英语听力教程Unit 4

英语听力教程Unit 4

英语听力教程Unit 4

TEXT

Trying to make some money before entering university, the author applies for a teaching job. But the interview goes from bad to worse...

My First Job

While I was waiting to enter university, I saw advertised in a local newspaper a teaching post at a school in a suburb of London about ten miles from where I lived. Being very short money and wanting to do something useful, I applied, fearing as I did so, that without a degree and with no experience in teaching my chances of getting the job were slim.

However, three days later a letter arrived, asking me to go to Croydon for an interview. It proved an awkward journey: a train to Croydon station; a ten-minute bus ride and then a walk of at least a quarter to feel nervous.

The school was a red brick house with big windows,

英语听力教程Unit 4

The front garden was a gravel square; four evergreen shrubs stood at each corner, where they struggled to survive the dust and fumes from a busy main from a busy main road.

It was clearly the headmaster himself that opened the door. He was short and fat. He had a sandy-coloured moustache, a wrinkled forehead and hardly any hair.

He looked at me with an air of surprised disapproval, as a colonel might look at a private whose bootlaces were undone. ‘Ah yes,’ he grunted. ‘You’d better come inside.’ The narrow, sunless hall smelled unpleasantly of stale cabbage; the walls were dirty with ink marks; it was all silent. His study, judging by the crumbs on the carpet, was also his dining-room. ‘You’d better sit down,’ he said, and proceeded to ask me a number of questions: what subjects I had taken in my General School Certificate; how old I was; what games I played; then fixing me suddenly with his bloodshot eyes, he asked me whether I thought games were a vit al part of a boy’s education. I mumbled something about not attaching too much importance to them. He grunted. I had said the wrong thing. The headmaster and

英语听力教程Unit 4

I obviously had very little in common.

The school, he said, consisted of one class of twenty-four boys, ranging in age from seven to thirteen.

I should have to teach all subjects except art, which he taught himself. Football and cricket were played in the Park, a mile away on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons.

The teaching set-up filled me with fear. I should have to pide the class into three groups and teach them in turn at three different levels; and I was dismayed at the thought of teaching algebra and geometry-two subjects at which I had been completely incompetent at school. Worse perhaps was the idea of Saturday afternoon cricket; most of my friends would be enjoying leisure at that time.

I said shyly, ‘What would my salary be?’

‘Twelve pounds a week plus lunch.’ Before I could protest, he got to his feet. ‘Now’, he said, ‘you’d better meet my wife. She’s the one who really runs this school.’

This was the last straw. I was very young: the prospect of working under a woman constituted the

英语听力教程Unit 4

ultimate indignity.

NEW WORDS

apply

vi. write to ask for (a job, membership. etc.), esp. officially 申请

application

n.

interview

n. 面试；接见；会见

advertise

vt. make know to people by printing a notice in a newspaper, etc. or by broadcasting on television, ets. 为...做广告

advertisement

n.

local

of, special to, a place or district 当地的;地

方性的

post

n. job or position 职位

suburb

n. outer area of a town or city, where people live

英语听力教程Unit 4

郊区

slim

a. small, slight; slender 微小的;苗条的

depress

vt. make sad 使沮丧

depression

n.

brick

n. 砖

gravel

n. 砾石

evergreen

a. with green leaves throughout the year 常绿的

shrub

n. low bush with several woody stems 灌木

fume

n. strong-smelling smoke, gas or vapour 浓烈难闻的烟,气,汽

headmaster

n. (中,小学的)校长

sandy-coloured

英语听力教程Unit 4

a. yellowish-red 沙色的,黄中带红的

moustache

n. hair growing on the upper lip 小胡子

disapproval

n. unfavorable opinion or feeling; dislike 不赞成;不满

colonel

n. 上校

private

n. soldier of the lowest rank 列兵;士兵

bootlace

n. shoelace for a high shoe or boot 靴带

undo

vt. untie, unfasten 解开;松开

ah

interj. (a cry of surprise, pity, pain, joy, dislike, etc.) 啊

grunt

vt. 咕哝着说出

unpleasantly

ad. 令人不愉快地

stale

英语听力教程Unit 4

a. not fresh 不新鲜的

cabbage

n. 卷心菜

crumb

n. very small, broken piece of bread or cake 面包屑;糕饼屑

carpet

n. heavy woven material fir covering floors or stairs 地毯

certificate

n. 证(明)书

bloodshot

a. (眼睛)充血的

vital

a. very necessary; of the greatest importance 必不可少的,极其重要的

mumble

vt. speak (words) unclearly 含糊地说

attach

vt. give (to); fasten (to) 把...给予;系,贴

importance

n. the quality of being important

英语听力教程Unit 4

obviously

ad. it can be easily seen; plainly 明显地，显然

obvious

a.

consist (of)

vi. be made up (of) 组成，构成

range

vi. vary between certain limits （在一定的范围内）变动

cricket

n. 板球

set-up

n. arrangement

dismay

vt. make discouraged or afraid 使灰心，使害怕 algebra

n. 代数学

geometry

n. 几何学

incompetent

a. completely unskillful; not good enough at

英语听力教程Unit 4

doing a job, etc. 无能力的；不胜任的

competent …… 此处隐藏：3747字，全部文档内容请下载后查看。喜欢就下载吧 ……