翻譯資格考試英語口譯中級模擬題：我與學生

　　A year out of college, I left my girlfriend and the East Coast and moved to San Diego to get a master's in drama at the University of California. I didn't know a soul there and I felt extremely unsure of myself - even the ocean seemed to be on the wrong side of the road.

　　大學畢業(yè)一年后，我便與女友分手，并告別了東海岸，只身來到圣迭戈，攻讀加州大學戲劇學碩士。 在圣迭戈，我舉目無親，心里甚為不安---就連身邊的大海也恍如隔世，變得十分陌生。

　　Basically penniless, I found a job as a teaching assistant for "American Drama on Film," a popular course attracting 120 students who liked watching movies for credit. I'd never taught before. The prospect of a classroom filled with curious students terrified me. All I had to guide me was a thin, green handbook for teaching assistants. Full of rules and regulations, it covered everything from roll call to grading, but nowhere did it mention how to convey ideas or make people think.

　　當時我可謂身無分文，好在謀得了"美國電影戲劇"課的助教工作。這門課程很火爆，一下子吸引了120名學生。他們既可以欣賞電影，又可以拿到學分，兩全其美，何樂而不為。 此前，我從未教過書。 一想到滿屋子好奇的目光，心里就打鼓。 我手中僅有的救命稻草不過是發(fā)給每位助教的授課指南---一本薄薄的綠皮兒小冊子， 里面全是各種規(guī)章制度，從點名到批卷兒，包羅萬象，惟獨沒講如何傳道授業(yè)，如何激發(fā)學生進行思考。

　　The morning of the first class, I pictured my students while I was shaving and cut myself in three places. I was only twenty-four. I felt too young to have the authority of a teacher. But as it turned out, my youth helped me communicate with my students. Jokes and discussions, occasionally even philosophical debates filled my classes. Some students were really interested in the material and class discussion. With these students I developed a kind of friendship. The only aspect of the job that I didn't like was office hours - the time I spent sitting in my tiny office waiting for people to come by for extra help. No one ever did.

　　第一節(jié)課的那個早晨，我一邊魂不守舍地想像著學生們的模樣，一邊刮臉，竟刮傷三處。 我畢竟只有24歲啊! 自己都感覺太年輕了，哪兒有一絲教師的威懾力。 可是后來的事實卻證明，恰恰是我的年輕使我和學生們交流得更加融洽。 課堂上充滿了幽默的笑話和踴躍的討論，有時還不乏一些富有哲理的思辨。 有些學生對課程內(nèi)容及課堂討論十分感興趣， 漸漸地我和他們交上了朋友。 這份工作我惟一不喜歡的地方就是答疑時間---我得坐在自己那間窄小的辦公室里等著學生前來，尋求額外幫助。 可是卻總沒有學生來。

　　Then Lisa started popping by. She was one of the best students in the class and certainly didn't need my academic advice. She came to hang out. We talked about movies, sexy actors, and the San Diego Chargers. She made me feel like an expert on everything. I began to look forward to office hours. When I was with Lisa I felt as if I'd finally adjusted to California. I thought about asking her out.

　　后來，麗薩開始頻頻造訪。 她是班上的學習尖子，因此她到我這兒當然不是為了學業(yè)上的輔導， 而是來閑聊的。 我們海闊天空地聊到電影、性感的影星，還有"圣迭戈沖鋒者"橄欖球隊。 她使我感覺到自己無所不曉、無所不通。 從此，我開始期待答疑時間， 因為只有和麗薩在一起，我才感到自己似乎已經(jīng)適應了加州生活。 我開始考慮約她出去。

　　Lisa began putting her phone number on assignments, and when she came by there was a certain forwardness about her, a kind of "can you-handle-this?" attitude. I tried to act cool and not show how interested I was. One afternoon she showed up in a wet suit and said, "Surf's up. Wanna come?" I told her that I'd love to, but I couldn't surf. After she left I cursed myself for not seizing the opportunity to be with her.

　　麗薩也開始把自己的電話號碼留在作業(yè)上。當她再度敲開我辦公室的大門時，臉上露出一絲咄咄逼人的神色，好像在問："你能行嗎?" 我盡力表現(xiàn)出矜持，掩飾內(nèi)心的渴望。 一天下午，她身穿一套緊身潛水衣出現(xiàn)在我面前，說："海浪上來了，想不想去沖浪?" 我說想去，可我不會沖浪。 她離開后，我咒罵自己竟放走了這樣一個與她共處的大好機會。

　　That evening I started dialing Lisa's number about ten times. Something stopped me from following through, and it wasn't just because I was nervous. I guess I knew there was something wrong with a teacher dating a student. I decided to see if my little green handbook had anything to say about it. The section on romantic relationships listed three reasons why such liaisons should be strictly avoided: (1) A display of interest from the TA puts the student in the difficult position of fearing unfavorable results for showing no response to that interest. (2) It makes the objective evaluation of all students almost impossible. (3) An inevitable loss of respect for the TA occurs.

　　當天晚上，我給麗薩撥了得有十遍電話， 可后來還是有一種力量使我放下了聽筒，不光是因為我緊張， 我想還因為我深知教師約會學生有點兒不大對頭。 我決定查一查那本綠皮兒授課指南，看看就這方面有什么規(guī)定。 師生戀那一款明確指出這種關系必須要嚴格禁止，并列出了三條原因：(1)如果助教對某個學生明確表達好感，那么該生就會擔心自己若是對這種示愛毫無反應便可能對自己不利，從而陷入兩難的境地。 (2)這種關系使助教幾乎不可能對所有的學生做出客觀公正的評價。 (3)這種關系不可避免地使助教失去學生們的尊敬。

　　I tried to rule out each reason as inapplicable to me. Lisa was displaying an interest in me, not the other way around. As for objective evaluation, I always numbered papers and tests, covering students' names to make sure I graded without bias. But the third reason was impossible to dismiss. I knew that if I were a student and I found out that my TA and a classmate were involved, no matter how much I had liked him I'd think he was a tiny dude. I'd be sure he had used his position to seduce her and that without question he'd favor her with a better grade or inside information on the exam.

　　我逐一地排除這些原因，試圖找出它們不適合我的地方， 比如，是麗薩對我感興趣，而并非我主動出擊; 對于給學生的客觀評價，我在批閱論文或試卷時從來都把上面的姓名蓋住，再將其編號，以確保自己所打的分數(shù)不偏不倚。 可那第三條原因我卻怎么也揮之不去， 設身處地地想想，如果我是個學生，又得知自己的助教與一個同學關系曖昧，那么不管我多么喜歡這位教師，也會認為他是個為人所不齒的花花公子。 我會堅信他利用自己的職權勾引了那個學生，而且毫無疑問，考試時他會偏心地給她打高分或者在考試前向她透露機密。

　　The idea of my students seeing me as a sleazebag turned my stomach. Their regard for me as a teacher was more important than my desire to go out with Lisa. I decided to wait until the term ended to ask her out.

　　一想到我的學生們會把我看成一個無恥之徒，我就心神不寧。 學生敬我為師比起渴望和麗薩約會更加重要。 于是，我決定等學期結束時再約她出去。

　　As soon as I handed in the grades, I called her. We went to a movie. We stayed and watched another and then went out for a drink. Nothing clicked. The desire was gone. Actually, my desire was still there, but hers had disappeared along with my grade book. I was disappointed, sad even, but not surprised. No longer her all-knowing TA, I was now just some older guy who couldn't surf.

　　我把期末成績上交給校方后，馬上就跑去給麗薩打電話。 我們一起出去看了電影， 而后沒有退場，接著又看了一部。再后來就去喝點兒東西， 其間，一切都那么平淡無奇， 愛的欲望已煙消云散。 其實確切地說，我的感情還在，只是她的興趣全都隨著我上交的記分冊“上交”了。 我滿腹失望甚至哀傷，但并沒有感到意外。 畢竟，在她眼里，我已不再是那位學識淵博的助教了，而只是一個年齡稍長又不會沖浪的家伙。