Last summer, I volunteered to work as an English teacher in a primary school for children of migrant workers.去年夏天,我自愿在一所外地农民工子弟小学当起了一名英语教师。 To be accurate, I didn’t volunteer. I was dragged in.( literally)确切的说,我并不是自告奋勇去参加的。我其实是被拽着参加的。(从字面上说) When my friend first hit upon the idea of this project, I was all against it:"What? To spend my vacation standing in the heat,当我的朋友首次提出参加这个计划时, 我是完全反对的:“什么?让我整个暑假冒着酷暑, Yelling at a bunch of nine-year-olds who couldn’t even speak proper Mandarin Chinese? And besides, there`s no pay for my toil. No, I am definitely not going.”对着一帮9岁大的小孩大声嚷嚷,他们甚者连普通话都说不标准。 而且我的辛苦工作是无偿服务。不,我绝对不会去的。”But my friend twisted my arms to have me join them.但是在朋友的坚持下,我还是去了。 Unexpectedly, the feist lesson I taught turned out a lesson for me.出乎意料的是,我的第一节课却变成了我的一课。 The moment I stepped into the shabby classroom, I was touched dy the loud, respectful voices in unison: “Good morning, teacher!"当我踏进那间破旧的教室,我被一阵充满敬意,整齐的喊声深深打动了。“老师,早上好!”Instead of fooling around, the chilend were thirsty for knowledge and efficient in absorbing everying I was able to give them.这些孩子没有四处打闹,对知识如饥似渴的他们有效地吸收我交给他们的知识。 This made me despise myself for I hadn’t even prepared for the class.让我鄙视自己,因为我事前根本没有备课。 During the break, I leaned over the squeaky desk, chatting with a sweaty boy in the front row:"Without air-conditioning, it`s really hot here. Are you tired?"课间休息时,我靠在一张吱吱作响的桌子旁,与前排一位满头大汗的男孩子聊天:“这里没有空调,实在太热了,你感到热吗?”"Not at all," said he, shaking his head."It`s fine here. My Dad builds asphalt roads. That is really tiring and hot."“一点都不,”他摇摇头说,“这里很好。我爸爸在修沥青公路。那里才是真的又热又累人。”