There’saLotMoretoLifethanajob原文及翻譯講解學習

1、Ther e' s a LotMor e t o Li f e t h ana j ob 原 文 及 翻 譯精品資料Lesson Seven There ' s a Lot More to Life than a job人生的意義遠遠不止是工作It has often been remarked that the saddest thing about youth is that it is wasted on the young.人們常常說：對于青春來說，最令人悲傷的事情莫過于青春在年 輕時被浪費掉了。Reading a survey report on first-year

2、 college students, I recalled the regret, "If only I knew then what I know now."在讀一份對大學一年級新生作的調查報告時，我又想起了這種惋 惜之情：“要是當初我就懂得了現(xiàn)在我領悟到的東西該有多好！”The survey revealed what I had already suspected from informal polls of students both in Macon and at the Robins Resident Center: If it (whatever it may

3、 be) won't compute and you can't drink it, smoke it or spend it, then "it" holds little value.這份調查報告印證了我以前根據(jù)在梅肯和羅賓斯住宿中心對學生 進行的非正式民意調查所作的推斷：學生們認為如果某種東西(不管 它是何物)沒有實際意義，不能把它當酒喝、當煙抽、當錢花，那么 “它”就基本毫無價值。According to the survey based on responses from over 188,000 students, today's col

4、lege beginners are "more consumeristic and less idealistic" than at any time in the 17 years of the poll.基于對188，000多名學生答卷的調查表明，當今的大學新生比 這項民意測驗開始17年以來的任何時候的大學新生都“更主張消費主 義，同時也少了些理想主義”。Not surprising in these hard times, the students' majorobjective "is to be financially well off&quo

5、t;. Less important than ever is developing a meaningful philosophy of life. Accordingly, today the most popular course is not literature or history but accounting.在這個經(jīng)濟不景氣的時代，學生們的主要目標是追求“經(jīng)濟上的 富?！薄Ｅc過去任何時候相比，樹立有意義的人生哲學已不那么重要 了。這一情況并不讓人感到驚奇。因此，如今最受歡迎的課程不是文 學或歷史，而是會計學。Interest in teaching, social servic

6、e and the humanities is at a low, along with ethnic and women's studies. On the other hand, enrollment in business programs, engineering and computer science is way up.如今人們對當教師、社會服務和人文學科、還有種族和婦女研究 的興趣都處于低潮。而另一方面，攻讀商科、工程學及計算機科學的 學生人數(shù)卻在迅速增加。That's no surprise either. A friend of mine (a sales

7、representative for a chemical company) was making twice the salary of college instructors during her first year on the job even before she completed her two-year associate degree.還有一件事也不令人意外。我的一個朋友(一個化工公司的銷售 代理)在干這份工作的第一年所掙的錢就已是大學教師薪水的兩倍了一 這甚至還是在她修完兩年制的準學士學位課程之前的事。'I 'll tell them what they

8、can do with their music, history, literature, etc.," she was fond of saying. And that was four years ago; I tremble to think what she's earning now.她喜歡說這樣一句話：“我會對他們講，他們學習音樂、歷史、 文學等等有什么用！ ”那還是四年以前呢，我都不敢想象她現(xiàn)在賺多 少錢。Frankl y, I'm proud of the young lady (not her attitude but her success). B

9、ut why can't we have it both ways? Can't we educate people for life as well as for a career? I believe we can.坦率地說，我為這位小姐感到驕傲(不是為她的態(tài)度，而是為她 的成功)。但是我們?yōu)槭裁床荒軆扇涿滥兀课覀兙筒荒芙虝藗兗?懂得謀生，又懂得人生么？我相信我們能夠做到。If we cannot, then that is a conviction against our educational system kindergarten, elementary, sec

10、ondary and higher. In a time of increasing specialization, more than ever, we need to know what is truly important in life.如果我們做不到這一點，那就是對我們從幼兒園、小學、中學直 到大學的整個教育制度的否定。在一個日益專業(yè)化的時代，我們比過 去任何時候都更需要了解什么是生活中真正重要的東西。This is where age and maturity enter. Most people, somewhere between the ages of 30 and 50,

11、finally arrive at the inevitable conclusion that they were meant to do more than serve a corporation, a government agency, or whatever.這就是年齡和成熟所能帶給人們的啟示。大多數(shù)年齡約在30至50歲之間的人都會最終得出一個必然的結論，即他們不應該僅僅是為 某個公司、某個政府機構或任何其他單位服務。Most of us finally have the insight that quality of life is not entirely determined

12、by a balance sheet. Sure, everyone wants to be financially comfortable, but we also want to feel we have a perspective on the world beyond the confines of our occupation; we want to be able to render service to our fellow men and to our God.我們大多數(shù)人最終會認識到，生活質量并不完全是由資產(chǎn)負債表 來決定的。誠然，每個人都想在經(jīng)濟上富裕點。但是我們還希望對自

13、 己職業(yè)范圍以外的世界有所了解；我們希望能為我們的同胞和上帝效勞。If it is a fact that the meaning of life does not dawn until middle age, is it then not the duty of educational institutions to prepare the way for that revelation? Most people, in their youth, resent the Social Security deductions from their pay, yet a seemingly few

14、 short years later find themselves standing anxiously by the mailbox.如果說人要到步入中年才能對人生的含義有所領悟的話，那么為 這種領悟掃清障礙不正是教育機構的責任嗎？大多數(shù)人在年輕的時候 怨恨從他們工資中扣錢交社會保險金，然而好像只是短短幾年后，他 們就發(fā)現(xiàn)自己正焦急地站在信箱旁邊（等待養(yǎng)老金支票）了。While it's true all of us need a career, preferably a prosperous one, it is equally true that our civilizatio

15、n has collected an incredible amount of knowledge in fields far removed from our own. And we are better for our understanding of these other contributionsbe they scientificor artistic. It is equally true that, in studying the diverse wisdom of others, we learn how to think. More importantly, perhaps

16、, education teaches us to see the connections between things, as well as to see beyond our immediate needs.雖然我們所有人都確實需要一份工作，最好是一份薪水豐厚的工 作。但同樣不容爭議的事實是，我們的文明已經(jīng)在我們各自的領域之 外積累了巨大的知識財富。而且正因為我們理解了這些在其他領域的 貢獻一一不管是科學方面的，還是藝術方面的一一我們的人生才更完善。同 樣地，我們在了解他人的智慧的同時，自己也學會了如何去思考。也 許更重要的是，教育使我們的視野超越了眼前的需求，并使我們看到了事物間的聯(lián)系

17、。Weekly we read of unions that went on strike for higherwages, only to drive their employer out of business. No company, no job. How short-sighted in the long run.我們每周都在報紙上讀到這樣的消息：工會在為要求更高的工資 而罷工，結果卻只是使他們的老板破了產(chǎn)。沒有了公司，也就沒有了 工作崗位。從長遠來看，他們的目光是何等地短淺！But the most important argument for a broad education

18、is that in studying the accumulated wisdom of the ages, we improve our moral sense. I saw a cartoon recently which depicts a group of businessmen looking puzzled as they sit around a conference table; one of them is talking on the intercom: "Miss Baxter," he says, "could you please se

19、nd in someone who can distinguish right from wrong?"但是贊成全面教育的最重要的理由是，在學習世世代代積累起來 的知識的同時，我們也提高了自己的道德感。最近我看了一幅漫畫， 描述了幾個商人坐在會議桌周圍，看上去困惑不解的樣子。其中的一 個正通過內(nèi)部通話設備講話：“巴克斯特小姐，”他說，“是否可以 請您叫一個能明辨是非的人來？”In the long run that's what education really ought to be about. I think it can be. My college roommate, now head of a large shipping company in New York, not surprisingly was a business major. But he also hosted a classical music show on the college's FM station and listened to Wagner as he studied his accounting.從長遠觀點來看，這確確實實是教育應該做的事。我認為教育完