmypassport,myproofofidentityasaCanadiancitizen.IknewthatonceIarrivedinChinaIwouldalsoberegisteredwiththeCanadianEmbassy.Myfamily’sreactionwhenItoldthemaboutmyplanswasasexpected.Althoughtheysanctionedmyideaandsupportedmetheendeavor(努力,盡力),theyweresadtothinkthatIwouldbehalfwayacrosstheworldforsuchalongtime.Thefrownonmygrandson’sfacetoldmethatthesituationwouldbeespeciallydifficultforhimandthathemightfeelneglectedbyme.AlthoughIcouldscarcelyarguewiththecommentsofmyfamilyabouttheirfeelings,fortheirsakeItalkedaboutthetimeawayfromhomeasifitwasjustafewshortdays.Iwouldbebackinghomebeforetheyknewit.TheysuggestedthatIcomebackafteroneyearforthesummerandthenreturnforthesecondyear.Iagreedtothisplan.Fiveyearsago,wouldIhavethoughtthatthiswasintherealmofpossibility?IdoubtthatIwouldhave.ButhereIaminChina,inmysecondyearoflivinginthisamazinglyprogressivecivilization,andIcanhonestlysaythatIhaveneveronceregrettedmydecisiontoteachinChina.ImustalsoadmitthatIhavelearnedfarmorefrommystudentsthantheyhavelearnedfromme.Iadmiretheirthirstforknowledgeandtheyseemtothriveonchallenges.Theyneverseentemptedtotakeashortcut,alwaysworkinghardandgivingasupremeeffort.TheirtolerancefortheirEnglishteacher’slackoffamiliaritywithChinesecustomshasbeenappreciated.Theyalwaysarepositiveintheirattitudestowardmeandhavehelpedmewhenevertheycould.Attimestheyhaveinsistedondoingthingsformethatwascapableofdoingmyself.Ithasbecomeahabittosurrendertotheirwishestoassist.Onestudentinparticularalwaystakesonthejobofcarryingmypackages,sayingthatitishispleasuretobemyporter.WhenIstartedtoplanthisadventureIhadonlyavagueideaofwhatthecountryofchinawouldbelike.Icouldrecognizetheirflagbutwasnotevenfamiliarwiththeirnationalanthem(國(guó)歌).MycomprehensionofthecustomsofthecountrywasverylimitedIfeltalmostashamedathowlittleIknew.Ididnotknowiftheyusedthemetricortheimperial(英制的)systemofmeasurement.WouldIbuyfluidssuchasmilkandsodainquartsorliters?WouldIneedtolearntheChinesewordforgramorforinch?IndeedIhadneverheardtheword‘jin’before.IknewlittleaboutthefoodIwouldbeeating.Woulddairyproductssuchasskimmilkandcheeseandyoghurt(酸酪)beavailable?WouldIeatonlyriceandnoodlesorwouldthevarietyoffoodsbeendless?MaybeIwouldbeenjoyingarackofleanporkribsasadelicioustreat.IwasunawarethatthereweresomanydialectsintheChineselanguage.IhadnoideahowIwouldcommunicatebutwhenIarrivedinchina,IsoonfoundmyselfhavingalimiteddialoguewithChinesepeople.TheywouldtrytospeakafewwordsofEnglishandIwouldattemptafewwordsinChinese.However,Iresortedtosignlanguagemorethanwords.HowmuchIhavelearned!Ithasbeenawonderful,rewardingexperienceandtheonecommentthatcomestomymindis“Iwouldn’thavemisseditfortheworld!”理想職業(yè)生活是美好的。在加拿大教小學(xué)的職業(yè)生涯，如今成了美好的回憶?；仡櫠嗄甑墓ぷ?，我想起了我教的許多班級(jí)，我工作過(guò)的多所學(xué)校，我出席過(guò)的數(shù)不清的教職員工會(huì)議，以及我參與服務(wù)的眾多委員會(huì)。我估計(jì)，這些年來(lái)，和我一起工作過(guò)的同事有好幾百人了，而有一千多名學(xué)生叫過(guò)我老師。我要是說(shuō)我走在學(xué)校走廊上總是覺(jué)得很愉快，沒(méi)什么奇怪吧？有時(shí)，我的工作是教中年級(jí)的學(xué)生。在加拿大，這個(gè)階段的學(xué)生和十幾歲的青少年都是青春期前的孩子。當(dāng)我決定退休的時(shí)候，我知道辦手續(xù)的第一步是寫(xiě)一封信給我的老板，即學(xué)校董事會(huì)，要求辭去我的工作。我推遲了寄信。我不太愿意把郵票貼到信封上，因?yàn)槲抑酪坏┌研偶某觯@個(gè)決定就不能更改了。因?yàn)槲沂枪ぷ鞫嗄甑睦辖處?，我有資格領(lǐng)取一份退休金。我算出我每月領(lǐng)到的退休金足夠維持我現(xiàn)在的生活方式。如果在花錢(qián)時(shí)精打細(xì)算，我甚至可能還有剩余。當(dāng)然，我不需要去節(jié)省每個(gè)便士。這些錢(qián)不會(huì)以一張支票的形式發(fā)到我手上，而是直接存入到我的銀行賬戶。如果我需要補(bǔ)貼收入，可以撤回一些投資換成現(xiàn)金。而且，我的信用等級(jí)使我有資格在出現(xiàn)無(wú)法預(yù)料的財(cái)政危機(jī)時(shí)得到銀行貸款。因此，我知道沒(méi)有理由驚惶失措，即使是通貨膨脹或者出現(xiàn)經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退，我的將來(lái)也是有保障的。不論出現(xiàn)哪種情況，我的收入只不過(guò)是減少這些錢(qián)，那只是總數(shù)中的一小部分而已。我決定冒險(xiǎn)一試，但我又等了兩個(gè)星期才把信發(fā)出去。甚至在信已經(jīng)部分插入投信口時(shí)，還猶豫了一會(huì)兒才把它推進(jìn)郵筒。我知道寄出這封信的這一簡(jiǎn)單舉動(dòng)將改變我的生活。我在尋找一些線索，以便決定如何就會(huì)日常生活的改變。我該如何消磨時(shí)光？盡管有了很多一年一次的假期，可以讓我追求其他的興趣愛(ài)好，我還是想盡力把我的活動(dòng)放在追求一個(gè)特別的愛(ài)好上。我會(huì)厭煩退休人員的生活嗎？會(huì)有什么新的冒險(xiǎn)生活在等著我嗎？我會(huì)利用我的時(shí)間在一所醫(yī)院或者本地的一家慈善機(jī)構(gòu)做自愿服務(wù)者嗎？也許我會(huì)申請(qǐng)成為一個(gè)高爾夫球協(xié)會(huì)的會(huì)員。也許我會(huì)把時(shí)間貢獻(xiàn)出來(lái)為商業(yè)扶助局工作。我可以決定進(jìn)入本地的政界，競(jìng)選市議會(huì)議員的位置，或者可以競(jìng)選一下本市的副市長(zhǎng)，甚至可以考慮讓自己成為國(guó)會(huì)議員選舉中的一位候選人。我需要參加競(jìng)選活動(dòng)，然后，等著看是否有人會(huì)在選舉日到投票處把票投給我。盡管這些可能的選擇都是有益的，我必須承認(rèn)我對(duì)它們之中的任何一個(gè)都沒(méi)有多大興趣。事實(shí)上，我對(duì)其中的大多數(shù)選擇都不動(dòng)心。是否因?yàn)槲艺J(rèn)為它們可能干擾我決定要做的其他事情，或者意味著我將不得不取消其他的約會(huì)呢？還是我對(duì)教書(shū)的想法太執(zhí)著，覺(jué)得那已經(jīng)成為我自身的一部分？我在心里仔細(xì)衡量著我的新生活究竟要走向何方。是退休給我的生活帶來(lái)一種全新的方式，使我倍感稱心呢，還是（走出去與人）溝通交流更切實(shí)可行？當(dāng)我夠資格有能力但沒(méi)被高薪聘用時(shí)，我會(huì)覺(jué)得慚愧嗎？作為一個(gè)有執(zhí)業(yè)資格的教師，我是覺(jué)得有義務(wù)在教育領(lǐng)域里工作嗎？我覺(jué)得有資格每天睡懶覺(jué)呢，還是那樣會(huì)使我良心不安？我是這樣悠閑地衰老下去呢，還是會(huì)覺(jué)得那樣很可笑？我本能地告訴我，盡管我覺(jué)得身體很健康，應(yīng)該保持，但對(duì)其他國(guó)家和其他生活方式的好奇心，超過(guò)了希望把時(shí)間花在與老人們整天玩像國(guó)際象棋這樣的棋盤(pán)游戲上。難道我不能學(xué)習(xí)其他文化，同時(shí)做一名我自己國(guó)家文化的使者嗎？我開(kāi)始尋找機(jī)會(huì)，每當(dāng)我搜索互聯(lián)網(wǎng)尋找工作時(shí)，我總是像一塊磁石一樣被吸引到教學(xué)目錄上。沒(méi)過(guò)多久，我就發(fā)現(xiàn)在許多國(guó)家可以得到數(shù)不盡的工作。在這些目錄表中，我挑選了幾個(gè)在中國(guó)的教書(shū)工作。我決定與提供這些工作的人聯(lián)系。我給幾個(gè)有希望雇用我的雇主發(fā)電子郵件，打電話。他們中的大部分回答說(shuō)，他們希望我?guī)纤斜匦璧馁Y料。我怎樣才能在我的行李中裝上足夠的東西以備所需呢？我傾向于找一個(gè)能提供書(shū)籍的地方。我只想簽一個(gè)學(xué)期的合同，但發(fā)現(xiàn)大多數(shù)的職位是一年或二年。我可以理解，要安排一個(gè)人擔(dān)任其中一個(gè)職位，要做的工作量相當(dāng)大，并認(rèn)識(shí)到受聘人員在一個(gè)地方呆一年或兩年是更明智的。我參加了想招聘老師的公司的討論會(huì)。我發(fā)現(xiàn)了幾個(gè)我感興趣的公司。我開(kāi)始核實(shí)我的選擇。我向真正對(duì)我感興趣的公司問(wèn)了幾個(gè)特定的有關(guān)職位方面的問(wèn)題。我詢問(wèn)我可以帶多少個(gè)手提箱，食宿條件如何。了解到對(duì)教英語(yǔ)的人有這么大的需求，真是令人振奮不已。有幾個(gè)職位在待遇方面好像不錯(cuò)，這更加激發(fā)了我的興趣。我特別想教的是高中而不是初中。我?guī)缀醪幌嘈旁谖乙簧械倪@個(gè)階段還希望做這件事。有時(shí)，我覺(jué)得這是一個(gè)過(guò)激的想法，但是我也知道我一直有想獲得這種經(jīng)歷的欲望，只是環(huán)境從來(lái)沒(méi)有這么合適?，F(xiàn)在是時(shí)候了。我決定堅(jiān)持下去。我與一家公司達(dá)成了一個(gè)口頭協(xié)議。然后我一條一條地讀了他們的書(shū)面合同，確信沒(méi)有從口頭協(xié)議中漏掉什么。盡管很想刪掉關(guān)于工作二年的那一條，但在做了一些較小的變動(dòng)后，我簽署了法律合同并在頁(yè)邊簽字。還有很多細(xì)節(jié)要考慮。在選定了我要去工作的公司后，我還花了很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間認(rèn)真地考慮我現(xiàn)在的狀況。我決定賣(mài)掉我的汽車，把我的個(gè)人財(cái)產(chǎn)保存好，并把我的房子租出去。做好所有這些安排要花許多時(shí)間和精力。我決定一件一件來(lái)處理。我要做的第一件事是賣(mài)掉我的汽車。事實(shí)上，我覺(jué)得在我出國(guó)這段時(shí)間里汽車會(huì)貶值，明智的辦法就是賣(mài)掉它。