精选英语美文阅读：十字路口的抉择

《年轻的战场》歌词唱到：“今天我终于站上这年轻的战场，请你为我骄傲鼓掌。今天我想要走向这胜利的远方……

四年大学生涯的结束，即将踏入社会的莘莘学子，此刻置身十字路口的他们，有更多的抉择等待着他们……

Would you tell me which way I ought to go from here?asked Alice.

“That depends a good deal on where you want to get, said the Cat.

“I really don’t care where replied Alice.

“Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go, said the Cat.

- Quote from the Alice in Wonderland Movie

“你能告诉我从这儿我该走哪条路吗？爱丽丝问。

“那在很大程度上取决于你想去哪儿。猫回道。

“哪儿都可以，我不在乎。

“那么你走哪条路也就无关紧要了。

——引自《爱丽丝梦游仙境》

My brother called me the other day and asked me for some advice? He was trying to decidebetween two job offers:

Job 1 –The first job was your typical 40 hour a week “office job.

Job 2 –The second job was more of a career in the insurance industry, where he would startat the bottom, and after many years and many long hours eventually rise to the top (if he wasgood). The second job did not pay as well as the first job (initially), but the potential pay-off of thesecond job was much greater than the first job.

So which job should my brother take? Well the answer is…it depends.

Just like the Cat was trying to tell Alice, which road you take depends a great deal on whereyou want to end up.

一天，弟弟打电话想征求些我的意见，他要在两份工作中做出选择：

工作1——典型的一周40个小时的“办公室工作

工作2——在保险行业的工作，需要从基层做起，可以经过多年和长时间努力后最终升职到高层（如果他足够优秀的话）

显然，第二份工作的薪水不如第一份丰厚（在刚开始时），但是第二份工作潜在的薪水支付远远多于第一份工作。

那么，弟弟应该选哪份工作呢？答案当然还是……取决于他自己想得到什么。

就如猫告诉爱丽丝的，你选择哪条路在很大程度上取决于你想停到哪，想到哪去。

Begin with the End in Mind

I asked my brother what was his life’s purpose. He said his purpose is to “teach, but hewants to make a lot of money first.

I told my brother to forget about the money, and I advised him to focus on his purpose.

I then asked him which job best supports his end result of “teaching. He said the first jobbest supports his goal because he would only have to work 40 hours a week, which would givehim spare time to teach.

He continued on to say, but if I take job number two, I can work hard and make moremoney, then I can retire early and “teach later in life. I again advised him to “focus on hispurpose, not money.

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I cautioned him to think this process through carefully because things don’t end wrong, theybegin wrong!

思而后行

我问弟弟他的人生目标是什么，他说目标就是“教书，但想先挣些钱。

我告诉他要忘记金钱，要专注于自己的目标理想。

我又问他哪个工作对他的目标“教学最有帮助，他说是第一份，因为他只需一周工作40个小时，这样的话就会有闲余时间来教书。

他接着说，“如果我选择第二份工作，我可以努力挣很多钱，然后提早退休，用剩余的时间教书。听他这样说，我提醒他要专注与自己的理想而不是钱。

我告诫他须谨慎考虑，因为很多事不是错误的结束，而是一开始就是错误的。

（编辑：薛琳）