PETS－2语法讲解(258)

They want me to go in for accountancy.
　　对话
　　David:Where did you get all those brochures from?
　　Peter:From the college careers adviser. I'm graduating this year and I've got to decide on a career.
　　David:What do your parents think?
　　Peter:They want me to go in for accountancy, because they think it will offer security and a good salary.
　　David:What do you feel about that?
　　Peter:Well, they have a point, but I'd rather go in for something a bit more interesting than fiddling around with figures all day.
　　David:Like what, for example?
　　Peter:I quite fancy journalism, being a foreign correspondent and traveling a lot.
　　戴维：你这许多小册子是哪里拿来的?
　　彼得：是大学就业辅导员给我的。我今年要毕业了,须选择自己的事业。
　　戴维：你父母怎样想?
　　彼得：他们想要我从事会计,认为工作稳定,薪水也很不错。
　　戴维：你自己怎样想呢?
　　彼得：嗯,他们的确有道理,但我宁愿做些较有趣的工作,而不是整天埋头于无聊的数字堆中。
　　戴维：你自己属意什么样的工作?
　　彼得：我颇喜欢新闻业,做个国外通讯记者,可以到处游历。
　　彼得说父母主张他从事会计：My parents want me to go in for accountancy。‘会计的工作’或‘会计学’，英文叫accountancy或accounting都可以，例如：He thought of going into accounting/accountancy after graduation（他想过大学毕业后从事会计）。上述go into和go in for两个动词词组，意思都是‘从事（某种职业、活动）’，没有什么分别，这里不妨再举一例：It never occurred to him that one day he would go in for/go into politics as an opposition leader（他从来没想到，有一天，自己会以反对派领袖身份从政）。
　　彼得不大喜欢做会计师：I'd rather go in for something more interesting than fiddling around with figures all day。Fiddle是violin（小提琴）的俗称，作动词指‘拉小提琴’。把那‘拨弄’的意思引伸，就是神经质的或心不在焉的用手不停玩弄，例如老师可以叫学生：Stop fiddling with your pen（别再玩弄你手上的笔）。Fiddle (around/about) with something也可解作‘花时间做些无用的事’，例如：He has been fiddling (around) with the car engine for hours, but I don't think he can fix it（他弄那汽车引擎弄了几小时，但我认为他无法修理好）。
　　留意I'd rather (would rather)这说法。Would rather和had rather同义，都是‘宁愿’的意思，例如：I would/had rather do it now（我宁愿现在做）。不过，had rather一词今天很少人用，多用would rather。