每日英語 #022: 當你長大後想成為什麼呢？

更新於 2024/06/08發佈於 2024/06/08閱讀時間約 6 分鐘

What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up? 當你長大後想成為什麼呢？

A common question we ask young children is, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” meaning “What job or occupation do you want when you are an adult?” Sometimes we use this phrase as a joke when talking among ourselves as adults, to suggest that we are not yet mature or very old.

我們常問小孩子的一個普遍問題是，“當你長大後想成為什麼呢？”意思是，“當你成為成年人時，你想要什麼工作或職業？”有時候，我們作為成年人在彼此間交談時會用這個詞語開玩笑，暗示我們還沒有成熟或者已經很老了。

The most common responses from young boys are often things like “fireman” or “policeman” or perhaps “baseball player.” (We usually say firefighter and police officer nowadays, since it could be a man or a woman.)

年輕男孩最常見的回答通常是像“消防員”、“警察”或者也許是“棒球選手”。（現在我們通常說消防員和警察，因為可能是男性或女性。）

A 2008 national survey of American adults asked which professions they thought had “very great prestige.” “Prestige” means that you have a good opinion of it, that it is very desirable. Here were the top answers, with the percentage of people indicating that profession in parentheses:

2008年一項針對美國成年人的全國性調查問及了他們認為哪些職業具有“非常高的聲望”。“聲望”意味著你對它有很好的評價，它非常值得擁有。以下是最受歡迎的答案，括號內是表示該職業的人數百分比：

Firefighter (57%) 消防員
Scientist (56%) 科學家
Doctor (53%) 醫生
Nurse (52%) 護士
Teacher (52%) 老師
Military officer (46%) 軍官
Police officer (43%) 警察
Clergy (leader of a church, such as a priest, minister) (40%) 牧師（教堂的領袖，例如牧師，牧師
Congressman (a U.S. government representative) (28%) 國會議員（美國政府代表）
Lawyer (24%) 律師-
Athlete (such as a football, soccer, or baseball player) (20%) 運動員（如足球、足球或棒球選手）
Journalist (18%) 記者
Actor (16%) 演員
Business executives (11%) 商業高管
Real estate brokers (people who sell houses and buildings) (6%) 房地產經紀人（賣房子和建築物的人

As you can see, firefighter and police officer are still “held in high esteem” (people have a good opinion of them), but athletes are not considered so prestigious. It is also interesting to “note” (notice; see) that “business executive” (bosses in a company or business) is among the lowest ranked professions, almost as low as real estate brokers, although there are certainly a lot more businesspeople than there are doctors or firefighters.

正如你所見，消防員和警察仍然被“非常尊敬”（人們對他們有好評），但運動員並不被認為是如此具有聲望。另外，值得“注意”的是，“商業高管”（公司或企業的老闆）位列最低的職業之一，幾乎與房地產經紀人一樣低，盡管商人的數量肯定比醫生或消防員要多得多。