胡敏讀故事記托福詞匯15：走入歧途的理想 Aspirations Gone Astray

所屬教程:胡敏讀故事記托福詞匯

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2015年08月06日

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Lesson 15 Aspirations Gone Astray 走入歧途的理想

I work in an assembly line in a car factory. Most days, I just assemble car parts. Occasionally, they’ll ask me to assay an unknown drugs substance. Once in a while, I’ll be asked to assist with breaking up a fight. Assault is not common here. But now and then, a frustrated worker will assail his assistant by casting aspersions on some aspect of the other’s work. I’m considered an asset in my company. But before 20 years ago, I was a different kind of asset to an entirely different type of company.

我在一家汽車(chē)廠的流水線上工作。大多數(shù)時(shí)候，我只是組裝汽車(chē)配件。有時(shí)，他們會(huì)讓我化驗(yàn)?zāi)撤N不明藥物。有時(shí)，我又去幫忙勸架。這里很少有人身攻擊。不過(guò)，時(shí)不時(shí)會(huì)有一名灰心喪氣的工人抨擊他的助手，就其工作的某方面進(jìn)行誹謗。我被視為公司的寶貝。但20年前，我被另一家完全不同的公司視為另一種類(lèi)型的寶貝。

They called it “the company” but it was really a secret government group trained to assassinate political leaders. I never aspired to be an assassin. In fact, I was an aspiring chemist and a regular soldier in the army. All I really wanted was to do something great or important for my country. But sometimes, having too great an aspiration can lead you astray.

他們所謂的“公司”實(shí)際上是一個(gè)受過(guò)訓(xùn)練、專(zhuān)門(mén)暗殺政界領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人的秘密政府組織。我從未渴望做個(gè)刺客。事實(shí)上，我是個(gè)有抱負(fù)的化學(xué)家，又是部隊(duì)中的一名常備兵。我的全部思想就是成就大事、為國(guó)效力。但有時(shí)，理想過(guò)于遠(yuǎn)大只會(huì)將你引入歧途。

I still recall the day of the assembly. It was a small gathering of highly skills people like me. “The company” was assessing our abilities in the areas of weaponry and chemistry. I was a top chemist and a natural marksman, probably the best in my group. They ascribed my success to my steady hands and sharp eyes, the same tools I used for chemistry.

我仍記得那天的集會(huì)。那是個(gè)小集會(huì)，與會(huì)者都是些像我這樣的技術(shù)精湛的人員。當(dāng)時(shí)“公司”評(píng)估我們?cè)谖淦骱突瘜W(xué)領(lǐng)域的才能。我既是最優(yōu)秀的化學(xué)家，又是天生的神槍手，很可能是我們小組中最棒的。他們將我的成功歸于我穩(wěn)健的雙手和敏銳的眼睛，這也是我搞化學(xué)時(shí)用的工具。

After the assembly, they gave us our assignments. I was assigned to assimilate into the mainstream society of a Latin American country. It wasn’t long before I was doing things that I will forever be ashamed to admit.

會(huì)后，“公司”給我們下達(dá)了任務(wù)。我的任務(wù)是滲透進(jìn)入一個(gè)拉美國(guó)家的主流社會(huì)。不久，我就開(kāi)始做些我永遠(yuǎn)恥于承認(rèn)的事情。

It’s been over for about 15 years. But I’ll never feel clean and I’ll never be able to assert that I have been a good man all my life.

這一切已經(jīng)過(guò)去15年了。但我將永遠(yuǎn)感到自己的骯臟，永遠(yuǎn)無(wú)法斬釘截鐵地說(shuō)我做了一輩子的好人。

Words:

ascribe vt. 把….歸于

aspect n. (問(wèn)題等的)方面;(事物等的)一部分

aspersion n. 誹謗，中傷

aspire vi. 渴望

aspiring adj. 有抱負(fù)的，有理想的，積極向上的

aspiration n. 雄心，抱負(fù)

assail v. (身體上)攻擊，(言語(yǔ)上)攻擊，批評(píng)

assassin n. 刺客